Studio software glossary
Plain-English definitions of the studio-software terms operators run into when evaluating, switching, or operating. Updated as the category evolves.
- ACH (Automated Clearing House)
- US bank-transfer payment method, settling in 3-5 business days. Cheaper than card processing for high-ticket transactions like annual memberships or teacher-training tuition. Stripe charges 0.8% capped at $5 per ACH transaction at the time of writing.
- Active client
- A client who has booked, attended, or held an active membership within a defined recent window (typically 90 days, sometimes 12 months). Some platforms tier pricing by active-client count and charge per-client overage fees above the threshold.
- Annual contract
- A subscription commitment of 12 or 24 months with auto-renewal at term end. Standard on Mindbody, Mariana Tek, and the premium tiers of Momence and Walla. The alternative is month-to-month with one-click cancel — the default on Junocal, OfferingTree, and Arketa. See also →
- Attribution window
- The period (typically 30-90 days) during which a client's bookings are credited to a marketplace after their first marketplace-attributed booking. Inside the window, every subsequent booking pays marketplace commission — even bookings made directly on the studio's own page. The compounding effect drives most marketplace-commission economics. See also →
- Auto-renewal
- Contract clause that automatically extends a subscription for another term unless the customer cancels within a specified window (typically 30-90 days before term end). Standard on PE-backed studio software annual contracts.
- Bacs Direct Debit
- UK bank-transfer payment method, settling in 3-5 business days. The dominant payment method for UK studio memberships because of its lower per-transaction cost compared to card processing. Stripe charges 1% capped at £4 per Bacs Direct Debit transaction at the time of writing.
- BECS Direct Debit
- Australian bank-transfer recurring payment method (Bulk Electronic Clearing System), settling in 3 business days. The standard membership-billing method in Australia because of its lower per-transaction cost compared to card processing. Stripe handles BECS mandate collection and the clearing window automatically.
- Booking page
- The customer-facing web page where clients see the schedule and book classes. Most platforms host at a platform-branded subdomain (yourstudio.platform.com) or on the studio's own custom domain. Branded booking removes platform branding and uses your studio's identity.
- Branded booking
- A customer-facing booking experience that uses the studio's own branding (logo, colours, photos, domain) instead of platform-default branding. Included on every Junocal plan; a separate $300/month add-on on Walla; included on Mindbody Ultimate Plus tier; included on Momence Premium.
- Broadcast-claim waitlist
- Waitlist behaviour when a spot opens inside the cancellation window. Instead of auto-promoting, the platform broadcasts the open spot to the whole waitlist with a one-tap claim link. First to claim wins. Pairs with auto-promote for spots opening outside the cancellation window.
- Bundled processing
- Payment processing where the platform is the merchant of record and the studio is a sub-account. Standard on Mindbody. Contrast with Stripe Connect Standard, where the studio is the customer of record and funds settle directly to the studio's bank. See also →
- Cancellation policy
- Rules for what happens when a client cancels a booking. Studio software typically supports four modes: lose credit (pack credit forfeited), charge fee, both, or neither. Configurable per pack and per membership tier. Regional defaults: 24-hour window in the US, 12-hour in the UK.
- Cancellation window
- Time before a class within which cancellation triggers the cancellation policy (lose credit, fee, or both). Cancellations outside the window are typically free. Common values: 12 hours (UK), 24 hours (US).
- Class pack
- A prepaid bundle of class credits, typically valid for a fixed window (e.g., 'four classes for £75, valid 30 days'). Cheaper per class than drop-in. Used by clients who attend regularly but don't want a membership commitment. See also →
- Conditional logic
- Intake form behaviour where fields appear or disappear based on previous answers. Pregnancy fields appear only after a client indicates they're pregnant; injury follow-ups appear only if an injury was reported. Reduces friction without losing relevant safety information.
- Cutover
- The moment a studio switches from the old platform to the new one during a migration. Typically scheduled for Sunday evening so Monday-morning classes are first on the new system. The post-cutover week is verification.
- Direct Debit
- European/UK bank-transfer recurring payment method. The standard membership-billing method in the UK because of its lower per-transaction cost compared to card processing. See also: Bacs Direct Debit.
- Drop-in
- A single-class purchase, paid at booking. The reference price for a studio. Packs and memberships are typically priced as discounts off the drop-in rate.
