The New Booking Cycle: Services, Packages, Employee Shifts, Calendar, and Payment from the POS
This guide explains the new booking cycle (Booking Management) in the system: enabling, setting up the services, packages, and employee shifts, then creating the booking from the calendar, moving it by drag and drop, changing its statuses, then payment from the point of sale and issuing the invoice.
Brief Workflow
First: Enabling
- From the Apps Manager enable the required apps: Sales, Clients, Point of Sale, and Employees.
- If you have the classic booking app, open Bookings (Classic Version) and click Switch to the Beta Version, so Booking Management is enabled and the classic one stops.
- To go back: from the settings menu in the calendar choose Switch to the Classic Booking App.
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Note: Old bookings in the classic version don’t appear in the client’s booking history in the new version.
Second: Booking Settings
From Booking Settings (four tabs):
1. Booking Workflow
| Setting | Options (Default) | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| How are employees assigned to bookings? | Per Booking / Per Service / No Employee Assignment (Per Booking) | Per Booking: one employee for all the services. Per Service: a different employee for each service. No Employee Assignment: the calendar shows a single column without employees. |
| Allow Bookings Without Assigning an Employee | On / Off (Off) | Unassigned bookings appear in the Unassigned Employee column. |
| How many services must be included in each booking? | Multiple Services / Single Service / Default Service | With Default Service, a specific service is chosen automatically in every booking and cannot be changed. |
| Allow Adding Services Without a Specific Start Time | On / Off (Off) | Enables the waitlist; these services appear at the top of the calendar as Waiting. |
2. Managing Services
Add each service: the name, the category, the duration in minutes, the price, the assigned employees (empty = any employee), the taxes, and the image. A service form can be linked (a form filled during booking or while performing the service).
3. Booking Packages
A package is a group of services with special prices and durations (such as “Bride Package”). When it is chosen in the booking, its services are added consecutively at the package prices, and offers aren’t applied to them. A package is not a prepaid balance of sessions.
4. Shift Schedule
- Specify the default booking shift and apply it to new employees only or to existing and new employees.
- Assign a regular shift for each employee, Update the daytime shift for a specific day, and Add a day off.
- Removing the employee from the schedule makes them unavailable for booking.
- Approved leave, official holidays, and permissions are counted automatically in the employee’s availability.
- The shifts themselves are managed from Manage Shifts.
Third: The Calendar
Open Booking Management. The view: Day (a column for each employee), Week, Month, with filtering by employee and branch. The working hours are from the shifts, and the days off are shaded. From the settings menu: Show Weekend, Show Canceled Bookings, Add Blocked Time.
Blocked Time (Employee Breaks)
To reserve a time that isn’t available for an employee (a break, a meeting): the employee, the title, the date and time, the duration, and the repeat (does not repeat / every day / every week / every month / custom). It cannot be added over an existing booking.
Fourth: Creating the Booking
- Click the required time in the calendar.
- Choose the client or add a new client.
- Choose the service or the package; the price appears from the client’s price list with the offers.
- For each service, specify the employee, the start time (or Earliest Available Times), the duration, and the discount.
- Click Save, or Pay to go to the point of sale directly.
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Note: When choosing the employee, alerts appear such as The employee is busy at this time, The employee is not available at this time, or The employee doesn’t provide this service, but they don’t prevent saving; review them before saving. There is no deposit or notes field in the booking (the follow-up tab can be used).
Moving the Booking
Drag the booking in the calendar to another time or employee, then confirm from Review Booking Update. A booking cannot be moved to the waitlist.
Fifth: Booking Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Confirmed | The default status when the booking is created |
| Under Review | A preliminary booking awaiting confirmation |
| Started | The service started |
| Arrived | The client arrived |
| Completed | The service ended |
| No Show | The client didn’t come |
| Canceled | Canceled (doesn’t appear in the calendar unless Show Canceled Bookings is enabled) |
The status changes manually from the status menu in the booking to any status. Payment doesn’t change the status automatically; change it to Completed yourself.
Sixth: Payment and Issuing the Invoice
- From the booking, click Pay.
- There must be an open point of sale session; if there isn’t, the Open Point of Sale Session window appears (Open Session).
- The point of sale screen opens with the booking’s services, prices, discounts, and the employee for each service.
- Complete the payment; a sales invoice linked to the booking is created, and the invoice number and its payment status appear in the booking.
Payment can be made later or partially (according to the point of sale settings), and the payment button stays available until the invoice is settled.
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Warning: After an invoice is created for the booking, the booking cannot be edited or deleted.
Seventh: Accounting Entries
The booking itself creates no entry, and doesn’t affect stock (services have no stock). The entries come from the point of sale invoice and its payment according to the point of sale accounting mode:
| Stage | The Entry |
|---|---|
| Creating the booking | None |
| Payment (the point of sale invoice) | Debit: the client / Credit: sales and tax, then Debit: the cashier custody / Credit: the client — immediately or combined when confirming the session closing |
| Confirming the point of sale session closing | From the cashier custody to the treasury |
Employee commissions are calculated on the invoice according to the employee specified for each service.
Permissions
| Permission | It Allows |
|---|---|
| Add New Booking | Creating bookings |
| View All Bookings / View Own Bookings | Viewing the bookings (own = the ones they created) |
| Edit / Delete All Bookings / Edit/Delete Own Bookings | Editing and deleting |
| Manage Employee Breaks | Blocked time |
| Manage Booking Settings | The settings page |
What Is Available and Not Available
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| A daily / weekly / monthly calendar for each employee | Available |
| Multiple services and an employee for each service | Available |
| Service packages | Available |
| A waitlist | Available |
| Payment from the point of sale | Available |
| Client online booking | Not available in the new version |
| A deposit or a cancellation or no-show fee | Not available |
| Reminding the client with messages | Not available automatically |
| Reports specific to bookings | Not available — use the sales, point of sale, and commissions reports |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why am I asked to open a session when paying?
Because booking payment is done from the point of sale and requires an open session.
Why can’t I edit the booking?
An invoice was created for it, or you don’t have the permission to edit.
Does the system prevent booking a busy employee?
An alert appears only and it doesn’t prevent saving.
Does the booking record revenue?
No, the revenue is recorded when payment is made and the invoice is created.