For many nagari sahakari patsansthas, the books still live in registers and Excel. That works with a few hundred members. Beyond that, daily interest calculations, EMI tracking, overdue follow-up and audit preparation start consuming the whole team.
Week 1: map how the society actually works
List every deposit scheme (savings, RD, FD, pigmy/daily deposits), every loan product (gold, personal, vehicle, group, MSME), interest rules, penalties and reports the board and auditor ask for. This becomes the configuration blueprint.
Weeks 2–3: configure and clean the data
- Set up branches, users and approval limits
- Configure deposit and loan products exactly as per your bye-laws
- Clean member data — KYC, nominees, share capital — before it is imported
- Agree a cut-off date for opening balances
Week 4: migrate and verify
Import members, accounts, loans and balances as on the cut-off date. Then verify: total deposits, loan outstanding and interest receivable in the new system must match the old books to the rupee before anyone goes live.
Week 5: train and run in parallel
Train counter staff, field agents and accountants on real scenarios. Run both systems side by side for a short period and compare the day-end report daily.
Week 6: go live
- Switch counters and collection agents to the new system
- Start SMS alerts for deposits, EMIs and overdues
- Generate the first month-end PAR and P&L reports for the board
Common mistakes to avoid
- Migrating dirty data and fixing it later
- Customising every report before the basics are stable
- Skipping the parallel run to save a week
- Leaving collection agents out of training
Sahakar Sarthi is used by credit societies across Vidarbha and beyond — from single-branch patsansthas to multistate credit cooperatives.
