Short guides packed with everything we've learned working with professionals like you. No theory, just what works day to day.
Everything you need to pick a plan with confidence: what Free actually gives you, what Starter and Pro add, how the 14-day trial works, how to change plans without leaving the app, and how to cancel in the Customer Portal without losing your business.
The full path after signup: identity, services, team, schedules, notifications, public page and first days of operation. Read top to bottom and end up with BookHero running for real, with links to deeper guides at each stage.
Step-by-step guide to filling in the fiscal data card for your business in BookHero: legal name, Portuguese tax ID (NIF), default VAT rate (23%), fiscal address, IBAN and document prefixes (FAT, COR, EC, SC). Covers what appears on the receipt, the limits of an informational receipt, and when you actually need AT-certified software.
The invited employee's guide: what happens when your boss adds you to the team, how to accept the email invite, set up the account (or sign in with an existing one), and what you'll see on the dashboard moments later.
Everything you need to log formal time off for each team member in BookHero: reasons, full-day or partial, multi-day ranges, approval, impact on public bookings and the practical difference from a one-off time block on the calendar.
Everything about the BookHero service catalogue: how to add a service, pick a realistic duration, decide between fixed, 'from' or variable pricing, write a description that converts, attach a photo, and hide seasonal items without losing history.
The 4 BookHero roles (owner, manager, employee, basic) explained in detail: which buttons each one sees, which pages they can open, what data they can edit, and how to pick the right role without granting more than you should.
Full guide to moving or cancelling a booking in the BookHero calendar, with client notification: how the 'Book again' flow works, how to cancel and pick a channel (WhatsApp or email), what happens when the client has no phone or email, and what your plan allows.
When a customer books from your public link, BookHero does four things back-to-back: confirms the booking, creates (or reuses) the client record, drops it on your calendar in real-time, and pings you by email (plus WhatsApp on Pro+). This guide walks through what you see on the owner side, how to react to your first online booking, and how this differs from creating a booking manually.
Full guide to turning on BookHero's automated client messages (confirmation, cancellation, reminder, review request) and the internal emails for your team. Covers when each one fires, what changes on the Pro plan with WhatsApp, and how to prepare your review platform links.
How to organise your public booking page into categories (Hair, Beard, Nails) and open a simple shop to sell products and add-ons at the BookHero checkout. Difference between addon (attached to a service) and product (standalone sale), when to use groups, and how all of this shows up in the cart and reports.
Three operations that live in the same Settings page but do very different things: export your data as CSV (non-destructive), hand over business ownership to another team member (non-destructive), and delete the business entirely (irreversible). Here is how each one works, who can use them, and when each path makes sense.
Complete guide to setting up commissions in BookHero: where the matrix is, how to choose between percentage and fixed amount, how to set a default rule or a per-service/product rule, and where the estimated commission shows up in the employees report.
BookHero's calendar ships with four views, and each one fits a different moment of your day. This guide explains what each view shows, when it works best, and how to jump between them without losing your place.
Practical guide to setting the three BookHero cutoffs (book, reschedule, cancel) without losing last-minute bookings or getting caught by surprise. See exactly what the customer sees on the public page, understand what you, as the owner, can always override from the dashboard, and pick the right numbers for your industry.
When a customer books without picking an employee, BookHero picks for you. This guide walks through the three strategies (random, round-robin, least busy that day), how the system filters the candidate pool, and how to change the rule in Settings so the work gets spread the way it should for your business.
Lunch, training, a doctor visit or an unexpected staff absence: each of these requires closing part of the day so nobody books over it. The full guide to creating, reading and deleting time blocks on the BookHero calendar.
The public page is your digital storefront, and visual customization decides whether the visitor books or bounces. This guide goes into detail: which logo to upload, which cover photo works, how to pick a brand color, how to order services and group them into sections (Hair, Beard, Nails) so visitors find what they want in 3 seconds.
Overview, revenue, bookings, clients and employees. Five reports, five different questions about your business. This guide shows you how to switch between them, pick the right period, and what decisions each KPI should trigger.
