How to plan appointment hours, breaks, and team availability

Plan the appointment and the work around it

A salon appointment may need preparation before the client arrives and cleaning afterwards. A personal trainer may need time to reset equipment or move between sessions. Count that work before deciding which hours clients can book.

Start with the hours you can reliably deliver, then account for meal breaks, administration, and other commitments. Keep preparation before opening separate from the gap you need between clients.

A worked morning with 60-minute appointments

Example: a studio offers appointments from 09:00 to 13:00, with a 15-minute gap between 60-minute services. Three appointments fit at 09:00–10:00, 10:15–11:15, and 11:30–12:30. A fourth starting at 12:45 would finish after the available hours.

Use the remaining time intentionally. If you offer shorter services too, check the times those clients can book rather than assuming every visible gap will stay empty. Review whether your actual preparation and reset work fit the plan.

Decide which gaps are useful

Illustrative day: appointments end at 10:00 and start again at 10:30. If the next service needs 45 minutes plus a 15-minute reset, that gap cannot take another booking. It can still be useful for cleaning, messages, or a break.

If the same awkward gap repeats, review service lengths, buffers and working hours together. Change future availability where appropriate. Ask the client before moving an agreed appointment, and keep enough time to deliver the service properly.

• Handle a request to move an appointment

Choose notice and buffers that match the service

Use booking notice to give yourself time to prepare for a new appointment. Use a buffer for the reset between appointments. For a mobile service, account for travel as well as delivery time.

After a week, note which appointments started late, which ran over, and why. Adjust the duration, buffer, or description where the same problem repeats. A useful schedule reflects the work you actually do.

Give each team member realistic hours

For a team business, open Profile, then Team. You manage the service assignments and availability for the people clients can book. Start with one person and check their public booking options before repeating the setup.

Do not treat a free person as proof that a room or piece of equipment is available. Check shared resources separately when they affect what your business can deliver.

1. Add the person’s client-facing details and role.
2. Assign the services they actually provide.
3. Choose business hours or set that person’s own weekly hours.
4. Save, open the public page, and select that person to check their available times.

Check timezones before changing your working hours

Your availability is set in your timezone, while clients see times in their browser timezone. For an online appointment, a different displayed hour can be the same appointment rather than a scheduling error.

Compare the booking’s date and timezone with the client before editing the week. After any hours change, test the public page again and check that your existing appointments still make sense against the plan.

Trace a missing appointment through the settings

If a client cannot see the expected time, check the rules before widening the whole week. A time can be unavailable because of a booking, the service length, or a setting you chose deliberately.

Check the client-facing calendar

Set weekly hours, buffers, minimum notice, and advance booking limits in Citruss. Then open the client page and check a normal day, a non-working day, and the earliest appointment someone can choose.

Try the different services and team members you offer. If a slot appears at an awkward time, correct the relevant setting before asking clients to use the link. Review the schedule whenever your hours or service durations change.