First day: salon, barbershop, studio

A beauty salon, a barbershop and a studio (nails, massage, cosmetology, laser) all work on the same screen — the appointment book: a grid of "specialists × time" for the selected day. What differs is not the features but the number of columns in that grid and what counts as a "specialist" — a person or a workplace.

The business type is chosen at sign-up and immediately tunes the panel for appointments:

For the beauty salon type, tables, the kitchen display, couriers and the "Hardware" section are switched off on purpose — this business does not need them. The wording changes too: "service" instead of "dish", "client" instead of "guest", "chair" instead of "table".

The "appointment services" type (studios, tutors, service centres) uses the same appointment book and the same slot engine, only with neutral words — "office" and "branch" instead of "chair" and "zone". There is no separate product behind it, and that is honest: see First day: services and B2B.

Open the book: Admin panel → Appointments (admin.cenaly.com/appointments).

What you need to get started#

You do not need to buy equipment to start booking clients.

• Any computer or tablet for the appointment book. The book is an ordinary admin-panel page in a browser; the grid refreshes itself without a reload, so an appointment made by a client or a colleague shows up immediately.
• The client's phone. Online booking opens in a browser — the client installs nothing. The booking widget speaks 45 languages and picks up the language of the page.
• A till — optional. The POS is a /pos page in the browser: it installs "as an app" (PWA) and keeps working when the connection drops — POS, If the internet goes down. A dedicated POS appliance is not required.
• A receipt printer — through the bridge. Printing goes through Cenaly Hardware Bridge, a Windows or Linux service on the same computer that runs the POS (Cenaly Hardware Bridge). ⚠️ For a salon the "Hardware" section is off by default — switch it on in the App Store, otherwise there is nowhere to connect the bridge.
• A fiscal printer — where the law of the country requires it, through the same bridge. Live fiscal receipts today are Russia (54-FZ) and tax invoices for the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the UAE; for other countries see Fiscalization.
• Online card payments — only if you need deposits. A deposit requirement appears for the client only when a live payment provider is connected for the country and currency of your location — Payments.

The common frame of the first day#

Sign-up, the location, the business type, languages and the subscription are the same for every format — they are described in the hub First day: choose your business type. The salon-specific part starts here.

⚠️ If you chose the light mode at sign-up, some sections are deliberately switched off. The final step of the wizard says so out loud, and any section can be brought back with a toggle in the App Store.

Checklist: a salon with several specialists#

The goal of day one is for the receptionist to run the day in the book, not in a paper diary.

1. Services in the catalog. For a salon the catalog section is called "Services": name, price and duration — the duration is filled into the appointment automatically. The service also carries the buffer after the visit (cleaning the workplace), how many clients it takes at once, which specialists may perform it, its own deposit rule and "repeat after N days". Without at least one service item, online booking will not work.
2. Specialists. The "Specialists" button in the book opens the register. A specialist is an employee from the shared staff directory with the specialist job role; a login is not required — you can add a "resource employee" that exists only as a column in the schedule. An owner who is assigned the specialist job role also gets a column.
3. Schedules. For each specialist: colour in the grid, active flag, list of services, weekly schedule, daily breaks (lunch), holiday and sick leave (date ranges) and one-off days for a specific date — a day off or special hours. A one-off day overrides the weekly schedule.
4. Booking hours of the location. The gear icon in the book header → "Appointment settings": online booking hours from and to. This is the outer frame for all specialists at once.
5. The first appointment by hand. The "New appointment" button: client, phone, service, specialist, date and time, comment. The book will not let you book "into nowhere" — it checks both the location hours and the specialist's schedule.
6. Visit statuses. There are six: new → confirmed → in the chair → completed, plus cancelled and no-show. The "in the chair" and "no-show" marks become available no earlier than 15 minutes before the start.
7. Online booking. The client books themselves on your storefront, on your own website (the "Online booking" widget — My website) and in the location's Telegram bot. All appointments land in one book; those that came from a website carry a "from the site" badge.
8. Reminders and confirmation. Telegram sends the confirmation and reminders 24 and 2 hours ahead with "I'll come" and "Cancel" buttons (the windows are configured in the "Guest journey" block, and quiet hours from 23:00 to 07:00 are respected). If the client left an e-mail, a confirmation letter goes out with a "Manage appointment" link. Details — Appointment book.
9. Front-desk roles. The receptionist job role is enough for the front desk, the specialist role for masters: an employee sees only their own workspace — Staff and shifts.
10. Till and shift. If you take payment yourself: open the shift with the float — without an open shift payment on the till is blocked (Cash shift and Z-report). Tips with presets by country — Tips.

