Functional requirements template for an LMS RFP

• Set a priority on every row — Must, Should, or Could — before the template leaves your building.
• Use the notes column to record the specific rule, volume, or product nuance behind a row.
• Ask each vendor to mark every row Available in platform / Configurable / On roadmap / Not supported, and to add a one-line evidence note.
• A "Configurable" answer should name what configures it — a screen, a rule, or a code change.
• Score Must rows first; a gap on a Must is a shortlisting decision, not a negotiation.

Priority key. Must = the book cannot run without it. Should = important, with a workaround the lender will accept short-term. Could = valuable, not a gating requirement. Each module below renders as a table — set the priority, capture the vendor response, and use the notes column for the rule or volume behind the row.

Idempotent means an operation can be safely retried and still produce a single, correct result — critical when a payment callback arrives twice.

An account aggregator (AA) is the RBI-licensed framework that lets a borrower share financial data across institutions with explicit, revocable consent. NACH is the bank-mandate rail for recurring auto-debit.

Sixty-plus requirements across eleven modules. Set a priority on every row before it leaves your building; score Must rows first.

• What is a functional requirements template, and how is it different from an RFP checklist?

  A checklist confirms that a topic is covered. A functional requirements template goes a level deeper: it lists the specific capability under each topic, lets the lender prioritise it Must / Should / Could, and asks the vendor to respond row by row with evidence. The checklist scopes the RFP; this template scores it.

• How should we set Must / Should / Could?

  Mark a row Must only if the book cannot run without it on day one. Mark Should if there is a workaround the lender will accept for a quarter or two. Mark Could if it would add value but will not gate the decision. Keeping the Must list honest is what makes the template useful.

• Does this template work for an LOS as well as an LMS?

  The modules here are LMS-specific — they describe the post-disbursal book. An LOS (Loan Origination System) needs its own requirements for application intake, underwriting, and decisioning. Several modules overlap, though: integrations, roles and permissions, APIs, and deployment apply to both, since the LOS and LMS should sit on one canonical model.

• Should a vendor’s "Configurable" answer count the same as "Available"?

  No. Ask what configures it. "Configurable" by a business screen or a rule is close to Available. "Configurable" that turns out to mean a billable code change belongs nearer to Roadmap. The distinction is where time-to-launch and total cost of ownership actually live.

• Where do regulatory items like RBI penal charges and account aggregator belong?

  They are embedded in the relevant modules — penal charges under Charges, account aggregator and NACH under Integrations, returns under Reporting — rather than in a separate compliance module, because they are functional behaviours the book must perform, not paperwork bolted on the side.

• Can we add or remove rows?

  Yes. This is a starting specification, not a fixed form. Add rows for product lines specific to your book — gold loans, co-lending splits, supply-chain finance — and remove modules you do not operate. Keep the priority column on every row you keep.