How to manage the fees of an amateur football club without Excel
To manage a club's fees without Excel you need online payments, automatic reminders for missed payments, and a dashboard showing who has paid and who hasn't. A payments app replaces spreadsheets and cash, cuts down on forgotten dues, and saves you hours every month.
To manage the fees of an amateur football club without Excel, replace the spreadsheet and cash collection with an app that charges online, sends automatic reminders when someone misses a payment, and shows the status of every member in an unpaid-fees dashboard. You set the fee amount once, parents and players pay from their phone, and you stop chasing cash and balancing cells. This frees up the treasurer's time and gives the club predictable income. Below you'll find the concrete steps and an honest comparison between the traditional method and a payments app.
Why do spreadsheets and cash fall short?
Excel works in month one and breaks by month three. These are the common problems in an amateur club:
- Cash collection: envelopes that get lost, change that doesn't add up, and a treasurer keeping money at home.
- No traceability: no one remembers whether Marcos paid the March fee or whether it was his brother.
- Invisible unpaid fees: you discover the gap at the end of the season, when there's no margin left to claim it.
- Manual work: updating cells, sending one-by-one WhatsApp messages, and matching payments by hand.
- Dependence on one person: if the treasurer leaves, the information leaves with them.
None of this is the club's fault: a spreadsheet was never designed to charge, remind, or chase payments.
What do I need to charge fees online?
You don't need to set up a complex payment gateway or know accounting. With a sports management app like Clubily, the flow is straightforward:
- Register members and teams. Import your players and organize them by team or category.
- Set the fee. Amount, frequency (monthly, quarterly, yearly), and who it applies to.
- Invite families to the app. Each member pays from their phone (iOS or Android).
- Turn on automatic reminders. The app notifies anyone who hasn't paid, without you writing a thing.
- Check the unpaid-fees dashboard. See at a glance who is up to date and who isn't, in real time.
- Reconcile and forget the cash. Payments are recorded and traceable.
How do Excel and cash compare with a payments app?
Here is a fair comparison between the traditional method and a solution like Clubily:
| Criterion | Excel + cash | Payments app (Clubily) |
|---|---|---|
| Payment method | Envelope, loose transfer, or cash box | Online payment from the phone |
| Unpaid-fee reminders | Manual (one-by-one WhatsApp) | Automatic |
| Who has paid | You have to review cells | Real-time unpaid-fees dashboard |
| Traceability | Low, relies on notes | Every payment is recorded |
| Treasurer's time | High every month | Minimal after setup |
| Risk with cash | Losses and mismatches | No physical money |
| Continuity if the treasurer changes | Fragile | Information lives in the app |
What else does the app solve beyond fees?
One advantage of centralizing payments is that the rest of the management moves to the same place. With Clubily, beyond fee collection, you get:
- Member and team management in a single dashboard.
- Internal communication with chats and club news, instead of scattered WhatsApp groups.
- Calendar for the club and each team.
- AI player statistics and live matches.
- Built-in self-financing: club store and sponsors inside the app, so fees aren't the only source of income.
Clubily is multi-sport (football, basketball, volleyball, and rugby, among others) and available in five languages.
How much does it cost and which plan suits me?
It depends on the size of your club. These are the real plans:
- Team Plan: from 9.99 €/month for a single team with unlimited members. Ideal if you manage just one team.
- Club Plan: from 17.98 €/month (8.99 € per team, from 2 to 50 teams). The usual choice for a club with several categories. More info at /es/club.
- Custom Plan: tailor-made, with the club's own app, self-financing, and premium features. Available by contacting the team at /es/personalized.
For an amateur football club with several teams, the Club Plan is usually the sweet spot between price and features.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need accounting knowledge to use it?
No. You set the fee once and the app handles charging and reminding. The dashboard shows you the status without formulas or cells.
What if a family prefers to keep paying in cash?
You can record payments, but the goal is to reduce cash to a minimum to avoid mismatches and losses. The recommendation is to move to online payment gradually.
Does it work for sports other than football?
Yes. Clubily supports football, basketball, volleyball, and rugby, with more sports on the way.
How do I sign up?
You can start with the plan that fits your club at /es/club or write to info@clubily.es with any questions.
Leave spreadsheets and envelopes behind: with the Clubily Club Plan you charge fees online, automate reminders, and control unpaid fees from a single dashboard. Discover it at /es/club.