How to Switch Studio Software Without Losing Members

Export, or ask your provider for, every member, active membership and pack (with remaining credits), account balance, future and recurring booking, class time, signed waiver and form, plus your attendance and purchase history. Not every provider offers every export, so check what you can get. Access to your data may change once your old contract ends, so pull it all before you set a go-live date.

Card numbers are the exception: they can't be exported to a spreadsheet. Card data can only move from one payment processor to another through a secure transfer. Ask your current provider early how they release stored cards to a new processor and how long it takes, because that request often sets your timeline.

What each export should include:

• Members and leads: names, emails, phone numbers, birthdays, emergency contacts, join dates and status (active, frozen, canceled).
• Memberships and packs: plan name, price, billing day, next renewal date, contract end date and remaining credits for every active member.
• Balances: unpaid invoices, account credit, gift cards and prepaid sessions not yet used.
• Bookings: every future booking, plus recurring reservations such as a member's standing Tuesday 6 a.m. class.
• Schedule: class types, times, capacities, instructors and rooms.
• Paperwork: signed waivers, intake forms and health notes, with the date each was signed. Treat health notes as sensitive data when you move them.
• History: attendance and purchases, so you can still answer "how many classes have I used?" next month.

Pick the go-live date around your billing calendar, not around the day the new system is ready. The safest window is just after a billing run: everyone has been charged in the old system and nobody is due again for a while, which gives you room to check the first charges in the new one. If most members bill on the 1st, going live around the 3rd to the 5th gives you a clean month.

Then work backward. Check your current contract for its notice period and renewal date, so you don't pay for a term you won't use. Avoid your busiest weeks, such as January or the start of a challenge. Leave at least two weeks between the first export and go-live for cleanup, testing and member messages.

1. 1
   Read your current contract

   Find the notice period, auto-renewal date and any data export terms, and put the cancellation deadline in your calendar.

2. 2
   Export everything, then export it again

   Pull every report on the list above, and repeat the export the day before go-live so bookings and purchases made in between are not lost.

3. 3
   Clean the member list

   Merge duplicates, fix bad emails and phone numbers, and decide what to do with members who haven't visited in months.

4. 4
   Map every plan and pack

   List each membership and pack in the old system next to its match in the new one, with price, billing day and remaining credits.

5. 5
   Request the card transfer

   Start the processor-to-processor card migration early, then confirm which members' cards came across and which did not.

6. 6
   Rebuild the schedule and standing bookings

   Recreate classes, capacities and instructors, then re-add every recurring booking before members can book over those spots.

7. 7
   Test with real accounts

   Have staff and two or three regular members book, cancel and buy something, and check that the charge, receipt and credits are right.

8. 8
   Stop billing in the old system

   Turn off automatic billing in the old system before the new one charges anyone, so no member is billed twice.

9. 9
   Go live and reconcile the first billing run

   Compare the number of charges and the total against the last run in the old system, and chase every difference the same week.

10. 10
    Keep the archive

    Store your final exports somewhere safe and keep read-only access to the old system until the contract ends.

Tell members early, more than once, and spell out exactly what they need to do. Most members care about three things: whether their membership and credits are safe, whether they will be charged correctly, and how they book from now on.

Send three short messages: one about two weeks out announcing the change and the date, one a few days before with the app download or booking link, and one on go-live day. Put the same instructions on a sign at the front desk and brief instructors so they can answer questions at the start of class.

A message that works: "On March 3 we're moving to a new booking app. Your membership and remaining classes come with you, and so does your card on file [only if confirmed]. That morning, download the app and sign in with this email address, and your bookings will be waiting. Questions? Reply here or ask at the desk." Only promise what you have confirmed. If some cards did not transfer, tell those members directly and give them a simple way to add one before their next billing date.

Most migration problems trace back to one of these, and each has a check in the checklist above:

• Double charges: both systems bill in the same week because the old one was never switched off.
• Lost credits: packs arrive with the wrong balance, or with their expiry dates reset.
• Missing standing bookings: a regular shows up for their usual class and finds it full.
• Silent payment failures: members whose cards did not transfer stop paying, and nobody notices for a month.
• Forgotten balances: gift cards, account credit and prepaid sessions that lived only in the old system.
• Contract auto-renewal: the old provider bills you for another term because notice went in late.

A small studio with a short member list and simple plans can do this in a few days with exports and a careful spreadsheet. The work grows fast with family accounts, mixed plans, packs with expiry dates and lots of recurring bookings. Whoever you are considering, ask who does the moving, what comes across, and whether you get to check the result before go-live.

If you move to BurnOn, its team does the migration for free. Members, memberships, schedule and history come across, and the team requests the card transfer through Stripe so members can keep their cards on file where your current provider supports it. Members whose cards don't come across add one before their next billing date. You check the result before anything goes live.

BurnOn also lists no setup fees, contracts or lock-in on its pricing page, and plans can be paid month to month.