AS Club Product Page

One of many attractive skins AS Club can wear

[click thumbnails for enlarged view]   AS Club, the software solution that covers all aspects of managing clubs and other small to mid-size membership organizations (recommended for up to about 15,000 members).   AS Club is a mature application: first released in 2005, it was developed in close cooperation with a yacht club whose membership hovered around 1000 members. AS Club supports the typical club-specific accounting procedures, such as the automated cyclical charging of member accounts with membership fees and other repeated charges as well as the ad hoc debiting, crediting, and adjusting of accounts. It automates the posting of EFT payments by importing electronic bank statements, downloaded from the club's bank website, thus saving time and eliminating a possible source of human error.   AS Club offers a rich additional feature set, such as the printing and re-printing of barcoded member ID cards on paper or PVC blanks, and their automatic optical recognition by way of a standard webcam, the handling of email- and SMS-communications, and even the hosting of the club's website on the club computer, thus allowing members to make on-line account enquiries and to send instant messages to the operator, from anywhere in the world.   The AS Club design puts particular emphasis on data security to protect the privacy of your members: an automated backup service runs in the background to upload the member database daily to the Austrosoft web server; all data is encrypted for transmission and storage to protect private member information from falling into the wrong hands. Multiple users can connect to the same AS Club installation; an easy to use Synchronize feature keeps local and online backup databases in sync. Users may install AS Club on multiple internet-connected computers, all accessing the same database, without incurring any extra costs. The additional 'client'-computers can easily be configured for privileged access by means of a password which authorizes the uploading (i.e. the creating and editing) of information;  normal non-privileged access grants only the retrieval (the viewing) of online database information.        A summary of the main program features:     Accounting • automated debiting of member accounts with a billing cycle easily switchable between 12/6/3/1 months payment intervals and between membership types, in both cases with full compensation • transaction-oriented: a persistent Undo-function lets you roll back erroneous transactions at any time • member payments may be imported from standard bank statements in Microsoft Money™ format, AutoAllocate shares out lump sum payments to club sub-accounts according to hierarchical rules • monitoring of defaulting members and recategorizing them into two system-owned categories 'Defaulter' and 'Inactive' • for consistency, accounts are moved in and out of Defaulter/Inactive categories without user intervention • optional monthly interest charges obey a user-determined grace period • the full complement of traditional hardcopy output is provided • system phasing-in support via a "Go Live" function Communications • integrated, efficient (multi-threaded) email and SMS dispatch • on a suitable internet connection: AS Club's integrated web server can run the club website, it responds to account enquiries from members by sending out the latest statement of account,   and receives messages from members Other features • multiple users can synchronize their local database with an online mirror provided by Austrosoft • club ID cards are automatically reprinted before they expire, PVC card printers are supported • ID cards contain EAN13 barcodes; "showing" an ID card to a web camera brings up the correct account on screen • an interactive "Guided Tour" of the essential program features and a "Tutorial" make for a gentle learning curve; an extensive context-sensitive help system is built-in • an attractive 'skinnable' GUI makes AS Club visually identical on all versions of Windows, from XP to 10, suitable skins allow you to switch your screen between daylight and low-light mode, depending on your workplace situation • and much more... Club administrators who are looking beyond general purpose accounting programs for a software solution tailor-made for the club environment will appreciate AS Club as a welcome alternative option. With AS Club, Austrosoft proves that a software product aimed at a niche market can look as attractive and perform as competently as the familiar industry-standard software applications. Since 2005, in an ongoing process of development and fine tuning, we have turned the feedback from our users into steady improvements and new design ideas, resulting in a software tool able to efficiently perform the daily administrative routine tasks of a club manager.   AS Club performs most of these tasks automatically: member accounts are debited at set intervals, timely payments are monitored and defaulters placed "under observation". AS Club charges interest on overdue accounts and automatically adjusts the accounts of members who switch memberships types, payment options, and subscriptions to other services the club may offer. Payment records can be imported from electronic bank statements obtained through internet banking; accounts are credited in seconds and errors arising from manual data capture are avoided by design.    AS Club dispatches club documents and messages to groups of members or individuals through email and SMS (while still supporting traditional print output). As a case in point, one mouse-click suffices to send off a 'statement of account' to all or selected members via email. If documents are to be mailed the traditional way, AS Club will also print the envelopes. Another instance would be a reminder to all members in arrears: it only takes a few mouse-clicks to send out a personalized SMS to the cell phones of all members concerned. Personalized invitations to club functions can be dispatched just as easily via email or SMS, utilizing editable templates for speedy message selection. Given a suitable internet connection, AS Club can act as web server that hosts the club website locally on the club computer, in fact turning it into a web site. When acting as web server, it allows members to view their accounts from anywhere in the world as well as to send messages to the club manager. An example would be a member viewing her latest statement of account and querying it by dispatching an instant message to which the AS Club operator is alerted through a pop-up window (showing the member's photograph if available).  Additional web server features such as online polls and online voting are currently under review. The web server with live database access comes build-in and is pre-configured, it works right 'out of the box' and requires no configuration or special know-how.   Note: as a general rule, web servers need to have a valid internet address, either statically or dynamically allocated. Computers connected through WiFi 'hotspots' and similar subnets (i.e. clients on LAN's, WAN's, connected through proxies, or have incoming calls blocked by firewalls) cannot normally be reached from the internet and can therefore not act as web servers. AS Club tries to determine the type of connection and informs of its suitability.

