This article is about bookings of appointments (1:1 services) in Appointments › Bookings: their statuses, manual booking approval, no-shows and cancelling a booking. It doesn't apply to group classes, courses or events — you manage their participants in the class, course or event detail.
Manual booking approval exists only for appointments, and you turn it on per specialist. Group classes, courses and events have no approval step: a client who books a free spot gets it straight away. To decide yourself who gets a spot in a group class, see Can I approve bookings for a group class? below.
Bookings overview
All appointment bookings can be found in Appointments › Bookings in the sidebar. The page shows these numbers:
Today — Appointments scheduled for today.
Upcoming — Future bookings that aren't cancelled.
Awaiting approval — Pending bookings that are waiting for your decision (only if manual booking approval is on).
This month — Appointments in the current month.
Below, you can switch between the Table and Calendar view and create a booking yourself with Add booking.
Booking statuses
Each appointment booking has one of these statuses:
Pending
The booking has been created but is awaiting approval. This status is only used when Manual booking approval is on for the specialist (see below). The client is told that the booking is waiting for confirmation from the specialist.
Confirmed
The booking is valid and the appointment is scheduled. If manual booking approval is off, bookings are created directly in this status. Bookings you create yourself with Add booking are always confirmed.
Completed
The appointment start time has passed and the booking wasn't cancelled or marked as a no-show.
Cancelled
The booking has been cancelled — by the client, by your studio, or automatically by Zenamu (for example, a pending booking that wasn't approved before the appointment started).
No-show
The client did not show up and didn't pay. You set this status yourself after the appointment has started (see Marking a no-show).
Manual booking approval
If you want to confirm each appointment before it becomes final, turn on Manual booking approval for the specialist. New bookings with that specialist are then created as pending rather than confirmed.
How do I turn on manual booking approval?
Go to Appointments › Specialists.
On the specialist's card, click Services (for a new specialist, click Add specialist).
Turn on the Manual booking approval switch.
Click Save. The setting applies to all services of that specialist.
How approval works
A client books an appointment → the status is Pending. The time slot is reserved, so nobody else can book it.
The specialist receives an email about the new request.
In Appointments › Bookings, open the booking (View details) and choose:
Approve — The booking is confirmed and the client receives a confirmation email.
Reject request — The booking is cancelled and the client is notified by email. You can add a Reason for rejection (optional). The client's payment is refunded in full.
If a pending booking isn't approved before the appointment starts, Zenamu cancels it automatically and refunds the client in full.
Managers and administrators can approve and reject any booking; a specialist can do it for their own bookings. More in Appointments: pending bookings — approval, decline, and automatic cancellation.
When does the client pay if manual approval is on?
Manual approval doesn't postpone payment. The client pays when making the booking, the same way as without approval — for example, a card or PayPal payment is taken, or credits or entries are deducted. At checkout, the client sees that they'll be refunded in full if the specialist doesn't confirm the booking before the appointment starts.
If you reject the request or it's cancelled automatically, card and PayPal payments are refunded automatically and credits or entries go back to the client's balance. A bank transfer has to be sent back by you.
Can I approve bookings for a group class?
No. Group classes, courses and events have no manual approval — this option exists only for appointments. If you want to choose who gets a spot in a group class, use one of these options instead:
Keep the class visible, but take registrations yourself: in the class form, open Advanced booking settings and tick Don't let clients book this class. The class stays on your public schedule, but nobody can book it online. Tell clients in the description how to ask for a spot (email, phone), and add the clients you accept with Add participant in the class detail.
Hide the class completely: tick Class isn't publicly visible in Advanced booking settings. The class won't appear on the public schedule, and only you can add clients with Add participant.
For courses, the same options are called Don't let clients book this class and Course isn't publicly visible.
Marking a no-show
The No-show button appears in the booking detail only when all of these apply:
The booking is Confirmed.
The appointment start time has passed.
The booking hasn't been paid yet — its payment is still Awaiting payment (for example, the client was supposed to pay on site).
After you confirm, the booking gets the No-show status and its payment is marked as Unpaid. The client is then highlighted as a client with unpaid orders, which helps you identify problematic clients. A booking paid in advance can't be marked as a no-show; it shows as Completed. Learn more in "Unexcused Absences (No-shows)".
Cancelling a booking from admin
You can cancel a confirmed booking at any time, even when the client can no longer cancel it online. Open the booking and click Cancel booking (in the table, choose Cancel in the actions menu). For a pending booking, the button is Reject request instead. In the dialog:
Zenamu shows whether a cancellation fee applies under your cancellation rules. If there are several options, choose how to cancel, for example with a full refund.
You can add a Note with the reason for the cancellation.
If you write a message in Email message for the client, the client receives it by email. Depending on your SMS notification settings, you may also see a field for an SMS.
Bookings in the calendar
Appointments also appear in the Class schedule alongside your group classes. In Appointments › Bookings, you can switch between the Table and Calendar view.
Learn more about payment settings and cancellation policies in "Appointments (1:1 sessions): payment methods and cancellation rules".