No-show policy template for appointment businesses

A $40 haircut that nobody shows up for costs more than $40. The chair sat empty, the next client couldn't book it, and you still paid the rent on it. Three of those a week is $6,240 a year.

A no-show policy doesn't stop every one. What it does is tell clients the rule before they book, give them a fair way out, and give you a fee you can actually collect. Below is a template you can copy, three filled versions, and the lines that go on your booking page and in your reminders.

The template

Copy this, replace everything in brackets, and cut any line that doesn't apply to you.

[Business name] appointment, cancellation and no-show policy

We hold your appointment time for you alone, so we ask for
[24] hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule.

Late cancellation. Cancelling or rescheduling less than [24] hours
before your appointment is a late cancellation. The fee is
[50%] of the service price.

No-show. Not arriving within [15] minutes of your start time,
without telling us, is a no-show. The fee is [100%] of the
service price.

How to cancel. Use the link in your confirmation or reminder,
or [call or text us at your number]. Messages left on social
media don't count as notice.

How the fee is paid. [Charged to the card you booked with /
taken from your deposit / added to your next invoice.]

First time. We waive the fee once per client per [year].
After [2] no-shows, we may ask for full prepayment to book.

Emergencies. Illness, weather and emergencies happen. Tell us
as soon as you can and we will use judgment.

By booking, you agree to this policy.

How to fill it in

• Notice window. 24 hours is the most common choice. Use 48 for long services, like a three-hour color, where the slot is hard to refill.
• Late cancel vs no-show. A late cancellation is a client who tells you, too late. A no-show is a client who never tells you. Charging less for the first rewards the client who at least let you know.
• Fee amount. Half the service price for a late cancellation and the full price for a no-show is common. A fixed amount, like $25, is easier to explain for services with very different prices.
• How the fee is paid. This is the line most templates leave blank, and it decides whether the policy works. If you have no card on file and no deposit, the fee is a request, not a charge.
• Grace. One waived fee keeps your regulars. The prepayment rule handles the few who keep doing it.

Three filled versions

Barber or salon. 24 hours' notice. Late cancellation 50% of the service. No-show 100%, charged to the card used to book. One waiver per client per year. After two no-shows, prepayment to book.

Med spa. 48 hours' notice, because treatments are long and products may be prepared ahead. A deposit taken at booking, applied to the treatment, and kept on a late cancellation or no-show. Packages say separately whether a missed session counts as used.

Therapy practice. 24 or 48 hours' notice. A fixed fee, often the session rate or part of it, billed to the client and never to insurance. If you see Medicare or Medicaid clients, read the section on insurance below before you set any fee.

The lines that make it hold

A policy buried on a website page rarely gets read. Put it where the client has to see it.

On the booking page, next to the confirm button:

I've read the cancellation and no-show policy. Cancelling with
less than [24] hours' notice costs [50%]. Missing the appointment
costs [100%].

In the reminder, sent the day before:

Hi [first name], a reminder of your [service] at [time] tomorrow.
Need to change it? Use this link by [time] today to avoid the
late cancellation fee. [link]

The reminder has to arrive before the cutoff, not after it. A reminder 12 hours ahead of a 24-hour policy tells the client they're already too late.

What the policy is worth, worked out

Take a barber with $40 cuts who loses three appointments a week, two no-shows and one late cancellation. That is $120 a week, or $6,240 over 52 weeks.

The card on file recovers the most, because the fee is charged, not asked for. The deposit recovers less on these numbers but is the gentlest to enforce, since the money is already in. An invoice after the fact depends on the client choosing to pay. The half-paid line is an assumption for the example, not a measured rate.

None of these fill the chair. The money comes back, the slot doesn't. A waitlist, or a reminder early enough to rebook the slot, is what fills it.

Insurance, Medicare and Medicaid

Insurance does not pay for a no-show. You can't bill a missed appointment as if the visit happened.

Medicare. CMS lets physicians and suppliers charge Medicare patients for missed appointments, as long as the policy is the same for every patient and the charge is the same amount. The fee goes to the patient, never on a Medicare claim. CMS set this out in MLN Matters MM5613, effective October 1, 2007.

Medicaid. CMS's 1995 guidance says the program does not let providers bill Medicaid recipients who miss scheduled appointments. Colorado's Medicaid agency, for example, says federal and state policies prohibit charging members for missed or cancelled appointments, citing 42 C.F.R. 447.15. Check your state's Medicaid rules and any managed care contract before you apply the policy to these clients.

This is not legal advice. If most of your clients are covered by Medicaid, ask your billing contact or a healthcare lawyer how your state handles it.

Common mistakes

• No way to collect. A fee with no card on file and no deposit is a polite request.
• Hiding the policy. If the client never saw it, charging them starts an argument you will probably lose.
• A reminder after the cutoff. The client finds out about the policy when it's already too late to follow it.
• No way to cancel at 11pm. If the only way to cancel is to call during business hours, some clients can't give notice even when they try.
• Never waiving it. A regular who has been coming for five years and misses once is not the person this rule is for.

If you run a practice that bills insurance, how to make a superbill for therapy covers the paperwork side.

Where software fits

Booking software is where a no-show policy gets enforced, because it controls when a client can cancel and what they agree to at booking.

dailybuilt sets the cancellation cutoff as a number of hours, 24 by default, and enforces it. Clients can cancel or reschedule themselves from the link in their confirmation, up to that cutoff, and staff can mark a booking as a no-show. Text and email confirmations and reminders are included on Essentials, at $29.99 a month, and the reminder lead time is a setting. Foundation adds a built-in cancellation and missed appointment policy document that clients can sign.

Switch on payment at booking and dailybuilt takes each service's deposit when the client books and saves their card, the card-on-file and deposit rows of the table above. A client who cancels before the cutoff gets the deposit back automatically. When you mark a no-show, you can charge the no-show fee to the saved card, up to the amount the client agreed to when they booked. dailybuilt never charges the fee on its own, so a person on your team decides each time, and if the card is declined you can send an invoice instead. Our Square Appointments vs Booksy comparison covers what the alternatives cost, and dailybuilt's plans are on the pricing page.

Questions people ask

Can you provide a sample cancellation policy?Yes, the template at the top of this page is one. In short, ask for 24 hours' notice, charge 50% for a late cancellation and 100% for a no-show, say how the fee is collected, and have clients agree to it when they book.

What's the difference between a late cancellation and a no-show?A late cancellation is a client who tells you they can't come, but inside your notice window. A no-show is a client who doesn't come and doesn't tell you. Most policies charge less for a late cancellation.

What is a fair no-show fee?Half the service price for a late cancellation and the full price for a no-show is common, with a fixed amount for businesses whose prices vary a lot. Whatever you choose, it has to be written down and shown before the client books.

Will insurance pay for a no-show?No. A missed appointment is not a covered service. Medicare says the charge must never be billed to it, and Medicaid generally does not let providers charge its members at all.

Can doctors charge you for a no-show?For most patients, yes, if the practice has a written policy and told you about it. For Medicare patients, CMS allows it when the same policy applies to every patient. For Medicaid patients, federal guidance and most state programs do not allow it.