The short answer
A PDM SACCO management system is the software a parish SACCO uses to keep its own books: the member and enterprise group register, every Parish Revolving Fund disbursement, each repayment, arrears aged into the four Tier 4 bands with the loan loss allowance each band needs, member savings, the fund's bank balance and the returns a licensed SACCO files. It works alongside PDMIS, the government's own PDM system run by the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance. It does not replace PDMIS or compete with it.
The need is sharper in 2026. The first PDM loans went out in December 2022 with a 24 month grace period, and Parliament reported that repayments were to begin from March 2026. A SACCO that has lent one UGX 100 million round in loans of up to UGX 1 million each is now following at least 100 repayment schedules. We build the Growth Informer Loan and SACCO Management System for this, configured for a PDM or Emyooga SACCO, . This page also says plainly when a SACCO does not need software yet.
What a licensed SACCO must keep, by law
A PDM SACCO is a cooperative society registered with the Registrar of Cooperatives at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. Under the Tier 4 Microfinance Institutions and Money Lenders Act, a SACCO may not take savings and lend unless it also holds a Tier 4 licence, now issued by the Ministry of Finance after Parliament voted on 6 November 2024 to fold the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority (UMRA) into it. The Act and the 2020 SACCO Regulations then set out the books:
- A written credit policy stating loan types, how interest is calculated, payment frequency, the maximum loan per product, collateral, guarantor rules and approval limits, disclosed to members. For PDM loans the programme fixes the headline terms (see the PDM loan terms); the policy still has to say how they are applied.
- Every loan classified by days in arrears: watch (1 to 60 days), substandard (61 to 90), doubtful (91 to 180) and loss (over 180), with loan loss allowances of 1 percent on performing loans, then 5, 25, 50 and 100 percent.
- Interest suspended on substandard, doubtful and loss loans rather than booked as income, and the interest recoverable on a delinquent loan capped at the amount owing when it became delinquent.
- Member share and savings records kept for at least ten years.
- Monthly returns on capital adequacy and liquidity within 15 days of month end, plus quarterly returns and an annual return within five months of the 31 December year end, prepared under IFRS.
- 10 percent of each year's surplus into a Reserve Fund, and the licence renewed every year at UGX 300,000. An unpaid annual fee cancels the licence.
On top of the law, the PDM guideline allows one loan per household. The Auditor General found 2,336 households that had received PDM loans more than once, which is why a register that checks households, not only National ID numbers, earns its place.
Worked example: provisions on a UGX 100 million loan book
Take an example SACCO that lent one UGX 100 million round in UGX 1 million loans to 100 borrowers and has just come out of the grace period. The loan book is an illustration; the percentages are the ones the SACCO Regulations set.
| Band | Days overdue | Loans | Balance (UGX) | Allowance rate | Allowance (UGX) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performing | 0 | 70 | 70,000,000 | 1% | 700,000 |
| Watch | 1 to 60 | 12 | 12,000,000 | 5% | 600,000 |
| Substandard | 61 to 90 | 8 | 8,000,000 | 25% | 2,000,000 |
| Doubtful | 91 to 180 | 5 | 5,000,000 | 50% | 2,500,000 |
| Loss | Over 180 | 5 | 5,000,000 | 100% | 5,000,000 |
| Total | 100 | 100,000,000 | 10,800,000 |
Three things follow that an exercise book hides. First, UGX 10.8 million, more than a tenth of the book, has to be set aside even though 70 of the 100 borrowers are paying. Second, interest on the UGX 18 million in the bottom three bands stops counting as income, so the surplus, and the 10 percent owed to the Reserve Fund, is smaller than the cash book suggests. Third, loans move bands by the calendar, not by a committee meeting: a loan 45 days overdue that misses one more month becomes substandard, and its allowance jumps from 5 to 25 percent.
