Punch-card passes for dance classes: paper card, spreadsheet or app?
A punch-card pass is a prepaid block of classes, usually 5 or 10, used one at a time at the door. Paper cards are fast and liked, but a lost or shared card can't be reconstructed and you never know how many classes you still owe. A spreadsheet keeps the count but is slow at the door. An app built for the door shows the pass as a punch card on screen, lets a couple share one, records a forgotten card as an IOU, and tells you the total of prepaid classes you owe. The practical answer for many studios is paper card as the receipt, app as the truth.
Why passes exist
A pass does three jobs. It gives the regular a cheaper class ($20 instead of $23), it gives you the money up front, and it gives the student a reason to come back: nine classes left is a nudge. The usual sizes are 5 and 10. The usual discount is 10 to 15 per cent off the drop-in price. (Pricing is in pricing drop-in classes.)
Three ways to keep them
| Paper card | Spreadsheet | App | |
|---|---|---|---|
| At the door | Fast. Punch and go. | Slow. Find the row, read the count, type the new count, while the queue waits. | Fast. Tap the name, tap the next circle. |
| Lost card | Gone. Argue or trust. | Fine; the sheet is the record. | Fine; the record is the record. |
| Forgot the card | Pay again, or punch twice next week and hope. | Edit the cell. Hope you remember. | IOU tonight; prompted to settle next visit. |
| Shared by a couple | Works, but whose is it? | Works if someone types it right. | The partner uses it from the list of tonight's passes; both punches are on one pass. |
| How many classes do I owe? | Unknown. | A formula, if it is kept up. | Shown: unused classes × per-class price, every month. |
| Which class was each punch at? | Unknown. | Only if someone writes it. | Recorded with the check-in, so each class gets its revenue. |
| Cost | Card printing. | Free, plus the person who keeps it. | A subscription. |
The rules that keep passes honest
- Sell the pass at the door, and punch it for tonight in the same motion. A pass sold and not punched is the most common miscount.
- Count pass revenue when it is used, not when it is sold. The $200 came in on Monday, but $20 of it belongs to each of ten classes. Otherwise the class where passes are sold looks rich and the others look poor. See profit per class.
- Trust the card in the hand. When the system and the card disagree, change the system to match, write down that you did, and don't charge for the fix. Students forgive a miscount; they don't forgive being told the card is wrong.
- An IOU is a punch, not a payment. The regular who forgot their card owes one class off the pass, not $23. Don't take cash from someone who has already paid.
- Comp passes are not shareable. A free pass for a volunteer or a teacher's partner is a gift to that person. If it can be shared it becomes a discount for whoever they bring.
- Know the liability. Every unused class is a class you have been paid for and still owe. Add it up before a holiday, a venue change or a price rise.
The couple with one pass
At swing, salsa and ballroom classes a couple will often buy one 10-class pass and use it as five classes each. Fine, if the record can show it. The pass belongs to one of them; at the door the partner's name is tapped and the pass is chosen from the list of passes belonging to people present tonight. Two punches, one pass, both check-ins recorded against it. On paper, this is the card that is always "about right".
What ClassMetrix does
Passes in ClassMetrix look like the card in the student's hand: a row of circles, punched ones filled in. The door taps the next circle to use a class (and taps it again to undo). "Sell a new pass" is on the same screen as the check-in, so a sale is punched for tonight at once. A couple can share a pass; a staff comp pass can't be shared. A forgotten card becomes an IOU that the door is prompted to settle next visit. "Adjust card" lets the door make the screen match the physical card, charging nothing and logging the change. The money page shows how many prepaid classes you still owe. Pass sizes and prices are yours to set; you are not stuck with 5 and 10.
See a shared pass and an IOU in the demo
The demo studio has passes in every state: fresh, half used, shared, comp, and one that was forgotten at home.
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Questions
Should a dance class use punch cards or an app for class passes?
Use whichever the door can keep accurate. Paper cards are quick and students like holding them, but a lost card, a shared card or a miscount is unrecoverable, and you never know how many classes you owe. An app keeps the balance, lets a couple share a pass and shows the card on screen as circles, so the record and the card in the hand can be made to agree. Many studios keep the paper card as the receipt and the app as the truth.
How many prepaid classes do I owe my students?
Add up the unused classes on every live pass and multiply by the per-class price of each. A studio with 40 live 10-class passes averaging four classes left owes 160 classes, about $3,200 at $20 a class. It is money you have already been paid for work you have not done yet, which matters when you plan a break or a price change.
Can two people share one pass?
Yes, if you decide so, and it is one of the most common deals at social-dance and couples classes. The record needs to show whose pass it is and that both punches came off it. Staff comp passes are the exception: usable only by their owner.
What do I do when the card and the system disagree?
Make the system match the card in the student's hand, record that you did, and move on. The card is what the student trusts. ClassMetrix calls this "Adjust card": tap circles until the screen matches the card; it charges nothing, adds no revenue, and is logged.