Settlement Financials - QLD

Table of Contents

• Access Settlement Financials
• Adjustments tab
• Settlement Adjustment Types
  • Time Related Adjustments
  • Water Usage
  • Penalty Interest
  • Rent or Licence Fees
  • Registration Fees
  • Miscellaneous
• Cheques tab
  • Amounts Required to Settle
  • Cheque Direction

Access Settlement Financials

1.    Double-click Settlement Financials under Matter Details.

Adjustments tab

All adjustments will be entered here.

1.    Ensure that you have your Settlement Date entered in Conveyancing Details. 

Tip:  If you forgot to enter it, simply click the Edit Conveyancing Details link from the top right corner to add it. The Adjustment Date will then default to the Settlement Date.  You can enter a different adjustment date if it's not the same as the settlement date.

2.    Select Add Adjustment Item to create an adjustment item from a blank template OR click on the down arrow to see a list of your standard items.

3.    Common standard adjustments will display by default. You can add and modify Standard Adjustment Items by selecting the gear icon next to the Add Adjustment Item drop-down menu.

4.    Check or uncheck the boxes in the Default column to change the default adjustments that populate when you first open Settlement Financials.

5.    Once you have all the required adjustments entered, double-click on each entry to open the window to enter the information.

6.    To remove any adjustments, right-click and select Delete.

Settlement Adjustment Types

There are currently 6 Adjustment Types that can be used to calculate different adjustments:

• Time Related (e.g. Council Rates, Water Access & Sewerage Rates, Administrative Funds and Insurance)
• Water Usage 
• Penalty Interest
• Rent or Licence Fee
• Registration Fee
• Miscellaneous

Time Related Adjustments

Use this for any adjustments that are to be based on dates, such as Council rates, Strata Levies etc. 

Note that the layout for Water Access & Sewerage changes to the calculation.

Water Usage

Enter water usage based on either average daily usage or last two reading dates. Add Tiers to allow for pricing increases for excess usage. Refer to Time Related Adjustments for information on Description and Cheque Details.

Penalty Interest

This allows you to enter interest adjustment such as late settlement interest payment.

Rent or Licence Fees

Select Rent for seller allowable rent that has been pre-paid by a tenant prior to settlement. Select Licence fees when the buyer pays a fee for early licence of the property. 

Registration Fees

Enter details of any document registration fees to be allowed by the seller. Any entries with a Quantity of '0' will not appear on the Adjustments screen. Only enter cheque details if a cheque is required to be drawn.

Miscellaneous

Use the Miscellaneous type for any adjustments that do not fall into the other categories. These are generally one-off lump sum adjustments such as settlement fees. Enter all relevant information, including cheque details if required.

Cheques tab

As viewed on a purchase matter. In a Sale matter only the Cheque Direction section is available.

Amounts Required to Settle

Once you have entered all your adjustments, select the Cheques tab

The Amount Required to Settle section is a reconciliation of the amounts the buyer needs to pay in order to settle. i.e. Amount due on Adjustment Sheet plus Stamp Duty and Your Invoice. You will need to add the amount of your invoice (if applicable).

Select Add Amount to create additional entries if required.

To remove any of these amounts, hover over the relevant line and click on the red X that appears to the right. Amount due on Settlement and Stamp Duty (if applicable) cannot be deleted. Stamp Duty will only appear if the duty is unpaid and not exempt.

Cheque Direction

The cheques you added whilst creating the adjustments will automatically appear in the cheque direction section. These items are grayed out and can only be modified from the adjustment you first entered them in. 

Some payees can be automated. For example you may see a cheque payee as [Council]. When you generate a precedents (such as Settlement Adjustment Sheet) the Council name will be automated from the Council contact name you've entered on the matter.

If the agent’s fees are greater than the deposit held, a cheque will also appear here to the agent. 

1.    Select who the cheques are to be drawn by and the Cheque Type. 

2.    Check the box to the right of the cheque amount to mark Seller Cheques. 

• The Council and Water Authority Cheques will be automatically marked as Seller Cheques.
• The cheques that are marked Seller Cheques are the only ones to show up on your Settlement Adjustment Sheet and also on Settlement Instructions to hand to the other side.

3.    Click on Add Cheque to add additional cheques required for settlement.