Mifos

Welcome to Mifos

Important: Before reading this document, you must read the  and configure your Mifos (Microfinance Open Source) system. Many of the choices you make within Mifos depend on your configuration decisions, and some options may not appear or may be unavailable to you, based on the configuration.

Mifos is a management information system (MIS) that can be accessed over a network using a web browser. It is designed to give microfinance institutions (MFIs) a way to create and maintain their structure, get information quickly about their operations and their clients, and grow easily. We assume that users of this manual are familiar with the purpose of microfinance (starting with helping people out of poverty by basing loans on ability to repay, not just collateral) and the practices of at least one MFI, such as loans to groups, client training in business and banking, and specific loan and savings account types.

This user manual applies to the current release, Mifos 2.4.  It's an update of our previous user manual (.doc) covering 1.0 functionality  To see new features and functionality covered by the scope of this new manual please see our features added since 1.0 on our download page.

With Mifos, you can do the following things:

  • Set up microfinance institution (MFI) operations from scratch
  • Maintain an MFI someone else created
  • Change settings for your MFI
  • Create and maintain a hierarchy of regions, branches, and centers within your MFI
  • Create roles and assign permissions required by users at your MFI to work on Mifos
  • Create users (such as loan officers) who can work with your MFI
  • Create groups and register clients who will receive MFI services
  • Create (and change) loan products
  • Create (and change) savings products
  • Create and maintain loan accounts
  • Pay out (disburse) loans
  • Collect repayments on loans
  • Collect and keep records for all fees paid
  • Create and maintain savings accounts
  • Collect deposits and pay withdrawals for savings accounts
  • Upload and create reports about MFI activity

Before reading the rest of this manual, be sure to read How to use this manual