01What is the method in one line?
Each instalment = (unit price − down payment − any fixed payments such as the delivery payment) ÷ number of instalments, and the dates follow from the contract date and the frequency.
Then add the fixed payments back on their own dates, and check that every line of the schedule adds up to the unit price exactly. If it does not, the schedule and the contract describe two different sales.
02The example unit
An apartment sold off-plan for 3,000,000 EGP, contract signed on 1 November 2026. The payment plan: 10% down payment on signing, 10% on delivery after 36 months, and the remainder over 8 years in quarterly instalments, the first one three months after signing. Fees and maintenance deposits are left out because they depend on the contract.
| Line | Calculation | EGP |
|---|---|---|
| Unit price | 3,000,000 | |
| Down payment | 10% on 1 Nov 2026 | 300,000 |
| Delivery payment | 10% on 1 Nov 2029 | 300,000 |
| Remainder | 3,000,000 − 300,000 − 300,000 | 2,400,000 |
03Step 1: the instalment amount
Eight years of quarterly instalments is 8 × 4 = 32 instalments. 2,400,000 ÷ 32 = 75,000 per quarter.
When the division is not exact, the difference has to go somewhere on purpose, usually the last instalment. A schedule built in a spreadsheet that rounds every line on its own can end a few pounds away from the contract price, and nobody notices until the last cheque.
04Step 2: the dates
| No. | Due date | Amount (EGP) |
|---|---|---|
| — | 1 Nov 2026 (down payment) | 300,000 |
| 1 | 1 Feb 2027 | 75,000 |
| 2 | 1 May 2027 | 75,000 |
| … | every 3 months | 75,000 |
| 12 | 1 Nov 2029, with the delivery payment | 75,000 + 300,000 = 375,000 |
| … | every 3 months | 75,000 |
| 32 | 1 Nov 2034 | 75,000 |
The 12th quarterly instalment falls on the delivery date, so on 1 November 2029 the client owes 375,000. A client who sees that on the schedule at signing plans for it; one who finds out from a reminder in 2029 asks for a delay.
Check: 300,000 + 300,000 + 32 × 75,000 = 3,000,000.
05Step 3: the cheques
With post-dated cheques the client hands over one cheque per line: 32 quarterly cheques plus one for the delivery payment, each with the date and amount of its line. Each cheque then has its own life — received, deposited, cleared, or returned — and an instalment is paid when its cheque clears, not when it is handed over or deposited.
06Where do instalment schedules usually go wrong?
- The schedule is typed into a spreadsheet separately from the contract, so a later discount or price change reaches one and not the other
- Rounding on every line leaves the total a few pounds away from the contract price
- The delivery payment is forgotten, or not shown on the same day as the quarterly instalment it coincides with
- An instalment is marked paid when the cheque is received, so a returned cheque leaves a paid instalment that was never paid
- VAT is applied to some contracts and not others without anyone deciding which
- The salesperson's commission is calculated from a price that is not the one on the signed contract
07How does Revora do this?
Revora CRM, by mbsystems, follows the same lines:
- Payment plans, and a quote sent to the client as a link
- The sale contract and its signature, with the instalment schedule generated from the contract, on PDF contract templates
- The schedule comes from the contract, so the instalment that is due is not a number retyped in a spreadsheet
- A collection centre for down payments, reservations and due instalments
- Cheques recorded and printed on each bank's own template
- VAT decided per project, and per contract as inclusive or exclusive; sales and manager commissions calculated from the contract
Ask for a demonstration on your own project: info@mbsyss.com, or Cairo +20 100 520 5900, Muscat +968 7277 7269, Vienna +43 681 8411 0547. The price is given as a quote for your company.
Book a live walkthrough on your own data, or ask for a quote for your company.