Set finance terms and the lienholder
For a finance deal, enter the APR, term, down payment, and amount financed, then attach the lienholder when you create the deal so it can be marked sold.
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A finance deal is one where a bank lends the money and pays you in full at signing. Two things make it work: the loan terms (APR, term, down payment, amount financed), which feed the Retail Installment Contract, and the lienholder, meaning the bank. A finance deal can't be marked sold without a lienholder.
The Finance terms section and the lienholder rule apply only to deals with the type Finance. Cash and Wholesale deals don't have them. In-house (BHPH) financing, where you carry the note instead of a bank, uses a different tool: the dedicated loan calculator on the deal, not this Finance terms box.
Attach the lienholder
The lienholder is the bank financing the deal. You choose it on the New deal form when you create the deal. It's part of the deal's core data, not something you edit on the deal page afterward, so pick it up front. When the AI assistant starts a finance deal for you, its card names the lienholder (or lets you pick one) for the same reason.
- On the New deal form, set the Deal type to Finance. A Lienholder (optional) dropdown then appears.
- Choose the bank from the list. If the dropdown is empty, it shows "None selected" as the only option, with an explanatory message below it saying "No lienholders on file" with an Add one link.
- Fill in the rest of the deal and click Create deal.
If you don't have the bank on file yet, add it under Settings → Lienholders (in the Sales and deals group):
- Go to Settings → Lienholders and click Add lienholder (or use the Add a lienholder → link on the deal's warning banner).
- Fill in at least the Name; it's the only required field. Add EIN / Tax ID, email, phone, payoff phone/address, and a mailing address if you have them.
- Click Add lienholder, then start (or restart) the finance deal and pick the new lienholder from the dropdown.
If you created a deal without a lienholder and used the warning banner to add one, you will need to create a new finance deal to attach the new lienholder; the banner link adds the lienholder record but does not retroactively attach it to the existing deal.
A finance deal cannot be marked sold until a lienholder is attached. While the deal is in draft or pending with no lienholder, it shows a Lienholder required banner; Mark sold also fails with a "lienholder required" message. Because the lienholder is set only on the New deal form, pick it when you create the deal. If the deal already exists without one, cancel it while it is still draft or pending and start a new Finance deal with the lienholder selected. The banner's Add a lienholder → link takes you to create the lienholder record; it does not attach that record to the open deal. (Cash and Wholesale deals are exempt.)
Enter the finance terms
Open the deal and find the Finance terms section (it appears only on Finance deals).
- APR (%): the annual percentage rate, e.g.
6.9. Up to 3 decimal places. - Term (months): the number of monthly payments, e.g.
60. It must be a whole number from 1 to 600, or left blank while you wait on the lender. - Down payment: the cash the buyer puts down, 0.00 or more. A negative down payment or amount financed is refused, and so is a term of 0; the save tells you which, and your last saved terms stay as they were.
- Amount financed: the loan principal. Use the Suggest (price + tax + fees − down − trade) link to fill it from: selling price + tax + doc fee + other fees + F&I products − down payment − net trade equity (trade allowance minus payoff).
- Click Save finance terms.
As you type, the box previews three figures live:
- Monthly payment: the level monthly payment.
- Finance charge: total interest over the loan (total of payments − amount financed).
- Total of payments: monthly payment × term.
These three figures are calculated from your inputs, not stored: they recompute every time you change a field. They populate the Retail Installment Contract (the TILA disclosure box) on the deal's paperwork.
The math is a simple monthly level-payment amortization: M = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n). It's an estimate for the disclosure box. The exact contract figures from your lender may differ slightly.
You can also ask the AI assistant to set the terms ("Ally approved 6.9% for 72 months with 2,500 down on A100"). It prepares a card with each term before and after and the monthly payment, and nothing changes until you approve it. When you give no amount financed and the deal has none, the card fills it the way Suggest does, for you to check. It never picks a rate or a term itself, and Undo on the card puts the earlier terms back.
FAQ
Why can't I mark this finance deal sold?
The most common cause is a missing lienholder. Finance deals require one before Mark sold will succeed. The OFAC screening in the Compliance step can block it too: the sale is refused if the buyer or co-buyer was never screened, if a co-buyer was added or a name changed after the screening, or while a match is unresolved. Red Flags do not block the sale.
Where do the monthly payment and finance charge come from?
They're computed live from the APR, Term, Down payment, and Amount financed you enter. They aren't saved separately. Change a term and they update instantly, and they fill the Retail Installment Contract.
What does the Suggest link calculate?
It estimates the amount financed as selling price + tax + doc fee + other fees + F&I products, minus the down payment, minus net trade equity (trade allowance − payoff). An upside-down trade (payoff bigger than allowance) correctly increases the amount financed, and the result is never negative.
Do I enter finance terms for a cash deal or an in-house (BHPH) deal?
No. The Finance terms section only appears on Finance deals. Cash deals have no loan terms. In-house (BHPH) deals are financed by you, not a bank, so they use the dedicated loan calculator on the deal instead.
Can I change the lienholder after the deal is created?
The lienholder is chosen on the New deal form, and there's no separate screen to edit it on an existing deal, so set it correctly up front. If you missed it, create the lienholder under Settings → Lienholders first. Then cancel the deal (a car can carry only one open deal at a time), start a new Finance deal, and select the lienholder from the dropdown.