Do you want to know about the best accounting software for a fitness business? Most of the fitness businesses use personal trainer accounting software to keep track of their sales. If you own a fitness business, then you might be looking forward to learning about the best accounting software for your fitness business. Hum!
Wondering how to keep track of your fitness training and tips business? Not sure which accounting software is right for you? Want the latest tips on accounting for a fitness trainer? Accounting for personal trainers or fitness trainers is not quite like accounting for a standard retail or service business.
Intuit Quickbooks
QuickBooks is probably one of the best-known names for small business accountancy software and offers a cloud-based online edition of its desktop service. There is an extensive range of different services available, and you can even create a custom package.
There are so many versions of this software that giving a single review to cover all editions is beyond the scope of this article. One of the most popular options, QuickBooks Online, starts at £8/ month, which is a good starting point for self-employed personal trainers.
QuickBooks users in the UK have UK-specific tools built-in, such as tax tools that help to deal with HMRC. Users on the Simple Start Package in the USA can track income, expenses and it also includes lots more US-specific features.
Managing bills, tracking mileage, and time trackers are included, which could be a handy feature for mobile personal trainers without a set base. There’s a reason why QuickBooks is a recognised leader in this space. The features offered are pervasive, particularly on the more sophisticated packages.
Xero
Starting at just £10 per month, this is a tempting piece of software. But for many personal trainers, it may not be enough. That entry-level membership restricts you to sending 5 invoices and bills and reconciling a maximum of 20 bank transactions.
This could be suitable for a personal trainer that’s just starting. Still, perhaps there are better options – or more suitable membership tiers, such as their Growing Plan – for more experienced personal trainers.
Expenses are managed particularly well on Xero with a sophisticated expenses management feature on the app. There are many options for creating reports, budgeting and sharing the data with accountants. Highly powerful at its higher tiers, this could be an outstanding tool for the personal trainer with a well-established business.
Pricing : starts at 20$/month
Wave
Wave is an incredibly successful cloud-based accounting service, free for accounting, receipts and sending invoices. They support this free service through occasional adverts. However, technical support isn’t included unless you pay for it.
Wave is well designed, and for a personal trainer that needs quite basic features, this will do very well. As a sole trader and as a small business, it’s got some thoughtfully designed elements. However, do note that you pay per transaction.
If you’re doing significant sales volume, such as having clients who pay per session, this could be a factor, and you may want to find something that’s more competitively priced on that front.
Sage
Sage is one of the original accounting software on the market and offers a 30-day free trial and paid options without gimmicks. You can do everything you might need in one location, including cash flow forecasting and even handling multiple currencies – which would be a unique feature for online trainers with international clients.
The software is managed on a desktop or through a mobile app that has a user-friendly interface. It comes with plenty of web help and tutorials and includes free unlimited phone and email support 24/7.
For newer personal trainers with more basic needs, there’s Accounting Start, which doesn’t include quotes, estimates, bills or cash flow forecasts. Still, for personal trainers working as self-employed sole traders, this is likely to be more than adequate with the option to upgrade as your business grows.
FreeAgent
The first paid app we’ll review here is FreeAgent. If you need a cloud-based accounting app that was designed with freelancers in mind, you found it. You can use it for tasks like expense management, invoicing and even time tracking.
Their lowest tier fee is £19/month for sole traders, but you only pay half of that for the first six months. They claimed to provide award-winning support by UK-based accountants when you need directions. You don’t need to enter into a contract in case you change your mind, and you can have as many clients, invoices and projects as you want with no extra fee. You can try the software for free for 30 days too.
Zoho Books
Zoho Books is one branch of a large business and is a fantastic cost-effective solution for self-employed personal trainers. The desktop user interface is robust, and the mobile app is highly usable too. It’s also considered easy to use.
While there are limits with the basic entry-level plan, the standard package is more than enough for personal trainers. Even the professional package offering all the shiny toys is only £18 per month. Even at this competitive price point, there’s an incentive if you pay for the year, offering you 2 months off the price. There’s a 14 day trial for new users to see if it’s compatible with their needs.