Everything you need to move from solo to team in BookHero: send the email invite, pick the right role (owner, manager, employee, basic), assign which services each person performs, and set up an individual schedule that can differ from the business hours.
Complete guide to BookHero's client file: how to create clients manually, how they appear automatically from bookings and walk-ins, what you see in the profile (history, stats, company billing details), and when it makes sense to edit or delete.
Everything you need to close a sale in BookHero: from a booking or as a walk-in, with extra products, a discount, a tip, the chosen payment method and an informational receipt emailed or saved as PDF.
Everything you need to add a booking by hand straight from the BookHero calendar: where the button lives, which fields to fill, how to chain multiple services, how to react to schedule conflicts and when the system asks you to confirm before going through.
WhatsApp is the preferred channel in PT/ES/BR. But few tools have native WhatsApp reminders. We compared the 5 best with the criterion of communication channel.
Healthcare has specific requirements: discretion, recurrence, billing for reimbursement, session series. Here are the 5 best tools, with criteria for this sector.
Booksy is popular but has high commissions and platform dependency. Here are the 5 best alternatives, with honest criteria and a migration plan that doesn't lose clients.
Barbershops and salons have specific needs: short bookings, rotating staff, walk-ins, low-to-medium booking value. We compared the 5 best tools with criteria for this sector.
There's no perfect tool - just the right one for your case. We compared the 5 most-used (BookHero, Booksy, Treatwell, Calendly, Setmore) with objective criteria: setup, team, billing, reminders, support. Honest ranking.
Switching to BookHero is easy. Getting the most in 30 days needs a plan. This is the roadmap we see working for 9 out of 10 new businesses: setup in week 1, adoption in 2, refinement in 3, first growth signals in 4.
Short cuts, rotating staff, Saturday walk-ins, an average booking value that needs to grow. Here's the BookHero configuration we see working in 9 out of 10 barbershops.
Colors that take 3 hours, washes between services, parallel team work, client cards that grow year after year. BookHero was built for the salon's complexity.
Skin treatments, waxing, massages, advanced manicure. Each service has its own requirements and clients demand care. Here's the complete setup in BookHero.
The schedule is the foundation of the calendar. Well configured, the client never books outside hours and you never have conflicts. Misconfigured, you receive requests during lunch, on time off, in training. Here's the complete guide: base schedule, breaks, exceptions, team, and the typical mistakes that destroy calendar fluidity.
Recurring patients, 6 to 12-session series, medical prescriptions, invoicing for insurance and health plans. Here's how BookHero supports a physio clinic.
In three clicks, any team member has access to their own calendar without seeing things they shouldn't. Here's the permission system, the invite flow, what each sees, and how to manage transitions (entry and exit) without chaos.
1-on-1 sessions, monthly plans, training for couples or friends, consistent invoicing. How to configure BookHero whether you work alone or with a team.
Paying commissions manually is a guaranteed source of errors and disputes. BookHero calculates everything automatically - each completed booking adds to the staff who performed it, with the rule you defined. Here's the complete guide: rule types, configuration, monthly report, and the typical mistakes that destroy team trust.
Services from 30 to 90 minutes, varied materials and colors, clients who return every 3 weeks. Here's the complete setup in BookHero.
Booksy built its name on the marketplace. BookHero wins with a flat fee, no commission per booking, and a focus on your client, not theirs. We compared both side by side, with full table and real scenarios.
Tattoos require more than booking an hour: quotes, multi-session management, technical files with references and progress. Here's the complete BookHero setup.
You don't need a specialist to land at the top of Google in your area. You need the right six habits and the right infrastructure. Here's everything that actually moves the needle, no theory.
Each animal has its own temperament, breed and sensitivities. Forgetting a detail upsets the owner and can endanger the animal. Here's the complete setup.
Confidentiality first, weekly recurrence, detailed billing for insurance and health plans. Here's the complete setup in BookHero.
Treatwell built a powerful European marketplace for beauty and wellness. But depending on a marketplace has a cost. BookHero serves another philosophy: your brand, your clients, no commission per booking. Full table, real numbers and when each makes sense.
