You can sell a membership now and have it start on a later date by setting an Earliest Start Date on the membership plan. Members can buy the plan today, online or in club, and their membership starts on the date you choose, such as the 1st of December. This is ideal for pre-sales (presales) and founder memberships before you open. The start date doesn't change when the member pays: payments are set separately, and any joining fee is always taken when the member buys.
đ Note: The plan must be created using the Custom template. If your current plan was created from another template, such as Monthly Rolling, create a new plan using Custom instead.
How do I set the start date for the membership?
Go to Settings > Membership Plans.
Click New Plan and choose Custom. To change a Custom plan you already have, click the three dots on the plan card and select Edit instead.
Click Availability in the left-hand menu.
In the Who can buy it? section, under Availability Schedule, change the setting from Always Available to Scheduled.
In Earliest Start Date, enter the date the membership should start, for example 01/12/2026.
Click Save Changes.
Every membership sold on this plan will now start on that date, even when it's bought before then. Leave Earliest Start Date blank if memberships should start on the day they're bought.
Can I control when the plan is on sale?
Yes. The Scheduled setting also lets you choose when the plan can be seen and bought:
Visible from: the date the plan first appears. Leave blank to show it straight away.
Visible until: the date the plan stops being available. Leave blank for no end date.
For example, to sell founder memberships only until you open, set Visible until to the day before your opening date. The plan stays on sale between these dates. The Earliest Start Date doesn't stop anyone buying it.
How do I set when the member pays?
To stop the member paying before their membership starts, set a first payment date and set up the membership fee:
On the same plan, go to Pricing.
In the How much does it cost? section, below VAT Rate and Payment Collection Day, turn on Set a first payment date.
In First Payment Date, enter the date the first regular payment should be collected. This is usually the same as your Earliest Start Date.
Under Additional payment, set up the membership fee:
Payment Name: this defaults to Deposit, so change it to something clear, for example Monthly Fee.
Amount: the amount the member pays each time.
Frequency: Monthly.
Interval: 1, so the fee is collected every month.
Repetition: Repeat Indefinitely, so payments continue until the membership is cancelled.
To add a joining fee, click Add extra charge.
Check the Schedule Preview to confirm the payments fall on the right dates.
Click Save Changes.
When does the member pay?
Joining fee: always taken at the point of sale, on the day the member buys.
Regular payments: start on the first payment date you set.
No first payment date set: the first payment is collected immediately, when the member buys, even though the membership hasn't started yet.
For example, a founder membership is sold on 29 September, with the Earliest Start Date and first payment date both set to 1 December. The member pays their joining fee on 29 September, their membership starts on 1 December and their first regular payment is collected on 1 December.
Does this work when members buy online?
Yes. Members who buy the plan through your Member Area get the same start date, and it's shown in their basket summary before they pay. Make sure Plan Availability is set to In-Club + Online so the plan shows online. For more on how members join online, see Online joining process.
Can staff change the start date?
Yes. When staff add the membership in club, the start date defaults to the plan's Earliest Start Date, and they can change it for that member if they need to. See Step 2 in Manually adding a membership in club.
Why does a membership that starts later show as Active?
A membership with a later start date is added to the member's profile straight away, but it doesn't show as Active until it starts. Behind the scenes, it's saved as Active from the day it's added, but it isn't treated as started until its start date. Until then, the membership tile shows Starting soon with the date it starts, for example "Starts 01/11/2026". If you've delayed a membership so it doesn't start till 1st November and the member is still showing as active, the Active one is usually a different membership they already have, such as their current plan.
To check a membership that hasn't started yet:
Go to Contacts > All Members and open the member.
Find the membership tile for the new plan. It should say Starting soon with the start date underneath.
Click Manage & view details. The top of the panel reads Starts on and the date, with a green dot.
If the member has another membership tile showing as active, that's their existing membership. It carries on as normal unless you cancel or change it.
Until the start date:
The membership doesn't let the member in. At the welcome screen or check-in, a member whose only membership hasn't started yet is turned away and asked to speak to staff about setting up a new membership. See Why was a member refused entry on the welcome screen?
Class bookings aren't covered by the plan. Staff can still book the member in, but the booking is made outside of plan access.
They aren't counted as an active member. The membership isn't included in your active member counts until it starts, so you can sign people up now without your numbers going up early.
For more about first payments, see Pro-rata charges explained.