A cancellation policy tells FrontDesk what to do when a client cancels late or does not show up. Set it once and it applies everywhere a visit can be cancelled or missed.
Set the policy
Go to Settings → Billing → Payment methods and find the Cancellation and no-show policy card. Pick the location if you have more than one, switch Policy on, set the fields, and click Save policy.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Late cancellation window | Hours before the start inside which a cancellation counts as late (0 to 168; 24 by default). 0 turns late fees off. |
| Late cancellation fee | No fee, Flat amount, % of the visit fee, or Full visit fee, with the amount or percentage. |
| No-show fee | The same four choices, for a visit the client missed. |
| Charge the card on file right away | Take the fee from the client's card as soon as it applies (only for clients with a saved card and autopay on). Otherwise it sits on their balance. On by default. |
| Waive the first missed visit | Forgive each client's first late cancellation or no-show. |
| Late changes from the portal | Allow, with the fee, or Not allowed online. |
| What clients see | The policy text shown in the portal. Leave it blank and a plain-English summary is generated from the settings. |
Charging cards needs Stripe connected and a card on file for the client.
What happens when a visit is cancelled late or missed
The policy runs on every path: a staff member changing the status, a group roster change, a client texting to cancel, the AI cancelling on the phone, web chat, the client cancelling or moving a visit in the portal, and the Setup Assistant.
- The fee is calculated from the visit's fee and the policy, unless the client is exempt or the waiver applies.
- A charge is added to the client's account, described as a late cancellation fee, a no-show fee, or a late change fee.
- If automatic charging is on and the client has a card with autopay on, the card is charged and the client gets a Stripe receipt. The appointment records what happened: charged, being charged, on the balance, card declined, or waived.
- For a group session, this happens per client when you set their attendance in Manage clients; the editor's fee preview is for one-to-one visits.
Being charged. Now and then Stripe takes a moment to confirm a card charge. Until it does, the visit shows the fee as "being charged to Visa ending 4242 (waiting for the bank to confirm)". It is not a decline, so don't collect it again: it turns into "charged" once Stripe confirms. Waive and Refund and waive wait until then.
Declined. If the card is declined, the fee stays on the balance, the office gets a Payment failed notification, and the client gets an email (and a text where they allow it) saying the payment didn't go through and how to pay. If their bank asks them to confirm the payment, they are asked to pay it themselves in the portal.
Group clients who reply NO. A client in a group session who replies NO to a confirmation text (to reschedule) is taken off that session with no late-cancellation fee, because a group can't move for one person. The reply tells them a team member will contact them to find another time.
See the fee before it applies
These screens show the fee before you save, with the choice to apply or waive it:
- The appointment editor. Saving a late cancellation or no-show previews the fee ("No-show fee $150.00 will be charged to Visa ending 4242", or "will be added to the client's balance") with an Apply fee switch. Turn it off and give a reason to waive it; the reason is kept on the visit.
- The Cancel dialog on the schedule shows the same late-cancellation fee and Apply fee switch when the visit is inside the window (one-to-one visits; a group's fees are set per client in its roster).
- The Confirmations page. Mark declined cancels the visit, so when a fee would apply a Mark declined dialog shows it with the Apply fee switch first.
- The calendar hover card. No-show asks about the fee first, in a small Mark no-show dialog with the same Apply fee switch and a reason. A visit with no fee to decide is saved straight away.
- A video visit's ended screen. Choosing No show asks about the fee first; for a group, it asks per client.
- Confirmations: Mark confirmed on a declined visit puts it back on the calendar, so it offers the Reverse fee switch (keep it on to take the fee off, or turn it off to keep the fee). If the fee was charged to the card, it can't be reversed there: a note says to use Refund and waive on the visit.
- The mobile app. Mark no-show and Cancel visit on an appointment, and Cancel appointment in Confirmations, open a sheet showing the fee with Apply fee or Waive and a reason; afterwards a banner says what became of the fee. Refund and waive is only on the web; for a fee charged to the card the banner says "To give it back, use Refund and waive on the visit in the web app."
- The Setup Assistant. When you ask it to cancel a visit inside the window, the confirm card shows the fee and whether it will be charged or waived. It charges the fee only when you say the client asked to cancel; a cancellation by the practice, or one nobody said the client asked for, is waived unless you tell it to charge.
Waive or refund afterwards
Open the visit in the appointment editor. It shows what happened to the fee:
- On the balance, or the card was declined: click Waive, give a reason, and confirm. The fee's charge is voided and it comes off the client's balance, with the reason kept on the ledger.
- Charged to the card: click Refund and waive, give a reason, and confirm Refund $50.00 and waive. The card payment is refunded through Stripe (the same refund as the Payments page) and the fee comes off the client's account in one step. Don't refund the payment on its own from the Payments page: that gives the money back but leaves the fee owed on the balance.
- Being charged: wait until Stripe confirms, then use Refund and waive.
Waive and Refund and waive are for the account owner, admins, practice managers and billers; anyone else sees a line saying so. The Apply fee choice when you cancel or mark a no-show stays with whoever does it.
If the fee is on an invoice that is still open, it can't be waived until it is taken off that invoice (a draft) or the invoice is voided. FrontDesk names the invoice when it stops a waive. Open the invoice from the Invoices card on the client's Billing tab (or Payments → Invoices): Edit a draft to take the fee off, or Void a sent invoice with a reason. See Invoices.
Put a missed visit back
If a visit was marked a no-show or cancelled by mistake, change its status back:
- Marked completed (or attended): the fee is reversed automatically, because the visit took place. The editor says "will be reversed: the visit took place".
- Back on the calendar (pending or confirmed): the fee is reversed by default. The editor shows a Reverse fee switch; turn it off to keep the fee on the client's balance. Mark confirmed on a declined visit in Confirmations asks the same question, on the web and in the mobile app.
- The fee was charged to the card: it stays in place until the money is given back. The editor offers Refund and waive on the spot.
In the mobile app a missed visit can only be put back from Confirmations (a declined visit); use the web for the rest.
Exempt a client
- One client. On the client's Billing profile, switch on the policy exemption with a note. Long-standing clients and hardship cases go here.
- Everyone's first time. The first-occurrence waiver in the policy.
The client's view
In the portal the policy text shows above upcoming visits. Cancelling inside the window opens a dialog that names the fee and how it will be collected ("charged to your Visa ending 4242" or "added to your account balance"); the confirm button reads "Cancel and pay $50.00" and stays off until the client ticks that they understand. Outside the window the dialog says no fee applies. Moving a visit inside the window works the same way with a late-change fee, unless you set late changes to "not allowed online", in which case the dialog explains the window and offers to cancel instead.
The AI on the phone and web chat read the same fee out before the client agrees to cancel.
Good to know
- The fee shows in the client's charges, in their balance, and in the financial reports like any other charge.
- No-shows are counted per provider on the Bookings and Financial reports. A no-show you rebook stays a no-show there, with its fee; the new visit is booked as usual.
- Editing a fee's charge on the Billing tab changes the balance by the difference, and the visit shows the new amount.
- Not yet: different fees per service.