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The Credit Renewal Process

January 10, 2019 by

The Credit Renewal Process - FINPACK‘Tis the season for credit renewals.  FINPACK has several tools to assist lenders with this process, from spreading, to financial analysis, projection preparation, and pulling the pieces of the credit analysis together.

In general, within FINPACK, the recommendation is to work down the left side file navigation to complete the credit renewal and analysis process.  Start with data sources, move to financial analysis, complete cash flow projections, and then pull everything together with the credit analysis tools.  With that being said, here is a bit more background on these tools and how they aid the credit renewal process. [Read more…]

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Thank you!

January 9, 2019 by

Thank You, from the FINPACK TeamThe FINPACK Team would like to take a moment to thank all of you who joined us at recent events.  We had many users stop at the FINPACK booth at the ABA Ag Lender’s Conference in November.  Then in December, we appreciated all of the attendees at the FINPACK Lender’s Conference.  We sincerely enjoyed having the opportunity to interact with such a diverse group of partners at these events.  It’s always great to connect with long-time FINPACK users, to those who are just beginning to investigate FINPACK as a tool for future use, and everyone in between.  Our team is excited about the future developments of FINPACK, as was showcased at the Lender’s Conference.  Stay tuned for more information on these exciting additions to FINPACK!

Upcoming Events

Our team will also be at upcoming national lending conferences.  Find us in San Diego at the ABA Conference for Community Bankers in February.  In March, we will be in Nashville at the ICBA Live National Convention.  Stop by get your questions answered and learn more about FINPACK at both events.

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FINPACK C & I Business Analysis

December 19, 2018 by

How to use FINPACK Loan CalculatorAnalyzing a commercial business can be tricky. Commercial businesses can be very different from each other even if they sell the same product. In addition, if you are unfamiliar with the particular industry, how do you measure management’s performance? The latest release of FINPACK has an overhauled C & I Analysis that helps you better analyze your commercial credits, as well as management’s ability.

[Read more…]

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FINPACK Annual Update – What’s New?

December 6, 2018 by

The annual FINPACK update was released in November and there are several new features to be aware of as you use FINPACK for the upcoming renewal season.

Each year the FINPACK Team takes suggestions and requests from our users to enhance the software. Therefore, feel free to pass along constructive feedback! This year’s update includes:

[Read more…]

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Starting Points Matter

November 8, 2018 by

Does helping the next generation start farming improve their profit potential?

By:  Joleen C. Hadrich and C. Robert Holcomb

Farmers are entrepreneurs and finding the resources to start their operation can have direct implications on their financial success over time, which is the topic of the second installment of the “Top Farmer”[1] newsletter series. Of the 334 survey respondents, 18% of the farms started independently without any help from family, 47% reported receiving help from their parents while operating their own farm independently, 25% are currently farming with family members in a partnership, and the remaining 10% used other strategies to start farming.

[Read more…]

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ABA National Agricultural Bankers Conference

November 1, 2018 by

Make plans to join the FINPACK Team in Omaha at the 2018 ABA National Agricultural Bankers Conference Nov. 11-14.  FINPACK and Farmer Mac kick off the conference as hosts of the Pre-Conference Seminar on Sunday afternoon titled, “Sinkholes, Landslides, and Volcanoes:  How Can Your Customers Survive an Evolving Landscape?”.  This year’s session will focus on identifying where your customers are with continued tight margins and the impact on community banks. There will be a discussion of best practices and take-homes for managing the risk in this evolving landscape. Dr. David Kohl will be back with his view from the road.

Also, join the FINPACK Team as we host the Grand Opening Reception on Sunday evening.  Lastly, stop and visit with our team throughout the conference at our booth in the Exhibit Hall.  We love to connect with current and potential customers.  While at our booth, get a preview of this year’s FINPACK updates or ask those “how do I” questions.

We look forward to seeing you soon in Omaha!

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What’s the Frequency?

October 19, 2018 by

What's the Frequency?Recently, there was a FINPACK News article on the basic functions of the FINPACK Loan Calculator.  This article goes in-depth on what the ‘Payment Frequency’ of the calculator means (i.e. the frequency of Annual payments, Monthly payments, etc.). Currently, the loan calculator payment frequency choices are Annual, Bi-monthly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annual, Semi-monthly, and Weekly.

[Read more…]

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Difficult Choices

October 4, 2018 by

Difficult Decisions - Grain Markets and LendingHarvest is here and it is time to assess storage opportunities in corn and soybean markets.  As a lender, here are a few items that should be on your customer’s minds.

Prices are low

In the Northern Plains, producers are looking at cash soybean prices of $7.30/bushel in southern Minnesota, and as low as $6.75/bushel in North Dakota. The last time we saw prices like this was the harvest of 2007. Corn prices are $3.00/bushel, +/- 20 cents in the same areas. $3 corn at harvest is not profitable and, unfortunately, not new. These prices are all too similar to levels seen in each of the last four harvests. [Read more…]

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Does Grain Marketing Improve Profitability?

September 28, 2018 by

Does Grain Marketing Improve Profitability?By:  Joleen C. Hadrich and C. Robert Holcomb

Farm managers recognize the importance of having a marketing plan to improve their profitability.  And, the title of Ed Usset’s grain marketing book conveys an important truth- “Grain Marketing is Simple-it’s just not easy!”  In the “Top Farmer”[1] survey, crop producers were asked to categorize the percent of their crop marketed across 3 general categories: pre-harvest contracts (cash contracts, futures, and options), post-harvest contracts (cash contracts, futures, and options) and cash sales (harvest and post-harvest).

In order to compare the highest and lowest performing farms, farm profit performance was measured using an adjusted net farm income ratio[2].  Comparison across performance levels was completed for the “Top Farmers” who were in the highest 20% of financial performance, measured by the adjusted NFI ratio, compared to the lowest 20% of farmers.  In 2016, regardless of whether you were in the highest or the lowest 20% of producers, approximately 34-35% of the overall crop was sold using pre-harvest contracts, futures, or options while another 36-37% was sold through harvest or post-harvest cash sales.  The main difference in marketing between these two groups occurred with post-harvest contracts.  The highest performing farms contract approximately 29% of their crop using some combination of post-harvest cash contracts, futures, and options.  The lowest performing farms only contracted 22-23% of their crop with post-harvest contracts, futures, and/or options.  [Read more…]

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Take Note

September 14, 2018 by

At times it is necessary and desirable to add notes in a FINPACK file.  Notes are a log of important items related to the specific FINPACK tool they are attached to.  Notes are often used to provide additional information related to the customer and the specific FINPACK tool.  Notes can give additional detail and further outline methodology used for FINPACK users.  For example, a Note can be added on a balance sheet to further describe the details of contracted grain.  Or a Note can be added to a cash flow projection to outline the procedure used and thought process behind a loan restructure proposal. [Read more…]

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