TFW Members: Online Documentation

Exercise Stretch

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3.0.85251 February 24 2008

We've moved most of the buttons from TFW Attendance to TFW Members. That makes TFW Attendance lean and fast. Those of you who run TFW Attendance on a second computer at the door can use nearly any old Windows computer for that (Windows XP or later).

Now TFW Attendance has just one button. The "Scan In" button has been renamed "Welcome". Over time we may rename TFW Attendance to TFW Welcome.

TFW Welcome takes one small list from TFW Members at the start of each shift and returns one small list to TFW Members at the end of the shift.

The list from TFW Members tells TFW Welcome what to show a member when she enters: her eligibility (whether or not she's a paid current member) and her cumulative attendance statistics.

The list going back from TFW Welcome tells TFW Members the latest visits to add to its attendance databases.

The name TFW Welcome should make all this clearer. TFW Welcome only collects visit information at the door. All the attendance databases, reports, and charts are in TFW Members. Without the list from TFW Members, TFW Welcome would not recognize anyone except as Guest.

TFW Welcome is optional. TFW Welcome can also be replaced by an automatic door control. Members wave their keychain tag near the door sensor (like the Pegasus that lights up on a Mobil gasoline pump). A green light comes on, the door opens, and the date and time and member number are recorded.

The automatic doors are often used at 24-hour gyms. Members get extra hours. Owners can cut their biggest expense: staff. No wonder 24-hour gyms are doing so well now.

TFW Members can now collect its attendance data from an automatic door control in place of TFW Welcome. Members can carry a door control tag rather than a barcoded tag on their keychain.

Some automatic door controls have a PIN pad, and a member enters a PIN to open it and record her visit. TFW Welcome does something similar using a PIN pad in place of a barcode reader.

Also:

Now you can send refunds (credits) from your master list of paying members (your reusable transactions, as in QuickBooks), found in the Import tab, under the buttons

Collect by Credit Card Select
Collect by Direct Debit Select.

3.0.85243 February 15 2008

New option for collecting attendance statistics: 24-Hour Automatic Door Control Systems.

Automatic Door

3.0.76259 December 20 2007

New Members: Member Central lists new members immediately, in order, alphabetically.

Credit Card proofreading. When you enter a card, or first use a card, or list all cards. See missing or invalid credit card numbers, and cards that will soon expire.

Speed: More tuning for our fast new database. More speed now, more speed later.

3.0.76255 December 17 2007

Speed

Faster: Payment History, Payments Due.

Faster Member Central. Which means, faster at nearly everything you do.

We are moving to a new fast lean database in 2008. In preparation, we are streamlining for database speed.

3.0.76240 December 13 2007

Speed

Faster: view and change member agreements, renew, hold, close...

We are tuning for speed inside all your most-used steps.

3.0.76236 December 6 2007

Password at Entry

For further security, now TFW lets you set two passwords, one at start-up (shared with everyone you allow to open the software) and one for the Secured tab (as before, for working with credit card numbers, checking account numbers, and payment changes).

3.0.76045 October 16 2007

Check for Updates:

Now TFW downloads its latest version with one click, anytime.

Sessions:

Do you sell a package of services in advance?

For example, a package of:

six sessions with a Personal Trainer
five Full-Body Massages
eight classes of Yoga
four reservations at the raquetball court
two turtle-doves and a partridge in a pear tree

Now our software remembers all the packages you offer, and counts off how much each member has used.

For the Personal Trainer, Life Coach, Tutor, Massage Therapist, Yoga Instructor, Dance Teacher, Martial Arts Master, Nutritionist...
Count Visits, Sessions, Classes, Massages, Facials, Pedicures, Rentals, Consultations...

Payments End, Membership Continues:

Do you have offers of different kinds?

For example, an ongoing membership for a monthly fee; a package of six classes that must be used within eight months; and a twelve-month membership in three easy payments?

Now TFW can do them all.

TFW remembers all your offers, and remembers what each member is due (due to pay, and due to receive).

Sell all your members the same offer, or give each member her own unique variation.

Whatever you decide, TFW handles the detail.

3.0.75755 July 25 2007

Retire Database Records: Trim those large database tables. Some of us have been accumulating Attendance records and Payment History records for years and years. Retire some of the older records. Retired records remain fully available to you when you want them, but they don't slow down your everyday operations otherwise. Under the File menu look for Retire Database Records.

3.0.75753 July 23 2007

Advanced Attendance: List members who have visited, say, three times a week for six weeks, as qualification for a contest or drawing. Write their contact information to a phone list, an email list, or (in MailMerge format) mailing labels.

