Overview
Precision Scheduling works from day one. When you're ready to fine-tune it, you can adjust your booking settings yourself, right in the dashboard. This guide helps you pick the right setting for what you're seeing and skip the ones you don't need.
New to Precision Scheduling? Start with Precision Scheduling™.
Before you change anything
Start with the defaults. They're built to work well for most businesses.
Change one setting at a time. That way you know what made the difference.
Give it time. Changes apply right away, but Precision Scheduling needs time to learn how your business books. Check results over a few weeks, not a few days.
Write down where you started. To undo a change, set it back to its original setting. Defaults are listed below.
Check it as a client. After a change, test by booking “Best Times” in the dashboard or walk through the online booking experience to see what’s showing.
Where to find your booking settings
Go to Manage Location › Booking.
Find the setting you want and make your change.
Anyone with the Manage Booking permission enabled can edit these settings. Don't see the page? Ask an admin to check your permission group.
Good to know:
Settings apply to one location, so you can tune each one to its own booking and demand patterns. If you have more than one, update each location separately.
Settings apply to online booking and Best Times in the dashboard. Both use Precision Scheduling.
Your settings at a glance
Setting | What is controls | Default | Learn more |
Precision Scheduling slider | How many appointment times clients see | Balanced (middle) | |
Provider assignment | Who gets the booking when a client picks "first available" | Assign optimal provider | |
Online Booking | What clients can do when they book online: book, pick a staff member, book as a group, join the waitlist, reschedule | Varies by toggle | |
Custom booking Link | Sends clients to your own booking page instead of Boulevard’s, for this location only | No link added | |
Appointments | Fixed start times, requiring the same provider, walk-ins, marking staff as requested, active state | Varies by toggle |
|
Services | Service timing and service modifiers | Varies by setting |
|
Checkout | Pre-booking defaults | 4w, 6w & 8w |
What do you want to change?
Find what you're noticing, then try the suggestion. Change one thing, then give it time.
What you're noticing | Try this | Heads up |
You'd rather see times like 10:30 and 11:00 | Turn on Fixed appointment start times | Clients see fewer times. There are fewer opportunities to squeeze in some appointments. |
You want fewer, better times | Slide toward High calendar efficiency | Clients get fewer alternative times to pick from. The average booking is more optimal. |
Your most requested providers are always full, others have openings | Provider assignment: Distribute among all providers evenly | Your calendar is a bit less efficient. |
A newer provider needs more clients | Provider assignment: Assign provider with fewest bookings overall, or put them in a priority group | Least efficient for your calendar. |
You want senior or junior staff booked first | Provider assignment: priority groups | Providers in lower groups only get first-available bookings when everyone above is unavailable. |
Clients want one provider from start to finish | Turn on Require the same service provider | Clients may see fewer times for multi-service appointments. |
Group guests are booking at times that don't work for you | Group booking options | Stricter options show fewer times. |
Your settings, section by section
Every setting on the Booking page, in the order you’ll see it. Each one lists its default, when it’s worth using, and when to think twice.
Precision Scheduling
Precision Scheduling slider (default: Balanced)
Controls how many appointment times clients see. It runs from More client choice on the left, through Balanced in the middle, to High calendar efficiency on the right. As you move the slider, the preview under it updates to visualize the number of times, with the Optimal ones marked.
Good when: Clients say they can’t find a time, or your services are short. Move toward More client choice. If your services are long, or you’d rather show fewer, better times, move toward High calendar efficiency.
Think twice: Balanced is the recommended starting point. Moving far left can show times like 10:25, so pair it with Fixed appointment start times.
Learn more: Choosing the Times Clients See
Provider assignment
Controls which provider gets the booking when a client doesn’t request someone. Rank your team into priority groups, then choose the rule each group uses.
Default: Everyone starts in one row, no priority — All service providers, using Assign optimal provider. Once you add groups, that row is named All other service providers.
How it works
Your team sits in ordered priority groups. Priority group 1 is considered first, then group 2, and so on. Anyone who isn’t in a group stays in the No priority row, which comes last. Each row has its own rule.
Pick a rule for each row:
Assign optimal provider. Picks the provider who makes the best use of your calendar for that specific booking. This is the default. Best when demand is high, and providers are routinely fully booked.
Distribute among all providers evenly. Spreads first-available bookings evenly, similar to round-robin. It only counts bookings Boulevard assigned, not ones clients requested. Best when demand is lower, and providers get about the same number of requests.
Assign provider with fewest bookings overall. Gives the booking to whoever has the fewest bookings. It counts all bookings, requested and assigned. Best when demand is lower, and some providers get more requests than others, like newer staff building a book.
Build your groups
Select Add provider override to rank a specific provider. Select Add role override to rank everyone in a role, like all Manicurists.
Good to know
Dragging. Drag the handle on a group to change its order. Drag a provider’s handle to move them to another group.
Removing providers. Select the X next to a provider to take them out of a group. If a group loses its last provider, it’s removed automatically.
Starting point. You begin with no groups, just the No priority row and the two add options.
Good when: You want your senior providers considered first, or you want newer providers to get first-available bookings first.
Think twice: Providers in lower groups only get first-available bookings when everyone above is unavailable. If someone’s calendar looks quiet, check where they sit.
Learn more: Choosing Who Clients Book With
Online booking
These switches control what clients can do when they book online. They apply to one location, so update each location separately.
Enable online booking (default: On)
Lets clients book online at this location.
Good when: You want clients to book without calling.
Think twice: Turning it off stops online booking at this location.
Enable online rescheduling (default: On)
Lets clients reschedule their own appointments online.
