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Investment-Club Unit Valuation (Excel) — fair equity when members pay unequally

The number-one cause of investment-club fallouts is unequal contributions made at different times: a flat split isn't fair to whoever put in more, earlier. The unit-valuation method solves it exactly the way a unit trust does — each contribution buys units at the price prevailing that day, and a member's equity is simply the units they hold times the current unit price.

Get it — KES 100 · Excel (.xlsx) ↓Pay once via M-Pesa (Kenya) · yours to keep · opens in Excel or Google Sheets

What's inside

Correct unit-trust method: units issued at the prevailing unit price
Current unit price updates from the fund's value today
Per-member units, contributions, current value and gain
Handles unequal amounts contributed at different times, fairly
Type-in-yellow, formulas locked; green/red gain flags
Works in Excel or Google Sheets, on a laptop or phone

The tabs

Start Here (guide + colour legend)
Contributions (units issued)
Valuation (current unit price)
Member Equity (units × price)

Yellow cells only. You type in the yellow cells; the rest are locked formulas. Gridlines are off and it prints clean on A4.

On Contributions, log each deposit with the unit price at the time (start at 1.00 for the founding deposits); units issued compute automatically. On Valuation, enter what the whole fund is worth today and the current unit price updates. Member Equity then shows each person's units, what they contributed, what it's worth now, and their gain — in green or red.

Because everyone buys in at the price of the day, later money at a higher unit price buys fewer units, and earlier money is rewarded — fairly, transparently, and with no argument. It's the same method professional funds use, sized for a chama.

Do it online instead

Savings group? Try the VSLA Share-Out Engine

Open the free tool →

Frequently asked questions

Why use units instead of just tracking amounts?

Because members contribute different amounts at different times. Units price each contribution at the value of the fund that day, so someone who put in early (when the unit price was lower) is fairly rewarded, and later contributions don't dilute them. Tracking raw amounts can't do this.

What unit price do I start with?

Start the very first contributions at a unit price of 1.00. From then on, set each contribution's unit price to the current price shown on the Valuation tab. The workbook does the rest.

Does it work in Google Sheets?

Yes — upload the .xlsx to Google Drive and open with Google Sheets; no macros, works on a phone.

Chama / SACCO Ledger →VSLA Share-Out Engine →Personal Net Worth Tracker →All templates →