Google Calendar Integration

Sync your SeroBook bookings with Google Calendar so your schedule stays up to date everywhere. See bookings alongside personal events, avoid double-booking, and let your team manage their availability from the calendar they already use.

Overview

The Google Calendar integration connects your SeroBook account to one or more Google Calendars. Once connected, bookings created in SeroBook automatically appear in Google Calendar, and events from Google Calendar can block availability in SeroBook.

This integration supports both two-way sync (changes flow in both directions) and one-way sync (SeroBook pushes to Google Calendar only). Choose the mode that best fits your workflow.

Plan availability

Google Calendar sync is available on all SeroBook plans. Two-way sync and multi-calendar support require a Starter plan or above.

Connecting Google Calendar

Follow these steps to connect your Google Calendar account:

  1. Navigate to Settings → Integrations → Google Calendar
  2. Click Connect Google Calendar
  3. You'll be redirected to Google's sign-in page
  4. Select the Google account you want to connect
  5. Review the permissions SeroBook is requesting and click Allow
  6. You'll be redirected back to SeroBook
  7. Select which calendar(s) to sync with
  8. Choose your sync mode (one-way or two-way)
  9. Click Save to activate the connection
Use a dedicated calendar

We recommend creating a dedicated Google Calendar for SeroBook bookings (e.g., "SeroBook Bookings"). This keeps your personal events separate and gives you more control over visibility and sharing.

OAuth & Permissions

SeroBook uses Google's OAuth 2.0 protocol to securely connect to your calendar. When you authorize the connection, SeroBook requests the following permissions:

  • View your calendars — To list available calendars for you to choose from
  • View events on your calendars — To check for conflicts and blocked time slots
  • Manage events on your calendars — To create, update, and delete booking events

SeroBook does not access your email, contacts, or any other Google services. The connection is scoped strictly to Google Calendar.

Data privacy

SeroBook only reads event times and free/busy status from your Google Calendar. The content of your personal events (titles, descriptions, attendees) is never stored or transmitted. Only booking events created by SeroBook are managed.

Two-Way Sync

Two-way sync keeps SeroBook and Google Calendar in perfect alignment. Changes made in either system are reflected in the other within minutes.

What Syncs from SeroBook to Google Calendar

  • New bookings appear as calendar events
  • Booking changes (date, time, or duration) update the calendar event
  • Cancelled bookings are removed from the calendar
  • Event details include customer name, service, and booking notes

What Syncs from Google Calendar to SeroBook

  • New events block the corresponding time slots in SeroBook
  • Moved or resized events update the blocked time accordingly
  • Deleted events free up the time slots in SeroBook
Sync delay

Changes typically sync within 1 to 5 minutes. During high-traffic periods, there may be a slight additional delay. For time-sensitive scheduling, always confirm availability in SeroBook before finalizing a booking.

Conflict Resolution

When a conflict arises (e.g., a booking is modified in both systems simultaneously), SeroBook follows these rules:

  • The most recent change takes priority
  • If changes happen within the same minute, the SeroBook change takes priority
  • Conflicts are logged in Settings → Integrations → Sync Log for your review

One-Way Sync

One-way sync pushes SeroBook bookings to Google Calendar but does not read events back. This is the simpler option and is ideal if you:

  • Want to see bookings in Google Calendar for reference only
  • Don't want Google Calendar events to affect your SeroBook availability
  • Manage availability exclusively within SeroBook
  • Are on the Free plan

With one-way sync, new bookings, changes, and cancellations in SeroBook are reflected in Google Calendar. However, creating or moving events in Google Calendar will not affect SeroBook.

Event Details in Calendar

When SeroBook creates an event in Google Calendar, it includes the following information:

  • Title: Customer name and service (e.g., "Jane Smith - Consultation")
  • Time: Booking date, start time, and duration
  • Description: Service details, booking reference, customer contact info, and any notes
  • Color: Events are color-coded by booking status (confirmed, pending, completed)
  • Location: Your business address (if configured in SeroBook settings)
Customize event format

You can customize what appears in the calendar event title and description. Go to Settings → Integrations → Google Calendar → Event Format to choose which fields to include and how they're formatted.

