In this article you will learn how to build a complete rate structure: from the rate through term and payment frequency to rate codes, additional modules, flat fees and the membership offer.
Contents
- Prerequisites
- How a rate is structured
- Order of configuration
- Create a rate
- Advanced settings on the rate
- Add a term
- Set payment frequency and price
- Link flat fees and additional modules
- Rate codes: benefits and naming
- From rate to membership offer
- Best practices for a clean rate structure
- Common mistakes
- Related articles
Fast lane
- Prepare your rate codes under Settings / Membership management / Rate codes.
- Under Settings / Membership management / Rates select New rate at the top right and fill in General information, Contract information and Rate details.
- Open the rate and create the first term via Add term.
- Inside the term, use Add payment frequency to set the reference, the interval and the price.
- Optionally link flat fees and additional modules.
- Add the rate to a membership offer under Settings / Membership signing / Membership offers so that it can be sold.
Prerequisites
Depending on the task, you need the following permissions to work on the rate structure:
| Permission | What you need it for |
|---|---|
| Settings / Membership management / Configure rates | Create and edit rates, terms and payment frequencies |
| Settings / Membership management / Configure rate codes | Create, edit, activate and deactivate rate codes |
| Settings / Membership management / Edit facility price | Maintain facility-specific prices |
| Settings / Membership signing / Manage membership offers | Create and maintain membership offers |
Create the following configurations first, because you only select them inside the rate:
- Membership contract under Settings / Membership management / Contract documents
- Tax rate for the rate
- Freeze period configuration, if you want to limit freeze periods
- Replacement card configuration, if you want to charge for replacement cards
- Additional modules and Flat fees, if the rate is meant to include or offer them
How a rate is structured
A rate is not a single object but three nested levels. Once you know these levels, you will find every setting in the right place immediately.
| Level | What you define there | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | Rate name, public rate name, color, membership contract, rate code, campaign, freeze period effect, tax rate, pre-use | Settings / Membership management / Rates |
| Term | Membership term, membership extension, cancelation period, freeze period configuration, starter package, replacement card configuration, utilization volume | inside the opened rate |
| Payment frequency | Price, reference, billing type, standard due date, price for extension term, fee adjustment rule | inside the respective term |
The most important rule: the price does not sit on the rate, it sits on the payment frequency. A rate without a term cannot be sold, and a term without a payment frequency has no price. Only the combination of rate, term and payment frequency forms a complete offer.
An example: the rate "Small" gets the terms 6, 12 and 24 months. For each term you store its own payment frequencies, for instance biweekly, monthly and semi-annually, each with its own price. A single rate therefore covers nine price combinations without you having to create nine rates.
Four further objects attach to these three levels:
| Object | Function | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Rate code | A label for organization. A rate can carry several codes. Codes are selectable as a filter in many other configurations. | Settings / Membership management / Rate codes |
| Additional module | An additional service that extends an existing contract, for example sauna or a drinks package. | Settings / Membership management / Additional modules |
| Flat fee | An additional amount next to the base price, one-time or recurring. | Settings / Membership management / Flat fees |
| Membership offer | Defines which combination of rate, term, payment frequency and modules is actually sold, and how it is displayed. | Settings / Membership signing / Membership offers |
Watch out for this point: rates, rate codes, additional modules and flat fees live under Membership management. Membership offers live under Membership signing. A rate on its own does not appear in any sales channel yet.
Order of configuration
Follow this order and you will not have to correct any step afterwards:
- Create the membership contract so that you can select it inside the rate.
- Create your rate codes. Adding them later is possible, but you would have to reopen every rate.
- Create additional modules and flat fees, if the rate needs them.
- Create the rate.
- Add the terms.
- Add the payment frequencies per term.
- Create the membership offer and add the rate to it.
Create a rate
Go to Settings / Membership management / Rates. The overview lists all existing rates. Select New rate at the top right. Alternatively, use the three-dot menu of an existing rate to edit, activate or deactivate it.
The dialog is split into three blocks.