What you need in terms of devices: a computer or tablet for the book; a till, a printer and a card terminal only if you take payment on site. What can honestly wait: consumables inventory, financial reports, memberships, campaigns, your own website.

Checklist: a barbershop or a single specialist#

One column in the grid is not a "stripped-down salon" but the fastest launch: you are 20 minutes away from taking bookings.

1. One service and one specialist make the wizard shorter. If there is a single service in the catalog, the client goes straight to picking a time; if a single suitable specialist matches, they are assigned automatically. The "⚡ Earliest: today 17:30" chip removes the day-by-day search.
2. Add yourself as a specialist too. The owner only needs to assign themselves the specialist job role — the column appears, no second account required.
3. A booking landing link. The widget tag accepts a preselected service and specialist and can open the panel right away — that turns a link in a social-media bio into a "booking page". A stale identifier does not break the widget: it quietly returns the client to the normal first step. Attributes — My website.
4. Notifications that do not let an appointment slip. The 🔔 in the book header works only while the page is open. So the very first thing to set up is Telegram alerts — the button sits right in the book and opens the wizard in a modal without taking you to another section.
5. A deposit against no-shows. "Appointment settings" switch on the policy: a fixed amount or a percentage of the service and the number of free-cancellation hours. The slot is held for a limited time: if the deposit is not paid, the appointment cancels itself with the reason "deposit not paid in time" and the time goes back on sale. Rescheduling keeps the deposit.
6. Visit marks. "Guest confirmed" is a separate mark (including the "Confirmed by phone" button when you reached them yourself); "in the chair" and "no-show" are statuses. No-shows accumulate on the client card.
7. Payment and the receipt. The till in the browser, the shift and tips — as in the previous checklist.

What you need in terms of devices: a phone or a tablet is enough. What can honestly wait: roles and staff (you are alone), inventory, finance, memberships.

Checklist: a studio with resources#

In a studio the scarce thing is not people but rooms, chairs and devices. There is no separate "resource" entity in the system — and that matters: a resource is created as a "resource employee", that is, a schedule column without a login.

1. A room is a column. Create "Room 1", "Couch 2", "Laser" as resource specialists: name, colour, their own weekly schedule and breaks. The day grid turns into an occupancy board for the premises.
2. Restricting a service to specialists answers the question "in which room may this service be performed": only the suitable columns are ticked on the service.
3. Service capacity. The "how many clients at once" field covers group classes — one slot for several people.
4. If the words "specialist" and "chair" do not fit — choose the "appointment services" business type: the book, the slots and the widget are the same, but the labels are neutral ("office", "branch"). For that type the till and inventory are off by default, while the client directory is on right away.
5. Memberships. The "🎟️ Memberships" button — service packages of three kinds: a pack of N visits, a prepaid wallet and a subscription with recurring top-ups. Issuing a membership to a client and deducting visits happen there too.
6. Waiting list. When a day is fully booked, the client taps "Notify me if a slot opens" (an e-mail is required) and gets a message when a window opens. The request holds nothing, and the client is told so before sending.
7. A client base from day one. A client card with history and a "Repeat the previous appointment" link — the form opens pre-filled from the last visit — Clients.

What you need in terms of devices: a computer at the front desk; a tablet in the room is optional. What can honestly wait: till and inventory (if payment happens outside the system), finance, campaigns.

