A shake after training, plus a water for the way home. Hardly any member has cash in their gym shorts. So it goes on the tab: on a notepad, on index cards or on a sheet of paper stuck to the fridge.

That works as long as things are quiet. Once the counter is busy, the tally sheet becomes the most expensive piece of paper in the gym.

What the tally sheet really costs

The sheet itself costs nothing. What is expensive is everything that never makes it onto it.

  • A mark is forgotten because three people want something at the same time.
  • The handwriting cannot be read at the end of the month.
  • Two members are called Miller, and nobody remembers who had the protein bar.
  • The sheet gets wet, goes missing or ends up in the recycling.

An example: if just five drinks at €2.50 each are lost every week, you are short €650 at the end of the year. On top of that comes the evening you spend adding up the marks and copying them into your billing.

What a good solution has to do

Before you change anything, look at what really matters at the counter.

  1. It has to be faster than a mark on paper.
  2. Every booking has to belong clearly to one member.
  3. The member and your team have to see at any time what is open.
  4. At the end of the month the total per member has to be ready without anyone doing sums.
  5. A mistake has to be easy to correct right away.

If a solution fails the first point, your team reaches for the notepad again as soon as it gets busy.

1. Book through the membership card

The card your member checks in with already knows who is standing in front of you. Use it for drinks and snacks as well. Tap the card, tap the product, done.

That puts an end to mix-ups between two Millers and to names nobody can read.

2. Set fixed prices

A tally sheet often just says "1 shake". Which shake, and at what price, is then worked out from memory at the end of the month.

Add every product once with its name and price. If you change a price later, old bookings must not change with it. What cost €3.50 in September is billed at €3.50.

3. Show the open amount

Trouble almost always starts at the end of the month, when an amount is collected that the member did not expect. You can avoid that by making the open amount visible with every booking. One short sentence at the counter is enough: "You are at €18 this month."

If you like, you can also set an upper limit, for example €50 a month. That way no amount grows unnoticed.

4. Bill it together with the membership fee

The fee is collected every month anyway. What was booked at the counter belongs on the same collection as its own line, for example "Refreshments October". The member sees one payment and understands at once what it is made of.

Agree on this with your members once, ideally when they sign up. Someone who has agreed that the tab is collected with the fee will not be surprised later.

5. Offer credit

Some members would rather pay a fixed amount each month than a total that goes up and down. For them, credit is the simplest answer. Instead of €45, for example, €70 is collected, and the €25 is waiting at the counter.

Every booking uses up the credit first. Only what goes beyond it lands on the tab. Whatever is left at the end of the month stays for the next one.

6. Keep the tab and cash apart

As soon as cash or a card payment is taken at the counter, the rules for cash registers apply. That is a topic of its own, and one to settle with your tax advisor.

So keep the two cleanly apart. What is paid in cash goes through your till. What goes on the tab runs through the membership card and is collected with the fee.

The short checklist

  1. Book drinks and snacks through the membership card
  2. Add every product once with a fixed price
  3. Show the open amount with every booking
  4. Bill together with the fee at the end of the month
  5. Offer credit to everyone who prefers a fixed amount
  6. Let cash go through your own till

How the tab works with Tresenly

In Tresenly your member taps their card and your team taps the products. The open amount for the month is always shown right next to the name. This works even when the internet goes down for a while.

If someone tapped the wrong thing, the booking can be undone at the counter within the first ten minutes. After that only the owner can do it, so nothing disappears unnoticed.

At the end of the month you download a list. For every member it shows the total, the part that was paid from credit and the amount still to collect. If you like, Tresenly also keeps count of your stock and lets you know before the last shake goes over the counter.

For cash sales you still need your own till. Everything that goes on the tab runs through Tresenly.