Baobab – Guide

1 · What is Baobab?

Baobab (internally also “Sous le Baobab”) is an app for saving together (tontine) – for savings and solidarity groups.

Everything revolves around associations. An association can run several tontines in parallel, each with its own cycle, and offers further areas depending on its settings: chat, donations, members, loans, an internal bank (fund), an annual fee, a finance overview, polls & events, a solidarity fund, invitations and rules.

The core building blocks

👑2 · Roles & rights

What you can do depends on your role in each individual association. You can be a manager in one association and an ordinary member in another.

🧭3 · Navigation & use

Bottom navigation bar

Header symbols

• 🔔 Bell – notifications, with a counter (number of unread notices); opens the history.
• 🈂️ Language – quick language switch (on the home screen).
• 💬 Speech bubble – chat overview across all associations (in the “Associations” tab).
• ▦ QR – QR scanner for joining (in the “Associations” tab, also as a floating button).
• ••• Menu – further manager actions on the association page.
• ← Back – one level back.

“Jump to” – switching modules quickly

On every module sub-page of an association, the grid symbol (▦▦▦) at the top right opens a selection sheet “Jump to”: a complete list of all the modules this association has enabled, each with a short description, with the area currently open ticked. A tap takes you straight into that module, without the detour via the association page.

🔐4 · Sign in, 2FA & password

Signing in

1. Enter your e-mail and password.
2. Tap Sign in .
3. Wrong credentials → the message “E-mail or password incorrect”.

Two-factor confirmation (mandatory)

• After the password comes a 6-digit code by e-mail (about once a month, or whenever you use a new device).
• Enter the code → Confirm. No mail? Check your spam folder
• or request a new one. Alternatively, use a backup codeif no e-mail arrives.

Forgotten password

Forgot password → enter your e-mail → request a 6-digit code → set a new password.

Registering

Via Register , create a new account.

🏠5 · Home

Right after signing in you see your personal overview of all associations.

• At the very top, information banners may appear, e.g. about a new app version with a guided tour, or a panel “Baobab as an app” with links to the App Store and Android – both can be closed with the × .
• Greeting “Hello <name>” with the subtitle “Your tontine overview”.
• Purple metrics card “Monthly contribution volume” – the sum of your monthly contributions across all associations, with Managed and Memberships as counts.
• Quick actions – four tiles, see chapter 6.
• Upcoming payment – a list of the next due dates across all associations, each with the association, cycle number, amount, date and a badge (e.g. “In 28 days”).
• My associations – one card per association you manage or have joined, with a progress bar and round indicator (e.g. “Round 4/6”).

⚡6 · Quick actions

📚7 · Association list

• Filter bar at the top: All / Associations / RPN – RPN is a distinct association type within the federation network (see chapter 26) and is counted separately here.
• Managed by me – associations you manage, with a “Manager” badge and metrics such as contribution/cycle or member count (e.g. “6/50 members”), depending on the association type.
• Each card also shows the status (e.g. “Active”) and, for tontine associations, whose payment is currently due.
• Button New association at the bottom right.

➕8 · Create an association

Button New association on the association list.

On creating it, you automatically become the manager of the new association.

📋9 · Association page

Header

• Name, description and the badge You manage or Member.
• Purple card Cash balance – the current total, below it the number of Tontines and Members (e.g. “6/12”).
• Currently due – shows, for each running tontine, whose turn is next, with the due month and amount.

Header symbols

• ▦▦▦ Jump to – quick module switch (see chapter 3).
• 🔔 Notifications – notices about this association.
• ••• Menu – further manager actions (edit properties, rules & status, start a new tontine, send an announcement).

Per tontine: the cycle card

For every running tontine in the association there is a card of its own with the name, cycle number, a status badge (e.g. Active), a segmented progress bar, the current step (e.g. “Step 6/7”), duration and minimum contribution as chips, “Currently due: <name>” as well as the three figures Paid in, Reserve and Paid out. The button Open cycle leads to the detail view (chapter 11).

