Property installment plans let buyers pay for a plot or unit over months or years, and they only work if every rupee is tracked against a schedule. This guide covers what a plot file must hold, how to build a schedule with a worked example, how to run collections and late payments, which reports matter, and where automation helps without taking over decisions about money.
1What is a plot file?
A plot file is the single record that ties a unit to a buyer, an instalment plan, every payment received, supporting documents and the current stage, from booking through transfer to possession. When it lives across a drawer, a spreadsheet and several chat groups, nobody can answer a buyer’s question quickly.
2How do you build an instalment schedule?
A typical plan has a down payment, regular instalments and sometimes larger payments at milestones such as possession. Record each due date and amount up front so the system can show what is paid, what is due and what is late, without anyone recalculating by hand.
A worked schedule
The figures below are illustrative. A plot is sold for Rs 6,000,000 on a two-year plan:
| Payment | When | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment (25%) | At booking | Rs 1,500,000 |
| 24 monthly installments | Months 1 to 24 | Rs 150,000 each, Rs 3,600,000 in total |
| Possession payment | At possession | Rs 900,000 |
| Total | Rs 6,000,000 |
Every due date and amount goes onto the plot file at booking. From then on, the file shows at a glance what has been paid, what is due next and what is late, and the balance can never drift from the schedule because nobody recalculates it by hand.
3How should collections work?
- Issue numbered receipts for every payment, including cheques
- Offer payment links so buyers can pay from their phone
- Put payments through a verification queue before they are settled
- Send reminders before a due date, not only after it
4Where do AI and automation help?
An assistant on WhatsApp can answer routine buyer questions at any hour, such as availability or the next instalment. Automation can send reminders and summarise a buyer’s balance for a salesperson before a call. Keep people in charge of approvals: an assistant should draft and suggest, while a person confirms anything that moves money.
5What should buyers be able to see?
A buyer wants to know three things: what they have paid, what is due next and what they still owe. A simple statement, or a payment link and receipt history on their phone, answers most calls before they happen and builds trust with the developer.
6How do you handle late payments?
- Agree the policy in the contract: grace days, any surcharge and what happens after repeated delay.
- Send a reminder before the due date, a firm one on the day, and a personal call after a few days.
- Record every promise to pay with a date, so follow-up is specific.
- Escalate to a manager after a set number of missed instalments, not on gut feeling.
An overdue ageing report
| Overdue for | Files | Amount | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 30 days | 42 | Rs 6,300,000 | Reminder and a call from the sales officer |
| 30 to 60 days | 11 | Rs 3,150,000 | Manager call; record a promise-to-pay date |
| 60 to 90 days | 4 | Rs 1,800,000 | Formal notice under the contract |
| Over 90 days | 2 | Rs 1,200,000 | Escalate to the director |
The figures are an example. The structure is what matters: each band has an owner and a next step, so no file sits overdue without someone responsible for it.
7Transfers, refunds and cancellations
Plot files change hands. Treat every change as a dated event on the same file rather than a new file:
- Transfer: clear outstanding dues, record the new buyer, keep the full payment history, and issue the new buyer a statement.
- Refund or cancellation: follow the contract's terms, record the deduction and its reason, and post the refund to the books with a second approval.
- Merger or exchange of plots: move the payments to the new unit with a note, so both units' histories still make sense.
8What reports matter for developers and agencies?
Look at collections against the schedule each week, overdue amounts by age (under 30 days, 30 to 60 and so on), and the units at each stage from booking to possession. Agents and sales staff should be able to see their own buyers, not everyone’s.
9Mistakes that cost developers money
- Schedules kept in a spreadsheet beside the receipts. The two drift apart, and the buyer's statement disagrees with the books.
- Receipts without numbers. Unnumbered receipts cannot be reconciled, and a missing one cannot be proved missing.
- Cheques recorded as paid on the day they are received. A cheque is a promise until it clears; record it as received, then cleared.
- One shared register for all sales staff. Agents should see their own buyers; everyone seeing everything invites mistakes and disputes.
- Late fees applied by memory. If the contract has a surcharge, apply it by rule, the same way, every time, or not at all.
- Plot status updated by hand in several places. A unit shown as available in one office and booked in another is how double-selling happens.
10Setting up a new project
Before the first booking of a new phase:
- Load every plot or unit with its size, category and price.
- Define the payment plans on offer: down payment, number of installments, any milestone payments.
- Agree the late-payment policy and put it in the booking contract.
- Decide who can book, who can approve a discount, and who can approve a refund.
- Set the receipt numbering series and the bank accounts payments go into.
- Test one booking end to end: booking, first receipt, statement, and the entry in the books.
11Keep the accounts underneath
Every receipt should post to a double-entry ledger, so collections, commissions and owner statements agree with the books. RE-ERP is built around that idea, with plot files, installment plans, receipts and collections and overdue reports on one ledger. To see what that costs for a housing society, see the housing society software price page.
Sources
Rates, thresholds and rules change. Confirm current figures with the issuing body or your advisor before relying on them.