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Entering a bank loan

⏱ 6 min readUpdated on

A loan brings money into the business, then takes money out every month. You enter its terms; Fiplan calculates the monthly payment, separates the principal repaid (which reduces the debt) from the interest (which is an expense) and tracks the outstanding principal at each year-end.

What it is for

The Financing & Contributions module holds everything that brings money in: contributions, subsidies, loans, leases, current accounts. The PCMN account chosen (Belgian minimum chart of accounts, PCMN / MAR) decides the type: a 173… account (credit institutions) is a bank loan.

Steps

  1. Open Encoding, then Financing & Contributions, and click New.
  2. Choose the PCMN Account — 173000, credit institutions —: Fiplan shows “Bank loan”. Give a Title.
  3. Enter the Financing amount (excl. VAT) and the Lender / Bank.
  4. Choose the Funds made available month (the month the money arrives) and the First instalment.
  5. Enter the Duration (years), a number of years, and the Annual interest rate (%).
  6. Choose the Repayment frequency (Monthly, quarterly or yearly) and the Repayment method: Constant annuities (fixed monthly payment) or Constant amortization (fixed principal).
  7. Read the schedule on the right — principal, interest, instalment, then the totals per financial year — and click Save. Fiplan creates the line “Interest – …” (account 650000).
The bank loan: account 173000, €40,000, 4.5%, 5 financial years, monthly, constant annuities, and the schedule.
The bank loan: account 173000, €40,000, 4.5%, 5 financial years, monthly, constant annuities, and the schedule.

Worked example · Boulangerie Dupont SRL

A loan of €40,000.00 at 4.5% a year, over 60 months (5 financial years), constant monthly payments, funds received in January 2027. The monthly payment on a principal , at the monthly rate , over months:

monthly payment(1)
(1)

The first instalment falls in February 2027: interest , principal repaid €595.72. Each month, the interest is calculated on the outstanding principal, rounded to the cent.

Financial yearInstalmentsInterestPrincipal repaidTotal paidOutstanding principal at 31 December
2027111,525.746,677.188,202.9233,322.82
2028121,343.957,604.698,948.6425,718.13
202912994.607,954.048,948.6417,764.09

Over its whole duration, the loan costs €4,743.27 in interest.

Pitfalls

A loan is not repaid before it exists. If the first instalment falls in the month of the funds, Fiplan moves it to the following month and the screen says so: “The first instalment follows the month the funds are received”.
The account decides the type. 172: a lease; 179: a shareholder current account (repaid in one go); 100, 101, 11: a contribution; 15: a subsidy. A bank loan goes in 173.
Interest is a separate line, created by Fiplan. Do not enter it under general expenses: it would be counted twice.
The part due in the coming year changes heading. At each year-end, the principal repayable within twelve months is presented under debts payable within one year (account 423), the rest under debts payable after more than one year (173).

What it changes · 2027

① Income statementThe year's interest-€1,525.74In account 650000; the principal repaid is not an expense.
② CashThe funds received, minus the monthly payments+€31,797.08€40,000.00 received in January 2027, 11 monthly payments of €745.72 made.
③ Balance sheetThe outstanding principal€33,322.82A debt to the bank, at 31 December 2027.

Source

Minimum standard chart of accounts (plan comptable minimum normalisé / minimumindeling van een algemeen rekeningenstelsel, annex 1 to the Royal Decree of 21 October 2018): accounts 173 (credit institutions), 42 (debts payable after more than one year falling due within the year), 650 (debt charges).

Fiplan conventions, declared in the code (echeancier-financement.ts): the monthly payment rounded to the cent once; the interest of each instalment on the outstanding principal before it, rounded to the cent (half up); the last instalment settles the principal.