There are a couple of ways to calculate the plan payment in a Chapter 13 Plan which ultimately comes down to preference.
Using the disposable income from Schedule J:
A common way to estimate the monthly plan payment is to enter the debtor's income and expenses to calculate the disposable income that the debtor has to apply towards the plan payment. In the calculator, NextChapter shows how much net income is available after all the expenses are applied from Schedule J here:
Go to Chapter 13 > Plan Calculator > Calculator.
If the plan payment is too high or too low for the current disposable income available, the Unsecured Percentage and individual claim treatments can be adjusted as needed to adjust the total plan payment.
Calculating the plan terms and claim treatments first:
Some attorneys prefer to set the treatments and terms of the Chapter 13 Calculator first to see how much disposable income is needed on Schedule J to support the plan. Once the plan calculator is set, the amount shown for "Plan Payment Needed on Schedule J" is the amount of disposable income needed to fund the plan each month.
If there is not enough disposable income left on schedule J to support the monthly plan payment, you can adjust the expenses as needed.
*NOTE: If the mortgage is being paid conduit, the monthly mortgage payment will not be included in the amount shown for "Plan Payment Needed on Schedule J" because Schedule J already deducts the mortgage payment from the income.