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:
General
- Made the Earned Net Worth Analysis available in commercial files.
- Split the “Tax Forms / Income Statements” section of the file navigation dialog into two separate sections. All existing data is still available, this just makes the generic Income Statement more prominent for users to find.
C & I Business Analysis (commercial)
- Added an Executive Summary trend report.
- Added an itemized expense list in the Income Statement reports.
- Added a detailed ratio report for the most recent year.
- Added Cash Drivers summary trend report and Cash Drivers detail report for the most recent year.
Detailed Balance Sheet (commercial)
- In the Equity section, added entries for preferred stock, common stock, and other stock.
- Renamed several asset accounts to be more consistent with the revised C & I Business Analysis.
- Added Other Noncurrent Liabilities as a data entry item.
Detailed Balance Sheet (agriculture and commercial)
- Added columns for Year Purchased, Purchase Price, Year Sold, and Sales Price in detail for all intermediate, long term, and noncurrent asset categories. This is mainly for informational purposes but can be used to complete capital purchases and sales detail in FINAN, Earned Net Worth Analysis, and Schedule F Cash to Accrual Analysis.
- Added a “Show sold assets” check-box in all intermediate, long term, and noncurrent asset detail.
- In detail for Cash Value of Life Insurance, added fields for Person Insured and Beneficiary.
Financial Analysis (FINAN – agriculture)
- Modified the calculations in the area of Repayment Capacity to more accurately reflect coverage ratios and margins for a partial-year analysis.
Legacy Projections vs Projections
- The “Legacy Projections” and “Projections” sections were added to the file navigation dialog in the November 2017 release. The “Legacy Projections” section has the Annual Cash Flow Plan and Monthly Cash Flow Plan (FINFLO) tools that work the same as in previous releases. The “Projections” section has updated tools with new features such as Crop and Livestock Budgets and Cash Flow Projection (FINFLO)
- The “Legacy Projections” section and tools will be available for 2018-2019, but the plan is those tools will go away in 2019-2020. When the legacy tools do go away, all existing legacy projections will be converted to the new projections so no data will be lost.
Projection Cash Flow Planning Tool
- The new Cash Flow Projection tool is really three-tools-in-one because you can choose from three different plan types…
- Monthly plan with crop and livestock budgets – This plan type is very similar to the legacy monthly FINFLO tool. It relies on crop and livestock enterprise budgets as a basis for production information. One significant change is feed equivalents are no longer used. Feed equivalents were a way to comingle similar feed types such as grains, hay, or silage. This change away from using feed equivalents means when you copy a legacy FINFLO to a new style FINFLO the feeding calculations may be slightly different. The overall plan results will be very close.
- Monthly plan – This plan type does not require crop or livestock budgets but it still has all the monthly details for projecting peak operating loan needs. This plan type can also use expense history from a Schedule F tax form.
- Annual plan – This plan type is similar to the legacy Annual Plan tool. This new tool allows for multi-year annual plans.
As always, feel free to contact FINPACK Tech Support with questions, including those regarding the annual FINPACK update. Also, if you are attending the FINPACK Lender’s Conference you will learn more about these updates and exciting future FINPACK developments.
Pauline Van Nurden joined the FINPACK Team as an Economist in 2017.
Prior to joining the FINPACK Team, she worked as a lender. This provides her valuable industry experience and knowledge in her work with FINPACK. Pauline holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Education and Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Economics, both from the University of Minnesota.