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ALMSys® 5.7 Development Information
(From Richard Stephens, Chief Software Developer)
(Revised 05/20/2010)
5.7 is READY.
You must be on version 5.6 before going to 5.7.
Click here for upgrade instructions.
SQL Server New Requirements
ALMSys 5.7 will no longer work under Microsoft SQL Server versions earlier than 2005. Most likely, this will affect
long-time ALMSys standalone users. For those using the "MSDE 2000," there is a free update available and I can help
you install it. I will be calling every ALMSys customer to make sure everyone gets up to SQL 2005 or 2008.
Loans and Buy Here/Pay Here Now Tracked
ALMSys has been programmed to process loans. A new Loan tab has been added that contains a Loan Status screen. This screen
will allow you to see the current loan balance and paid-to-date data. You can also use the screen to quote future payoffs.
A Loan Termination screen has been added to facilitate paying off loans to a zero balance. You may also use this screen to
indicate that a loan repossession is in progress. A corresponding report, "Loan Repossessions in Progress," has been added
to report active loans that are flagged for repossession.
A Loan Payment Schedule screen has been added to show a payment history from a loan perspective. From this screen, a
"Loan Payment History" report may be created and given to the customer. Also, a "Loan Payment Schedule" report may be
created. This report is not intended for the customer.
All of the reports have been reviewed and categorized as to whether it is a lease report, loan report, or both. You
will be able to set a preference on the Reports page in the Reports Notebook as to which types of reports you wish to see.
Collections Module Added
A new collections module has been added that features:
- Work from a grid of delinquent deals.
- Contact history notes.
- Deal notes.
- Payments made list.
- Name & Address data that may be updated.
- Letter printing.
- Link to Google Maps for address location.
- Delinquency breakdown.
- Loan balance calculator (loans only).
This module makes it easy for the Collector to work from a screen, rather than a Delinquency Report. As the Collector
moves from deal to deal, any new payment information is automatically updated.
Ready for Windows 7
ALMSys 5.7 will now work under Microsoft Windows 7. You must be the administrator of your PC to install, configure, and
run ALMSys.
Different Payment Frequencies Now Supported
You may now have leases or loans with weekly, bi-weekly, and semi-monthly payments.
Credit Bureau Changes
The credit cureau reporting has been modifed to correctly report leases or loans with different payment frequencies.
ALMSys will automatically convert any of the new payment frequencies to monthly for credit bureau reporting
purposes.
Canadian credit bureau reporting (Metro 2 format) is now available.
A "do not report before this date" override date has been added. This is only used in the event where you
do not ever wish to report credit bureau information (for the entire portfolio) before a specific date.
If you are reporting data on behalf of other companies in a service bureau-type setting, then you will be able to
create "Original Creditor Name" records for each person being reported to the credit bureau.
Payment Posting Changes
The Payment - Post screen has been changed to include two new functions. A "How Paid" field has been added
which will allow you to specify how the person paid (cash, check, credit card, etc.).
You may now post a payment and get a receipt at the same time. The "Payment Receipt" has been moved from the
Payments menu and incorporated in the Payment Post screen. The receipt has been greatly improved and includes
delinquency information as of the payment that was made. Receipt numbers are automatically generated for you.
Both the How Paid and Receipt Number fields will appear on the Payment History.
The receipt number is controlled as either an overall number on the Tools - Overall Control screen, or a number specific
to the location on the Location - Maintenance screen.
You may now set a special alert message on the Deal - General screen that will pop up when any user enters the payment
post screen. The intention is to tell the person posting the payment to get certain information from the customer, such
as, "Need work phone number."
Amortization Screen Changes
You now have the ability of deferring a payment by one payment cycle. For leases, you have always had the ability
to alter the next due date on the screen. This new button gives you a quicker option of deferring a payment to the next
due date.
The number of times that a payment is deferred will be tallied and displayed on the Account Status and Loan Status screens.
Delinquency Changes
In the past, you had to make sure that billing was up-to-date in order to ensure that delinquencies would properly
calculate. Now, ALMSys is smart enough to look at unbilled amortization records and calculate delinquencies through
the given end date, regardless of whether the billing is up-to-date or not. (For tracking leases, you should be billing
at least once per month.)
Communicate Screen Changes
The communicate screen is used for letter writing. It functions like a mail-merge. This has been changed to allow
lease and loan balance calculation fields to be used.
Contact History Screen Changes
The contact history screen is used to store communications between the borrower and you. Collection notes should be
placed on this screen. This has been changed to add the contact history notes to the grid, and to resize the screen
to show more grid.
Termination Worksheet Screen Changes
The Vehicle Termination Worksheet has been broken up into 4 different screens. This was done mainly to avoid
memory issues in the program. The functionality of the individual screens matches how the individual pages
functioned, so it should be an easy transition from old to new.
New Reports
- Loan Balance Report. Will show loan balances as of the end date of the report.
- Loan Low Balances Report. Will show loans with payment balances less than an amount you input.
- Loan Repossessions in Progress. Will show loans marked for repossession.
- Loan Repossessions Report. Will show loans repossessed and what principal was written off.
- Loans as Termination. Will show all active loans at or past its scheduled end date.
- New Loan Detail. Will show new loans for the date range provided.
- Payments by Location. Will show all payments received for the date range provided.
- Payments by Location at which Paid. Will show all payments received for the date range provided, sorted by
the location at which it was paid.
- Receipt Report. Will show payments made in receipt number order.
Export to Excel Improved
Exporting data to Excel from reports, queries, and payoff worksheet has greatly improved. I had to drop
exporting to Word in order to achieve the performance. This should not be a big deal, as Excel is a better
data source for mail merges.
Other Changes
Removed "remote" features. These were created for a specific customer who no longer needs them.
Added the email "SMTP Port" number for better control of outgoing emails.
Added the leveraged financing bank account number to the Payoff Worksheet.
Added customer primary and secondary employer information.
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