What is an Enrollment Plan?

This article describes the Enrollment Plan page within the FORTH CRM and the segments of that page that need to be completed. It was developed for users with permission to set up enrollment plans in the CRM.

This article is organized into the following sections:

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• How to Access
• How it Works
  • General
  • Program Length
  • Settlement Savings
  • Qualifiers
  • Fee Profiles
  • Processor Fees
  • Comp Templates
  • Role-Based Permissions for Shared Enrollment Plans
  • Internal and External Access Controls
  • Role Access
  • Fees
  • Show Fee Subtotal Column
  • Notify at % of Total Debt
  • Client Savings
• Troubleshooting/FAQ

Overview

An Enrollment Plan lets a user set Performance Fees and Settlement rates for System Debt Types and Custom Debt Types, ensuring each plan perfectly aligns with your client’s needs. 

Prerequisites

Users with permissions to configure enrollment plans in the FORTH CRM.

How to Access

1. Log in to the FORTH CRM.
2. Click the Enrollments tab
3. Select "Plans" in the Navigation Bar.
   
4. Open an existing enrollment plan or create a new one.  If editing an existing plan, select it from the dropdown menu in the navigation bar at the top left of the page (see the red highlighted image below).
   

How it Works

General

This section provides control of the overall settings for the enrollment plan.

Active: This checkbox should be selected if the plan is going to be actively used in the CRM. If left unchecked, the plan will not be available when selecting an enrollment plan for a contact.

File Type: A File Type must be selected for each enrollment plan. Despite Any File Type being an option, this should not be used as it can cause unintended errors. If you need the same fee structure for more than one file type, create a separate enrollment plan for each file type instead.

• File Type options include: Debt Settlement, Student Loans, General / Not Defined, Business Loans, Debt Validation, and if enabled, Consumer Loans.

Plan Name: A unique plan name is recommended.

Select First Payment Date: Checking this box lets a user choose a First Payment Date and a Recurring Payment Date when filling out the plan for a contact.

First Draft Scheduling Limit in Days (only appears when Select First Payment Date checkbox is checked): Use this field to limit how many days a contact can delay their first payment. Enter a number to set the maximum number of days allowed between the enrollment date and the first draft. The lowest number you can enter is 1.

1. Before clicking Save Plan, the system automatically enforces the scheduling window you just selected:
   • If the selected date is within the allowed range, the user can save the plan or generate a contract.
   • If the selected date exceeds the limit, the system blocks the action and displays an error message: "The first payment cannot be scheduled more than {X} days from the enrollment date. Please select a date within the allowed range to continue."

Assigning other payment frequency and occurrence options are assigned by your Account Manager. For more information on these options, go to our "Enrolling a Contact" article in the Help Center and go to the "Filling Out an Enrollment Plan" section.

Program Length

This section sets how long a client can stay enrolled in this plan.

Program Length Default: The program length that's automatically selected for this plan when someone chooses it for a contact. You can choose anywhere from 1 month to 300 months.

Minimum: The shortest program length allowed for this plan. Options available are 1 month to 300 months.

Maximum: The longest program length allowed for this plan. Options available are 1 month to 300 months.

Increment: How much the program length goes up or down between the minimum and maximum. For example, if the minimum is 6 months, the maximum is 12 months, and the increment is 2, then users can choose 6, 8, 10, or 12 months.

Settlement Savings (Only for Debt Settlement Plans)

This section sets the available range of what the Debt Settlement company estimates that they can settle the client's debt for (based on percentage of enrolled debt value).

Est. Settlement %: The default "Estimated Settlement Amount" to be set on the Enrollment Plan when selecting it for a contact.

Minimum: The lowest that the Estimated Settlement % can be set to.

Maximum: The highest that the Estimated Settlement % can be set to.

Increment: The amount or by which the Estimated Settlement % will increase or decrease within the Minimum and Maximum Range. For example: if the minimum is set to 45 and the maximum is set to 60, and the increment is 5, then available Estimated Settlement % options will be 45, 50, 55, and 60 Percent.

This is a Performance Plan: Only select this option if no fees are collected before a settlement happens. This includes cases where legal fees apply (such as Veritas). If the company is performance-based, you just need to set the fee as deferred (see the Fees section below).

