Creating a Booking

Book an appointment for a customer by selecting services, choosing a staff member and time slot, and adding the client's details.

TL;DR

• Create bookings with N or Cmd+K (web), the floating action button (mobile), or by tapping an empty calendar slot
• Walk-in clients without contact details do not receive booking confirmations
• Recurring series repeat the complete Runbook in the same visible order
• Keep the main service in the Runbook; add-ons can appear before or after it without becoming the primary service

Overview

Creating a booking lets you:

• Select one or more services and any optional or required booking options for the appointment
• Assign a specific staff member or let the system find any available team member
• Pick a date and time from available slots
• Search for an existing client or enter a walk-in name
• Add internal notes visible only to your team
• Set up a recurring series for repeat appointments
• Send an automatic confirmation to the customer via SMS or email

Opening the Booking Form

On Web

There are several ways to start a new booking:

• Press the N key on your keyboard
• Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows)
• Click the "New Booking" button on the calendar page
• Click an empty time slot on the calendar (pre-fills the date and time)
• In Day, 3-Day, or Week view, hover the narrow rail beside a solo booking or open the booking menu and select "New overlapping booking" to start an intentional double-booking

The booking form opens as a panel on the right side of the screen.

On Mobile

• Tap the floating action button (bottom-right) and select "New booking"
• Tap a recent client avatar on the Today or Schedule screen (pre-fills the client)

The booking form opens as a full-screen view.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Select Services

Choose the services for this appointment.

1. Under Service, browse the list grouped by category
2. Tap or click a service to select it, you can select multiple services
3. The total duration and price update automatically as you add services

Your choices appear in the Runbook. A combo stays one group with its configured services and phases nested inside it. On web, use the drag handles to change the order. On native phone and tablet, use Earlier and Later. The order shown is the order used to check availability and create the booking; services inside a combo keep their configured order, resolve for the assigned stylist, then receive the combo's configured saving proportionally. Use the contextual Remove action on a runbook item to remove it.

The native phone and tablet booking footer remains fixed below the scrollable service catalogue, so Find available times stays reachable after you make a valid selection.

If the venue has at least 6 services and combos in total, a search field appears with the placeholder "Search services and combos...". Search matches both combo names and their included services.

Each standalone service shows its name, duration, and price. The footer states the next outcome, such as "Ready to find available times", alongside the visit duration and price.

Step 2: Choose Booking Options

If any selected service has linked booking options, a "Booking options" section appears below the services.

1. Select any optional services to include
2. Choose any required options before selecting a time
3. Each option shows its additional price and duration (e.g., "+$25.00 · +15 min")

Booking options are added to the total duration and price of the booking.

If a service has a required option choice, such as exactly one finish for a colour service, choose that option before selecting a time.

Step 3: Choose a Staff Member

Select who will perform the service.

On web:

• Click a specific staff member's name, or select "Any" to let the system assign an available team member

On mobile:

• Tap the staff chip at the top of the screen (defaults to "Any staff")
• Select a specific team member or leave it as "Any staff"

Only staff members who are assigned to the selected services and available on the chosen date appear as options.

Step 4: Pick a Date

On web:

• A horizontal date strip shows the next 90 days
• Dates with available slots show an availability indicator
• Click a date to select it, or use the scroll arrows to navigate

On mobile:

• The current date appears in the context bar at the top (e.g., "Today" or "Mon, 22 Mar")
• Tap the date to open a calendar picker, or use the left and right arrows to step through days

Step 5: Choose a Time Slot

Available time slots appear in a grid after you select a date.

1. Time slots are shown in 15-minute intervals during business hours
2. Click or tap a slot to select it, the selected slot is highlighted
3. On web, occupied times appear under "Double-book" and can be selected when you intentionally need an overlapping booking. Review the warning before creating it. Hard staff, location, and resource conflicts still cannot be overridden.

On web, you can toggle "Show all times" to see slots outside business hours.

If no slots are available on the selected date, you see "No available slots on this date." On mobile, tap "Find next available day" to jump forward.

Step 6: Add the Client

Enter the customer for this booking.

Searching for an existing client:

1. Start typing a name, email, or phone number in the client field
2. Matching clients appear in a dropdown
3. Select the client to populate their details

Walk-in or new client:

1. Type the client's name
2. If no match is found, the form offers "Use '[name]' as walk-in" (web) or uses the name directly (mobile)
3. Optionally expand "Add phone or email" to enter contact details

A phone number or email address is needed for OpenChair to send the customer a booking confirmation. If neither is provided, no confirmation is sent.

If you enter a phone number or email that matches an existing client, a duplicate warning appears with the option to "Use existing client" (web) or "Use existing" (mobile) to link the booking to their profile.

Step 7: Add Notes (Optional)

Expand the Notes section and enter any internal notes for the appointment (e.g., "Prefers quiet area" or "Allergic to latex"). Notes are visible only to your team, not to the customer.

On web, the notes section is inside the collapsible "Notes, duration override & recurrence" area.

On mobile, tap Notes (labelled "Optional") to expand the text field.

Step 8: Override Duration (Optional, Web Only)

If the appointment will take longer or shorter than the default service duration, enter a custom value in the "Duration override (minutes)" field inside the collapsible section. This overrides the calculated total without changing your service settings.

Step 9: Create the Booking

Review the Services, Schedule, and Client cards. The footer confirms when the booking is ready to create.

• If all required fields are complete, click or tap "Create Booking"
• If creating a recurring series, the button reads "Create Series"
• While submitting, the button shows "Creating..."

If a required field is missing, the button shows what is needed (e.g., "Select a service", "Choose a time", or "Add a client"). On mobile, tapping the disabled button scrolls to the missing field.