Module grid

Below it, the tiles of all enabled modules: Chat, Tontine, Donations, Members as large tiles, followed by Loans, Fund/Caisse, Annual fee, Finances, Polls & events, Solidarity, Invitations and Rules as smaller tiles with an icon. Which of them are visible is controlled by “Turn modules on/off” (chapter 10).

🎛️10 · Turn modules on/off

Here the manager decides which modules the association offers. A module that is switched off disappears from the grid for every member.

• The modules that can be switched include loans/internal bank, solidarity, video calls in the chat, rules and the annual fee. Whether you see and can create RPN associations at all, you switch yourself under Settings → RPN module → Use RPN.

🔄11 · Tontine & cycle

An association can run several tontines in parallel. Each tontine has its own cycle, in several steps.

Cycle detail view

After “Open cycle” you see:

• Overview – the cycle's figures (Paid in, Reserve, Paid out) and the current step.
• Reconciliation – a comparison of expected and actual payments.
• Expected contributions – who is to pay how much by when.
• Planned payout – who will be paid next and when.
• Request a special payout – an expandable form for requesting an unplanned payout from the reserve.
• Take on a new member – a member can be taken on in the middle of a running cycle; that extends the cycle by one month.
• All members – a list with each member's individual payment and payout status.
• Close the cycle – closes the tontine round once all steps have been gone through.

📈12 · Cycle simulator

A planning tool for managers, to work through a complete cycle before the real start. 5 steps:

The ground rules checked

• Everyone pays what they receive in the end.
• Additional payments only where there is a surplus.
• The cash box never goes negative.
• The cash box balances out at the end.
• Everyone receives their payout.

🗂️13 · Cycle history

The tile Tontine on the association page – “Current & past cycles”. A list of all of a tontine's cycles.

• Each row: cycle no., duration, Paid in, Paid out, Reserve and status (closed, or the step in progress).
• A tap opens the cycle detail view from chapter 11.

💳14 · Pay your contribution (QR / GiroCode)

Contributions are paid by bank transfer; the app supplies the details and a QR code.

1. Open “Pay contribution” via the pay button or “Pay” in the contribution list.
2. Read off the payee, IBAN, BIC and reference – each with a copy button.
3. Scan the QR code (GiroCode) with your banking app – the transfer fills itself in.
4. The treasurer then confirms that it arrived.

🎁15 · Donations

A module of its own for donations to the association – independent of the tontine contributions.

• The page header shows the Total – the sum of all recorded donations.
• Below it, a list of all donations (when empty: “No donations yet.”).
• Record a donation opens a form: amount, a toggle Member/External (with “Member”, a selection field Donor listing the association's members; with “External”, a name field) as well as an optional note field.

🏦16 · Fund (internal bank)

The tile Fund / Caisse – “Internal bank: contributions, rules, loans”.

Balance

• Available – the amount currently available.
• Total paid in, Outstanding loans, My payment.
• Pay in a contribution → enter the amount → the payment is recorded.

Loans & repayments

“Who has borrowed and how much has been repaid.” An overview of running loans (when empty: “No active loans yet.”).

Rulebook

“Changes are decided by a majority of the contributors.”

Propose a change – changes to the rulebook are decided by a majority of the contributors.

💶17 · Loans

Loans from the shared cash box. “All members vote on the loan.”

• Request a loan → amount & reason.
• Status pipeline: Request → Vote → Paid out → Confirmed → Repaid.
• Members vote (not the applicant themselves – the four-eyes principle).

🤝18 · Solidarity

An optional mutual-aid fund of the association, for defined occasions.

If no group has been created yet, the page shows the empty state “No solidarity group – Create a mutual-aid fund for the association.” with the button New group.

New group – form fields

Save creates the group.

🧾19 · Annual fee

Manages the yearly membership fee separately from the tontine cycles.

