All field guides
The operating library for a private loan book.
Worked calculations, servicing checklists, exception workflows, and practical explanations for the work after closing.
Spreadsheet vs. software for loan servicing
Where a workbook stops keeping up — and what actually changes when the book moves into software built for servicing.
Updated Jul 2026 · 3 min read20 guides
20 guides.
How to import a private loan book from Excel without importing the mess
A practical boarding sequence for loans, borrowers, investors, reserves, payments, and opening balances — with validation before anything commits.
Actual/365, Actual/360, and 30/360: why the same rate produces different interest
One $500,000 loan under three conventions — where the daily, monthly, payoff, and effective-rate differences come from.
Interest reserves for private real-estate loans: funding, depletion, and borrower shortfall
How to distinguish the funded balance, planned draw, actual reserve movement, projected depletion, and the amount the borrower must cover.
The monthly close checklist for loan servicing
A repeatable sequence for posting receipts, reviewing accruals, reconciling investor activity, working exceptions, and locking the period.
Amount due vs. accrued interest: what a private-loan statement should show
Why current amount due, unpaid billed interest, and economic accrual are different figures — and when a borrower statement should show one, two, or all three.
Late fees and delinquency: a servicing workflow for private lenders
A practical sequence for identifying an overdue amount, applying the configured grace period and fee, documenting contact, and preserving reversals.
How to extend or work out a private loan without losing its history
A servicing framework for extensions, rate changes, forbearance, deferral, capitalization, advances, and paydowns as dated events.
Investor changes mid-loan: assignments, buyouts, advances, and recapitalizations
How to preserve ownership and capital history when investors enter, exit, transfer, or contribute on a non-pro-rata basis.
Insurance and collateral follow-up after a private loan closes
What to track about the property, coverage status, expiration, documents, and follow-up — without turning servicing software into construction management.
Loan-servicing audit history: the record behind a changed number
What to capture when a rate, maturity, balance, borrower, or investor position changes — and why before-and-after values matter.
Investor reporting for private lenders: due, accrued, paid, and returned
A working statement and reporting cadence that keeps current earnings, unpaid accrual, distributions, and principal activity from collapsing into one number.
Payoff letters and the per-diem
How a payoff is itemized, and why the daily interest figure has to be exact.
Year-end records vs. tax advice
What a reconciliation package is for — and where your accountant takes over.
Borrower and investor portals, read-only by design
What each party can see, and why scoped read-only access changes the reporting cadence.
Private-lending back-office operations: the post-close workflow
What happens daily, monthly, at payoff, and at year-end — and which parts belong in the servicing record, the bank, and the accounting system.
When private lenders need servicing help: software, staff, or an outside servicer
Sort the repeatable calculations, judgment-heavy exceptions, borrower communication, and money movement before deciding what kind of help to add.
In-house vs. outsourced loan servicing for private lenders
How to compare control, payment handling, borrower communication, reporting, staffing, event fees, and record ownership.
Free private-lending servicing templates: the post-close starter pack
Invoice, investor statement, reserve schedule, monthly close, and payoff templates — plus what each can and cannot reliably do in a spreadsheet.
The private lender's year-end tax-prep checklist
The servicing records to reconcile and hand to your accountant before filing season — and the line where their work begins.