Service Availability

Control when and how each service can be booked. Set service-specific hours, buffer times between appointments, booking limits, and advanced scheduling rules to optimize your calendar.

Service-Specific Availability

By default, services inherit your business hours. However, you can override this with service-specific availability for services that are only offered at certain times.

Setting Custom Hours

1. Go to Settings → Services and open the service
2. Navigate to the Availability tab
3. Toggle Use custom hours
4. Set the available days and time ranges for this service
5. Save your changes

Examples of Service-Specific Hours

• Evening yoga class – Available only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• Weekend brunch consultation – Available only Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
• Express lunchtime facial – Available weekdays from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Buffer Times Between Appointments

Buffer times add padding before or after appointments, giving you time to prepare, clean up, or take a break between clients.

Configuring Buffer Times

1. Edit the service and go to the Availability tab
2. Find the Buffer Time section
3. Set the desired buffer:
   • Before appointment – Time blocked before the service starts (setup/preparation)
   • After appointment – Time blocked after the service ends (cleanup/transition)
4. Save your changes

How Buffers Affect the Calendar

Buffer time is blocked on your calendar but is not visible to customers. For example, if you set a 15-minute buffer after a 60-minute massage:

• Customer sees: 60-minute appointment
• Calendar blocks: 75 minutes total (60 min service + 15 min buffer)
• Next available slot starts after the buffer ends

Booking Limits

Prevent overbooking and manage your workload with booking limits.

Daily Booking Limit

Set the maximum number of bookings allowed per day for a specific service. Once the limit is reached, the service shows as unavailable for that day. For example, limit a specialty treatment to 4 bookings per day to maintain quality.

Per-Slot Capacity

For group services, define how many customers can book the same time slot. A group fitness class might allow 15 participants per slot, while a private lesson is limited to 1.

Per-Customer Limits

Restrict how often a single customer can book a particular service:

• Once per day – Prevent duplicate bookings on the same day
• Once per week – Limit frequency for recurring services
• Custom interval – Set any minimum gap between bookings (e.g., no more than once every 14 days)

Total Active Bookings Limit

Limit the number of upcoming bookings a customer can have for a specific service. This prevents customers from reserving many future slots and then canceling, which can block availability for others.

Advance Booking Window

Control how far in advance customers can book and how close to the appointment time they can still make a booking.

Minimum Advance Notice

The shortest amount of time before the appointment that a booking can be made. This gives you enough notice to prepare.

• No minimum – Customers can book right up until the start time
• 1 hour – Requires at least 1 hour notice
• 24 hours – Requires booking at least one day in advance
• Custom – Set any duration from 15 minutes to 30 days

Maximum Advance Booking

The furthest into the future customers can book. This prevents bookings too far ahead where your schedule may change.

• 1 week – Only the next 7 days are bookable
• 1 month – Up to 30 days out
• 3 months – Up to 90 days out (default)
• 6 months / 1 year – For businesses that book further ahead
• Custom – Set any window

Configuration

1. Edit the service and go to the Availability tab
2. Find Booking Window
3. Set the Minimum notice and Maximum advance values
4. Save your changes

Service-Specific Staff Assignment

Assign specific team members to each service so that only qualified staff appear as available when customers book.

Assigning Staff to a Service

1. Edit the service and go to the Staff tab
2. Select which team members can perform this service
3. Optionally set a primary staff member (shown first in the booking flow)
4. Save your changes

How Staff Assignment Affects Booking

When a customer selects a service:

• Only assigned staff members appear in the staff selection step
• Availability is calculated based on the assigned staff's individual schedules
• If multiple staff are assigned, the booking page shows all available options
• If "Any available" is enabled, the system automatically assigns the first available staff member

Staff Skill Levels

For services with different experience requirements, you can assign skill levels:

• Junior – Available at a lower price point
• Senior – Standard pricing
• Specialist – Premium pricing

Customers can optionally choose their preferred staff level during booking, and the price adjusts accordingly.

Seasonal Availability

Some services are only available during certain times of the year. SeroBook lets you set date-based availability rules.

Setting Seasonal Dates

1. Edit the service and go to the Availability tab
2. Toggle Seasonal availability
3. Add one or more date ranges when the service is available:
   • Start date – When the service becomes bookable
   • End date – When the service is no longer available
4. Optionally enable Repeat annually to automatically reactivate each year
5. Save your changes

Seasonal Examples

• Holiday photo sessions – Available November 15 through December 20
• Summer camp programs – Available June 1 through August 31
• Pumpkin spice facial – Available September through November
• Tax preparation – Available January through April 15

Seasonal vs. Disabling

Seasonal availability differs from disabling a service:

• Seasonal: The service automatically becomes available and unavailable based on dates. Customers can see it on the booking page with a "Coming soon" or "Available from [date]" label.
• Disabled: The service is completely hidden from the booking page until manually re-enabled.

Blocked Dates and Exceptions

Block specific dates when a service is unavailable due to holidays, events, or other reasons.

Adding Blocked Dates

1. Edit the service and go to the Availability tab
2. Scroll to Blocked Dates
3. Click + Add Blocked Date
4. Select a single date or a date range
5. Add an optional reason (visible to staff only)
6. Save your changes

Recurring Blocked Dates

Set dates that are blocked every year:

• Public holidays (e.g., Christmas Day, New Year's Day)
• Annual closures (e.g., first two weeks of January for renovation)
• Staff training days

Time Slot Intervals

Control how time slots are spaced on your booking page:

Interval Options

• Match service duration – Slots are spaced by the service length (e.g., 60-min service shows slots at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00)
• Fixed intervals – Slots are spaced at regular intervals regardless of duration (e.g., every 15 or 30 minutes)
• Custom intervals – Set a specific interval per service (e.g., 45-minute spacing for a 30-minute service to allow transition time)

Choosing the Right Interval

Matching the service duration works best for most businesses. Fixed intervals at 15 or 30 minutes give customers more time options but may create gaps in your calendar. Choose based on how tightly you want to pack your schedule.

Next Steps

Now that your service availability is configured:

• Create and configure your services
• Organize services with categories
• Set up pricing and packages
• View and manage your calendar
• Configure cancellation policies