How to track members, class packs and sessions for a studio or course

What does member, package and session tracking mean?

Class pack tracking is keeping a record of the classes a member has paid for, the classes they've used and how long the package is valid. The point is simple: for anyone who walks in, answer “how many classes are left, when does it end, do they owe anything?” at a glance.

A pilates studio, a yoga room and a language school all work the same way: the member pays for a package up front, then uses the classes one by one. Keep that in a notebook or a spreadsheet and three things slip. Used classes don't get ticked off, end dates get forgotten, and the rest of an instalment goes unchased. Each one looks small, but by the end of the month they come back as free classes you gave away or packages nobody renewed.

The examples here come from a reformer studio and a language school. You can see the same flow in brief on the member tracking for pilates studios and student tracking for courses pages. Prices are examples and exclude VAT.

What kinds of package are there, and how do you work out the price per class?

Most studios use three kinds of package: a set number of classes and days (e.g. 8 classes · 30 days), bigger, longer, discounted packs (e.g. 12 classes · 45 days), and unlimited, which is limited only by time. Price per class is the package price divided by the number of classes.

The table tells you three things. First, the discount on a bigger pack shows up per class: a member who moves from the 4-class pack to the 12-class pack pays ₺150 less per class. Second, the per-class price of an unlimited package isn't fixed; it falls the more a member comes. Someone who comes 16 times a month is getting cheaper classes than someone on the 8-class pack. Third, both the instructor's share and your profit come out of the price per class. Price a package so that number drops below your costs and even a full class won't rescue you. To build package prices with profit in them, see profit margin and pricing.

How do you keep track of classes left and the end date?

Every package has two limits: the number of classes and the number of days. Whichever runs out first ends the package, so you need to track classes left and the end date together for every member.

The end date is the validity period counted forward from the day the package was sold. Ayşe buys an 8-class, 30-day package at the start of October; after her first three classes she stands at “5 classes left · until 30 Oct”. If she comes twice a week, the classes run out first; if she comes once a week, the days do. In the second case she's left with unused classes, and if you haven't agreed a rule beforehand, that means an argument.

Sorting members into five states makes the list readable:

• Active: has a valid package with classes left, e.g. 5 classes left · until 30 Oct.
• Ending soon: 1 class or 7 days left.
• Package used up: every class has been used.
• Expired: the days have run out; there may be classes left.
• No package: on your list but with no valid package, such as someone who came for a trial or a member who left.

When should you bring up renewing a package?

The best moment is the last class before the package ends: when 1 class or 7 days are left. Once a package is over, the member has no reason to come in, and the renewal chat turns into a message, which is easy to leave unanswered.

The way to make this a habit is a weekly list. On Monday morning, look at the packages ending soon and talk to those members face to face when they come in that week. Members whose package is used up but not renewed are the second list; a short message the same day is enough.

The third list is quieter: members with a valid package who haven't come for 14 days. A common rule of thumb is that a member who's been away for two weeks is close to quitting. Don't send them a sales message; send a checking-in one: “We haven't seen you for two weeks; your spot on Tuesday at 10:00 is waiting.” Reminding them they still have classes on their package is a good excuse to come back.

How do you set a rule for freezing and extending packages?

Freezing a package means moving its end date forward by a set number of days; the number of classes doesn't change. Set the rule before you sell: in which cases, for how many days at most and how many times per package.

A 30-day package frozen for 14 days lasts 44 days in total; the end date moves 14 days later and the 8 classes are still 8. The longer a freeze runs, the more a member drifts away from the studio, and their spot in class sits empty. That's why a limit suits both sides.

• Why: illness, work out of town, a holiday. Decide up front whether you'll ask for any proof.
• How long: on an 8-class, 30-day package, 7 or 14 days can be a sensible maximum.
• How often: one freeze per package keeps the rule simple.
• Extending: if the studio closes for a holiday week, extend the package of every member who had one that week by 7 days, so days you were shut don't eat into what they paid for.

How do you run a class schedule, capacity and register?

