As a staff user, the way your Simple Salon account looks when you login will be a little different compared to a manager or administrator user. Because of that, we have created this article specifically for the Staff user role, where we’ll go through all the different things you need to know about Appointments and Point of Sale (POS).
We've listed each section that we'll be going through below — you can click on any relevant link if you'd like to jump ahead through the article:
Appointments
- Navigating the 'Appointments' page
- Making appointments
- Moving around appointments
- Flagging an appointment
- Appointment comments
- Client specific comments
Point of Sale (POS)
- Adding clients to sale
- Adding extra items to POS
- Finalising the sale
- Editing a client’s appointment in POS
- Refunding a sale
When you need Help & Support
Whenever you need help, you’ll want to use your trusty Knowledge Base from the Help & Support page, to look up any questions you may have.
Simply click the icon on the top right corner, and then click Help & Support:
There’s a handy search bar with a smart search function, so should be able to find the answer you need:
But if you can’t find what you’re looking for and have a specific question, simply click the Submit a Request button on the top right hand corner — and fill out all of your details, like your name, email address and your Company ID.
Let us know what your question is and a member of support will get back to you ASAP. You’ll receive the response to the email address that was entered in your request. Remember, the more information we have the faster we can assist!
Appointments
Navigating the appointments page
Your Appointments page can be accessed via the Appointments tab at the top of your page.
To jump around to different dates, simply click on the arrows on either side of the date.
Clicking directly on the date will bring up an actual calendar, so you can go through different months:
You can also click on the Jump button, to go forwards or backwards 8 weeks:
Making appointments
To make an appointment, simply click on a time slot in an operator column:
In the right side panel, use the Select Client section to find the client you wish to book, then click the client's name in the Search Results.
If it's a new client, select Add New Client instead, and fill out their details.
The Select Services window will pop up, and then you will chose the service(s) the client wants to book. You can click on multiple services on the left to add as many services as you need.
Services that you’ve selected will then appear on the right:
If you need to remove a service, simply click on it again on the right side, and it will be removed:
Note: Ticking Send Email/SMS to client will send the client a confirmation of their appointment being booked in. You’ll receive a pop-up when you tick the box, just to double confirm that you’d actually like to send the client a confirmation email and/or SMS.
You can also click the magnifying glass to type in the service name you're looking for:
Note: If you need to view clients contact details or past visit history without having to leave the Select Services window, click Client Details:
When you’re ready to create the appointment, simply click Confirm, then the appointment will be created!
If you’re wondering why there is a gap after Jane's 'Colour Extension' service, this means that the service has processing time added, so it leaves a gap (you can still add in appointments into this gap).
Moving around appointments
To move appointments around the Appointments page for the same day, you can simply click on the coloured section of the appointment, and drag it around:
The appointment will be shifted into the time slot that we’ve moved it too. You can also drag and drop appointments across other operator columns as well.
Note: You’ll notice under Clare Summer’s appointment, the time slot is shaded a light blue. This is a buffer zone. This shows this particular service has a processing duration set that will not allow bookings. Staff users are unable to override buffer zones. Only administrator and manager users have the ability to paste appointments into a processing duration buffer zone.
If you place your cursor on the bottom line of an appointment, you’ll notice a little arrow pointing downwards. Simply click and then drag to extend or reduce the appointment:
Note: Sometimes when moving appointments around on your Appointments page, you may get a pop-up like the following:
All this means is there isn’t enough time for both the service and the set processing duration. This pop-up is asking if you would like to ignore the processing time, and go ahead with moving the appointment.
Simply click Yes if you’re trying to move the appointment into that particular time slot.
Flagging an appointment
Appointment flags alert you to details about the client's appointment which could otherwise go unnoticed. To flag an appointment, you’ll first need to bring up the client’s Visit Details.
To do this, simply find the client’s appointment on the Appointments page. Click on the client’s name on their appointment (not the coloured section).
Then, in the Visit Details window, click the Flags tab:
Simply select the flag you require, a tick will appear, and you can then close the window. You can come back and change these flags at any time:
• Arrived - appointment will change to bright green
• No Show* - appointment will change to red
• First Visit - a red F will appear on a client's appointment who is having their first appointment.
