Belts are a record, not a rule
Attendance requirements make gradings fair and predictable. Software that enforces them makes instructors stop using the software, and then the record is worth nothing.
Guides
The parts of running a school that catch owners out.
The enquiry that arrives at nine, why your software bill doubles when you fill your classes, who signs when the student is six, and why a belt requirement should never be enforced by a computer. Written for owners, not for search engines — each one is useful even if you never hire us. We are not attorneys or accountants, and every guide says where you need one.
Is tuition taxable? The honest answer is: ask your accountant
Whether sales tax applies to classes, camps and uniforms depends on your state and on what exactly you are selling. Here is what actually varies, so the conversation with your CPA is a short one.
The photo of someone else's child
Every school wants photographs of happy children on its website. Every school also has one family who would rather not, and the two are easier to reconcile before the photo is taken than after.
Who signs when the student is a child
A five-year-old cannot agree to anything. Which adult can, what happens when there are two of them, and why your form should ask rather than assume.
When a card stops working, somebody has to make a phone call
Automatic tuition works until it doesn't. What your software does on the third failed charge decides whether you lose a family or just a fortnight.
One family, one card: why two children should not be two customers
Most scheduling software treats every student as a separate customer. For a school where siblings are half the roll, that is two bills, two reminders and a phone call.
The parent portal nobody logs into
The loudest complaint about studio software is not a missing feature. It is that the parent portal generates more phone calls than it prevents, and most of them are about passwords.
A waiver holds up because of the record, not the wording
Schools spend their effort on the text of the waiver. The part that decides whether it is worth anything is whether you can show who signed it, when, and what it said that day.
The growth tax: why your software bill doubles when you fill your classes
Most studio software charges by how many students you have. That means the year you finally fill your classes is the year your software bill doubles, for exactly the same features.
What a trial class is actually for
A free trial is not a discount. It is the only step between an enquiry and a member that you can count, and most schools throw the count away.
The enquiry that arrives at nine, and what happens to it
Most enquiries to a kids' school arrive after the front desk has gone home. What happens between then and the morning is the single biggest thing you control.
Two classes, one room: the part generic software gets wrong
A class takes a room and an instructor at the same moment. Appointment software books one thing at a time, and the gap shows up on a Tuesday at five.
What generic scheduling software leaves out
Calendly and its relatives are excellent at what they do. Here is the list of things a school needs that they were never built to do, so you can decide before you commit.
Who is allowed on the mat: screening, and what software cannot do about it
Background checks, who needs one, and what a booking system can and cannot help with. The short version: it can tell you who was in the room, and that is all.
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Question that isn't answered here?
Write and ask. If it comes up twice, it becomes the next guide — and if the honest answer is that you don't need us, that's the answer you'll get.