Why Google Forms is insufficient for event management (and Payit is)

If you organise events, school activities or association parties, you're probably familiar with Google Forms. It's free, simple and everyone knows it. But here's the problem: Google Forms was never designed for event management.

Many organisations still use Google Forms for registrations, only to end up manually:

• Checking payments via bank transfers
• Maintaining Excel lists of who has and hasn't paid
• Sending reminder emails to late payers
• Spending hours on admin afterwards

Does this sound familiar? Then it's time to take the next step.

The fundamental difference: Registering ≠ Paying

Google Forms stops at the registration. The moment someone clicks "submit", your administrative nightmare truly begins. Payit, on the other hand, combines registration and payment in one seamless flow.

What Google Forms does:

✓ Create registration forms
✓ Collect answers in a spreadsheet
✗ Handle payments
✗ Track payment status
✗ Send automatic reminders
✗ Real-time financial overview

What Payit does:

✓ Create registration forms
✓ Instant online payment (Bancontact, credit card, etc.)
✓ Automatic payment checking - no more manual reconciliation
✓ Real-time overview of registrations and revenue
✓ Export to Excel with all data structured
✓ Multiple team members can follow along
✓ Generate QR codes for easy access

The hidden cost of Google Forms

Google Forms is free, but what does it cost you in time?
Scenario: A school trip with 120 pupils

With Google Forms:

• Creating the form: 30 minutes
• Collecting registrations: ongoing
• Creating an Excel list for payments: 45 minutes
• Checking bank statements weekly: 2 hours × 4 weeks = 8 hours
• Contacting late payers: 3 hours
• Matching payments with names: 2 hours
• Total: at least 14 hours of admin

With Payit:

• Creating the event with payment: 20 minutes
• Real-time follow-up: 0 hours (automatic)
• Payment checking: 0 hours (automatic)
• Reminders: 0 hours (automatic)
• Total: 20 minutes

You save more than 13 hours of admin. At an hourly rate of €25, that's €325 saved in time. Payit's small transaction fee pays for itself in no time.

5 concrete situations where Google Forms falls short

1. The "paid-but-wrong-reference" chaos
   With Google Forms you get transfers without names, with wrong amounts, or with unclear references. You end up playing detective to figure out who paid what.
   Payit solution: Every payment is automatically linked to the right registration. Impossible to get wrong.
2. The "who-still-has-to-pay" mystery
   You constantly have to check your banking app and cross-reference it with your Google Forms spreadsheet.
   Payit solution: One dashboard with real-time status: paid (green) or unpaid (red). Done.
3. The pre-financing of events
   When selling meals, pancakes or T-shirts, you often have to pre-finance them yourself. Ordering without knowing whether people will actually pay.
   Payit solution: People pay immediately when ordering. You know exactly how much to order without financial risk.
4. The last-minute chaos
   One day before the event you still don't know exactly who's coming because payments are still in transit.
   Payit solution: Real-time exact figures. You always know exactly where you stand.
5. The double work
   Google Forms for registrations + Excel for payments + email for reminders + WhatsApp for updates = 4 different systems.
   Payit solution: Everything in one platform. From registration to payout.

"But Google Forms is free..."
Let's be honest about the costs:

Google Forms:

• €0 in software costs
• About €300-500 in time investment (for an average event)
• Risk of mistakes and missed payments
• Stress and frustration (priceless)

Payit:

• Free account
• Small transaction fee per payment (3% with a minimum of €0.49)
• 90% time savings
• Zero stress about payments
• A professional image

For an event with €2,000 in revenue, you'll pay around €40-50 in transaction fees with Payit. That saves you at least 10-15 hours of admin. It's a no-brainer.

What customers say

"Since we started using Payit, all we have to do is post the link with the available meals in WhatsApp each week. Customers can place their own order and pay immediately, which minimises our margin for error and means we no longer have to pre-finance anything. It saves us at least half the time."
— Aaron Vanfleteren, Athos Training Center

"No more counting cash and keeping paper lists! Payit is a huge administrative simplification for our teachers and office staff."
— Sebastiaan Leenaert, Principal, Sint-Jozef Roeselare

Who is Payit the better choice for?

Payit is ideal if you are:

• Schools – school trips, meal days, events
• Associations & non-profits – membership fees, activities, fundraising
• Sports clubs – tournaments, training camps, merchandise sales
• Businesses – team-building, training sessions, events

Actually, anyone who does more than just collect information. When money is involved, Payit is the logical choice.

Google Forms vs. Payit: The verdict

Ready to take the step?

Google Forms is an excellent tool – for surveys. But for event management that involves payments, using it is like using a screwdriver to hammer in a nail. It works, but it's not what it was built for.

Payit describes itself as "Google Forms including online payment" – and that's exactly what it is. Everything Google Forms can do, plus the crucial feature you actually need: secure, automated payments.

Try Payit for free and experience the difference. Create your first event in less than 5 minutes and see how simple event management can be.