Managing Your Services

Build your service menu, the catalogue of everything your venue offers, so customers can browse and book online, and your team knows exactly what each appointment involves.

Where to find it. Web: Sidebar → Services. Mobile: Services tab (or Service in navigation).

TL;DR

• The service menu is the catalogue your customers browse to book, manage it from Services in the sidebar
• Free accounts are limited to 5 active services: PRO removes this limit
• Deactivating a service hides it from customers without losing booking history; deleting is blocked if bookings exist
• Staff can only be booked for services they're assigned to, always assign team members to new services

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Overview

Your service menu lets you:

• Create services with a name, price, duration, category, and description
• Set fixed or range pricing ("from $110") for variable-cost services
• Assign staff to each service and optionally set per-staff pricing or duration overrides
• Link services as optional or required booking options for another service
• Group related alternatives into a collection or combine multiple services into a bookable combo with one customer-facing price
• Choose whether customers can book online, start a consultation, request a quote, or only see the service internally
• Organise the public menu with categories, move buttons, or drag and drop
• Add a minimum age and optional ID photo requirement for age-restricted services
• Deactivate services you no longer offer without losing booking history
• Import services from an existing booking platform
• Run an AI-powered menu audit to find duplicates and pricing issues (PRO)

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The services dashboard

The Services workspace opens on Service list. Use its three workspaces for different jobs:

• Service list: find, create and edit services, booking options and combos. Select services here for bulk updates.
• Public menu: arrange categories, services, Collections, featured entries and combos as customers see them.
• Prices & team: review assignments, staff-specific timing and prices, and the optional staff-level pricebook.

Use Current and Archived to move through the complete catalogue lifecycle. Restored items return hidden so you can review them before publishing.

Health indicators

A banner at the top flags potential issues:

• Missing descriptions: services without descriptions show poorly on your storefront
• No staff assigned: services that no team member is assigned to perform

Toolbar actions

Action	What it does
Search services	Find a service by name, description, Collection membership or related option
Row checkboxes	Select one or more services for an exact bulk update
Reorder menu	Stage a public-menu order using drag and drop or move buttons, then choose Apply order
More service creation	Add a booking option, Collection or combo, or import services
Add service	Create a standard service
Audit services (PRO)	Run an AI audit of your service menu

In Service list, filter by Services, Booking options, or Combos. Open Public menu to work with Collections and all customer-facing entries together. Category and text search preserve their state in the page address.

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Creating a service

Step 1: Open the create form

1. Go to Services in the sidebar.
2. Click Add Service.

Step 2: Fill in the core fields

Field	Required	Validation	Notes
Name	Yes	2 to 100 characters	What customers see when booking (e.g. "Full Balayage")
Category	No	-	Default: "General". Choose from built-in categories or type a custom name
Description	No	-	Storefront copy. Click Write with AI to generate from the service name
Price	Yes	Whole number, minimum $0	In your local currency. See Pricing options
Duration	Yes	15 to 480 minutes	How long the service takes

Step 3: Set delivery, timing and booking

Use Team & timing to choose whether a person or resource delivers the service, assign eligible team members, and add processing or cleanup phases. Use Booking to choose the customer path and attach optional or required booking choices.

Expand Advanced setup for less common requirements:

Setting	Default	What it does
Requires patch test	Off	Clients without a valid passed patch test are warned during booking and before the appointment
Requires consultation	Off	Blocks booking if the client hasn't had a prior consultation
Minimum age	No restriction	Requires customers to declare their date of birth during booking and lets staff verify ID at the chair
Require ID photo upload	Off	Asks customers to upload an ID photo for age-restricted services; only available after Minimum age is set
Smart Pricing	On	Allows dynamic pricing rules to adjust this service's price
Deposit rule	No deposit required	Link a deposit policy to require payment upfront
Promote upsells	Off	Suggest products during booking
Physical resources	-	Assign rooms, chairs, or equipment the service requires (with quantity)
Required forms	-	Link consultation or intake forms. A missing valid submission becomes a task after booking confirmation and can be completed later

Step 4: Save

Click Save (web) or Create Service (mobile). The service appears in your menu.

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Pricing options

Choose a pricing type when creating or editing a service:

Type	How it works	Display
Fixed	Single price	"$40"
Range	Minimum and maximum price	"$110 to $140"

For services that allow several guests in one appointment, Group pricing has three choices:

• One price for the whole booking: the price stays the same for every allowed guest count.
• Price per person: OpenChair multiplies the listed price by the number of guests.
• Base price plus additional guests: set how many guests the base price includes and the amount charged for each extra guest. The form previews the total for the allowed guest counts before you save.

Guest limits stay separate from room capacity. For example, a room may hold three people while the service permits a maximum of two. | Free | Price set to $0 | "Free" |

For range-priced services, enter both a Price (minimum) and Max Price. The storefront and booking form show the range. The actual amount is set at checkout.

Tax label varies by country: "Price including GST" (AU/NZ) or "Price including VAT" (UK).

