For controllers
Club software for controllers: a month-end close that starts reconciled
Member AR, card clearing, sales tax and the bank tie to the general ledger because they post from the same transactions. The close is a checklist of reconciliations you sign, not a week of chasing variances between systems.
The job
Why is the month-end close so hard at a private club?
A club controller closes the books on a business with a dozen revenue streams and several systems feeding them. The point of sale sends a daily summary. The tee sheet sends another. Billing produces a statement run and an aging report. The card processor pays out net of fees on its own schedule. The accounting package receives all of it as journal entries somebody keyed or imported, and the first week of every month goes to finding out why member AR in the ledger doesn't match the aging report.
The variances are almost never fraud. They're timing, a charge that reached billing but not the summary, a refund recorded in one place, a fee netted from a payout. But each one has to be found by hand, because the systems never shared a transaction.
Bubs posts every sale, statement charge, payment, card fee and refund to the general ledger from the transaction itself, as it happens. The sub-ledgers and the ledger can't drift, because they were never two records to begin with.
What you get
The accounting a club controller actually needs
Built on the uniform system clubs already report on, and on the rules an auditor expects.
The club chart of accounts
Seeded from the club industry's uniform system of financial reporting, and yours to edit — rename accounts, add your own, and map the codes your accountant already uses.
Sub-ledgers that tie
Member AR, outside AR, card clearing, credit books, sales tax and the operating bank each reconcile to their control account in the close.
Bank statements, matched
Import OFX, QFX or CSV statements from your bank's website. Deposits and payouts are matched to the ledger, and the rest are coded where you can see them.
Card fees at capture
Processing fees post when the card is captured, so card clearing agrees to the payouts to the cent instead of drifting until someone books a lump.
Manual journals, prepared and approved
Every manual journal records who prepared it and who approved it. Posted entries are never edited — a correction is a reversal beside the original.
Exports your accountant can use
Journal export for each period in QuickBooks or Sage format, versioned when a period is re-exported after a correction.
The close
The month-end close, as a checklist you sign
Each period has a close checklist: the reconciliations and the review tasks your club requires. A reconciliation is signed by a person, with any variance explained. A step you decide to skip is waived with a reason, and the reason stays on the record.
The period closes only when every required step is done or waived. Once it's closed, nothing posts into it; a late correction is dated into an open period and shows up in the review of late entries.
- Reconciliations signed with the variance explained
- Waivers recorded with a reason
- Closed periods refuse new postings
- A board pack generated from the closed book
Club finance
Guides for the club finance office
The uniform system, the club chart of accounts, the month-end close and non-member income, written for practitioners.
FAQ
Questions from controllers
Does Bubs replace our accounting package?
It can. Bubs includes a full general ledger with financial statements, budgets, payables and the month-end close. A club that wants to keep its current package can run Bubs alongside it and import the journal export each period instead.
Can we keep our existing chart of accounts?
The chart is seeded from the club industry's uniform system and then belongs to the club: rename accounts, add your own, and record the external codes your accountant uses so exports come out in their numbering.
How are initiation fees and capital dues accounted for?
The club's accountant sets the policy: initiation fees deferred and recognized over a set number of months, recorded as a contribution to equity, or recognized when billed. Refundable deposits are held as a liability. The ledger follows the policy for entries posted after it is set.
How does bank reconciliation work?
Download statements from your bank's website as OFX, QFX or CSV and import them. Bubs matches deposits, card payouts and payments to the ledger, leaves the rest for you to code, and the operating bank reconciliation is signed in the close.
Can Bubs report non-member income for the 501(c)(7) tests?
Yes. Each sale records who paid — member, member's guest, reciprocal visitor, the public — and the non-member income report shows the 35% and 15% tests from the ledger, with guest revenue shown both ways.
See your club on Bubs
Thirty minutes, your club's brand on the screen, and the parts of the day you care about most.