Getting Started Guide - Section 1: Business basics

This guide walks you through the essentials of setting up your Schedulista business account.

Contents in this article:

Initial business account setup
Setting your Business Details
Creating & editing Users
Creating & editing Services
Multiple locations

Initial business account setup

You've likely already done this, but if you need, you can sign up for a new Schedulista business account here: http://www.schedulista.com/businesses/sign_up

Signing up for a business account will create your business name and your user account login email address and password.

The setup will walk you through three quick steps:

Your time zone and country
Your regular work schedule
Adding at least one service

Once the initial setup is complete, you will have access to your account dashboard to fully set-up your account.

Setting your Business Details

The Business Details page allows you to setup the following:

Business Name - You can edit your business name here.
Business Address - The main physical address of your business. This will add a Google map of your location to your scheduling page and to the confirmation and reminder emails.
Time Zone - You can adjust the time zone for your account here.
Country - You can change the country of your business here.
Business Statement - This is a description of your business that appears on your scheduler. Note: The statement is not included in the scheduler widget embedded on a website.

Creating & editing Users

More information: Users

You can create or edit user accounts by going to the Users page. You can read more on adding users to your account in the following ways:

Add user with a calendar - For users who will be providing services
Add user without a calendar - For users who are not offering services, like administrators, receptionists, or other support staff
Adding another calendar to your account - For additional availability, multiple locations, or resources like rooms or equipment

Each user account has the following options:

User Account - Allows the user to sign into the account using their own email address and password.
Access level - Determines how much access the user has to the system. You can further adjust permissions for those set to Provider level of access.
Calendar - Determines if the user gets a calendar. Any user that clients are going to schedule appointments with will need a calendar.
Provider bio - You can add a bio for each user that will appear on the Choose Provider page in the scheduler. The bio is only visible if you have multiple user accounts.
Receive Text/SMS Update - (Deprecated) This setting no longer applies. It has been replaced by push notifications sent through the mobile app when clients book or cancel online. On multi-user accounts, users can also receive push notifications for other providers depending on their access level.
Work Schedule - Sets the regular work hours the user is available each week. This can also be adjusted on the Calendar.
Services Offered - Determines which services the user offers to clients.

Creating & editing Services

More information: Service basics and Special features

You can create or edit services by going to the Services / Classes / Events page. More information on adding services to your account here.

You will have the following options while creating or editing services:

Price - The amount your service costs for an appointment. If you opt to take payments when clients schedule, this is the amount they would be charged.
Duration - The length of your service. This is the amount of time that each scheduled appointment for the service will block out on your calendar. Note: Schedulista doesn't directly show the appointment duration to your clients. If you'd like clients to know how long an appointment lasts, you can include this in the name and/or description of the service (e.g. "60 Minute Swedish Massage").
Setup/cleanup time - This is used to block out additional time before and after appointments.
Split appointment - This is used to create a gap time within an appointment, so another client can schedule during that time. Note: As this feature is mostly used by hair stylists, it isn't automatically included on all accounts. If you'd like this feature turned on, please notify our support team at support@schedulista.com
Category - Categories help to organize the list of services in your scheduler. Select which category you'd like the service to appear under from the drop-down menu.
Description - A text field to offer a brief description of your service. This appears below the service name in your scheduler.
Class - Allows multiple people to schedule the service at the same appointment time. Great for classes, groups, workshops, events, etc.
Private Service - Private services are hidden from your scheduler and only clients with a special link can schedule them. This is great for providing promotions and special offers to select clients.
Limited Time Offer - This allows a service to only be available to book during a specific date range.
Daily Deal - This feature requires clients to enter a Groupon, Living Social, or other coupon code to schedule the service.
Location - This allows you to set an alternate location for a specific service / class / event. If you provide a service where you travel to the client, you can set it to ask their client their location while scheduling.
Custom Fields - Custom fields are used to ask clients for additional information while scheduling. You can select which custom fields you would like to apply to the specific service.
Providers Offering Service - Determines which users with calendars offer the specific service.

Multiple locations

More information: Multiple locations

Schedulista supports multiple locations for single providers and for businesses with multiple employees.