Use resources to limit bookings

Create resources to represent the number of rooms, equipment, or other physical items shared between appointments and calendars.

Use resources to limit the number of appointments happening at one time across multiple calendars to prevent overbooking.

What are resources?

Resources are additional scheduling restrictions on top of your existing availability and scheduling limits, and they aren’t visible to clients. They can be used to represent items shared between multiple calendars, like how many chairs you have in your salon, patient rooms at your doctor’s office, or kayaks to rent for lessons.

How resources work with multiple calendars to prevent overbooking

Calendars can be used to represent and manage multiple schedules that have different hours of availability, like staff members or business locations.

By default, appointments can be scheduled for the same time on different calendars with overlapping availability. When you create resources and assign them to appointment types that are offered on multiple calendars, they limit the total number of appointments happening at one time. Resources won’t work for calendars in different time zones.

Example: Multiple massage therapists but limited available rooms

If you have five massage therapists, each with their own calendar and appointments available starting at 10:00 AM, but only three massage rooms, create a resource for your massage rooms to prevent overbooking.

• Set the resource quantity to 3 to represent the number of available rooms.
• Assign the resource to all of the massage therapists' appointment types.
• If all resources are in use, clients can't book a massage at that time because no room is available.

When to use separate calendars instead of resources

If clients need to select a specific room to book their appointment in, you should create a calendar for each room instead of a resource.

Example: Recording studio

If you have a recording studio that has three rooms with different equipment, you can create a calendar for each room. To ensure the number of bookings doesn’t exceed the number of rooms you have, edit your calendar scheduling limits so only one appointment can be booked per time slot on each calendar.

Add a resource

To add a resource:

1. Open the Availability panel and click Rooms/Resources.
2. Click New Resource.
3. Give the resource a name and a quantity.
4. Check the appointment types that require this resource.
5. Click Create Resource.

Edit a resource

To edit a resource:

1. Open the Availability panel and click Rooms/Resources.
2. Click Edit next to the resource you want to change.
3. Make your changes, then click Update Resource.

Delete a resource

To delete a resource:

1. Open the Availability panel and click Rooms/Resources.
2. Click Edit next to the resource you want to delete.
3. Click Delete, then click OK.

Add resources to more appointment types

To add resources to a different appointment type:

1. In Acuity, click Appointment types.
2. Click Edit next to the appointment type.
3. In the Resources section, check the box next to the resource, then click Save.

Use resources with classes

Each scheduled group class uses only one resource, and the resource is used at the time the class is offered on your calendar, even if attendees haven’t booked yet.

Other appointment types can’t be booked during a class if they share a resource, but resources won’t prevent multiple classes from being offered or booked at the same time.

Block time on all other calendars when one appointment is booked

You can use resources to limit appointment types across multiple calendars. For example, if you work alone but have more than one calendar, you can use resources to avoid being booked on two calendars at the same time.

To add resources to multiple calendars:

1. Create a resource.
2. Set the quantity to 1, because you can only be in one place at a time.
3. Apply the resource to all your appointment types.

Require multiple resources for one appointment type

If an appointment type requires more than one resource, clients can only book it if all the resources are available.

Example: Van and walking tour company

You run a van and walking tour company that has three microphones and two vans. Create two resources to represent the microphones and vans, then assign them to the different tour types.

• Walking tour - Requires one microphone. Clients can book a walking tour as long as one microphone is available.
• Van tour - Requires one microphone and one van. Clients can book a van tour when at least one microphone and one van are free.

Set resource quantities per appointment type

Each booked appointment uses one resource by default. If some of your appointment types require more than one resource per appointment, you can set different resource quantities for appointment types that share the same resource.

If this sounds useful to your business, contact our Customer Support team to enable quantities for resources.

Example: Boat tours for small and large groups

If you run a boat tour company where a small group tour requires one boat and a large group tour requires two boats:

1. Create one appointment type for small tour groups and one for large groups.
2. Create a resource that represents the total number of boats you have.
3. Set the resource quantity to 1 for the small tour group appointment type.
4. Set the resource quantity to 2 for the large group appointment type.

How do resources affect padding before or after the appointment?

Resources are considered "in use" for the duration of the appointment, plus any padding before or after the appointment.

Keep in mind, if negative padding is used to create overlapping appointments, the resource still applies to the total duration of the appointment. For example, a 60-minute appointment with -45 minutes of padding will use the resource for the whole 60 minutes, so it won't be available for use during the overlapping appointment.