Cycles

This is where your chama runs its meetings: opening a cycle, recording who has paid, writing minutes, marking attendance, and paying out the merry-go-round pot.

Starting a new cycle

1. On the Current Cycle tab, if nothing is open yet, fill in a Cycle Label (e.g. "Week 14 - 2026") and the Meeting Date.
2. If your chama has a merry-go-round, pick who receives this cycle's pot (you can pick more than one - the pot splits evenly between them). Leave this empty if this cycle has no rotation.
3. Click Open Cycle.

During the meeting

• Record each member's Share and/or Merry-Go-Round payment as it comes in - these are tracked separately, since a member can be paid-up on one and behind on the other.
• Write Meeting Minutes under the Preliminaries and Discussion tabs, and click Save Minutes.
• Tick off who's present under Attendance, then Save Attendance.

Closing a cycle

Click Close Cycle whenever your meeting is done - you do NOT have to wait until every member has paid in full. This is useful for catching up on old meetings from before some members joined. As soon as a cycle is closed, you're free to open the next one.

After closing - the History tab

• Release Payout - pays the merry-go-round pot to its beneficiaries. If not every member has paid yet, you'll be clearly warned that this will be a partial release (paying out only what's actually been collected so far).
• Reopen Cycle - for correcting a mistake after closing. Only available if the payout for that cycle hasn't been released yet.
• View Minutes - re-read any past cycle's notes.

Dashboard

Your chama's home page - a quick snapshot of where things stand right now.

What you'll see

• Active / Total Members - how many members are currently active out of everyone ever onboarded.
• Total Collections - all shares collected, all-time.
• Lent to Members - how much is currently out on loan.
• Available Balance - cash and M-Pesa funds the chama currently has on hand.
• Total Expenses - operating expenses recorded so far.
• Current Cycle - the open meeting cycle's collection progress, if one is open.

Use the sidebar to get to Cycles, Loans, Expenses, Distribution, Reports, and My Account. If you hold a position with extra permissions, you'll also see an Administration section for things like Positions, Members, and Subscription.

Distribution

This page handles your chama's period-end money-sharing: giving members their portion of the interest your chama earned, and separately, paying everyone their savings back in cash when a period closes.

Two different things happen on this page

• Distribute Now (interest) - grows each member's Shares balance by their portion of the interest earned this period. This does NOT pay out cash - it only adds to what each member is owed.
• Share-Out - pays every member their FULL Shares balance (their contributions, plus whatever interest was just credited) back in cash, and resets everyone to zero to start the new period fresh. Always run this AFTER distributing interest, so members are paid out including their interest.

How the interest split works

• Chama Ledger takes the Interest Income earned this period, subtracts your Operating Expenses, and only shares out what's left over - shown as "Undistributed Interest Income" at the top of the page.
• If expenses were higher than the interest earned, there's nothing to distribute yet - the page will tell you this plainly instead of showing an allocation table.
• Each member's slice is based on how big their own Shares balance is, compared to everyone else's - a member with more saved gets a bigger slice of the interest. This is shown in the Proposed Allocation table as a percentage next to each name.

Steps - Distributing interest

1. Open the Distribute Now tab - the distributable amount is calculated and shown immediately.
2. If there's something to distribute, a Proposed Allocation table appears, showing every member, their contribution basis, their percentage, and how much they would receive.
3. Review the figures with your officials, then click Confirm and Distribute Interest.

Important: this posts straight to the ledger the moment you click Confirm, and cannot be undone from this page - agree on the numbers as a committee first.

Steps - Running Share-Out

1. Run this after distributing interest, so members are paid their savings together with the interest just credited.
2. Click Release Share-Out and confirm.
3. Every member's Shares balance is paid out in cash and reset to zero, ready for the new period.

If your chama doesn't have enough cash on hand right now (for example, because money is still out on loan), the share-out will be blocked with a clear message - wait for loan repayments or collect outstanding loans first, then try again.

History tab

Any member can view past distribution runs here - the date, how much interest was shared out, and who carried it out. Handy to read out at a meeting for transparency.

