Recurring jobs: repeating appointments

In this article

How a series works

• The first appointment is booked as usual, with a frequency chosen from the service's Recurring plan.
• BizBaby turns that booking into a series and keeps a copy of what was booked: the service, the answers and the price.
• Each next appointment is created automatically, up to 7 days before its date. Your crew sees it on the calendar like any other appointment.
• Choosing One time books a single appointment and starts no series.

Only appointment services repeat this way. Jobs that start from an estimate request don't repeat on their own.

1. Offer a repeat schedule on a service

1. Go to Appointments, click Service Settings, then Manage services next to Appointment booking.
2. Open the Attributes tab and click Add attribute set.
3. Choose Recurring plan: "How often the customer wants it, at a discount."
4. Give it a Title, for example "Lawn mowing - Frequency".
5. Add one row per schedule. Each row's Option is picked from the list of frequencies, and its Direction and Price set the discount off the order total (a new row starts at full price). Use + Add modifier for another row. The preview at the bottom shows the customer's real price before you save.
6. Save the set, then add it to the service as a question with + Add question on the service's Questions card.

Frequency	Next appointment
One time	None. A single appointment.
Weekly	7 days later
Every 2 Weeks	14 days later
Every 4 Weeks	28 days later
Monthly	Same date next month
Quarterly	3 months later
Every 6 Months	6 months later
Yearly	1 year later

2. See your series

Go to Appointments and open the Subscriptions tab. Each row is one series, with its Customer, Last Appointment, Next Appointment, Service, Status and Frequency. Search by name, email or phone, or narrow it with Date Range.

To start a series yourself, click Add Appointment Subscription. Pick the Service, Appointment Date, Arrival Time and Frequency, click Next, choose the customer and click Submit.

Appointments that belong to a series show it in the Subscription column of the Appointments list.

3. Pause, skip or end a series

1. On the Subscriptions tab, click Manage on the row.
2. Under Manage future appointments, choose Pause series, Resume series, Skip next appointment or End appointment series.
3. Type a Reason for change. It is required, and it is kept with the action, who did it and when.

The same window shows the Occurrence timeline (appointments created, visits skipped, and generation attempts) and the Management history. Once a series has ended, no future appointments are generated, but its timeline and history stay available.

Common problems

• A booking didn't start a series. The customer picked One time, or the service has no Recurring plan question.
• The next appointment isn't on the calendar yet. It appears up to 7 days before its date. Check Next Appointment on the Subscriptions tab.
• Manage shows "Series health needs attention". BizBaby found the series' schedule and its appointments don't agree. Review the read-only findings, use Preview first, and apply the repair only after checking the affected occurrences.
• No Subscriptions tab. Recurring appointments aren't on your plan.

Related

• Bill customers on a subscription
• Appointments and the calendar
• Customize job and order fields
• Online booking: what customers can book