Set Up Booking Availability, Confirmation and Payments

Configure your Matchouse booking hours, slot timing, confirmation rules, online payments, deposits and payout settings.

Last updated About 2 hours ago

Booking settings control when customers can request your services, whether requests are confirmed automatically and how customers pay. Accurate settings reduce diary conflicts and give customers a clearer booking experience.

This guide is for Service Professionals and Professional Businesses that offer bookable services.

Before you start

Create at least one active service and check that its duration, price and delivery method are correct. A customer can only choose times that satisfy the service, team and availability rules connected to that booking.

Set your booking basics

Open your booking settings and review:

  • Time zone: controls how appointment times are interpreted.
  • Currency: choose GBP, USD or EUR for booking prices.
  • Tax type: choose whether tax is included in the displayed price or added separately.

Use the time zone where appointments are normally delivered. If you work online across regions, make sure customers understand which time zone applies.

Choose how bookings are confirmed

Use Auto-accept bookings to decide what happens after a customer submits a request.

  • When auto-accept is on, eligible new bookings go straight into your calendar as confirmed.
  • When auto-accept is off, you review each request before confirming it.

Auto-accept is most useful when your services, opening hours, team shifts and blocked time are kept up to date. Manual review gives you more control when jobs need an assessment before confirmation.

Subscription and credit access still apply. With an active Pro or Business plan, online bookings are covered by the plan. Without an active professional plan, each incoming booking is held until it is unlocked with credits within the displayed business-hours deadline.

Set booking opening hours

Booking opening hours decide when customers may request an appointment. They are separate from general business opening hours.

For each working day:

  1. Enable the day.
  2. Add the time periods when bookings may start.
  3. Save your changes.

If your team uses shifts, a time is offered only when an eligible team member is also available. Blocked time and existing appointments can remove times from customer view.

Control slot timing

Use the scheduling controls to set:

  • Slot interval: how often a possible start time appears.
  • Lead time: how much notice a customer must give before booking.

Choose an interval that suits how your work is delivered. The interval controls possible start times, while the service duration controls how long the calendar is reserved.

Configure online payments

When online payments are enabled, customers can pay securely by card and the payment is handled through your connected Stripe account.

Matchouse currently shows a platform fee of 1% plus 20p for the customer and 1% plus 20p for the professional on each online payment. Stripe processing or other applicable charges may also affect the final amount.

To receive online payments, complete your payout setup and make sure charges and payouts are enabled. If online payments are turned off, customers can still book and you arrange payment offline.

Choose when customers pay

You can collect payment:

  • Upfront, before the appointment.
  • After the appointment.

For payment after the appointment, you can request a deposit from 0% to 100%. A 0% deposit can save the customer's card without taking a deposit, subject to the payment flow shown to the customer.

Choose a deposit that reflects the preparation, travel or reserved time involved in the service. Explain cancellation terms clearly in your service information.

Check service and team assignment

For a Professional Business, assign each bookable service to the team members who can deliver it. Matchouse combines the service assignment with:

  • Booking opening hours
  • Team shifts
  • Blocked time
  • Existing appointments
  • Service duration and booking rules

This prevents customers from seeing a time when nobody suitable is available.

Test the customer journey

After saving your settings:

  1. Open your public profile.
  2. Choose a bookable service.
  3. Check the available dates and times.
  4. Confirm that the price, payment timing and service information are correct.

Use a private browser window if you want to see the experience as a visitor.

Troubleshooting

No times are available

Check the booking opening hours, service duration, lead time, team shifts, blocked time and existing appointments. For a business, also check that the service is assigned to an active team member.

Online payment cannot be enabled

Open payout settings and finish the Stripe setup. Charges and payouts must be enabled before Matchouse can collect booking payments for you.

A booking is waiting for access

If there is no active Pro or Business plan, open the appointment and unlock it with the credits shown before the deadline. An active plan covers unlimited online booking access.

Continue with the next step