Color Coding

SeroBook uses Google Calendar's event colors to visually distinguish booking statuses:

  • Blue — Confirmed bookings
  • Yellow — Pending bookings (awaiting confirmation)
  • Green — Completed bookings
  • Red — Cancelled bookings (briefly shown before removal)

Multiple Calendar Support

If your business has multiple staff members or locations, you can connect multiple Google Calendars to SeroBook. This is particularly useful for:

  • Staff scheduling: Each team member connects their own Google Calendar, so bookings assigned to them appear on their personal calendar
  • Location management: Use separate calendars for different business locations
  • Service categories: Route different service types to different calendars

Setting Up Multiple Calendars

  1. Each staff member connects their Google account from their own SeroBook profile
  2. Go to Settings → Integrations → Google Calendar
  3. Under Calendar Mapping, assign each staff member or service to a specific calendar
  4. Bookings are automatically routed to the correct calendar based on the assignment
Shared calendars

You can also use Google's shared calendars if your team prefers a single shared view. Create a shared calendar in Google, then select it as the sync target in SeroBook. All team members with access to the shared calendar will see the bookings.

Conflict Detection

When Google Calendar sync is active, SeroBook checks for scheduling conflicts in real time. Before confirming a booking, SeroBook verifies that the time slot is free across all connected calendars.

How Conflict Detection Works

  1. A customer selects a time slot on your booking page (or you create a manual booking)
  2. SeroBook checks the connected Google Calendar(s) for events at that time
  3. If a conflict is found, the time slot is marked as unavailable
  4. The customer (or you) is prompted to select a different time

What Counts as a Conflict

  • Any Google Calendar event marked as Busy blocks the corresponding SeroBook time slot
  • Events marked as Free or Tentative do not block availability
  • All-day events do not block time slots by default (this can be changed in settings)
Buffer time

SeroBook respects buffer time settings when checking for conflicts. If you have a 15-minute buffer between bookings, a Google Calendar event that ends at 2:00 PM will block SeroBook availability until 2:15 PM.

Disconnecting Google Calendar

To disconnect your Google Calendar:

  1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Google Calendar
  2. Click Disconnect next to the connected account
  3. Confirm the disconnection

When you disconnect:

  • Syncing stops immediately
  • Existing calendar events created by SeroBook remain in Google Calendar (they are not deleted)
  • Google Calendar events will no longer block availability in SeroBook
  • Your SeroBook bookings and data are not affected
Revoking access

For a complete disconnection, also revoke SeroBook's access in your Google Account settings. Go to Google Account → Security → Third-party apps with account access and remove SeroBook. This ensures no further data exchange occurs.

Troubleshooting

Common issues and how to resolve them:

Bookings not appearing in Google Calendar

  • Verify the integration is connected and active in Settings → Integrations
  • Check that you've selected the correct calendar for syncing
  • Allow up to 5 minutes for new bookings to sync
  • Check the sync log for any error messages
  • Try disconnecting and reconnecting the integration

Google Calendar events not blocking availability

  • Ensure you're using two-way sync (one-way sync does not read events from Google Calendar)
  • Check that the events are on the correct calendar (the one connected to SeroBook)
  • Verify the events are marked as Busy (not Free or Tentative)
  • Confirm your plan supports two-way sync (Starter plan or above)

Sync stopped working

  • Your Google authorization token may have expired — reconnect from Settings → Integrations
  • Check if you changed your Google password recently (this invalidates the connection)
  • Verify that SeroBook still has access in your Google Account's third-party app settings
  • Review the sync log for error details

Duplicate events in Google Calendar

  • This can occur if you disconnect and reconnect without clearing existing events
  • Delete the duplicate events manually from Google Calendar
  • Ensure only one sync connection is active per calendar
  • Contact support if duplicates persist after reconnection
Sync log

Check the sync log at Settings → Integrations → Google Calendar → Sync Log for a detailed history of all sync operations. This log shows successful syncs, conflicts, and errors with timestamps to help you diagnose issues quickly.

Next Steps

Now that your Google Calendar is connected: