Running a gym and fitness business is highly rewarding but also time-consuming, especially when it comes to billing and management. Any gym owner will say they would rather spend time and energy teaching classes, increasing membership, and building relationships than laboring over a monthly billing spreadsheets and files. Here are five ways that gym fitness billing and management software can help you manage your business:

1. Schedule and process automatic recurring membership billing

Nothing is worse than chasing membership dues. It’s frustrating, and late payments affect cash flow. An easy solution is is to set up automatic recurring payments. Have members provide a credit card at the start of their membership and establish a monthly payment schedule on the spot. Most software will email automatic pre-notifications or receipts of each month’s payment.

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2. Collect and process ACH/EFT direct debit gym membership payments

An even more cost-effective way to collect monthly membership dues is accepting ACH payments using an ACH transfer. An ACH transfer is an electronic funds transfer (EFT) that automatically debits your member’s dues from their bank account each month. Just have customers bring you a voided check and sign up for recurring payments.

Once you enter their bank account and routing number into your online management software, their dues will be automatically debited on the day of your (or their) choosing. Where a credit card transaction rate on a $30 payment might cost you $1, at only 69 cents per transaction, ACH payments are a cost-effective solution.

3. Track gym membership payments and revenue

Now you need a way to track and manage your income stream. Gym fitness management software should have an interactive dashboard that monitors your cash flows in real-time. You can log in and see how many payments were processed that day, how many are planned for tomorrow, and if you had any failed payments.

4. Sell merchandise using our iPhone app and mobile credit card swiper

From martial arts uniforms to CrossFit shirts to yoga mats, most fitness businesses sell some type of merchandise at their facility. Can you accept credit cards at the front desk? Or, even better, accept credit cards AND connect the transaction to your customer’s existing account? Make sure your software provider has mobile credit card swipe capability so you can ramp up merchandise sales and generate a new monthly income stream. A smartphone application and mobile credit card reader lets you collect and process payments on your phone.

5. Manage and store member information securely in the Cloud

Strong member relationships ensure long-lasting clients. Make sure you securely manage all your member information in one place. There’s nothing worse than erasing a spreadsheet or losing a file. Even more important, if your business has children or youth memberships, you need a way to safely store parental contact info, drop-off and pick-up schedules, as well as allergy and medication info.

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Want to learn more about software that helps manage your business? Click here to sign up for a free demonstration of PaySimple. Our experts will walk you through the online platform and answer any questions. If you’re looking for an all-in-one online fitness management software, PaySimple just might be the answer!

If you are building a personal training business and want to manage payments from your clients, PaySimple can help you with that as well.

PaySimple is integrated with fitness membership software like ZenPlanner, which features member-tracking options like class attendance. Ask your PaySimple product expert about this functionality.