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Make Confident Decisions

How to Rework Your Debt With the Debt Restructuring Play

3 min read

You'll see whether rolling your debt into one refinanced loan would lower your payments, with the new rate, term and monthly payment side by side with today's.

Before You Start

  • Where it is: "Plays" in the navbar, then "Start New". The Play is called "Debt Restructuring".
  • What you need: your loans and cards in the Funding step (step 1), and Plays unlocked by ending the Score Card's tour.
  • Plan: a paid tier. Each run costs 1 credit. A free Custom Scenario can't change debt, so there's no by-hand version of this Play.

Steps

  1. Enter your debt. In My Business, open "Funding" under "Edit Financials" and click "Add Debt" (or "Add Your First Debt"). For each loan, line of credit or card, fill in "Debt Name", "Debt Type" and "Annual Interest Rate (APR)", then "Original Loan Amount", "Loan Start Date" and "Loan Term" for a loan, or "Current Balance" for a card or line of credit. Screenshot to come: Funding step listing a loan under Debts (funding-debts.png)
  2. Open the Play. On the Plays page, click "Start New". In "Start a New Play", pick "Debt Restructuring". The intro sums up your accounts, total balance and average rate.
  3. Mark what stays put. "Items to keep as-is" lists each debt with its type and balance. Tick any the Play should leave alone, such as a loan with a prepayment penalty. Everything left unticked is a candidate for one consolidated loan. Screenshot to come: Debt Restructuring intro listing each debt under Items to keep as-is (debt-restructuring-intro.png)
  4. Add context. In "Additional context for Occam", add a lender's offer, a payoff date you're aiming for, or a limit on new borrowing.
  5. Click "Run Play". It costs 1 credit, charged only if the run succeeds.
  6. Read the recommendation. "Refinancing Terms" shows your current average rate against the recommended rate and term, with "Current Annual Service", "New Annual Service", "New Monthly Payment" and "Annual Savings". The top shows "Annual Debt Savings" and "Cash Flow Impact". Screenshot to come: Debt Restructuring results with Refinancing Terms and the new monthly payment (debt-restructuring-results.png)
  7. Check the cash and the plan. The "Cash Flow Impact" tab compares Current, Change and Scenario. "Implementation Plan" lists the steps to take to a lender.

Tips

  • "Stay Put" means the rate your business could likely get today isn't lower than what you already pay. That's an answer, not an error.
  • To try a different rate or term, click "Duplicate & Customize". The copy's "Edits" tab has "Interest Rate (%)" and "Loan Term (years)"; click "Save Changes" to recompute.
  • With a single debt, ticking it in "Items to keep as-is" leaves the Play nothing to work on.

Common Questions

Does the Play apply for a loan or contact my lender?
No. It models the change on a copy of your business and gives you a plan. Any application happens outside the app.

What if I haven't entered any debt?
The intro says no active debt accounts were found, and a run fails without charging a credit. Add your debts in Funding first.

Why are the results yearly when my payments are monthly?
Plays report yearly amounts. "New Monthly Payment" is the one monthly figure; compare it with your statement.