Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for coworking spaces.
A checklist built from how coworking spaces work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Seat and cabin inventory
- Meeting-room booking with credits
- Member plans and contracts
- Monthly invoicing
- Visitors, day passes and tickets
- Enquiries, tours and occupancy
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners and centre heads
- For community and centre managers
- For the front desk
- For members
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Occupancy by centre and floor, filled seats against paid seats
- Invoiced, collected and outstanding for the month, member-wise
- Meeting-room use by room and by member, including hours beyond plan
- Contracts ending in the next 30, 60 and 90 days
- Enquiries by source, tours done and seats signed
- Open tickets by type and how long each has been open
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Accounting package
- Bank transfers and payment gateways
- Google Calendar
- SMS
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it raise tax invoices every month automatically?
- Can members book meeting rooms themselves?
- Is this membership management or a booking tool?
- Can we keep our accounting package?
- Does it work with our door access system?
- How do we move from Excel?
- Does it support more than one centre?
- Who owns the member data?
- What does it cost?
- Do we need every module for one small centre?
- When could a community manager start taking bookings and raising invoices?
- What should a centre head hold ready before the floor is set up?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Meeting rooms are double-booked
- Credit usage is disputed
- Seat occupancy is unclear
- Invoicing takes the first week of the month
Prefer to talk it through? See the coworking spaces page.