# A calm way to book the hour you spend with clients > Therapists, counsellors, psychologists, nutritionists, physiotherapists and massage therapists in private practice spend too much time on scheduling messages. One link shows only the times you really have free, asks what you need to know before a first session, takes payment and reminds clients before every appointment. Page: https://timelydo.com/solutions/therapists ## How it works 1. **Set up your sessions** Make an event for the first session, one for follow up sessions and, if you like, a pack. Set the length, the price, the questions each one asks and whether you approve each request. 2. **Share one link** Put it on your website, in your email signature or on a card in your waiting area as a QR code. Clients see only times you have really free, in their own time zone. 3. **Meet, get paid, follow up** The answers and the payment arrive with the booking. Reminders go out before the appointment and a follow up goes out afterwards, with a link to book the next one. ## Ask what you need before you meet, and no more Before a first session you often need a few facts. What brings the person to you, how they would like to meet and whether they agree to your terms. Put those questions on the booking form so they are answered before the appointment, and use rules so the form stays short and the more personal questions appear only when they apply. - Fifteen question types, among them a long answer, choices, yes or no, a file and a handwritten signature for your consent or cancellation terms - A rule shows a question only when it applies, and a rule can stop a booking with your own message, for example one that names who to call if someone needs help today - A rule can also send a client to another event of yours, such as sessions for young people - Questions can come before the calendar, so a person who is not a fit never sees your times - Who sees the answers. You do. They are saved with the booking and you read them there and in your confirmation email. Notes and tags that you add are never shown to the client - Ask only what you need. Every question can be optional, and out of the box a booking needs only a name and an email address ## Say yes to a new client before the time is taken Switch on approval and every booking arrives as a request that holds the time. You read the answers, then approve or decline from the Bookings page or from the notification. Once a client is booked, a cutoff keeps late changes fair. - You choose the time to answer, from 1 hour to 7 days, and reminders before it runs out - On a paid session the card is held when the request is sent and charged only when you approve. A decline or no answer releases the hold - A card hold lasts up to 7 days, so on a paid session your time to answer is 167 hours at most - A decline can carry a short message of up to 500 characters that the client reads in an email - Cutoffs for cancelling and rescheduling run from 1 hour to a week before the start. They bind the client, never you, and the booking page says so before anyone books - The limit, said plainly. Repeating bookings are not offered while approval is on ## Six sessions, paid once Some clients prefer to settle a block of sessions in one payment. Make a pack of six sessions valid for 180 days, with its own purchase link. The client pays by card, gets a credit code by email and books each session with a credit instead of paying again. - Every pack has a purchase page and a balance page, so a client can see how many sessions are left - A credit comes back when the client cancels in time under your cancel rule, and always when you cancel or decline. A late cancel or a no show uses the credit, and you can add it back by hand - A session that needs your approval holds the credit while the request waits, and a decline gives it back - Unused credits expire after the days you set, and for a pack paid online you can refund the unused ones - The limits, said plainly. One credit is one booking, so give the session the length a credit should cover. Credits work on paid sessions only, not with a late fee or single use links. There is no coupon, first time offer, gift or membership, and a pack sale makes no invoice yet ## Rules you set once and clients read before they pay A written rule is easier for everyone than a difficult message afterwards. On a paid session, set refund steps by notice. Add a fee for a late cancel or a no show, and charge it yourself only when you decide to. - Up to six refund steps, each with a notice and a percent, such as 100 percent more than 48 hours ahead and 50 percent more than 24 hours ahead - Clients see the steps before they pay and again on the cancel page - A late fee is a fixed amount or a percent. The client ticks a box to agree to it when booking, and the fee is charged to the card they used, only when you press the button - Mark a session as completed or as a no show from the Past list, and see on the Attendees tab who often does not come - The limits, said plainly. A fee needs a card, so it is for paid sessions. A free first call takes no card and cannot carry a fee. A pack credit cannot be used on a session with a late fee ## If you share a room or a device, count it Skip this one if you work from a room that is always yours. If you rent a treatment room, or have a device that only one client can use at a time, add it as a resource with a quantity. A session says how many it needs, and the booking page offers a time only while enough is free. - A room is a resource of one and is used once per booking. Two massage tables are a resource of two - Other sessions of yours that need the same room cannot take the same time - Take a resource out of use and it leaves every session that needed it, while old bookings keep it - The limits, said plainly. The client cannot choose the room, a single room has no opening hours of its own, and resources belong to you and not to a team ## Reminders, notes and a door for people you already see A reminder the day before and another a few hours ahead does a lot of the work. For people you already see, a hidden event keeps follow up appointments off your public profile, and a single use link lets you invite one person by name. - Up to three reminders before and three follow ups after each appointment, in your own words, with a link to book the next one - A hidden event is left out of your profile, but anyone with its link can book it, so share it only with the people you see - A single use link works for one person and one booking, and you can see whether it was opened. Switch on the Access setting and the address alone is no longer enough - Private notes and tags on each client that only you see, and a count of completed and missed appointments - The limit, said plainly. The notes are for your own reminders. TimelyDo is a booking tool and not a record system for clinical files ## Sessions - First session and follow ups - Approval of new clients - Packs of sessions - Hidden events for existing clients - Online, by phone or in person - Repeating free sessions ## Clients - Fifteen question types - Rules that show, require, stop or redirect - Signature for your consent terms - Private notes and tags - Completed and missed marks - Single use links ## Money - Card payments to your own Stripe account - Up to six refund steps - Late fee and no show fee - Deposits for paid sessions - Invoices from a booking - Refunds of unused credits ## Your time - Different hours for every day - Up to five availability calendars - Padding between sessions - Limits per day and per week - Each client's own time zone - Eleven languages for your clients ## Questions and answers ### Is it really free? Yes. TimelyDo is completely free for individuals, with no booking limit. Features for teams and organizations are being built and will come later. A card payment carries payment processing fees. ### What do you store about my clients? A booking stores the name and email address of the person who books, the answers to the questions you chose to ask, and any private notes you add. Card details go to Stripe and never reach TimelyDo. We never sell personal data, and you can ask us to delete your account and everything in it. You can protect your own sign in with two factor authentication. The privacy policy has the details. ### Can I ask sensitive questions? You decide what to ask, and every question can be optional. TimelyDo is a booking tool. It keeps the answers with each booking and does not give advice on what the rules of your profession or your country ask of you, so check those yourself and ask only what you need. ### Can I approve new clients before they are booked? Yes. Switch on approval for the event and each booking becomes a request that holds the time. You approve or decline from the Bookings page or the notification, with a short message if you like. On a paid session the card is held and charged only when you approve. ### Can I sell a pack of sessions? Yes. A pack has a number of sessions, a price and the days it is valid, and its own purchase page. The client gets a code and a balance page. One credit pays one booking, and it works on paid sessions without a late fee. A pack sale makes no invoice yet. ### What happens when a client cancels late or does not come? You set how late a client may cancel or reschedule, and the booking page says so before they book. On a paid session you can set refund steps by notice and a late or no show fee that you charge yourself to the card used at booking. A free session takes no card, so no fee can be charged on it. ### Can a client book a regular weekly slot, and is there a waitlist? For a free session, yes. A client can reserve the same time on up to 24 dates in one go. Repeating bookings do not work for paid sessions or while you approve each booking, and a pack covers regular paid sessions. A waitlist is for free group events and not for paid ones. ### What does it not do yet? TimelyDo is built for people working alone. There are no team features yet, such as several practitioners on one calendar. It does not hold clinical records, and video calls come from the Zoom or Google Meet link you choose. In a shared room the client cannot pick the room.