Appointments

Supporting Tools Around Calendar & Availability

Exporting to an ICS File

Export any calendar (or a specific set of events) to a standard .ics file, importable into Outlook, Apple Calendar, or any calendar app that isn't directly synced (see the Appointments integrations article for live Google/Microsoft sync) — useful for a one-time handoff of a schedule rather than an ongoing connection.

Importing an ICS File

Bring events the other direction — import a .ics file (e.g. an event organiser's published schedule, or a one-off export from another system) directly into your Quickenerp calendar, rather than manually re-typing each event.

Public Holiday Calendars

Maintain a Public Holiday calendar per year, with individual holiday lines each having:

• A Date, which can be flagged as Variable for holidays that shift year to year (common for lunar/religious calendar-based holidays) rather than falling on a fixed date.
• Applicability to specific States/Regions, for countries where public holidays differ by state or province.
• An optional linked calendar Meeting/Event so the holiday actually shows up visually on everyone's calendar, not just as a background data record.

This same holiday calendar is what the HR course's Attendance and Time Off articles rely on to correctly exclude public holidays from expected working days, and what Appointment Types respect when computing available booking slots — set it up once per year and both areas benefit automatically.

Appointments Rarely Stand Alone

CRM

A booking can automatically create or update a CRM lead/opportunity — useful for "Book a Demo" or "Book a Consultation" pages where every booking should enter the sales pipeline, not just the calendar.

Sales & Payments

For paid appointments (e.g. a paid consultation slot), require payment at booking time so a no-show still results in a charge, or the slot simply isn't held until payment clears.

HR / Recruitment

Interview scheduling can use the same booking-page mechanism — a candidate picks an open interview slot on a recruiter's or hiring manager's calendar instead of coordinating by email.

Google / Microsoft Calendar Sync

If a staff user has their external calendar (Google or Microsoft) connected, their real busy/free time from that external calendar is respected when computing available slots — bookings won't be offered against a meeting that only exists on their personal calendar.

Managing Availability Exceptions

Use the Manage Leaves action to block out specific dates/times (holidays, an unexpected closure) across appointment types quickly, rather than editing every recurring slot definition individually.

Reporting

Review booking volume by appointment type, staff member, or resource to spot which offerings are in high demand and which staff/resources are consistently overbooked or underused — the same underlying calendar events also show up in standard Calendar and Activity reporting.

Getting Visitors to Your Booking Page

The Public Booking Page

Every appointment type has its own public URL. Embed it as a button/link on your website, in an email signature, or send it directly. The visitor sees:

1. A calendar of available days, restricted to the configured scheduling window.
2. Available time slots for the selected day, in the visitor's own time zone (converted automatically).
3. Any custom Questions to answer.
4. Their name/email/phone to confirm the booking.

On confirmation, a calendar event is created (attached to the chosen staff user or resource), invites are sent, and the visitor gets a confirmation with the details and any configured message.

Personalised Invite Links

Create an Invite to generate a short, trackable link for a specific outreach (e.g. sent to one prospect after a call) — this can bundle several appointment types together and optionally restrict which staff/resources apply for that particular invite, without changing the general public booking page.

Rescheduling & Cancelling

The confirmation email/page includes self-service reschedule and cancel links (respecting the Cancel Before window) so visitors can adjust their own booking without contacting anyone — reducing back-and-forth for simple changes.

Building a Bookable Service

Go to Appointments > Configuration > Appointment Types → Create.

Availability On: Users vs Resources

This is the key setup decision:

• Users – the booking reserves time on a specific staff member's calendar (a consultant, doctor, hairdresser). Select which Staff Users can take this type of appointment; if several can, the visitor either picks one or the system offers whoever's free.
• Resources – the booking reserves a non-human asset instead (a table, court, meeting room, piece of equipment). Each resource has a Capacity, so a resource that can hold multiple simultaneous bookings (e.g. a room for 4) won't double-book past its limit.

Scheduling Rules

• Schedule Before (hours) – minimum notice required before a booking (e.g. must book at least 1 hour ahead).
• Cancel Before (hours) – how close to the appointment a visitor can still cancel/reschedule online.
• Schedule Not After (days) – how far into the future the booking page shows availability (e.g. 15 days out).

Availability Slots

For a Regular type, define weekly recurring windows (day of week + start/end time). Multiple windows per day are allowed (e.g. 9–12 and 2–5, with a lunch gap). The booking page automatically splits these into individually bookable slots based on the appointment's duration.

Custom Questions

Add Questions to collect information at booking time (e.g. "What would you like to discuss?", "Party size", "Do you have any allergies?") — answers are attached to the resulting calendar event so staff see them before the appointment happens.

Reminders & Messages

• Reminders – calendar alarms sent before the appointment (email/notification), reducing no-shows.
• Introduction Message – shown on the booking page before the visitor picks a slot.
• Confirmation Message – shown (and typically emailed) once the booking is confirmed.

Letting Customers Book Themselves

Appointments let a customer pick an open time slot on a public booking page and reserve it instantly — no back-and-forth email to find a time. Behind the scenes it's built on the Calendar app: a confirmed booking is a normal calendar event.

Core Concepts

Appointment Type Categories

• Regular – weekly recurring availability (e.g. every weekday 9–5), the default for an ongoing bookable service.
• Punctual – regular slots but bounded between two specific dates (e.g. bookings only open for a one-week event).
• Specific Slots – you hand-pick individual time slots and share the link with one person, rather than a general public schedule.
• Shared Calendar – shares your entire actual calendar's free time, letting someone book into any of your genuinely open slots.