Working with Milestone Worksheets
A milestone is a step in the workflow that defines loan activities and the
role that carries out those activities. When activities are completed, the milestone
is marked as finished, and work begins on the next milestone.
There are thirteen predefined milestones provided in Encompass "out of the box": Started, Qualification, Processing, Submittal, Cond. Approval, Resubmittal, Approval, Doc Preparation, Docs Signing, Funding, Post Closing, Shipping, and Completion. Your system administrator can configure the behavior (and the names) of these milestones, create new custom milestones as needed, and set up milestone templates that are designed to be applied to loan files based on the loan's type, channel, or other criteria.
There are seven predefined milestones provided in Encompass: Started, Processing, Submittal, Approval, Doc Signing, Funding, and Completion. Your system administrator can configure the behavior of these milestones
and create new custom milestones as needed.
For details on the configuration of the default milestone workflow, refer to the topic, The
Default Milestone Workflow. To view a milestone worksheet with a description
of each component, refer to the topic, The
Milestone Worksheet.
Recording Milestone Activities:
Note: This section
describes the use of all possible options on a milestone worksheet. The
information you see on a worksheet, and the activities you are permitted or
required to complete, is based on the configuration of each milestone
and your individual user settings.
Change the Assigned Loan
Team Member
On the upper-left of the worksheet, you will
see up to three different loan team members listed. The first is the loan
team member assigned to the previous milestone, the second is the team member
assigned to the current milestone, and the third is the team member assigned
to the upcoming milestone. If a Find icon 
displays
to the right of a field, you can assign a loan team member (or change
the currently assigned team member).
-
To assign a team member
to the loan, click the Find icon.
-
Select a loan team member
from the list, and then click OK.
Accept a File
The Accept
File button is used to indicate you have accepted a loan to which
you have been assigned. If an alert was sent to you when the loan was
assigned, the alert will be cleared.
- To accept an assigned
loan file, (and clear any associated alert) click Accept
File (Clear Alert).
Return a File
The Return
File to Sender button returns the loan to the previous milestone. Access
to the loan will be restored to the previous loan team member.
Change the Number of Days
to Finish
The expected number
of days to finish a milestone (and the associated date displayed on the milestone worksheet) is based on the default Days to Finish setting for each milestone set up by the administrator.
You can adjust the expected completion date as necessary to reflect the
actual progress at a particular milestone.
-
To change the expected
completion date, type a date or open the calendar to select a date. The
completion date for the current milestone, and future milestones, is updated
in the Log.
OR
Every milestone that makes up the milestone template currently applied to the loan file is listed here, along with the role assigned to the milestone and the milestone's expected completion date.
-
On the Change Milestone Dates window, select the If date is changed, automatically recalculate all subsequent dates checkbox to enable the system to automatically recalculate the expected completion date for all unfinished milestones when you change a milestone's expected completion date. The date is recalculated based on your administrator's settings in the Milestones setting.
-
If the manual mode is currently applied, this checkbox will not be selected when you open the Change Milestones Dates window. If the automatic mode is currently applied, this checkbox will already be selected when you open the Change Milestone Dates window.
-
When you change the expected completion date for a milestone, only the dates for the milestones that occur after that milestone are recalculated.
-
When your administrator uses the Milestones setting to create a milestone, they specify the Days to Finish in the Milestone Details window. For example, when working with the Submittal milestone, they may set the Days to Finish to 3.
-
Let's say you are working with a milestone template where the Processing milestone occurs, followed by the Submittal milestone. In this scenario, when you change the Processing milestone's expected completion date from 08/19/2013 to 08/21/2013, the Submittal milestone's expected completion date will automatically recalculate to 08/24/2013. Since your administrator set the Submittal milestone's Days to Finish to 3, the system automatically recalculates the expected completion date to 3 days after the Processing milestone's expected completion date. All of the dates for the subsequent milestones that occur after the Processing milestone will be recalculated in this manner.
