Here's how to charge a fee when an appointment is cancelled too close to the day, and what happens to the invoice when it is.
Turn on a cancellation fee
Tap the menu button on Home. On iPad, it's in the sidebar.
Scroll down and tap Cancellations.
Under Free cancellation, use + and - to set Days before appointment. An appointment cancelled with less notice than this can be charged.
Under Cancellation fee, turn on Apply cancellation fee.
Under Fee type, choose Percentage, Flat amount or Full price.
For a percentage or a flat amount, enter it under Amount.
Check the Summary, then tap the ✓ to save.
In the web app, go to Settings and choose Cancellations under Appointments. Each change saves as you make it, and Amount is in the Fee type section.
If the amount is missing, saving tells you what's wrong: "Add an amount above zero." or "Add a percentage between 1 and 100."
Fee types
Percentage: a share of the appointment's price, from 1% to 100%. It starts at 50% the first time you turn the fee on.
Flat amount: a fixed amount, like £10.00. It's never more than the appointment's price.
Full price: the whole price of the appointment.
The price is the appointment's services and surcharges, less discounts. Travel and tips aren't included. Tax is added to the fee at the invoice's rate, or your company's rate if there's no invoice yet.
Summary
While the fee is on, Summary sums up your policy in plain words, and changes as you change the settings:
With Allow client cancellation on, it reads like "Clients can cancel free of charge up to 2 days before. After that they can still cancel, but they'll be charged 50% of the appointment."
With it off, it reads like "When an appointment is cancelled less than 2 days before, you can charge 50% of the appointment."
It also says the free cancellation window is at least 1 day. With the fee on, Days before appointment can't go below 1.
When a client cancels late
With Allow client cancellation on, clients can still cancel inside your free cancellation window. The Walkies Journal app shows them the fee first, and they choose Cancel and pay fee or Keep appointment.
You're notified, and your notification and email show the fee, like "A cancellation fee of £10.00 was applied."
With Allow client cancellation off, clients can't cancel themselves. You choose whether to charge the fee when you cancel for them. See How do I cancel an appointment?
The fee invoice
When a fee is charged, Walkies changes the client's invoice for you:
Unpaid invoice: the appointment's charge is replaced by one fee line, like "Cancellation fee: Walk, Thu 12 Nov (Milo)". Other appointments on the invoice stay as they are.
Paid invoice: the same change, and anything your client paid above the new total becomes a credit note for them. Nothing is refunded automatically.
No invoice yet: a new invoice for just the fee is created and sent to your client, like any invoice.
Paid when they booked: your client is refunded what they paid for that appointment, less the fee.
Full price: the appointment's charge stays as it is. With no invoice yet, an invoice for the full price is created.
An invoice you've changed by hand, so the appointment's lines no longer match, is left as it is.
Good to know
The fee that applies is your setting at the moment the appointment is cancelled. Changing it doesn't change fees already charged.
Only the visits inside your free cancellation window are charged. For a repeating appointment, the fees are added up.
Booking requests and declined requests never have a fee, and nothing can be cancelled once it's started.
Cancellation fees are on every plan.
To let a client off a fee, see How do I waive a cancellation fee?
To let clients cancel their own appointments, see How do I set my cancellation policy?