CRM or Excel for a learning centre in Uzbekistan: when do you need a CRM, and what must it do?
Short answer. One branch, one administrator, cash only: Excel is enough. Several people editing the sheet, a second branch or Click and Payme payments mean a CRM, as do two of: debt errors, lost requests, missing consent (our reading). In Uzbekistan a CRM should keep branches in one database and help you comply: receipts, parents' consent, SMS advertising kept apart from reminders.
When to leave Excel: six signals
We set no threshold by the number of learners: a centre with 30 learners and one with 300 can both run on Excel. What decides it is how many people write into the sheet, how many branches you have and how many ways the money comes in (our reading).
- Two or more people write into the sheet (administrator, cashier, manager): nobody can see who changed what and when, and copies of the file drift apart.
- A second branch is opening: each branch has its own file, and the month's figures are put together by hand.
- Some parents pay through Click, Payme or by card, and someone checks the payment app against the sheet every day.
- You no longer trust the debtors list: a reminder went to a parent who had already paid.
- Requests stay in Instagram and Telegram: when the administrator leaves, they leave too.
- Some learners are under 18 (children's groups, teenagers preparing for IELTS), but you cannot show where the parents' consent and the consent to advertising messages are kept.
With any one of the first three signals, or two of the other three, it is time to move to a CRM: with Excel the time goes into reconciling, the mistakes into your relations with parents (our reading).
In Excel and in a CRM: task by task
| Task | In Excel | In a CRM (what the system should do) |
|---|---|---|
| Who changed what | not visible; if two people open the file, the copies drift | each record keeps its author and date |
| Branches | one file per branch; put together by hand at month's end | one database; an administrator sees only their branch, the director sees all |
| Click, Payme, card | checked against the payment app by hand | the payment is linked to the learner; with a payment-system link it arrives by itself |
| Receipt | the receipt number not recorded, or kept somewhere else | the receipt's number or link next to the payment |
| Debt and reminders | a formula; one error and a reminder goes to a parent who paid | debt is calculated from payments; reminders go to debtors only |
| SMS and consent | a consent column filled in by hand | the date and form of consent kept; no advertising to a contact without it |
| Requests | on the administrator's phone | each request in the database with its source: request → trial lesson → learner |
| Teachers' pay | worked out from attendance by hand | calculated from attendance |
What a CRM must be able to do in Uzbekistan
The duties in points 3–6 are the centre's, whatever tool it uses; a CRM should make them easier to meet. Points 1, 2, 7 and 8 are not legal requirements but our advice.
- Branches in one database: each branch administrator sees their branch, the director sees all. A learner who moves to another branch takes the payment history along.
- Every payment linked to a learner: cash, card, Click, Payme; part payments, discounts and refunds too.
- The receipt. A centre that has moved to an online cash register or a virtual cash register must give a fiscal receipt also for payments taken through a payment terminal (by card) and for on-the-spot services paid through electronic payment systems (Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 943, annex 1, point 6). Giving the receipt is the centre's job, not the CRM's. With the receipt's number or link next to each payment, you can see which payment has no receipt (our reading).
- Parents' consent. For processing a minor's data, the parents give consent in writing, including as an electronic document (Law on Personal Data, article 21). Keep in the CRM who gave consent and when (our reading).
- SMS: reminders apart, advertising only with consent. From 1 November 2026, SMS advertising over mobile networks needs the person's written or electronic consent, and advertising calls and messages over mobile networks are banned from 18.00 to 09.00 (Presidential resolution PQ-265, point 11). Whether a payment reminder counts as advertising, the resolution does not say; sending reminders and offers separately is the safer course (our reading).
- Data for the ministry's system. A centre must enter accurate data on the organisation, its learners, its teachers and the learning process into the ministry's information system (Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 88, annex 6, item 9 «g»). With that data in one place in the CRM, entering it is easier.
- Requests in one place: website, Instagram, Telegram → trial lesson → learner, with nothing typed twice.
- Your data can leave: learners, payment history and attendance export to Excel. Where data may be stored: see Personal data: the law.
How to ask a vendor about each point and test it in a ten-minute demo: our article CRM for a learning centre: 8 criteria (in Russian). The public offer and which receipt each payment route needs: The public offer and the receipt for Click and Payme payments (in Russian).
What the law says
The law does not require a centre to use a CRM; the rules below apply just as much when the centre works in Excel.
- Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 943 of 23 November 2019 (online cash registers and the virtual cash register), the Regulation (annex 1): it applies to all legal entities and individual and family entrepreneurs taking payments from the public (point 1); a business that has moved to an online or virtual cash register must also give that register's fiscal receipt for payments taken through a payment terminal and for goods and services bought on the spot and paid through electronic payment systems (point 6, as worded by resolution No. 23 of 23 January 2026; our translation). The resolution changed several times in 2026. Which receipt each payment route needs: The public offer and the receipt for Click and Payme payments (in Russian). lex.uz/docs/-4603329 (official text in Uzbek)
- Law on Personal Data (ZRU-547), article 21: for minors, the parents (guardians, custodians) give consent in writing, including as an electronic document. Other forms of consent, and where data may be stored: Personal data: the law. lex.uz/docs/-4396419 (official text in Uzbek)
- Law on Advertising (ZRU-776), article 30: advertising while providing telecommunication services is allowed only with the subscriber's prior consent. lex.uz/docs/-6052631 (official text in Uzbek; Russian: lex.uz/docs/6052633)
- Presidential resolution PQ-265 of 15 July 2026, point 11, from 1 November 2026: SMS advertising over mobile networks only after the person's written or electronic consent; advertising calls and messages over mobile networks are banned from 18.00 to 09.00. lex.uz/docs/-8329406 (official text in Uzbek; Russian: lex.uz/docs/8329412)
- Annex 6 to the Unified Regulation approved by Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 88 of 25 February 2022, the «passport of supplementary-education activity», item 9: «g» — ensure accurate and reliable entry of data on the organisation, learners, teaching staff and the learning process into the ministry's information system; «d» — relations with learners are based on a contract. lex.uz/docs/-5877863 (official text in Uzbek)
Checked: 26 October 2026.
Example: Innovative Centre
Innovative Centre, an Avada project: a CRM for the whole centre. The project page says: "3 600+ students and 331 study groups in one CRM".
The "CRM for a learning centre" card on the Demos page is for learning and language centres, with several branches too. It shows: a request by link becomes a lead by itself, a lead becomes a student; groups, rooms and the week's timetable, each teacher's own timetable; monthly payments, debts and the cashier's page. Not yet: marking "came / did not come" in a lesson; leads straight from Instagram messages (for now only through the form's link). Click, Payme, receipts, SMS and a per-branch view are not on the card: write and ask us. The demo runs on invented data.
Questions and answers
What is the best CRM for a learning centre in Uzbekistan? There is no single best one. First decide whether you need one: several people editing the sheet, a second branch or Click and Payme payments mean a CRM, as do two of: debt errors, lost requests, missing consent (our reading). There are three kinds: an off-the-shelf CRM for learning centres (by subscription), a general CRM set up for a centre (Bitrix24 or amoCRM, for example), and a system built for the centre. Which is better depends on your working day: branches, payment routes, receipts, SMS and requests. The criteria and the demo tests: CRM for a learning centre: 8 criteria (in Russian).
Is a CRM for a language school any different? The core is the same: groups, timetable, payments, attendance. A language school adds groups by level, placement tests and mock exams; on IELTS-format mock exams, see Exams online and in the classroom. The interface and messages to parents should be in Uzbek and Russian.
What must a CRM do for a network of centres with branches? All branches in one database; each administrator sees only their branch and its till; the director sees the branches' takings and debts side by side; a learner moves between branches with their payment history. With branches in separate files or accounts, the month's figures are put together by hand. How to ask a vendor and test it in a demo: CRM for a learning centre: 8 criteria, criterion 1 (in Russian).
Is the answer the same for a centre in Kazakhstan or elsewhere in Central Asia? The signals for leaving Excel, yes: they do not depend on the country. The law, no: the receipt, consent and SMS rules on this page are Uzbekistan's only. In another country, check that country's law separately.
Does the law require a CRM? No. The law requires a receipt, parents' consent, consent to advertising messages, data in the ministry's system and a contract with each learner, even if you work in Excel. A CRM makes these easier to do and to show.
If we move to a CRM, do we drop Excel? Not necessarily. Today's sheets (learners, groups, debts) are moved into the CRM, and Excel stays beside it for reports and exports. When choosing, check that all the data can be exported to Excel at any time.