Opening a reformer pilates studio: the money timeline from lease to first class

Opening a reformer pilates studio is a front-loaded business: the lease, the fit-out, a room full of reformers, software, a music licence and your instructors all cost money before anyone books a class. And the cash many new owners count on — founding-member presales — may not be yours to spend yet. In Queensland, prepaid fees taken before opening must sit in a solicitor’s trust account until the doors open.

So the real question isn’t just “how much?” It’s “when does each bill land, and what pays for it?” Here’s the timeline, stage by stage.

Why is a pilates studio so front-loaded?

Most small businesses can open lean and grow into the space. A reformer studio can’t. A class only runs if every spot has a machine, so you’re buying the full room on day one. Then there’s what the room itself needs:

• A floor that can take it. Reformers are heavy and they move. Check the slab or floor rating, especially upstairs.
• Air-conditioning sized for a full class. A room of people working hard heats up fast.
• Acoustics. Springs, music and instructor cues carry. Shared walls and upstairs neighbours complain.
• Amenities. Toilets, change space and maybe showers, depending on your market.

None of that earns a cent until the timetable is full. That’s why the timeline matters more than the total.

The money timeline: what lands when

Every studio is different, but the order is fairly predictable. Use this as a planning frame, then put your own quotes against each line.

Stage	Typical timing	What you’re paying for
Site search and checks	Before you sign	Council zoning advice, a builder’s look at floor load and services, legal review of the lease
Lease signing	Week 0	Bond or bank guarantee, advance rent, legal fees
Design and approvals	Weeks 1–6	Designer, drawings, certifier and any council fees
Reformer order	Weeks 2–8	Supplier deposit — lead times can be long, so order early
Fit-out	Weeks 6–14	Shopfitter deposit and progress payments, flooring, air-conditioning, lighting, sound
Systems	Weeks 10–14	Booking software, payments, website, signage
People	Weeks 10–16	Instructor recruitment, training on your machines, first pay runs
Pre-opening	Final 2–4 weeks	Music licence, insurance, launch marketing, free or discounted intro classes
First months	After opening	Rent, wages, super, software, loan repayments — while the timetable fills

Lead times on reformers vary by supplier and model, so ask when you get the quote and build the delivery date into the shopfitter’s program. A finished room with no machines is a very expensive empty room.

Our fit-out budget builder lets you add up each line with contingency, and our guide to budgeting a fit-out before you sign covers the questions to ask before the quote is final.

Can founding-member presales fund the fit-out?

This is the trap. Presales are a brilliant way to prove demand — but in some states the money is locked away until you open.

Queensland’s rules are the clearest example. According to the Queensland Government’s guidance on the state’s fitness industry code, a provider that takes prepaid fees before services begin must “place all prepaid fees into a solicitor’s trust account”. You can’t access them until:

1. the fitness facility is open;
2. the member has used the service; and
3. the 48-hour cooling-off period has passed without the member cancelling.

The same page says prepaid arrangements are “limited to 12 months payment in advance”. So a “lifetime founding membership” or a two-year upfront pack isn’t an option there.

Other states handle fitness memberships differently — Western Australia has its own fitness industry rules, for example — and the Australian Consumer Law applies everywhere. Check with your state’s fair trading office before you design founding-member packs.

What this means for your plan:

• Don’t count presales as building money. Fund the fit-out and reformers from other sources.
• Do use presales as evidence. A list of paid founding members — even with the money held in trust — tells a lender people are ready to book.
• Plan for the release date. The cash arrives after opening, which helps with the first months’ rent and wages.

How do you fund the reformers?

Reformers are the easiest part of a studio to finance. They’re identifiable, they hold value, and there’s an active second-hand market. That’s exactly what equipment finance is built for: the lender pays the supplier, and the machines secure the loan.

To make it smooth:

• Get an itemised quote. Each reformer, tower or chair listed separately, with the supplier’s ABN, plus delivery and installation.
• Ask about used or ex-demo machines. Reputable dealers’ stock can often be financed too.
• Match the term to the machine’s working life. Springs, ropes and upholstery wear; frames last longer.
• Talk to your accountant about tax. The ATO’s instant asset write-off lets eligible small businesses deduct eligible assets costing less than $20,000 each. Whether your machines qualify depends on how they’re priced and your turnover.

