Creating and Managing Reservations

Petsoft helps you manage a reservation from the first phone call to the pet's departure.

The reservations board

Reservations in the left navigation opens the status board. This page is your main workspace for the day. A badge on the navigation item shows the count of reservations that wait for approval.

The board has six tabs: In-House, Arriving, Departing, Departed, Pending, and Grooming.

Above the table, two bubbles show a summary of the day. RUN AVAILABILITY shows AVAILABLE, OCCUPIED, and OVERLAPPING runs. SERVICE AVAILABILITY shows Max, Booked, In-House, and Available for each service. It also shows Trials if any trials exist. The bubbles update every minute. The table below does not update automatically. To see new data in the table, reload the page.

Most tabs let you filter by Service (All Services, Daycare, Boarding, or Trial) and Date. Click Filter Results to apply the filter. The Pending tab has no filters.

The Arriving tab, with the two availability bubbles at the top, a badge on Pending, and check-in links on each row for Reserved reservations. Tag chips appear next to customers and pets.

The life of a reservation

Every stay moves through these statuses:

• Pending Approval: a parent asked for the reservation, often online. Staff must approve it.
• Pending Pre-Payment: the reservation exists, but the customer must pay the deposit before staff confirm it. Services that need a deposit start in this status.
• Reserved: staff approved the reservation, and the system holds the spot.
• Checked-In: the pet has arrived at the facility.
• Checked-Out: the pet has left the facility.
• Invoiced: staff have finalized the bill.
• Cancelled: described in the Cancelling a Reservation section below.

note

You can cancel a reservation at any time, not only before check-in. You can cancel a reservation with status Reserved, Checked-In, Checked-Out, or Invoiced. Staff do not cancel a pending reservation. Instead, staff decline it. The Decline action uses the same page as Cancel.

How do I book a stay?

There are three ways to book a stay. All three start from the customer record.

• Quick Check-In: start from the customer's page or directly from search results. One click books the stay and checks in same-day daycare visits for all of the customer's eligible pets. If any pet needs a decision, Petsoft opens the Book Reservations page instead.
• Book Reservations: start from the customer's page, or click New Reservation from search results. This is the usual way to book a stay.
• Book an Advanced Options Boarding Reservation: start from the customer's reservation list. Use it for boarding when you want to choose the run for each date.

Creating a Reservation with Book Reservations

Click Add Reservation for each stay. Then complete the following steps on each card:

1. Select the Service.
2. Set the dates: Arrival and Departure for boarding; a date and times for daycare; or Reservation Date, Employee, and Timeslot for services such as grooming.
3. Select the Pets.
4. Select a rate level for each pet. Petsoft sets the default rate level from the pet's weight. Petsoft shows the rate level field only for services that use runs. If a pet is outside the tier's weight range, Petsoft shows this message: "This pet is outside the weight limits for the rate level. It is suggested you choose a different one, if available."
5. Add Notes, an optional Promo Code, and any additional add-ons (Add Product or Service).
6. Click Save.

You can book several reservations at the same time. Each card is a separate stay.

info

Petsoft, not staff, usually selects the run. The Room Number column only groups pets that should share a run. Petsoft selects the actual physical run for you and matches the rate level and weight.

To choose a specific named run for each date, use Book an Advanced Options Boarding Reservation instead. Set the dates, click Check Availability, select your runs from the results, then click CREATE RESERVATION.

Watch for these reservation rules. A pet marked Board Separately cannot share a run. If a pet's trial is still pending, the reservation automatically becomes a trial. If the service needs a deposit, saving the reservation sends you to a pre-payment invoice. Staff must confirm the reservation after payment.

What if no room is available?

Petsoft shows a capacity error and does not save the reservation. No override exists:

"The [facility] location is currently at capacity and cannot take on additional reservations for [dates]. Please select a different location or date."

Petsoft does not suggest another room. Adjust the dates, or try another location. For boarding, the error message shows a Go to Advanced Boarding Booking link. This link shows which runs are free and on which dates.

