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4 min read

How to Resolve the Payoff Error Message in CIM GOLD

How to Resolve the Payoff Error Message in CIM GOLD

Intended audience: Current clients and testers of GOLDPoint Systems

One of the most frustrating error messages your testers come across when testing payoffs using the Payoff screen in our loan servicing program (CIM GOLD) is the following error message:

image 1-Aug-27-2020-05-25-02-87-PM

This is a very common error message on Beta machines, where many of your testers likely run dozens of payoffs to make sure all information is accurate. This error message occurs after an account has been selected on the Loans > Payoff screen, and then a user enters an Effective Payoff Date and clicks the RECALC button to get the payoff amount, as shown below:

image 1 (3)-4

This is when your testers likely say an expletive in their brain and shake their fists in our direction. #nojudging

But the truth is, this error message is likely caused by someone tinkering with the G/L accounts. This is not a machine or system error: this is a human error. The nice thing about human errors—they’re super easy to fix. (2,000 years of human history might disagree, but for this scenario, it’s true.)

Granted, the error message displayed isn’t the most helpful, as it doesn’t tell the user how to resolve the error. And even more frustrating, users can’t run the payoff until the error is resolved.

This blog post will attempt to explain the steps involved in fixing this error, so the payoff can be processed on the test accounts. It will also explain why this error occurs.

Note: This error likely rarely, if ever, shows in production. This error has to do with General Ledger accounts becoming inactive or being deleted, which likely doesn’t happen often in production. However, if you do see this error in production, you would follow these same steps to correct the error.

Adjustments Tab

The first thing users should do when they see that error message is go to the Adjustments tab of the Payoff screen. You’ll see right away which G/L account is the culprit, because it will have an error icon next to it. If you place your cursor over that error icon, the reason for the error appears, as shown below:

image 1 (4)-Aug-27-2020-05-30-23-48-PM

What this is error is telling us is that the Overpayment G/L has an invalid G/L account.

First thing you’ll want to check is the account’s loan type. To find the account’s loan type, navigate to the Loans > Account Information > Account Detail screen > Account tab, and you’ll see the loan type, as shown below:

image 1 (6)-4

Write down the loan type (or just remember it in your head) and navigate to the GOLD Services > General Ledger > GL Account by Loan Type screen.

Find the loan type in the left list-view table on the left and select it. Remember how you were supposed to pay attention to the G/L title where the error existed on the Payoff screen? This is where you can see that G/L listed. In our Payoff example above, the title was OVERPAYMENT. So we look for the G/L called “Payoff Overpayment,” as shown below:

image 1 (7)-4

As you can see in the example above, there is no error icon next to that Payoff Overpayment G/L account. If it isn’t a valid G/L account, shouldn’t it show an error icon?

Whenever you initially enter a G/L account on that screen, the system checks to make sure the G/L you are using is a valid G/L account. And if the G/L account is not valid because it does not exist in the G/L system or is not active, an error icon shows to the right, as shown below:

image 1 (8)-3

But in our example, there is no error icon, so it must be correct, right? Well, it was likely correct when the G/L was originally entered for that loan type. However, in the intervening months and years, someone may have gone into the General Ledger system and marked that G/L account as inactive, or perhaps they deleted that G/L account. Another common reason is that the office numbers or loan types were deleted (or added), and the parameter substitution used in the G/L account included the office number (OB) or loan type (TP). In which case, this screen in CIM GOLD does not update to show the error icon next to the inactive or deleted G/L account.

Tip: What are parameter substitutions? That’s a whole different blog post, but you can get an idea of what they are from this link in DocsOnWeb: Parameter Substitutions.

You can test this by deleting that G/L account number, then re-entering it and clicking <Save>, and the error icon would then appear. If using a parameter substitution, instead of using the substitution symbols, use the actual office number or loan type, and click <Save>. Does the error appear? If so, it’s a bad G/L account.

So what should you do now? You need to talk to your accounting team member and make sure they get a proper, active G/L account in those fields for those loan types. If you know about the General Ledger system and which G/L accounts you can use, you can do that yourself.

Once a valid G/L account is on that field on the GL Account by Loan Type screen, you can go back to the Payoff screen and calculate your payoff successfully without any errors.

Insurance Rebates

Insurance rebates are common in payoffs. They too have a G/L account to debit or credit insurance rebate amounts, but they aren’t entered on the GL Account by Loan Type screen but another screen that will be described in the next paragraphs.

Insurance rebates are when a loan includes an insurance policy (or more than one) and the loan is paid off early. When this happens, insurance policies are canceled as of the payoff date. Therefore, a portion of the insurance policies (unearned amount) are rebated back to the customer at payoff. The rebated amount of insurance policies is shown on the Adjustment tab of the Payoff screen, as shown below:

image 1 (9)-2

The amount of the insurance rebate reduces the payoff amount; however, the system needs to track those amounts into the proper G/L accounts.

The G/L accounts for those insurance policies are entered on the GOLD Services > General Ledger > Setup G/L and Commissions screen. So if you see the error icon next to a rebated insurance policy, as shown above, you know that the G/L account for that insurance policy type has either not been set up on the Setup G/L and Commissions screen or has an invalid G/L account on that same screen.

For example, perhaps your institution starts implementing new insurance policy types for a new company, such as life insurance, which are policy types 50-59. Before this time, your institution did not offer life insurance policies.

If those policy types are not set up on the Setup G/L and Commissions screen, when a loan is paid off that has that policy type and it includes a rebated amount from that policy, the Adjustments tab will show an error icon next to that insurance rebate.

So again, you’ll need to make sure a valid G/L account and policy type/company number are set up on the Setup G/L and Commissions screen before you can finish paying off that loan. See this topic in DocsOnWeb for a complete description on how to set up this screen: Setup G/L and Commissions Screen.

Tip: The company number and policy type for the insurance policy can be found on the Loans > Insurance > Policy Detail screen > Policy Information tab in CIM GOLD.

Let us know if you’d like us to explain any other common trouble points you’ve had when working in our system. We aim to make our products the best in the market.

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