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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bellabooking.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Why this guide exists

Bella ships with a Booking Policies reference page that explains what every setting does. This page is different — it covers how to think about your policies as a whole and recommends starting setups for different kinds of salons. Use this guide first to pick the right shape for your business, then use the reference page to configure each setting. If you’d rather have a conversation, click “Help me set these up” at the top of Settings → Booking Policies — Bella AI will walk you through the same decisions interactively.

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What policies actually do

Five settings interact to protect your time and revenue:
SettingWhat it does
Cancellation policySets the cutoff before which clients can cancel for free, and the fee after.
Deposit policyCollects payment up front so clients have something at stake.
Approval queueGives you the chance to review online bookings before confirming them.
Confirmation windowFor appointments you create yourself — requires the client to acknowledge they’re coming.
RemindersAutomated SMS or email nudges before the appointment.
Each one targets a different failure mode. Reminders catch forgetfulness. Deposits create commitment. Approval queues catch suspicious or oversized bookings. Cancellation fees recoup lost time. Confirmations weed out clients who silently lost interest.

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Pick a starting archetype

Most salons fit into one of these patterns. Pick the closest one — you can adjust individual fields after.

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Lenient

For salons with a loyal, regular clientele and a low no-show history.
  • Cancellation: 24 hours, no fee
  • Deposits: none
  • Approval: off
  • Confirmation window: off
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 hours
  • Booking horizon: 60 days
Mixed clientele, occasional no-shows, no extreme cases either way.
  • Cancellation: 24 hours, 50% fee
  • Deposits: none
  • Approval: off
  • Confirmation window: 12 hours (for staff-created appointments)
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 hours + 2 hours
  • Booking horizon: 60 days

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Protective — Deposit-led

For high-prep services (colour, balayage, extensions, lashes, med-spa) with no-show issues. Requires Stripe Connect to be active.
  • Cancellation: 48 hours, 50% fee
  • Deposits: 50% upfront
  • Approval: off — deposit gates the bookings; turn ON only if you also offer free or zero-deposit services
  • Confirmation window: not needed — deposit auto-confirms
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 hours + 2 hours
  • Booking horizon: 30 days

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Protective — Approval-led

Same protection level, but for salons not taking deposits (Stripe not connected yet, or owner doesn’t want to charge upfront).
  • Cancellation: 48 hours, 50% fee
  • Deposits: none
  • Approval: ON — every online booking comes to your queue
  • Confirmation window: 24 hours
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 hours + 2 hours, with confirmation link
  • Booking horizon: 30 days

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New / Building volume

For brand-new salons getting their first clients. Friction is the enemy.
  • Cancellation: 12 hours, no fee
  • Deposits: none
  • Approval: off
  • Confirmation window: off
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 hours
  • Booking horizon: 90 days

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How deposits and approvals work together

This is the section most owners get confused about, so it’s worth being precise. Deposits and the approval queue cover different bookings. They are NOT alternatives.
  • When a deposit IS required for a booking → the client pays at booking → payment auto-confirms the appointment. Approval doesn’t apply.
  • When a deposit is NOT required for a booking → if approval is on, the booking goes to your queue. If approval is off, the booking auto-confirms immediately.
Both can sensibly be on at the same time. Common reasons:
  • You take deposits for paid services AND offer free consultations — deposit gates the paid bookings, approval gates the consultations.
  • You override the deposit to zero on specific services (loyalty perks, complimentary touch-ups) — approval gates those.
  • A gift card fully covers the deposit on a booking — approval gates it because no payment was taken.
  • You haven’t fully connected Stripe yet — deposits are silently waived, so approval is the only active gate until Stripe is connected.
The rule in code: auto-confirm = (no deposit needed) AND (no approval required). Either gate alone holds the booking.
When to drop one of them:
  • If every service you offer requires a deposit, approval becomes redundant — the deposit gates everything. Turn approval off in that case.
  • If you have any service that doesn’t take a deposit (free consults, complimentary services, gift-card-covered bookings), keep approval on if you want to gate those.

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Online payments — the foundation

Connecting Stripe (online payments) is the single biggest unlock. Without it, several settings silently have no effect:
Without StripeWith Stripe
Deposit setting silently has no effectDeposit charged at booking, auto-confirms appointment
Late-cancel and no-show fees can’t be auto-chargedLate-cancel and no-show fees charged automatically against deposit or saved card
Staff has to re-enter the card every time at checkoutCard-on-file → checkout, staff rebooking, and fee charges all skip the card-entry step
Manual approval is your only gateDeposit + approval cover both paths
If you’re seeing no-shows or late cancellations and aren’t on Stripe yet, that’s your single highest-impact change. Connect Stripe → The full cascade:
  1. Connect online payments — unlocks deposits, refunds, card-on-file
  2. Enable deposits on relevant services — reduces no-shows
  3. Save cards on file at checkout — speeds up future staff-side flows (checkout, rebooking from the dashboard, charging late-cancel or no-show fees automatically)
Each rung pays for itself before you climb to the next.
Card-on-file scope: affects staff-side flows (checkout, rebooking from the dashboard, fee charging). It does NOT change the client-facing online booking flow — that takes payment fresh through Stripe Checkout every time. The speed-up is on your side of the counter.

