Save Time with Dance Studio Management Software – Focus On Dance This New Year
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8 min read
The age-old problem of not having enough hours in the day is one dance studio owners know all too well.
With so many demands on your time, it can feel like you spend more time tapping on your keyboard than tap dancing in the studio. Class Manager can help with that.
You started your studio because you love dance and want to share it. But how much of your week now goes on the admin side of things? Imagine getting up to 25 hours back every week, time you could put into your teaching, your choreography, your studio's growth, or yourself.
That's what Class Manager is built for. It's dance studio management software with no monthly subscription, made for owners, teachers and families alike. Billing, scheduling, enrolment, messaging, attendance and skill tracking all live in one place, and we add new features all the time based on feedback from studio owners.
As your studio grows, operations get more complex. More students, more classes, more teachers, more messages. The right software takes the repetitive jobs off your plate, and with Class Manager you're never charged more for adding students, teachers, classes or venues.
That means less time at the desk and more time teaching dance.
Manual Billing and Chasing Payments: A Thing of the Past
How often do you find yourself refreshing your bank account, or sending reminder after reminder to families about fees?
With automated billing in Class Manager, those headaches disappear. Payments are taken automatically from saved payment methods, so money arrives on time and with the correct amount, without you chasing it.
You can set up billing to suit the way your studio works:
Flexible fees: charge by the individual, the class or the age group, and add custom fees when you need them.
Your billing schedule: pay as you go, pay per lesson, weekly, monthly or by term.
Packages and discounts: bundle classes into packages and set up discount schemes for families taking more than one class.
Fewer awkward conversations: automatic reminders for overdue payments mean you don't have to be the one asking.
Let the software handle the numbers so you can focus on running your studio and inspiring your dancers. For more on this, read how payment automation helps you get paid on time.
Class Scheduling Made Simple
Setting up classes every season, assigning locations and teachers, and enrolling students used to mean starting from scratch each time. It's slow, and it's where mistakes slip through.
Class scheduling in Class Manager lets you build a full season in minutes by copying your existing timetable with a click. From there you can tweak what's changed rather than rebuilding everything.
Calendar View: see your whole week at a glance with colour-coded classes, so gaps and clashes are easy to spot.
Multi-Teacher Classes: assign more than one teacher to a class, perfect for assistants, co-teaching or larger groups.
Class limits and waiting lists: set a maximum class size and let the waiting list fill spaces as they open.
Trials and make-up classes: offer trial lessons and make-ups without juggling separate spreadsheets.
Hidden Classes: keep invite-only classes, like competition teams or private lessons, out of your public timetable.
Once your schedule is set, families see it in their portal and app, so everyone knows where they need to be.
Easier Sign-Ups and Trials
Every new student starts with a sign-up, and a clunky process can lose you a family before they've set foot in the studio.
With online enrolment, families can register and pay for classes in one step. If you're moving a whole group at once, bulk enrolment lets you preview orders before they go through, so you can check everything is right first.
Trials are one of the biggest opportunities to grow your studio, and Automated Trial Emails help you make the most of them. Families get reminders before their trial and a follow-up afterwards, so no trial student slips through the net while you're busy teaching.
You can also set up waivers for families to agree to when they sign up, and check who has agreed from their profile.
Studio Communication, All in One Place
Clear communication is the backbone of a happy studio. But with lots of families, age groups and classes all needing different updates, it can quickly spiral into chaos, especially when it's spread across WhatsApp groups, texts and personal emails.
Chats brings every family conversation into Class Manager:
Broadcast messages: message families by lesson, class or season. Each family receives it privately, so there's no reply-all chaos.
One-to-one and group chats: talk to individual families, or create groups where you stay in control of who's in them.
AI Suggested Replies and Actions: get suggested responses for the questions you're asked over and over, so you can reply in seconds.
Family preview: see a family's enrolled classes and any balance owed right next to your conversation.
Reactions and push notifications: a quick thumbs up says plenty, and everyone is notified when a new message arrives.
For longer updates, you can send branded emails to classes, students or the whole studio, and schedule them in advance. Then there's Spotlight, an in-app feed where you can share news, photos and celebrations with your studio community. It's a lovely way to keep families engaged without adding to everyone's inbox.
Find out more about communication in Class Manager.
Attendance, Notes and Skill Tracking
Class Manager works on any device, so you can take the register, add notes and record progress during class, rather than relying on memory or giving up your evening to write it all up.
Attendance tracking: take digital registers in class, and use the Attendance Overview to spot patterns, like a student whose attendance is dropping off.
Notes: keep important information about a student in one place, so the whole team is in the loop.
Skill Tracking and Grading: set the skills and levels students need to master before moving up a class, entering a competition, or taking an exam, then record their progress as they go. You can tailor the skills and statuses to your own grading system, and families can follow progress in their portal.
It all adds up to accurate, real-time information about every student, and a clearer picture of each dancer's journey. Read more about the benefits of skill tracking.
A Portal and App for Every Family
Every family gets their own parent portal, available in a browser or through the Class Manager app on iOS and Android. From there, they can:
View their timetable and book extra classes
Pay upcoming bills and manage payment methods
Follow their child's skill progress
See Spotlight updates and message the studio
Buy uniforms, costumes and merchandise from your studio shop
When families can find answers and sort things out for themselves, you get fewer "quick questions" landing in your inbox.
Reports That Show How Your Studio Is Doing
It's hard to make good decisions about your studio when the numbers are scattered. Reports in Class Manager cover both finance and students, so you can see income and outstanding balances alongside enrolment and attendance trends, without building a spreadsheet yourself.
Reinvest Your Saved Time
Now you've saved all that admin time, how will you use it? You're probably already brimming with ideas, from entering competitions to adding classes and planning your next show.
Here are a few ways to put your extra time to good use:
Promote your studio on social media: create engaging content, then send families to your website to sign up.
Offer more class times and dance styles: expand your offering to cater for different ages, abilities and styles.
Enter competitions and plan choreography: use the extra time for competition prep, choreography and additional rehearsals.
Organise showcases and recitals: show off your students' progress, attract new families and create extra income. Sell tickets for free with Stage Stubs, our sister platform for dance and performing arts events.
Offer exam opportunities: give students the chance to take exams and earn qualifications, and use skill tracking to see who's ready.
And it doesn't always have to be about business growth. Fancy a quiet night in with a glass of wine, an evening out with friends or a long afternoon walk with the dog? You've got the time. Go for it. You've earned it.
Take Your Time Back with Class Manager
So where were we? Oh yes: how can you save time and focus more on dance?
The best dance studio software should grow with you, without the price going up every time you add a student, a teacher or a class. Class Manager has no monthly subscription, just a fee on payments processed, and all new features are included. You'll also have our friendly support team on hand whenever you need help.
If you'd like to see what Class Manager can do for your studio, book a demo with our team or create your free account and start taking your time back today. You can also read more about how Class Manager supports your studio's growth.
Class Scheduling Software for Dance Studios: Why You Need It
Why Class Manager Is the Best Class Management Software for New Class-Based Businesses
Save Time, Money and Stress With Dance Studio Management Software
Ballet Studio Software: What Your Ballet School Needs (and What It Doesn't)
