Tracking Income, Assets, Debts, and Credit Score
Table of Contents
By entering a household's income, assets, and debt, HomeKeeper automatically calculates qualifying information such as “Percent of AMI,” “Total Monthly Debt Obligations," ”Actual Debt Ratio," and "Qualifying Amt. Available-House Payments." Organizations can use these calculations to support day-to-day program administration, impact measurement, and reporting requirements.
NOTE: This article provides an overview of entering and updating Household Financials.
- For instructions on tracking and reporting on changes in Financials, see the Financial Checkpoints article here.
- You can also find complete instructions for entering an application in the “Manually Entering an Applicant” article here.
WARNING: If you're using an online application that connects to HomeKeeper and automatically creates records, your process will be to review the records that were created by the application, make any needed adjustments, and update the Verification Type from "Self Reported" to the appropriate verification method.
Entering and Tracking Income
Income Sources relate to the Service File. They can be entered or updated from either the “Related” tab or the “Applicant Info” tab on the Service File.
1. Navigate to the “Applicant Info” tab, click on the “Income” sub-tab, and then select “Add Income Source.”
Enter each source of income in the household as an individual Income Source entry.
NOTE: Income Sources can be added from the Service File Related Lists as well. From the Service File, navigate to your Related Lists and click “New” next to Income Sources.
2. Enter the “Gross Annual Income” for each Income Source.
- HomeKeeper will calculate the Gross Annual Income for the entire household, as well as the "Gross Monthly Income," automatically under the “Qualifying Calculations” section of the Service File
3. Enter other key information for each income source, such as
NOTE: Excluding income. Some programs need to exclude part or all of an income source from the “Eligibility Income.” For example, if you are entering a teacher’s salary, you may not want to count their pre-tax deductions (retirement, healthcare, transportation) in their Eligibility Income. Or you may want to exclude unemployment compensation from Eligibility Income altogether.
To exclude an income source from HomeKeeper calculations, check the “Do Not Include in Eligibility Income” box.
Review and Update an Income Source Record
If you need to update income information for a program participant, simply navigate to the existing income sources to make necessary changes.
WARNING: Remember, historical financial information can be captured in Financial Checkpoints. Don't forget to create a new Financial Checkpoint before editing income!
1. From the Service File, open the Related Lists tab.
2. On the Income Sources related list, choose an Income Source record; they appear as underlined, blue hyperlinks.
3. Once you are in the Income Source record, you can view and update income information.
- If the participant is no longer receiving a particular income source, enter an employment end date, and check “Do not include in Eligibility Income.” (You may also delete the record, but you will lose the detailed history of that income source).
- To edit the amount received from a particular income source, simply edit the “Gross Annual Income” by using the pencil next to that field.
Entering and Tracking Debt
1. From the "Applicant Info" tab, select the “Debts” sub-tab and click "Add Debt".
NOTE: Debt can be added from the Service File Related Lists as well. From the Service File, navigate to your Related Lists and click “New” next to Debt.
2. Enter important details for each Debt
- Enter the Payee, or name of the creditor. Be specific so you can differentiate between similar debt types. (e.g., instead of "Credit Card" use "Chase Sapphire 1234").
- Enter the Monthly Payment amount. This is used to calculate "Total Monthly Debt Obligations".
- Enter “Balance Due.” This will be used to calculate “Total Debt” for the household.
- Select “Debt Type”
- Add the "Debtor" from the household
- Add verification method under "Verification Type"
- Add the "Date" listed on the verification document
- Click "Save and New" and repeat the process for each debt in the household.
Entering and Tracking Assets
1. Navigate to the “Applicant Info” tab, click on the “Assets” sub-tab, and then select “Add Asset.”
NOTE: Assets can be added from the Service File Related Lists as well. From the Service File, navigate to your Related Lists and click “New” next to Assets.
2. Type in the name of the first Asset you would like to add.
NOTE: Naming your Assets. Be sure to include enough context to identify the asset. For example, If you're adding a savings account, enter "Savings Account 4563," including the last four digits of the account number to differentiate the entry from additional accounts.
4. Enter the type of Asset under the "Type" field.
5. Enter the total value of the Asset.
6. Enter additional information.
You can also enter the Date (as listed on the verification document), and the Asset Owner from the household, and the verification method that you used under Verification Type.
7. Designate as a liquid asset
If this is a liquid asset, and the asset owner would have these funds available for purchase, check off the "Have Access Now" button. This will include the asset in the calculated field "Total Available Assets" under “Qualifying Calculations.”
8. Click "Save and New" and repeat the process for any additional assets.
NOTE: For Online Application Users and/ Credit Checker Users
If you're using an online application that connects to HomeKeeper and automatically creates Debt records: your process will be to review the debt records that were created by the application, making any needed adjustments, and updating the Verification Type from "Self Reported" to the appropriate verification method.
Entering and Tracking Credit
1. On the Service File, navigate to the Details Tab.
2. Under the Application Workflow section, select and edit “Applicant Credit Score”. Then save.
NOTE: Co-Applicant Credit Score can be added here if needed, under the “Co-Applicant Credit Score” field.
To update program participant credit scores over time, use Financial Checkpoints. See Track Financial Metrics Over Time with Financial Checkpoints.
Qualifying Calculations
Qualifying Calculations
Qualifying Calculations are located on the right-hand side of the Details and Related tabs for quick reference. This includes auto-calculated qualifying information such as “Eligibility Income” and “Percent AMI (Eligibility).”
- On the Service File, locate Qualifying Calculations (located on the right side of the page).
- If you've made updates to financials, you may need to refresh the Service File to view updated calculations.
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Financial Checkpoints
Financial Checkpoints help track household financial metrics over time. Out of the box, HomeKeeper can track changes in credit score, total assets, total debts, total monthly debt obligations, debt ratios, and Percent AMI with Financial Checkpoints.
This feature can be customized further so that if your organization wants to track different metrics, you can build upon this foundation.
See the article Track Financial Metrics Over Time with Financial Checkpoints for instructions.