Which broker software calculates residual values and balloon payments for asset finance quotes

The short answer: COG Connect, the purpose-built asset finance CRM available through COG Aggregation, calculates residual values and balloon payments as part of its structured quoting engine. Several other aggregator platforms offer quoting tools, but the depth of asset finance-specific functionality varies significantly across the field.

What to look for before choosing a quoting platform

The four things that matter most are whether the platform is purpose-built for asset finance, whether it supports competitive quoting, how it handles compliance, and what lender access it provides.

A CRM designed for mortgages and later adapted for equipment and vehicle finance will often lack the structured payment logic that asset finance requires, particularly when deals involve GST timing, seasonal income, or irregular repayment schedules. If quoting has been bolted onto a mortgage system as an afterthought, residual value and balloon payment calculations are usually the first place that weakness shows.

Competitive quoting is the second thing to assess. A broker's day frequently involves matching or beating a competitor's rate. If the software can reverse-engineer a competitor's quote back to an effective interest rate from the repayment figure alone, that is a material workflow advantage. Not many platforms do this natively, and the difference between having that function and not having it is felt every time a client walks in with a dealer finance offer in their hand.

Compliance integration is the third consideration. Populating disclosure documents and credit guides from the same data used to generate a quote removes a significant manual step and reduces the risk of inconsistency between what a client sees in a quote and what ends up in their credit documentation.

Fourth, think about the lender panel sitting behind the platform. A quoting engine is only as useful as the rates it can actually access. Aggregators with deeper lender relationships can surface more accurate indicative rates at the quote stage, which matters when a client is comparing options on the spot.

1. COG Aggregation (COG Connect)

COG Connect is a purpose-built asset finance CRM developed and operated by COG Aggregation, a specialist asset finance aggregator with a lender panel of more than 60 specialist lenders and a membership base spanning brokers writing across vehicles, trucks, trailers, yellow goods, equipment, and commercial asset finance more broadly.

The quoting engine inside COG Connect runs three distinct models. The first is a standard quote that calculates repayments, residual values, and balloon payments from the asset price, rate, term, and finance type. The second is a solve-back-to-rate function: the broker enters a competitor's repayment figure and the platform reverse-engineers the effective interest rate behind it. This is particularly useful when a client arrives with a quote from their dealer or another broker and wants to understand what rate they are actually being offered before making a comparison. The third model handles structured and irregular payment scenarios, including GST-back structures where the input tax credit component changes the repayment profile in the early periods of the loan.

On the compliance side, COG Connect populates disclosure documents and credit guides from the client data already captured in the deal when initiated, and maintains a full audit trail recording who did what and when. That audit tracking is not just a useful management tool; it is the kind of documentation a regulator will ask for if a complaint is ever raised.

COG Connect is an optional, subscription-based platform available to members of COG Aggregation, alongside access to a panel of 60-plus specialist lenders, negotiated lender rates, dedicated BDM support, compliance resources, broker loan processing via COG Broker Services, and ongoing training through the Broker Central portal.

Members writing across SME business finance, consumer asset lending, or leisure and personal loans work within the same system, which keeps deal management consistent across product types.

2. LMG (Loan Market Group)

LMG operates one of the largest aggregation networks in Australia by total broker headcount, spanning both mortgage and asset finance. Asset finance brokers in the LMG network access CRM functionality through one of two platforms depending on their business model: NodifiCRM (for dedicated asset finance specialists under LMG Asset Finance) or MyCRM Diversified (for diversified brokers adding asset and commercial finance to a residential book).

Whether balloon payment and residual value calculations are available natively within each platform or depend on third-party integrations is worth confirming directly with LMG before making a switching decision, because the distinction matters for workflow continuity.

The LMG lender panel is broad, and the network's scale gives it genuine commercial weight in lender negotiations. However, the platform serves a mixed broker population that includes a large number of mortgage brokers. Asset finance specialists operating at volume should consider whether the support structure and CRM development roadmap at LMG is primarily shaped by the needs of asset finance brokers or by the larger mortgage cohort.

3. Connective

Connective is another large Australian aggregator with both mortgage and asset finance members. Its Mercury CRM platform handles deal workflows and has been updated progressively over recent years. Asset finance quoting functionality within Mercury is available, though the platform originated as a mortgage CRM and the asset finance tooling reflects that history in parts of the interface.

Connective's lender panel includes a range of asset finance lenders, and the group has invested in expanding its asset finance offering. For brokers who also write mortgage business and want a single platform to manage both, Connective has appeal. For brokers whose entire business is asset finance, the CRM's mortgage-first heritage is a practical consideration when evaluating how naturally the quoting workflow fits commercial asset structures, including residual and balloon scenarios.

4. Viking Aggregation

Viking Aggregation began as a specialist in the asset finance space, focused on commercial equipment and vehicle brokers, and as of early 2026 has expanded into a multi-asset aggregator now offering residential, commercial, and asset finance aggregation services. That broader positioning means the platform and support structure now serve a more diverse broker population than it did historically.

For brokers comparing Viking with COG Aggregation, the key questions remain around panel depth, BDM accessibility, and the specific quoting models supported by the platform. Lender panel size and quoting capability details have not been publicly confirmed by Viking, so both are worth verifying directly before making a switching decision.

