A snapshot records carrier-reported policy values for one date. It is the source for Actual Total CV, loan balance, available cash value, death benefit, and Net CV throughout Policy Stack.
Key Takeaways
- Regular snapshots keep the Dashboard, Policy Portfolio, and policy charts current
- Enter values manually from a carrier portal or statement
- Builder Pro can extract values from one or more portal screenshots for review before saving
- Record an anniversary statement separately when you also want annual dividend and statement history
- Freshness indicators identify current, aging, stale, or missing snapshot records
Snapshots describe the carrier position as of a date. They do not move money or replace the underlying policy-loan and repayment records.
How Carriers Report Cash Value
Carriers do not all present cash value the same way, so a snapshot can record what your carrier actually shows:
- One Total Cash Value — the common case. Record it as-is.
- Guaranteed Cash Value and Cash Value of Paid Up Additions — when a carrier shows both for the same date, record both. Total CV is calculated from the pair, and the policy workspace shows the recorded makeup with its date. A missing part is never calculated by subtracting the other from Total CV.
- Only one of Guaranteed Cash Value or Cash Value of Paid Up Additions — a carrier statement that prints just one of the two labels does not get a makeup recorded; only Total Cash Value is recorded for that date. Policy Stack never guesses the missing figure by subtracting the other from Total CV, and never records half a pair as if it were the whole reading.
- Net Cash Surrender Value — recorded alongside Total CV. It calculates Total CV only when the same source also reports an actual outstanding loan balance for that date. On its own it is recorded as-is.
A displayed $0.00 is a real value and is recorded as zero. A value the source does not show is left empty rather than recorded as zero.
Carrier figures stay attached to the date they were read. The policy page shows the most recent snapshot that actually carries carrier figures, labelled with that snapshot's own date, so recording a later Total-CV-only entry does not hide an earlier carrier breakdown. A connected advisor sees the same reading you do.
When a Source Shows No Loan Balance
Some carrier screens show borrowing capacity — often labeled Available Loan Value — without showing an outstanding balance. Loan availability is not a loan balance, and it is never recorded as one.
When a source shows no actual outstanding balance, the snapshot records that the loan balance was not reported. Net CV is not calculated for that date, and the tracked policy loan is left exactly as it was rather than being reset to zero.
Snapshots recorded by an advisor on your behalf follow the same rules and record the same carrier evidence.