Walk-in (no booking)

For ad-hoc charges with no appointment, where a customer walks in, gets a service, and pays, use Counter sale instead of creating a booking first. Service-mode Counter sale auto-creates a completed booking on charge so utilisation stays accurate.

For customer-driven self-service walk-ins (they tap a QR code, pick a service and stylist, join your live queue), see Walk-in Check-in.

Setting Up a Recurring Series

To schedule a series of repeat appointments:

1. Complete steps 1 to 6 above (select a service, staff, time, and client)
2. Toggle "Recurring appointment" on
3. Choose how often the appointment repeats:

• Preset intervals: Weekly, Fortnightly, Every 3 weeks, Every 4 weeks, Every 6 weeks, Every 8 weeks, Every 12 weeks
• Or select Custom and enter a number of weeks (1 to 52)

4. Choose when the series ends:

• After N appointments: set the number (2 to 52)
• By date: pick an end date (up to 52 weeks out)

5. The preview text shows how many appointments will be created and when the next one falls

On mobile, the interval options appear as horizontal scroll buttons: 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and Custom.

If the customer has previous booking history and your venue has a PRO subscription, the system may suggest an interval based on their visit pattern (e.g., "History suggests fortnightly" on web, or "Suggested based on visit history" on mobile).

Recurring series can repeat one standalone staff-led primary service plus its selected add-ons. Every occurrence preserves the complete visible Runbook order, even when an add-on appears before the primary service.

Web and mobile both prevent recurrence when a service combo or more than one standalone primary service is selected. Resource-only bookings cannot recur on either platform, and mobile also blocks age-restricted recurring bookings.

After creating a series, if any appointments in the series have a time conflict with existing bookings, a warning appears with the number of flagged appointments. Review these on the calendar and reassign if needed.

What Happens After Creating a Booking

After you tap or click "Create Booking" or "Create Series":

• A confirmation toast appears: "Booking created , [services] for [client name]" (single booking) or "Recurring series created ([N] appointments)" (series)
• The booking appears on the calendar immediately
• If the customer has an email address or phone number, a confirmation SMS or email is sent automatically or queued according to Customer update timing
• A notification is created for the venue: "New Booking" with the client name and services

If your venue delays team-triggered customer updates, the success toast says Booking created for [client name] - confirmation sending in [delay] and includes Send now. The booking is already confirmed on the calendar; only the customer message is pending.

Web vs Mobile

Feature	Web	Mobile
Open booking form	N key, Cmd+K, "New Booking" button, click calendar slot	Floating action button, recent client tap
Service search	Available when many services	Shown when 6+ services
Runbook order	Drag combo groups, services, and add-ons	Use Earlier/Later for combo groups, services, and add-ons
Staff selection	Inline in form ("Any" option)	Context bar chip at top
Date selection	Horizontal date strip (90 days)	Date navigator with arrows + calendar picker
Time display	Grid with "Show all times" toggle	Grid of tappable slots
Duration override	Yes (collapsible section)	Not available
Recurrence intervals	Dropdown menu	Horizontal scroll buttons
Recurring eligibility	One standalone staff-led primary service plus add-ons; no combos or resource-only bookings	Same, with age-restricted recurrence also blocked
Portfolio pre-auth	Checkbox in form	Toggle switch
Offline queueing	Not available	Bookings queued if offline, synced when reconnected

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
No time slots showing for the selected date	The staff member may be fully booked, off-roster, or outside operating hours. Try selecting a different date or choosing "Any" / "Any staff" to see all available team members.
I need to intentionally overlap another booking	On web, select an occupied time under "Double-book", use the narrow quick-create rail beside a solo booking, or open the booking menu and select "New overlapping booking". Confirm the overlap warning before creating the booking.
A service is not appearing in the list	Check that the service is active in your service menu and assigned to at least one staff member. Go to Services in the sidebar to verify.
"Time overlaps with existing booking" warning	The selected time slot conflicts with another booking for that staff member. Choose a different time or a different staff member.
Cannot tap "Create Booking", button says "Select a service"	You must select at least one service before creating a booking. Scroll up to the Service section and tap a service.
Customer not receiving confirmation SMS or email	The customer must have a phone number or email address saved on the booking. Walk-in bookings with only a name do not receive confirmations. Edit the booking to add contact details.
Confirmation has not arrived yet	Check whether Customer update timing delayed the message. Open the booking detail and look for the Customer update row.
"Failed to create booking" error	Check your internet connection and try again. If the error persists, refresh the page or restart the app.

FAQ

How do I create a new booking?

Press N on web (or Cmd+K / Ctrl+K), tap the floating action button on mobile, or click any empty time slot on the calendar. Select a service, staff member, date, time, and client, then click Create Booking.

Can I book for a walk-in customer?

Yes. Type the customer's name in the client field, if no match is found, the form offers "Use '[name]' as walk-in". Optionally add a phone number or email so the customer receives a confirmation. Walk-ins with only a name do not receive confirmations.

How do I set up a recurring appointment?

Toggle "Recurring appointment" on in the booking form after selecting a service, staff, date, time, and client. Choose an interval (weekly to every 12 weeks, or a custom number of weeks), then set an end condition, after N appointments or by a specific date.

Why are no time slots showing for my selected date?

The staff member may be fully booked, off-roster, or outside their operating hours on that date. Try selecting "Any" / "Any staff" to see all available team members, or choose a different date and tap "Find next available day". On web, occupied times that are eligible for an intentional overlap appear separately under "Double-book".

Related Articles

• Using the Calendar
• Recurring Bookings (Series)
• Booking Inspector & Quick Actions
• Delayed Booking Confirmations
• Calendar Views
• Deposits
• Managing Services