SPARK 8.2.4 Release Notes

The SPARK 8.2.4 release is planned for Saturday, November 29th. This update includes improvements to the user experience of Electronic Signature Requests. The maintenance window will occur from 11:00 PM CT on Saturday, November 29th through 9:00 AM CT on Sunday, November 30th.

What's Changed

Electronic Signature Requests Improvements

We’ve updated the Docusign Electronic Signature Requests experience to make it clearer and easier to use. These changes focus on visual and workflow improvements - all core functionality remains the same.

• The Docusign authentication step now has clearer actions: Connect, Refresh, and Disconnect.

• The Signature Request Listing has been updated to align with modern UI patterns in SPARK.

• Creating Signature Requests and Viewing Request Details now follow the same side panel experience as the Document List, showing status, signers, timestamps, document placeholders, and filenames.

• Users can now create draft Requests that autosave and restore when you return, making it easier to pick up where you left off.

• When creating a Signature Request anywhere in SPARK, if you have multiple authentication methods enabled, you can now choose a unique authentication method for each signer.

Phone Verification Authentication for Electronic Signature Requests

SPARK now supports Phone Verification (via Phone Call or SMS) for Docusign Electronic Signature Requests. To enable this authentication method, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.

2025 ProSight Financial Association Industry Data Update

2025 ProSight Financial Association (formerly RMA) data is now available for industry comparisons. Existing financial analyses will continue to reference the year originally selected at the time of creation. New financial analyses that include industry comparisons will now reference 2025 data.

All references to RMA have been updated to reflect the organization’s new name following its acquisition by ProSight Financial Association.

Narrative Generation Workflow Enhancements

We improved the user experience when generating AI narratives by providing clearer feedback during document text extraction.

• The system now immediately transitions to an “Assistant Working” view after clicking Generate, replacing the previous pulsing button experience.

• During extraction, Guide the Narrative and Document Selection controls are disabled.

• Each attached document now displays real-time extraction status:

  • Spinner for in-progress extraction

  • Green checkmark when extraction completes

  • Red error icon if extraction fails, with a tooltip explaining the issue

• Once all documents finish extraction, the system automatically moves to the existing LLM generation (“Thinking”) view.

These updates make it clearer when SPARK is processing documents and when the system is ready to generate the AI narrative.

Reverting Completed Packages

Lenders can now revert a completed package back to the previous stage when additional updates are needed.

• A new Revert to Previous Stage action is available to users with the appropriate stage-change permissions.

• Reverting a package removes business and individual snapshots, resets addresses to their account/contact sources, clears relevant completion dates, ensures the package is no longer marked ready for sale, and reopens disbursements.

This enhancement allows lenders to correct prematurely completed packages without manual intervention.

Use of Funds Validation Update

We refined the stage-change validation logic for Use of Funds to ensure SPARK only validates scenarios that are truly required.

• The system no longer requires every Use of Funds entry to have a Total > $0 when advancing a stage.

• The previous validation - “The funds by party allocation has not been completed” - now triggers only in scenarios where the allocation is actually required to proceed.

• This update eliminates unnecessary validation errors that caused confusion and support inquiries.

These changes help lenders advance stages more smoothly while still enforcing required allocation rules where appropriate.

Companion Package Filter for Package Lists

A new filter option is now available to help lenders quickly focus on companion loans in their pipeline.

• Added a "Show only Companion Packages" toggle to the Dashboard Package Lists panel, styled consistently with existing filters.

• The toggle is off by default; enabling it limits the list to companion packages only.

• This new filter works seamlessly with all other dashboard filters, including search, date range, statuses, and Referral Partners.

This enhancement makes it easier to isolate and manage companion packages directly from the dashboard.

Document List Filtering for Companion Packages

We added a new filtering option to make it easier to review shared document placeholders on companion packages.

• A "Show all shared Placeholders" filter now appears directly under the existing Show all Placeholders option.

• This filter is visible only on companion packages and is available across all supported views: the Document List, Document List (checklist mode), and the standalone Pre-Screen, Packaging, and Closing checklists.

