Loan Types
The common loan types (annuity, linear, bullet, balloon, rate lock, grace period, construction, disagio, intercompany) with a sample schedule for each and how to set it up in LoanMonitor.
Banks and contracts use many names for loans. Most of them describe one of a few repayment patterns, combined with a rate type and a handful of agreements. These pages explain the common types, show a small repayment schedule for each one, and tell you how to set it up in LoanMonitor.
How LoanMonitor describes a loan
Every loan in LoanMonitor is a combination of a few choices. Knowing them makes any loan type easy to map:
| Building block | Where | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Direction | Wizard, Parties | Borrowed (you repay) or Granted (you are repaid) |
| Rate type | Wizard, Terms | Fixed or Variable (reference index + spread) |
| Repayment type | Wizard, Terms | Annuity, Linear or Bullet |
| Repayment plan | Wizard, Terms (annuity only) | Annuity to maturity or Fixed installment (amount or initial repayment %) |
| Agreements | Wizard, Terms / Agreements | Disagio, Commitment interest |
| Plan changes | Loan, Adjustments → Repayment plan | Switch the method from a date: pause, payment holiday, fixed installment, fixed principal |
| Events | Loan, Adjustments | Disbursements, Extra repayments, Renewals, Commitment |
The repayment schedule is always recalculated from these inputs, so you never maintain the plan by hand.
Term loan is the umbrella term: money paid out once or in tranches and repaid by a fixed maturity date. Every loan created in the wizard is a term loan. The pages below differ in how the principal comes back.
Annuity Loan
Level installment; the interest share falls and the principal share rises. The German standard, also with an initial repayment rate.
Linear Loan
Equal principal every period, falling installments. Tilgungsdarlehen.
Bullet Loan
Interest only during the term, the full principal at maturity. Endfälliges Darlehen.
Balloon Loan
Partial amortization with a large final payment.
Rate Lock and Prolongation
A fixed rate for an agreed period, then new conditions. Zinsbindung.
Variable-Rate Loan
Rate reset to EURIBOR, €STR or SOFR plus a spread, from your bank's fixing notices.
Grace Period and Payment Holiday
Interest-only start years, or a full pause with capitalized interest.
Construction and Drawdown Loans
Paid out in tranches, with commitment interest on the undrawn part.
Disagio
Net payout below the principal; the full amount is repaid.
Extra Repayments
Sondertilgung: lower the installment or shorten the term.
Intercompany and Shareholder Loans
The same patterns, borrowed or granted.
The four repayment patterns side by side
Every page uses the same example: 100,000 EUR at 4.00 % p.a. over 5 years, one installment per year, interest on whole years. The balloon column uses a fixed installment of 15,000.
| Year | Annuity | Linear | Bullet | Balloon (fixed 15,000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22,462.71 | 24,000.00 | 4,000.00 | 15,000.00 |
| 2 | 22,462.71 | 23,200.00 | 4,000.00 | 15,000.00 |
| 3 | 22,462.71 | 22,400.00 | 4,000.00 | 15,000.00 |
| 4 | 22,462.71 | 21,600.00 | 4,000.00 | 15,000.00 |
| 5 | 22,462.71 | 20,800.00 | 104,000.00 | 15,000.00 + 40,420.46 balloon |
| Total interest | 12,313.55 | 12,000.00 | 20,000.00 | 15,420.46 |
What the table shows:
- Annuity keeps the payment level. Early installments are mostly interest, late ones mostly principal.
- Linear starts highest and falls every year. It pays the least interest because the balance drops fastest.
- Bullet is cheapest to carry and most expensive overall: the full balance earns interest for five years and comes due at once.
- Balloon sits in between: a lower fixed installment leaves a remaining balance that must be paid or refinanced at maturity.
Not covered today
Revolving credit lines and current-account overdrafts (Kontokorrentkredit), whose balance changes daily without a repayment schedule, and leasing contracts are not a fit for LoanMonitor's schedule-based model at the moment. If you track them elsewhere and only need the drawn amount in your portfolio overview, record them as a bullet loan and update the principal through disbursements and extra repayments.
See also
- Variable-Rate Loans for fixings and projections.
- Day Count Conventions for how interest days are counted.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Let your team sign in to LoanMonitor with your company account (Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace and more). What SSO gives you and what we need to set it up.
Annuity Loan
Annuity loan (Annuitätendarlehen): a level installment whose interest share falls and principal share rises, with or without an initial repayment rate.