GoFigure users: TFW now imports your Products Lists, six months of Attendance (workout) Detail, and six months of Payment History.

3.0.75749 July 20 2007

TFW Members and TFW Attendance may run under an Administrator account or a non-Administrator account. Complies with Windows Vista security recommendations for the future.

3.0.75743 July 14 2007

Grouped members: As always, any member may pay for any other (mother for daughter, dad for family...), yet all such members have their own membership and their own payment schedule and payment history and so on.

New: A warning when closing the account of a member who pays for other members.

3.0.75739 July 08 2007

Simplify the interface your way. Hide tabs you don't use. Hide data you don't need to see. Customize and keep your own look and feel for the software.

Example:

Movie Projector Watch the one-minute animation.

In Member Retention, choose whether you want to phone, email, or postal mail your members. As before, TFW can write the Microsoft MailMerge format for labels and letters.

Show and hide columns. Space them out. Move them around. Save your layout. It's automatic after that.

Movie Projector Watch the one-minute animation.

3.0.75659 June 29 2007

Reservations: Reserve facilities or equipment with or without a rental charge.

Purchases: Merchandise tab, expanded, is now called Purchases. Can be shown or hidden, as needed.

For Purchase: Include more detail about items you sell, rent, or reserve. Automatic sales tax calculations. Supplier info, reorder notes.

3.0.75633 June 3 2007

Import from GoFigure now includes a year of Payment History and Medical Holds.

Member Merge: Bring back a member who had been archived in GoFigure, with all her information.

Open-Ended Memberships: For states where you continue to service (and charge) a member beyond the expiration of her contract.

3.0.75538 May 14 2007

Sales Tax calculated automatically for Memberships and Merchandise.

3.0.75537 May 10 2007

Member Merge: Accidentally add a member twice? Need to bring back her numbers from history ("archive")? Merge information from two members into one.

Bulk add attendance numbers for a member whose visits were done elsewhere (transfer workouts).

Fine tune Projection Sheet numbers using Inquiry Date.

Agreements show a quick abbreviation for the current membership type.

Print Order History.

Many minor fixes.

3.0.75533 May 03 2007

Member Central gets latest Microsoft Windows Vista look.

Color-coded subtask lists.

Your free-form notes, as collected from all across the software, are now searchable.

3.0.75458 April 29 2007

Now a member may pay early any number of scheduled payments ("Check Draft Exchange") .

3.0.75450 April 19 2007

Smarter import from GoFigure 2.8: tax amounts, renewal amounts (and dates), service fees, medical holds, gift certificates...

3.0.75433 April 03 2007

Products Sales, Order History, Product Offers.

Order History includes date and staffer name and notes in your own words.

Product Offers: list notes to yourself about reordering the item, or notes to your staff about selling it. It's name and number at the Supplier.

Also: new color themes.

3.0.75360 March 30 2007

Open-ended memberships (in jurisdictions where contracts extend indefinitely).

Non-renewable memberships (such as gift certificates and one-time introductory offers).

3.0.75348 March 18 2007

Membership Change Counts. Members gained and lost since a date you select. By member type. Big picture marketing.

Tab: Members
Button: Member Count Changes

3.0.75336 March 06 2007

Renew late. New choice: Renew late by catching up missed payments, or choose new agreement. Recover money lost from late renewals.

3.0.75333 March 03 2007

Sales Statistics (Projection Sheet) fixed. Uses Membership History: Start of Agreement Date rather than Date To History. Uses new Payment History detail: New (for new memberships) and CreditBack (for refunds).

3.0.75258 February 28 2007

Better notes when you record a returned item (bounced check) and (optionally) charge the member a penalty fee. See Returned (Bounced) Checks and Charge A Penalty: Require Additional Payment.

3.0.75251 February 21 2007

Members: Alongside the Hide Expired option, two new options: Show Expired Too and Show Expired Only. Show Expired Only is new. Show Expired Too was formerly Show Expired.

Payment History: show Notes alongside staff initials, processor reply, credit (refund) checkbox, last four digits of account used (credit card, debit card, checking account, savings account).

Hold: May extend Hold past agreement end with only a warning.

3.0.75249 February 20 2007

New when you Renew: Grace Period. Urge members to renew within 25 days (for example) so they keep their current rates.

Renew: Pick a new agreement (from your Payment Agreement list) if you need to, instead of just extending the current agreement:

Gift Certificates we don't renew.
Former members returning long after, or after your Grace Period. Renew their old rate, or pick a new rate.

