How Should a Flying Club Bill Its Pilots for Flight Time?
Every flying club treasurer answers the same five questions, often without writing the answers down: which meter counts, whether fuel is in the rate, which charges are fixed, who pays what, and whether members pay before or after they fly. Below: each choice and what it changes, a worked example from meter reading to invoice, and how Pilot-Next turns every settled flight into an invoice on the pilot's account without a spreadsheet in between.
No credit card. Billing is included in every plan, SOLO too.
How should a flying club bill its pilots for flight time?
A flying club normally bills an hourly rate per aircraft on one agreed meter — Hobbs or Tacho — either wet, with fuel included, or dry, with fuel charged separately. Fixed charges such as a booking or insurance fee are added per flight, and items that vary, such as landing fees, per unit flown. The money is then settled against a prepaid member account or by an invoice after the flight. None of these choices is wrong; what matters is that the club writes them down and applies them the same way on every flight.
| Choice | Options | What it changes | In Pilot-Next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which meter | Hobbs or Tacho | Hobbs counts engine-running time, taxi included on most installations; Tacho counts time weighted by engine RPM, so ground running adds little. A flight with a long taxi can read 1.2 Hobbs and 0.9 Tacho. | Each aircraft records one meter or both. A flight is billed on the pilot’s preferred meter if the aircraft has it, otherwise on the aircraft’s default. |
| Wet or dry | Fuel in the hourly rate, or charged separately | A wet rate needs no fuel paperwork but moves with the fuel price; a dry rate is stable, and the pilot pays for the fuel actually used. | The hourly rate is whatever the club sets per aircraft. Fuel can be its own rate, charged per litre or gallon entered with the flight; fuel a pilot paid at the pump is credited to their account as a correction. |
| Fixed charges | Per booking, or per item flown | A fee per booking (insurance, a cleaning charge) is the same for every flight; landing fees or fuel vary with what was flown. | Per-booking rates are added once to every settled flight; items such as landings are charged by the quantity entered with the flight. |
| Who pays what | One rate for everyone, or rates per member | Clubs often charge members, non-members or instructors differently for the same aircraft. | A rate can be tied to one aircraft, one pilot or both; a pilot’s own rate replaces the general one for that pilot. |
| When the money moves | Prepaid account, or an invoice after the flight or month | A prepaid account keeps the club out of debt collection; invoicing afterwards is simpler for members who fly rarely. | Every settled flight becomes an invoice and a debit on the pilot’s account balance. The treasurer records deposits and payments; each pilot sees their own balance. |
Which meter your aircraft's maintenance counts on is a separate choice: Pilot-Next counts inspection intervals on Tacho hours, also for an aircraft billed on Hobbs — how hour and calendar limits work.
Should a club bill on Hobbs or Tacho time?
Hobbs is simpler to read and, on most installations, counts all engine-running time, taxi included, so it suits clubs that want to charge for time the aircraft is in use. Tacho is weighted by engine RPM and counts ground running only slowly, so it tracks engine wear more closely and suits clubs that fund an engine overhaul reserve per hour. The difference per flight is small next to the rate itself; pick one, write it into the club rules and bill every flight on it.
The difference between the two meters, and why a club that funds its overhaul reserve per hour leans towards Tacho, is worked out in Hobbs vs Tacho: what actually counts.
Wet or dry rate: which is better for a flying club?
A wet rate includes fuel, so the pilot pays one number and nobody handles fuel receipts, but the club carries the risk when the fuel price rises and has to adjust the rate. A dry rate leaves fuel out: the pilot pays for the fuel actually used, either at the pump or as a separate charge per litre or gallon. A club that refuels from its own tank can price fuel into the rate; where members refuel at different airfields at different prices, a dry rate is usually the fairer one.
What an hour has to cost to cover fuel, maintenance, reserves and the fixed costs of a particular type is what the aircraft ownership cost calculator works out, including the break-even rate when the aircraft is rented out.
Prepaid account or monthly invoice?
With a prepaid account each member deposits money in advance and every flight is deducted from it, so the club never chases unpaid flying and the treasurer sees at a glance who is low. Invoicing after the flight or once a month asks nothing up front, which suits members who fly rarely, but leaves the club to collect. The two can be combined: every flight is invoiced, and the invoice is paid from the member’s balance.
How does Pilot-Next bill a flight?
When the pilot settles a flight, Pilot-Next reads the start and end of the meter that applies, multiplies the difference by the aircraft’s hourly rate, adds each per-booking charge once and each manual item — landings, fuel — by the quantity entered with the flight, applies the VAT rate set on each rate and creates one invoice. The invoice is debited to the pilot’s account balance; the treasurer records deposits and payments against it. A rate can apply to all pilots or to one, so members and non-members can pay different prices for the same aircraft.
From the meter to the pilot's balance
Step 1
Flight settled
Hobbs 1,234.5 → 1,235.9
the meter that applies to this pilot
1.4 hours
Step 2
Rates applied
1.4 h × €150.00 = €210.00
booking fee €5.00
2 landings × €12.00 = €24.00
+ VAT, set per rate
Step 3
One invoice
PDF and UBL XML
for the bookkeeping
€239.00
Step 4
Pilot’s account
deposit €500.00
− invoice €239.00
€261.00 left
Worked example (illustrative numbers, VAT left out)
| Invoice line | Quantity | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight time, Hobbs 1,234.5 → 1,235.9 | 1.4 h | €150.00 per hour | €210.00 |
| Booking fee | 1 | €5.00 per booking | €5.00 |
| Landings | 2 | €12.00 each | €24.00 |
| Debited to the pilot's account | €239.00 | ||
A pilot who had deposited €500.00 sees €261.00 left after this flight. Each rate carries its own VAT rate, shown per invoice line and in the total; the club sets it. Every invoice is also produced as a PDF and as UBL XML for the bookkeeping; a club on Exact Online (Netherlands) can ask support to have each invoice posted there as a sales entry, with payments coming back to the pilot's balance — how invoices reach the accounts.
Pilot-Next is not the only platform that turns logged hours into a charge. Of the other scheduling platforms we read on their own websites on 29 September 2026, FlightCircle, Flight Schedule Pro, Aviatize, Schedule Master, Coflyt, ForeFlight Scheduler, Hobbstack, Flightnet, FLYLOG.io, Chronos, AeroBooker, FlightBoard and Avibase say they bill the logged time — 14 of 20 including Pilot-Next. The feature table on the scheduling page shows what each says, with its source, and the flying club software comparison has their prices.
How much does Pilot-Next cost?
Billing is part of every plan. SOLO is free forever for 1 aircraft and 1 pilot and asks for no payment details; BASIC covers 1 aircraft and 5 pilots for €9 a month, PRO 2 aircraft and 10 pilots for €18 a month, and ULTRA unlimited aircraft and pilots for €45 a month, all billed annually.
Start free on SOLOBilling is one part of running a shared aircraft. See also aircraft scheduling software for bookings, how co-owners split the costs, flying club software for European clubs (euro, VAT and e-invoices), and why we settle per booking, not per flight.