How to Choose Club ERP Software: A Practical Checklist for Secretaries and GMs

Most clubs don't change their ERP because they want something new. They change because month-end billing takes a week, the POS freezes on a busy Saturday, or nobody can produce a clean report for the committee. If that sounds familiar, this checklist will help you compare vendors on what actually matters.

1. Start with your member billing cycle

Membership billing is the heart of a club. Ask every vendor to show — live — how a month's subscriptions, facility charges, F&B consumption and arrears roll into one member statement. Watch for manual steps.

• Can subscriptions, entrance fees and levies be configured without the vendor?
• Are member credit limits enforced at the POS in real time?
• Can statements be emailed and sent on WhatsApp in bulk?

2. Test the POS at peak, not at demo pace

A demo with one user tells you nothing. Ask how the system behaves with 20 terminals, three kitchens and a network blip. KOT routing, offline handling and bill split should be instant.

3. Accounts must be native, not bolted on

If F&B, rooms and membership post to a separate accounting package through nightly exports, reconciliation will eat your accounts team's time. Look for a single database where every bill posts to the general ledger automatically.

4. Migration is where projects fail

Ask who will move your member master, opening balances and item masters — and how they will prove the numbers match. A good vendor runs parallel billing for at least one cycle before go-live.

5. Support you can actually reach

Clubs run late evenings and weekends. Confirm support hours, escalation contacts and response times in writing.

6. Ask for references from clubs like yours

Speak to a secretary or accounts manager at a similar-sized club. Ask what went wrong during go-live and how quickly it was fixed.

Want to run this checklist against Apex Didamas? Book a demo and bring your toughest billing scenario.