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Bookkeeping for Pilates Studios

Class packs, reformers, and teacher training. Three things generic bookkeepers usually learn on your dime.

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Why Pilates Books Are Different

Bookkeeping for Pilates studios runs into three things generic bookkeepers do not handle well. The reasons are specific.

Equipment is real capital. A studio with eight reformers, a Cadillac, two Wunda chairs, and a tower is sitting on $40,000 of fixed assets, not "supplies." Most generic bookkeepers categorize a new reformer the same way they categorize a new printer.

Class packs are not the same as memberships. A monthly unlimited and a 10-pack both produce revenue, but they behave differently on the books, in the cash flow, and at tax time. Lumping them together is the most common mistake we see in studio P&Ls inherited from a generalist bookkeeper.

Teacher training is a separate business entirely. High-ticket, cohort-based, paid in installments, with its own cost structure. If your books treat it like another revenue line, you cannot answer the question every studio owner eventually asks: did the spring cohort actually make money?

From the team behind PushPress, used by 5,000+ boutique gyms and studios. We built this for studios that want clean books without paying a CPA-level rate to get them.

Line Items Only a Pilates-Aware Bookkeeper Catches

These are the entries a generic bookkeeper gets wrong, miscategorizes, or buries under "Other."

Reformers and apparatus

A new reformer runs $3,000 to $5,000. A Cadillac runs $4,000 to $7,000. Most studios own six to twelve pieces of major apparatus. That is fixed-asset territory, not "supplies." We track each piece on your balance sheet so you have a real record of what your studio is worth, and so your CPA has clean asset entries to work from at year-end.

Class packs (10-pack, 20-pack, intro pack)

Packs are their own revenue category, distinct from monthly memberships, private sessions, and drop-ins. The 10-pack you sold to a new client today produces $250 of cash and a future obligation to teach ten classes. We track packs as their own P&L line so you can see what percentage of revenue comes from packs versus recurring memberships. Most studios are surprised at the answer.

Session types at different price points

Private. Duet. Trio. Semi-private. Group reformer. Mat class. Each runs at a different rate, with a different margin once you factor in the instructor cost. Splitting these correctly in the P&L is how you find out whether your duets are actually more profitable than your group classes (most studios assume yes, the books usually say no).

Teacher training revenue and costs

A comprehensive teacher training runs $5,000 to $10,000 per student. Cohorts of six to twelve students mean a single program generates $30,000 to $120,000 in tuition. Costs include the lead trainer's time (often the studio owner), materials, certifying body fees, and a chunk of studio capacity. Tracked as its own revenue stream with its own costs, teacher training tells you whether the program is a profit center or a labor of love.

Instructor pay across certifications

Some studios pay flat per-class rates. Others tier by certification: a BASI-certified comprehensive instructor earns more than a mat-only instructor. W-2 versus 1099 depends on the actual working relationship, not the certification. We track pay per instructor every month. If a classification looks obviously off, we will flag it for your CPA.

Mindbody, Pike13, or WellnessLiving data

Most Pilates studios run on Mindbody, with Pike13 and WellnessLiving as the most common alternatives. Each platform tracks sales differently, batches deposits differently, and reports revenue differently. We work with whichever you use, pulling revenue data from the platform and reconciling against your bank deposits.

Books that actually look like a Pilates studio.

$150 a month, flat. No per-transaction fees. Onboard yourself in 5 minutes, or book a 15-minute call.

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Cash, Accrual, and the Class Pack Question

Here is the one Pilates-specific bookkeeping question that catches studio owners off guard.

On cash basis, the $250 you collected for a 10-pack today is $250 of revenue today. Simple, easy to file, and what most small studios do. On accrual basis, that $250 is a liability until the classes are used, then recognized as revenue $25 at a time. More accurate financially. More complex bookkeeping. Different P&L every month.

The reason this matters: a studio doing $400,000 a year on packs might show a great January because three teacher trainings paid up front, and a terrible February because nothing new sold but a lot of packs got used. The cash-basis P&L exaggerates the swings. The accrual-basis P&L smooths them.

For most boutique studios, cash basis is fine. It matches how the money moves, and your tax return is filed on cash basis anyway unless your CPA has specifically elected accrual. The point at which accrual starts to matter: preparing for a sale (a buyer wants to see deferred revenue as a real liability), raising capital, or once revenue clears about $750,000 a year and the IRS expects accrual.

We do cash basis by default and accrual on request. The choice between them is a conversation for you and your CPA, not a bookkeeping decision. Our job is to keep whichever set of books you and your CPA decide on clean and current.

What $150 a Month Actually Buys You

Every month, by the 15th of the following month:

  • A P&L that splits revenue based on how cleanly the data comes in: memberships, class packs, private and duet sessions, group classes, retail, teacher training.
  • Reconciled bank, credit card, and Stripe accounts.
  • Reformers and apparatus tracked on your balance sheet as fixed assets, once you share supplier invoices.
  • Instructor pay summarized by person, using whatever classifications you and your CPA set.
  • Teacher training tracked as its own revenue stream with its own costs.
  • A balance sheet that reflects what your studio actually owns.
  • Year-end financials your CPA can use without rebuilding them.

