The short answer
A PDM funds management system is a district-level system that puts every parish SACCO on one screen: money released to each SACCO, money actually lent to households, repayments, arrears aged by days overdue, and the bank balance each SACCO should be holding, with an audit trail behind every figure. It works alongside PDMIS, the government's PDM system run by the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, and alongside district finance systems. It replaces neither.
Districts need it now for two reasons. Under the Parish Development Model, money moves through IFMIS straight from the Ministry of Finance into each SACCO's bank account, bypassing district general accounts, so a district sees the money only through what SACCOs report. And the programme has moved into recovery: Parliament reported that repayments on the first loans were to begin from March 2026, and in Nakaseke only about UGX 28 million had been recovered when legislators raised it. We build this as a custom system, , scoped to what a district actually oversees.
What the audits found, and what a district can see
Auditor General findings reported in 2025 describe the gap a district has to close: 212 PDM SACCOs across 14 local governments could not account for UGX 1.544 billion of fund money not yet lent to households; 619 beneficiaries were running ineligible projects and 109 projects did not exist; UGX 263 million was diverted across 52 local governments; and 2,336 households received PDM loans more than once.
Each of these shows up in one of three places: a SACCO's bank balance against its books, the household list against the loan register, or a field visit against the business plan. A district that checks all three every month, parish by parish, finds a problem while it is still a query rather than an audit finding. The records each SACCO must keep for its own part are set out in the PDM SACCO accountability guide.
The reconciliation you can run today, free
Before any software, one sum tells a district officer which parish to visit first: released minus lent plus repaid should equal the bank balance. Here it is on four example parishes. The figures are an illustration, and a real reconciliation also adds interest and members' own savings.
| Parish | Released | Lent to households | Repaid | Expected balance | Bank statement | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 300 | 280 | 25 | 45 | 44.5 | In order: a UGX 0.5 million gap to explain in the next return |
| B | 300 | 250 | 5 | 55 | 38 | UGX 17 million unaccounted for: visit this week |
| C | 200 | 200 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Books balance, but almost nothing repaid: a recovery problem |
| D | 300 | 120 | 0 | 180 | 180 | Money idle: UGX 180 million not reaching households |
Parish B is the Auditor General's first finding in miniature, C looks like the recovery pattern reported in Nakaseke, and D is money sitting still. None of these needs a system to spot once. A system earns its cost when there are dozens of parishes, every month, and the question becomes which of them changed since last month. The arrears inside each parish can be sized with the free loan portfolio calculator.
What the district view shows
| Question the district must answer | Where the data comes from | What the system shows |
|---|---|---|
| How much has each parish received, and when | Ministry release notices, and what the district's own PDMIS users can see or export | Money released by parish, round and date |
| How much has reached households | Each SACCO's disbursement records | Released against lent, side by side |
| Where the money is now | Each SACCO's bank and mobile money statements | Expected balance against actual, with the gap flagged |
| Which parishes are falling behind on recovery | SACCO repayment records | Arrears by parish, aged into watch, substandard, doubtful and loss, and ranked |
| Which enterprise groups are funded, and whether anyone has visited | Parish Chief and Parish Development Committee records, officers' visit reports | Groups by parish and enterprise, with the date of the last field visit |
| What will stand up to an audit | Every entry above, with who entered it and when | A trail from each district figure back to the SACCO record behind it |
How it sits beside PDMIS and district systems
PDMIS stays the system of record for beneficiary identity, checking each applicant's National ID against NIRA, and published descriptions say it also records loan data such as amounts borrowed and repaid. We do not claim it lacks any capability, and we do not rebuild it. The district view brings together what a district otherwise holds in different places, PDMIS exports, each SACCO's return and bank statement, and the district's own follow-ups such as visits, directives and responses to audit queries, so one officer can see the whole picture and act on it.
Any direct link into PDMIS needs the agreement of the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, which runs it; until that exists, the district loads its own exports. Where a district runs its own finance or planning systems, this sits beside them as a reporting layer and does not touch district accounting.
How the data gets in
From two places. Parish SACCOs that run a system send their disbursement, repayment and balance figures up automatically; the PDM SACCO management system we build does this by design. For SACCOs still on paper, a sub-county or district officer enters the monthly return on a phone at the SACCO, with a photo of the bank statement attached, instead of waiting for paper to reach the office. Either way, every figure carries who entered it and when.
Set this up first
A district does not have to buy anything to start. This is the order that costs least, with us named only where we genuinely earn the money.
- Free: one monthly return for every SACCO. The same columns from every parish: released, lent, repaid, arrears by band and the closing bank balance, with the bank statement attached.
- Free: the reconciliation above, kept in a spreadsheet every month, with parishes ranked by the size of the gap and by arrears. Visit the top five first.
- When parishes are still on paper and their returns arrive late or unreadable: a SACCO system for those parishes, for one build, and quoted for a group where several SACCOs go together.
- When the spreadsheet can no longer keep up with dozens of parishes each month, or auditors want the trail behind each figure: the district system, a custom build .
What a district does not need from us: a website, or any system bought before step 1 is agreed. If every SACCO returns the same columns on time and the spreadsheet stays current, keep using it.
How a district would procure it, and the first meeting
How the district classifies the purchase decides the procurement method, and that call belongs to its procurement unit. Two PPDA rules are worth knowing: consultancy services valued below UGX 5,000,000 count as micro procurement, and a 7 percent preference margin applies to local bidders on works and services. Government tenders run on the eGP portal; see how government tenders work in Uganda. We never guarantee a tender or an award.
We quote a fixed price in writing before work starts, scoped to the number of parishes and SACCOs and what the district already runs, paid 50 percent to begin, 25 percent at the review of the working system and 25 percent at handover. The district owns the source code and the data, which matters for a public system that will outlast any one contract.
What to send on WhatsApp: how many parishes and SACCOs you oversee, the report formats the ministry and the auditors ask you for, and one month's returns from three SACCOs: one that reports well, one that is late, and one still on paper. In the first meeting we run those three through the reconciliation with you and show what a district view would have flagged. Then we quote.
This is new ground for us. We have no government contracts, tenders won or named partner firms to point to, and we will not claim any. What we can show is our own working software, including the loan and SACCO system, Growth Informer Business and Moyo Pay, 37 live website and app builds, and our registration with URA as a tax agent. We work alongside the district's legal office or advocate on anything contractual. If the need is wider donor or ministry reporting, see our monitoring and evaluation system; for the national push towards paperless government services, see digital transformation in Uganda.
Frequently asked questions
What is a PDM funds management system?
A district-level system that shows every parish SACCO on one screen: money released, money lent to households, repayments, arrears aged by days overdue and the bank balance each SACCO should hold, with an audit trail behind each figure.
Does it replace PDMIS?
No. PDMIS stays the government's system of record, run by the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance. The district view brings PDMIS exports, SACCO returns, bank statements and the district's own follow-ups into one place, and any direct link to PDMIS needs that ministry's agreement.
How can a district check PDM funds without new software?
Ask every SACCO for the same monthly return and bank statement, then check that released minus lent plus repaid equals the bank balance. Rank parishes by the gap and by arrears, and visit the worst first.
Who owns the system and the data?
The district. The source code and all data are handed over at delivery, so the system can outlast any single contract or supplier.
How much does a district PDM system cost?
Custom builds start and depend on the number of parishes and SACCOs and the data the district already has. We quote a fixed price in writing after the first meeting.