Students on fixed weekly slots, one-off lessons, masterclasses, billing for parents and companies. Here's the complete setup in BookHero.
60% of new bookings in small businesses start with a local search. Whoever sits in the top 3 results captures most. Here are the 6 tactics that decide whether you keep those clients or lose them to the competitor down the street.
Saturday morning is full, Tuesday afternoon is empty. Here are 5 strategies to smooth the curve and maximize revenue - without scaring loyal clients.
Have a list of clients in Excel, an old appointment book, or another management platform? You don't have to type everything by hand. Here's how to import hundreds of clients in minutes, with prep checklist, exact CSV format, and what to do with duplicates.
Charging seems fair. But poorly executed, it scares clients, creates friction and rarely recovers what you lost. Here's the framework to decide case by case.
Calendly is an elegant machine for scheduling meetings. But scheduling isn't enough for those who charge, retain and serve in person. We compared both tools in depth, with table and day-to-day examples.
Have two or more shops? Here's how BookHero supports this scenario with operational autonomy per shop and consolidated view via export. Setup, team, billing, reports.
Having 5k followers is worth nothing if they don't book. The problem is rarely the content - it's the friction between scroll and booking. Here's the complete system that lifts conversion without more work hours.
Tips are worth an additional 5-15% in barbershops, salons and esthetics. Poorly recorded, they distort commissions and reports. Well recorded, they motivate the team and give you real data.
Two bookings in the same slot is one of the worst client experiences: they feel cheated and trust drops. Here are the settings that prevent it and the protocol if it happens.
Refund is the thing nobody wants to do but distinguishes a professional business. Here's the BookHero process, when to refund, when to refuse, and how to communicate.
Google Calendar is a free wonder for personal scheduling. For managing a business with clients, team and payments, it's a disguised trap. We compared with table and real cost calculation.
Your public page and Instagram live on photos. Good ones sell for you; bad ones silently scare clients away. Here are the 5 rules that make concrete difference - no professional equipment, no photography courses, no extra hours.
The revenue report is where you stop managing by intuition and start managing by data. Here are the 5 views you need to master - what each one tells you, when to look, and what decisions it should trigger. 15 minutes a week beats 1 hour of guesswork.
Hiding prices seems strategic but silently costs bookings. Showing everything alienates premium-sensitive clients. Here's the truth about when to show, when to hold, and the 3 price formats available in BookHero - each with a different use case.
Some of your clients haven't returned in 6 months and are waiting for an excuse to come back. This 3-message sequence, based on what works in hundreds of small businesses, recovers more than half of the list. Here's the complete playbook.
Flat list of 30 services intimidates and the client gives up. In 5-6 collapsible groups, the same list becomes clear in 5 seconds. Here's how to create groups, order strategically, manage transitions, and the typical mistake that destroys page UX.
Managing bookings via WhatsApp seems free and practical. In reality, it's the most expensive system in hours and the most fragile in organization. BookHero doesn't replace WhatsApp - it uses it in your favor. Full comparison.
Confirmations, reminders, cancellations. Each notification serves a specific moment in the funnel. Here's exactly what BookHero sends, on which channel, on which plan, and how to configure for maximum impact without bothering clients.
Raising prices isn't greed, it's sustainability. But done badly it scares the very clients who pay the bills. Here's the full system: when to raise, how much, how to communicate and how to measure the real result - all anchored in the reports already at your fingertips.
Switching the appointment book for a digital tool feels like a huge leap. Those who took it 2 weeks ago tell a simpler story - and never go back. We compared both side by side, with table, real cases and the migration plan we recommend.
The first message a new client receives sets the relationship they'll have with you. Cold message = client number. Intense message = spam feeling. The sweet spot lives in a specific place - here's the template, the mistakes to avoid, and what BookHero sends automatically.
Reviews are the currency of online trust. Each new positive review is like paying for cheap marketing for years. But asking poorly scares people. Here's the complete system: when to ask, how to ask, how to respond, and what to do with the inevitable negative review.
Switching platforms is scary. In practice, people do it in 2-4 hours on Sunday and on Monday they're operating. This is the full plan, with checklist, table of what you gain, ready-to-send messages for clients, and the option for us to do it for you.
