Online Bookings
To visit your business online booking page, open your browser and visit bookings.hellopointa.com/insertbusinessname
Online bookings allow customers to book appointments through the customer-facing booking page. The customer can select a branch, choose services or packages, choose staff or no preference, select an available time, enter their details, and confirm the booking. If online payments are required, the customer is redirected to pay before the booking is fully accepted.
Online bookings depend on setup across several areas of Pointa:
Business and branch details
Services/packages marked as available online
Staff rosters marked as visible online
Online Sales settings
Payment gateway setup, if deposits or full payment are required
Online Booking Overview
The customer-facing booking flow is:
Select a branch, if the business has more than one.
Select services or packages.
Select staff for each service, or choose No Preference.
Select a date and available time.
Enter customer details.
Accept the cancellation policy, if one has been entered.
Submit the booking or pay online, depending on payment settings.
Online booking availability is calculated from the selected services, staff restrictions, staff rosters, existing appointments, and branch.
A service or package will not appear online unless it is marked as available online (see Products and Services). A staff member will not appear online unless their roster allows them to show online for the relevant day (see Rosters).
Online Booking Settings
Go to Settings > Sales > Online Sales
If online sales/bookings are not enabled for the account, Pointa will show a warning. Contact Pointa support to enable online bookings for the business.
Online Sales settings include:
Email branch new bookings
Email branch incomplete online bookings
Show prices
Use pencil bookings
Staff label
Theme
Cancellation policy
Payments and deposits
Click Save changes after making changes.
Email Branch New Bookings
When enabled, the branch is emailed when a new online booking is made.
If the branch has its own email address, Pointa uses the branch email. If not, Pointa uses the business email address.
Email Branch Incomplete Online Bookings
When enabled, the branch is emailed when an online booking is started but the required online payment is not completed.
This is mainly relevant when online deposits or full online payment are required.
Show Prices
When enabled, prices are shown during online booking.
If online payment is required, prices must be shown and cannot be disabled.
Staff Label
This controls the wording customers see when choosing staff. For example, the business may use technician, therapist, stylist, or another label.
Pointa uses this label in singular and plural form where needed.
Theme
The theme controls the appearance of the customer-facing online booking page.
Available themes include:
Default
Darkly
Fusion
Journal
Lux
Minty
Pulse
Save and refresh your booking page to review the different themes,
Making Services and Packages Available Online
Go to Products & Services > Items > Select item > Edit
For services and packages, tick Available online
Pointa can show both individual services and packages online, but packages are usually the best way to offer grouped or multi-step services.
For example, a customer booking a full head of foils may also need a semi colour in between, a haircut, and a blow-dry. These could technically be exposed as four separate online services, but the customer may not know which services to choose, what order they should be in, or which parts are required. This can lead to incomplete or incorrect bookings.
A package solves this by grouping the required services together in the correct structure. The customer chooses one package, while Pointa books the correct underlying service components.
Best practice is to use packages for composite services, and only make individual services available online where they genuinely make sense as standalone bookings.
Consider turning off Available online for most individual services that are mainly used inside packages. If a service is part of an online package, the service can still be booked through that package even if the individual service itself is not available online. This keeps the online booking menu simpler, reduces customer confusion, and helps guide customers toward the correct booking options.
Also check:
The item is Available for sale.
The service has a valid Booking duration.
The service has a Booking gap if processing/waiting time is required.
Any staff restrictions are correct.
Packages contain the correct service components.
For more on this, visit Creating a Service and Building Packages.
Making Staff Available Online
Go to:
Staff > Select staff member > Roster
When creating or editing a roster, make sure the relevant working days are ticked and that Show online is enabled for the days the staff member should be available for online bookings.
If a staff member is not showing online, check:
They have an active roster.
The roster covers the date being booked.
The correct branch is selected on the roster.
Show online is ticked for that day.
The service is not restricted to different staff.
The service/package is available online.
For more on this, visit Rosters.
Online Deposits
Online deposits are configured under:
Settings > Sales > Online Sales > Payments and deposits
A payment gateway must be configured before online payments can be accepted. See Online Payments.
Payment requirement options are:
Do not accept online payments
Require full payment
Require a percentage deposit
If Require a percentage deposit is selected, enter the deposit percentage.
Example: if the customer books $200 of services and the deposit is set to 25%, Pointa requires a $50 online deposit.
When payment is required, the appointment is held for 10 minutes while the customer completes payment. If payment is not completed within that time, the booking may be cancelled automatically and the sale/payment attempt discarded.
Paid deposits are recorded against the booking and customer. When the appointment is later completed through POS, the deposit is applied to the final sale.
Note if a booking is cancelled where a deposit has been paid, the value will be applied as a credit against the Customer account.
Pencil Bookings
When pencil bookings are enabled, online bookings become appointment requests rather than fully confirmed appointments. A staff member must review and confirm the booking in Pointa.
Until the booking is confirmed, the customer has requested the appointment but it is not yet confirmed by the business. The customer will receive an email of their request stating that it is not yet confirmed.
Use pencil bookings if the business wants manual control before accepting online appointments.
Enable pencil bookings under:
Settings > Sales > Online Sales > Use pencil bookings
If online payment is also required, the customer must pay first. After payment succeeds, the booking becomes a pencil booking and still needs staff confirmation.
If pencil bookings are not enabled, online bookings become confirmed once submitted, or once payment has been completed if payment is required.
Pencil bookings show with a pencil icon on the appointment book and you will receive a notification in the top panel when the booking is made.
Before confirming, you can make any necessary changes to the booking, including changing the appointment date, time, services, or assigned staff. The booking will remain a pencil booking until you click Confirm. If you change the appointment date or time, it's best practice to contact the customer first to ensure the new time suits them before sending the booking confirmation.
To confirm:
Click the booking.
Click Confirm.
Confirm the action.
The customer will then receive a booking confirmation.
To cancel the booking:
Click the booking.
Open the more menu.
Choose Cancel.
Confirm the cancellation.
The customer will then receive a booking cancellation notification if turned on in Notification Settings.
Cancellation Policy
Go to Settings > Sales > Online Sales > Cancellation policy
Enter the cancellation policy text the customer must agree to before completing an online booking.
If a cancellation policy is entered, the customer sees a checkbox:
I agree to the cancellation policy
The customer cannot submit the booking until this is ticked.
Customers can view the cancellation policy during the booking process. Pointa also prevents customers from cancelling online when the appointment starts within 48 hours; they are told to contact the business directly.
Common Reasons Online Bookings Do Not Show Correctly
Check the following first:
Online bookings are enabled for the account.
The service or package is marked Available online.
The service or package is active/available for sale.
Staff have active rosters for the relevant branch.
Staff roster days are marked Show online.
Staff restrictions allow the selected staff member to perform the service.
The branch has suitable contact/address details.
A payment gateway is configured if online deposits or full payment are required.