What if the same pet already has a conflicting reservation?

Petsoft checks for date conflicts at the pet level. If the new dates overlap an existing reservation for the same pet, Petsoft shows an error that names the conflicting reservation:

"This reservation conflicts with existing reservation[s]: #12345. Please modify the dates or cancel the existing reservation to proceed."

The reservation number is a link. Clicking it opens the conflicting reservation in a new browser tab. You can then review the reservation or change its dates.

Approving pending reservations

Approve changes a pending reservation's status to Reserved. It also sends the customer a confirmation email. Decline opens the standard cancellation page. This page calculates the deposit refund correctly. You can also click Edit to change the dates or service before you approve the reservation.

See Online Booking & Requests for the complete request process.

Check in and check out

The Check In button on the board uses the default run and the current time. To choose a specific run or time, open the reservation and click Check In. In the window that opens, you can set the Check-In Date and Check-In Time and assign each pet to a free run.

If the date does not match, Petsoft shows a warning: "The check-in date does not match the expected arrival date … and will alter the invoice and reservation." Click Continue Anyway to proceed.

Check Out works the same way. Two rules can prevent checkout:

• A multi-day reservation cannot check out on its check-in day.
• A single-day reservation cannot check out on a different day.

Both messages offer a link to Convert Service instead. Use Convert Service when a daycare visit becomes an overnight stay, or an overnight stay becomes a daycare visit.

After check-out, trial reservations move to a trial review page. When the status is Checked-Out, Finalize and Invoice produces the final bill.

tip

You can undo mistakes. Undo Check In and Undo Check-Out each ask you to confirm. You cannot undo a check-out until staff void the reservation's invoice. Staff must refund all payments on a paid invoice before they can void it.

Editing a reservation

You can edit a reservation while it is Reserved, Pending, or Checked-In. From the reservation page:

• Edit Reservation Details (the pencil icon in the header): change dates, times, or the run assignment. If a change conflicts with the current schedule, Petsoft shows a confirmation page first.
• Services: click Add a Service to add extras during the stay. Use the Advanced Add Itineraries buttons to extend the stay earlier or later. You cannot remove the last day of a multi-day stay. Petsoft offers Convert Service instead.
• Add-ons: click Add a new Product, or click Add House Food if you have set up a house-food product. See House Food for how its quantity is calculated and billed, and Products for products in general.
• Medications: click Add Medication, Mark Delivered, Edit, or Remove.
• Promo Codes: add or remove a code. You can remove a code only while the invoice is still pending.
• Convert Service: change the reservation from one service type to another. Select the new service under Convert To, then click Convert Service.
• See All Reservation Changes shows the complete change history. Print Kennel Card prints the run card.

Cancelling a reservation

Cancel opens a page that shows the reservation details. This page also shows what happens to the deposit under your deposit policy. The deposit policy can fully refund the deposit, partially refund it by percentage, or forfeit it. If the original payment device is no longer active, Petsoft issues the refund as store credit instead.

If staff book daycare after 5:00 PM the night before, the customer forfeits any coupons used. The cancellation page shows this warning.

If the policy does not grant a full refund, staff with the Grant Refunds permission can select the checkbox: "Refund the full deposit …, bypassing the cancellation policy." If staff do not have this permission, a manager can click Authorize Full Refund Override and approve the refund using the manager's own login. Petsoft checks this override on the server, not only in the displayed page.

Click Cancel Reservation to confirm, or Go Back.

caution

You cannot cancel a reservation if its invoice is open and holds payments that staff cannot void. Petsoft shows this message: "This reservation has an open invoice with payments which cannot be voided. Refund the payments or mark the invoice as paid before cancelling the reservation."

Seeing everything at once

The Run Overview page shows run occupancy in a weekly grid. Use this page to find out which runs are free on a specific day, such as next Tuesday.

For today's arrivals and departures, use the Arriving and Departing tabs on the reservations board.