Bookings & Scheduling
Manage appointments, understand booking statuses, process payments, and handle customer bookings efficiently.
Overview
The Bookings feature in Receptioner provides a comprehensive calendar view where you can manage all your appointments. Bookings can be created by customers through your online booking page or manually by staff through the dashboard.
Key Components of a Booking
Each booking in Receptioner contains the following information:
- Customer — The client who made the booking
- Service — The service being booked (within a service group)
- Resource — The staff member assigned to perform the service
- Date & Time — When the appointment is scheduled
- Duration — How long the appointment will last
- Price — The cost of the service
- Status — The current state of the booking
- Payment Status — Whether the booking has been paid
- Notes — Any additional information about the booking
Booking Statuses
Every booking has a status that indicates its current state. Understanding these statuses helps you manage your appointments effectively.
| Status | Description | When It Occurs |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Booking is awaiting confirmation | When a customer books online and auto-confirm is disabled |
| Confirmed | Booking is confirmed and scheduled | After manual confirmation or when auto-confirm is enabled |
| Declined | Booking has been cancelled or rejected | When staff declines a booking with a reason |
| Unpaid Draft | Booking is awaiting payment to be finalized | When online payment is required but not yet completed |
Payment Statuses
Bookings also track payment status separately from the booking status. This allows you to confirm appointments while still tracking outstanding payments.
| Payment Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Not Paid | No payment has been received for this booking |
| Partially Paid | Some payment has been received, but the full amount is outstanding |
| Paid | The booking has been fully paid |
Payment status is automatically calculated based on all payments received for the booking, including gift voucher redemptions and any applied discounts.
Creating Bookings
Bookings can be created through two channels, each with slightly different behavior.
Online Bookings (Customer)
When customers book through your online booking page:
- The booking status depends on your auto-confirm setting
- If auto-confirm is enabled, the booking is immediately Confirmed
- If auto-confirm is disabled, the booking starts as Pending
- Customers can optionally select a specific staff member or let the system auto-assign
- Promo codes can be applied during the booking process
- Gift vouchers can be redeemed to pay for the booking
Dashboard Bookings (Staff)
When staff create bookings from the dashboard:
- Bookings are always created with Confirmed status
- Staff can select any available time slot and resource
- Customer information can be entered or selected from existing customers
- Price and duration can be customized
- Notes can be added for internal reference
- Service addons can be included
Select Date and Time
Click on an available slot in the calendar.
Navigate to the desired date in the calendar view and click on an empty time slot for the staff member you want to assign.
Choose Service
Select the service group and specific service.
Pick the service category (service group) and then the specific service the customer is booking. The duration and price will be pre-filled based on the service settings.
Select or Create Customer
Choose an existing customer or create a new one.
Search for an existing customer by name, email, or phone number. If the customer is new, you can create their profile during the booking process.
Confirm Booking
Review and save the booking.
Review all the booking details, add any notes if needed, and click save to create the booking. The customer will receive a confirmation notification.
Booking Actions
Once a booking is created, you can perform various actions depending on its current status. Click on any booking in the calendar to open the booking details and access these actions.
Confirm
Confirm a pending booking. This sends confirmation notifications to the customer and staff member.
Edit
Modify booking details including date, time, service, resource, duration, and price.
Decline
Cancel or reject a booking. You must provide a reason when declining.
Rebook
Create a new booking based on an existing one, pre-filling customer and service details.
Checkout
Process payment for the booking and update the payment status.
Apply Gift Voucher
Redeem a gift voucher to pay for all or part of the booking.
Send Notifications
Manually resend booking notifications to the customer and staff member.
Edit Notes
Add or update internal notes for the booking without modifying other details.
Decline Reasons
When declining a booking, you must select one of the following reasons:
| Reason | Description | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| No Show | Customer did not attend the appointment | Increments customer's no-show count |
| Client Rejected | Customer cancelled or requested cancellation | Standard decline, no penalty |
| Client Blacklisted | Customer is not allowed to book | Standard decline, no penalty |
| Other | Any other reason | Requires additional text explanation |
Group & Couple Bookings
Receptioner supports booking multiple appointments at the same time, perfect for couples or groups who want to be served simultaneously.
How Group Bookings Work
- Multiple bookings are created and linked together
- Each booking has its own customer and resource (staff member)
- All linked bookings share the same time slot
- Payment status is calculated across all linked bookings
- When one booking's payment status changes, all linked bookings are updated
Group bookings are marked with a special indicator in the calendar view, and you can see all linked bookings when viewing any booking in the group.
Notifications
Receptioner automatically sends notifications at key points in the booking lifecycle. Both email and SMS notifications are supported.
Automatic Notifications
| Event | Customer | Staff | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking Created (Pending) | |||
| Booking Confirmed | Email + SMS* | — | |
| Booking Declined | — | ||
| Booking Updated | Email* | Email* | — |
* SMS notifications require the SMS service to be enabled. Update notifications are only sent if auto-send is enabled in settings and the booking details (date, time, service, or resource) changed.
Manual Notifications
You can manually resend notifications for any booking using the "Send Notifications" action. This is useful if a customer didn't receive the original notification or needs a reminder.
Additional Features
Service Addons
Services can have optional addons that customers can select during booking. Addons are additional items or enhancements that complement the main service, such as aromatherapy for a massage or a conditioning treatment for a haircut.
Promo Codes
Customers can apply promo codes during the online booking process to receive discounts. The system validates the promo code and applies the discount to the booking price. Promo code usage is tracked for reporting purposes.
Gift Vouchers
Gift vouchers can be redeemed during booking or applied later through the dashboard. When a gift voucher is applied, its value is deducted from the booking price and the payment status is automatically recalculated.
After-Booking Breaks
You can configure automatic break time after bookings in your company settings. This adds buffer time after each appointment, giving staff time to prepare for the next client. Break times are rounded to 15-minute intervals.
Booking History
Every change to a booking is recorded in the booking history. This provides a complete audit trail showing when bookings were created, modified, confirmed, or declined, and by whom.
Form Submissions
When the Smart Forms feature is enabled, intake forms can be automatically sent to customers after their booking is confirmed. Completed form submissions are linked to the booking for easy reference.
Google Reserve Integration
Receptioner integrates with Reserve with Google, allowing customers to book directly from Google Search and Maps. These bookings are tracked with special metadata for conversion reporting.