Double-entry books

Books that cannot drift

Most SACCO software keeps balances in columns that can disagree. Akiba Ledger keeps every shilling in a double-entry ledger, and every balance comes from it.

Sample SACCOBooks

Trial balance

31 Oct · UGX

Account	Debit	Credit
Cash and mobile money	9,140,500
Loans to members	84,600,000
Interest receivable	1,120,000
Members’ savings		61,230,000
Share capital		24,000,000
Reserves and surplus		9,630,500
Total	94,860,500	94,860,500

Drawn sample with made-up figures. Akiba Ledger is in development.

Every amount is a journal

A deposit, a repayment, a fee or a payout is a journal of lines whose debits equal its credits, in whole shillings with one rounding rule. A journal that does not balance is never saved.

A chart of accounts for a SACCO

Cash, bank and mobile money, loans and interest receivable, members’ savings and shares, reserves, funds and income, with a sub-ledger for every member that adds up to its control account.

Reversed, never edited

A posted row is never changed or deleted. A mistake is reversed by a new journal with a reason and a second officer, so the history always adds up.

Monthly periods

Each month closes with a second officer. A late receipt goes into the open month with the day the money really moved, so a closed month, and the return filed from it, never changes.

Checked every night

Each night the books are checked: every journal balances, every member’s balances add up to the control accounts, and the chain of journal fingerprints is unbroken, so a changed row shows.