Loan instalments and repayment
Once a loan is live it repays itself through payroll: each instalment becomes a deduction on a payslip. Understanding the schedule is how you answer the two questions employees actually ask — what am I paying, and when does it end.
Where: Benefits › Team loans › the loan You need: benefits rights covering that employee
How repayment works
An approved, disbursed loan generates a schedule of instalments. Each instalment has a date and an amount, and when payroll runs for that period the instalment is deducted from the payslip.
In KAMI's own words: "Installments shall be automatically deducted from payrolls as scheduled. In the event of missed payments, the installment will be charged to the next payslip with any applicable default interest applied."
That second sentence is the one worth reading twice. A missed instalment is not written off — it moves forward, and it may carry default interest.
Instalment statuses
| Status | Means |
|---|---|
| Pending | Scheduled, not yet taken |
| Paid | Deducted from a payslip |
| Skipped | Deliberately not taken this period |
| Voided | Cancelled entirely |
Skipped and voided are different. A skipped instalment is still owed; a voided one is not. Choosing the wrong one either forgives a debt you did not intend to, or chases one you did.
What happens when an instalment is skipped
Skipping is a decision about the rest of the schedule, and there are three ways to handle it:
| Handling | Effect |
|---|---|
| Create deferred | The instalment is added to the end — the loan runs longer |
| Adjust in remaining | The amount is spread across the remaining instalments — they get bigger |
| Do nothing | The instalment is simply not taken |
The first two both recover the money and differ in who feels it: deferred extends the term, adjusting raises every remaining payment. Tell the employee which one you have applied — they will notice either way.
The repayment plan
A loan's repayment is a plan with its own state:
| Plan status | Means |
|---|---|
| Active | Repaying on schedule |
| Paused | Temporarily not deducting |
| Cancelled | Stopped |
| Completed | Fully repaid |
Pausing is the humane option when someone hits difficulty — better than a run of missed instalments accruing default interest. It is also easy to forget to unpause, so give it an end date in your own records.
What Happens Next
- Instalments are deducted when the payslip for that period is calculated. A loan that goes live after calculation is not on that payslip until it is recalculated.
- Recalculating a payslip re-applies the scheduled deduction — it does not lose it.
- The outstanding balance falls as instalments are paid, and drives what is owed on final pay.
- A missed instalment moves to the next payslip, potentially with default interest.
Tips
- Check the first instalment lands as expected. If the first one is right, the rest of the schedule usually is.
- Use pause rather than letting instalments miss. Missed payments accrue penalties and turn a temporary problem into a larger debt.
- Be explicit about skip handling. Deferring and adjusting produce very different employee experiences, and neither is obvious from the payslip.
- Reconcile outstanding balances monthly, not at year end. A loan that stopped deducting three months ago is a much bigger conversation than one that stopped last month.
- Never void an instalment to fix an admin error — voiding forgives the money. Skip it and defer instead.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
Q: An instalment was not deducted. Check the payslip was calculated after the loan went live, that the instalment was scheduled for that period, and that the plan is Active rather than Paused.
Q: An employee's instalments suddenly increased. A skipped instalment was probably adjusted across the remaining ones.
Q: A missed instalment — is it written off? No. It moves to the next payslip and may attract default interest.
Q: The employee wants to pay the loan off early. Settle against the outstanding balance and confirm the plan completes.
Q: We paused a loan and forgot to restart it. Unpause it and decide how to recover the missed period — deferring is usually fairer than a sudden increase.