The fitness industry is built on energy and growth, but behind the scenes, managing finances can slow you down. For multi-location gyms, studios, and health clubs, accounts payable (AP) is often a complex and time-consuming process. Juggling invoices for everything from high-tech workout equipment and cleaning supplies to marketing services and software subscriptions across different locations quickly becomes a major operational bottleneck. Manual data entry, paper-based approvals, and a lack of real-time spend visibility drain resources that should be focused on member experience and expansion.

This is where AP automation transforms your back office. By replacing manual workflows with streamlined, software-driven processes, fitness businesses can gain complete control over their finances, reduce costs, and scale with confidence. This guide covers everything you need to know about implementing AP automation to build a healthier bottom line.

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What is AP automation for fitness businesses?

AP automation for fitness businesses is the use of software to streamline and digitize the accounts payable process, minimizing manual human intervention from invoice receipt to final payment. The technology handles repetitive, time-consuming tasks, freeing your finance team to focus on more strategic work.

Most automated AP systems include several core functions. It starts with digital invoice capture, using technology like optical character recognition (OCR) to extract data from any invoice format. From there, the system automatically matches invoices against purchase orders and syncs all data with your central accounting system. 

Order.co takes this efficiency a step further. When you place an order through the system, it automatically kicks off a pre-configured approval workflow. Once the purchase is approved, Order.co pays your vendors Net 1 on your behalf, and your business receives consolidated bills for every transaction made on a weekly or monthly basis. This stands in sharp contrast to manual AP, which relies on paper invoices, spreadsheets, physical checks, and manual data entry — processes that are slow, expensive, and prone to error.

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The Hidden Risks Behind Your AP Balance Sheet (Some Will Surprise You)

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Why fitness businesses need AP automation

Fitness businesses need AP automation to effectively manage complex purchasing across multiple locations, control spend on a wide range of equipment and supplies, and free up staff from manual financial tasks. This allows the team to dedicate more time and resources to enhancing member experience and driving growth.

Challenge 1: Managing multi-location spend

Gyms, yoga studios, and health clubs often operate multiple locations, each with unique purchasing needs. One studio might need new yoga mats, while another requires treadmill repairs, and a third is ordering branded water bottles. Without a centralized system, team members may order these items independently, leading to inconsistent pricing, duplicate orders, transactions made outside of approved budgets, and a complete lack of visibility for the finance team. This kind of uncontrolled purchasing is often called maverick spending and can quickly erode profit margins.

AP automation centralizes the entire procurement and payment process. A unified platform provides a single source of truth for all spending, allowing finance leaders to set and enforce budgets by location or department. Approval workflows ensure that every purchase, whether it's cleaning supplies or new cardio machines, is properly vetted before a single dollar is spent.

Challenge 2: Diverse and recurring vendor payments

The average fitness business deals with a staggering number of vendors. This includes equipment manufacturers, supplement suppliers, janitorial services, software providers for booking and member management, marketing agencies, and utility companies. Each vendor has different invoicing processes and payment terms. Manually tracking, approving, and paying dozens or even hundreds of invoices each month is a significant administrative burden that increases the risk of late fees and strained supplier relationships.

AP automation software is designed to handle this complexity. It can ingest invoices in any format, automate approvals, and consolidate payments. Platforms like Order.co go a step further by allowing you to pay all your vendors through weekly or monthly consolidated invoices, dramatically simplifying your entire payment process.

Challenge 3: High volume of small, repetitive purchases

Every fitness location requires a constant stream of operational supplies: towels, toiletries, cleaning products, paper goods, and front-desk items. While each purchase is small, the cumulative volume of invoices is enormous. Manually processing each of these low-value invoices is highly inefficient; the administrative cost of processing the invoice can sometimes exceed the value of the goods themselves.

Automation eliminates the manual work associated with these high-volume, low-value purchases. By automating data entry, approvals, and payment for recurring orders, you reduce the cost per invoice and free up your team’s time. This improvement in operational efficiency allows studio managers to focus on members, not paperwork.

Challenge 4: Seasonal fluctuations and scalability

The fitness industry often experiences seasonal peaks, most notably the rush of New Year's resolutions in January. This can lead to a sudden increase in purchasing and a corresponding flood of invoices. A manual AP process struggles to handle these fluctuations without requiring overtime or temporary staff. Furthermore, as your business grows and opens new locations, a manual system creates compounding complexity and cost.

An automated system is built to scale. It can handle a sudden increase in invoice volume without a drop in performance or the need to add headcount. For growth-minded fitness chains, an automated and scalable AP process is not a luxury — it is a foundational requirement for sustainable expansion.

Key features of AP automation software for gyms and fitness studios

The best AP automation software for fitness businesses offers centralized invoice management, automated approval workflows, seamless accounting integration, and robust spend analytics. These features work together to provide complete control and visibility over the entire procure-to-pay lifecycle.

