How to organise a beauty salon's agenda

A one-hour facial is not a half-hour waxing, and an agenda that treats them the same breaks before lunch. In a salon with one or two treatment rooms, the notebook ends up with forty-five-minute gaps nobody can use, a massage that runs over, and a message asking if there is room on Thursday at five, with no way to know what the rest of the team already has.

This guide is for whoever runs a small salon with one or two treatment teams. By the end you will have five moves: treatments with their real length and preparation time, one shared agenda with each person's hours and days off, a page that only offers real openings, a cancellation limit that fits the long treatments, and a status for every appointment.

1 · Treatments with their real length

A long treatment takes its full hour, and it does not always end when it should. Before you put it in the agenda, measure how long it really takes. The beauty salon catalogue starts with five reference services: facial cleansing at 60 minutes, massage at 60, waxing at 30, manicure at 45 and pedicure at 60. Adjust them to what you do, in the time it takes you.

Then there is the room. Between two treatments you clear the products, prepare the couch and set up the next session. That preparation time sits after each appointment: it is not added to the length the client sees, but the agenda does not offer it as a slot. That time stays reserved for preparing the room.

In Reserrva: the service catalogue keeps the duration and the price (or "Free") of each treatment. Its buffer time is set inside each service's options, under Services. The booking page shows the name, the duration and the price. Changing a service does not rewrite past appointments. If you have not set up your page yet, the setup guide walks you through the services step.

2 · One agenda for the whole team

An agenda per person looks tidy until you need to see the whole afternoon. Put the team in one view. The salon's appointments are arranged in lanes where they overlap, each with the initials of the person doing the treatment, and the day reads from top to bottom: you see at a glance where there are gaps and where things overlap.

Each person also has their own hours. The one who opens at nine and the one who works Saturdays do not share the same shift, and one person's holidays should not block everyone else. Before the week starts, enter each person's breaks and time off: a free day that is not entered is a gap someone can book.

In Reserrva: the team agenda shows the day on one shared timeline, with appointments in lanes where they overlap and each professional's initials, and it has a week view. The owner and admins see the whole team; each professional sees their own agenda. Each person has their own weekly hours, breaks and time off, and the booking page respects them immediately.

3 · Only real openings

Someone booking online should not find a time that no longer exists. The page should only offer hours when the person can really attend. That means taking off each professional's hours, their time off, the appointments already booked and the preparation time that follows each one.

There is one more rule: minimum notice. Times inside the minimum notice you configure cannot be booked. You set that value from how long a treatment takes to prepare. A time that is already booked can stay visible, crossed out, but it cannot be booked again.

Watch out for empty gaps: a free space between two appointments is still bookable. If you want to protect it, use buffer time or a break in the person's agenda. By default, openings for beauty salons run every 15 minutes, and a shorter treatment is offered more often.

In Reserrva: the booking page asks for treatment, professional, day and time, and offers anyone available: a free time without choosing a person first. Openings come from hours, time off, booked appointments, minimum notice and buffer time. The minimum notice is set in Settings → Bookings.

4 · Cancellation that fits the long ones

The cancellation limit has to fit the longest treatment on your list. A limit that works for a 30-minute waxing may be too short for a 60-minute treatment with preparation. Ask yourself how long you need to prepare the room and reorganise the day when someone does not come, and set the limit from there.

Whoever booked cancels from the link in their confirmation, and only before that limit. There is no button to change the time: to move, the person books again. That way the agenda always shows the appointment that really exists.

In Reserrva: the cancellation limit is set in Settings → Bookings, and your client cancels from the link in their confirmation, before that limit. Book a test treatment yourself and check how that link looks.

5 · The status of every appointment

Visits become completed automatically after their reserved time, including any cleanup buffer, has passed. Cancelled appointments, no-shows and bookings still awaiting a deposit keep their status. Review the exceptions: if someone did not attend, record a no-show. If the visit already completed automatically, use Return to confirmed, then mark it No-show or cancel it. You can correct an automatic completion after midnight too, unless the client has reviewed it.

In Reserrva: Visits complete automatically after their reserved time; record no-shows and cancellations so the stats reflect what happened. The business stats are computed from those statuses.

If you want to start with what weighs most, start with 1 and 3: treatments with their real time and a page that does not offer false openings. Moves 2, 4 and 5 put the rest of the week in order. The full list of what Reserrva does is on features, and if you want to see how it all fits together, read how Reserrva works.

• ✓Every treatment has its real duration and its buffer time in Services.
• ✓Every professional has their weekly hours, breaks and time off entered.
• ✓The minimum notice and the cancellation limit are set in Settings → Bookings.
• ✓You have booked a test treatment and seen the link in the confirmation.
• ✓Completed visits are automatic; no-shows and cancellations are recorded or corrected.

Frequently asked questions

Can a client book without choosing a professional?

Yes. With "anyone available" they pick a free time without choosing a professional first.

If I change the price of a treatment, do booked appointments change too?

No. Catalogue edits never rewrite past appointments.

Can a client change the time from their confirmation?

There is no button to change the time. They cancel from the link before the limit and book again for the time that suits them.