However, a potential drawback of Zoho Books could be for personal trainers running a team or a gym owner. There’s a lack of payroll option, limiting personal trainers looking to expand their businesses.
MindBody
MindBody is a cloud-based business management software program that is designed explicitly for fitness-based businesses. It has class scheduling and booking capabilities and can help you manage your memberships. It also has POS payment processing capabilities and can even help you keep in touch with your clients through its marketing application.
MindBody gives fitness professionals and gym owners the ability to manage every part of their business efficiently, and it is scalable, making it easy to grow alongside you.
MindBody has some accounting functions that can be extremely useful for a fitness-based business, such as:
- Handling all payments directly through the app – If your gym or studio has an in-store retail section, you don’t need a different POS system to track your sales. MindBody is capable of monitoring all of your diverse sales revenues.
- Managing recurring membership payments – MindBody can automatically charge and collect any recurring membership fees, which can also go a long way in improving your cash flow.
- Tracking staff hours – Using the MindBody app, your employees can clock in and out, allowing you to track their hours at ease. This can help you calculate payroll, tips, and commission.
Dext Prepare
Managing your expenses can be difficult. Handling paper receipts and manually entering them into databases and spreadsheets can be time-consuming and leaves too much room for transcription error. Dext Prepare is the perfect solution to this problem.
This program allows you to take photos of your documents easily, and the information will be automatically extracted for you. You can then export this data to your accounting software. In the event of a CRA audit, Dext Prepare will store copies of all of your receipts and invoices for up to six years. This program helps boost your business’s efficiency as it reduces the need for manual data entry, saving you valuable time.
Payworks
There is no doubt that managing payroll can be tedious. With different employees working different schedules, making different pay rates, it can be challenging to keep track. Fortunately, Payworks offers a solution to this problem. It offers numerous different features that make managing your employee payroll a breeze.
It is prevalent in the fitness industry to have a range of full-time employees and part-time contractors that run different classes or training programs. Having a mix of full-time employees and part-time contractors is an excellent idea for your business as it means you don’t have to bear the financial commitment that comes with relying solely on full-time staff.
Nonetheless, this mix of staff means that you will have to put in extra effort to track them separately in your regular payroll software. Payworks takes away this hassle and keeps track of full-time employees and part-time contractors, ensuring that your employee payrolls are done accordingly.
Finding the right tools that work best for your fitness studio or gym business can go a long way to helping you better manage your time, save your money, and have consistent access to accurate and timely financial data. Keeping your books organized will help you considerably when it comes to making timely data-driven business decisions.
Bonus apps:
Brewster for Managing Contacts
Brewster aims to be a “relationship manager” rather than simply an address book. It starts with gathering your contacts from all your social media pages in one place, then it helps you better organize them using their integrated algorithms. It also keeps you in the loop of important dates, and highlights people you are losing contact with. The search feature even allows you to look for people within your network who might be interested in certain opportunities, making it an ideal choice when marketing new services.
Pricing : Free
With these five tools you’ll be well equipped to manage your personal training business. You no longer have to worry about keeping up with stacks and stacks of paper, or about leaving a client out of your sight when you’re not with him. By learning how to make the most out of these tools you’ll save time and will be able to focus more on retaining your clients and growing your business.
Timely for Scheduling
Keeping up with scheduling is challenging for any personal trainer, but is something that can be made much easier with Timely. It not only allows you to keep up with appointments, but also has a time tracking feature that can help you better determine how you are using your time. This feature alone could be very effective at helping you track your clients’ progress.
Pricing : starts at 19$/month
Conclusion:
If you’re an online personal training company or already a brick and mortar gym that wants to be online, you’re going to have to deal with accounting. Whether you hire an accountant or handle it yourself, there’s a bunch of choices to consider when choosing accounting software.