One flat price. No hourly billing. No per-transaction fees. No annual contract. We work with Mindbody, Pike13, WellnessLiving, paper notebook, or PushPress (where the integration runs deepest).

Where the Work Splits

A bookkeeping service can only see what gets recorded. The cleanest setups have a clear division of labor between owner, bookkeeper, and CPA. Ours looks like this.

You

  • Share supplier invoices for reformers, apparatus, and major equipment.
  • Tell us when new teacher training cohorts, retreats, or programs launch.
  • Decide instructor classification and entity structure with your CPA.
  • Decide cash versus accrual basis with your CPA.

Us

  • Pull transactions from your bank, credit card, Stripe, and studio software each month.
  • Categorize everything into your Pilates-specific chart of accounts.
  • Reconcile every account against statements.
  • Track reformers and apparatus as fixed assets on the balance sheet.
  • Deliver a P&L (split by program where the data supports it), balance sheet, and year-end package.
  • Flag anything that looks obviously off.

Your CPA

  • Annual return, sales tax filings, quarterly estimates.
  • Section 179 election and depreciation method on apparatus.
  • Cash versus accrual decision.
  • Entity structure and tax strategy.
  • Anything that requires a license.

The split keeps each person doing what they are trained for. You run the studio. We keep the records straight. Your CPA handles the tax brain.

Ready to See What Your Studio Actually Makes?

Memberships, packs, teacher training, retail, all on one P&L, sorted by us. $150 a month.

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Questions Pilates Owners Ask Us

How do you handle class pack revenue?
Cash basis by default, which is what most small Pilates studios actually need. When a client buys a 10-pack for $250, the books record $250 of revenue on the sale date. That matches how the money lands and how the IRS expects small businesses to report. Accrual basis (recognizing $25 per class as the pack gets used) is a different beast: more accurate financially, more complex bookkeeping, often a CPA-level decision. If you are at the size where accrual matters (preparing for a sale, raising capital, or running a multi-location operation), we can talk about it during onboarding. Accounting for Gyms handles cash basis at $150/mo flat.
What about reformers and Section 179?
A new reformer runs $3,000 to $5,000, and most studios own six to twelve of them. That is real capital, not "supplies." We track equipment purchases on your balance sheet as fixed assets when you share the invoice. The depreciation method, including the Section 179 election that lets you deduct the full purchase price in year one, is a tax decision for your CPA. We give them clean asset records to work from. We do not make the tax call.
How do you split memberships, packs, and teacher training in the P&L?
At onboarding we set up your chart of accounts so memberships, class packs (10-pack, 20-pack, intro pack), private and duet sessions, retail, and teacher training each get their own line. Your monthly P&L reflects how cleanly the data comes in. If Mindbody, Pike13, or WellnessLiving tags transactions by type, the split is clean. If everything arrives as one Stripe payout per day, we sort what we can and ask you about the rest.
Is teacher training tracked separately from regular classes?
Yes. Teacher training is a different business: high-ticket cohort revenue, paid in installments, with its own cost structure (lead trainer hours, materials, certification body fees). Most studio owners cannot tell you whether their teacher training program actually makes money once you net out the lead trainer's hourly time. Splitting it on the P&L is how you find out.
My instructors have different certifications (BASI, STOTT, PMA, Polestar). Does that change anything?
For the books, not directly. We track each instructor's pay based on what you actually pay them. Some studios pay flat per-class rates regardless of cert. Others pay tiered rates by certification. Either way, we keep the books clean. What you and your CPA do with the W-2-versus-1099 classification depends on the working relationship, not the certification (see the IRS classification rules). If something looks obviously off, we will flag it for your CPA.
Do you work with Mindbody, Pike13, or WellnessLiving?
Yes. We pull membership, pack, and retail revenue from whichever platform you run, categorize it correctly, and reconcile it against your bank deposits. We work from the data however it gets to us, including platform exports, payment processor reports, and your bank feed. PushPress data gives us the deepest view, but it is not a requirement.
Should I be on cash basis or accrual?
For most boutique Pilates studios in 2026, cash basis is fine. It matches how money actually moves through your business and how your tax return is filed. Accrual matters when you are preparing for a sale (a buyer wants to see deferred revenue on packs as a liability), raising capital, or once revenue clears about $750k (the IRS prefers accrual past certain thresholds). The decision is your CPA's. We support either method, with cash as the default. See our take on CPA versus bookkeeper for gyms for the broader breakdown.
How much does this cost?
$150 a month, flat. No hourly billing, no per-transaction fees, no annual contract. The price does not change based on studio size, how many reformers you own, or whether you run teacher training. Most Pilates studios pay $400 to $1,500 a month for generic bookkeeping that does not split packs from memberships or track reformer depreciation properly. Ours costs less. The tradeoff is that we don't do payroll, we don't file taxes, and we don't show up in person. Ready to start? Sign up here. Book a 15-minute call or self-onboard.