Understanding cycles
What a cycle is, how to start a new one, and what happens to members and data when a cycle resets.
What is a cycle?
A cycle is a fresh contribution period a group starts — for example, a new year or a new term.
Cycle length depends on your group's agreement. Some groups run cycles of 8 or 12 months, while others run on weeks, up to week 52 of the year.
Only a Secretary can start a new cycle — either directly when creating a group, or from the Cycles page at any time after.
Starting a new cycle
Your group's first cycle is started when you create your group — you'll be asked to give it a name right after naming your group.
Once your current cycle is done, the Secretary needs to start a new one. Here's how:
- Go to the Cycles page in the menu sidebar.
- Tap Start New Cycle.
- Enter a name for the new cycle, then submit.
That becomes the group's new active cycle, and figures reset to zero. The previous cycle is archived and can always be viewed by tapping into it.
Members during a cycle reset
- Existing members are maintained by default.
- The Secretary can add new members who are joining the group in the new cycle.
- The Secretary can remove members who are no longer part of the group in the new cycle.
Removing a member from a cycle does not delete their data from the previous cycle — they remain a member in that previous cycle, and their data stays stored securely in case the group ever needs a report covering past cycles.
Changing a group's Secretary
Kosalo doesn't currently support self-service Secretary changes. If your group appoints a new Secretary to run the chama, contact support to request the change for that cycle.
See Roles & Permissions for more on changing a role.
You can also visit Troubleshooting & FAQ for more contact options.