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Service chips at-a-glance

Each service row in the services dashboard surfaces small chips for context - visible without opening the service detail:

• Deposit required - service has a deposit rule attached
• Form required - service has a consultation form marked required
• Option-only - service is not bookable on its own and only appears as a booking option
• Consultation - service has isConsultation flag set (treated specially in booking flow and reporting)

Chips help triage a long service list at a glance: "which services need a form attached?", "which are deposit-required?"

On the FREE plan

FREE caps the venue at 5 active services. Excess services are flagged hidden (Above plan limit badge) and excluded from the storefront, but not deleted. The Make active action lets you swap one service in for one out without upgrading. See Free and Pro Plans for the full cap matrix.

Categories

Categories group related services on your storefront and in the service list.

Categories are venue-specific. Owners and Managers can create them from a service form or use Manage categories to edit names, descriptions, colours, archive categories, and change their order.

Reordering categories

On web, open Manage categories. In the native tablet catalogue workspace, open More catalogue actions, then Manage categories. Drag categories or use the move buttons, then save the order shown to customers.

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Booking options

Booking options are services that appear with another service during booking. They can be normal standalone services, such as Blow Dry, or option-only services that cannot be booked independently.

Creating an option-only service

1. Create the service normally.
2. Under Service type, choose Booking option only.
3. Under Available with, select the standard services that should offer it.

Linking options to a primary service

After creating the services:

1. Open the primary service (e.g. "Balayage") for editing.
2. Scroll to Booking options.
3. Select the services to link.
4. Choose whether they are optional, Choose at least 1, or Choose exactly 1.
5. Save.

When a customer books the primary service, linked options can appear as optional extras or required choices before time selection.

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Service collections

Use a collection when customers should choose between related versions of a service, such as Short haircut, Long haircut, or Restyle. A visible collection appears as one storefront card and opens the exact option choice during booking.

On web or in the native tablet catalogue workspace, open Services and add a Collection. Choose at least two active, non-add-on services, set its category and storefront visibility, then select Save collection.

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Bookable service combos

Use a service combo when the customer should book two or more services together as one appointment. The combo appears in the storefront Services section, shows the normal menu value and savings, and opens the normal booking flow.

Bookable service combos are different from Prepaid Packages:

• Service combo: customer books now; the appointment is created immediately.
• Prepaid service combo: customer buys upfront; they redeem the entitlement later.

On web or in the native tablet catalogue workspace, create and manage combos from Services. Select at least two active items, including at least one primary service, set the combo price, choose whether the component services should remain visible online, and save. Booking creation keeps the included services as ordered line items while applying the combo price.

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Assigning staff

Control which team members can perform each service.

Assigning staff to a single service

1. Open the service for editing.
2. Open Team & timing, choose Team member, then select who can perform the service.
3. Save.

Only assigned staff appear as options when a customer books this service.

Bulk-assigning staff

1. On the services dashboard, click Select in the toolbar.
2. Select multiple services.
3. In the bulk action bar, choose Assign Staff.
4. Select team members to assign.
5. Confirm. Staff are added to all selected services (existing assignments are preserved).

Per-staff overrides

Each staff-service assignment can have individual overrides:

Override	What it does
Proficiency level	Junior, Senior, Master, or Expert. Used for proficiency-linked pricing when that feature is enabled.
Duration override	Custom duration for this staff member (e.g. a junior may take longer). Used when calculating that staff member's available slots.
Price override	Manual price for this staff member. Takes priority over base price and proficiency-linked pricing.

On web, open Services → Prices & team and choose the staff member or service you want to review. The existing Team → [staff member] → Services view edits the same assignments and overrides. On mobile, open the staff member, tap Edit next to Services, enable the service, expand it, then set Proficiency, Custom Duration (minutes), or Price Override.

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Deactivating, archiving, and deleting services

Deactivating a service

Toggle the Active switch off on any service (in the table on web, or on the card on mobile). The service is hidden from the storefront and booking form but all historical bookings are preserved.

Re-activating a service on a free account is blocked if you already have 5 active services.

Archiving a service

Archive a service when it should leave the current catalogue and booking pickers but remain available as a historical record.

1. Open the service actions and select Archive service, or select services and use the bulk Archive action.
2. Review the archive confirmation.
3. If OpenChair reports future bookings, confirm only after reviewing the number of affected appointments. Those appointments keep their current service assignment after archiving.
4. Select Archive service to continue.

Archived services appear in the Archived catalogue view. Restoring an archived service returns it as Internal only, so review its customer booking access before making it available online again.

Deleting a service

1. Open the service for editing.
2. Click Delete.
3. Confirm in the "Are you sure you want to delete this service?" dialog.

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Reordering the catalogue

Active services, collections, and combos share one customer-facing catalogue order.

To reorder

1. Open Public menu, then select Reorder menu on web. In the native tablet workspace, use More catalogue actions → Reorder catalogue.
2. Drag catalogue items into the desired order, or use the move buttons.
3. Review the staged order. Select Apply order to save it, or Cancel reordering to leave the persisted menu unchanged.