General information
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Rate name | Mandatory. The internal name you use to find the rate in lists, filters and reports. |
| Public rate name | Mandatory. The name members and prospects see. If multi-language support is active for your facility, you can store it per language. |
| Color | Color coding of the rate in overviews. |
Contract information
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Membership contract | The document generated when a contract is signed with this rate. |
| Facility override | Below it you can store a different membership contract per facility. Use this when your facilities need different legal texts while the rate stays the same. |
Rate details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Rate code | A rate can carry several rate codes. Details and recommendations are further down under Rate codes: benefits and naming. |
| Campaign | Links the rate to a marketing campaign. Contracts signed with this rate are attributed to that campaign. |
| Freeze period effect | Mandatory, with two values. Fee adjustment: a freeze period shifts or reduces the fees. No fee adjustment: fees continue unchanged during the freeze period. With No fee adjustment, members cannot create freeze periods via self-service. |
Advanced settings on the rate
In the same dialog, expand Advanced Settings at the bottom. These fields are optional but they determine billing and accounting.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Pre-use | Governs training before the official contract start. None: no training before the contract starts. For a fee: training allowed, the member pays pro rata. At no fee: training allowed without any additional fee. |
| Allow reference date payment frequency at the end of the month | Allows the 29th, 30th and 31st as the standard due date. You additionally choose whether prorated contributions are allowed. |
| Tax rate | The tax rate the fees of this rate are booked with. |
| Booking codes | Controls the accounting assignment. A booking code with the category Tariff can only be used for rates. If a code should apply to rates and modules, it needs the category None. |
| Payment run group | Assigns contracts of this rate to a payment run group so that you can plan collections more precisely. |
Add a term
Open the saved rate and select Add term. As long as no term exists, the rate cannot be sold.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Term | Length of the initial term, for example 12 months. |
| Membership extension | Four options: No membership extension ends the contract at the end of the term. Contract extension with a fixed term extends it by a defined Term for membership extension. Contract extension for an indefinite period lets the contract continue without a new fixed term. Rate change moves the contract into a selected subsequent rate, including its term and payment frequency, at the end of the term. |
| Cancelation period | The notice a member has to give. If a different notice should apply to the extension, tick Deviating cancellation period for membership extension and enter it below. |
| Send notification before contract renewal | Informs members before the last possible cancellation date. In some countries this information is mandatory. The matching notification rule must additionally be active in the communication center. |
| Send notification before the end of the initial term | Informs members before the initial term ends. Here too, the corresponding notification rule must be active in the communication center. |
| Freeze period configuration | Defines which freeze period rules apply to this term. |
| Starter package | Sign-up fee. It is only charged when a contract is concluded. |
| Replacement card configuration | Optional. Defines how many replacement cards are free of charge and what further ones cost. |
| Utilization volume | Flat for unlimited use or Limited amount. With Limited amount you define Usage per and Period, for example 8 usages per month. |
| Period of use | What one usage covers: One-time use, Fixed period or Whole day. |
Set payment frequency and price
Inside the term, select Add payment frequency. This is where the price is created. The dialog has a main part and an ADVANCED SETTINGS area that you expand separately.
Main part
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Type | Recurring for ongoing fees, One-time for a single payment, Free for a payment frequency without a fee. |
| Reference | Defines what the payment period refers to: Period, Reference date (relative) or Reference date (absolute). |
| Interval | Below it you set the rhythm, for example every 1 month. |
| Price | The block that holds the amount per payment period. The input itself carries no label of its own, only the currency symbol. Use Add facility price and the permission Edit facility price to maintain deviating prices per facility. |
ADVANCED SETTINGS
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | A separate name for this payment frequency, useful when a rate has many of them. |
| Billing type | Determines how the first fee is calculated at contract start. Calendrical aligns the billing periods with calendar periods and creates prorated fees where needed. Recommended for monthly and weekly payers. Reference date (absolute) keeps the selected payment period and creates no prorated fees. Recommended for annual and quarterly payers. Fixed schedule aligns all due dates with a fixed anchor date. This third option only appears for certain reference values and has to be enabled for your facility. If you cannot see it, contact support. |
| Anchor date | Only with Fixed schedule. The reference date all future due dates are based on. The day has to be before the 29th of a month. |
| Standard due date | The day of the month on which the fees fall due. |
| Price for extension term | A deviating price once the contract moves into its extension. You can additionally Adjust payment frequency to the subsequent term. This suits pre-payment memberships with different initial and subsequent terms. |
| Due date of starter package and partial charges | Controls when the starter package and prorated fees fall due: Membership signing, Standard due date or Membership start date. |
| Bonus period | No bonus period, Membership start date or End of the first membership period. Defines where a bonus period sits in this payment frequency. |
The fee adjustment rule is not part of this dialog. You edit it on the finished payment frequency via Edit membership fee adjustment rules on the rate's term card. It adjusts the price automatically, either once after a period or recurring at an interval.
