A failed payment is more than a decline. It is an operating event. Revenue goes missing, but the member keeps training. That gap between missing money and ongoing access needs a clear owner and a clear status.
Staff need to see the payment state, retry and dunning steps, and member status. They need the business rules for when access is affected. Track each payment as it moves from failed toward recovered. This keeps the payment path visible and the next action plain. The owner should check the retry schedule and dunning plan. That way, everyone knows where the payment stands and what to do next.
A month in the life of a gym
Take FeeCheck's sample gym: $50,000 a month in dues, 1,000 drafts of $50, 65% ACH and 35% card. The deposit report shows what the bank received, but it does not break out the cost split between card and ACH. The total collected looks like one number, but the fees that got you there are split two ways.
Because card and ACH fees behave differently, it is hard to add up the true cost of collecting. Each payment type has its own timing and return rules, which means the cost picture changes as the month goes on. This makes it difficult to track revenue loss from failed payments, where members keep training but the payment has not been recovered. To manage this, you need clear visibility into payment status, retry schedules, and when access should be affected, so you can match billing with door access and keep revenue and operations aligned.
What the numbers mean
The cost to collect dues changes with the payment mix. The sample gym shows the split between card and ACH fees.
- Cards: 350 drafts, $17,500. At 2.9% plus 30 cents each, that is $507.50 plus $105.00, or $612.50.
- ACH: 650 drafts, $32,500. At 0.8%, each $50 draft costs 40 cents, under the $5 cap, so $260.00.
- Stripe Billing: 0.7% of $50,000 in recurring dues is $350.00.
- LQDT processing markup: $0
- Total: $1,222.50 a month, about 2.4% of what it collected.
This is an estimate, not a quote. Same $50 draft: by card it costs $1.75 to collect, by ACH 40 cents. A $1,200 ACH payment would cost $9.60 at 0.8%, but the $5 cap applies, so it costs $5.
The lines show the total fee and the cost per draft. More ACH cuts the processing cost. The fee rate depends on how many payments are by card and how many are by ACH.
What to check on a processing statement
When you look at a processing statement, focus on a few key items. First, check the card fee rate and the per-draft fee to see the cost of each card payment. Next, find the ACH fee rate and confirm the cap per draft. Then, check the total processing fee for the month. Finally, compare that total fee to the percentage of the collected dues. This gives you a clear picture of what you are paying to collect each dollar and helps you spot any unexpected changes in your processing costs.
- Card fee rate
- Per-draft card fee
- ACH fee rate
- ACH draft cap
- Total processing fee
- Processing fee as a percentage of dues
Common concerns
I worry that switching processors will mess up my membership records. The hardest moments in gym software are onboarding and transfers. LQDT Billing is built around continuity: members, memberships, billing credentials, payment mappings, access state, and reporting. A processor transfer maps members, plans, cards, ACH, payment state, recurring billing schedules, and access permissions.
What if members get locked out during a switch? Keep recurring membership billing clean while surfacing migration exceptions before they become quiet revenue loss or access mismatches. The system tracks payment state and access permissions through the change. Look for any exceptions the platform surfaces, and resolve them before they affect access.
How long will a switch take? Migration scope and timing depend on the systems, data, billing schedules, access configuration, and locations being moved. Plan the move when it fits your schedule, and the platform surfaces any exceptions early. Review the migration scope with your team, and decide on a timing that matches your operational rhythm.