Advances, Loans & Garnishments

In this article, we will review how to process Advances, Loans, and Garnishments in SkySlope Books.

Important: At this time, the Advances, Loans, and Garnishments screens can be used for logging these items but don't have the functionality to process the accounting side.

• Advances
• Third Party Advances
• Loans
• Garnishments

Advances

Step 1: Create Bill for Advance

Note: You will first want to make sure you have a Product/Service created for Advances 

1. Navigate to Purchases (A/P) > Bills

2. Click +Create in the top right-hand corner of the screen

3. Complete all relevant fields

• Bill#: If applicable, enter a bill number

• Vendor Name: Add the agent that is receiving the Advance

• Bill date: Enter any applicable date

• Payment Terms: When payment needs to be completed by

• References: If applicable, add reference number

• Items +: Add the Product/Service created for Advances and Rate (amount of advance)

• Click Create as Open

The bill has now been created, however, you will still need to process the payment as shown in step 2 below.

Click here to learn all about creating bills!

Step 2: Process Payment

When you are ready to process the payment for the advance to the agent, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Purchases (A/P) > Bills, locate the bill you created, and click on the line item

Tip: Use the Vendor Name filter to search for the agent

2.  Click on Payment Options in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen

3. Select the appropriate payment option based on how you will be processing the advance to the agent

• Direct Deposit

• Print Check

• Record Payment 

Click here to learn all about payments on bills!

Step 3: Create Invoice for Advance Repayment from Agent

When you are ready to begin the process of repayment for the advance to the agent, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Sales (A/R) > Invoices

2. Click +Create in the top right-hand corner of the screen

3. Complete all relevant fields:

   • Invoices date: Add the date

   • Customer: Add the agent who received the advance payment

   • Allow to deduct from deal: Leave this checked if you’ll be deducting the invoice from the agent’s deal to recoup the funds

   • Payment Terms: When payment needs to be completed by

   • Items +: Add the Product/Service created for Advances and Rate (amount of advance)

   • Click Create as Open

Click here to learn all about creating invoices!

Step 4: Record Payment for Advance Repayment from Agent

After posting the invoice, you’ll need to receipt the funds from the agent as repayment for the advance. 

Note: If the invoice is being deducted from the agent’s deal, you can skip this step as repayment will occur during commission payouts upon closing the deal.

1. Navigate to Sales (A/R) > Invoices

2. Click on the Invoice line item you created for the advance repayment

3. Select Record Payment in the bottom right-hand corner or use Charge Customer if using the Payload integration to automatically receive payment

4. After selecting Record Payment, complete the Payment Mode, Payment Date, Ledger Account the funds were deposited to and click Continue

5. The Invoice status will update to Paid

Learn all about recording payments on invoices by clicking here!

Third Party Advances

For a third party commission advance that is issued to the Brokerage then going to an Agent, please see the steps below.

Important Note: If the advance is being paid directly to the agent from the third party advance company, then skip Steps 1 and 2, and go directly to Step 3.

Step 1: Create an Invoice with the third party for the commission advance. Record a Payment Received on that Invoice once the brokerage receives that advance money from the third party advance company.

(This is receiving the money from the third party advance company)

Step 2: Create a Bill for the agent in order to pay the agent the advanced commissions. Record a Payment Made on that Bill once the brokerage pays that advance money to the agent.

(This is forwarding the advance to the agent)

Step 3: When it's times to recoup the advance money, add an agent expense on the agent’s deal (under the 'Agent Disbursement' section), paid to the Company (Brokerage).

1. Ensure the agent expense is set up on the deal as an Agent Expense or Agent Compensation Expense without the 'Deduct From 1099' checkbox selected to avoid the advance amount from impacting 1099s.

2. Important for V1 Books accounts, please set the Payment Time (i.e. Pay At Closing or Pay At Remaining) for the agent expense to the same time as the 'Agent Split' item for the agent.

(This reflects the advance repayment from the agent to the brokerage)

Step 4: Create a company expense (under the 'Company Disbursement' section), paid to the third party advance company (as the Receiver), on the same deal to repay the advance. Set the Payment Time for this expense, in accordance with how the payment needs to be disbursed to this entity.

(This closes the loop on the advance as the third party advance company is paid back for the advance issued)

Loans

Here is how to add a loan to the brokerage from a third party into Books.

Step 1: Create Product/Services and Ledger Accounts associated with the Loan

1. First create the appropriate ledger accounts for the Loan:
   • One ledger account as a Liability for the principal of the loan
   • Another ledger account as an Expense for interest on the loan
     
     
2. Next, create a Product/Service for the Loan:
   • Create one product/service for the loan associated with the Liability ledger account created above
   • Create one product/service for the interest on the loan associated with the Expense account created above

Step 2: Create an Invoice  

• Invoice date: Date loan was funded
• Customer: Add the name of the lender
• Payment Terms: When the payment is due and payable
• Allow to deduct from deal: Uncheck
• Accepted forms of payment: Available for loan funding via the Payload integration
• Items: Add the product/service created that is associated with the Loan and Liability ledger account
• Rate: Enter the amount of the loan
• Click the Create dropdown and select the appropriate option

Learn all about creating invoices by clicking here!

Step 3: Record Payment

After receiving the loan funds from the lender, you will need to record the payment for the invoice. 

Note: If the invoice was paid via the Payload.co integration, you can skip this step.

1. Click on the Invoice line item you created

2. Select Record Payment in the bottom right-hand corner 

3. Complete the Payment Mode, Payment Date, Ledger Account the funds were deposited to and click Continue

4. The Invoice status will update to Paid

Learn all about recording payments on invoices by clicking here!

Step 4: Create a Bill or Recurring Bill for Repayment of the Loan 

Depending on the payment terms, you can utilize the Bills screen to create a recurring bill or create a bill manually each time a loan payment is due. If creating a recurring bill and the payment will change, you will need to edit the bill each time to update the amount due.

• Title: Add a title 

• Repeat Every: Select the appropriate option on the frequency of payments due

• Recurring Bill only:

  • Start on: When the recurring bill should start

  • Ends on: When the recurring bill should end

• Customer: Add the name of the lender

• Payment Terms: When the payment is due each time

• Items +: Add the two Product/Services created for the loan and interest

  • For the product/service that is associated with the loan and liability ledger account, add the Rate for payment due without interest (principal only amount)

  • For the product/service that is associated with the interest and expense ledger account, add the Rate for interest due

• Click Create once ready to save the bill.

Reminder: If a Recurring Bill is created, you may need to edit the bill each time to adjust the amounts due.

Learn all about creating bills by clicking here!

Step 5: Payment on Bills

When you are ready to process the payment, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Purchases (A/P) > Bills, locate the bill you created, and click on the line item

Tip: Use the Vendor Name filter to search for the lender

2.  Click on Payment Options in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen

3. Select the appropriate payment option based on how you will be processing the advance to the agent

• Direct Deposit

• Print Check

• Record Payment 

Click here to learn all about payments on bills!

Garnishments

• Please contact your Customer Success Manager or the Support team so they can discuss options to setup a Commission Plan/Rule for Garnishments