Expenses

This is where day-to-day chama spending gets requested and signed off - stationery, transport, refreshments, bank charges, and so on. Nothing touches the ledger until someone with the right permission approves it.

How an expense moves through the system

• Pending - just submitted, waiting for an official to look at it. No money has moved yet.
• Approved - signed off by an official. This posts to the ledger immediately and deducts the amount from wherever it was paid from (Cash and Bank, or M-Pesa Holding).
• Rejected - turned down, with an optional reason shown under the status badge.

Steps - Submitting an expense

1. Choose a Category - Stationery, Transport, Refreshments, Bank Charges, or Other.
2. Enter the Amount.
3. Choose Paid From - Cash and Bank, or M-Pesa Holding. This decides which of the chama's balances the money will come out of once approved.
4. Add a short Description of what it was for (required), and optionally who it was Paid To.
5. Click Submit for Approval.

Steps - Approving or rejecting

Officials with permission will see Approve and Reject buttons next to any Pending expense.

• Approve - posts the expense to the ledger straight away. If there isn't enough money in the chosen source (Cash and Bank, or M-Pesa Holding) to cover it, approval is blocked with a clear message instead of going through.
• Reject - you'll be asked for an optional reason, which stays visible on that expense afterwards.

Viewing expenses

Every logged-in member can see the full expenses list and its status - Pending, Approved, or Rejected - even members who can't submit or approve themselves. This keeps chama spending open and easy to account for at meetings.

Loans

Any active member can apply for a loan from the chama's funds here. Officials with the right permissions use the same page to review applications, pay out approved loans, and record repayments.

The stages a loan moves through

• Pending - just applied, waiting for an official to review it.
• Approved - officials have said yes, but the money hasn't been paid out yet.
• Disbursed - the money has been paid to the borrower. This is the point interest starts being charged.
• Closed - fully repaid, principal and interest both.
• Rejected - turned down, with a reason shown if one was given.

Steps - Applying for a loan

1. On the My Loans tab, enter the Amount you want to borrow.
2. Enter the Term in months.
3. Add a short Purpose (e.g. "School fees").
4. Click Submit Application.

The interest rate charged is your chama's current rate at the moment you apply - if the group changes its rate later, it won't affect a loan you already applied for.

Your loan history

The table on the My Loans tab shows every loan you've ever applied for: when, the principal and interest, how much you've repaid against the total owed, and its current status. If a loan was rejected, the reason (if given) appears underneath.

Manage Loans tab (officials only)

This tab only appears if you hold permission to manage loans for the group. From here:

• Approve / Reject - decide on a Pending application. Rejecting lets you add an optional reason.
• Disburse - pays an Approved loan's principal out to the borrower and moves it to Disbursed. This needs the chama to actually have enough cash on hand - if not, it's blocked with a clear message instead of going through.
• Record Payment - enter an amount received from the borrower. It's applied to interest owed first, then whatever's left goes to principal - and the loan closes automatically once fully paid off.

Good to know

Interest is worked out automatically, once a month, based only on whatever principal is still outstanding - it does not compound (interest is never charged on interest already owed). It only starts counting from the day the loan is disbursed, not from when it was applied for or approved.

Login

How to log in

1. Enter your Username and Password.
2. Click Log In.
3. If this is your very first login, you'll be asked to set a new password (at least 8 characters) before continuing.

Note: you only need your Username - not a Group Code - since every username on Chama Ledger is unique to you, across every chama.

Forgot your password?

Ask your chama's Group Admin or Treasurer to reset it for you from the Members page - they'll give you a new temporary password, and you'll set your own on next login.

New chama?

Use the "Register here" link on the Login page - see the Register section in this guide.

Manage Positions

This is where your chama defines its roles (like Treasurer or Secretary) and decides exactly what each one is allowed to do in the app.

A few ideas explained simply

• Position - a role in your chama that carries a set of permissions. Whoever holds it can do whatever that position is ticked to allow, and nothing more.
• Group Admin - the one position Chama Ledger creates automatically when your group registers. It always has every permission and cannot be edited or restricted - this guarantees your chama can never accidentally lock itself out of its own account. You'll see it marked "Full Rights - Cannot Edit."
• A member can hold only one position at a time. Assigning them to a new position automatically takes them off whichever one they held before.