Do not confuse Reference and Billing type. Reference defines how the payment period itself is set up. Billing type defines how the first fee is calculated at contract start. Both fields contain a value called Reference date (absolute) but they answer different questions.
The Price field also contains a selector for the pricing model. Single price is preselected:
| Model | Effect |
|---|---|
| Single price | One price for all members. The standard case. |
| Price scale | Different prices per age group. Facility-specific prices are not possible in this model. |
| Discount scale | A discount on the rate price per age group. |
Important: reference date payment frequencies are only available in the sales tool and the webclient. They are not available in the member app, on the landing pages or via the Connect API. Check which channels you want to sell the rate through before you create it.
Link flat fees and additional modules
You create flat fees under Settings / Membership management / Flat fees and link them directly to the term via Add flat fee. They are billed next to the base price, for example an annual service fee.
You create additional modules under Settings / Membership management / Additional modules. They extend an existing contract with additional services. The dialog follows the same logic as the rate: Name, Rate code, Freeze period effect, Color and Advanced Settings. An additional module also receives terms and payment frequencies.
An additional module is not linked to the rate but to the membership offer. There you decide in which role it appears. Note that the three roles are spread across two tabs of the offer:
| Role and where it lives | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
Included free modules tab Administration |
Always included, at no extra charge. This is how you build premium rates without splitting up the base price. |
|
Selectable free inclusive modules tab Administration |
The member picks a defined number from a list. You set the Number of selectable inclusive modules. |
|
Bookable modules tab Terms, per term |
Bookable at a charge. This role does not sit next to the other two but on the individual term in the Terms tab. As long as nothing is stored there it reads No additional modules available. Order and price display are controlled via the display options. |
Both blocks for free inclusive modules stay empty until you assign modules to them. The bookable modules do not sit next to them but one level down, on the individual term.
Rate codes: benefits and naming
A rate code consists of nothing but Name, Description and Color. Exactly that simplicity makes it the most important organizing device in your rate structure. A rate can carry several codes, and additional modules can carry codes as well.
The actual benefit comes from the fact that the rate code appears as a selection criterion in many other configurations. You configure a code once and afterwards address an entire group of rates everywhere, instead of maintaining every rate individually:
| Where the rate code applies | What you control with it |
|---|---|
| Membership signing settings | Rules such as Contract has rate code, Member has other contracts with the following rate code or Ignore contracts with following tariff code. This controls whether and when a member may sign a further contract. |
| Member search and filters | The filters rate code (contract) and rate code (additional module) return member groups without manual list maintenance. |
| Communication center | Notifications can be filtered by Rate code instead of defining recipients per rate. |
| Booking rules for services | The scope of a booking rule can be defined via Rate Codes. |
| Special prices for product variants | Via Special price rate code, specific rate groups get deviating product prices. |
| Manual post-contract review | Controlled via Check rates with certain rate codes and No check for rates with certain rate codes. |
| Membership change | Permitted changes can be narrowed down by the rate codes of the source contracts. |
| Upgrade offers | The source of an upgrade offer is selectable via Rate code. |
Naming recommendations
- Give your rate codes meaningful names such as association rate or trial membership. Abbreviations like RC01 cannot be interpreted six months later.
- Model properties, not individual rates. A code promotional rate is useful, a code Small 12 months monthly merely duplicates the rate name.
- Use several codes per rate and separate the dimensions: one group for the target audience, one for the contract type, one for the origin. A promotional rate for students then carries promotional rate and students.
- Assign the color consistently within one dimension, then you spot wrong assignments in the overview at a glance.
- Use the Description. It is the only place that records what the code was meant for.
- Codes can be deactivated. Use that instead of deleting as soon as contracts depend on them.
