Everything you need to run your loan book on LoanAfrica.

2. The dashboard

The Dashboard is your daily home page. It shows:

• Portfolio summary — total disbursed, outstanding principal, and total receivables.
• Today's activity — new loans, recent payments, and pending approvals.
• Quick actions — register a new client, view clients, manage loan products.
• Subscription status — trial days remaining, current plan, next billing date.

Each card is a shortcut. Tap Manage on the Subscription card to change plans; tap New Client to start a new borrower record.

3. Managing clients

A client is any individual or business who borrows from you. Before disbursing a loan you must first register the borrower as a client.

Creating a client

1. Go to Clients → New Client.
2. Enter personal details: full name, national ID, date of birth, phone, email, and address.
3. Add employment or business information.
4. Optionally attach guarantors (other people who will repay if the client defaults) and collateral (assets pledged against future loans).
5. Save.

Collateral

Each client can have multiple collateral items (vehicles, property, equipment). You can attach photographs, valuation certificates, and ownership documents to each one. When you create a loan you can link it to specific collateral items.

Guarantors

Guarantors are stored independently of loans so that one guarantor can cover multiple loans for the same client. Capture full ID, contact details, and proof of address.

Editing & searching

The client list supports search by name, ID, phone, or email. Click any client name to open their profile, which shows all loans, payments, and contact history in one place.

4. Loan products Admin only

A loan product is a reusable template defining the interest rate, fees, term, and repayment structure for a class of loan. Most lenders create one product per offering — e.g. "Salary advance — 30 days", "Asset finance — 12 months".

Creating a product

1. Go to Lending → Loan Products → New Product.
2. Choose the interest method — reducing balance or flat rate.
3. Set the rate period (per day, week, month, or year) and the repayment structure (equal instalments, balloon, interest-only, etc.).
4. Add any fees (origination, processing, late payment).
5. Set the default penalty rate and grace period for overdue instalments.
6. Save and activate.

You can deactivate a product later — existing loans on that product continue to run, but no new loans can be created against it.

5. The loan lifecycle

A loan moves through six states. Each transition is recorded in the audit log with the user, timestamp, and reason.

① Application

From the client's profile (or Loans → New Loan), choose the loan product, principal amount, term, and disbursement date. The system calculates the repayment schedule automatically — you'll see every instalment with its principal, interest, and total before submitting.

② Approval

An admin or loan officer with approval rights opens the application and clicks Approve. They can add notes and adjust the schedule before approving.

③ Rejection

If the loan is declined, click Reject and enter a reason. The client is automatically notified by email/SMS.

④ Disbursement

Once approved, click Disburse. Choose the disbursement date and the date of the first repayment. The schedule recalculates and the loan becomes Active. A disbursement notification is sent to the borrower.

⑤ Repayment

The loan accrues interest and falls due according to the schedule. Record each payment as it comes in (see section 6).

⑥ Closure or restructure

When the final instalment is paid, the loan automatically closes. If a borrower cannot keep up with repayments you can restructure the loan instead — adjust the term, instalment amount, or interest rate. The original schedule is preserved in the audit log.

Documents

Loan agreements, schedules, and statements can be generated as PDF from the loan's actions menu and emailed to the borrower or printed.

6. Recording payments

1. Open the loan and click Record Payment.
2. Enter the amount, payment date, and method (cash, bank transfer, mobile money).
3. Optionally attach a reference number or receipt image.
4. Submit.

The payment is automatically allocated to outstanding instalments using waterfall logic: penalties → fees → interest → principal, oldest instalment first. You don't need to allocate manually.

If a payment fully clears the loan, the loan is closed and a closure receipt is sent to the borrower. Partial payments are recorded against the next-due instalment and a balance receipt is sent.

Reversing a payment: if a payment was recorded in error, open the payment record and click Reverse. The allocation is unwound and the schedule is restored — the action is fully audited.

7. Collections

The Collections module helps you chase overdue loans. Every loan with at least one instalment past due is assigned a stage:

• Watch — 1–7 days overdue.
• Reminder — 8–30 days overdue.
• Demand — 31–60 days overdue.
• Default — 60+ days overdue.

