Taking card payments at a sailing club

Plenty of clubs still collect subscriptions by cheque, cash at the bar and bank transfers that the treasurer matches up by hand each spring. If your club is new to Yacht Clubs Manager, taking card payments at a sailing club is probably one of the reasons you switched. This post explains how it works: where the money goes, what your members see, what happens to people who would rather pay by transfer, and why the platform takes cards but not Direct Debit.

The club's own Stripe account

Card payments are processed by Stripe. The important detail is whose Stripe account it is: yours. Your club has its own Stripe account and links it to the platform using Stripe Connect. When a member pays, the payment is taken on the club's account and Stripe pays it out to the club's bank account. The money does not pass through a Yacht Clubs Manager account on the way.

That has some practical benefits for a treasurer:

• You see every payment, refund and payout in the club's own Stripe dashboard.
• Payouts go to the bank account your club chooses in Stripe.
• If you ever stop using the platform, the Stripe account, and its history, stays with the club.

Connecting Stripe

Connecting is done by someone on the committee with access to the settings, usually the treasurer:

1. Open Settings in the admin console and choose to connect Stripe.
2. You are taken to Stripe, where you sign in to the club's existing account or create one. Stripe will ask for the details it needs about the club.
3. Authorise the connection and you are returned to the admin console.

Do this early. Until the club's Stripe account is connected, the platform won't let you raise invoices or put a price on events or bookable resources, because a payment taken then would have nowhere safe to go. If you have switched on automatic sending of renewal invoices, those are held back as well, and go out once the account is connected. The first 30 days guide puts this in week two for that reason.

What members see

When a member opens an invoice in the members area, they see the line items, VAT if your club is registered, anything already paid and the outstanding balance, with a button to download the PDF. Below that are the ways to pay.

• Pay by card. Pay Now opens a secure Stripe checkout for the outstanding balance. When the payment goes through, the invoice is marked paid automatically. Nobody has to match anything up.
• Pay by bank transfer. The invoice shows the references to use, and the PDF carries your bank details. More on this below.

The same card checkout is used for event entries, bookable resources and the club shop, so members pay for everything the same way. Your members can read the member's side of this in paying your club subscription online.

Members who pay by bank transfer

Card payments don't replace bank transfers; they sit alongside them. Your bank details and cheque instructions print on the invoice PDF, and you can choose which payment methods an invoice offers.

A member who pays by transfer presses I've paid — notify admin on the invoice, optionally adding a reference or the date they paid. An admin is notified, checks the bank statement, and records the payment against the invoice. It is still a manual step for the treasurer, but instead of guessing which transfer belongs to whom, you have been told.

Refunds

Card payments are refunded from the admin console, and the money goes back to the card that paid. Invoices, event entries, bookings and shop orders each have their own refund options, so the refund is recorded against the right item. Payments recorded manually, such as a bank transfer, are refunded outside the platform, and the refund is recorded so the invoice and your reports stay accurate.

Why card only, and not Direct Debit

Many clubs ask about Direct Debit, so it is worth being plain about it: the platform takes card payments and does not offer Direct Debit. Checkout is fixed to cards so that every payment is confirmed at the moment it is made and can be recorded against the right invoice, booking or order straight away. Payment methods that settle days later work differently, and the platform doesn't support them.

In practice, a card payment is a single payment made by the member when they open the invoice: nothing is collected from them automatically. Members who prefer not to use a card can still pay by bank transfer.

Who pays the card fees

Stripe charges a fee on each card payment. That fee is paid by the club, deducted by Stripe from the payment before it reaches your bank. It is not added to members' bills, so a member paying by card is charged the same amount as the invoice says. Your treasurer will want to budget for card fees in the same way as bank charges. If you use Xero, the fees can be posted there too; see Stripe and Xero for club treasurers.

Telling members about the change

A switch to card payments goes more smoothly when members know what to expect. Before your first invoices go out, a short note covering these points saves the treasurer a lot of questions:

1. Invoices will arrive by email, with a link to view and pay them in the members area.
2. Card is the quickest way to pay, and the invoice is marked paid straight away.
3. Each invoice is paid in one go; nothing is taken from their card automatically.
4. Bank transfer is still fine: use the references on the invoice, then press I've paid.
5. Who to contact if something doesn't look right.

Keeping track

Because card payments update invoices automatically, the treasurer's view in the admin console stays current: what has been paid, what is outstanding, what is overdue and what has been refunded, with income broken down by revenue category and exportable for the accounts. There is more on that in the treasurer's guide to online invoicing.

To see how invoices and card payments fit together, visit invoicing and payments. If you have questions about your club's setup, get in touch.