What is the purpose of Appointments processing time?

[nella]

Can anyone help here?

I don't understand what is the purpose of processing time? Is it for one member of staff to deliver two bookings concurrently and if it is, how does Square mange this?

What is meant by "let clients book during downtime of existing appointments" and "allows you to account for downtime, stay organised, and earn more with added bookings"?

https://squareup.com/help/gb/en/article/6756-add-gap-times-to-your-square-appointments-services

Thank you.

@tranguyen please create a new label "Appointments" so we can tag these posts.

[Helen · Accepted solution]

Hi @nella! You're right, processing time does allow your clients to book two overlapping appointments with the same staff member. For example, hairdressers will often manage two clients at once - the first client's appointment might take 3 hours in total - but part of that time is waiting (e.g for colour to set) so the staff member is free to start another appointment with a different client. 

If you're creating a service that includes processing time you'll also be able to set initial duration and final duration for that service - those are the times that you are with the first client and not available to be booked by a second client.

I hope that helps! If you haven't already you could create a few test services and appointments to explore this further for your business.

Oh and last but not leave I created a new label called 'Square Appointments' and added it to your post. Thanks for the reminder!