How do Family Accounts work?

Family Accounts let one member, the guardian, pay for other people linked to their account, the dependants. Use it whenever one member pays for another: a parent paying for their children, a member paying for their partner, or a company paying for its employees.

Family Accounts are available to every facility. Only facility staff can set them up: members can't create or change a family link themselves.

Full login and login-less dependants

Every dependant has one of two login types:

Full login — has their own email address and Octiv app login, and can book and manage their own account in the app. Use this for anyone who wants to use the app themselves, such as a partner, an employee or an older child.
Login-less — has no email address and no app account. The guardian books and manages everything for them, and all of their notifications go to the guardian. Use this for anyone who doesn't need to log in to the app, such as young children.

Whichever type a dependant is, the guardian pays for their packages.

Setting up a dependant

Start from the guardian's record and open Set Dependant in either of these ways:

Members >> Manage, then the Actions menu (⋮) on the guardian's row >> Set Dependant
The Set Dependant button in the My Family section of the guardian's member profile

The Set Dependant panel confirms that the guardian pays for whoever is added there. You can either create a new dependant or link a member who already exists.

Option 1 — Create a new dependant

Click Create New.
Choose the login type first, because it decides which form opens next:
- Full login — click Continue to Wizard to open the normal Create Member wizard, already linked to the guardian. The guardian is filled in for you and can't be changed inside the wizard. An email address is required, as it is for any member with a login. The payment method and primary location steps are skipped because both come from the guardian.
- Login-less — a short form opens with Name, Surname, Date of Birth, Gender, Primary Location and Programme. No email address is needed. Tick Use [guardian]'s address and emergency contact to copy the guardian's details across, then click Create Dependant.
Add the dependant's package from their own Packages tab, the same way you would for any member. The guardian is billed for it.

Option 2 — Link an existing member

Under Or Find Existing Member, search by name, surname or email.
Select the member and click Link Member.

Linking moves the member's future charges only to the guardian. Any invoices and statement history they already have stay on their own record, so if they had an unpaid invoice before being linked, it's still theirs to pay. An existing member keeps their own login when they're linked, so they become a full-login dependant.

Who can be a guardian or a dependant

A guardian can have as many dependants as you need. The Set Dependant option is always available on a guardian.
A dependant can't be a guardian, so Set Dependant isn't shown on a dependant's profile.
A dependant can only have one guardian. A member who is already a dependant can't be linked to a second guardian, and a guardian can't become someone else's dependant.
Once created, a dependant appears in Members >> Manage like any other member.

How to spot a family account

Members >> Manage: a label under the member's name shows Guardian of [number] or Dependant of [name].
Guardian's profile: the My Family section lists every dependant with their date of birth, age and login type (Full login or Login-less). For full-login dependants, it also shows their app permission toggles.
Dependant's profile: Switch to Guardian Profile opens the guardian's record, and View Guardian Statement opens the guardian's statement, where the dependant's charges appear.

Billing and invoicing

The guardian pays for the dependant's packages. This includes packages added from the dependant's Packages tab, pro-rata invoices, and packages a full-login dependant buys or tops up in the app.
The dependant's charges appear on the guardian's invoices and statement.
The dependant's billing follows the guardian's. Their Billing tab mirrors the guardian's payment method and debit date and shows: "Billing for a dependant is managed on [guardian]'s account and can't be edited here." To change anything about a dependant's billing, edit the guardian's record.
A new dependant's debit-order date is preset from the guardian's.
Store (POS) items are billed to whoever buys them. If a full-login dependant buys a store item in the app, it's billed to the dependant, not the guardian.
Packages are never shared. Each person in a family account needs their own package. To sell one family or partner price and bill the guardian only once, see Can members share a family or partner package?

Buying packages and store items in the app

Two permissions control what a full-login dependant can buy for themselves in the app. Both are off by default:

Can purchase packages — lets the dependant buy and top up packages in the app. These are billed to the guardian.
Can purchase from the in-app store — lets the dependant buy store items in the app. These are billed to the dependant.

You can switch them on or off in the App Permissions section of the dependant's profile, or next to the dependant's name in the guardian's My Family section. The two stay in sync. Guardians can also change them in the app under My Account >> Accounts >> Family Members >> [dependant] >> App Permissions, where they're called Buy Packages in App and Buy from the Store. While a permission is off, the dependant can't buy that type of item in the app, but they can still book with the packages the guardian buys them.

Login-less dependants don't have these permissions because they have no app login. Their guardian buys for them: under Buy >> Packages >> Buy New Package, the guardian is asked "Who is this package for?", chooses themselves or a dependant, then taps Choose a Package. They can also tap Buy a Package for [name] on the dependant's screen under Family Members.