Draft Fee’s Separate: Checking this box makes each fee process as its own separate transaction, instead of combining them into one payment.

Includes Veritas Legal: Select this option if this plan includes fees to be paid to Veritas Legal.

Includes Consumer Defense Partners: Select this option if this plan includes fees to be paid to Consumer Defense Partners.

Use custom Debt Type Settlement Percentage: Select this option to use a custom Debt Type-assigned settlement percentage.

Estimated Settlement Percentage Display

If you selected use custom Debt Type settlement percentage,

1. Return to the Enrollment tab.
2. Select an enrolled customer by clicking the right-facing green arrow in the table shown on that page. 
3. Click Edit Enrollment Plan in the navigation bar.
4. In the Choose Debts to Enroll section., locate the Estimated Settlement % column (see image below).
   

Qualifiers

This section determines when a plan could be applicable for a contact. If a contact does not meet the criteria selected here, this plan will not be available when choosing an enrollment plan for them.

Legal Plan: Checking this box labels the plan as a Legal Plan in the CRM

Debt Amount: If selected, enter a minimum and maximum debt value. The plan will then only be available to contacts whose enrolled debt falls between those two values.

Debt to Income Ratio: If selected, you must enter a minimum and maximum debt-to-income ratio. Income comes from what's entered in the contact's budget analysis.

States: If selected, States must be chosen from the list on the right. Only contacts living in one of the selected states will be eligible to use this plan.

Fee Profile: Select an existing Fee Profile. Fee Profiles allow for more dynamic fee ranges based on the debt information listed within a contact's record. Please read the Fee Profile article in the Help Center for more information on this topic.

Processor Fees

Gateway / Monthly / Setup

This section lists the payment gateways and processors connected to your account, along with their monthly and setup fees. Some of these values are set on the back end (for example, ForthPay). You can change many of them under the Settlements tab > Settings > Gateway Fees.

Comp Templates

Require Compensation Template to Save Plan: Checking this box means a Compensation (e.g., Comp) Template must be selected before the plan can be saved, ensuring no plan is created without a compensation structure.

Comp Templates to Show: This lets a user specify what Comp Templates (aka Fee Splits) are available.

Comp Template Default: This dropdown is where the default Comp Template is selected for this plan.

Available Gateways: This allows a user to specify what Gateway they wish to have available for this plan.

For more information, see the Help Center article, Compensation Templates.

Role-Based Permissions for Shared Enrollment Plans

The FORTH system allows for limited editing for the account that receives a shared plan. It lets Admins at the receiving account manage user role access and company-sharing settings, while keeping the original enrollment plan intact.

On the Enrollment Plans page, a Shared Plans section appears within the dropdown menu in the navigation bar. This is where the receiving account can view enrollment plans that have been shared with it.

Each subsection within Shared Plans shows the name of the parent account that shared the plan. In the example image above, the parent account is "Greg Test Company."

Additionally, when configuring an enrollment plan, the Enrollment Plan settings page also shows which accounts the parent account can share the plan with.

Internal and External Access Controls

Shared With Companies (Internal Access Control): Controls which companies in the CRM can access this enrollment plan.

Inter-Account Plan Sharing (External Access Control): This controls which outside account this plan can be shared with.

This will be available if the Sharing Enabled checkbox is active. To turn it on, contact the FORTH support team.

Role Access

This controls what roles in the CRM can access this enrollment plan.

Fees

This section is where every fee for the enrollment plan is set up. Up to seven (7) fees can be on a single enrollment plan. Each row representsr a different fee “number.” 

NOTE: the Custom option in the "Fee Type" dropdown menu lets you inherit fee percentages directly from the Debt Type settings for each debt in the plan. You can also set a fallback value in the Amount field for cases where a debt type doesn't have its own value.

