Which figures belong on the cost worksheet?
Use the signed disclosure as the worksheet’s source document. A promotional screen, a payment estimate, or a remembered dollar figure is not a substitute for the figures and dates attached to the transaction.
| Disclosure Field | Meaning | Where It May Appear | Worksheet Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash actually received | The dollars available to use immediately after the transaction. | Advance amount, proceeds, disbursement amount, or a payment record. | Record this as cash received. |
| Amount financed | A disclosure term identifying the amount of credit provided under the transaction. | Federal-style disclosure box or loan summary. | Copy it separately; do not assume it matches cash received if the documents show a different figure. |
| Finance charge | The disclosed dollar cost of obtaining the credit. | Finance charge line, fee line, or disclosure summary. | Record every disclosed charge as its own dollar amount. |
| Total of payments or total due | The stated repayment obligation under the disclosed terms. | Total of payments, amount due, payment schedule, or repayment authorization. | Record the full amount scheduled to be repaid and the date it is due. |
| Due date and payment authorization | The timing and method by which repayment is expected or authorized. | Payment schedule, authorization form, or contract terms. | Record the date, expected debit method, and account involved. |
| Bank-account fee | A separate account cost, such as a fee connected to an attempted debit or overdraft. | Bank transaction history and the bank’s fee schedule. | Keep it on a separate line from the lender’s finance charge. |
Calculate the contractual dollar cost
The contractual cost is a dollar calculation before it is an APR calculation. Its basic shape is simple: cash received now, disclosed charges, and the repayment obligation on the due date.
- Copy the cash-received figure, the amount financed, every disclosed finance charge, the stated total repayment, and the due date from the signed disclosure.
- Write the arithmetic plainly: cash received of $___ plus disclosed finance charges of $___ equals stated repayment of $___.
- Check whether the stated repayment reconciles with the advance or principal figure plus the disclosed charges. An addition that does not reconcile deserves its own line item and explanation rather than a guess.
- Keep optional products or separately authorized services distinct from the initial loan charge. They are not invisible simply because they appear elsewhere in the paperwork.
- Save the disclosure and payment authorization with the worksheet. A mental estimate loses the due date, the payment method, and the distinction between a lender charge and a later bank fee.
What APR explains—and what it does not
APR, or annual percentage rate, expresses the cost of credit as a standardized annual rate. It gives readers a common measurement for comparing credit with different terms. A short loan can show a very high APR because its finance charge is annualized over a brief period.
APR does not replace the dollar figures that hit the budget. For a loan due in days or weeks, the immediate questions remain: How much cash arrived? What finance charge is disclosed? What total debit is scheduled, and on what date? The total due is the cash-flow figure; APR is the comparison figure.
The applicable federal disclosure method governs how APR is calculated and presented. The signed disclosure supplies the figures for the particular transaction.
Test the due date against essential expenses
Affordability lives in the gap between the due-date debit and the money still available after necessities. The calculation needs the funds expected before repayment, not income that arrives later.
- Start with cash on hand and income expected to arrive before the loan’s due date.
- Subtract unavoidable expenses due in that same window: rent or mortgage, food, utilities, transportation, medicine, and other essential obligations.
- Subtract the stated total loan repayment.
- The result is the remaining cash or the projected cash-flow gap. A negative number identifies the amount missing on the due date.
- If repayment is authorized against a bank account, list any account fee separately if an attempted debit could produce one. That fee is outside the disclosed lender finance charge.
Worked example: from disclosure to remaining cash
Suppose a hypothetical disclosure shows $400 in cash received, a $60 finance charge, and $460 due on the stated date. The contractual arithmetic is $400 plus $60, producing the $460 repayment figure.
Now suppose $900 will be available before that due date and essential expenses in the same period total $650. The budget calculation is $900 minus $650 minus $460. The result is negative $210: a $210 cash-flow shortfall. This is an arithmetic illustration, not a statement about the legal classification or compliance of any particular offer.
Track the cumulative cost of replacement borrowing
One disclosure captures one transaction. It does not show the cumulative cost when a later transaction follows. A timeline worksheet fixes that by giving each transaction its own row: date, cash received, finance charge, repayment amount, due date, and any separate bank fee.
For example, two transactions with finance charges of $45 and $60 carry $105 in disclosed charges across the two rows, even if the cash received and repayment dates differ. Add the charges across the timeline; do not treat the second row as though the first loan’s cost simply disappeared.
The legal status of a later transaction is a separate question from the arithmetic. The worksheet records what happened and what it cost without assuming that a replacement loan, extension, or payment arrangement was permitted.
Verify every legal or lender-specific assumption
The arithmetic comes from the disclosure and the budget. Legal limits, extra lender items, and account fees come from different documents and authorities. Keep those categories separate.
- Use the signed disclosure and contract for the cash amount, charges, repayment amount, due date, and payment authorization.
- For Kansas payday cash advances, K.S.A. 16a-2-404 sets a $500 maximum amount advanced, a finance-charge ceiling of 15% of the amount advanced, and a term from 7 through 30 days. Those limits do not supply a missing figure on an individual disclosure.
- Identify lender-added items and optional services by name and dollar amount instead of silently folding them into the finance charge.
- Use the bank’s own fee schedule and account record to identify overdraft, returned-payment, or other account-related costs.
- For a disputed business practice, the Kansas Attorney General Consumer Protection Division accepts consumer complaints, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accepts complaints about payday loans and other consumer-financial products.
Sources for this guide
- What are the costs and fees for a payday loan? — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Submit a Complaint — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- What should I consider if I'm thinking about getting a payday loan online? — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau