Client banking information is entered into TEA by organizations whose clients make loan payments by automatic bank debit. This is a real time saving feature for managing these loan payments because it allows you to skip the process of using the bank’s software as batches can be easily created by TEA.

Since the release of TEA version 9.16, users have been given the option of entering banking information in one of two places in TEA; either in the loan record or in the business record.

When deciding where to enter client banking information, there are a few points to consider:

Business Record
The advantage to entering banking information in a business record is that in the case of multiple loans, the information does not have to be re-entered for each new loan. You can enter the banking information once in the business, then from that point forward, each new loan record associated to that business will use that same banking information.

Loan Record
The major advantage to entering banking information in a loan record is enhanced security. Any staff members in your organization that do not have access permission to the Loan module will not be able to view the banking information in the loan. Another advantage is in the case of multiple loans where the client wishes to make multiple loan payments from multiple bank accounts. By entering banking information in a loan record, each loan can be assigned to a different bank account. For example, one loan payment may be taken from the Royal Bank whereas another loan payment may be taken from CIBC.

Either option will work to track automatic bank debit transactions but to decide which process to use, consider the benefits of each and decide which one is best for your organization.

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The Rolodex module in TEA is designed to include contacts that are considered non-clients and the Client module is designed to include your clients. By definition, the same person should never have a record in both modules – the person is either a client or not.

As a part of your process to create a new record, you should always search both the Rolodex and Client modules before creating a new record to ensure a duplicate record is not being created by mistake. Even with this process in place, you may find some duplicate records occur over time.

Here are some useful tips to help you ‘clean up’ your records.

But before you do anything, back up your data before you start!

To View the Complete List of Clients and Rolodex Contacts on One Screen:

1. Select the Rolodex module.
   
   
2. Select View | Show Clients.
   
The Rolodex will now display both rolodex and client records on one screen. Clients are identified by a head icon appearing in the ‘Is Client’ column.

To Sort the list by a Field:

1. To make it easier to locate duplicate records, you can sort the list of records by first name, last name, business name or city.
   
   
2. Once the entire list of records is displayed, click once on any of the column headers to sort the list by that field.

To View Personal Information at a Glance:

1. To make it easier to decide if two records are for the same person, select View Details in the Rolodex so that at a glance you can view the address and phone number details of each record without having to open each record.
   
   
2. In the Rolodex module, select View | Show Details.
   
The address and phone number for the currently selected record will now appear at the bottom of the screen.

To Delete a Client Record:

When a client record is deleted, it is moved into the Rolodex module rather than actually being deleted. Because of this, you must first delete the record from the Client module and then delete it from the Rolodex. Only client records not associated to a business record may be deleted.

1. Highlight the appropriate client record.
   
   
2. Select Edit | Delete Client.
   
   
3. In the Rolodex module, highlight the appropriate record again.
   
   
4. Select Edit | Delete Rolodex Contact.

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The Loan Portfolio report includes a column for undisbursed funds. This information will give your board members and management a clear picture of the total funds approved but not yet disbursed to your loan clients. Loans that have been partially disbursed will show the balance not yet disbursed, and loans that have been completely disbursed will show a zero balance.

If, when you print this report, some of your loans appear with a negative balance in this column, or if there is a positive balance incorrectly, it could be due to a few reasons.

Term Date

Undisbursed amounts are based on the term record for each loan. If the date of the first term record is dated after the first loan advance, the undisbursed amount will be wrong. For example, if your term record is dated August 2, 2007 but your loan advance transaction is dated August 1, 2007, the loan will appear as undisbursed.

• In the appropriate loan, select Loan Particulars.
  
  
• Click View All Terms.
  
  
• Click Edit.
  
  
• Change the date of the term.
  
  
• Click Save.

Advance Fees

If your organization records fees as advances, this will be included in the undisbursed calculation and will end up as over-disbursed. For example, posting the following transaction will make the loan appear as $1,000 over disbursed:

If this is a problem, you may want to consider capitalizing fees instead of recording them as advances. The end result will be the same in that interest will accrue on the fees charged, but the undisbursed amount will not be affected by it. To do this, charge a fee to the loan and then capitalize the fee.

• In the appropriate loan, select Transactions.
  
  
• Click New.
  
  

Action:	Advance
Sub-Action:	Legal Fee
Amount:	$1,000.00



• Click Calculate.
  
  
• Click Post.
  
  
• Click Close.

Once the fee has been posted, capitalize the fee:

• In the appropriate loan, select Transactions.
  
  
• Click New.
  
  

Action:	Capitalize
Sub-Action:	Fees



• Click Allocate.
  
  
• Enter $1,000 in the Legal Fee column.
  
  
• Click OK.
  
  
• Click Calculate.
  
  
• Click Post.

At this point, you will notice the loan balance has been increased by the $1,000 legal fee so that interest will accrue on the fee but the undisbursed balance has not been affected.

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