-
If this checkbox is not selected (or cleared), the expected completion date for all other unfinished milestones in the milestone template will not be recalculated when you change a milestone's expected completion date. This enables you to change a date without affecting any other dates in the window.
-
To set a new expected completion date for a milestone, click the Calendar icon.
-
Use the arrows at the top of the calendar to navigate to the desired month, and then click the new date.
Note: Instead of using the calendar, you can manually enter the new date for the milestone if you prefer.
-
To ensure a logical milestone workflow, the expected completion dates must occur in chronological order. The expected completion date for the first milestone in the milestone template (i.e., Started) must be the earliest date being used. The next milestone's expected completion date must occur on the same date or later, and so on. If you enter a date that conflicts with this chronological order, a date conflict alert 
is triggered and displays next to each date that must be adjusted. Adjust the dates accordingly to clear the alerts. You must address all date conflicts before applying the new expected completion dates to the loan file.
-
Repeat steps 3-4 for each additional date you want to change.
-
When finished, click Apply.
Record the Receipt of a
Document
The Documents section contains the documents
that are needed for the milestone. You can also use the Documents tab in the eFolder to record additional document details. For more information about
document management, refer to the topic, Document Entries in the Log.
-
In the Documents list,
select a checkbox to indicate receipt of a document. An entry for the
receipt is created in the Log. If you previously created a Log entry when
you ordered or reordered the document, the wording of that entry is changed
from ordered or expected
to received.
A document may also require that a file be attached to it before the milestone can be completed.
A paper clip with a red asterisk 
to the left of a document name indicates that an attachment is required. Click the eFolder button to open the eFolder and retrieve the required attachment.
Note: The required attachments are set up by the administrator using the Milestone Completion tool in the Business Rules on the Encompass Settings screen.
-
Clear a document's checkbox to change its status from received
back to ordered. If the document
was never ordered, the entry in the Log is removed.
Note: A red asterisk to the left of a document's name indicates that the document must be received before the milestone can be completed.
-
To view and add additional document details,
click the document's name to open the document to open the Document Details window.
Record the Completion of Tasks
The Tasks list contains items or reminders of actions to complete before you finish a milestone. You can also use the Tasks tool to record additional details related to the task. For more information about tasks, refer to the Tasks topic.
-
In the Tasks list, select a checkbox to indicate the completion of a task. An entry indicating the date of completion is added to the Log.
Note: A red asterisk to the left of a task's name indicates that completion of the task is required.
-
To view and add additional task details, click the task's name to open the Edit Task window.
Enter Values for Required Fields
The Required Fields section lists the loan fields that must be completed before the milestone is finished. Required fields are set up by the administrator using the Milestone Completion tool in the Business Rules on the Encompass Settings screen.
-
Enter a value for each field on the list. The value you enter will also be applied to all forms on which the field occurs.
-
To locate the field on an input form, click the Go to Fields button, click the field ID in the list, and then click Go to Field.
Note: If the selected field ID represents a virtual field, the Go to Field button is disabled. The Go to Field feature is also unable to locate fields that are not located on an input form.
-
To view key loan information for this milestone (if available), click the Field Summary button.
The Field Summary button is used to open a separate form that summarizes the
loan fields you want to review before completing the milestone. For example,
before completing a milestone you can check the values entered
on several different forms, such a LTV ratio, Appraised Value, and Total Monthly
Income. Rather than looking for the values on different forms, your system
administrator can create a custom input form and associate it with the milestone.
When you click the Field Summary button, the custom form opens and displays
the fields for your review.
Note: The required attachments are set up by the administrator using the Milestone Completion tool in the Business Rules on the Encompass Settings screen.
Add and Edit Milestone Comments
The Milestone Comments section is used to
add and edit comments for the current milestone. You can also view, but
not edit, comments for all milestones.
-
To add a comment, click
in the Milestone Comments area.
-
Optionally click the
Date Stamp button to add the current
date and your user name, and then type your comments.
-
To edit comments,
click in the Milestone Comments area and change comment text as required.
-
To view comments added
for all milestones, click Show All.
See Also
Milestones
Tracking Documents
Tasks