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Cancellation policy — windows and fees

Two settings: cancellation window (the notice period before the cutoff) and cancellation fee percentage (what gets retained from a paid deposit if the client cancels after the cutoff). Choosing the window:
  • 24 hours is the universal default — what most salons use, what clients expect.
  • 12 hours if your services are quick and your booking flow is high-velocity.
  • 48 or 72 hours for high-prep services where same-day cancellation costs you significant time.
Choosing the fee:
  • 50% of the deposit for late cancellations is the standard.
  • 25% is more lenient but gives weaker incentive.
  • 100% maximises revenue protection but can damage relationships if applied without flexibility.
When you cancel from the Scheduler, you can override the calculated refund. Use the policy as the default, but be flexible on genuine exceptions — illness, emergencies. The policy protects against pattern, not against people having bad weeks.
Cancellation fees only enforce when there’s a deposit. Without a deposit, there’s nothing to deduct from. The cancellation policy still applies in spirit (you can refuse to rebook, charge at the next visit) but the system can’t auto-charge them. This is one of the strongest reasons to take deposits. Configure cancellation policy →

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Approval queue — when manual review pays off

When approval is on, online bookings arrive in your queue rather than auto-confirming. When it’s worth the work:
  • Specialised services where you need to verify the client (advanced colour corrections, technical services, packages)
  • Free consultations or complimentary services where deposit gating doesn’t apply
  • Salons that haven’t connected Stripe yet
  • High-value services where 5 minutes of review prevents a much bigger problem
  • Solo salons where you want to know about every booking personally
When it isn’t:
  • Every service requires a deposit — the deposit gates everything, approval is redundant
  • High booking volume where reviewing each one creates a queue you can’t keep up with
A pending booking is a frustrated client. If you turn approval on, commit to reviewing the queue at least daily. If you can’t, turn approval off and rely on deposits.
Configure approval queue →

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Confirmation window — for appointments you create

The confirmation window only applies to appointments you create yourself in the Scheduler — not to online bookings. The reasoning: someone who books online has already confirmed by booking. An appointment you create on their behalf hasn’t. When to enable:
  • You frequently create appointments on behalf of clients (phone bookings, walk-in rebookings)
  • You want a low-friction filter for likely no-shows — un-confirmed appointments are an early warning
  • Clients should re-acknowledge appointments scheduled far in advance
Skip it if your bookings are mostly online — those don’t need a confirmation step. Configure confirmation window →

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Reminders — the highest-ROI policy

Reminders cost almost nothing, don’t add booking friction, and the data is unambiguous: SMS reminders alone reduce no-shows by around 35% (industry research, 2026). Reminders + deposits drive that below 5%. Recommended cadence:
  • 24 hours before — gives the client time to reschedule before the cancellation cutoff
  • 2 hours before — catches the same-day forgetters
SMS or email? Both if budget allows — SMS is more reliable (95%+ open rates), email is free but easier to miss. Pragmatic split: SMS for the closer reminder (2 hours), email for the further-out one (24 hours).
Add a confirmation link in the 24-hour reminder. Even if your confirmation window is off, the link gives signal AND lets the client commit again with one tap.
Configure reminders →
Concrete starting configurations.

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New solo stylist (first 6 months)

  • Cancellation: 12 h, no fee
  • Deposits: none
  • Approval: off
  • Confirmation window: off
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 h
  • Booking horizon: 90 days
  • Goal: friction-free booking while you build a base

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Established hair salon, 1–3 stylists

  • Cancellation: 24 h, 50% fee
  • Deposits: optional — start without; add 25–50% if no-shows climb above 10%
  • Approval: off
  • Confirmation window: 12 h (staff-created)
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 h + 2 h
  • Booking horizon: 60 days

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High-end specialist (balayage, extensions, lashes, med-spa)

  • Cancellation: 48 h, 50% fee
  • Deposits: 50% upfront, mandatory
  • Approval: off for paid services; ON if you also offer free consultations
  • Confirmation window: 24 h (staff-created)
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 h + 2 h with confirmation link
  • Booking horizon: 30 days

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Mobile / freelance practitioner

  • Cancellation: 24 h, 50% fee
  • Deposits: 50% upfront
  • Approval: ON (verify location and accessibility before confirming)
  • Confirmation window: 24 h
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 h + 2 h
  • Booking horizon: 60 days

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Multi-location chain

  • Defaults at location level; per-service overrides for premium services
  • Cancellation: 24 h standard, 48 h on premium services
  • Deposits: 25% standard, 50% on premium
  • Approval: off
  • Reminders: SMS at 24 h + 2 h

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Revisit your policies

Every 3–6 months, or whenever your no-show rate changes meaningfully. The dashboard digest will surface signal-driven recommendations as your data accumulates — when a recommendation appears, click “Talk it through” to walk through the specific change with Bella AI.

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See also