Loan applications in Octal HR can be submitted by employees through self-service or created directly by HR on an employee's behalf. Each application runs a repayment-capacity check, and once approved the system generates an EMI schedule and routes the loan through approval before disbursement.

Loan Lifecycle

Every loan moves through the following statuses from application to closure:

Draft Pending Approval Approved Disbursed Active (Repaying) Closed

A rejected application moves to Rejected if the approver rejects it. The employee can see the rejection reason and re-apply if appropriate.

Employee Self-Service Application

Employees can apply for loans from the self-service portal. The form captures the loan type, amount, tenure, repayment mode, and purpose.

1
Open Loan Application

In the self-service portal: Loans → Apply for a Loan.

2
Select Loan Type

Choose a loan type — personal, medical, education, housing, vehicle, emergency, or other.

3
Enter Loan Amount and Tenure

The EMI calculator shows the monthly deduction in real time as the employee enters the amount, tenure, and repayment mode.

4
Enter Purpose and Notes

Brief description of the purpose, plus any supporting notes for the approver.

5
Submit Application

Status changes to Pending Approval. A notification is sent to the approving manager immediately.

HR Creating a Loan on Employee's Behalf

HR can create loan applications directly for any employee — useful when the employee cannot use self-service or for migrating existing loan records from a previous system.

1
Go to Loans & Advances → All Loans → + New Loan.
2
Search for and select the employee.
3
Select the loan type and enter the amount, tenure, and disbursement date.
4
If the loan was issued before the system go-live date, enter the Outstanding Balance and set the loan to Active — EMI deductions will begin from the next payroll run.
5
Set the approval status. HR can bypass the approval workflow for admin-created loans by setting status directly to Approved if authorised.
6
Save. The loan appears on the employee's profile → Loans tab and in the Loans dashboard.

EMI Preview

Before submitting, employees and HR can preview the full repayment schedule. Example for a PKR 120,000 personal loan at zero interest over 12 months:

Loan Summary Preview

Loan AmountPKR 120,000
Interest Rate0% (interest-free)
Tenure12 months
Monthly EMIPKR 10,000
First Deduction MonthJune 2025 payroll
Last Deduction MonthMay 2026 payroll
Net Salary After EMIPKR 55,000 (was PKR 65,000)

Repayment Capacity Check

When the amount is entered, the system checks the employee's total loan EMI deductions against their net salary. If the combined deductions would exceed the configured limit (default 50% of net salary), the application is flagged as over the capacity threshold.

Disbursement

Once a loan is approved, HR disburses it by recording the disbursement date. Disbursement is by bank transfer to the employee. When the loan is disbursed, its status moves to Active, the repayment schedule is generated, and the payroll deduction is registered automatically.

EMI deductions are triggered automatically by payroll. When payroll is run for a month, the system checks every active loan, identifies the EMI due for that month, and adds it as a deduction line item on the payslip. No manual action is needed after disbursement.

Modifying an Active Loan

Changes to active loans (outstanding balance corrections, EMI amount changes, tenure extensions) require HR Admin or Finance Manager access. Each modification is logged in the loan's audit trail.

ModificationHow to Do ItEffect
Change repayment modeLoans → [Loan] → Change Mode (EMI / bullet / manual)Pending instalments are regenerated for the new mode and the payroll deduction is re-registered
Record a manual paymentLoans → [Loan] → Record Payment → Enter AmountOutstanding balance reduced; remaining schedule balances recalculated
Waive an instalmentLoans → [Loan] → Schedule → Waive [Instalment]Instalment marked Waived and its amount removed from the outstanding balance

When the outstanding balance reaches zero — through payroll deductions, manual payments, or waivers — the loan is automatically marked as Settled and its payroll deduction is removed.