No-shows are silently the most underestimated cost in service businesses. The good news: in most cases they're solved by one well-executed practice - automatic reminders on the right channel, at the right time, with a cancel button at hand. Here's everything you need to know.
Too strict scares people. Too lax encourages no-shows. Here's the balance we see working in 80% of cases, with template text and rules per sector.
Confusing fiscal documents is as common as it is costly. When to issue each, what to ask the client, and how BookHero helps - without accountant jargon.
Square is a North American reference with a huge ecosystem. In Portugal, it bumps into unavailable hardware, invoicing that doesn't follow local rules and distant support. We compared with table and real scenarios.
Asking for the tax ID is a client right, not an obligation. But failing to ask can cost you money and deprive the client of deductions. Here's the balance.
30 minutes on the last day of the month transform your business. Here's the exact checklist, the BookHero reports to use, the simple sheet to calculate real profit, and the 3 decisions that separate growth from survival.
The public page is your digital storefront. Well configured, it takes bookings 24/7 without you touching the phone. Here's the complete step-by-step setup: identity, services, hours, team, sharing. 30-45 minutes upfront, automatic bookings for the rest of the year.
Vagaro is a reference in North American salons and barbershops. In Portugal, it's $ as currency, invoice without tax ID and emails in English. We compared both with table and calculation of what you lose in manual adaptation.
The public page is where new clients find you for the first time. It must look like yours, not a generic template. Here are the 5 pieces you control, exact technical specs (sizes, formats), and how to create visual coherence with Instagram, Google and business card.
Having the link in your Instagram bio is the minimum. To receive bookings 24/7, the link must appear in more places - each extra place is one more door for new clients. Here's the complete catalog, with priorities, copy examples, and how to generate QR codes for physical sharing.
Setmore lures with a free plan up to 4 users. At first sight, looks unbeatable. When you start using it seriously, you discover limits and friction that weren't visible. We compared with full table.
When multiple staff perform the same service, manually assigning each booking is unnecessary work and a source of perceived unfairness. Here are BookHero's 3 automatic strategies - random, round robin, least loaded - with use cases, pros and cons of each.
Acuity is powerful for consultants and creators. BookHero is built for in-person service businesses with team, checkout and PT invoicing. Full comparison and scenarios so you know which to pick.
When you go from one to many people taking bookings, complexity explodes. Here's how to keep the calendar clean.
The 10-stamp card still exists but is heavy to manage and easy to forget. Here are 3 modern loyalty models that cost little and give clear return - how they work, how to apply with BookHero's client card, and how to measure.
Poorly-done promotions attract discount hunters who never return and discount regular clients who were paying normally. The 5 golden rules - when to promote, to whom, how to communicate, and how to measure real return.
Selling a product to 30% of clients can lift average booking value by 15-25%. No more marketing, no more hours, no more clients - just more value per visit. Here's the complete system: which products, how to configure at checkout, how to train the team, and the rule that avoids being pushy.
A professional calendar isn't enough if the moment of payment is chaotic. Here's how to run a checkout that builds trust.
85% of new clients in small businesses come via word-of-mouth. But most leave it to luck. Here's the complete system to systematize referrals - no automatic coupons, no complication, with BookHero's client card as the only tool.
Informational invoice in PDF with tax ID, address and complete data, automatically generated in seconds. Here's the complete flow: configure fiscal data once, choose receipt vs invoice at checkout, send via email/WhatsApp, and what informational means.
Client wants to pay half cash and half card. Or service on card and tip cash. Used to mean two receipts, manual notes, and books that didn't add up. Here's how BookHero solves this in a single clear checkout.
The best professionals aren't the technically best - they're the ones who make clients feel welcome. A lot of that is communication. Here's the complete system: tone, timing, templates, and how BookHero automates what should be automated so you focus on what matters.
The 4 right numbers, looked at once a week, are worth more than 10 management courses. Here's what to measure, how often, and how each metric tells you what to do concretely - all anchored in the reports already at your fingertips.