Microfinance Software · Guide

Microfinance Reporting in Nepal: What Records to Prepare

Updated 14 Oct 2026 · 7 min read · WebsNP team

Microfinance institutions in Nepal operate under the oversight of the regulator, and those rules, thresholds and return formats are updated from time to time. This article does not quote them, because a wrong figure in a blog post helps nobody. What it does is describe the underlying records a well-run MFI should be able to produce on request, so that when the regulator, auditor or donor asks, you can answer quickly. Always confirm the current requirements with Nepal Rastra Bank or your supervising body.

The client record

Everything starts with the client. For each borrower, keep a unique client number, full name, address, date of birth, identity document details, photo, household information, nominee, group and centre, and the field officer who serves them. Keep scans of identity documents in the file. Client records should not be duplicated, since duplicate clients lead to double-borrowing and distorted portfolio figures.

The loan file

Each loan needs a trail from application to closing. At the minimum:

Application date and the purpose of the loan.
Field verification notes and the officer's recommendation.
Approval level, date and conditions.
Disbursement date, amount and fees deducted.
The repayment schedule with BS dates.
Every payment split into principal, interest, savings and fines.
Rescheduling or write-off decisions with approval.

A reader who opens a loan file years later should understand what happened without asking anyone.

Savings and other products

If your institution collects compulsory or voluntary savings, they need their own ledgers with balances and interest. Insurance deductions need to be traceable to a policy or fund. Keep these separate from loan accounts in the books, even if the client sees one receipt.

Portfolio quality records

Board members and supervisors care most about the quality of the loan portfolio. You should be able to show total outstanding, amount overdue, ageing of arrears, loans rescheduled, loans written off and recoveries after write-off. Ageing is normally shown in bands, such as current, up to thirty days, thirty to ninety days and beyond. Provisioning rules are set by the regulator, so do not assume a percentage. Ask the supervising body or your auditor which rules apply, and make sure your system can produce the underlying ageing data to support them.

Record	Typical use
Client register	Identification, duplicate checks, outreach figures
Loan ledger	Outstanding, repayments, schedule history
Ageing report	Arrears, portfolio at risk, provisioning inputs
Savings ledger	Client balances and interest
Branch cash book	Cash control and reconciliation

Accounting and branch books

The ledger must tie back to client records: the total of all client loan balances equals the loan receivable control account, and the same for savings. Each branch should have a cash book reconciled daily and a bank reconciliation each month. Close the fiscal year, which starts in Shrawan, with posted interest, accrued items and a trial balance reviewed by the finance head before the audit.

Social and donor reports

Many MFIs also report to donors or boards on outreach: the number of women clients, rural clients, new clients, drop-outs and repeat borrowers. If you capture these attributes at registration, reports are quick. If you try to rebuild them from paper at the end of the year, they are painful and unreliable. Decide early what you will be asked and capture it once.

Documents to keep with the records

Alongside the structured data, keep the supporting papers in an organised way: signed loan agreements, group resolutions, identity copies, board minutes approving products and rates, the policy manuals in force at each date and the audit reports. When a question arrives about a loan given three years ago, you need to know which policy applied then, not only which one applies now. Scanning documents and attaching them to the client or loan record saves hours of searching through branch cupboards, and protects against loss from fire, damp or staff turnover.

Staying ready when formats change

Reporting requirements change. The practical defence is to capture clean, structured data at the source so that any report can be rebuilt. Avoid free-text fields for things you will need to count. Use fixed lists for purpose, occupation and status. Ask your software vendor how a new report is added and how long it takes. At WebsNP we configure reports with you based on the format you receive from the regulator.

Controls the supervisor will look for

Segregation between those who recommend, approve and disburse loans.
Daily cash reconciliation with a signature trail.
Restricted access to editing posted transactions.
Regular backups kept away from the branch computer.
Written policies on rescheduling and write-off, followed in practice.

Your next step

Ask your finance head to list every report you produced for the regulator, board and donors in the last year, who prepared it and how long it took. That list is your specification. Our microfinance software is built to produce portfolio, client and accounting records from the same data, and we configure outputs to the formats you give us. Message WebsNP on WhatsApp at +977 9846280400 to discuss it. For a smaller sahakari, see our co-operative software.

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