Savings circle rules template: what to agree before the first payment
Most arguments in a committee, tanda or susu start with a rule nobody wrote down: who goes first, what happens when someone pays late, or whether a member can leave halfway. Agreeing the rules in writing before the first payment prevents most of them. Copy the template below, fill in the brackets with your group, and share it where everyone can read it.
What should the rules cover?
- The amount and the due day, and how members pay.
- The payout day, and whether the pot waits until everyone has paid.
- How the order of turns is decided, and how the result is shared.
- Late payments: what a member should do, and what the group does next.
- Swapping turns and leaving early.
- The organizer’s fee, if there is one.
The rules template
[Group name]: rules agreed on [date] 1. Members: [number] members. The list of members and the order of turns are kept by [organizer]. 2. Contribution: [amount] every [week / month], due by [day]. Pay by [cash / bank transfer / mobile wallet] and send proof to the organizer. 3. Payout: the pot of [amount] goes to the member whose turn it is, on [day], once everyone has paid that round. 4. Order of turns: decided by [a draw at the first meeting / agreement]. The result is shared with everyone the same day. 5. Late payment: tell the organizer before the due date. If a payment is more than [number] days late, [what the group agreed]. 6. Swapping turns: two members may swap if both agree and the organizer records it before the payout date. 7. Leaving early: a member who has not yet received the pot may leave only if [someone takes their place / they are paid back at the end]. A member who has received the pot keeps paying until the last round. 8. Organizer's fee: [none / amount], agreed now and not changed later. 9. Disagreements: the shared record is the reference. Corrections are added as new, dated entries. Agreed by: [names]
Is this a legal contract?
No. It is a written record of what the group agreed, which is what prevents most disagreements. If your group is large or the amounts are big, ask someone qualified about the rules where you live.
Where should the rules be kept?
Somewhere every member can read them at any time: pinned in the group chat, printed with the register, or in the shared record. In Savings Circle, the record of who paid, who is next and what is owed is kept with the group, and every entry is dated.
Also free: the random turn-order draw, the payout calculator, the Excel tracker and printable register and WhatsApp and SMS reminder templates.