F&I (finance and insurance)

F&I is the final step of the sale. The finance manager submits the deal to lenders, finalizes terms, prepares the paperwork and presents products such as service contracts, gap coverage, appearance protection and prepaid maintenance.

F&I is a compliance-heavy department, since it involves credit applications, disclosures and consumer finance rules, and it generates the back-end portion of a store’s gross.

Why it matters for a sales manager

What happens on the phone affects F&I directly. A customer who was given a firm payment before any credit decision arrives anchored to a number the finance office may not be able to reproduce, which turns a straightforward delivery into a renegotiation.