Steps - Creating a new position

1. Scroll to Create a New Position at the bottom of the page.
2. Enter a Position Name - e.g. "Assistant Treasurer."
3. Tick every permission this position should have. They're grouped by category to make them easier to scan.
4. Click Create Position.

Steps - Changing what an existing position can do

1. Find that position's card further up the page.
2. Tick or untick whichever permissions you want to add or take away.
3. Click Save Permissions on that card.

The Group Admin card's permission boxes are shown but greyed out - they can be seen, but never changed.

Steps - Assigning or removing members

Each position's card has a Members in this position section at the bottom:

• To assign - pick a member from the "Assign a member..." dropdown and click Assign. Remember, this immediately moves them out of whatever position they held before.
• To remove - click Remove next to their name. This only ends their time in that role - it does not delete their member account or any of their history.

Good to know

Any logged-in member can open this page to see who holds which position and what each one is allowed to do - even if they don't have permission to change anything themselves.

Members

Officials use this page to onboard new members and manage everyone's status.

Adding a new member

1. Fill in their Full Name (required), and optionally Email, Phone, and ID Number.
2. If you provide an email, their login details will be emailed to them automatically.
3. Click Add Member.
4. You'll be shown a Username and Temporary Password - share these with the member if the email couldn't be sent, or if no email was given.

Editing a member

Click Edit next to their name, update the details, then click Save Changes.

Suspend / Reactivate

Suspending a member stops them from logging in, without deleting their history. You can reactivate them anytime. You cannot suspend your own account.

Reset Password

Generates a new temporary password for a member who's forgotten theirs - emailed to them automatically if they have an address on file, otherwise shown on screen to share with them directly.

M-Pesa Settings

This page connects your chama's own Safaricom M-Pesa business account to Chama Ledger, so members can pay contributions with an STK Push - the pop-up that appears on a member's phone asking them to enter their M-Pesa PIN to pay.

Unlike most pages in Chama Ledger, no one can even view this page unless they specifically hold this permission - not even to look, since it involves your chama's private API credentials.

What the fields mean

• Shortcode / PayBill Number - your chama's M-Pesa business number, the one members already send money to.
• Consumer Key, Consumer Secret, and Passkey - three secret codes Safaricom gives your chama through their Daraja developer portal, which let Chama Ledger safely trigger STK Push payment requests on your chama's behalf. Treat these like a password - anyone with all three could request payments in your chama's name.
• Environment - choose Sandbox while testing (fake, practice payments only), and Production once you're ready for real member payments.
• Callback URL - a technical web address Safaricom sends payment confirmations to. This is usually set up once by whoever configured the app for your chama - you likely won't need to change it yourself.
• Active - the on/off switch. Turn this on once everything is filled in correctly, to let members actually start paying via STK Push.

Steps - Setting this up for the first time

1. Get your Consumer Key, Consumer Secret, and Passkey from Safaricom's Daraja portal for your chama's PayBill/Shortcode.
2. Enter your Shortcode, then all three secret fields.
3. Choose Sandbox first if you want to test, or Production if you're going live immediately.
4. Fill in the Callback URL if you've been given one to use.
5. Turn on Active when you're ready for members to start paying.
6. Click Save Settings.

The first time you set this up, all three secret fields (Consumer Key, Consumer Secret, Passkey) must be filled in together - none can be left blank.

Updating settings later

Once configured, the secret fields show a hint like "Current: ****ab12" instead of the real value - for your chama's security, Chama Ledger never displays saved secrets in full again.

Leave a secret field blank to keep it unchanged. Only fill in a field if you're actually replacing that particular value - for example, if Safaricom issues you a new Passkey, you only need to type the new Passkey and can leave Consumer Key and Consumer Secret blank.

Good to know

If you see a banner saying "Not yet configured", it means STK Push collections won't work for your chama until these settings are saved - members simply won't be able to pay this way yet.

My Account

Update your own details and password here - no special permission needed.

