KNOWLEDGE / BRIDGETIME PAY

The three biggest frustrations with cash management of game fees at bridge clubs

Cash management of tournament fees is a burden for bridge clubs in several ways. The tournament director has to collect, sort, count and check the money and write a report for the treasurer. The treasurer has to check the money, do the bookkeeping, as well as store and transport the money. When banks cease to accept cash, the club will need an expensive cash agent or use tournament fee tickets. Many clubs would prefer to have more time and money available for other things.

But what are the biggest frustrations of all that bridge clubs experience with cash management of tournament fees? We have put together the frustrations that most frequently recur in our discussions with tournament directors, treasurers and the chairmen of bridge clubs.

FRUSTRATION 1

Managing cash is complicated

– It takes time and is inconvenient to feed notes into the ATM. It takes time to collect the tournament fees in cash.

– Collecting the tournament fees in cash delays the start of the tournament.

– It takes time to count and check all the money and do the bookkeeping.

– I get stressed when I count money several times and get different totals.

These are a few of the comments made by many of the tournament directors we have talked to over the years. It takes time to sort the cash, count it, check it and write a report for the club treasurer.

Solution

One solution to avoid the complications of cash management of tournament fees is to use tournament fee tickets. Tournament fee tickets partly solve the problem, but also entail a lot of administration for the club.

Another solution is to use a system for cashless management of tournament fees such as Bridgetime Pay. Directors then avoid all the extra work involved with managing tournament fees in cash and reporting to the club treasurer, and the treasurer avoids having to create manual journal vouchers. Bridgetime Pay, which is a web-based system, works in that the members of the bridge club have a personal club account into which they make deposits in advance. At the time of a tournament, a member pays the tournament fee in just a few clicks on a tablet. The tournament fee is then automatically deducted from the member’s club account.

FRUSTRATION 2

Holding and transporting cash is a security risk

– I think that managing all this cash is a bit chaotic.

– How should I store the money at home until I have enough to submit it to a cash agent?

– I always worry about being robbed when I carry large sums of cash on me out on the street.

– It takes time and is inconvenient to feed notes into the ATM.

We often encounter these problems when we talk to directors. Managing large sums of cash always involves risks, for example of theft and assault, and this can cause stress and concern in those who manage the cash.

Solution

Tournament fee tickets are a partial solution to this problem as club members can pay for the tournament fee tickets in advance. This minimises the volume of cash that the club needs to manage.

A web-based system like Bridgetime Pay solves the problems in that all transactions are digital. Players pay their tournament fees by registering their name on a tablet and then choosing the tournament fee and any extras such as coffee or other refreshments. The tablet then shows members the amount that will be deducted from their club account, as well as the balance in the club account after payment.

Bridgetime Pay makes the work of the tournament director considerably simpler as payments are made digitally and automatically. The tournament director’s only task is to collect the tournament fees from the players who don’t have a club account, for example guest players. Players who have no club account pay their tournament fees in cash, and a report in Bridgetime Pay shows who they are. The cash tournament fees collected are kept by the tournament director, who then deposits the money in the club’s bank account. When all players have paid their tournament fees, all financial transactions are automatically generated for bookkeeping, and the club treasurer can then print out a journal voucher.

FRUSTRATION 3

It is expensive and complicated to use cash agents and tournament fee tickets

– Our bank doesn’t accept cash, so we are forced to engage a cash agent, which is both expensive and complicated.

– Coins and notes need to be sorted and counted. We have to have a certain amount before we can submit it.

– Our bridge club has introduced tournament fee tickets instead of cash, but I don’t think that this has made my life easier as tournament director.

– We use tournament fee tickets at our club, but we now have the problem that some players forget their tournament fee tickets at home or forget to buy new ones.

– Administration of tournament fee tickets is complicated and time-consuming. They have to be ordered, stored, sold at certain times and accounted for.

As banks stop accepting cash, clubs have to use cash agents or tournament fee tickets, which is both expensive and complicated.

If a bridge club uses a cash agent, the cash has to be sorted into the various notes and coins, stored and transported. In addition, to minimise the cost, cash agents don’t accept small sums, with the result that clubs have to manage and store the cash.

Tournament fee tickets also involve a lot of administration. They have to be ordered, stored and sold at certain times. They also entail continued management of cash when the tournament fee tickets are sold or verification that an advance payment has been made when the tournament tickets are handed out. Players may lose their tournament fee tickets and have to remember to bring them to tournaments. Tournament directors have to collect the tournament fee tickets and they have to be accounted for and reported to the club treasurer, who then has to write a journal voucher.

Solution

The web-based system Bridgetime Pay does away with the above disadvantages of cash agents and tournament fee tickets, and the cost is considerably lower than for a money agent and roughly the same as for tournament fee tickets.

Bridgetime Pay handles tournament fees entirely automatically and there is no work for the tournament director other than collecting any cash tournament fees. The club treasurer gets ready-to-use and correct journal vouchers. It is also easier for the members, who don't need to buy, keep track of and remember to bring their tournament fee tickets. Instead, they make advance payments into their personal club account, from which the game fees are deducted. The club can also permit regular guests to have a club account.

More information

If you want to know more about Bridgetime Pay, book a demonstration of the system. Feel free to contact us via our contact form and we will get back to you.

Read more about Bridgetime Pay    |    What's the price for Bridgetime Pay

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