Whether your membership numbers are in the dozens or in the thousands, AS Club will handle the financial matters. There is no risk or effort involved in downloading AS Club from the Austrosoft web site and trying it out for yourself - you have up to 2 months before (possibly free) online registration is required.
 
After launching AS Club you have access to 
(1) the Guided Tour, a program walk-through introducing AS Club fundamentals, 
(2) an illustrated step-by-step Tutorial that demonstrates the most frequently used program functions,
(3) a context-sensitive, detailed help system and reference guide that can be called up via the F1 function key.

AS Club can be tried for up to two months with no obligation.
 
Please feel free to email us for assistance should you encounter any problems (but note also that your questions may have already been answered on the FAQ page).

The generous AS Club license makes extending the included one-year maintenance cover optional. You decide whether to extend the support and maintenance contract after the first year as 'insurance policy' or continue without assistance in which case you can go on using the program free of charge and without further restrictions under a license that will only expire on Dec..31,.2099.  ;-)

The savings in printing and mailing expenses, achieved through the electronic distribution of statements, tax invoices, and other documents, as well as the use of SMS,  will easily offset the cost of the optional AS Club maintenance contract. As an example, the Mossel Bay Yacht and Boat Club (MBYBC) has found the electronic distribution of club documents so economical and convenient that it has decided to make it standard practice by writing it into the club constitution. The new web server feature makes 'outsourcing' your website to third parties unnecessary, again resulting in cost savings and a site that can be maintained with tools you already know (e.g. MS Word, and many other programs that can create files in HTML-format).
 
Tighter control of defaulters and the means to easily reach them via email and SMS improve the club's cash flow. In many cases savings will be even larger, taking into account the total expenditure on consumables, stationery, postage, and work hours. AS Club can do away with 'snail-mail', as practically every club member can nowadays be reached through email and SMS. Of course, AS Club can also produce attractive hardcopy instead of, or in addition to, electronic documents.
 
Convenience features, such as the automated production of ID-cards, optionally on PVC card printers, add to the utility of the program. Thanks to the built-in web camera support, you can snap a member's photograph on-site and immediately print an ID card, or alternatively attach a portrait scanned-in from a photograph.
You don't have to be a computer expert to operate AS Club as the learning curve is rather gentle: an interactive 'Guided Tour' and an in-depth tutorial introduces you to the software in no time at all. The necessary 'house-keeping' functions, such as month-end processing, or backup/restore are easily performed one-click operations.
 

AS Club is a completely autonomous, native Microsoft Windows application that is fully functional without internet access. However, if available, the internet enables useful additional features:
 
•  program output can be distributed electronically to members as email
•  short, but urgent, text messages can be sent via SMS
•  member payments can be imported in seconds from bank statements, downloaded in Microsoft Money™ format
•  AS Club receives program updates automatically from the internet
•  a master copy of the AS Club database is maintained on the Austrosoft web server and can be retrieved with
    one mouse-click, should the need arise
•  multiple users of the same database can synchronize their local database with the master; at the same time,
    member photographs used for ID card printing are synchronized as well
•  AS Club can run the club website on the local computer; this makes it also possible for members to view their
    latest statement of account on-line and send instant messages from their web browser to the AS Club operator
 
 

The AS Club Scheduler - Automating the Billing Cycle

One of the core functions of AS Club is debiting member accounts with membership and service fees according to a predetermined schedule. Set up individually for each member account it holds information about the services a member has signed up for as well as their individual start dates, end dates, and payment intervals. With a few clicks of the mouse you can schedule multiple debits to be posted annually, biannually, quarterly, or monthly, in any combination. Non-authorized payment intervals may be disabled beforehand so as to avoid operator errors later on (e.g. only annual charges allowed on the ID Card Renewal account).  The picture shows a portion of the scheduler control panel. Turning services on or off, setting dates and payment intervals is accomplished in seconds. If modifying a service should result in an over- or undercharge, AS Club will post the correct adjustment automatically. This holds also for changes that are sceduled up to a year in advance, a necessary adjustment will be posted when the qualifying date arrives. Adjustments are accumulated for each sub-account and remain separate from debits and credits so as to be easily identifiable on reports.   [click images for enlarged view]     All on one page: editing member particulars, attaching photographs, adding club facilities, managing the billing cycle Monthly interest on overdue accounts is optional and will be charged observing a user-determined grace period.  Memberships, facilities and payment schemes can be added, edited or deleted with monthly effect.  Thorough plausibility checks and the validation of critical user actions assure the consistency of the database.   Keyboard input is generally reduced to a minimum, but if necessary, strict validation of the input data reduces the risk of human error. A degree of decision-taking based on a set of rules is built into AS Club to simplify the maintenance of accounts. For instance, each chargeable service or facility on offer is represented as a club sub-account. When a payment is posted, it is automatically shared out among sub-accounts requiring settlement. As a consequence, the club sub-account balances are at all times up-to-date and can be easily monitored. This feature is also a prerequisite for the automated consolidation of club sub-accounts from electronic bank statements. The functional graphical user interface is easy to work with and helps to get around in the program with a minimum of clicks, thus reducing the time spent navigating.