From rate to membership offer
A fully configured rate is not yet sellable. Only the membership offer under Settings / Membership signing / Membership offers makes it visible in the sales channels. There you define:
- Offer type: Membership offer for regular sales or Company membership offer for corporate customers.
- Add term & payment method: which of the combinations created in the rate are actually offered. You do not have to release all of them.
- Modules in their three roles. Included and Selectable free inclusive modules live in the Administration tab, Bookable modules in the Terms tab on the respective term.
- Offer options such as Start of membership, Start date of use and Selectable payment methods.
- Seller options with the Discount scope for employees, separated into Base price, Additional modules, Flat fees and Starter package.
- Offer presentation and Sales Tool display options, among them Display rate prices and Adjust period for price display.
- Membership change: whether and from which rate combinations a change into this offer is possible.
A membership offer that only contains payment methods which are unavailable for online membership signing will not be offered online. Check the Selectable payment methods if an offer does not appear online.
Best practices for a clean rate structure
Terms and payment frequencies instead of new rates. Price differences that only result from the term or the payment rhythm belong inside the same rate. One rate with 3 terms and 3 payment frequencies replaces 9 individual rates and stays readable as one product in reports.
A new rate only for a different scope of service. Create a new rate when utilization volume, access restriction, membership contract or tax rate differ. Not when only the price differs.
Rate codes before the first rate. Introducing codes later means reopening every existing rate. Two to five dimensions are enough for most operations.
Keep the internal and the public name apart. The Rate name may be technical and support sorting, for example Small 2026. The Public rate name is sales copy and reads Small.
Let promotional rates expire via a rate change. Set the extension of the term to Rate change and select the regular follow-up rate. That way no manual intervention is needed at the end of the promotional period.
Deactivate instead of deleting. Rates and rate codes can be deactivated. A deactivated rate can no longer be selected in sales, while existing contracts and reports remain untouched.
Match the billing type to the payment period. Calendrical for monthly and weekly payers, Reference date (absolute) for annual and quarterly payers. A wrongly chosen billing type permanently creates prorated fees that inflate your payment runs.
Set booking codes from the start. A booking code on the rate later replaces an individual assignment per product in the accounting configuration.
Do a test signing before the rollout. After creating the rate, sign a test contract and check the fee amount, the first service period, the due date and the generated membership contract. Errors in the payment frequency otherwise only surface in the first payment run.
Common mistakes
| Symptom | Cause and solution |
|---|---|
| The rate does not appear in sales. | The rate is not part of any membership offer, or the offer is not activated for the facility. Check Settings / Membership signing / Membership offers. |
| The rate appears but has no price. | No payment frequency has been created for the term. Add one via Add payment frequency. |
| A price change has no effect on existing members. | That is by design. The payment frequency and the starter package are copied into the contract when it is signed. Changes to the rate therefore only apply to new contracts. For existing contracts, use fee adjustment rules or a contract amendment. |
| Members cannot create a freeze period via self-service. | The Freeze period effect of the rate is set to No fee adjustment. With that setting, creating one via self-service is not possible. |
| Prorated fees appear unexpectedly. | The Billing type is set to Calendrical. For annual and quarterly payers, Reference date (absolute) fits better. You find the billing type inside the payment frequency under ADVANCED SETTINGS. |
| The offer is missing in online signing. | Only payment methods that are unavailable online have been selected. Add to the Selectable payment methods in the membership offer. |
| The renewal notification is not sent. | The option is active on the term but the corresponding notification rule in the communication center is not. Both have to be active. |
| A rate code cannot be deleted. | It is stored in the membership signing settings of a facility. Remove it there first, or deactivate the code instead. |
Related articles
- How to create / check / deactivate rates
- How to create a rate code
- How to add a term to a rate
- Adding payment type and frequency
- Billing types and due dates for rate payment frequencies
- Configure a fixed schedule payment frequency for a rate
- Manage bonus periods
- Perpetual and fixed-term memberships: extension types explained
- Pre-use, bonus periods, and member-selected start dates
- Membership fee adjustment rules
- Flat Feerate
- Services
- How to create a usage service
- Manage your membership offers with offer configuration
- Offergroups
- Set up freeze period configuration
- How to create and use booking codes for products, rates, modules and flat fees to manage your accounting
- Discount campaigns: setting up, linking and applying