- Dunning
- Automated retry sequence when a recurring membership payment fails (card declined, Bacs/BECS bounced, insufficient funds). Modern implementations retry 2-4 times over 7-14 days with escalating client emails, then suspend the membership. One of the highest-leverage automations for membership-based studios.
- Floor plan editor
- Operator tool for laying out the room's equipment (reformers, mats, barres) in a 2D grid that becomes the source of truth for class capacity. Drag-and-drop. Derives capacity automatically, eliminating configuration drift that causes overbooking. See also →
- Four-mode cancellation policy
- The matrix of cancellation behaviours: lose credit, charge fee, both, or neither — configurable per pack and per membership tier. The alternative to single-policy systems where every cancellation has the same consequence.
- GDPR
- General Data Protection Regulation. The EU and UK framework governing personal data handling. Studios in the UK or EU are data controllers; studio software platforms are processors. Subject-access, right-to-erasure, data-portability, and consent-record exports are required operator workflows.
- GST
- Goods and Services Tax. 10% in Australia, 15% in New Zealand, applied to most studio services. Studios above the GST threshold register with the ATO (or IRD in NZ) and remit GST quarterly via BAS (Business Activity Statement). GST-aware invoicing calculates and displays the breakdown automatically.
- Hybrid attendance
- A class with both in-person and online attendees in the same scheduled session. Capacity-aware platforms cap each mode independently (e.g., 10 in-room + 30 online under a single row-locked schedule). The meeting URL flows to booking confirmation, 24-hour reminder, and the staff PWA day-of view. Standard on Junocal every plan; an add-on or premium tier on most US-built competitors. See also →
- Intake form
- Health and safety questionnaire completed before a client's first class (or annually for ongoing clients). Captures injuries, conditions, pregnancy status, emergency contact, and waiver signatures. Conditional logic, e-signature, and per-service variations are standard on modern platforms.
- Intro offer
- A discounted package for first-time clients. Typically two classes for the price of one drop-in (e.g., £20 for two classes), valid 30 days. The primary conversion event for studio marketing. See also →
- Magic-link login
- Passwordless authentication: the user enters their email and receives a one-tap sign-in link. No passwords to remember, store, or rotate. Standard on operator-friendly studio software for both operators and clients.
- Marketplace commission
- Percentage fee charged by some studio software platforms (around 20% on Mindbody) on bookings made through the platform's consumer-facing app. Applies inside an attribution window. The compounding effect over a client's lifetime can be much larger than the headline rate suggests. See also →
- Membership pause
- Operator or self-service action to suspend a membership for a defined window (typically 1-3 months). Doesn't bill during the pause, doesn't expire, resumes on a set date. Useful for clients travelling, injured, or pausing practice.
- Merchant of record
- The legal entity that owns the payment-processing relationship and is recognised by the card networks. On Stripe Connect Standard, the studio is the merchant of record. On bundled processing, the platform is, and the studio is a sub-account.
- Migration
- Moving a studio's data — client list, booking history, memberships, packs, intake forms — from one platform to another. Typical timeline: 5-10 business days. Fields most often lost: email opt-in status, custom client fields, on-demand video files. See also →
- Month-to-month subscription
- A subscription that bills monthly with no minimum term, cancellable any time. Default on operator-friendly platforms (Junocal, OfferingTree, Arketa). Contrast with annual contracts, which require a 12-24 month commitment.
- No-show
- A client who booked a class and didn't attend, without cancelling. Typically penalised under the cancellation policy. Industry-average no-show rates: 8-15% on no-deposit schedules; 3-6% on schedules with cancellation policy enforcement and deposit collection. See also →
- On-demand video
- Recorded class content sold as a subscription product alongside in-person classes. Native on-demand video subscription is Momence's strongest differentiator among major platforms. Most others pair with Vimeo OTT, Uscreen, or Mighty Networks for the video side.
- Opt-in (email)
- Client consent to receive marketing email. Captured at signup or intake. Required for legal email marketing under GDPR (EU) and CAN-SPAM (US). The field most often lost in cross-platform migrations — verify it transfers correctly during the dry-run.
