Headcount Buddy

An SMS helper for amateur sports teams.

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Sharing Payment Info

Headcount Buddy helps you get payment instructions to the right people — fast, without you having to copy-paste handles into individual texts. It does not process money, calculate splits, track who has paid, or hold any funds. Think of it as your assistant passing along your “here’s who owes what and where to send it” message so you don’t have to.


How it works in plain English

After an event wraps up, your assistant can text every confirmed attendee the payment details you’ve set up — your Venmo or Zelle handle, the amount owed, whatever you want to say. You approve the list before anything goes out. Players who haven’t consented to SMS, and whoever is collecting the money, are automatically skipped.


Setting up your payment details

As an organizer: set your team’s default payment info

You only have to do this once per team. After that it applies to every event unless you override it for a specific game.

What you owe per person:

You: Court fee is $8 per person, we split the reservation cost

Headcount Buddy: Got it — I’ve saved that as your team’s default payment note. I’ll include it whenever I relay payment info after a game.

Where to send the money (if you want to override your saved handles):

You: For payment, tell them Venmo @carlos-tennis or Zelle at carlos@email.com

Headcount Buddy: Saved. I’ll use those as the default “where to send” for your team’s payment messages.

If you don’t set a custom “where to send,” the assistant automatically pulls your Venmo and Zelle handles from your profile — so you never have to repeat yourself.

As an organizer: save your Venmo or Zelle to your profile

You: My Venmo is @carlos-tennis

Headcount Buddy: Done — I’ve saved @carlos-tennis as your Venmo handle. I’ll include it automatically when relaying payment info.

You: My Zelle is 786-555-0101

Headcount Buddy: Saved your Zelle number. I’ll use that too when sending payment instructions to your players.

As a player: save your own handles

Even if you’re not an organizer, you can save your own Venmo or Zelle to your profile.

You: My Venmo is @jordan-plays

Headcount Buddy: Got it — saved your Venmo handle.


Overriding payment details for a single event

Maybe this Saturday’s game has a different cost, or you want cash only. You can set a one-time override for any event without changing your team defaults.

Different amount:

You: For Saturday’s match, it’s $20 instead of the usual $15 — we booked an extra court

Headcount Buddy: Got it — I’ll use $20 for Saturday only. Your team default stays at $15 for everything else.

Different payment method:

You: Saturday is cash only — pay me at the courts

Headcount Buddy: Noted. I’ll tell players to pay you cash at the courts for Saturday’s event.

Changing who collects:

You: Actually, Steven is collecting for Saturday, not me

Headcount Buddy: Got it — I’ll relay payment instructions to everyone except Steven, and they’ll know to pay him.


Turning payment relay off for an event

If you’ve already handled it, or you just don’t want the assistant to send anything for a particular game:

You: No payment relay for Thursday — we handled it in the group chat already

Headcount Buddy: Got it, I won’t send any payment messages for Thursday’s event.

If you reply “skip,” “we’re good,” or anything to that effect when your assistant asks about payment, it’ll record that and won’t bring it up again for that event.

If your team never collects fees, just say so once:

You: We don’t collect fees — no need to do any of this payment stuff

Headcount Buddy: No problem — I won’t offer to relay payment info for this team.


Relaying payment instructions to your players

After an event, your assistant will check in with you before sending anything to anyone.

Your assistant reaches out first:

Headcount Buddy: Sunday’s practice is done — want me to send payment instructions to the 6 players who showed up? The message would include your $8/person note and your Venmo @carlos-tennis. Here’s who’s on the list: • Maya (confirmed) • Devon (confirmed) • Priya (confirmed) • Sam (confirmed) • Jordan (confirmed) • Reese (confirmed)

Good to go, or any changes?

You confirm (or adjust) and it sends:

You: Good to go — but Jordan already paid me in cash, take them off

Headcount Buddy: Got it — sending to Maya, Devon, Priya, Sam, and Reese now.

Each of those players then receives a message like:

Headcount Buddy → Maya: Hey Maya — Carlos asked me to pass along: Court fee is $8 per person. You can send it to Venmo @carlos-tennis or Zelle 786-555-0101. Thanks!

Players who haven’t consented to SMS are automatically skipped — the assistant will let you know exactly which names were left out so you can follow up with them directly.

Relaying to a guest from another team you organize:

If you organize more than one team, you can also include a guest who is rostered on one of your other teams. Just let the assistant know, and it will reach them using their account.


If you don’t respond right away

Your assistant will send a brief follow-up if you haven’t acted on the payment confirmation yet. If you’re all set, just say so and it’ll stop.

Headcount Buddy: Just a nudge — haven’t heard back about sending Sunday’s payment info. Want me to send it, or are you all set?

You: We’re all set, thanks

Headcount Buddy: Got it — I won’t send anything for that event.


Quick-reference: what the assistant handles vs. what stays with you

The assistant handles Stays with you
Relaying your payment instructions to confirmed players Deciding what to charge
Including your Venmo / Zelle automatically Following up with players who haven’t paid
Confirming the attendee list with you before sending Handling disputes or partial payments
Skipping the collector and players without SMS consent Tracking who has actually paid
One-time overrides for amount or method Any actual money movement

Need help getting set up?

Email us at help@headcountbuddy.com and we’ll get you sorted.