• A banner “Set the annual fee amount”, as long as no amount has been stored.
• The header shows the amount and period currently set (e.g. “0.00 € · calendar year”).
• Below it, one row per member with the payment status (e.g. “Amount not yet set” / “Outstanding”) and the deadline (e.g. “Deadline: 31.12.2026”).

📊20 · Finances

An annual overview of the association's finances, independent of individual tontines.

• A choice of year at the top (e.g. 2026).
• The card Association cash box: Cash balance, below it Total donations and Expenses (with an arrow to the detail view).
• The section Total donations – a list of the chosen year's donations (when empty: “No donations recorded yet.”).
• The section Expenses with the button Record an expense – a list of the year's expenses (when empty: “No expenses recorded yet.”).

🧑‍🤝‍🧑21 · Members

“Members & roles”. A list of all members with their role.

• Per member: avatar, name, e-mail, role badge (Manager, Treasurer or Member).
• A toggle Takes part in the tontine for each member.
• For members who can be removed, a link Remove member (not on your own manager account).
• As an ordinary member the view is read-only.

✉️22 · Invitations

New invitation

E-mail or phone, choose the role (default: Member) → Invite & generate QR.

Ad-hoc link / QR

“An open, expiring link without contact details — several people can use it to request to join; a manager approves and assigns the role.”

• Choose the validity: 15 minutes · 1 hour · 24 hours · 7 days · 30 days · Custom.
• From now on this duration applies to all invitation links of this association; personal invitations are unaffected.
• The button Create an ad-hoc link / QR generates the active link.

Pending invitations

A list of invitations not yet accepted (when empty: “No invitations yet.”).

🗳️23 · Polls & events

A shared module with two tabs.

The “Polls” tab

A list of running/finished polls (when empty: “No polls yet.”). The button Create a poll.

The “Events” tab

A list of upcoming dates (when empty: “No events yet.”). The button Create an event.

💬24 · Chat & video call

“Messages & announcements”. One chat per association.

• The header shows the association's name as well as the member count and whose payment is currently due (e.g. “6 members · Didier Ngassa is due”).
• Write a message and send it with the send arrow; + and an emoji symbol next to the input field for attachments/reactions.
• System events appear automatically as cards of their own in the chat, e.g. “Contribution from <name> recorded for period <n>.” or “The association's active features have been adjusted.” – each with date/time, grouped by day.
• The video-call symbol at the top right starts a group video call; a history symbol beside it opens the chronicle.

⚖️25 · Rules

• The card “Rules & status” shows the stored rules text as running text (e.g. due day, grace period, voting quorum – entered in French in the demo association tested).
• Managers: the link Edit to change the text.
• Members see the rules read-only.

🕸️26 · RPN association

An RPN association is a bereavement solidarity association. It has no tontine and no cycle: for every bereavement the association takes on or RPNG calls for, each member pays a share. RPN associations sit under the RPN filter in the association list (chapter 7).

Roles

In an RPN association the roles carry RPNG’s names.

For every member

Office and auditors: the situation at the top

At the top of the association page, below Members, Total and Status, there are three numbers: Active (members with their covered children), On probation (with the children whose parent is on probation) and Late, highlighted as soon as there are any. Tap a number to open the register.

Delegates: the collection method

Each RPN association chooses how it collects: tile Member balances → slider icon to the right of “Total” (Balance settings) → Collection method.

Only delegates can switch, and only while no case is open. Switching back to Balance works only once no contribution is outstanding.

Delegates and treasurer: record an RPNG notice

RPNG publishes a call for contributions for each bereavement. The operator can record it once for every association with an RPNG number; the case then already appears in your list. Otherwise:

1. Tile Report a case → Record RPNG notice.
2. Copy File number (TF/…), Deceased person, Deceased person’s association and CI per person from the notice.
3. Amount owed per the notice: the total RPNG asks of the association. You can add it later.
4. Deadline for the transfer to RPNG: preset to 96 hours from now.
5. Record and deduct: Baobab deducts the CI per person from every member, dependants included, and opens the case.