Each morning the system automatically re-evaluates stages and escalates loans that have crossed a threshold. You can assign a loan to a specific collections officer, log a call or visit, and record promises-to-pay.

8. Penalties (automatic)

Every night just after midnight (in your tenant's timezone), the system runs a penalty accrual job. For every loan with an overdue instalment past its grace period, a penalty is calculated at the product's penalty rate and added to the loan balance.

You don't have to do anything — accrual is fully automatic and recorded in the audit log. Borrowers receive a penalty-applied notification.

9. Expenditures & other income Admin only

Track business expenses (rent, salaries, fuel, utilities) and non-loan income (consulting fees, refunds, asset sales) so they appear in your Profit & Loss report.

Recording an expenditure

1. Go to Finance → Expenditures → New Entry.
2. Choose the category, enter the amount, date, and a short description.
3. Optionally attach a receipt photo or invoice.
4. Save.

Other income works the same way but is entered under the Other Income tab.

10. Reports & insights Admin only

P&L report

Shows interest earned, fees charged, expenditures, and other income for any date range. Use the date picker at the top to switch between this month, last month, year-to-date, or a custom window. Download as PDF or Excel.

Risk Dashboard

Surfaces the health of your loan book at a glance:

• Portfolio at Risk (PAR) — the percentage of outstanding principal that is more than 30 days overdue.
• Concentration risk — your top borrowers by exposure.
• Vintage analysis — repayment performance by month of disbursement.
• Stage distribution — how many loans sit in each collections stage.

11. Data exports Admin only

You can export your entire dataset at any time — even if your subscription is suspended. Exports are generated as a single ZIP file containing CSV copies of every table you have access to (clients, loans, payments, schedules, etc.).

1. Go to Insights → Exports → Request Export.
2. Choose the data scope (full export or a specific module).
3. The system generates the file in the background. You'll receive an email when it's ready, with a download link valid for 72 hours.

12. Team & roles Admin only

Add colleagues to your organisation under Administration → Team. Each user is assigned one role:

• Tenant Admin — full access to every module, including team management and billing.
• Loan Officer — can create clients and loans, record payments. Cannot manage users, billing, or financial reports.
• Collections Officer — focused on the collections module. Can view loans and log activities but cannot create new loans.
• Read Only — view-only access across the workspace. Useful for auditors.

New team members receive an invitation email and set their own password on first login.

13. Notification settings Admin only

The platform sends transactional notifications to borrowers and guarantors at key moments:

• Loan application received
• Loan approved
• Loan rejected
• Loan disbursed
• Payment received
• Payment due reminder
• Penalty applied
• Restructure approved
• Loan closed

Under Administration → Notifications you can customise the wording of each template for email, SMS, and WhatsApp. Variables like {{client_name}}, {{loan_amount}}, and {{due_date}} are replaced at send time.

14. Billing & subscription

Your free trial lasts 31 days. After that, choose a plan from Finance → Billing. Plans differ by user count and loan volume; pricing is in your local currency.

If your subscription lapses you'll see a status wall on every page asking you to renew. You retain read-only access and full data export for 30 days after expiry — no data is deleted unless you request it.

To change plans, click View plans on your dashboard or the Billing page, pick the new plan, and confirm. Pro-rata charges are handled automatically.

15. Profile & security

Under Account → Profile you can:

• Update your name, email, and phone.
• Change your password (you'll be asked for your current password first).
• Review your recent sign-in activity.

Forgot your password? Use the Forgot your password? link on the login page. You'll receive a reset link by email, valid for 60 minutes.

16. Common questions

Can I change currency after registering?

No — currency is tied to the country at registration and to your existing loan portfolio. Contact support if you need to migrate.

What happens if I miss running penalty accrual?

You don't need to run it — it runs automatically every night. If the platform is offline during a run, the next successful run will catch up.

Are my borrowers' details visible to other tenants?

Never. Every tenant lives in an isolated data space — even support staff cannot see your data without explicit permission.

Can I delete a loan?

Loans are never hard-deleted because doing so would corrupt your financial history. Instead, cancel or void the loan — the record remains in the audit log but no longer appears in active reports.

I need more help

Email support@myloanafrica.com or reply to any system email — we'll come back to you within one business day.