A somiti ledger, on your phone and free

A free ledger for your savings group on your phone: a tick table of monthly dues, expenses and the fund, shared as a picture or PDF in the WhatsApp group.

Make our somiti ledger

Can I keep our somiti's accounts free on a phone, in a form everyone can see at month end?

Yes. Write the group's name, how many members and the monthly amount in Bangla. You get a ledger app for the group: the member list, a tick table of who paid which month, an expense list and the fund total in large figures. At month end, share the whole statement as a picture or PDF in the WhatsApp group. Making and using it is free; the records stay on the phone you write on.

Three steps to a somiti ledger

  1. Write the group's details: The group's name, the members' names, the monthly amount and what money is spent on. You can add members in the app yourself later.
  2. Publish it and keep it on the cashier's phone: Press "publish free" and open the link on the phone of whoever collects the money. The builder's preview does not keep entries; the live address does.
  3. Share it at month end: When the month's ticks are done, download the statement as a picture or PDF and post it in the members' WhatsApp group. Keep the CSV file for yourself too.

Somiti accounts cause talk; a clear book stops it

A friends' savings group or a neighbourhood club has one problem: one person collects, the accounts sit in their notebook, and the rest do not know what the fund holds. Awkward to say when someone has missed two months, and at year end reconciling brings suspicion.

In the ledger app every member has a tick beside every month, every expense says what for and when, and total in, total out and the fund are worked out on top. Post the whole picture in the group at month end and everyone sees the same numbers; when a question comes, the answer is in the book.

What the somiti ledger app will have

The somiti software is free, but the book lives on one phone

What you enter is kept in the browser of the phone you write on. Another member opening the same link sees an empty book, not your accounts. So the free way to run it is simple: only the cashier writes, from one phone, and the others see the accounts in the month-end picture or PDF.

Clear the browser data or lose the phone and the book goes too; the app says so at the bottom. So download the CSV every month and keep it in your email.

Two committee members, two phones, one book: cloud data

If the cashier and the secretary both want to see and write the same accounts from their own phones, you need cloud data. The records are then kept on our servers and open with a passcode. It is on the Business (14,499 BDT) and Commerce plans; not on a free site or lifetime hosting.

Remember that whoever has the passcode can also change the accounts, and there is no record of who wrote which row. So do not give the passcode to every member, only to the committee members who write; members see the monthly picture. When someone steps down, change the passcode. Details in the cloud data guide.

What this ledger is not: cooperative books and loans

A registered cooperative society keeps and audits its accounts under the Cooperative Societies Act 2001, in set forms. This app is no substitute for that; ask your upazila or district cooperative office about those rules.

The app does not track member loans, instalments or profit shares, only dues, expenses and the fund. Lending the group's money to outsiders or taking deposits is microcredit, which needs a certificate from the Microcredit Regulatory Authority; ask them before doing anything.

The rules, member form and name: in the chat

A new group needs a few papers before any accounts. Ask the chat to "write simple rules for our 15-member savings somiti", with the monthly amount, what happens if someone pays late and where the money is kept. It gives you a start; the members read it together and settle it. Have it write a member form the same way and use the "PDF / Print" button under the answer for a printable A4 page.

Stuck for a name? Ask the chat for ten, and once it is settled see the logo page. This writing uses the free AI Token, up to 400,000 a day. Entering accounts in the app needs no AI, so it uses no Token.

Questions about somiti ledgers

Is there free somiti accounting software?

Yes. Making your group's ledger app, keeping it live and writing in it daily are free. You pay only if several committee members want to write in the same book from different phones: cloud data on the Business or Commerce plan.

Can every member see the accounts on their own phone?

Not on the free setup; the book lives on the cashier's phone. So post the whole statement as a picture or PDF in the members' WhatsApp group each month. Even with cloud data, give the passcode only to the committee, because it allows changes.

How do I keep somiti accounts so nobody is suspicious?

One cashier writes in one book, notes what each expense was for and when, and posts the full statement picture in the group every month. Accounts in plain sight raise fewer questions.

Can the somiti accounts go into Excel?

Yes. Download a CSV file from the app; it opens in Excel or Google Sheets. Do it once a month and keep it in your email, and you have a backup too.

Can a cooperative society keep its accounts in this app?

A registered cooperative must keep and audit its accounts under set legal rules; this app is no substitute. Ask your upazila or district cooperative office.

Can I track members' loan instalments?

This app tracks dues, expenses and the fund only, not loans or instalments. Lending to outsiders is microcredit and needs a certificate from the Microcredit Regulatory Authority; ask them first.

How do I hand over the accounts when the cashier changes?

From the old cashier's phone, download the last month's CSV and statement picture and give them to the new cashier. With cloud data, give the new cashier the passcode and change it for the old one.

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