Features · Loan origination

Loan origination software for small lenders

Origination is everything that happens before the money goes out: capturing the borrower, setting the terms, checking the file and getting approval. LoanTabs handles it in one online workflow, so no application lives on paper or in a chat.

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What is loan origination software?

Loan origination software manages the first half of a loan's life: capturing the application, recording the borrower's details and documents, setting the loan terms, and moving the loan through review and approval until it is disbursed. LoanTabs includes origination as part of its loan management system, so the record continues into servicing.

Some products sell origination separately from servicing and expect you to connect them. For a small lender that is more complexity than value. In LoanTabs the application becomes the loan, and the same record carries the schedule, the repayments and the statements later. Nothing is re-keyed between systems.

This page covers origination. For what happens after disbursement, see loan servicing. For the overall system, see the loan origination and servicing overview.

The origination workflow in LoanTabs

Step 1
Capture the borrower
Record a person or a business with contact details, ID number and custom fields, and attach ID and other documents.
Step 2
Choose the loan product
Pick a product that already defines the interest method, fees, term limits and repayment frequency, so the loan is created within your policy.
Step 3
Preview the schedule
Enter the amount and term and see the repayment schedule live before you save. Save an incomplete application as a draft.
Step 4
Approve and disburse
Route the loan through approval rules set per branch. Once approved it is disbursed, and the decision is logged.

Origination features

Configurable loan products

Set interest method, fees, principal, interest and term ranges per product so officers cannot originate outside policy.

Loan product configuration

Seven interest methods

Flat, declining balance, reducing balance (equal installments or equal principal), interest-only and compound.

How loan interest is calculated

Fees you control

Fees can be deducted at disbursement, capitalized into the loan, or charged separately, as a fixed amount or a percentage.

Deductible and capitalized loan fees

Drafts and cloning

Save a loan as a draft while you collect information, or clone an existing loan to start a similar one.

Online loan application software

Approvals by branch and role

Branch managers and admins always approve, other roles are optional, and every decision is logged.

Approval rules and roles

Conversational drafting

Describe a loan to the AI assistant and it prepares the form. You review and confirm before it is saved.

AI portfolio assistant

Origination and servicing: where each stage ends

Origination and servicing: where each stage ends
	Loan origination	Loan servicing
Starts	When a borrower asks for a loan	When the loan is disbursed
Main work	Capture details, set terms, check the file, approve	Record repayments, keep balances, produce receipts and statements, follow up overdue loans
Ends	At disbursement	When the loan is repaid, closed or written off
In LoanTabs	Borrowers, loan products, drafts, approvals	Payments, receipts, statements, collections reports

What loan origination in LoanTabs does not do

Being clear about limits helps you decide. LoanTabs records credit scores as a field but does not calculate them, and it does not pull credit-bureau reports or verify identity automatically. It does not offer e-signature, and borrowers cannot yet apply for loans themselves; your staff enter applications. Underwriting decisions remain with your people and your approval rules.

What it does give you is discipline: a structured record, a consistent workflow, and an approval trail. For many small lenders that is the difference between a loan book they can defend and one they cannot.

Loan origination software: common questions

What is loan origination?

Loan origination is the process of creating a loan: taking the application, recording the borrower's information, agreeing terms, reviewing and approving the loan, and disbursing the funds.

Is LoanTabs a loan origination system?

It includes origination as part of a complete loan management system. You take the application, set the terms and approve in the same system that later services the loan.

Can I set different approval rules for each branch?

Yes. Approval rules are configured per branch. Branch managers and admins always approve, and you can require additional roles.

Does LoanTabs do automated underwriting?

No. LoanTabs records a credit score field and supports your approval workflow, but underwriting decisions are made by your staff.

Keep exploring

Originate your next loan in LoanTabs

Start a 30-day free trial, create a loan product and take an application from capture to disbursement.