Collecting fees. - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[AlbertaBackpacker23]

I am certified as a personal trainer, and will likely start training in the near future. I know what i'm doing when I am in the gym, but al the legal stuff goes over my head...so I have a few questions....

1. What is the best way to collect fees? Cash and Cheque? Do I have to worry about taxes and other crap when collecting fees?

2. If I am an independent trainer, would it be better to register a business name?

3. Is it necessary to keep my personal training revenue seperate from other income?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[muscletrainerdh-NSCA CPT]

Hey AlbertaBackPacker23,

I'm going to assume you are a Canadian Trainer based on your Forum name. So what applies here in the states may not apply to you in Canada or may be very different. But I'll answer the best I can.

1. What is the best way to collect fees? Cash and Cheque? Do I have to worry about taxes and other crap when collecting fees?
## The best way to collect fees depends on how your business is set up. Are you incorporated (INC.), Limited Liability Corporation(LLC), or Sole proprietorship? Each of these different business types in the USA have different revenue reporting/tax collecting requirements. I would say most of us would prefer CASH but Cheques are fine. Depending on the level of money you earn as a trainer, you will have to put aside some for taxes.

2. If I am an independent trainer, would it be better to register a business name?
##Again, this is going to depend on how much business you think you'll do and how savvy the tax collecting authorities are in Canada. Here in the USA if your personal training business doesn't pull in thousands and thousands of dollars a month, you probably can "Get away with" not being a registered business. But incorporating and registering a business name will help protect you and your personal assets. But you'll also have to pay taxes on your revenue.

3. Is it necessary to keep my personal training revenue seperate from other income?
## I would advise on keeping your personal trainer revenue separate from other income. Seperate checking and savings accounts. Again this may also depend on the level of business you do. If you are only pulling in $100 to $200 dollars a month in PT revenue, it may not be necessary to have separate books. But if you are pulling in $1000 to $2000 a month, then I would have separate accounts.

I am just giving you a basic idea how most trainers work in the USA. And I may be OVERSIMPLIFYING IT. If you want to be a legitimate business, you need to incorporate, hire a lawyer, and hire an accountant. But if you don't think you'll be pulling in thousands of dollars each month, it probably is fine to not incorporate or set up an LLC.

Christina, Sandy, others who HAVE incorporated, please help Alberta out!

Thanks,

Dave

[Sandy]

Hi AlbertaBackPacker23,

It depends on what you want to do. If your just going into peoples homes and doing personal training that way I doubt you need to choose a business structure.
If you have your facility and working out of that, then you do. You may want to check out the Small Business Resource. As Dave said in the previous reply, you have Sole Proprietorship, Partnershop, Corporation and Limited Liability Co. You can also register your business name. You can do a search to make sure that its not already in use, which protects you from others who may be using the same name. You can contact your County Recorder , if your in the U.S. where your business is based and ask them. Make sure you have insurance too.

Take care
Sandy

[megfit]

I haven't had a chance to come on the forum for awhile, but thought I'd just fill in with a few comments, here.

First of all, no matter what structure you choose for your company, if you are making ANY income from your business, open a separate checking account. Now, I also am not as familiar with Canada, so I can't speak to the requirements and laws there, so be sure to check with your local authorities.

If you choose to name your business something different than your name, I do advise that you visit your local county recorder and apply for a fictitious name statement. You will then also need to record this in a local newspaper and provide the bank with this application in order to open your account. Generally this will set you up as a sole proprietor and your tax structure won't really change; your accountant will set up a Schedule C form when it's tax time. Once your income is significant, your accountant will also then suggest paying quarterly taxes. Of course the process is different if you choose to incorporate, but I wouldn't recommend that until you are starting to generate a consistent income, unless you have a partner/someone you will be working with.

I won't go into the question of incorporating, or the different forms of incorporation, but MEG Enterprises, Inc. is an S Corporation and I do have a handy little chapter (WAY too comprehensive for this forum!) on the question; should I incorporate?, so feel free to contact me if you're interested in the link to it. (I use it for dietetic interns for one of their business projects and am working on a more 'user-friendly' version for my clients.)

Before you ever see ANY clients, be sure you have all your forms together and you are very clear about what your system and process is. Very early in my work with business clients, I have them literally walk through the entire process: Do you have your initial assessment all set up? Do you know what it will cost? Do you know how long it will take? What will you provide to training clients, and where, and how often will you generally see clients, and are there different programs or options? If a new client would call you up, today, can you give them a good explanation of all of this, so they know exactly what to expect? I do have forms for trainers on my www.meg-enterprises.com site; some are free and some are for sale. For all legal forms, be sure you have an attorney review them for your business.

Do you have your contract set up? Are you very clear what your rates are? These are very important questions that you need to know before that first client. THEN you want to make sure it's all in writing and they have not only signed the release forms, but also the contract that stipulates; your rates, what they will be paying and when, HOW they will pay you, when and where you will see them, as well as your cancellation policy and refund policy. What will be your policy if a client gives you a check that bounces?? Often people don't think of these things until AFTER they come up. Don't let that happen.

I'll share: Although I am no longer taking new training clients, I have a very consistent assessment program that lasts two hours. We literally sit down and fill out all the health forms together and then I have them go through a series of physical assessments and anthropometric tests. When we are done with all of that, we then sit down and talk about what I see and what I recommend, and then we determine how often they would like to meet, we work out a regular schedule on the calendar and they pay me for the first month. I bill all my training clients monthly. I also never discount for anything other than cash. I know this is different than other trainers, so again, you need to figure out what YOUR policy and business will be. For instance, I am also a registered dietitian, so they have the option, for a discounted fee, to receive my nutrition services, also.

Also, do you have a physician release form for the docs? And, do you have, with you at all times, an accident reporting form? If you want to really know what CAN go wrong, read Fitness Management Magazine!

You can set up payment acceptance any way you want. Until I started coaching, which means I 'see' clients via phone and internet, I just took checks and cash. In fact, when clients would pay me cash, they would receive a discount (because I didn't have to deposit and claim it). Now I have Paypal as my merchant account and have their 'virtual terminal' services, so I can also accept credit cards and debit cards from anyone. Anyone can apply for a merchant account and you can choose to carry the little machine with you, if you wish. With Paypal's VT, all I need to do is take down all the necessary information and enter it into the 'virtual' terminal.

I don't suppose I need to say this, but of MOST importance is liability insurance! Then, to protect yourself, just make sure that you follow industry-standard guidelines for testing and training and you should be covered.

As I said in the beginning, this information applies for the US. You should check what the requirements are for you if you live outside the US.

Good luck and above all else, HAVE FUN! I have never regretted starting my business, and that was in 1996!

Margie