The trap that costs cash is the return. A licensed SACCO that files its monthly return late pays 20 currency points (UGX 400,000) plus 10 currency points (UGX 200,000) for each extra working day, so a return five working days late costs at least UGX 1.2 million. Run your own figures through the free loan portfolio calculator, which works out PAR and provisions from your overdue buckets.
Where PDMIS fits, and where the SACCO's books start
PDMIS, the Parish Development Model Information System, is the government's system of record for PDM. It checks each applicant's National ID number against the NIRA database, the main defence against duplicate and ghost applicants, and published descriptions say it also records loan data such as amounts borrowed and repaid. SACCO executives, Parish Chiefs, CAOs and district PDM focal persons are among its users. By August 2025 it had digitised over 8 million household records and tracked UGX 2.7 trillion through PDM SACCOs.
We do not claim PDMIS lacks any capability, and we do not build as if it did. The point is narrower: the law puts the SACCO's own books on the SACCO, whatever PDMIS holds. The cash book, the credit policy, the ageing and allowances, the monthly return and the annual accounts belong to the SACCO executive. Our system keeps those books and gives the treasurer figures to reconcile against what PDMIS shows, so the two tell the same story.
What the system does, mapped to the rule it serves
| What the SACCO must track | The rule or risk behind it | What we build it to do |
|---|---|---|
| Members, households and enterprise groups | One PDM loan per household; 2,336 households were found with more than one | One register searchable by member, household, group and parish, with a warning before a second loan to the same household or NIN |
| Disbursements from the fund | Lending must follow the written credit policy, and loans to committee members need committee approval without the applicant in the room | Each disbursement logged against the member, group, loan product, approver and date |
| Repayments and arrears | Days-in-arrears bands and allowances under the SACCO Regulations | Repayments posted the same day, every loan aged automatically and the allowance calculated |
| Savings and shares | Records kept at least ten years; a member may ask for a statement of each transaction | Member statements on demand, kept for as long as the law asks |
| The fund's bank and mobile money balance | 212 SACCOs could not account for UGX 1.544 billion of fund money not yet lent out | A running fund balance reconciled against the bank and mobile money statements each month |
| Returns | Monthly within 15 days, quarterly, and annual within five months of year end | Returns drafted from the ledger, not rebuilt by hand |
Members can repay by MTN MoMo or Airtel Money, with each payment matched to the member and the loan. The Mobile Money business accounts are opened in the SACCO's own name with each network, each network approves its own connection, and we connect the system once they are active. On the disbursement side, press reports in September 2026 describe PDM loans being paid to beneficiaries' phones through Wendi, a platform run by Pearl Bank. We would confirm what it covers in your district and record those payments, not duplicate them.
Set this up first
Software is not step one for a SACCO. This is the order that costs least, with the real cost of each basic step, and us named only where we genuinely earn the money.
- The papers, at their real cost. Cooperative registration with the Registrar of Cooperatives: the MTIC guidelines give UGX 50,000, a 2019 figure to confirm with the Registrar. The Tier 4 SACCO licence: UGX 50,000 to apply, then UGX 300,000 for the licence and again every year. A TIN for the SACCO is free from URA; nothing else here is. A SACCO whose licence has lapsed has a bigger problem than its software.
- The habits that cost nothing. Fund money only in the SACCO's own bank account, never a leader's phone. Every disbursement and repayment in the cash book the same day, with a receipt. The cash book reconciled to the bank statement each month and signed by two committee members. A written credit policy the members have seen. A WhatsApp broadcast list for repayment reminders.
- When one treasurer can no longer age every loan by hand before the return is due, usually once there is more than one loan product or the borrowers run into the hundreds: a SACCO system. Ours is . If you must go live this week, an off-the-shelf SACCO subscription is faster, and the checklist below applies to it just as much.
- When a district or a group of SACCOs wants one shared view: a custom build, the district PDM funds system, quoted once we know what it must pull together.
- When URA writes to the SACCO about a penalty, an assessment or a deadline: we are a URA-registered tax agent. We set systems up, file, object and represent, and we quote after seeing the notice.