3.0.75233 February 3 2007

Check Terminal automatically finds member checking (or savings) account;
Check Terminal saves member checking (or savings) account;

3.0.75158 January 29 2007

get our two most popular Member Retention lists with one click from Member Central; what good are these great lists if you don't get around to them?
add and update offers and promotions faster; copy and change one offer to make another;
get Membership History with one click from Member Central;

Version 3 (3.0.75136) January 3 2007

built-in "Check Terminal;" stop driving paper checks to the bank;
quick Add Member: do the steps at any time, in any order
preview draft schedule, member payments due
get more lists without leaving Member Central: expired or expiring memberships...
bullet-proofing for interrupted Internet connections
one-minute animations

Built-In "Check Terminal": Some of our advanced users don't drive paper checks to the post office or the bank. Instead they use AllianceACH to:

deposit their paper checks instantly
send refunds online
online transfers to other clubs
pay bills online (landlord...)
pay staff online (payroll, commissions...)
print receipts for cash payments

New: Leave it to your staff without leaving them your AllianceACH password. No log on needed.

Enter a check at the computer, transmit it online, get immediate confirmation, save the details to your Payment History (including notes in your own words), and print two-copy receipts on any plain-paper printer.

If you use the credit card terminal built into TFW, you'll recognize our new "check terminal".

One-Stop Shopping: Do nearly all your daily work from Member Central.

Watch the one-minute animation.

2.0.65842 August 12 2006

Better error checking for Canadian routing numbers (checking account transit numbers).

2.0.65745 July 15 2006

In list of repeat payments, add merchandise purchases or service fees or whatever, and either save them for reuse, or use them one time without saving them. This way, payments of any kind (not just scheduled membership dues) can be included in batch processing, once or repeatedly.

2.0.65731 July 01 2006

Payment processing for GoFigure version 3 and up.

List of repeat payments. Add payments you reuse often. Revise them as needed. Select and send them anytime.

2.0.65638 June 09 2006

Display your sales for the day or the month of your choice, including:

number of members who pay scheduled payments (drafts)
dollars from scheduled member payments (drafts)
number of new members
- by scheduled payments (drafts)
- pre-paid
- month-to-month
number of memberships lost
sales dollars
- for new memberships
- for products
- for other...
maximum daily attendance
sales statistics
- number of sales appointments
- number of successful membership sales
- percentage of successful membership sales
- dollars per membership sale
- sources for sales appointments (referral, TV ads, ...)
number of new members
- by scheduled payments (drafts)
- pre-paid
- month-to-month

2.0.65635 June 7 2006

Test your AllianceACH connection in advance. In case of error, locate where and why a connection is failing.

For this test, you need not select any drafts to send. In place of the Send step, press and hold Alt on your keyboard, then press a. This test sends a simple query to AllianceACH and retrieves the answer. It tests your full round-trip connection to AllianceACH, and, in case of error, tells you how to fix it.

Available from these windows:

Import Checking Batch (ComputerEase or other)
Collect by Direct Debit

2.0.65555 May 28 2006

Expand Payment and Payment History database tables to better distinguish previously scheduled payments from new payments; payments for membership, merchandise, and so on; and payments made by one member for another.

Now report payments by (among other things):
    Member
    Date Done
    Date Due (for payments on a schedule)
    New (a purchase, versus a payment on a schedule)
    Way Paid (cash, check, eft, card)
    Card Type (Visa, MC, AmEx, Discover...)
    Payment For (Membership, Merchandise...)
    Status: Collected, Reversed (returned),
      Abandoned, Failed, Substituted (paid early)

Sort, select, group, total your payment history by any of these, separately or in combination.

2.0.65543 May 14 2006

For Computerease credit card drafting, pass back results. For each transaction, Include approval code or decline code and message. Include Receipt Number.

2.0.65537 May 09 2006

For Computerease and other imported credit card drafts, return results. Write result file to same directory with "_ReturnResults" appended to the name. Write the following tab-delimited columns for each card draft:

    Member Name
    Amount
    Member ID
    Success (as "true" or "false")
    Result (six-character approval code, or decline code and message)

Improved: Members may pay draft amount early and by another means of payment ("Check Draft Exchange")

2.0.65453 April 23 2006

Convert UPPER CASE NAMES to mixed case during import from GoFigure.

2.0.65357 March 27 2006

Add sales appointments and tracking, sales summary ("Projection Sheet").

Require Additional Payment, to get back bank penalties, and whatever else you might occasionally need to draft from members.

New in TFW Members