Payments
▶ 💰 Waiting for payment — who owes what right now
▶ 💸 Money setup — prices, how members pay, payment plans, test payments
💳 Membership prices
The levels families pick from when they sign up. The first one is the default. Leave the price blank if you bill each family yourself.
Card payments (Stripe)
Connect your club's own Stripe account to accept card payments for dues, applications, programs and parties. Charges land directly in your bank. Poolside takes a 1% platform fee on dues; 1.5% on programs and parties.
Card fees
When on, members who pay by card see a slightly higher total that covers Stripe's processing fee (~2.9% + 30¢). Venmo / check / cash pricing stays exactly the base price. Disclosure is shown to the member at checkout so the choice is explicit.
On a $600 dues bill, members would see $618.23 for card vs $600.00 for Venmo. The exact pass-through is computed from the rates Stripe charges your club.
Venmo & PayPal
Member-facing payment links. Venmo handle paints a QR on the apply form and member home; PayPal link drops a 'Pay with PayPal' button.
Offline-payment verification
How long the apply form tells members it takes for you to verify their Venmo / check / cash payment.
🗓️ Payment plans
Families pay in full, or choose how much to pay today ($0 is fine) and the month to be paid off by. Poolside splits the rest evenly by month, only accepts plans that meet your deadlines, and charges the saved card on each date. A card that keeps failing, or a plan not paid in full by your last deadline, cancels the membership until the family reinstates.
A family who signs up after the first deadline pays at least that share the day they sign up; Poolside works out the amount. Plans are offered until a month before the paid-in-full date. After that, it's pay in full.
A declined card is tried again 3, 7 and 14 days later. The family gets one email when it first fails; the Treasurer gets one email if it still hasn't gone through.
Families on a payment plan
🏷️ Discounts
A discount code takes money off a family's dues, like an early-bird price. Families type it in "Have a discount code?" when they sign up or renew. Each family gets one discount: if they also joined through a friend's referral link, whichever saves more is used.
Make a code
Referral program
When a family joins with a member's link and pays, the family saves this much, and the member earns a reward 30 days later (up to the price of their own membership).
🧪 Test payments
While on, card checkout opens a fake payment page instead of Stripe, and Venmo applicants get a "Simulate Venmo payment" button. Simulated payments run every automation a real one does — approval, household dues, welcome emails and texts, task closing — but no money moves. Works without Stripe connected. Simulated card payments have a session id starting with sim_.
▶ 📅 Renew season — send the renewal message to past members when the pool opens for a new year
When your pool opens for a new season, send your prior members an email and/or text with a one-tap sign-in link so they can pay this year's dues. Pick which group gets it.
Open Renew season →💌 Referral rewards
A member earns a reward when a family joins with their link and pays. It unlocks 30 days after that payment, then a board member with the payments permission approves it (never for their own family). The member chooses credit toward their next dues or a refund.