Write each recurring class down once: day, time, length, capacity, instructor and the members booked into it. Then take the register at every class; classes left are only as accurate as the register.

Capacity is the limit of the equipment or the room. A studio with six reformers runs classes of 6; in a mat class, the size of the room sets the limit. Seeing a class as “4 / 6 people” tells you where a new member can go: not into the full morning class, but into the half-empty evening one.

Weekly occupancy is the number of people who came divided by the total spots. 9 reformer classes a week × 6 spots = 54 spots; if 41 people came, occupancy is 75.9%. A time slot that's always full is a sign to open another class; one that's always half empty is a sign to merge it or move it.

How do you keep track of what's still owed on an instalment sale?

When you sell a package, write down the full price, the amount received that day and the rest; the rest stays as what the member owes and goes down with every payment. Your till should show the money in your hand, not the packages you sold.

Ayşe buys the ₺4,500 package and pays ₺3,000 today: ₺1,500 is still owed. The package is sold and her classes have started, but what's gone into the till is ₺3,000. “I sold 10 packages this month” and “this is what I collected this month” are not the same sentence; the gap is money you need to chase.

Example: the A1 morning group at a language school

Picture a language school. The A1 morning group meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 09:30, with 8 students in a room for 10. Everyone is on “Monthly 8 classes · ₺3,000 · 30 days”, so the price per class is ₺375.00.

On paper the group's month looks like ₺24,000; in hand there's ₺21,000. The teacher's ₺9,600 is paid in full, so until the outstanding ₺3,000 arrives, rent and bills come out of ₺11,400. Seeing the two students who still owe every week is how you avoid surprises at the end of the month. Notice one more thing: if the group fills to 10, you sell ₺6,000 more a month for the same teacher pay. Those two empty chairs are this group's cheapest way to grow.

How should you pay instructors: per class, monthly or a percentage?

There are three models: a flat fee per class, a monthly salary and a percentage of the class value. In the percentage model, the class value is the sum of the per-class price of every member who came.

With per class pay, the instructor earns the same however many people turn up; the risk of an empty class sits with you. A monthly salary is a fixed cost; it works in your favour when the instructor teaches a lot and against you when they teach little. With a percentage, the instructor earns more as the class fills, and you share the risk.

Say everyone in the Tuesday 10:00 reformer class is on “Monthly 8 classes · ₺4,500”, so each of them is worth ₺562.50 per class. The instructor gets either ₺900 per class or 40% of the class value:

In this example the two models meet at 4 people. If most of your classes run with 3, per-class pay costs you more; if most are full, the percentage pays the instructor more. With mixed packages, each member's class value comes from their own package: a member on the 12-class pack is worth ₺500 a class, one on the one-to-one pack ₺1,200. On an unlimited package, the class value isn't known until the month is over, so if you use the percentage model, agree with the instructor up front how those members will count.

How do you set up package and session tracking, step by step?

Write your packages and rules first, then add members and the class schedule; after that, the daily work is just the register and payments. Setting up takes an evening; after that it's a few seconds per class.

1. 1Write your packagesWrite each package's name, price, number of classes and how many days it's valid. Note the price per class next to it.
2. 2Set your rulesWrite the rule for freezing, extending and unused classes in one sentence each, and tell members when they buy.
3. 3Add the member, sell the packageEnter the member's name and phone number and sell the package. Write down what you received today; the rest stays as owed.
4. 4Build the class scheduleWrite each recurring class once with its day, time, length, capacity and instructor, and add members to it.
5. 5Take the register every classMark who came at the start of class. Keep anyone who didn't come separate so the class doesn't come off their package.
6. 6Check the lists once a weekGo through packages ending soon, packages used up, members who haven't come for 14 days and payments due, and talk to each of them that week.

Once this routine settles in, the next question comes on its own: how many members cover the rent? We walk through that calculation, using fixed costs, the instructor's share and the average package value, in how to work out your break-even point. To see the whole flow on one page, including yoga, dance and music courses, have a look at member and package tracking.