The same file number never deducts twice in one association. In the case, a banner shows the deadline (“Transfer to RPNG by … · then €100 per day”); from day 5, RPNG deactivates the association. Below it you see Owed by the association, Collected, Transferred and Outstanding. If the amount owed differs from people × CI, Baobab warns you: RPNG also counts members who are not in the app. Baobab only calculates the penalty and never books it. While something is outstanding, Baobab reminds delegates and the treasurer 48 and 24 hours before the deadline, then daily.

Delegates and treasurer: transfer to RPNG

1. In the case, Record transfer: the cases in this transfer with their amounts, the transfer date and the payment reference as sent.
2. Send for confirmation. Only a bank transfer counts, never cash.
3. Another delegate or the treasurer gets a notification and confirms it under Approvals → Confirm transfers to RPNG. Only then does the transfer count.
4. Attach the transfer slip to the transfer (Attach document). It is optional and visible only to the office.

If nobody else runs the association, you confirm it yourself, and the app marks the transfer “Confirmed alone”. You cancel a transfer recorded by mistake and give a reason; nobody can delete it. Members see the amount owed, the amount collected and the deadline as totals without names; only delegates and the treasurer see the transfers. Share text with the association passes a ready-made message to WhatsApp or another app.

Closing a case: one person in the office taps Propose closing after seeing the balance. A second person gets a notification, checks the balance and taps Confirm closing; the person who proposed can only withdraw. Someone who runs the office alone closes the case with the proposal, and the case says “closed alone”.

Delegates and treasurer: collecting per case

If the association collects per case, the case shows the list Members’ contributions with a status (open, paid, advanced, waived, overdue); open only hides the rest. The menu on each row:

Before each call, Baobab shows a preview: payers, persons, of whom in probation, children and visitors, total and deadline; only Start the call records it. Members report their own payment with I have transferred it and give the method and date; the contribution then shows as “reported”, and you confirm receipt right in the case list or under Approvals. Baobab reminds each member on days 1, 2 and 3 after the call, so before the deadline, with all open cases in one message, and sends you a summary every day while anything is open. The association overview shows “Still to collect: …” with the next deadline. If RPNG covers a case from its reserve, open it via Open case and tick No contribution (covered by the RPNG reserve); nothing is deducted.

Receipts: every confirmed payment gets a numbered receipt (R-registration number-year-sequence). Members find it under Receipts on their balance and save it as a PDF. Delegates enter the address shown on receipts under Our association at RPNG. A receipt is not a donation certificate. Reports and exports brings together the cash book (CSV or XLSX, for a chosen period), the annual report, recent payments with “recorded by” and “confirmed by”, the receipts and the recent exports. On the case of a deceased member you create the Filing for RPNG as a PDF; next to it, Open RPNG announcement page opens the page on rpng.org, with the association’s RPNG login. Auditors see cases, payments and reports and change nothing.

Delegates and treasurer: case report and cash book export

• Case report: the PDF icon at the top right of a case. The report shows people, amount per person, the amount owed and what was transferred; for contributions per case it adds Due, Collected, Advanced by the association, Waived and Open, the members’ contributions and the confirmed payments. It records the state at the moment you create it and is not a signed receipt. It lists who was counted for each member and since when the list is fixed.
• Export cash book (CSV): the download arrow in Member balances. Columns: Date, Direction, Amount, Type, Case, Reference, Member, Note. The file uses semicolons and decimal commas, so Excel in Germany and France opens it without asking.

Your device creates both files. In the browser they download; on a phone the share menu opens. No file stays on the server.

Delegates: register and member record

Tile Register: every member, including those without a smartphone or without access to Baobab (filter No account). A delegate or the treasurer tops up their balance, and they pay their share in every case. At the top: the search (Search name or number), the filters All, Probation, No account, Visitors, Leaving soon and Inactive, and the switch Show former members too.