Got reformer quotes on the desk and a lease in front of you? Check your options in about a minute — enquiring won’t leave a mark on your credit file.

And the fit-out?

Built works — flooring, mirrors, air-conditioning, acoustic treatment, amenities — can’t secure themselves the way machines can. They usually come from a mix of:

• Your own contribution. Lenders want to see you’ve got skin in the game.
• A landlord fit-out contribution or rent-free period. Negotiate it before you sign; it’s usually paid after the works. Our guide to landlord fit-out contributions explains how to fund the wait.
• A property-secured loan if you or a director owns property. These run from $20k to $5m, with $20k to $250k possible same day.
• An unsecured loan or line of credit if you already run a trading business — say you’ve been teaching mat classes or running a mobile studio. Unsecured, cash flow and line-of-credit options typically run from $5k to $500k, sized on turnover and bank statements.

Our fit-out finance page walks through each option in more detail.

The costs new studio owners forget

These are small next to the build, but they all land in the last few weeks before opening — exactly when cash is tightest.

Music licence. If you play copyright music in classes or reception, you’ll generally need a licence. The government’s ABLIS licence finder lists the OneMusic fitness centre and instructor licence for “Yoga, Pilates, or barre studios”. Fees depend on how you use music and can be paid monthly or annually.

Instructors — and how you engage them. Many studios start with instructors on contracts. But the ATO’s employee or contractor guidance says it looks at the whole working relationship, not the label. An instructor teaching your timetable, on your reformers, in your uniform, looks a lot like an employee. If they’re employees, the Fitness Industry Award is likely to set their minimum pay and penalty rates.

Super on every pay run. Payday Super started on 1 July 2026. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s Payday Super summary explains the change; the ATO says contributions must reach the fund within 7 business days after payday, with 20 business days allowed for a new employee’s first contribution. No more saving it up for the quarter. Our guide to hiring your first employee covers the other on-costs.

Instructor training on your equipment. Even qualified instructors need time on your specific machines and class format — usually paid time before opening.

Intro offers. Free or discounted first classes fill the room but don’t fill the bank account. Budget for a few weeks of low yield.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only: A pilates instructor in Brisbane has been teaching at other studios for six years and has a waitlist of clients asking when she’ll open her own. She finds a ground-floor tenancy and negotiates three months rent-free starting from opening day.

She runs a founding-member campaign — 12-month memberships with a launch discount. Knowing the Queensland rules, her solicitor holds the presale money in trust, and she doesn’t count it in her build budget. The reformers and towers go on equipment finance against an itemised supplier quote. The flooring, air-conditioning and acoustic work are funded with her savings and a loan secured on her investment unit. When the studio opens and the cooling-off periods pass, the founding-member money is released — and it covers a solid chunk of the first months’ wages and super while the timetable fills.

Same studio, same costs. What changed was the order she planned the money in.

Your pre-opening money checklist

• Council has confirmed fitness use is permitted at the site
• A builder has checked floor load, air-conditioning and acoustics
• Any fit-out contribution or rent-free period is in writing, with dates
• Reformer quote is itemised, with a delivery date that suits the build
• Your presale plan follows your state’s fair trading rules — and isn’t in the build budget
• Music licence, insurance and booking software are costed
• You know whether instructors are employees or contractors, and super is set up for every payday
• You’ve got at least a few months of rent, wages and repayments covered after opening

See our gym and fitness studio finance page for growing once you’re open, and opening a business for the broader picture.

Ready to open your studio? Let’s line up the money

You’ve done the hard part already — the teaching hours, the clients who keep asking, the site you can’t stop thinking about. What’s left is making sure the money arrives in the right order: the reformer deposit, the shopfitter’s progress claims, the first pay runs while the founding-member money sits in trust.

That’s the kind of opening plan we help with every week. Starting takes about 60 seconds, and asking the question won’t affect your credit score — there’s no credit check when you first enquire. Your details aren’t sent to a pile of lenders, so you won’t be fielding calls from strangers. A real person reads what you’ve told us about your studio and rings you to talk it through.

Please fill in the form accurately — the reformer quote, the fit-out estimate, your opening date and any property you own. The clearer the picture, the faster we can match the right option first time.

Find out where your studio stands →