# Membership statuses, and what Expired means

> Active, Suspended, Lapsed and Cancelled are set by the office; Expired is worked out from the expiry date. What each status means, and how to change one.

Who this is for: Anyone with “See members and contacts” or “Add and change members” or “Club settings” (by default: Administrator, Head Coach, Casual Staff, Reporting).
Last checked in release 2026.10.23, on 23 October 2026.
Source: https://sportsclubos.net/help/members/statuses/

Every member has a status. The office sets it to one of four: **Active**, **Suspended**, **Lapsed** or **Cancelled**. A fifth, **Expired**, is never set by anyone: Sports Club OS shows it for an **Active** member whose expiry date has passed. A contact, with no membership type, has no status; the list shows **Contact**. Invoices, bookings, applications and other records have statuses of their own: see [Every status, in one place](https://sportsclubos.net/help/reference/statuses/index.md).

## The statuses

| Status | What it means | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| **Active** | A member, with an expiry date still to come (or a membership that does not expire). | The office, or paying a renewal |
| **Expired** | An Active member whose expiry date has passed: awaiting renewal. Reports and the Dashboard call them **Awaiting renewal**. | Worked out each day |
| **Suspended** | Membership is paused. | The office |
| **Lapsed** | They did not renew. | The office |
| **Cancelled** | They resigned, or the club ended their membership. | The office |

In reports and on the Dashboard, **current members** are Active ones whose expiry has not passed, and **members** are current members and those awaiting renewal (Expired). Suspended, Lapsed and Cancelled people are not counted as members.

## Why Expired is worked out, not set

Nobody has to remember to change a member's status on the day their membership ends. The moment the expiry date passes, they show as Expired everywhere: on the list, on their page and on their own pages. When their renewal is paid, their expiry moves to the end of the next membership year and they show as Active again, with nothing more to do.

For someone who pays monthly, the expiry is the end of the last month paid plus a few days' grace. If a month is missed, they show as Expired once that date passes, and Active again once the missed month is paid. See [Missed monthly payments: what happens and what does not](https://sportsclubos.net/help/membership/missed-months/index.md).

## What a status changes

- **Booking online** is open only to a member who is Active and not Expired. Anyone else is told **Your membership is not current, so online booking is unavailable.** The office can still book for them.
- **Renewals** are raised only for Active members, Expired ones included. Lapsed, Suspended and Cancelled people are left off the Renewals page and are not renewed automatically.
- **Monthly invoices** have a line only for people whose status is Active.
- **A proposer** for an application must be a current member.
- **Messages and filters** can choose people by status, Expired included.

## Change a status

For one person:

1. Open their page and press **Edit details**, then the **Membership** tab.
2. Choose the **Status**.
3. For **Lapsed** or **Cancelled**, Sports Club OS asks **Why are they leaving? (optional)**. Choose a reason, or leave it at **Not said**.
4. Press **Save changes**.

For several people, tick them on the list and use **Set status…** in the bar. See [Change several members at once](https://sportsclubos.net/help/members/change-several/index.md).

Paying a renewal invoice sets the member back to **Active** and clears their leaving reason.

## Leaving reasons

The reason is kept for the club's reports on why members leave. It is never shown to the member, and answering is optional.

> **Your club decides:** the list of reasons, up to 12, on Admin > Settings, **Reports** tab, under **Why members leave**. The standard reasons are Not said, Moved away, Cost, Not playing any more, Injury or health, Joined another club, Time or family, Unhappy with something at the club, and Other. **Use the standard reasons** puts them back. Renaming a reason keeps the answers already given.

## The record of changes

Every change of status, membership type or expiry is recorded with the day and how it happened (an edit, several at once, a renewal paid, an election, a change of how they pay, an import), for the club's reports on joiners and leavers. Earlier memberships a person has held are listed on their page under **Earlier memberships**.