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Quick start

This guide takes you from first login to your first recorded payment in about ten minutes. You'll need the admin credentials provided when your organization was set up.

1. Sign in to the admin console​

Open your Collector address and click Admin console (or go directly to /login). Sign in with your admin username and password.

The admin sign-in screen

Once signed in you land on the Dashboard — your live view of collections, arrears, and member counts:

The dashboard

First things first

If you're still using the initial admin password from setup, change it now: go to Admin → Users, pick your user, and set a new password.

2. Configure your organization​

Go to Settings and fill in the basics:

  • Name, contact email and phone — appear on receipts, reports, and member-facing emails.
  • Currency code — e.g. GHS, NGN, USD. All amounts in the system are formatted with this currency.
  • Fiscal year start month — drives the period covered by annual reports (e.g. 1 for January, 9 for a September church year).
  • Overdue grace (days) — how long after a due date an unpaid obligation waits before it's marked overdue.
  • Due reminder lead (days) — how far ahead of a due date members get a reminder.

If you plan to send emails or SMS (receipts, reminders), also enter your SMTP and SMS credentials here — see Organization settings for details.

3. Create your first product​

A product is anything members pay for. Go to Products → New product:

  1. Give it a name and code — e.g. Monthly Dues / DUES.
  2. Choose the obligation type:
    • Mandatory — Collector generates expected payments and tracks arrears.
    • Optional — members pay ad hoc; nothing is owed.
  3. Turn on Auto-enroll if every member (current and future) should participate.
  4. Add a payment rule: the amount and the frequency (monthly, quarterly, annually, or one-time), effective from a date.

See Products & payment rules for how rules and amount changes work over time.

4. Register a member​

Go to Members → New member and enter their details. Phone and email are optional individually, but you'll want at least one so the member can receive receipts and reminders.

On registration, Collector automatically:

  • enrolls the member in every auto-enroll product,
  • generates their current period's obligation for each mandatory product,
  • generates the one-time registration fee obligation, if you've enabled it in Settings,
  • sends a welcome message, if the registration-welcome notification is on.

5. Record a payment​

Go to Payments → Record payment (or open the member's page):

  1. Pick the member.
  2. Enter the amount, the date, and the method — cash, bank transfer, or mobile money.
  3. Save. Collector allocates the money to the member's outstanding obligations (oldest first), updates their arrears, emails a receipt if SMTP is configured, and sends a payment confirmation if that notification is on.

That's the core loop: products define what's owed, members get obligations, payments fill them. Everything else — reminders, reports, the portal — builds on it.

Next steps​