• Requested - a red R will appear in the client's appointment. The Requested flag can be used if the client has requested a particular operator and does not wish to be seen by anyone else.
• Confirmed - a red C will appear in the client's appointment
• VIP - a red V will appear on the client's appointment
When flagging client's appointments as a 'No Show', a pop-up will appear asking if you would like to hide the appointment from your Appointments page:
Selecting No will keep the appointment but it will turn red:
If instead you want to free up the time slot, then you will select Yes:
Note: It’s not possible to bring it back onto the Appointments page if you choose to free up the time slot. But you can access the appointment at anytime from the Visits section of the client's details page:
If you have accidentally confirmed to hide the appointment, the best option currently is to re-create the appointment, then delete the original no show appointment.
Appointment comments
If you need to add a comment that is specific to the client’s appointment, then you’ll bring up their Visit Details window again (by clicking on their name on the appointment on your Appointments page).
In Visit Details, you’ll notice the Comments box. To add a comment on this appointment, simply click on the box:
Add your comments into the Edit Comments box, and then click Save when you're done.
If you want the note to be locked so that it can't be changed, simply click Save & Lock instead (If you don't have a Save & Lock button, this means your administrator hasn't enabled this setting, so just click Save instead).
Now the comment that you’ve created will be displayed in the Comments section! This is a great place for details that are specific to that appointment, like colour details.
Client specific comments
While in the Visit Details section, you’ll also notice a little speech bubble next to the Client row.
This allows you to view comments that are specific to the client, rather than the appointment.
To add a client comment, you can click the little edit button next to the clients name:
Then in the right side panel, click the Client Comments option. From here you can write client specific notes, and then click Save:
Another place you can add a client comment is directly from their client details page. You’ll want to click the client’s name in the Visit Details window. Clicking the client’s name will bring you over to their client details page:
This is where you’ll view information like their past or upcoming visits, products, packages and more.
To edit their client comment, you’ll simply click the Edit button, in the Details section:
Then in the Personal Details section to the right, go to the Client Comments tab:
This is where you’ll add in any comments that are specific to the client. Once you’re done click Save.
This will now be accessible via the little speech bubble on the client’s appointment:
Otherwise you can also click the Comments link, which is next to the Edit button in their Details section.
Point of Sale (POS)
Adding clients to sale
Once your client is ready to pay, you’ll need to get the client and their appointment onto the POS page.
The simplest way of doing this is to click the client's name on their appointment to bring up their Visit Details window again.
Then select Add Client To Sale:
The client and all services from their appointment (from today) will be taken across to POS (even if the services are spread across multiple operators):
Adding extra items to POS
If the customer would also like to purchase some extra items, click the Add Items link in the yellow row:
• Service - This allows you to add an extra service to the client’s sale. You’ll need to select the operator that performed this extra service:
When selecting a service to add, please note that this is not adding a service to the appointments page. If you add a comment to the service via POS, you will be able to access this in the Visits section of their client details page. Click Save once you’re done.
• Products - the process for adding products is similar to services. You’ll simply need to choose the operator who sold this product, and select the brand and then the product. You can also adjust the quantity if the client is purchasing more than one. Click Save once you’re done.
• Gift Voucher - this option allows you to sell pre-made cash vouchers and service vouchers. When adding a voucher to the sale, you’ll select the voucher they’re looking to purchase via the Voucher drop-down menu. Click Save once you’re done.
When your client buys a voucher (so after the sale is processed through POS) - they’ll be given a Gift Voucher ID. This is entered into POS when the client, or the gift voucher recipient comes in to pay for an appointment.
You’ll get a pop-up which asks you to Send Details:
You’ll simply fill in their details or the recipient’s details - and the Voucher ID is sent to them.
• Add To Account - this option allows you to add ‘credit’ to a client’s account. This allows them to pay for future transactions with their pre-paid credit amount.
Clients can also pay for a sale using their account balance, even if it’s at $0. This is where you would come if they need to add money back into their client account.
• Future Services - clicking this option will simply add any future appointments the client has booked in, into POS. This allows them to pay for them in advance. You can look at the dates in brackets next to the service to see which service was booked in for when.
