BOOKING MONEY, MADE CLEAR
Set an appointment deposit you can explain.
For salons, trainers, tutors, photographers, and other small service businesses. Turn one service price and a few practical assumptions into a deposit amount, balance due, cash secured, and policy wording — then see whether the deposit actually leaves you better off once some customers book elsewhere and fewer no-show.
Deposit or no-show fee — which should I charge? · This calculator vs. Square Appointments · This calculator vs. doing it by hand or in a spreadsheet · Tattoo shops: deposit & touch-up pricing
Pricing an after-the-fact cancellation fee instead? The no-show & cancellation fee calculator turns your appointment price and no-show rate into a fee amount, an overbooking comparison, and a draft policy.
Want to see your own no-show rate first? The appointment no-show analyzer reads a booking export and shows the rate, the revenue lost and your repeat no-show clients — nothing uploaded.
Booking a wedding day rather than a single appointment? The bridal hair & makeup pricing calculator prices the whole bridal party and shows what crediting a trial-fee deposit toward the wedding day actually costs.
Running a med spa or aesthetics clinic? The med spa treatment profit calculator ranks your treatments by profit per room hour and gives the price that hits your target margin.
Running a chiropractic or physical therapy clinic? The chiropractor new patient ROI calculator shows what a new patient costs to win, what they are worth, and the most you can pay per lead.
Your service
Your deposit plan
- Deposit at booking
- Balance due at service
- Expected secured cash per year
- Bookings after your assumption
Does the deposit pay for itself?
- Yearly revenue with no deposit
- Yearly revenue with this deposit
- Difference
- Break-even booking rate
Draft deposit policy
The share link stores this plan's numbers, including the business and service names, in the page's own URL — never sent to any server, but only share it with people you trust.
Common questions
What percentage should I charge?
Twenty to thirty percent is a useful starting range for many services, but the right amount depends on the price, preparation time, and how difficult the slot is to refill. This calculator shows your assumption; it does not decide for you. See the deposit, balance, and secured-cash numbers at five common percentages on a $150 service.
Does a deposit actually make me more money?
That is what the "Does the deposit pay for itself?" panel answers, and it is not the same question as how much cash a deposit secures. A deposit is applied to the service total rather than added to it, so the deposits you collect are revenue you would have billed anyway, collected earlier — not new money. The gain, if there is one, comes from appointments that are kept instead of missed, plus deposits forfeited by the no-shows that remain. The cost is the bookings you never get because a deposit was asked for. The calculator puts a year of each side next to the other using the no-show rates and booking rate you enter, and shows the difference.
What is the break-even booking rate?
It is the share of today's bookings you would have to keep for a deposit policy to match what you earn now. Keep more than that and the deposit is ahead on these assumptions; keep less and it is behind. It is usually below 100%, and the reason is the most useful thing this panel shows: as long as a deposit does not make no-shows worse, it pays for itself at full retention even if nobody's behaviour changes, because the no-shows that remain forfeit a deposit instead of paying nothing. The entire cost of a deposit policy is the bookings it turns away. A break-even above 100% only appears if you enter a higher no-show rate with a deposit than without one. The comparison assumes a missed appointment earns nothing and the slot is not refilled; if you reliably refill short-notice cancellations, a deposit is worth less to you than this shows.
Is a deposit a cancellation fee?
No. A deposit is an upfront payment applied to the service total. Your refund and cancellation terms should be disclosed before booking and checked against local rules and payment-provider requirements.
How is the deposit amount calculated?
Deposit equals your service price times the deposit percentage you enter, divided by 100. The balance due at the appointment is simply the service price minus that deposit — there is no separate processing fee or markup added by this tool.
Why does the calculator ask for a booking rate?
Requiring a deposit can turn away some prospective customers who would have booked without one, so the calculator asks what share of your usual weekly bookings you expect to keep once a deposit is required. It multiplies that rate against your weekly bookings, then by the deposit, then by 52 weeks, to model the cash a deposit policy secures over a year — not just the deposit on a single booking.
What happens if a customer cancels?
The policy this tool drafts treats the free-cancellation notice window you set as the cutoff: cancellations made at least that many hours before the appointment may be refunded or transferred, while cancellations with less notice, or no-shows, may forfeit the deposit. The exact terms are yours to set and should be checked against your local rules and payment provider's requirements before you publish them.
Does this tool recommend a deposit percentage for me?
No. It is deterministic math with no built-in advice or recommended percent — it turns the price and percentage you choose into a deposit amount, balance due, and secured-cash estimate, and drafts policy wording from your inputs. The percentage decision stays yours.