5. Optimise Aggregation

Optimise Aggregation is an asset finance aggregator operating in Australia. Its membership base can translate into more direct access to principals, which some brokers value highly. The platform and tooling should be evaluated directly against the quoting models a broker needs, particularly for structured payment scenarios and residual value calculations that go beyond standard finance products.

Optimise maintains relationships with a range of specialist lenders. Brokers who prioritise close-knit support over the broadest possible lender panel sometimes find specialist aggregators a better cultural fit.

6. Compass Aggregation

Compass is another asset finance aggregator operating in the Australian market. Like Optimise, its focus on asset finance rather than mortgage aggregation means the support team and platform development are oriented toward commercial brokers.

Brokers considering Compass should conduct the same quoting capability assessment as with the others: specifically, whether balloon and residual calculations are handled natively within the platform, how structured or irregular payment scenarios are modelled, and what compliance documentation tools are available within the system. Lender panel size and named CRM platform have not been publicly confirmed by Compass, so both are worth verifying directly.

Comparison table

Capabilities marked "Not publicly detailed" are based on publicly available information as of April 2026 and should be verified directly with the relevant aggregator before switching.

How to choose the right platform for your practice

No other aggregator in this comparison combines all three quoting models (standard quote, solve-back-to-rate, and structured/irregular payments including GST-back), on-demand compliance documentation populated from deal data with a full audit trail, and a 60-plus specialist lender panel within a single system. That combination matters because each element addresses a different failure point in the daily workflow of an asset finance broker.

If your quoting tool cannot model a balloon payment accurately, you are either doing the calculation manually or presenting a figure to a client that may not survive settlement scrutiny. If your compliance documents are not populated from the same data as your quote, there is a gap where inconsistency can enter. And if your lender panel is shallow, the most sophisticated quoting engine in the market cannot make up for the fact that you cannot get the deal done.

The brokers best suited to COG Connect are those writing commercial asset finance, SME business finance, consumer asset finance, or leisure and personal loans at meaningful volume, and who need a system where quoting depth, compliance tracking, and lender access are integrated rather than assembled from separate tools. For brokers currently with a mixed aggregator who have been working around the limitations of a mortgage-first CRM, the practical workflow difference is material.

Mixed aggregators that also serve mortgage brokers have their own advantages, particularly for brokers who split their business across both product types. The honest question to ask is whether the development priorities and support model at your current aggregator are shaped by what asset finance brokers need, or by the needs of the larger cohort the business serves.

For asset finance brokers who want to see how COG Connect handles residual values, balloon payments, and structured payment scenarios in practice, the most direct next step is a conversation with the team.

Frequently asked questions

Does COG Connect cost extra on top of COG Aggregation membership?

COG Aggregation has a no-fee broker membership model. COG Connect is an optional, subscription-based software platform exclusively available to COG Aggregation members. It is not automatically included; brokers can choose to subscribe to it separately on a per-user, tiered basis. COG Aggregation membership is free and includes BDM support, compliance resources, training modules, and access to the Broker Central portal, to mention a few benefits. For a full breakdown of what is covered under membership versus the COG Connect subscription, the Specialist page sets out the detail.

Can broker quoting software really handle commercial residual values accurately?

Yes, especially if the platform is built for asset finance rather than adapted from a mortgage system. COG Connect's quoting engine calculates residual values and balloon payments as native functions, not workarounds. The structured and irregular payment model also handles GST-back scenarios, where the input tax credit received by the borrower changes the repayment profile in the early loan periods. This is where a lot of generic tools fall short, and it is the kind of gap that only becomes obvious when a deal reaches settlement and the figures do not hold.

What is solve-back-to-rate and why does it matter for competitive quoting?

Solve-back-to-rate is a quoting model that takes a competitor's repayment figure and works backward to reveal the effective interest rate embedded in that quote. It matters because clients frequently arrive with a dealer finance or competing broker quote and want to know whether it is actually competitive. Without this function, comparisons rely on guesswork rather than the actual rate driving the repayment. COG Connect includes this as a native function within its quoting engine, so the broker can give a client a clear, data-backed answer on the spot.

Is it worth switching aggregators just to get better quoting software?

That depends on what you are currently giving up. If your existing platform cannot model balloon payments or residual values properly, you are either doing that calculation manually or presenting clients with figures that may not hold up at settlement. The quoting tool is one piece of the picture. Factor in compliance documentation, lender panel access, and BDM support alongside the platform itself before deciding. The full broker services offering is worth reviewing as a complete package rather than assessing the CRM in isolation.

How does COG Connect handle irregular or seasonal repayment structures?

COG Connect's third quoting model is specifically designed for structured and irregular payment scenarios. This includes GST-back structures, where the input tax credit component received by the borrower changes the repayment profile in the early loan periods. This is a common requirement for commercial asset finance deals and is not reliably handled by CRM platforms designed primarily for consumer or mortgage lending. The model is built into the quoting engine natively, so brokers do not need a separate tool or manual workaround to produce an accurate figure for these scenarios.

Talk to our team to see how COG Connect handles residual values, balloon payments, and structured quoting in practice.