Creating booking codes

You can create booking codes with packages, gift certificates, and subscriptions to give your clients more options to pay for your services.

• Package - The client pays for multiple appointments at once, often with a discount (like five appointments for the price of four).
• Gift certificate - The purchaser pays for multiple appointments at once, then receives a certificate to print out or send digitally to someone else.
• Subscription - The client pays on a repeating basis. These can be set up as one payment per appointment, or spread out to pay for individual appointments over time.

When clients purchase one of these options, they get a booking code that they can apply when booking appointments. They can only apply one booking code per appointment, which includes codes generated by packages, gift certificates, subscriptions, and coupons. 

This guide explains how to create each type of booking code. To sell booking codes to your clients so they can redeem them for your services, visit Selling and redeeming booking codes.

We've merged the Acuity Scheduling Help Center with the Squarespace Help Center. This guide applies to both versions of Scheduling.

Tip: These features are separate from the gift cards and subscriptions that you can offer through Squarespace Commerce. Gift certificates sold through Squarespace Scheduling can't be used for purchases through Squarespace Commerce.

These features are available with the Growing and Powerhouse plans. Subscriptions are only available if you use Stripe or Square as your payment processor.

Create a package

To create a new package:

1. In Scheduling, click Packages, gifts & subscriptions.
2. Click New package.
3. Add a title.
4. Set the package Access to Public, Private, or Unavailable:
   • Public - Available for all clients to purchase from your scheduler.
   • Private - Only available to clients who have the direct link and hidden from your scheduler.
   • Unavailable - Hidden from all clients. Direct links to packages set to Unavailable display a note that the option is no longer available. Clients who previously purchased the package can still redeem their codes.
5. Add a price.
6. Optional: Add a picture, description, or category.
7. Leave the Gift certificate? box unchecked. To create a gift certificate, follow the steps below.
8. Enter an expiration date in the Expires after field. The code is valid until the expiration date, though clients can use the code to book an appointment as far into the future as your scheduling limits allow. If you leave the field blank, your clients’ codes will never expire. 
9. Use the Redeemable for drop-down menu to set the package value, then decide which appointment types the package can be redeemed for. 
10. Click Add package.

Create a gift certificate

To create a new gift certificate:

1. In Scheduling, click Packages, gifts & subscriptions.
2. Click New gift certificate.
3. Enter the title and price.
4. Set the gift certificate Access to Public, Private, or Unavailable:
   • Public - Available for all clients to purchase from your scheduler.
   • Private - Only available to clients who have the direct link and hidden from your scheduler.
   • Unavailable - Hidden from all clients. Direct links to gift certificates set to Unavailable display a note that the option is no longer available. Clients who previously purchased the gift certificate can still redeem their codes.
5. Optional: Add a category, picture, or description.
6. To display extra information on the certificate, fill out the Extra info shown on the certificate section.
7. Enter an expiration date in the Expires after field. The code is valid until the expiration date, though clients can use the code to book an appointment as far into the future as your scheduling limits allow. If you leave the field blank, your clients’ codes will never expire. 
8. Use the Redeemable for drop-down menu to set the gift certificate value, then decide which appointment types the gift certificate can be redeemed for.
9. Click Add gift certificate.

Keep in mind:

• A gift certificate doesn’t have to cover the whole cost of an appointment. The recipient can pay the remaining amount using whatever payment method you've set up.
• Gift certificates that are worth a set dollar amount can also be used toward the cost of add-ons.
• Recipients can use gift certificates for appointments and classes, but can't use them for packages, subscriptions, or more gift certificates.

Create a subscription

To create a new subscription:

1. In Scheduling, click Packages, gifts & subscriptions.
2. Click New subscription.
3. Add a title.
4. Set the subscription Access to Public, Private, or Unavailable:
   • Public - Available for all clients to purchase from your scheduler.
   • Private - Only available to clients who have the direct link and hidden from your scheduler.
   • Unavailable - Hidden from all clients. Direct links to subscriptions set to Unavailable display a note that the option is no longer available. Clients who previously purchased subscriptions can still redeem their codes.
5. Add a price and, from the drop-down menu, select how often Scheduling should charge the client.
6. Enter a number in the Number of billing cycles field to set how long the subscription charges should continue.
7. Enter a price in the Initial setup fee field to charge clients an extra fee when they sign up for the subscription.
8. If you want Scheduling to send subscription renewal reminders to your clients, check Send a subscription renewal reminder email to clients 7 days prior to their subscription renewal date.

Note: In some jurisdictions, businesses are legally required to send subscription renewal reminders to their clients. To learn more, visit Email notifications for Squarespace Scheduling clients.

9. Optional: Add a picture, description, or category.
10. From the Every subscription billing cycle drop-down menu, choose how or if the subscription code should be recharged:
    • Reset the amount - Resets the value to the full amount, but doesn't save unused credit
    • Rollover remaining appointments - Resets the value to the full amount plus any unused credit
    • Leave as-is - Leaves the current value as-is

Note: If you select leave as-is, the client will receive their subscription credits immediately after they make a payment. However, they can't cancel the subscription until each payment in the billing cycle is made.

11. Use the Redeemable for drop-down menu to set the subscription value, then decide which appointment types the subscription can be redeemed for. 
12. Click Add subscription.

Set the redeemable value

Decide how many appointments the code can be redeemed for using these options:

Tip: Total dollar amount is a good option for bulk discounts, as the client can buy for one price, but redeem it for services worth a higher amount.

Choose where the booking codes appear

Your booking codes can appear on your scheduler, or on a Scheduling store page:

1. In Scheduling, click Packages, gifts & subscriptions.
2. In the Sell packages of appointments, gift certificates, subscriptions, and products section, select one of the three options.
3. Click Save.

Scheduling hides packages, gift certificates, and subscriptions that you don't set to Public.

Keep in mind:

• The store page is separate from any store you create in Squarespace Commerce. It only sells packages, gift certificates, and subscriptions in Scheduling.
• You can link to the store page from your scheduler, or keep it separate.
• A direct link to the store page appears in the top-right corner.

Require terms and conditions

To require clients to agree to your terms and conditions before purchasing:

1. In Scheduling, click Packages, gifts & subscriptions.
2. Check Require clients to agree to your terms before placing an order.
3. Enter your terms and conditions in the field that appears and format the text. If your terms and conditions are listed on your site, you can add a link to that page.
4. Click Save.

Edit a booking code

To change the settings for a booking code:

1. In Scheduling, click Packages, gifts & subscriptions.
2. Click Edit for the package, gift certificate, or subscription you want to edit.
3. Make changes, then click Update package, Update gift certificate, or Update subscription.

Note: To make changes that affect every client who purchased the booking code, edit the specific package, gift certificate, or subscription. To make changes that affect one client, edit the client's code.

Client information and intake forms

When clients purchase a booking code, they enter their name and email address. They have the option to enter their phone number and to leave a note for the business.

It's not possible to have clients fill out a Scheduling intake form during the checkout process. Instead, clients fill out intake forms (if you've created them) when they book appointments, including when they redeem booking codes.

If you want clients to enter more information when they buy a package, gift certificate, or subscription, consider creating a form outside Scheduling. Options include a Squarespace form block or a form from a third-party form app.

You can include a link to the form in the email Scheduling automatically sends when a client purchases a booking code. Information entered into these forms won't automatically appear in Scheduling.