- Overbooking
- Selling more class spots than the room's equipment capacity allows. Almost always a configuration mistake rather than a software bug. Eliminated by floor-plan-anchored capacity. See also →
- Per-booking fee
- A flat or percentage fee on every client booking, separate from subscription cost. Most common on lower-tier or 'free' Momence configurations and some payment-processing-tied platforms. Compounds with volume, shifting realistic total cost above the headline subscription price. Junocal does not charge per-booking fees.
- Pick-a-spot booking
- Client-facing booking pattern where the client picks a specific spot (reformer, mat, barre position) at booking. The floor plan editor builds the layout; the booking page renders it as a touch-friendly grid. Eliminates capacity drift and improves operator experience around equipment-specific class formats. See also →
- Processing markup
- Additional percentage charged on top of standard payment processor (typically Stripe) rates by some studio software platforms. Typically 20-40 basis points. Adds a few hundred to a few thousand pounds/dollars per year depending on volume. Doesn't exist on platforms using Stripe Connect Standard direct.
- PWA (Progressive Web App)
- A web application that installs to a phone's home screen and behaves like a native app — works offline, full-screen, no browser chrome, push notifications. Functionally indistinguishable from native apps for most operator and client workflows. Junocal's staff PWA at /staff and the client-facing booking page both install as PWAs. See also →
- Reformer
- Pilates apparatus with a spring-loaded carriage running on rails inside a wooden frame, used to add or reduce resistance during exercises. Studios are typically built around reformer count — a 12-reformer studio runs classes of 12, with pick-a-spot at booking determining which specific reformer each client uses.
- Stripe Connect Standard
- Stripe's payment-routing model where the platform (e.g., Junocal) can charge cards on behalf of the studio via OAuth, but the studio is the Stripe customer of record. Funds settle directly to the studio's bank account, never passing through the platform. The alternative to bundled processing.
- Studio CRM
- The client-relationship database inside studio software — profile data, booking history, attendance, lifetime value, intake responses, communication consent, lifecycle stage. Differs from a generic CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce) by being purpose-built for the recurring class-attendance pattern: pack credits, membership status, instructor relationships, no-show rates, lifecycle-stage triggers.
- Booking page URL
- The public web address where clients book classes at a studio. On Junocal, every studio gets a path-based URL out of the box (e.g., junocal.com/yourstudio), included on every plan. Custom-domain support (pointing your own apex like yourstudio.com at the Junocal storefront) is on the roadmap, not shipping today — studios that need this often set up a redirect on their existing domain.
- Substitute notification
- Automated email and SMS to booked clients when the assigned instructor changes. Modern implementations include the substitute's name, photo, and a short note. Optional setting: let clients cancel without penalty when the instructor changes.
- Teacher training (TT)
- Structured training programme for aspiring instructors, typically 200 hours over six months for yoga or comparable for pilates. Runs as a cohort with fixed schedule, single payment (or deposit + balance), separate intake, and refund/swap rules distinct from drop-in. A first-class scheduling entity on Junocal, Mariana Tek, and Walla.
- Term-based course
- A multi-class block sold as a single product with fixed cohort, fixed schedule (typically 4-12 weeks), and single payment. Common in UK pilates and yoga. The 8-week beginner block is the canonical example. Handled natively on Junocal and Mariana Tek; configurable but less native on Mindbody and Momence.
- VAT
- Value Added Tax. UK (20% standard, with reduced and zero rates) and EU consumption tax. Studios above the UK VAT threshold (£90,000/year at time of writing) register with HMRC and remit quarterly. VAT-aware invoicing calculates the net / VAT / gross breakdown automatically and exports VAT-summary reports for accountant handover. Compatible with Making Tax Digital.
- Waitlist (auto-promote)
- Waitlist behaviour when a spot opens outside the cancellation window. The next person on the waitlist gets the spot automatically with a confirmation email. Pairs with broadcast-claim for spots opening inside the cancellation window.
- Waitlist (two-mode)
- A waitlist implementation that uses different behaviours depending on whether the spot opens outside or inside the cancellation window. Outside: auto-promote the next person (industry pattern). Inside: broadcast to the full waitlist with a one-tap claim link, first-to-claim wins. Solves the auto-promote-at-2am problem where a single nominated person can't take the spot in time. See also →
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Missing a term?
If there's a studio-software term you keep running into and can't find a clear definition for, email hello@junocal.com and we'll add it.