If you clicked this by accident, simply click the red cross next to appointment they’re not paying for yet:
• Package - this allows you to sell a set of products, services or gift vouchers in one handy package. These will be first created by your admin though, then they can be sold here. This allows clients to redeem services over a period of time, and products or gift vouchers can be collected when the client would like them.
• Variable Voucher - this allows you to come up with a cash voucher on the fly, without using a pre-made option as you saw earlier. Simply choose the retail price and Save. Only admins and managers can set variable vouchers to have a different value to its retail price.
Finalising the sale
When the client has all of their items in POS, click Receive Payment:
In the Sale Payment Details window, you’ll simply click the payment type that the client is using from the quick select options, i.e Cash, Credit, EFTPOS, Account or Gift Voucher.
The Account option is when client’s would like to use their account balance to pay for the sale.
The Gift Voucher option is where you would enter in a client’s Voucher ID, should they present you with one on the day of their appointment.
Clients might also request to pay their bill using multiple payment types e.g. part cash, part EFTPOS.
If part of the payment is being made by cash, then enter in the amount they're paying into the cash text field:
Click Add Another Payment Type and choose the next payment method e.g. EFTPOS. Then you would enter in the amount they're paying into the EFTPOS text field:
You can continue to add payment types until the entire amount is accounted for, so Change Due should be $0.00, and the option to Finish Sale will reappear.
Simply click Finish Sale when you're ready, and you're done!
Once you have processed the sale—if your admin has Loyalty Points enabled, then you will get the following pop-up:
This will allow you to Convert client’s loyalty points into a predetermined voucher. You’ll simply follow the prompts to send the client their Voucher ID.
You might also have a Re-Book reminder pop-up if your admin has enabled this setting. This allows you to automatically rebook the same services that they’ve just had:
Simply click how many weeks forward you want to go from the drop-down menu (up to 12 weeks). This will add the client’s appointments to the Clipboard, where you can simply paste the services on the necessary date.
You can use the Jump button or click on the calendar—then once you’ve found the correct date, simply click on the time slots where you would like to paste the services:
And that’s it for processing a sale!
The bill is now paid and the client's appointment will turn grey to indicate that it's been paid for.
Practice makes perfect though, so we’d highly recommend you start creating your own practice appointments and processing them through POS. When you are done having a play, your administrator user can login and delete the 'pretend' transactions via the Transaction List in POS.
Editing a client’s appointment in POS
If you need to edit a service, (in the event that a client has had a different service to the one they were originally booked in for) then you need to edit the service correctly to ensure that the service is also changed on the Appointments page.
You can't delete the service listed in POS via the red cross and then add in a new service, because the original one on the Appointments page won't be paid for.
To edit the service, click the row that the service displays in:
On the right side panel, change the service via the Category and Service dropdown menus. Once you've picked the service, which the client actually had done, click Save.
The service will be updated in POS and will update in the Appointments page once you’ve processed the sale!
Refunding a sale
To process a refund, you need to find the original appointment transaction first.
Click POS, then go to the Transaction List. As a staff user, you will only be able to view transactions for the same day:
If the transaction is from a different day, then you will need to have the client’s Invoice Number.
Click the Actions menu (top right corner of your Transaction List) and click Find Invoice. Simply enter in the client’s invoice number and the transaction details will come up:
Now to process a refund—
Whether the transaction is from the same day or if you’ve searched it via the Invoice Number—you will click the Details link next to the Sale row:
This will show you all of the items that they purchased, as well as their transaction details:
When you’re ready to proceed with a refund, click the Refund Transaction link (the client and their items will display in the Refund tab of your POS page):
If you need to remove one of the items from the refund, simply click the red cross next to the item.
For example, we only want to refund the ‘Cut’ so we would click the red cross next to the Gift Voucher line.
Once you’re ready to continue, click Refund Payment. You’ll simply select the payment method that the client wants their refund on, then you will click Finish Refund:
If you’ve made a mistake with the refund, then you’ll need an administrator user to delete the refund transaction so that you can reprocess it correctly.
Note: If you're just looking to edit the payment type method — you will need to ask an administrator as they will have the permission to edit these details without processing a full refund.
We're now at the end of our Appointments and POS training! If you have more questions, make sure you use your Knowledge Base to find the answers to any questions you may have. If you need more help, make sure you Submit a Request so we can help and support you!