What can wait#

None of this stops you from taking your first client tomorrow.

• Consumables inventory — Inventory. Set it up once the price list has settled: before that, write-offs would have to be rewritten after every service change.
• Financial reports — Finance. ⚠️ The section runs on the AWS contour; on the Russian brand (cenaly.ru) finance and guest statistics are unavailable.
• Appointment autopilot. The widget funnel ("how many clients saw the button and how many booked"), the "time to repeat the service" nudges and the "how did it go?" survey are a paid extension on top of the free book. The booking button itself and the book are free forever.
• Nudges and surveys on a schedule. They are executed by the daily marketing autopilot run, which only visits locations where the autopilot is on and runs on the AWS contour: on cenaly.ru the toggles can be configured but nothing is sent on schedule.
• Campaigns and mailings — Engagement campaigns, once you have regular clients.
• Your own website and domain — Website builder, Custom domain. Salons have their own templates in the gallery.
• Recurring card charges for memberships — switched on separately; start with visit packs and the wallet.
• A phone blacklist — there is none. "Frequent no-shows" are visible on the client card, but a "do not book" list does not exist yet.

Troubleshooting#

There is no "Appointments" section in the panel. The book is available only to the "beauty salon" and "appointment services" business types — a hard rule that no toggle bypasses. Check the business type in the location settings; if the type is right, switch the section on in the App Store.

There is no "Book" button on my website. In order: there is not a single service item in the catalog; booking is switched off for the location; the tag was not found (press "Check installation" in My website); the changes have not arrived yet — widget files are served with a 5-minute cache; the button was deliberately suppressed by the multi-button if its fan contains a "Book" item.

The client sees no free time. Free slots are calculated by the system from the specialist's schedule, breaks, one-off days and holidays, the service duration with its buffer and the location's "online booking hours". You cannot "open" a busy slot by hand — change one of those settings.

The client is not asked for a deposit. The deposit requirement is shown only when a live online payment provider is connected for the country and currency of the location — Payments.

The "time to repeat the service" nudges are silent. The location's marketing autopilot must be on: without it both toggles in "Guest journey" look self-sufficient but send nothing. On cenaly.ru there is no daily run at all.

The time in the grid does not match what the client booked. The client picks the venue's time (the widget labels the time zone), while the book grid is drawn in the time zone of the receptionist's device. If you open the book from another time zone, check the location's time zone in its settings.

FAQ#

Do I need to buy equipment to start booking?#

No. The book opens in a browser, the client books from their own phone. A till, a printer and a terminal come later and only if you take payment on site.

Can I add a specialist without an account and a password?#

Yes. A "resource employee" exists only as a column in the grid: name, colour, services, schedule. A login is needed only for people who sign in to the panel themselves.

How do I close a day or part of a day for a specialist?#

Lunch — "Daily breaks", a specific date — "One-off days" (a day off or special hours), a long period — "Holiday and sick leave". The hours of the whole location are changed in "Appointment settings".

Can two clients book the same time with the same specialist?#

No. The time is locked at the moment the appointment is created: the second client gets an honest "the slot has just been taken" and the grid immediately refreshes.

How does "beauty salon" differ from "appointment services"?#

Only in the wording in the interface and in the set of sections switched on: the appointment book, the slots, the widget and the reminders are shared. The salon version says "specialist" and "chair" and switches on the till with inventory; the neutral one says "office" and "branch" and switches on the client directory.

Does booking work on the Russian brand?#

The book itself, online booking and reminders — yes, on both contours. What does not work on cenaly.ru is financial reports and the daily autopilot (nudges, post-visit surveys).

Related articles#

• First day: choose your business type — the common frame and the other formats
• Appointment book — the grid, statuses, deposits, memberships, reminders
• My website — the online booking widget for your own website
• Staff and shifts — specialists, roles, workspaces
• Clients — the client card, history, "repeat the previous appointment"
• POS — paying for a service and the shift
• First day: services and B2B — when appointments are not enough and you need invoices