How to run a martial arts school using Simplifythis
You know how to run a school. This is where each part of that lives in Simplifythis — the timetable, the families, the tuition, and the gradings. About twenty minutes to set up.
1. Set the school up once
Settings → General. School name, address, timezone. Set the timezone before you add classes — every class time and reminder is read in it.
Settings → Billing → Connect Stripe. This is how parents pay you: a card at booking, a block bought from your website, and monthly tuition that bills itself. It hands you to Stripe for your business and bank details, then returns showing Connected. Payouts go to your own Stripe account.
Settings → Billing → Stripe payments.
You can run without it — timetable, bookings, attendance and records all work, and you record cash as you go. What you lose is parents paying themselves and tuition billing on its own, which for a school of any size is most of the point.
2. Add your instructors
Classes are assigned to an instructor, so add people first. Each gets their own color on the schedule, which is how you read a busy week. A senior student who takes a class is staff too.
Staff → each instructor gets a color.
Working hours are on each instructor’s record, but classes ignore them — a class runs at the time you set. Hours only matter if you also sell private lessons, which are set up as services rather than classes.
3. Put the timetable in
One class per program and level, not one per session. A class that repeats weekly is a Series: set it up once and it generates its dates.
Classes → Add. Capacity is what the mat holds; a full class stops offering itself online.
Use Course instead of Series for a fixed run bought as a whole — a six-week beginners intake, paid once for all six.
Everything new is a draft, and draft means invisible. Not on your website, not in booking, not to students. If you made a class and cannot find it anywhere, that is why. Set it to Active when it is ready.
Keeping beginners out of the advanced class
Two ways, depending on how strict you are. Set the class’s online booking to By request and it is not offered online at all — you book students in as they are ready. Or make it members-only, if holding a particular membership is the requirement.
4. Put families on one account
This is the step that makes a school feel different from a studio, and the one worth getting right early.
An account groups the people who pay together. Add each child as their own student — they each need their own attendance, their own rank, their own record — then put them on one household account. What that gives you:
- One invoice for the family, not one per child.
- One saved card, charged once.
- One login. A parent signs in as themselves and books for whichever child is training.
Accounts → the household. Each student keeps their own record; the money is shared.
A student belongs to at most one account, so decide the household when you add them rather than moving people later.
5. Tuition
Most schools bill monthly and stop thinking about it. That is a membership: set the price, how often it bills, and a joining fee if you charge one. Then set what members get — unlimited classes, a number a month, or a discount.
The setting that matters for a school is Who it covers. Set it to the whole household and one charge covers every student on that account, which is how a family rate works.
Memberships → New. “One person” for a single student, “the whole household” for a family rate.
Sell a package alongside it for people who are not ready to commit: a fixed number of classes, paid once, drawn down per visit. A beginners block or a trial month works well this way, and it expires a set number of days after purchase so it cannot resurface a year later.
6. Gradings and testing fees
A grading is a class with a date — set it up as a Single class on the day it runs, with a capacity if space is limited. You get a roster of exactly who is testing, and you can mark attendance on the day.
Classes → Add → Single. One date, its own capacity, its own roster.
For the testing fee, add the charge to each student’s account and it appears on their next invoice — the family’s invoice, if they are on a household account. That way the fee follows the same card and the same bill as tuition, instead of becoming its own chase.
A seminar that runs over a weekend
A grading is one date. A visiting instructor is usually two or three, same hours each day — set that up as a Workshop: the first day, the last day, and the hours it runs. Students book the seminar as one thing and pay once, which is the point of a seminar. Nobody turns up for the Saturday of a two-day course and skips the Sunday.
Classes → Add → Workshop. Both days, one booking, one price.
7. Let parents book and pay themselves
Every school gets a website, built from your real classes, instructors and prices, with a Book button on each. It lives at clients.simplifythis.com/your-school, and you can point your own address at it under Website → Custom domain.
Already have a site? Keep it, and put your booking link behind its Book button: clients.simplifythis.com/your-school/portal/booking. It is a link, so it also works in an Instagram bio, an email footer, or a QR code on the dojo wall.
Then each family has their own page — what is coming up, what they owe, classes left on a block, and paying without phoning you.
One login for the family, both students visible.
8. Running the week
The Schedule is the week, with each instructor in their own color.
Schedule → the week, with how full each class is.
- Mark attendance every class. In a school this is not admin — it is how you spot the student who has quietly stopped coming, and how you know who is ready to grade.
- Cover a class by reassigning the instructor. Bookings and the roster stay exactly as they are.
- Cancel one date — a public holiday, a tournament weekend — without touching the rest of the series.
- Change a name or a price and the timetable is left alone. Only changing the dates, recurrence, capacity or instructor rebuilds it.
9. When something changes
- A class off the timetable for a term — set it to By request. It leaves your website and booking, and the history stays.
- A student takes a break — cancel their membership. Their record, rank and attendance history stay exactly as they are.
- Putting fees up — change the price. Blocks already sold keep what was agreed.
Questions schools ask
How do I put siblings on one bill?
Put them on the same account. An account groups people who pay together — a family — so they get one invoice, one saved card, and a parent can book for any of them. Add each child as a student, then add them to the household account.
Can one membership cover a whole family?
Yes. When you set the membership up, set "Who it covers" to the whole household instead of one person. One charge, and every student on that account is covered.
Should I bill monthly tuition or sell terms?
A membership bills on a cycle whether or not they train, which is how most schools run tuition. A package is paid once and drawn down per class, which suits a fixed term or a trial block. Many schools sell both — monthly for regulars, a short block for beginners.
How do I run a grading?
Set it up as a single class on its date, with a capacity if space is limited. You get a roster of who is testing, and you can add the testing fee to each student's account so it lands on their next invoice.
How do I stop beginners booking the advanced class?
Set the advanced class's online booking to "By request" so it is not offered online, and book students in yourself as they are ready. Alternatively make it members-only if a specific membership is the requirement.
Why can nobody see the class I just made?
It is still a draft, which means invisible — not on your website, not in booking, not to students. Open it and set it to Active.
Can a parent book for their child?
Yes, once they are on the same account and have permission to manage for other members. That is what household accounts are for — the parent signs in as themselves and books for whichever child is training.
How do I know who has stopped coming?
Mark attendance for each class. That is what turns "I think we have not seen him lately" into something you can actually see, while there is still time to call.
Can a senior student teach a class?
Yes. Add them as staff and assign them to the classes they take. Each instructor gets their own color on the schedule.
Do I need Stripe?
Only to take money online. Connect it in Settings → Billing and parents can pay by card, buy a block from your website, and have monthly tuition bill itself. Without it everything else still works and you record cash or a card taken on your own terminal.
Do I need a website?
One is included, built from your real classes, instructors and prices, with a Book button on each. If you already have a site, put your booking link behind its Book button instead.
How do I charge for a seminar or a grading weekend?
A grading on one date is a Single class. Two or three consecutive days with the same hours is a Workshop — booked and paid for once, so a student cannot take half of it. Testing fees go on the family account either way, so they arrive on the same invoice as tuition.
Can I take payment at the door on grading day?
Yes. Tap to Pay on iPhone takes a card against the back of your phone, with nothing else to carry onto the mat, and it posts to the student’s account immediately rather than sitting in an envelope.
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