Traditional finance software was built for Western companies or audit firms. At the other end, a simple cash book protects neither against shrinking margins nor unpaid receivables.
What the cash book does not show
Take a seamstress in Bandal, Kinshasa. She charges 40,000 CDF for a dress, including a 10,000 CDF deposit. The fabric cost her 18,000 CDF and transport 3,000 CDF. Her notebook shows 10,000 CDF coming in on the day of the order. It does not show that 30,000 CDF is still outstanding, or that her real margin is 19,000 CDF.
Three numbers, not one
- Earned revenue: what the client owes for the work delivered.
- Cash received: what is actually in the till.
- Receivable: what is still to be collected.
Mixing up these three numbers means steering in the fog.
What Kobeta does
Kobeta separates these three realities for every transaction, in the original currency, CDF, USD or EUR, and never adds them together. It is the first step out of the financial blind spot.