Adding Debts
Debts (or liabilities) represent money you currently owe.
Examples include:
mortgages
personal loans
car loans
HELP/HECS student debt
Adding debts allows Canwi to automatically model repayments, interest costs, and loan balances over time in your financial projections.
Where to Add or Edit Debts
You can add debts during onboarding or update them later.
During onboarding
Debts can be added while setting up your scenario
After onboarding
You can manage debts from:
Initial Position → Overview
Initial Position → Financial Inventory (Assets & Debts)
From these pages you can add, edit, or remove liabilities at any time.
Debt / Liability Types
When adding a debt, you’ll first choose the Liability Type.
Available options include:
Mortgage
Personal Loan (Secured)
Personal Loan (Unsecured)
HELP/HECS Debt
Each type includes slightly different inputs depending on how the debt works.
Basic Debt / Liability Details
Most debts require the following information.
Nickname Liability
A simple name to help identify the debt.
Examples:
Home Loan
Car Loan
Personal Loan
Student Debt
Current Balance
The remaining amount owed at the start of the plan.
This is the balance Canwi will use to calculate future repayments and interest.
Interest Rate
The current interest rate on the loan.
This determines how interest accrues on the outstanding balance.
Remaining Years
The number of years left on the loan term.
This helps determine the repayment schedule.
Repayment Type
Loans can be structured as:
Principal & Interest
Regular repayments that reduce both the loan balance and interest over time.
Interest Only
Repayments cover interest only for a period of time, meaning the loan balance does not reduce during that period.
Repayment Frequency
Choose how often repayments occur.
Common options include:
Monthly
Fortnightly
Weekly
Canwi converts this into the correct repayment schedule for projections.
Liability Owner(s)
Select who is responsible for the debt.
If the loan is shared, you can enable Custom split to allocate ownership percentages between individuals.
Tax Deductibility
Enable this if the loan interest is tax deductible, such as for investment properties or loans used to acquire income-producing investments.
Mortgages
Mortgage liabilities include additional fields.
Secured Against
Mortgages must be linked to a property asset already entered in your plan.
Mortgage Type
You can specify whether the mortgage is:
Variable Rate
The interest rate remains constant in projections.
Fixed Rate
You can specify:
remaining fixed-rate term
expected interest rate after the fixed period ends
This allows Canwi to model a realistic transition from fixed to variable rates.
HELP / HECS Debt
HELP/HECS debts behave differently from other loans.
Key characteristics:
repayments occur through the tax system
repayments only begin once income exceeds government thresholds
balances grow in line with inflation
Canwi automatically models these rules when HELP/HECS debt is added.
Interest-Only Loans
For loans with an interest-only period, you can enter:
the length of the interest-only term
the repayment frequency
During the interest-only period, repayments cover interest only, meaning the loan balance remains unchanged.
Once the interest-only period ends, the loan converts to principal & interest repayments.
Tips for Modelling Debts
To keep projections realistic:
Use your current loan balance, not the original loan amount
Enter the actual interest rate from your lender
Include the remaining loan term, not the full original term
Repayment estimates may differ slightly from your bank. Canwi calculates the minimum repayment required to fully pay off with a consistent payment rate (amortise) the loan based on the balance, interest rate, term, and repayment frequency you enter. Your actual bank repayment may differ if you repay at a different frequency, have made additional repayments in the past, or if your lender uses slightly different calculation methods. Learn More
Credit cards and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) debts are not currently supported. At this stage, Canwi focuses on modelling structured loans such as mortgages, personal loans, and HELP/HECS debt. Revolving credit facilities like credit cards and BNPL accounts should not be added as liabilities.