Measuring the cost of document follow-up

Document follow-up has three different measures: labor time, elapsed time and cash cost. Keep them separate. A faster file does not automatically mean a smaller payroll, and fewer staff minutes do not guarantee an earlier closing.

Track the work your team performs

Choose a sample of similar files. Record the minutes spent preparing requests, following up, checking responses, correcting errors and filing documents. Include the time used to resolve exceptions and review any software's work.

Use the blank processing-time log linked below. Give each row an internal reference that contains no borrower name, email, phone number, address, loan number or document. Record the role doing the work, the task, its start and end, and whether the first response was usable.

Keep labor and elapsed time apart

Labor time is the active time a person spends on the task. Elapsed time runs from one event to the next. A document can wait overnight and add hours to the file without using a processor's whole evening.

Record both clocks. If active minutes fall but the file still waits in a review queue, you found labor capacity without the same reduction in turnaround. If the request goes out earlier and the borrower responds sooner, elapsed time may improve even when the staff minutes barely change.

Compare similar work

Condition volume, income type, third-party involvement and borrower response time all change the work a file takes. Do not compare a simple automated file with a complex manual one.

Set the sample before reviewing the result. Group files by the work that matters to your shop, use the same measurement window and include files that do not close. Your team still spent time on them. Report the sample size and the range, not only one average.

Turn minutes into an owner cost

Add the active minutes for each role and divide by 60. Multiply those hours by the employer's hourly cost for that role. Use the cost your business actually carries, including wages, employer-paid benefits and payroll costs. A national wage average is not your shop's cost.

Then add the software or service fee, setup work, ongoing review and any rework. Keep one-time setup separate from recurring cost. Label estimates as estimates. Time recorded on a file and time recalled after the fact are different evidence.

Name the cash result honestly

Freed-up hours can create capacity, reduce overtime or avoid a future hire. Those are different results. Capacity becomes cash savings only when spending changes. If payroll stays the same, report the staff time available for other work instead of calling it a payroll saving.

Repeat the measurement over enough files to catch corrections, third-party waits and unresolved items. The useful result is a bounded statement your owner can audit: which work changed, how many active minutes changed, what happened to elapsed time and which costs moved.

Loandock handles document requests, follow-up, checks and filing inside your LOS, then marks conditions fulfilled. Use the same log before and during a test so the comparison includes the work your processors still perform.