Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for professional bodies.
A checklist built from how professional bodies 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.
- Application and grade assessment
- Member record by grade
- CPD log and annual declaration
- Exam entries and results
- Subscriptions and reinstatement
- Public register of members
- Branches, conferences and journal
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- Registrar
- Assessors and committee members
- Exams team
- Membership and finance staff
- Branch secretaries
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Members by grade, branch and standing
- Applications waiting by stage and assessor
- CPD declared against requirement, with audit outcomes
- Exam entries, pass rates by paper and resits booked
- Subscriptions invoiced, paid and lapsed by grade
- Register changes made in the period
- Conference places sold and journal subscribers
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Payment gateway
- Accounting export
- Learning platform
- Exam venue booking sheet
- Website member search
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it for an association of firms or of individuals?
- Does the system award the grade?
- Can members log CPD themselves?
- How are exams handled?
- What happens when a member stops paying?
- Can the public check whether someone is a member?
- Who sees conduct files?
- Can our records be exported?
- What is the cost?
- Is it worth it for a young society?
- How long until the registrar can work members through it?
- What should the secretariat assemble?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Grade decisions are not traceable
- CPD declarations arrive as scattered attachments
- Exam entries and results sit apart from the member file
- The public register drifts from the membership list
- Complaints are mixed with ordinary correspondence
Prefer to talk it through? See the professional bodies page.