Tick a box only when the thing is done and checked.
Phases 1, 2 and 4 are blocking: finish them before you take a single payment or let a single member through the door.
Phase 0 — Before you start
Collect these first. Hunting for them mid-setup is what turns a three-hour job into a three-week one.
- Legal business name and address, exactly as they should appear on invoices
- VAT or tax registration number, if you’re registered
- Bank details for payouts, and ID for the business owner (your payment provider will ask)
- A member export from your current system — request it on day one (how to switch)
- Your membership plans and current prices
- Staff names, emails and what each person should be allowed to do
- Your logo as PNG or SVG
Phase 1 — Your organisation BLOCKING
- Country is correct — currency, timezone and tax defaults follow from it
- Currency checked
- Timezone checked (especially in countries with more than one)
- Tax rate and label correct, and whether your prices include tax
- VAT number entered, if you have one
- First location created with its full address
Currency locks after your first payment.
Changing it later would silently reprice every plan. If it’s wrong, fix it now.
Phase 2 — Payments, tax and invoicing BLOCKING
- Online payments connected (Stripe), bank account verified and payouts enabled — not just “account created”
- Or, if card payments aren’t available to you, manual payment mode switched on for cash and bank transfer
- One test invoice checked line by line: your name and address, VAT number, the net/tax/gross split, the invoice number and the date format
- That test invoice shown to your accountant
- Late-fee policy set (zero if you don’t charge one)
- Tax rate set on every taxable shop product — products start at 0%
Invoice numbers are permanent.
They run as an unbroken sequence from your first issued invoice and can’t be reset without breaking the record your tax authority expects.
Phase 3 — Locations, plans and staff
- Every location created, with opening hours and the right timezone
- Every plan created with price and billing period — named exactly as in your old system
- Joining fees, trial periods, freeze rules, contract length and notice period set
- Access windows applied to off-peak or time-restricted plans
- Legacy and grandfathered plans created
- Every staff member invited with the right role, and logged in once
- Permissions reviewed — log in as front desk and confirm they can’t see financials
Phase 4 — Import your members BLOCKING
- Test import of 10–20 rows, checked, then deleted
- Full import run
- Member count reconciles with your old system — write both numbers down
- 10 random members spot-checked: plan, price, renewal date, status
- Placeholder emails reviewed — those members can’t log in until you add a real address
The detail is in How to switch gym software without losing members.
Phase 5 — The member app
- Logo and colours applied
- A test member opened on a real phone: check-in code shows and refreshes
- A class booked (if you run classes)
- Payment details added and a payment succeeded
- App added to the home screen on both an iPhone and an Android phone
Phase 6 — Tell your members
- Notification templates reviewed — the wording is now yours
- Sender name and reply-to address are ones members recognise
- Announcement covers what’s changing and when, the new app, re-entering payment details once, and who to contact
- One-page guide printed for the front desk
- Announcement sent at least 7 days before go-live
Phase 7 — Classes, shop and CRM
Only the modules you use.
- Classes: a full week scheduled, instructors assigned, capacity and waitlist rules set, one class booked, cancelled and waitlist-promoted as a test
- Shop: products with prices, barcodes and tax rates; opening stock counted; the scanner tested on the desk’s actual device; one test sale made and voided
- CRM: pipeline stages match how you sell; lead sources set; web enquiry form connected
- Finance and analytics: budgets and targets entered so variance means something
Phase 8 — The door
Only if you’re connecting a turnstile or barrier. See the turnstile planning guide — in short: the site qualified, the install pack sent to your electrician, the relay wired and connected, the tablet paired, all six commissioning tests passed, and staff know what to do when a barrier doesn’t open.
Phase 9 — Go-live day
- Old system read-only, or at least closed to new sign-ups
- Final top-up import of anyone who joined since your main import
- Member count reconciled again
- All staff working in the new system only
- First payment run and first check-in of the day watched end to end
- Someone senior available all day, not in meetings
Phase 10 & 11 — Week one and day thirty
- Week one: every scheduled charge succeeded or is in the failed queue for a reason you understand; failed payments chased; members who haven’t logged in nudged; placeholder emails cleaned up; staff asked what’s slowing them down
- Day thirty: first billing cycle reconciled against your bank; first month-end close run; your P&L looks like your business; old system exported one last time, archived — then cancelled