Booking, cancelling and waitlists in the app

A guardian logged in to the app can book, cancel and join waitlists for themselves or any of their dependants, full-login or login-less:

Booking a class: after tapping Book, the guardian sees "Who is this booking for?". It lists You and each dependant, with the package each person would use for that class, or "No package for this class" if they don't have one that covers it. The guardian selects the person and taps Continue. If that person has more than one package, they're then asked which package to use.
Cancelling and joining a waitlist work the same way: the guardian chooses who it's for.
The Bookings tab shows the guardian's bookings and each dependant's bookings separately.

Bookings, cancellations, attendance and reporting stay separate for each person. Linking people into a family doesn't merge their data.

What the guardian sees in the app

In the Octiv app, the guardian taps their profile circle (top-left) to open My Account, then the Accounts tab. Under Family Members, every dependant is listed with their age, their login type (for example Own login), and whether they can buy in the app (for example Can't buy). Tapping a dependant shows that they're Billed to you, their App Permissions, their packages and sessions available, and a Buy a Package for [name] button.

The Family Members section also reminds guardians that adding or removing a family member is done by the facility.

Switching into a dependant's profile: when staff link a dependant, they're added to the guardian's Linked Users automatically (on the same Accounts tab, under Members). The guardian taps the ⇌ icon next to a dependant's name to switch straight into that dependant's profile, with no need to enter their login details.

Privacy: dependants can't open the guardian's account by default
Family Accounts are designed with privacy and security in mind. By default, a guardian can switch into a dependant's account, but the dependant cannot access the guardian's account. This is intentional.

To let a full-login dependant switch to the guardian's account, while logged in to the dependant's account in the Octiv app:

Tap the profile circle in the top-left corner to open My Account.
Select the Accounts tab.
Next to Linked Users, tap Link.
Select Log in to additional user and enter the guardian's login details.

Once linked, you can switch between the accounts with the ⇌ icon without logging out.

⚠ Please note: this also lets the dependant open the guardian's account from their own device, so consider the privacy implications before setting it up.

For the general linked-accounts steps, see How do I help my Member link multiple accounts in their app?

Contracts, waivers and notifications

Full-login dependants receive their contracts, waivers and all system emails (such as booking confirmations and reminders) at their own email address.
Login-less dependants have no email address, so their contracts, waivers and all system emails go to the guardian's email address.

Overdue invoices and blocked bookings

If your facility blocks bookings for overdue invoices (see How do I prevent members with overdue invoices from booking?), it works like this for family accounts:

An overdue invoice that covers the whole family, such as a combined family invoice, blocks everyone in the family account (the guardian and every dependant) until it's paid.
An overdue invoice for one dependant only blocks just that dependant, whether they try to book themselves or the guardian books for them. The guardian and the other dependants can still book.

Blocked members see the usual "You have an outstanding invoice" message.

Removing a dependant from a family (Promote Member)

To take a dependant out of a family account, promote them to an independent member. Choose Promote Member from the Actions menu on the dependant's profile or on their row in Members >> Manage.

Promoting removes the link to the guardian, and the member pays for themselves from then on, so they'll need their own payment details.
A login-less dependant is asked for an email address during promotion, so they get their own login.
An active dependant's guardian can't be swapped directly. Promote the dependant to take them out of the family.

Deactivating, suspending and placing members on hold

Guardians

Deactivating a guardian also deactivates their dependants. The deactivate window lists the guardian's active dependants, and you can choose Promote Instead for any of them to keep them active as independent members. A login-less dependant is asked for an email address if you promote them. Packages end at the end of the day before the deactivation date. A scheduled deactivation works the same way.
Suspending a guardian doesn't suspend their dependants. The dependants stay active and can still be booked, and the guardian can still log in to manage them.
Guardians can't be placed on hold. To pause a guardian's own billing, end their package instead. The guardian stays active without a package, and their dependants continue to be billed normally.

Dependants

Deactivate a dependant on their own from the Actions menu on their row or profile. This doesn't affect the guardian or any other dependants.
Suspend a dependant on their own. Only that dependant is blocked.
Place a dependant on hold individually, immediately or scheduled, using the normal hold settings.

Bulk actions in Members >> Manage

Deactivate: everyone selected is deactivated, and a notice warns you that the dependants of any selected guardians will be deactivated too.
Suspend: each selected member is suspended individually. Suspending a guardian this way doesn't suspend their dependants.
Place on hold: guardians and dependants in the selection are skipped, and everyone else is placed on hold. Place dependants on hold one at a time instead.

Reactivating

Reactivating a guardian doesn't reactivate their dependants. Reactivate each dependant separately.
A login-less dependant can't be active without a guardian. When you reactivate one, choose either Set New Guardian (pick a guardian from the eligible members; members who are already dependants aren't eligible) or Promote Member (give them their own email address and login; they'll need their own billing).

Good to know

Audit trail: when a guardian books, cancels or does something else for a login-less dependant, the audit trail records that the guardian did it on the dependant's behalf. When a full-login dependant acts for themselves, the audit trail shows the dependant.
Injuries: staff log a dependant's injuries from the dependant's own member profile.
Check-in: a coach or staff member can check a dependant in, the same way as any other member.

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