What a parish SACCO does not need is a website. Members find the SACCO at the parish, not on Google, so we will not sell you one. A SACCO with 30 members and a single loan product needs steps 1 and 2 done well, and nothing else yet.
What to ask before you buy any SACCO system
Several commercial SACCO systems already sell in Uganda. We found no evidence that any of them, ours included, is a government-endorsed system for PDM SACCOs, so judge every one, ours too, on the same questions:
- Does it age loans into watch, substandard, doubtful and loss by days overdue, and calculate the 1, 5, 25, 50 and 100 percent allowances without a spreadsheet on the side?
- Does it suspend interest on loans in the bottom three bands, and stop arrears interest at the amount owing when the loan went bad?
- Can each loan product carry its own interest method, stated the way the credit policy discloses it?
- Will it warn you before a second loan to the same household, not only the same NIN?
- Does it draft the monthly return, due within 15 days of month end?
- Can the treasurer export every record to Excel, and who owns the data and the code if you stop paying?
- Does it work on a phone with a weak signal, and what happens to a repayment recorded offline?
Ask us to show each one working on your own figures before you pay anything. Where our build does not do one yet, we will say so and put it in the quote. With us, the SACCO owns the source code and the data outright.
What it costs, what to send us, and the first meeting
We quote a fixed price in writing before work starts, based on members, loan products, branches and whether MTN MoMo and Airtel Money are connected. Builds start , paid 50 percent to begin, 25 percent at the review when you can test the working system and 25 percent at handover. Mobile Money charges, SMS and hosting are paid to those providers. Several SACCOs in one sub-county or district can ask us to quote one build for all of them.
Do not pay for software out of the Parish Revolving Fund. The fund exists to lend to households, and the Auditor General has already reported UGX 263 million of PDM money diverted across 52 local governments. Pay from the SACCO's own income, or ask your district PDM focal person in writing before using anything else.
What to send on WhatsApp: your member count and loan products, a photo of one month's cash book pages with the matching bank statement, and how members repay today. In the first meeting we take that one month and show you, on your own figures, how the loans age and what the allowance and the return would be. Then we tell you whether software is worth it yet. If it is, the fixed quote follows in writing.
We are building our PDM and SACCO practice now. We have no PDM SACCO clients, installs or tenders 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. The records that answer an audit query are in the PDM SACCO accountability guide, and cutting arrears once loans mature in how to reduce loan defaults.
Frequently asked questions
What does a PDM SACCO management system do?
It keeps a parish SACCO's own books: members, households and enterprise groups, Parish Revolving Fund disbursements, repayments, arrears aged into the watch, substandard, doubtful and loss bands with their allowances, savings, the fund's bank balance and the monthly return.
Does it replace PDMIS?
No. PDMIS is the government's system of record for PDM, run by the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, and it checks National IDs against NIRA. A SACCO system keeps the books the law puts on the SACCO itself and gives the treasurer figures to reconcile against PDMIS.
What are the arrears bands and provisions for SACCO loans?
Under the Tier 4 SACCO Regulations a loan is watch at 1 to 60 days overdue, substandard at 61 to 90, doubtful at 91 to 180 and loss after 180. Allowances are 1 percent on performing loans, then 5, 25, 50 and 100 percent.
Does a small PDM SACCO need software?
Not always. A SACCO with one loan product and a few dozen borrowers can keep correct books in a cash book and loan ledger, reconciled to the bank each month. Software pays once the treasurer can no longer age every loan by hand before the monthly return is due.
How much does a PDM SACCO system cost?
Our builds start and depend on members, loan products and whether Mobile Money is connected. We quote a fixed price in writing after seeing one month of your records. Do not pay for it out of the Parish Revolving Fund.
Does it work for Emyooga SACCOs?
Yes. Emyooga SACCOs are organised by constituency and trade rather than by parish, but they fall under the same cooperative and Tier 4 SACCO rules, so the same system is configured for them.