How a syndicate shares its costs
How the running costs of a shared aircraft split across the owners: the hourly rate, the standing charge, the reserve fund, and a share statement nobody argues with.
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The question every syndicate has is the same: how do the costs get split so a month ends without an argument? In FlyerOS the answer is not a spreadsheet someone maintains on Sunday nights. Costs share out from what the aircraft actually did, and each owner gets a statement they can check.
Two kinds of cost
Most syndicates run two charges side by side:
- An hourly rate, charged on the hours actually flown. Whoever flies more pays more, which is exactly how a shared cost should fall. The rate is charged as each flight closes out, using the hours recorded at close-out.
- A standing charge, a fixed amount each period for the costs that do not depend on flying: insurance, hangarage, the annual, and the FlyerOS subscription. It is split however the group agrees, usually evenly across the owners or by share.
You set both to match how your group actually works, and FlyerOS applies them without anyone re-keying anything.
The reserve fund
The costs you know are coming but have not arrived yet, the engine overhaul, the propeller, the next ARC, are handled by a reserve fund. You set a rate per hour, and every flight that closes out puts money aside at that rate, so the fund grows with use. When the bill lands, you record a drawdown against the fund. See reserve funds for how the engine assessment keeps the balance honest.
The share statement
At the end of a period each owner gets a statement: the hours they flew and what that cost, their share of the standing charge, what went into the reserve, and where their balance stands. Because it is built from the flights and charges the system already holds, the figures match the flying, and there is nothing for one owner to dispute with another. See member balances and top-ups.
What it costs to run on FlyerOS
FlyerOS is priced per aircraft, not per person. A one-aircraft syndicate is on the Core rate: £25 per aircraft a month billed annually, which is £300 a year, or £60 each across five owners. Members are unlimited, so it costs the same whether four people share the aeroplane or eight, and there is no minimum. That number tends to settle the "is this worth it?" question on its own.
How a month ends
Nothing is assembled by hand. Costs share out from the hours recorded at close-out, the statements generate for the period, and you export a clean file for whoever keeps the group's books. VAT is carried correctly where it applies, so a shared cost does not arrive looking like a taxable sale. See cost sharing and VAT.