Setting Up Booking Deposits with ShortcutsPay (Stripe)

 Booking deposits can be taken in three areas of the software: Online Booking (including the Shortcuts App), Shortcuts, and the Cloud. The same booking deposit rules apply across all three areas. Booking deposit rules determine the amount a client must pay when booking a specific service. You can create multiple rules to suit different service types. For example, you can require a larger deposit for time-consuming services, a smaller deposit for shorter services, or no deposit for services where a deposit is not required. 

To set up deposit rules:

1. Log into the Console

2. Navigate to the Online Booking Settings.

3. Select Booking Deposits Settings
   
4. Select the relevant location (if you have more than one)
5. Select Add New Rule
6. Specify how you want your deposit to work by entering all the rule paramaters

• Rule name: ensure the name of the rule indicates what the rule does. This will make it easier for you when you come back and check your rules later. Example as 50% for Hair Extensions, or 30% for General Services. These names are not public facing. 
  
• Days in advance: Select a timeframe for rule application (e.g. you may only want to charge a deposit if a service is booked a long time in advance ). If you would like to always take deposits regardless of how far in advance the service is booked, enter a zero (this is recommended).

• Deposit amounts to be collected: Percentage & Minimum Booking Fee Per Service:

You can choose to charge either a Percentage or a Minimum Booking Fee Per Service, or both.

• • If you only want to charge a Percentage: enter the percentage amount here. Then enter zero (0) in the Minimum Booking Fee Per Service field. 
  • If you only want to charge a Minimum Fee Per Service: enter the minimum amount you would like to collect per service.  Then enter a zero (0) in the Percentage field. 
  • If you want to charge both: This option is useful for businesses that offer a mix of high and low cost services where the standard deposit percentage results in an amount that is too low to discourage no shows. In this case, you can set a Minimum Deposit Fee that is higher than what would be taken as a percentage amount.
    
    Example: A haircut costs $150, while a brow wax costs $15. At a 30% deposit, the brow wax would require only a $5 deposit, which may not be enough to discourage a client from not showing up. In this case, you could set a Minimum Deposit Fee of $10, ensuring that at least $10 is collected when the service is booked.
    
    

• New Client:

  • If you want to collect this deposit amount for both new and existing clients, leave the box empty.

  • If you want to collect this deposit amount for new clients (client visiting your business for the first time), place a check in the box.

  • If you would like to collect different deposit amounts based on if a client is new or existing (for example, a higher deposit amount for new clients), set up two deposit rules; a lower deposit rule without a check in New Clients, and a higher deposit rule with a check in New Clients . The system will automatically charge the higher deposit amount to new clients and the lower to existing clients.   

• Activate Rule:

  • Place a check in the Activate Box.

• Save Changes:

  • Click OK to  save the rule.

If you have multiple locations you can copy your rule settings to other locations. To do this:

1. Copy Settings:

   • Select Copy Settings and choose the source site.

2. Choose Applications:

   • Tick applicable applications and gallery images.

3. Select Destination Sites:

   • Confirm the target sites and click Copy Settings.