Booking configuration

Last updated 14 Oct 2026

Booking configuration decides what your guests can book, how long a booking lasts
and how far ahead they can book.

Open Shop → Settings → Booking configuration, or type booking in Search
settings... to list them all with their group above each one.

The booking configuration settings

Switches and choices save as soon as you change them. A field you type in, such as
Max guests, shows Save once you change it.

Availability - what is being booked

Type decides what customers book:

Type For What to set up next
Table A restaurant booking tables Set up tables and the floor plan
Staff A service booking appointments - hairdresser, clinic, salon Make a staff member bookable

The settings in this group are the shop's defaults. With Staff bookings, every
staff member you make bookable starts with these values, and each of them then has
their own booking settings on their record (Shop → Staff, Edit). See Make a
staff member bookable.

Setting Decides
Max guests The largest number of guests one booking can hold
Max parallel bookings How many bookings can run at the same time
Default slot duration (mins) How long one booking lasts, from 1 hr to 3 hrs
Slot interval (mins) How often a new slot starts - 15 min, 30 min, 45 min or 1 hr

Duration is how long a guest keeps the table; interval is how often a new booking can
start. With a 1 hr 30 min duration and a 30 min interval, guests can book at 18:00,
18:30, 19:00 and so on, and their bookings overlap. Max parallel bookings caps how
many run at once. If you want everyone to start together, set the interval to the
same length as the duration.

Timing

Setting What it decides
Minimum lead time How long before the start time a guest can still book - none, 4, 8 or 24 hours
Cancellation window How long before a booking starts a guest can still cancel
Arrival offset How early the guest should arrive
Buffer before Time kept free before a booking can start
Buffer after Time between one booking ending and the next starting

Payment and customer

Setting What it decides
Standard deposit amount What guests pay up front when they book
Auto-confirm bookings Whether a booking confirms itself, after payment where one applies
Phone The number guests call about their booking
Terms and Conditions What guests accept before a booking is confirmed
Link The web address guests use to book - see Let customers book online

Getting the combination right

Most booking problems come from two settings working against each other:

Symptom Likely cause
No slots offered today Minimum lead time rules out what is left of the day, or Max parallel bookings is already reached
Slots appear when you are full Max parallel bookings is higher than you can seat
Tables held too long Default slot duration is longer than a sitting takes
Too many bookings overlap Slot interval is shorter than the duration and Max parallel bookings is too high

Change one setting at a time and check the booking page afterwards, so you know
which change did what.