How It All Fits Together

This is the most important page to read before anything else. Kanri has a handful of concepts that sound similar but mean very different things. Understanding how they connect will make everything else click.

Memberships vs Subscriptions

The most common source of confusion in Kanri is the difference between a Membership and a Subscription. They are two completely separate records.

A Membership is the enrolment record. It answers: which program is this member in, and what is their current status? When you enrol a new student in Adult Karate, you’re creating a Membership.

A Subscription is the billing record. It answers: how much does this member pay, and when does the charge go out? When you set up automatic monthly billing for that student, you’re creating a Subscription.

A member can have a Membership without a Subscription. A cash-paying member or someone training for free is a common example. A member can also have a Subscription without a Membership, which is usually a data error worth fixing. The Only Memberships and Only Subscriptions reports exist specifically to help you find these mismatches.

Programs, Classes, and Schedules

A Program is the top-level activity you offer: “Adult Karate”, “Junior Ballet”, “Swim Level 1”. Members are enrolled into programs via Memberships.

Each program contains Classes, which are the named types of training within it. “Adult Karate” might have “Karate (White–Blue Belt)” and “Karate (Blue–Black Belt)” as separate classes. Each class has a “counts towards attendance” setting. If you turn it off, attending that class won’t count toward a member’s level promotion requirements.

Classes can optionally have Variants, which are sub-types that distinguish the format of a session without creating a whole new class. “Karate (Blue–Black Belt)” might have a “Sparring” variant and a “Kata” variant. Variants are optional; a class with no variants just runs as itself.

A Schedule is a named recurring timetable containing one or more class entries. Each entry defines a class, day, and time. Sessions are the occurrences members book and attend. When you take attendance, you’re marking members as present for a session on a particular date. If you change an active timetable, sync it to apply the changes. Review affected bookings before confirming; timetable changes are not just visual changes.

Billing Plans and Prices

A Billing Plan is a named payment product: “Monthly Karate”, “Annual All-Access”, “Drop-In Pass”. Think of it as a product on your price list.

Each plan has one or more Prices, which are the actual amounts and billing intervals. “Monthly Karate” might have an Adult price of C$120/month and a Junior price of C$80/month. Whether plans can have multiple prices is controlled by a school-level setting. See Subscription Behaviors for details.

A Subscription links a specific member to a specific price on a plan. If it has a saved payment method, Kanri can charge the member on the schedule shown. Payments and attempts appear in the member’s payment history. You can also record subscriptions paid outside Kanri without attaching a payment method.

Levels and Promotions

Programs can optionally have Levels, which are a ranking system like belt grades or skill tiers. When a member is enrolled in a program they’re placed at a starting level. Each level can have requirements: a minimum number of classes attended and a minimum number of days since their last promotion.

The Promotions report helps you find members ready to advance. When you promote a member, Kanri updates their level and last-promotion date. Attendance after that date contributes to the next promotion; earlier attendance remains in their history.

If promotions happen at an assessment event, use a grading. A grading can cover one day or a window of several days. Staff check eligibility and record promotions on a date inside that window.

When changing your rules, a program can keep existing members’ requirements until their next promotion. This lets new arrivals follow new rules without changing the targets for members already training at the level.

Groups

Groups are named collections of members. You can add individual members directly, or attach a whole program so that its active members are included. Use groups to organize people and to target messages.

A real example

You run Springfield Karate. A new student, Alex, walks in. Here’s what you’d do:

Add Alex as a member: enter their name, contact details, and emergency contact.
Assign a Membership: enrol Alex in “Adult Karate” at White Belt, with a status of Active.
If Alex is paying by card or bank account through Kanri, add a payment method. For cash or other offline payments, you can skip this.
Create a Subscription: link Alex to “Monthly Karate – Adult C$120/month”. If the subscription has a payment method, Kanri can collect scheduled payments automatically.
Alex shows up for class and checks in at the kiosk, or a staff member takes attendance. Attendance is recorded against their Membership.
After enough classes, Alex appears in the Promotions report and is ready to move to Yellow Belt.

That’s the core loop: enrolment → billing → attendance → promotion.

Quick reference

Term	What it means
Program	The activity you offer (e.g. “Adult Karate”)
Class	A type of training within a program
Class Variant	An optional sub-format of a class (e.g. “Sparring”)
Session	A single timed occurrence of a class, generated by a Schedule
Schedule	A recurring timetable entry that generates Sessions
Membership	A member’s enrolment record in a program
Level	A rank within a program (e.g. “White Belt”)
Billing Plan	A named payment product (e.g. “Monthly Karate”)
Price	A specific amount and billing interval on a Plan
Subscription	A member’s billing arrangement, which may be recurring, fixed-term, prepaid, or usage-based
Group	A named collection of members used for targeting

For definitions of every term in Kanri, see the Glossary.