Good when: You want fewer calls to move appointments.
Think twice: Turning it off means clients are instructed to reach out to your business to reschedule.
Learn more: Rescheduling Appointments
Enable provider selection in online booking (default: On)
Lets clients choose a specific staff member when they book.
Good when: Clients book by provider and expect to pick who they see.
Think twice: Turning it off will make every online booking “first available,” so Provider assignment would decide who gets each one.
Enable group booking (default: On)
Lets clients book for more than one guest.
Good when: Clients bring friends or family and book together.
Think twice: Group bookings can show fewer times, depending on your group booking option.
Learn more: Group Booking
Enable waitlist (default: Off)
Lets clients join a waitlist online.
Good when: Your calendar fills up fast, and clients want first dibs on openings.
Think twice: Someone on your team needs to check the waitlist regularly, or clients wait for nothing.
Learn more: Waitlist
Enable pronouns field in online booking (default: Off)
Let clients share their pronouns when they book. Pronouns can always be set on the client profile.
Good when: You want to capture pronouns up front.
Think twice: It adds one more field to the booking flow.
Request Skype username (default: Off)
Asks clients who self-book for their Skype username.
Good when: You offer virtual appointments over Skype.
Think twice: Leave it off otherwise. Clients would see a question that doesn’t apply to them.
Custom booking link
Sends clients to your own booking page instead of Boulevard’s. It applies to this location only. To set one up, select Add booking link.
Default: No link added
Good when: You have your own booking page and want clients to use it.
Think twice: This applies to one location. If you have more than one, set it up on each.
Learn more: Sharing Your Booking Link
Appointments
Scheduling - Fixed appointment start times (default: Off)
Limits start times to a regular rhythm, like every 15 minutes, even if a more specific time would result in a more optimal booking.
Good when: Your services are increments of one duration, or you want clients to see a tidy pattern of times.
Think twice: Clients see fewer times. There are fewer opportunities to squeeze in some appointments.
Learn more: Choosing the Times Clients See
Scheduling - Require the same service provider (default: Off)
One provider does every service in an appointment.
Good when: Clients book a person, and a mid-appointment handoff would hurt the experience.
Think twice: Some services may not be bookable together if no service provider is available to perform all services. Clients may see fewer times for multi-service appointments.
Learn more: Choosing Who Clients Book With
Front desk and calendar - Allow client walk-ins (default: Off)
For businesses that accept walk-in clients.
Good when: You take walk-ins.
Think twice: Leave it off if you don’t, so your front desk isn’t working with an option you never use.
Front desk and calendar - Enable marking staff as requested (default: Off)
When you add an appointment directly to a provider’s calendar, you can mark that staff as requested.
Good when: You want to track which clients asked for a specific provider.
Think twice: Requested bookings are counted differently by some Provider assignment rules (see Choosing Who Clients Book With).
Learn more: Requested Appointments
Front desk and calendar - Enable appointment active state (default: Off)
Adds a separate column in the front desk to track active clients.
Good when: Your front desk wants to see at a glance which clients are active.
Think twice: It adds a column to the front desk view, so make sure your team knows when to use it.
Services
Settings that change how your services are timed and customized.
Service timing
Four blocks of time can apply to a service. Duration is always there. You can turn the other three on or off for your location, so only keep the ones you use.
Processing time
What it does: Time right after the service when the client is away and the provider is free to take someone else, like while hair color develops.
Good when: You offer services with waiting time.
Think twice: Providers can be booked during processing time unless you turn off double booking on the service. Online clients can book into it if their service fits.
Finishing time
What it does: Time right after processing when the client is back with the same provider, like a blow-dry after color. The provider can’t be booked.
Good when: A service has a second hands-on step after the client has processed.
Think twice: The provider is unavailable the whole time, so only add it to services that need it.
Transition time
What it does: A cushion after the service when the provider is unavailable: break, cleanup, or documentation time.
Good when: Your team needs a reset between clients.
Think twice: It blocks the provider’s calendar after every appointment with that service, which can mean fewer times for clients.
Note: Before you turn one off
Turning off processing, finishing, or transition time doesn’t remove it from services that already have it. First set that time back to 0h 0m on each service, then turn the setting off.
Learn more: Service Timing Options · Advanced Service Customization
Service modifiers
Service modifiers are options that customize a service, like which essential oil a client wants for a massage or their hair length for a haircut. They can be free or add to the price.
What it does: Lets clients (and your team) pick extra details for a service when they book. Modifiers can also change the price and timing of the service.
Good when: You want to upsell, or you need details up front, like hair length, texture, or skin dryness.
Think twice: We suggest not adding both modifiers and add-on services to the same service. Too many options clutter online booking. If you need a separate line item with its own reporting, voucher redemption, provider, or calendar view, use an add-on service instead.
Example
A haircut with a “Hair length” group: short, medium, and long. Set the group to require one option, so clients choose before they book.
Where to set them up
Modifiers are built service by service. Open the service, select Options, then Create New Group. Name the group and choose how many options are required to book. Then select Add Modifier and enter the name, an optional description (225 characters max), the price, and the timing. Advanced adds an internal cost and processing, finishing, and transition times.
Learn more: Service Modifiers · Add-On Services
Checkout
Pre-booking defaults (default: 4w, 6w & 8w)
Sets the pre-booking options for a client’s next visit. These options show in the checkout window, so your team can book the next appointment before closing the ticket.
Good when: Rebooking a client is part of every checkout. Set options that match how often your clients usually come back.
Think twice: Your team sees these options at every checkout, so let them know before you change them.
Learn more: Prebooking Appointments