The usual setup: a spreadsheet, WhatsApp and reminders

Sports club, social club, festival committee, parents' association, cultural society: the story is much the same. A committee member creates a Google Sheets or Excel file. The announcement goes out on WhatsApp or by email. Replies come in by message, by phone, after training. Someone types them into the file.

Then come the payments. A bank transfer here, a cheque handed to the treasurer there, cash at the monthly meeting. You tick off who has paid, redo the totals and chase the people who forgot. It works. But it usually rests on one or two volunteers, and it eats a lot of evenings.

Where the spreadsheet really falls short

A spreadsheet is not a bad tool. It just was not built to take registrations and track payments. The cracks show quickly once an event goes beyond a few dozen people.

• Manual entry: every reply sent by message has to be copied over. It is slow, and typos creep in.
• Multiple versions: "gala_signups_v3_FINAL.xlsx" is going around by email, another committee member has their own copy, and nobody knows which one is current.
• Who has paid?: matching incoming transfers to names in the file is done line by line, especially when the reference is blank or the transfer comes from a partner's account.
• Awkward reminders: chasing a member for €15 in the group chat makes everyone uncomfortable. Doing it privately means first working out who has not paid.
• Shared personal data: a file shared by link exposes names, phone numbers and emails to anyone who has that link.
• Totals: adult meal, child meal, overnight stay, T-shirt… one broken formula or missed row and the expected amount is wrong.
• Daily headcounts: for a multi-day camp or trip, getting the number of Saturday lunches for the caterer means filtering and recounting.

When a spreadsheet is still enough

To be fair, a spreadsheet is still fine for some events. A free outing for 12 people who all know each other, with no options and no payment, works perfectly well with a shared file.

It gets painful when several things stack up: options at different prices, payments to track, several days to plan, or several committee members managing at once. That is when a dedicated tool starts saving real time.

How Filomy's sign-up and payment forms replace the spreadsheet

With Filomy, you create a sign-up form, starting from one of 5 ready-made templates if you like. You add your options with their prices: adult or child meal, overnight stay, T-shirt, coach seat. You share the link on WhatsApp, by email or with a QR code on the club noticeboard. People sign up with no app and no account, and see their total update as they go.

For payment, you choose which methods you accept: bank transfer, Wero, Lydia, PayPal, cheque or cash. Participants see your payment details and mark themselves as paid. Each registration has a unique reference. You confirm when the money arrives, keep an eye on what is still outstanding, and send a one-click reminder to anyone who has not paid, without a public message in the group.

For the treasurer, you can import your bank statement and each transfer is matched through its reference. For logistics, a day-by-day grid gives you meals and overnight stays per day, ready for the caterer or the venue. Everything exports to CSV and Excel if you want a copy in your usual files.

• Deposits: ask for part of the amount at sign-up and the balance later.
• Price based on numbers: for a coach or a rented house, the price can be confirmed later, once you know how many are coming.
• Co-managers: several committee members run the sign-ups together, without passing a file around.
• Message to the organiser: after signing up, a participant can write to you about an allergy or a late arrival.

Filomy and association management software: they work together

There are full association management suites that handle memberships, accounting, tax receipts and general meetings. If your club uses one for its accounts or tax receipts, keep it. Filomy does not do accounting and does not issue tax receipts.

Filomy is lighter and focuses on club life: your events, sign-ups and their payments, polls (picking a date, votes, member feedback), invitations and attendance with reminders and CSV export, and fundraising with a money pot and pledges at 0% fees. To bring it all together, the association's mini-site acts as a permanent home, with the Pro subscription at €39.90 a month.

What it costs

A sign-up form is free for up to 50 responses. Beyond that, responses are unlimited when you unlock the mini-site (€39.90 one-off) or with the Event Box.

Filomy takes no commission on payments: the money goes straight into the association's account. For a €25 dinner with 80 people signed up, the full €2,000 reaches your treasurer.