• The filter is off by default; when enabled, the list displays only shared document placeholders and updates item counts accordingly.

This enhancement provides clearer visibility into shared placeholders when working with companion packages.

Refinancing Same Institution Debt - Delegated Processing Updates

We’ve updated the eligibility logic and questions displayed for delegated processing methods to align with SOP 50 10 8 guidance.

Key changes include:

• Reintroduced questions in the 'Refinancing Same Institution Debt' section for delegated processing methods:

  • Is the debt an interim loan that was made for a purpose other than real estate construction?

  • Was the loan approved by the Lender within 90 days prior to the issuance of an SBA loan number?

    • This question is displayed only when the previous question is answered “Yes.”

  • Is the debt a construction loan that has not been disbursed at the time the PLP loan number is issued?

• Added a new SOP-driven question:

  • Is this a complete change of ownership and the seller’s loan is being paid off with proceeds from this loan?

• Updated logic for the question: Will the new loan reduce the Lender's credit exposure to the applicant?

  • This condition now fails delegated processing for all methods except SBA Express. Previously, SPARK only displayed a warning message: “Standard 7(a) and 7(a) Small loans that reduce a Lender’s credit exposure to the Applicant must be processed under non-delegated authority.”

Refinancing Same Institution Debt – Delegated and Non-Delegated Processing Updates

We removed the question “Will the lender provide a reduced debt service and longer amortization period?” from both delegated and non-delegated processing methods.

Decision Tracking Final Decision Notification and Package Owner Name

We updated the Final Decision notification to allow inclusion of the package owner.

• A new Package Owner Name token can now be added to the Final Decision notification template.

• When included, the package owner is automatically referenced in notifications triggered when a final decision is recorded in Decision Tracking.

This ensures package owners stay informed without requiring additional manual communication. Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager if you're interested in updating your Final Decision notification.

Dynamic PDFs and Referral Fee / Percentage

We added support for including the Referral Fee Amount and Referral Fee Percentage on any dynamic PDF template.

What's Been Fixed

• Task Fixes: We resolved several issues affecting task behavior introduced in the 8.2.3 release as part of a hotfix.

  • Task Comments Not Saving: Fixed an issue that prevented task comments from saving reliably.

  • Editing Task Performance: Addressed performance problems when editing tasks to ensure smoother updates.

  • Owner and Assigned To Selection: Improved the selection behavior for Owner and Assigned To fields to improve the experience for lenders with long lists of internal users.

• Team Reassignments: Fixed an issue that prevented updating team assignments for a stage on the team reassignment page. This issue was resolved in a hotfix.

• Narrative Generation Fixes and Improvements:

  • Invalid Documents in Context: Improved handling of invalid or unsupported documents included in the narrative context.

  • Text Extraction Performance: Enhanced the performance of text extraction when documents are included in the narrative context.

  • Copy / Paste of Narrative Content: Fixed an issue where additional HTML was copied / pasted into a commentary field which caused the credit memo to incorrectly display all of the content.

• Document Placeholder Restoration: Fixed an issue where a document placeholder would not restore properly in the document listing. This was included in a hotfix.

• Document Analysis: Improved validation to ensure tax return uploads are confirmed to be PDF documents.

• Stage Selection in Create Package: Fixed an issue where disabled stages appeared in the stage dropdown when creating a package. This was resolved in a hotfix.

• Signature Date Entry: Fixed a timezone-related date conversion issue when users manually entered a signature date for signed documents. This was resolved in a hotfix.

• Shared Document Placeholders: Fixed an issue where shared document placeholders on companion packages were not consistently organized within document views on all companion packages. This was resolved in a hotfix.

• Equity Tracking Log Export: Fixed an issue that prevented downloading the Excel version of the equity tracking log. This was addressed in a hotfix.

• Messaging Avatars: Fixed an issue where user avatars were not consistently displayed in messaging, which affected messaging behavior. This was resolved in a hotfix.

Find Out More

Stay tuned for the latest features and subscribe to your favorite categories. You can view our product roadmap at any time here.

If you have any feedback or questions, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or submit a ticket to the SPARK Support Team.