Booking and payment software
The booking is not where you lose the money.
Taking payment at booking is the easy part. The money is lost after, in the session that is missed and the fee that is never sent. Guacamole makes the second moment automatic.
Booking and payment software lets a client book a time and pay for it, or save a card, in one flow. The hard part is not taking the payment. It is collecting what you were promised when a session is missed, because that is where the hours are lost.
~40%
of first appointments were missed at one mental health clinic in Northern Israel (400 patients). One clinic, so treat it as an example, not an average.1
73%
of healthcare providers do not charge a no-show fee, in one survey. The policy exists on paper and is rarely enforced.2
$750
a month, from one missed $175 session a week. Ten clients, 10% missed, 4.3 weeks a month.
Two moments, and only one gets attention.
Every session touches money twice. Almost every tool is built for the first.
At booking
A checkout is visible, easy to design and easy to demo. The client picks a time, saves a card and accepts your policy. Nothing is charged. You hold a promise, not a deposit.
After the session
The quiet one. Nothing on a screen says an hour was lost. It shows as a gap in the calendar and income that never arrived. Three things can happen:
Why the fee is never collected.
None of it is about software. All of it is about people.
It is awkward
Asking a client for money after a missed session feels like a confrontation, so the fee is waived and the hour is written off.
There is no trigger
Nothing happens on its own when a session is missed. Someone has to notice, decide, calculate and send, and on a busy day that someone does not.
There is no record
A policy on a website is hard to point to later, so a fee that is challenged is a fee that is dropped.
It comes from you
The bill arrives from the person the client trusts, so it costs the relationship something every time.
None of these is solved by a nicer checkout. They are solved by making the second moment automatic, and by making it come from the system, not from you.
What "payment" means inside a booking.
There are three ways to put money into a booking. They protect different things.
A deposit charges everyone to protect against a few. A saved card charges only the few. For a practice with mostly reliable clients, that difference decides whether the policy feels fair or feels like a toll. You can set it per service. How much the fee should be, and a policy template to start from.
The agreement is the product.
A saved card is permission to charge, but it is the agreement behind it that makes the charge hold. When a client disputes a fee, the question is simple: did they know, and did they accept.
So the record is made when the booking is made: the policy text the client saw, the time they accepted it, and the reminders that followed. Accepting the policy sits inside the booking, before the time is confirmed. A policy on a webpage becomes a term of the booking.
An empty hour is half the loss.
A fee recovers money. It does not recover the hour. A client who cancels with notice should pay nothing, and that hour should still be worth something. If a client wants an earlier time, on your waitlist or already booked later, the cancelled hour is offered to them the moment it opens.
This is the part most people never count. Charging a missed session is one half. Filling a cancelled one is the other. More on preventing the miss in the first place.
Why practices use Guacamole.
One booking page that does the second moment for you.
Free to start
No subscription, no setup fee, no contract. 0.9% of each payment, and our fee comes back if you refund.
Your money, your account
Payments settle in your own Stripe account and pay out to your bank. Nothing sits with us.
It never comes from you
The reminder, the fee and the receipt are sent by Guacamole, so you stay the person they like.
The hour goes back to work
A cancelled hour is offered by email, the moment it opens, to clients who want an earlier time.
Every charge has a record
The policy the client accepted, when they accepted it, and the reminders that followed.
Your rules, not ours
You set the fees, the notice window, and when to waive. One tap to forgive a fee.
What it will not do
It is not a records system, so keep your notes where they are. It does not decide your policy for you. And charging a missed session is not always allowed: some insurers limit what members can be billed, so most practices use it for self-pay clients. Check the rules that apply to you.
Keep reading.
Questions
What is booking and payment software?
A booking page that also handles money: the client picks a time and pays, or saves a card, in the same flow. The useful version also collects fees later, when a session is missed or cancelled late.
Is a deposit or a saved card better?
A deposit protects the hour but adds friction for every client. A saved card adds almost none and charges only the client who misses. Many practices use a saved card, and take a deposit only for new clients or long sessions.
Can I really charge a client for a missed session?
Yes, when the client agreed to your policy in advance. Guacamole records that agreement at booking. Some insurers limit what members can be charged, so most practices use it for self-pay clients.
What if a client disputes the charge?
Every charge is backed by the policy the client accepted and the reminders they received. We help you respond.
Where does the money go?
Straight to your own Stripe account, then to your bank. It never sits with Guacamole.
What does it cost?
Free to start. 0.9% of each payment, no subscription. If you refund a payment, our fee comes back.