Self-Service Portal

Give your customers the ability to view and manage their own bookings, update their profile information, and access their booking history through a branded self-service portal.

Portal Overview

The self-service portal is a secure, customer-facing area where your clients can manage their relationship with your business without needing to contact you directly. This reduces your administrative workload and gives customers the convenience they expect.

View Bookings

Customers see all upcoming and past appointments in one place

Manage Profile

Update contact details, preferences, and communication settings

Booking History

Access a complete record of all past bookings and services

Self-Service Actions

Cancel, reschedule, or rebook services without calling you

Enabling Portal Access

Before customers can use the self-service portal, you need to enable it for your business. Portal access is controlled at the account level and can be customized per customer.

Activating the Portal

  1. Go to Settings → Customer Portal
  2. Toggle Enable Self-Service Portal to on
  3. Configure your portal URL (e.g., yourbusiness.serobook.com/portal)
  4. Choose which features customers can access
  5. Click Save Changes

Customer Invitations

Once the portal is active, you can invite customers to create their account:

  • Automatic invitations – Send a portal invite with every booking confirmation
  • Manual invitations – Send invites from individual customer profiles
  • Bulk invitations – Invite multiple customers at once from the customer list
First-time setup

When enabling the portal for the first time, consider sending a bulk invitation to all existing customers with a brief explanation of the new self-service features available to them.

Customer Login and Authentication

Customers access the portal using a secure, passwordless login flow to keep things simple and safe.

Login Methods

  • Magic link – A one-time login link is sent to the customer's email address
  • Booking reference – Customers can log in using their email and a booking reference number
  • Password login – Optional traditional email and password authentication

Security Settings

Configure security options in Settings → Customer Portal → Security:

  • Session duration (how long customers stay logged in)
  • Magic link expiration time
  • Whether to require email verification
  • IP-based rate limiting for login attempts
Magic links are recommended

Passwordless magic links provide the best balance of security and convenience. Customers simply click a link in their email to access the portal without remembering a password.

Viewing and Managing Bookings

The bookings section is the core of the customer portal. Customers can see all of their appointments organized by status.

Upcoming Bookings

Customers see their future appointments with full details including:

  • Date and time of the appointment
  • Service or package booked
  • Assigned staff member (if applicable)
  • Location or address
  • Booking status (confirmed, pending, etc.)
  • Any special instructions or notes

Past Bookings

The history tab shows all completed, cancelled, and no-show appointments. Customers can filter by date range and status to find specific past bookings.

Rebook from history

Customers can quickly rebook a previous service directly from their booking history. This is a convenient way for repeat clients to schedule their regular appointments.

Cancellation and Rescheduling

You control whether customers can cancel or reschedule their bookings through the portal, and under what conditions.

Cancellation Settings

  1. Go to Settings → Customer Portal → Cancellations
  2. Toggle Allow Self-Service Cancellation
  3. Set a cancellation window (e.g., "up to 24 hours before the appointment")
  4. Choose whether to require a cancellation reason
  5. Optionally set a cancellation fee or policy notice

Rescheduling Settings

  1. Toggle Allow Self-Service Rescheduling
  2. Set a rescheduling window (e.g., "up to 12 hours before")
  3. Limit the number of times a booking can be rescheduled
  4. Choose whether rescheduled bookings need re-confirmation
Last-minute changes

Setting a reasonable cancellation and rescheduling window (such as 24 hours) helps protect your business from last-minute changes that leave gaps in your schedule.

Profile Management

Customers can update their own profile information through the portal, reducing the need for you to manually edit records.

Editable Fields

You can control which profile fields customers can edit:

  • Contact details – Name, email, phone number
  • Address – Street, city, postal code
  • Preferences – Preferred contact method, communication opt-in/opt-out
  • Custom fields – Any business-specific fields you have configured

Read-Only Fields

Certain fields can be set as view-only in the portal to prevent unauthorized changes:

  • Customer ID or reference number
  • Account creation date
  • Membership or loyalty tier
  • Any fields you designate as staff-only
Email change verification

When a customer changes their email address through the portal, a verification email is sent to the new address. The change only takes effect after the customer confirms via the verification link.

Booking History and Records

The portal provides customers with a comprehensive view of their booking history, helping them track their service usage over time.

History Features

  • Full timeline – All bookings displayed chronologically
  • Status indicators – Clear labels for completed, cancelled, and no-show bookings
  • Service details – Complete information about each booking
  • Payment records – Amount paid and payment method (if enabled)
  • Receipts – Download or view receipts for completed bookings

Filtering and Search

Customers can filter their booking history by:

  • Date range (last 30 days, last 3 months, custom range)
  • Booking status (completed, cancelled, all)
  • Service type

Portal Branding and Customization

Customize the look and feel of the portal to match your business branding, creating a seamless experience for your customers.

Branding Options

  • Logo – Upload your business logo for the portal header
  • Colors – Set primary and accent colors to match your brand
  • Welcome message – Customize the greeting customers see when logging in
  • Footer text – Add contact information or business details

Custom Portal URL

Choose a custom subdomain for your portal to maintain brand consistency. Navigate to Settings → Customer Portal → Branding to configure your portal URL and visual settings.

Portal Notifications

Keep customers informed about their portal activity with automated notifications.

  • Booking confirmation – Sent when a booking is created or modified through the portal
  • Cancellation confirmation – Confirms when a booking has been successfully cancelled
  • Rescheduling confirmation – Confirms the new date and time after rescheduling
  • Profile update confirmation – Notifies when profile changes are saved
  • Reminder emails – Upcoming appointment reminders with a link to the portal
Include portal links in emails

All automated emails can include a "Manage Booking" link that takes the customer directly to the relevant booking in their portal. Enable this in your email template settings.

Per-Customer Portal Controls

While the portal is configured globally, you can adjust access on a per-customer basis when needed.

  • Enable/disable portal access – Turn the portal on or off for individual customers
  • Restrict cancellation – Prevent specific customers from self-cancelling
  • Lock profile editing – Disable profile changes for certain accounts
  • Revoke access – Immediately log out and block a customer from the portal
Revoking access

When you revoke a customer's portal access, they are immediately logged out. They will see a message directing them to contact your business for assistance.

Next Steps