New in OpenChair: client forms, cancellation controls and colour mixing | 1–14 September 2026

We’ve reorganised Forms in OpenChair so hair salons and beauty studios can see what the client has completed and what still needs a staff response. This fortnight’s update also brings clearer cancellation decisions and manual colour mixing on the web for Pro salons.

Keep client answers and staff records together#

On Pro, Forms now has two main views: Records and Templates. Records brings completed and in-progress forms together. Templates is where owners and managers create and manage the forms their team uses.

A client form is completed by the client. A staff record is completed by your team. You can use either on its own or link them in a consultation workflow, with the client’s part completed before the staff record begins.

For example, a lash and brow studio could ask the client about their previous appointment and what they would like to change. The artist can then record the consultation and agreed service in the staff stage. The client’s answers stay separate from the artist’s observations, while both belong to the same record.

The Records view shows which stage is in progress. That gives the next person opening the consultation a way to see what has been completed and what still needs attention.

We’ve also changed how published templates are preserved. When you update a template, existing records keep the version they started with. Adding a question for future colour consultations will not change the questions attached to a client’s earlier response.

At reception, staff can help fill in non-consent answers before choosing Hand to client. The client then reviews the answers and completes their own consent and signature fields in a separate client view. Your team still reviews the submitted information before proceeding with the service.

Review the cancellation and its payment outcome#

The updated cancellation screen asks who requested the cancellation and why, then shows the payment outcome under your configured policy. You can review those details before confirming the change.

This gives salon and barbershop teams more context than a cancelled appointment alone. The reason and the payment decision matter when another person picks up the client’s enquiry.

Refund exceptions also have a clearer handover. Suppose a colour client cancels and a staff member wants a manager to consider returning the deposit as an exception. The staff member can cancel the booking and request a full-refund decision, with a reason for the request.

The appointment is cancelled and the slot opens while the decision is pending. An authorised reviewer can approve the full refund or apply the configured policy. For these requests, the client message waits until the payment outcome is final. If nobody decides by the time shown, OpenChair applies the configured policy automatically.

The booking can therefore be removed from the diary without treating an unresolved refund request as a completed refund. Payment processing that is still pending remains visible separately from the cancellation.

Record each colour bowl and top-up with the appointment#

Manual colour mixing is now available in OpenChair’s web app for Pro salons with their mixing products set up. It adds measured quantities to the colour record, so the next visit can start with more than a formula written in a note.

Open the client’s appointment and its Colour section. Start a colour record, enter the formula and save it. When you choose Mix this formula, match the ingredients to products in your salon catalogue and review the target grams.

Use your scale to weigh the products, then enter the readings manually. Each bowl has its own record, including the ingredients and quantities entered for that mix.

If you prepare a roots bowl and need more halfway through the service, record the extra as a separate top-up. The first bowl remains as it was recorded. You can then review the original mix and the additional amount together, rather than changing the first bowl to include both.

An owner or manager sets up the catalogue products for mixing, including pack weights and costs where known. OpenChair uses those details and the recorded grams to calculate ingredient costs. Missing quantities or costs stay visible. The total covers recorded ingredients, not labour, overheads or the service’s profit.

When the client returns, open their previous colour records to review the formula, bowls and results. You can reuse a complete mix as targets for the new appointment, then enter fresh measurements as you work.

Colourists use their own venue team account for this work, rather than the shared front-desk workstation. Follow the product manufacturer’s mixing and application instructions.

The colour management overview explains how formulas, manual measurements and visit history fit together.

Book an OpenChair walkthrough to see how client forms, booking decisions and colour records would fit your salon.