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Importing services

Request a service-menu import from OpenChair support on web.

1. Click the Import button in the toolbar.
2. Paste the URL of your booking page from another platform.
3. Select Send import request. This records a support request; it does not automatically scrape, import or publish services.
4. Continue setting up while support handles the request. The confirmation states that support will import services within two business days.
5. Review the resulting services, including names, prices, durations and staff assignments, before making them available for booking.

Imported services remain subject to the venue's plan limits. Client records, bookings and financial balances require a separately agreed migration scope.

For full details, see Importing From Another Platform.

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AI service menu audit (PRO)

The audit analyses your service list for duplicates, near-duplicates, and pricing inconsistencies.

1. Click the Audit button (Sparkles icon) in the toolbar.
2. Wait for the AI analysis (up to 30 seconds).
3. Review findings, each shows the affected services and an explanation.

Finding types

Type	What it means
Duplicate	Two services with the same or nearly identical names
Near duplicate	Semantically similar services (e.g. "Haircut" and "Hair Cut")
Pricing issue	Inconsistent pricing for similar services

Resolving findings

• Duplicates: Choose which service to keep. The other is deactivated (not deleted).
• Pricing issues: Enter a corrected price directly from the audit card.
• Dismiss: Hide a finding you don't want to act on.

The audit requires at least 5 active services to run.

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Bulk actions

Select multiple services to perform batch operations:

Action	What it does
Assign staff	Add staff members to all selected services (additive, existing assignments preserved)
Update prices	Set new prices for multiple services at once
Update properties	Batch-change category, active status, deposit rule, or smart pricing
Delete	Delete all selected services (blocked if any have linked bookings)

To enter selection mode, click Select in the toolbar, then tick the services you want.

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Physical resources

If your venue has rooms, chairs, or equipment, you can link them to services to prevent double-booking.

1. Set up resources in Settings → Resources.
2. When creating or editing a service, expand Advanced → Physical Resources.
3. Toggle each required resource on and set the quantity needed.

For a private room or booth, turn on Reserve the entire room for each booking for its resource requirement. One guest then reserves that resource for the full service and reset window, and additional guests join the same private session.

OpenChair checks resource availability when scheduling, if all units of a required resource are booked, the time slot is unavailable.

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Platform differences

Feature	Web	Mobile
Service list display	Table with columns (name, price, duration, staff, category, active toggle)	Card list on phone; adaptive catalogue list and detail workspace on tablet
Service create/edit	Sheet (side panel)	Full-screen form on phone; detail pane on tablet
Collections and combos	Create, edit, archive, and reorder	Create, edit, archive, and reorder in the native tablet workspace; phone authoring is unavailable
Catalogue reorder	Drag handles and move buttons	Drag handles and move buttons in the native tablet workspace
Category management	Create, edit, archive, recolour, and reorder	Inline create on phone; full management and reorder in the native tablet workspace
Bulk actions	Bulk action bar (assign, price, properties, delete)	Bulk action bar
AI description	"Write with AI" / "Rewrite" button in form	"Write with AI" button in form
AI audit (PRO)	Sparkles button in toolbar	Sparkles button in toolbar
Duration input	Number input (minutes)	Preset buttons (15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180) + custom input
Deposit rule selector	Dropdown in form	Dropdown in form
Resource assignment	Checkboxes + quantity spinners	Checkboxes + quantity spinners

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Service not showing on the storefront	Check that the service is marked as Active (toggle on). Inactive services are hidden from customers.
Cannot create more services	Free accounts are limited to 5 active services. Deactivate a service you no longer need, or upgrade to PRO for unlimited services.
Cannot assign staff to a service	You need to have team members added first. Go to Team → Add Team Member. Once added, they appear in the staff assignment list.
Price shows as $0	Edit the service and set a price. If you chose "Free" as the price type, the price is intentionally $0.
Cannot delete a service	The service has existing bookings, recurring series, or waitlist entries linked to it. Deactivate the service instead to hide it from the booking form.
Archive confirmation lists future bookings	Review the affected appointment count before continuing. The bookings keep their existing service assignment after the service is archived.
Category not appearing on storefront	Categories appear automatically when at least one active service uses them. Check that the service using the category is active.
Audit button not visible	The AI audit requires a PRO subscription and at least 5 active services.
Duration options on mobile are limited	Mobile shows preset duration buttons (15 to 180 minutes). Tap the custom input field to enter any value between 15 and 480 minutes.

Related Articles

• Importing From Another Platform
• Creating a Booking
• Managing Your Team
• Staff Services & Proficiency
• Consultation Forms
• Smart Pricing
• Packages (Prepaid Bundles)
• Deposits
• Patch Tests
• Age and ID Verification
• AI Service Generator
• Service Menu Audit
• Resources (Rooms & Equipment)
• Service Collections
• Bookable Service Combos
• Service Categories
• Featured Service Collection
• Set Up Your Service Menu
• Service Import Requests
• AI Service Descriptions
• Hourly Service Pricing
• Service Access Modes