Square Appointments

Cancellation Policies and No Show Protection

Protect yourself from lost business and revenue.

When you run a service based business, cancellations and no-shows are inevitable. Sometimes they’re unavoidable but other times it can be due to a lack of planning or care. While this can be frustrating, by having a clear cancellation policy in place, it helps both you and your customers.

What is a cancellation policy?

A cancellation policy sets out what will happen if a customer is unable to make the appointment they booked. Usually customers are able to cancel for free (or at minimal cost) if they provide a certain amount of notice. After this, fees are charged.

Benefits of having a cancellation policy

A cancellation policy is a great way to protect yourself from lost business and revenue.

When a cancellation policy is in place, and agreed to by the customer, it demonstrates commitment to the booking.

A cancellation policy will hold your customers accountable and make them aware of the consequences should they decide to cancel at the last minute or not show up at all.

Having clear policies and details about a booking shows professionalism.

Protect against no-shows with a cancellation policy

Protect against no-shows with a customised cancellation policy. With Square Appointments, you can require that clients add their payment card when requesting an appointment with you online. If your client doesn’t show up, or cancels outside of your cancellation window, you can choose to enforce your cancellation policy. You can also send automatic confirmation and reminder messages to your customers to remind them about their upcoming appointments.

Square’s cancellation policy templates

Writing a cancellation policy from scratch can be tough. You need to strike the right balance between firm and fair. You also need to use the right tone. Square Appointments makes it easy by populating a pre-written cancellation policy that inputs your preferred cancellation window and cancellation fee preferences e.g. a fee for each service or a flat fee per appointment. You are also given the option to add to your cancellation policy if required.

Enforcing your cancellation policy

With Square Appointments, if a client requests to cancel or modify an appointment outside of your cancellation window, you’ll be given the option to enforce your cancellation policy. Even if you have a cancellation policy enabled, policy enforcement will be at your discretion. You have two weeks (14 calendar days) to choose to charge your customer. If you do so, they will receive an email notification, including any note you add, informing them of the appointment cancellation and any resulting fee. Your client will also be reminded of your policy if they attempt to cancel outside of your cancellation window.

Block customers

If you have customers that constantly cancel late or don’t show up at all, you can block those customers from being able to book with you online. If a blocked customer tries to book an appointment, Square Appointments will recognise the mobile number saved on their customer profile and block the booking for you.

Start using Square Appointments today!

Scheduling that puts time in your hands.

Setup is quick and easy

Go to your Square Appointments dashboard and select Settings > Calendar & Booking.

Set up your cancellation window by scrolling down to ‘Clients may reschedule or cancel their own appointments’ and set your cut-off window.

Go to Settings > Payments & Cancellations and choose your preferred cancellation policy. Save your settings.



That’s your cancellation policy set up! Your cancellation policy will show in your online booking flow and at the bottom of the confirmation emails your clients receive.

Square Appointments is more than just a scheduling app.

Free online booking website

Create a website you can be proud of for free and without any technical skills. Add a booking feature so customers can book your services any time they want without any effort on your part.

Google calendar sync

Have all the reservations booked on Square Appointments automatically transferred to your Google calendar. See at a glance what time is taken and what is still available.

Multiple location management

Easily keep track of customers, employees and inventory across multiple locations. Always know what and who is in which location at what time. Make changes and updates to any location from your Square dashboard or the app.

Afterpay

Allow customers to pay in instalments with Afterpay. When a client makes a purchase, you get paid up front immediately and your client pays four interest-free instalments over six weeks*.

*Late fees may apply. Eligibility criteria apply. See afterpay.com for more details

Staff Management

Organise your team online. Give staff members their rotas and make any updates quickly and easily. Assign commission levels and keep track of how staff are doing meeting their targets.

Confirmation and reminder messages

Help your customers to remember to show up or cancel by having Square send them automated confirmation and/or reminder messages. These can be sent by email or text message.

All-in-one integrated payment solution

Accepting payments with Square Appointments is as fast, painless and secure as possible, with no extra fees, no long-term contracts and no tricks. Just payment processing you can depend on so that you never miss a sale.

  • Whether you’re selling in person, online or on the go, Square can help you process nearly any kind of payment, any way you want.
  • Square hardware is built for every business. Quick to set up, reliable during the busiest checkouts and so flexible you can accept all major kinds of payment.
  • Security is engineered into our products. We follow industry requirements to monitor your account for suspicious activity and support PCI compliance.

We’re trusted by Australian businesses.

Pick the plan for you

No hidden fees. Change or cancel at any time.
Custom pricing and discounts are available for qualifying businesses in Australia.

Free

The basics to run your own business while staying ahead of schedule.

$0/mo.

for a single location.

Processing rate per transaction:

  • 1.6%
Get started free
Top Free Features:
  • Unlimited staff accounts
  • Custom booking website and social media integrations
  • Integrated payments
  • Automatic text and email reminders
  • Automated contracts
See more

Plus

More advanced features for growing teams that offer top-notch service.

$40/mo.

per location.

Processing rate per transaction:

  • 1.6%
Start free trial
Top Plus Features:
See more

Premium

A complete plan that meets complex booking and staff management needs.

$90/mo.

per location.

Processing rate per transaction:

  • 1.6%
Start free trial
Top Premium Features:
See more

Cancellation policies and no show protection are available with Square Appointments Plus and Premium. You can get started with a 30-day free trial of Plus or Premium to see if it’s right for you. Start free trial.

1.6% card present rate applies for Square Sellers who sign up on or after 30 May 2024, or who signed up prior to this date and subscribed to Square Appointments Plus or Premium. The rate of 1.9% will apply for all other Square Sellers who signed up prior to this date when using Square Reader, Square Stand or Tap to Pay, as listed in the Square Fee Schedule.

Contact sales for custom pricing

If your business processes over $250K in card sales per year, you may be eligible for custom pricing packages. This would include everything in Premium, a dedicated Account Manager in Australia and discounts on optional business tools, such as Square Online, Square Loyalty and more. Contact sales

Compare plans

For payments taken online, by invoice or keyed in manually, see card-not-present processing rates.

Make the most of Square.

Square brings all your business needs together with an all-in-one solution.

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