Charge to member account, built into every register
Members charge dinner, drinks, lessons, green fees, and pro shop purchases to their account. Family and dependent charging routes to the responsible member. Spending limits enforce at the register. Statements run monthly with auto-pay. No back-office data entry, no reconciliation between two systems.
Charge-to-account is the single feature that separates a country club POS from a retail POS. Members expect to sign for dinner and see it on a monthly statement. Spouses, children, and designated guests need to charge against the principal member's account. Guests of a member need to bill to the sponsoring member. Spending limits, F&B minimums, and credit holds need to enforce at the cashier screen, not surface in a report the back office reads two weeks later. None of this is part of a generic POS, and bolting it on with workarounds is the source of most of the operational friction at clubs running off-the-shelf retail software.
Links Meridian was built around member accounting from the first commit. Every transaction at every register has 'charge to account' as a payment method, and the line items post to the member's statement in real time. Family and dependent charging routes to the responsible member automatically, with PINs per dependent and individual line items on the parent statement. Guest charges by a member's guest route to the sponsoring member without anyone having to remember a workaround. Spending limits, credit holds, and minimum spending rules enforce at the cashier screen, so the wait staff are not the line of defence.
Statements run on the cadence you set, with the line of business breakdown (initiation, dues, F&B, pro shop, guest fees, locker, cart, lessons) the board wants to see. Auto-pay runs against a stored card or ACH/direct debit. Members who prefer to pay manually get an emailed statement with a portal link and a saved payment method. Aging buckets, credit-limit reports, and dunning workflows live in the same accounting module that handles the rest of your GL, so there is no separate system to reconcile.
Because the same member record drives the tee sheet, pro shop, F&B, lottery, and statements, the operational picture is the one the GM actually needs. A member with a high open balance is flagged when they try to book a tee time. A member at risk of missing the F&B minimum gets a portal nudge two weeks before the quarter closes. A member's lifetime spend is one query, and it is correct, because no one had to copy a number from one system to another.
The outcome for your club
Charge to account at every register
Pro shop, F&B, halfway house, beverage cart, lessons booking, green fees. Every register, every revenue stream, one workflow.
Family and dependent charging
Spouses, children, and designated guests charge against the principal member. PINs per dependent. Spending limits per dependent. One statement.
Guest charging routes to the sponsor
A member's guest charges to the bar without a workaround. The line item posts to the sponsoring member's statement automatically.
Spending limits and credit holds enforce at the cashier
Wait staff are not the line of defence. The POS blocks charges that would breach a limit or post against a credit hold, with a clear escalation path for managers.
Statement billing with auto-pay
Configurable cadence, configurable line of business breakdown, auto-pay via stored card or ACH/direct debit. Members who pay manually get a one-click portal link.
Minimum F&B spend tracking built in
Quarterly or annual F&B minimums per membership type. Actual spend tracked in real time. Shortfall billed automatically at quarter end.
Generic POS workaround vs native charge-to-account
What's included
Common questions
How does charge-to-account work at the register?
The cashier picks 'charge to account' as the payment method, swipes the member card (or searches by name), and the charge posts to the member's statement in real time. There is no second screen, no back-office data entry, and no reconciliation step.
Can family members and dependents charge against the principal member's account?
Yes. Authorised dependents (spouse, children, designated guests) each have a PIN and a configurable spending limit. Charges post as individual line items on the principal member's statement, so the principal sees exactly who spent what.
What about a member's guest who wants to charge to the member's account?
The cashier picks 'guest of member' and selects the sponsoring member. The charge routes to the sponsor's statement with a clear 'guest of' line item. No workaround required.
Can we enforce spending limits and credit holds at the point of sale?
Yes. Limits and holds enforce at the cashier screen, so wait staff are not the line of defence. Manager override is logged with reason codes for the audit trail. Members on credit hold see a clear message in the portal.
Can we block a member from booking a tee time if they have an overdue balance?
Yes, optionally. Configure the overdue threshold and grace period. Members above the threshold see a 'please contact the office' message in the booking flow rather than a confusing error. The desk can clear the block in one click.
How do statements get sent and paid?
Statements run on the cadence you set (monthly is most common), with the line of business breakdown the board wants to see. Auto-pay runs against a stored card or ACH/direct debit. Members who prefer manual payment get an emailed statement with a portal link and a saved payment method.
Do we have to use Links Meridian's accounting, or can we keep QuickBooks or Xero?
Either works. The full GL, AP, and AR are built in, but daily journals export to QuickBooks Online and Xero if you want to keep your existing accounting system. Member statements run from Links Meridian regardless.
How do F&B minimums work?
Configure a quarterly or annual F&B minimum per membership type. Actual spend tracks in real time, with a portal indicator the member can see. Shortfalls bill automatically at quarter end with a configurable line item code so the GL stays clean.
Charge to account, built in
Every register, every member, one statement. Free 30-day trial.