What is this module for?
The calculator shows the three numbers you need: monthly instalment, total interest, and total repayment. It explains how each payment splits into principal and interest. On a reducing balance loan, early payments are mostly interest. Later payments are mostly principal. This helps you see the true cost of borrowing.
How do I work out a monthly instalment?
- Open Calculators and press Car loan or Home loan.
- Type the Price, clearing the example figure first.
- Type the Deposit using the % and RM buttons.
- Type the Interest rate as the percent per year.
- Set the Tenure in years or press a chip.
- Read the dark card for Monthly instalment, Total interest, and Total repayment.
How do I see where the interest goes?
- Scroll to the Year by year table under the two cards.
- Compare the Principal and Interest columns in year one against the last year.
- On a reducing balance loan, year one is mostly interest and the last year is almost all principal. On a flat loan every year carries the same interest.
- Look at the Balance column to see what you still owe at the end of each year.
How do I compare flat and bank rates?
- Switch to Car loan to see the Interest method buttons.
- Press Flat to see the effective rate line.
- Press Reducing and type the effective rate to compare costs.
- Check the Year by year table to see how flat interest stays constant.
How do I build a repayment plan?
- Use the Repayment plan under the contract result.
- Add extra monthly amounts, one-off payments, or half-payments.
- Read Total extra paid before the interest saving.
- On a Flat loan, the controls switch to a settlement date instead. Extra payments are not modelled because the interest was fixed when you signed.
What this does to your books
Nothing in this plan posts and nothing is saved. When you sign the agreement, enter it in the Loans module, which does post: the drawdown records cash in against the loan account, and each instalment you record there splits itself so the principal reduces the debt and only the interest reaches your Profit and Loss. On a personal file there is no Loans module, so record the debt under Net Worth instead.