Updating your profile

Change your Full Name, ID Number, Username, Phone, or Email under Profile Details, then click Save Changes. Since usernames are unique across every chama on Chama Ledger, if your first choice is already taken you'll be asked to pick a different one.

Changing your password

Enter your Current Password, then your new one twice, and click Change Password. You'll need to know your current password to do this - if you've forgotten it entirely, ask an official to reset it for you from the Members page instead.

Register

This page sets up a brand-new chama and its very first member - the Group Admin.

Steps

1. Fill in your Group Details: Group Name, Meeting Frequency, Accounting Period, Minimum Share Contribution, and Loan Interest Rate.
2. If your chama runs a merry-go-round, fill in the Merry-Go-Round Contribution amount - otherwise leave it blank.
3. Fill in your own details as the admin: Full Name, Phone, and ID Number.
4. Click Register Group.
5. You'll immediately be shown your new Group Code, Username, and a Temporary Password. Write these down now - the password will not be shown again.
6. Click Proceed to Login and sign in. You'll be asked to set your own password on first login.

Tip: the Minimum Share Contribution is just the floor - your members can always contribute more per meeting.

Reports

This page shows you your own financial position at a glance, and - for officials with the right permission - the chama's complete financial picture.

My Statement tab (every member sees this)

• My Shares Balance - what you currently have saved in shares.
• Outstanding on Active Loans - how much you still owe, added up across every loan of yours that's currently disbursed.
• My Loan History - every loan you've ever applied for, with its status and repayment progress.

The full financial reports (officials only)

If you hold permission to view group reports, three extra tabs appear:

• Trial Balance - a full, detailed list of every account the chama's books keep track of, with debits, credits, and the net balance for each. This is the raw detail behind everything else on this page - useful for a treasurer checking the books line by line, or for an auditor.
• Income Statement - what the chama has earned (mainly loan interest) against what it has spent on operating expenses, ending in a Net Surplus figure. This adds up everything since your chama started on Chama Ledger, not just the current cycle or period - for period-specific figures, check the Cycles History tab, or the Distribution page.
• Balance Sheet - what the chama owns (Assets - cash, M-Pesa, and money out on loan to members), what it owes (Liabilities), and what belongs to members collectively (Equity - shares plus any interest earned but not yet shared out). A note at the bottom tells you plainly whether the books balance - Assets should always equal Liabilities plus Equity.

Good to know

An "Undistributed Surplus" line under Equity on the Balance Sheet is interest the chama has already earned but hasn't yet shared out to members - see the Distribution page to run that. If the balance check ever says the books don't match, flag it to your treasurer or the person who set up Chama Ledger for your chama.

Subscription

Your chama's plan controls how many active members it can have. Paid plans are renewed once a year, straight from this page via M-Pesa.

What you'll see

• A card showing your current plan, its status (Active or Expired), when it renews or expired, and a progress bar showing how many of your plan's member slots are in use.
• A list of Available Plans - Free and paid tiers, each showing its price (if any) and how many members it allows.

If your subscription expires

Everywhere else in Chama Ledger becomes view-only once a paid plan lapses - you can still see everything, but can't record new collections, expenses, loans, and so on until it's renewed. This Subscription page is the one exception: it's always reachable, even on an expired account, so your chama is never locked out of the one thing it needs to do to fix that - pay and renew.

Steps - Upgrading or renewing to a paid plan

1. Under Available Plans, click the paid plan you want. (The Free plan can't be selected this way - it's the starting plan every chama gets automatically, with no payment needed.)
2. Enter the M-Pesa phone number to pay from.
3. Click Pay Now.
4. Check that phone and enter the M-Pesa PIN when the prompt appears.
5. Chama Ledger checks automatically in the background - once payment is confirmed, your new plan activates right away and runs for one year from today.

If you close the page or the confirmation takes longer than expected, just refresh the page after a minute or two to see whether the payment went through and your plan updated.

Good to know - member limits

Your plan's member cap only counts currently Active members. If your chama is close to its limit, suspending members who are no longer active (from the Members page) frees up room again, without needing to upgrade your plan.