Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for swimming academies.
A checklist built from how swimming academies 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.
- Enquiries and assessment swims
- Classes, levels and lane plans
- Registers and make-up lessons
- Skill checklists and badges
- Term passes and fees
- Water quality and pool log
- Instructor and lifeguard rosters
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- Academy owner
- Head instructor
- Instructors and lifeguards
- Front desk
- Parents and adult learners
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Swimmers by level, class and lane
- Lane use by hour, with empty places
- Attendance by class and swimmer, with make-ups owed
- Skills passed and badges issued by level
- Passes sold, lessons used and passes ending
- Water readings by pool and day, with out-of-range entries
- Instructor and lifeguard hours by session
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Card and payment gateway
- Accounting export
- Calendar feed for lessons
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can a lane hold classes at different levels through the day?
- How is a swimmer moved to the next level?
- What happens to lessons a child misses?
- Can we set different passes for children and adults?
- Where do the water readings go and who sees them?
- Do parents see their child’s progress?
- Does it work if we hire lanes from a public pool?
- How do we move from our spreadsheets?
- Can we take our swimmer records with us if we leave?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Lane plans are drawn on a whiteboard
- Levels are decided from memory
- Missed lessons have no home
- Water readings are on loose sheets
- Fees and attendance are separate books
Prefer to talk it through? See the swimming academies page.