Recording collections

Clients repay their loans in daily instalments. Every amount a client hands over is recorded as a collection against their loan. This is done on Small Loans > Collections.

The Collections screen has three tabs and a round + button in the bottom-right corner:

Part	Use it to
Today's Collections	See the daily collection sheet: what each active loan should pay on a date and what has been collected.
All Collections	Look back over every collection recorded.
Batch Entry	Record a whole round of today's collections in one go.
+ (Record Collection)	Record a single collection.

Recording a single collection

1. Go to Small Loans > Collections and select the round + button.
2. In the Record Collection window, choose the Loan. Each loan is listed by its reference and client name, for example SL-2026-0001-L - Jane Doe. Check the reference, because different clients can share a name.
3. Check the Loan Details box that appears: Outstanding Balance and Daily Required.
4. Enter the Amount the client handed over.
5. Leave Collection Date as today, unless you are a supervisor recording an earlier day (see Recording a collection for an earlier date).
6. Select Record Collection.

You will see "Collection recorded successfully". The amount is applied to the loan straight away, and any amount above what is due goes to the client's savings. See How payments are applied.

note

The Payment Method and Notes (optional) fields are not saved with the collection. If you need to keep a note about a payment, keep it outside the system.

What you can enter

Rule	Message
A loan must be chosen.	"Loan is required"
The amount must be more than zero. Part-payments are allowed.	"Amount is required", "Amount must be greater than 0"
The date cannot be in the future.	"Date cannot be in the future"
Only supervisors can choose an earlier date.	"Only a supervisor can record a collection for an earlier date"
The date cannot be before the loan was disbursed.	"SL-...-L was disbursed on ...; a collection cannot be dated earlier"
The loan must still be active.	"Loan is not active"

A day on which the client paid nothing is simply a day with no collection. Do not record a zero collection; the system notices the missed day by itself (see Arrears, penalties and fees).

Recording a collection for an earlier date

Collection Officers record collections for today only; for them the Collection Date field is locked to today.

Branch Managers, Area Managers, Admins and the Proprietor can record a collection for an earlier date, for example a payment taken in the field yesterday that was not entered in time:

1. Open Record Collection as above.
2. Change Collection Date to the day the money was actually received. The date cannot be later than today or earlier than the loan's disbursement date.
3. Select Record Collection.

If someone without permission tries this, the system refuses with "Recording a collection for an earlier date requires a supervisor role". Back-dated collections are logged with the name of the person who recorded them.

Batch Entry: recording a round of collections

Use Batch Entry at the end of a collection round to record many payments at once. All batch collections are recorded with today's date.

1. Go to Small Loans > Collections and open the Batch Entry tab.
2. The table is filled with a row for each active loan, showing the Loan, Client and Expected amount (the daily instalment).
3. For each client who paid, type the amount in Actual Amount. Leave it empty for anyone who did not pay; empty rows are skipped.
4. To add a loan that is not listed, select Add Row and choose the loan. To drop a row, select the red delete icon.
5. Check the Running Total against the cash you collected.
6. Select Submit All.

You will see "n collection(s) recorded successfully."

caution

After Submit All, the amounts stay in the table. Do not select Submit All a second time, or every collection will be recorded twice. Open the All Collections tab to confirm what was saved, then move to another screen.

If you see "Some collections failed to record.", some of the rows may still have been saved. Check All Collections before entering anything again, and re-enter only the ones that are missing.

As with single collections, the Method and Notes columns are not saved.

Today's Collections: the daily collection sheet

The Today's Collections tab shows every active loan that should be paying on the chosen date, with what was expected and what was collected.

• Collection Date - choose the day to view. It starts on today.
• Total Expected, Total Collected and Collection Rate - the totals for the day.
• The table lists each loan by Client and Loan, with Expected Amount, Collected and Status, and a Totals row at the bottom.
• Select the printer icon to print the sheet, for example to take out on a collection round.

Status	Meaning
Collected	The full daily instalment (or more) was collected that day.
Partial	Something was collected, but less than the daily instalment.
Not Collected	Nothing was collected on a past date.
Pending	Nothing has been collected yet today.

The sheet compares each day's collection with one daily instalment. A client catching up on earlier missed days can show Collected even though the loan is still in arrears, so check the Delinquency screen for arrears.

All Collections: collection history

The All Collections tab lists every collection, newest first, with Date, Loan, Amount Paid, Loan Portion, Savings Portion and Collected By.

• Use Start Date and End Date to narrow the list.
• Total Collected (this page) adds up only the rows on the current page.

If your organisation takes unpaid fees out of collections, part of a collection may have gone to fees. That part is not shown as a separate column, so Loan Portion plus Savings Portion can be less than Amount Paid.

Correcting a mistake

A collection cannot be edited, reversed or deleted from the screen, and no receipt is produced. Check the loan and amount carefully before you select Record Collection or Submit All. If a collection was recorded in error, report it to your Branch Manager or Admin.