1. Processor Fee: Check this box to identify a fee as a Processor Fee. Where possible, we recommend setting this fee as Fee 7, to stay consistent with other accounts.
2. Active Checkbox: Check this box to tell the CRM this fee should be used on the enrollment plan. If left unchecked, the CRM ignores this fee.
3. Name: The name of the fee, as it will appear on the enrollment plan.
4. Fee Type: This dropdown menu works together with the Amount field (item 5) to define the fee value.
   • Debt Percent: The fee equals the Amount (item 5) multiplied by the enrolled debt value.
   • Fixed Amount: The fee is the exact amount you enter, every time a payment is made using it.
   • Sett Savings: The fee equals the Amount (item 5) multiplied by the Estimated Settlement Amount (Est. Savings x Enrolled Debt). This only applies to Debt Settlement enrollment plans.
   • Fixed Amort: The fee is the exact amount you enter, divided evenly across the number of payments it appears in
   • Per Debt: The fee equals the Amount (item 5) multiplied by the number of enrolled debts.
   • Custom Debt Percent: The fee equals the Amount (item 5) multiplied by a value you set. This lets you inherit fee percentages directly from Debt Type settings for each debt in the plan, and set a fallback value in the Amount field for debt types that don't have their own value.
   • Monthly Fee: the fee will be the exact amount you enter. 

5. Amount: The value used together with the Fee Type (item 4) to calculate the fee. See item 4 for how each Fee Type uses this value.

6. Defer: Turning this on tells the CRM to hold this fee's payout until a settlement offer is completed. This only applies to performance-based Debt Settlement enrollment plans.

7. Discount: Lets you list a discount for this fee. This is rarely used.

8. Starts: This specifies when this fee starts in the program.

9. Ends: This specifies when the fee ends in the program.

10. Weighted Fee: Lets you pay out more of a fee earlier in the program and less later on. For example, in a 12-month program, you could set 50% of the fee to be paid in the first 4 months, with the rest paid over the remaining 8 months.

11. Paid By Check: Set to "No" by default. If set to "Yes," the CRM will not process this fee itself. Instead, it's scheduled separately, since the CRM assumes the enrolled client is sending a check directly.

12. Hide: Set to "No" by default. If set to "Yes," the CRM hides this fee. This is rarely used.

13. Method: Lets a user set whether this fee uses ACH or a credit card. This is rarely used, because it also makes this fee process separately from the other fees on the plan.

14. Sub-Type: Lets you add a custom sub-type label for the fee. You can set these up under the Enrollments tab > Sub Types.

15. Gateway: Lets the user require this fee to use a specific connected payment gateway/processor. This is rarely used, because it also makes this fee process separately from the other fees on the plan.

Show Fee Subtotal Column

At the bottom left of this page is a checkbox letting you display a fee subtotal column in the enrollment plan.

Notify if fees exceed a Percentage of total debt

Just below the Show Fee Subtotal Column checkbox is a field where you can set a percentage of total debt. If fees go above that percentage, the consumer will be notified.

Client Savings

Only applicable for Debt Settlement file types (usually left blank)

Savings Start: Sets when the plan should start collecting money for the savings account. You can set this as a number of months in the future, or as starting after Fees 1 through 7.

Savings End: Sets when the plan should stop collecting money for the savings account. You can set this as a number of months, as after Fees 1 through 7, or as the end of the program.

Savings Adjustment: If checked, the CRM will try to balance the amount going into savings so each payment the client makes stays about the same size. Depending on fee amounts, this may not always be possible, but the CRM will try.

Show Savings Accumulation: If checked, the CRM adds a column (shown when setting up a contact with this plan) that displays how much has built up in savings after each payment, assuming every payment clears.

Once you've finished every section of the enrollment plan, click Save Plan in the navigation bar (shown below).

Troubleshooting/FAQ

Why is a critical payment frequency missing from my enrollment plan options?

The Two Monthly Drafts checkbox is outdated - DO NOT USE IT. Have a CRM Administrator contact the FORTH support team to toggle advanced multi-frequency scheduling permissions on your account.

The Fee Profile field is missing from my configuration screen. How do I fix this?

This occurs when your CRM account doesn't have any fee profiles set up yet. Go to the Admin tab and change your browser's URL so it ends with page=feeprofiles to create your first profile. Once you save it, the field will automatically show up on your enrollment plan setup page.

Why do I get an error when saving a contract?

If an agent schedules a payment beyond the configured limit, the system restricts the Save Enrollment Plan or Save & Generate Contract action. The user will see this validation message: "The first payment cannot be scheduled more than {X} days from the enrollment date. Select a date within the allowed range to continue."

How do I handle exceptions to the First Payment Limitation for specific customers?

Create a second enrollment plan with the same settings as your main plan. Keep the scheduling limit on your main plan, but leave the second plan without that limit, so agents can use it for exceptions.