Private Clubs

Empowering clubs to create the ultimate member experience

Private clubs operate in a unique business environment. Whether a country club, golf club, city club or other, a private club is challenged with providing members optimum quality and service while managing costs. Clubs must react to changes in government regulations, tax laws, operational advancements and member expectations.

These challenges require the attention of professional service providers who know the industry and deliver services tailored to the private club environment. With an understanding of membership models, food and beverage operations, golf course maintenance and more, an audit conducted by industry-focused professionals provides the insight needed to strengthen the member experience. From sales tax, gratuities, rental units and other areas of the club operations, our tax professionals indentify the issues impacting the tax position of private clubs and offer guidance and planning.

Our team offers additional insight into a number of areas of club operations including:

  • Performance improvement
  • Benchmarking
  • Amenity pricing
  • Turnover consulting
  • Fraud and forensics
  • IT security and controls
  • Seminars for boards and management
  • Construction contract audits

Most Popular Insights

Automatic gratuities: Tips or services charges?
Bob Salmore addresses the common practice of adding automatic gratuities in dining facilities at private clubs in this article which appeared in the November/December 2012 issue of The BoardRoom.

Private Clubs: To be or not to be — a business?
In this article, published by Club Management magazine, Philip Newman and Bob Salmore of McGladrey explore what it means to run a private club like a business. The two address this topic by relating a series of questions businesses are encouraged to ask regularly to the private club environment.

Financial Ratio Analysis and Private Club Operations
In this article published in Club Director, a magazine of the National Club Association (NCA), Philip Newman explores how to track the financial health of private clubs through the application of several financial measurements.

Will Your Club Be Compliant When the
Revenuers Come
Bob Salmore advises private clubs on employment tax considerations in light of an audit from the Internal Revenue Service. In this article, which appeared in the July/August 2012 issue of The BoardRoom, Salmore outlines many of the common concerns around wages that clubs need to consider to be compliant with federal tax laws and regulations.
2012 Florida Trends in Private Clubs
This annual report, now in its 38th year, outlines financial and operational trends seen through the audits performed by McGladrey of more than 200 private clubs in Florida.
Financial Ratio Analysis and Private Club Operations
Learn how financial performance ratios on liquidity, solvency, activity and profitability – ratios businesses have used for years – can be adapted to give your private clubs insights into your own operations.
Renovation and improvement programs
Bob Salmore considers the accounting considerations that too often fall through the cracks in construction and renovation projects in this article that appeared in the March/April 2012 issue of The BoardRoom, the only publication written specifically for boards of directors and management of private and semi-private golf and country clubs in the United States and Canada.
Leadership 101: The Importance of Leadership and Training
Philip Newman outlines the role of board and committee members in the management of club operations and the knowledge required to contribute effectively in this article which first appeared in the Fall 2011 issue of Club Director, a quarterly publication from the National Club Association.
The Truth About Your Food and Beverage Operation
Bob Salmore questions how clubs are measuring the profit/loss of their dining operations and introducing the concept of a “total cost of ownership” analysis for this department and every other in this article that appeared in the July/August 2011 issue of The BoardRoom, the only publication written specifically for boards of directors and management of private and semi-private golf and country clubs in the United States and Canada.
Why are we losing money in food and beverage?
Tammy Tassitano and Stephen Robinson explore why “club dining is a member amenity, not a restaurant facility.” This article appeared in the June/July 2011 issue of The Bottomline, the journal of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals.
Managing Member Generational Transitions
Bob Salmore considers the role of generational differences as clubs seek a smooth transition in the dominant ages of members in this article which first appeared in the March/April 2011 issue of The BoardRoom, the only publication written specifically for boards of directors and management of private and semi-private golf and country clubs in the United States and Canada.