Centralized invoice and vendor management

A core feature is a central dashboard to receive, process, and archive every invoice, regardless of whether it arrives via paper mail, email, or PDF. This digital repository eliminates the risk of lost invoices, ensures all transactions are accounted for, and creates a clean, searchable audit trail. A truly flexible platform should be vendor-agnostic, allowing you to manage every supplier relationship in one place.

Customizable approval workflows

Effective spend control relies on enforcing purchasing policies. Look for software that allows you to build custom approval rules based on variables like location, department, purchase amount, or vendor. For instance, a studio manager could be pre-authorized to approve supply orders up to $1,000, while larger equipment purchases are automatically routed to the regional director or corporate finance team for approval. This ensures budget compliance without creating bottlenecks.

Integration with accounting/ERP systems

To avoid manual, error-prone data entry, your AP automation platform must integrate seamlessly with your existing accounting or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Whether you use QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or another system, direct integration ensures that all approved invoice data is automatically synced to your accounts payable ledger. This keeps your financial records accurate and up-to-date, enabling a faster month-end close.

Spend analytics and reporting

True financial control comes from understanding where your money is going. Modern AP automation platforms include powerful analytics dashboards and reporting tools that provide real-time spend visibility. A fitness CFO can instantly see spend broken down by location, category (e.g., equipment vs. cleaning supplies), or vendor. These insights are critical for identifying cost-saving opportunities, negotiating better prices with suppliers, and forecasting future budgets more accurately.

Automated payment processing

The final piece of the puzzle is automating the payment itself. Top-tier solutions allow you to schedule and execute payments to all of your vendors directly from the platform. This includes support for multiple payment methods, such as ACH, virtual card, and check. Automating payments ensures vendors are paid on time, helps you capture early-payment discounts, and reduces the risk of payment fraud.

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The Hidden Risks Behind Your AP Balance Sheet (Some Will Surprise You)

Start recognizing inflation on your balance sheets, identify its causes, understand the business risks it poses, and discover effective strategies for mitigation.

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How to implement AP automation in your fitness business

Implementing AP automation is a strategic move that involves auditing your current process, selecting the right technology partner, planning for a smooth integration, and training your team for success.

Step 1: Audit your current AP process

Before you can improve your process, you need to understand it. Map out your current accounts payable workflow from start to finish. Identify the primary bottlenecks, such as manual invoice entry, lengthy approval cycles, or disorganized record-keeping. Quantify the pain points where possible: How many hours per week does your team spend on data entry? What is your average cost to process a single invoice? This analysis will build the business case for automation and help you define your goals.

Step 2: Evaluate and select a solution

With your requirements defined, you can begin evaluating procurement software solutions. Look for a provider that understands the unique challenges of multi-location businesses. Key evaluation criteria should include:

• End-to-end functionality: Does the platform handle the entire process, from purchasing to payment?
• Ease of use: Is the interface intuitive for both finance users and location managers?
• Integration capabilities: Does it connect with your accounting software?
• Scalability: Can the platform grow with your business? Request demos from your top contenders to see the software in action and ensure it meets your specific needs.

Step 3: Plan for integration and onboarding

A successful implementation depends on a clear plan. Work with your chosen software provider to map out the integration with your accounting system and the process for migrating vendor data. A dedicated implementation manager should guide you through user setup, workflow configuration, and system testing. This structured onboarding process minimizes disruption and ensures a smooth transition.

Step 4: Train your team and go live

Ensure everyone who will use the system — from studio managers approving orders to AP clerks managing payments — receives comprehensive training. Many businesses find it effective to start with a pilot program at one or two locations. This allows you to refine workflows in a controlled environment before rolling the solution out across the entire organization.

How Order.co powers AP automation for fitness businesses

Order.co is an AI-powered platform that centralizes purchasing, automates the entire accounts payable workflow, and delivers actionable spend insights to help fitness businesses scale efficiently. Unlike point solutions that only address one part of the process, Order.co unifies procurement and accounts payable in a single, intuitive platform.

With Order.co, a studio manager can order new equipment, cleaning supplies, and supplements from hundreds of different vendors in one universal shopping cart. That single order automatically kicks off a pre-configured approval workflow. Once approved, Order.co handles the purchasing, tracks the delivery, automates the invoice processing, and pays vendors in their preferred method on your behalf. Your business receives one consolidated bill each week or month, eliminating the complexity of paying hundreds of individual vendors.

This level of control is transformative. For example, Stefanie Teintze, a specialist at CorePower Yoga, notes how the platform reined in decentralized purchasing across their numerous studios. “By implementing controls and approval processes, Order.co has allowed us to essentially eliminate all unapproved spending, which had gotten as high as $50,000 per month,” she said.

As the fitness industry grows more competitive, operational efficiency is no longer optional. By implementing AP automation, you can eliminate manual burdens, gain strategic financial control, and position your business for profitable growth.

Ready to see how a centralized platform can streamline your fitness business's finances? Request a demo of Order.co today.

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