• Add member (delegates only): title, name, date of birth, type (Resident, Visitor, Without residence permit), contact, address in Germany, RPNG number and registration date. Save and invite sends an invitation that links to exactly this entry once accepted. An RPNG number can exist only once in all of Baobab. If someone with the same name and date of birth is already listed, Baobab asks “Same person?” after saving; the entry is saved anyway. If such a person is in another RPN association, Baobab only says they may exist, without association or name; check the registration number or request a transfer. Members’ correction requests appear under Approvals → Corrections; you change the entry yourself and tap Done or Reject (with a reason). An RPNG number in an unusual format is marked in the register. Someone entered as Without residence permit does not pay for cases and is not covered; the entry says so. If the association has an admission fee, it is charged when you add the member.
• Waiting period: 90 days for residents, 21 days for visitors, counted from the registration date. Baobab shows “In the waiting period, covered from …”. Deductions still apply; RPNG decides through its list who pays.
• Tap a name to open the record: status (Probation, Active, Inactive, Left, Deceased, Transferred), stays, dependants and the history of every change.
• Stays of visitors: arrival, departure, host (a resident in the association) and country of residence; at most 90 days. Extending needs a new proof from the immigration office as a file, no later than 7 days before departure; in the dialog you attach the proof first, then pick the date. Each proof stays on the stay. 10 days before departure Baobab reminds the host and the delegates, and once more when the deadline ends. On the departure day the visitor becomes inactive and stops paying; if they come back, add a new stay.
• What the delegates can do: Edit details, Top up balance, Invite to the app, Becomes a resident, Record leaving, Reactivate (with a new waiting period), Deactivate (four eyes) with a reason, the date of the written notice (at least 14 days ago) and the tick “Requested on rpng.org”, and Report as deceased (four eyes). Another delegate confirms the request. Attach the formal notice to the request as a PDF.
• Adult children: Make a member in their own right turns the dependant into an entry of their own, which you can invite to the app.
• Take over from another association (three dots at the top right): the RPNG number is enough. The other association confirms; only then do you see the details. The balance does not move; the old association can confirm only once it stands at 0 there and no contribution is outstanding. Baobab only displays RPNG’s fee.

Delegates: import and export the member list

In the Register, the three dots at the top right.

1. Import member list → Choose file: an Excel file (.xlsx), such as RPNG’s form “Anhänger neue Anmeldung”.
2. Baobab suggests which column holds what; you check the mapping and tap Check.
3. The preview shows what happens to each row: new, completes, already there, duplicate in file, minor, error. You can untick single rows. “Completes” fills only empty fields.
4. Import … rows. The import does not create minors; their parent adds them as dependants.

Your device reads the file; only the rows go to Baobab, 2000 at most. Export member list asks which list you want: New members (no registration number) is RPNG’s registration form, All members adds the RPNG number and date, for overview and reconciliation. The treasurer can export too. If every member already has a number, the app says so instead of writing an empty file.

Delegates: main delegation, acting cover, leaving

Tile Our association at RPNG. RPNG requires at least one deputy besides the main delegate and at most four delegates; the app warns if the deputy is missing or there are too many. If a deputy is missing, it sets a 7-day deadline and reminds the delegates on days 1, 5 and 7. Under What the delegates can do:

Nobody can demote or remove the main delegate, who can delete their own account only after the handover. If a delegate shows “no active entry in the registry”, add or reactivate them in the register: delegates are RPNG members themselves.

Office: documents of a case

A case shows the card Documents (RI 6.5) with the count “N of M required documents”: full-length photo, registration number, family power of attorney, identity document, death and birth certificates, and the marriage or divorce certificate if applicable. If the person died outside Germany (switch in the case or when reporting), three documents from abroad are added. Each document is missing, provided or checked. The office and the person who reported the case can upload; “provided” requires a file. A second member of the office taps Check, not the person who uploaded. Someone who runs the office alone checks it themselves, and the document says so.