	Towards full automation: posting credits is rarely necessary if electronic bank statements are imported in MS money format (ofc/ofx files)
			AS Club monitors member activity and timely payments: once user-determinable time thresholds are exceeded, it re-categorizes non-paying  and non-responding members as "Defaulters" and "Inactive", respectively.   A complementary function automatically reinstates members to their former membership categories when payment has been received. The system credits member payments to sub-accounts, one each per membership category or facility, via the AutoAllocate feature: lump sum payments are automatically broken up and shared out among the relevant sub-accounts. An "all-or-nothing"-type of settlement may be enforced should a service require it. This means a sub-account will either be settled in full or not at all if the payment is not sufficient. The insufficient amount remains as credit or is used to settle other sub-accounts.   Partial settlements (AutoSplit) are in most cases the preferred system behaviour; they are thus enabled by default.

		Adding, editing, and deleting membership sub-accounts
Memberships are not static - in fact, changes may occur quite frequently. They may be caused by adjustments to the club's fee structure, the status and personal details of members, or the modalities of payment. New services or facilities may be introduced, others may be discontinued, and so on.    AS Club does not only adapt to such changes easily, but will also check them for legitimacy wherever possible. For instance, it will not allow the deletion of a membership category as long as any user belongs to it, or the cancellation of payment intervals while they are still being utilized; these rules apply to all sub-accounts.    Over 400 detailed messages keep the user informed or warn of incorrect actions.

 
Another attractive program feature is the handling of member ID cards. The application provides dozens of attractive "themes" which can be picked from a grid of thumbnail images and customized using the built-in graphical editor (picture left).
 

ID card 'theme' thumbnails and editor		Printing ID cards in bulk

AS Club prints ID cards in high quality, complete with colour photograph and an optical barcode that can be read by an attached web camera. AS Club uses the encoded account number to look up the account and display it on screen in a fraction of a second.
Photographs complement the ID cards, they can be acquired from files, a flatbed scanner, or through a live web cam feed integrated into AS Club.
The cards are semi-automatically reprinted before their period of validity expires (right-hand picture).
 

AS Club produces statements of account as required, for any relevant time period, reflecting the month-end or to-date balance. They can be dispatched via email through the integrated SMTP module or printed on plain paper, A4 or A5, either in black & white or with a touch of colour.   Generating the statement of account       The statement of account printed in A4 format The most common Statement format can be produced by simply clicking "Print". On the other hand, a number of filter options allow you to shape output to your exact needs.   For speedy and economical mail delivery, dispatching statements directly to the email accounts of club members through the integral email dispatcher will in most cases be given preference.   The same email system can be utilized to send out other club documents, from a monthly newsletter to electronic birthday greetings.   AS Club can also send out payment reminders, invitations, or other short messages of up to 160 characters in SMS text format to member's cell phones. An easy to use integrated message editor allows the user to set up customized messages, assembled before dispatch from static text and variable database information, such as account number, member name, account balance, and so on. Messages can be sent out to all members, to some or all members of a membership category, or to individual members.    Attention to detail: cash receipt showing the amount numerically and verbalized    AS Club is easily mastered On launching AS Club for the first time, a "Guided Tour" offers to introduce you to the most important program features. This is followed up by a "Tutorial" which is part of the help-system and demonstrates the commonly used functions step-by-step. Detailed, context-sensitive help is available at all times and can be invoked by pressing the F1 key.  AS Club can be tried free of charge for up to two months (the month of installation, plus one).    The installation is simple thanks to an automated setup:  downloading the application from the internet creates the AS Club setup-icon on your desktop, double-clicking it installs the application. AS Club can run on any version of the Windows operating system beginning with Windows XP and is compatible with all x86 and x64 variants. Once set up, an AS Club installation keeps itself up-to-date as program upgrades are automatically downloaded and installed. You only need an internet connection to be always running the latest version of AS Club. More information is one click away if you simply download AS Club and check out the Guided Tour.     Search   sports clubs  social clubs  club administration  club accounting  club software  member accounts  member accounting