Office: association fees

Tile Member balances → receipt icon at the top (Fees). In the Catalogue the delegates create fees: name, amount and type, One-time on admission or Yearly with the due day and month. A changed amount applies to new charges; a switched-off fee creates no new ones.

• One-time: for every member you add in the app from now on, not when importing the member list.
• Yearly: on the due date, for every member who pays for cases.
• Transfer fee: when another association asks to take over one of your members, the fee (5, 10 or 20 €) becomes a charge with you, due within 96 hours. The member sees it under “My fees”. You can confirm the transfer only once this fee and every other open fee is paid or waived.

Charges lists all of them, open ones first. Confirm receipt (with the payment method), Pay from balance (only if the balance is enough) and Waive (with a reason) are for delegates and the treasurer, never for their own fee unless they run the office alone. Every paid fee gets a receipt in the same number series as other payments.

⇄27 · Swap board

Move money from one country to another without money crossing the border: you pay the other person's recipient in your country, they pay yours in theirs. The Swap tab in the bottom bar.

Before you start

• Member of an association, account at least 14 days old, email confirmed.
• Confirm the rules once (Read and confirm the rules): "Understood — I swap at my own risk".
• Approved by Baobab. The top of the Swap tab lists, point by point, what is still missing. Once everything else is met, tap Request access and you will be notified as soon as it is decided. If a request is not accepted, you can ask again after 30 days.

Posting an offer

1. Post an offer → the country you give from. The currency follows the country.
2. Amount and payment method: bank transfer (SEPA), mobile money, PayPal or cash.
3. Under I get: target country, payment method and where you receive — an account from your profile or new details. You confirm new details with an email code, just like in the profile.
4. Rate: "1 € equals …". You set the rate yourself; the app works out the total and never suggests a rate.
5. See preview shows the offer as it will appear on the board → Publish.

On the board

• No name, only an offer number. Next to it, the poster's level and swaps, rounded — that tells you whether someone is new or has swapped often.
• I'm interested → choose where you receive → send. The poster sees it straight away.
• The flag 🏳 reports an offer to the operator.

Your offer

The swap, step by step

1. After acceptance you see the other person's first name and initial.
2. Both press I'm ready. Only then do the full name and payment details appear, for both at the same time.
3. Whoever has more completed swaps pays first; on a tie you split into halves.
4. I have paid, then Receipt confirmed. Once both have confirmed, the swap is complete.
5. Then you rate each other, blind: visible only once both have rated or the deadline has passed.

Levels and limits

The limits also apply to whoever accepts — in the currency they pay. History at the top right shows your finished swaps and offers.

🚩28 · Guided tour

A guided tour through the app, showing newcomers the most important areas at first launch.

• Starts automatically at the first app launch after a major version (announced on the home screen as a banner, e.g. “a guided tour shows you the whole app at first launch”).
• It can be skipped at any time; the settings additionally point to a guide of its own (the “Guide” entry), which opens an external help page.

🔔29 · History & notices

• The 🔔 bell on the home screen opens the history. It shows your events: join requests, recorded contributions, loan requests, departures, announcements, rule changes.
• A tap takes you straight to the matching association/area.
• Mark as read clears the pending notices.

🙍30 · Profile

Figures and account areas:

⚙️31 · Settings

Via the cog at the top of the profile.

📖32 · Glossary & statuses

Status values

Terms

💡33 · Known notes & tips

• Modules visible to differing degrees: If an association shows fewer tiles, the manager has switched them off under “Turn modules on/off”.
• Payee details for the QR: The payee/IBAN/BIC are maintained by the manager under “Edit properties” – without them the QR payment has no payee.
• Four-eyes principle: Approvals (loan, payout) need a second person – allow for that in small associations.
• Scrolling hiccups: On some sub-pages the first swipe/scroll gesture after a page change does not respond straight away. Scrolling again briefly, or reloading the page, fixes it.
• Clearing the history: Use “Mark as read” so the counter on the bell goes back down.
• If a page sticks: Reload the app – you stay signed in.