Getting started with Book Visit Now takes only a few steps. Before you create your first appointment, you’ll set up the basic information Book Visit Now needs to build your schedule: your business, at least one provider, one location, and one service.
This guide walks through the complete initial setup and shows you how to add your first client appointment to the calendar. Initial setup should take less than 5 minutes even with optional settings. It may take longer to read about it.
Prefer to watch instead? Watch setup on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@BookVisitNow
When you first open Book Visit Now, the Home screen prompts you to connect your contacts.
Tap Continue, then choose the contacts you want to make available in Book Visit Now. You can select individual contacts or select all. If you do choose them all, they don't immediately move into Book Visit Now. You have just authorized them to be used in the future if you manually pick them.
Book Visit Now uses your Apple Contacts so you can select existing clients without having to enter their contact information again.
You can continue managing your business setup from Settings.
Open Settings to see the Business Configuration section.
Before Book Visit Now can create an appointment, four items must be configured:
Book Visit Now uses colored status indicators to make setups easy to follow.
Red means an item is required and still needs to be configured.
Green means a required item is complete.
Orange identifies an optional setting you may want to review.
Blue means an optional setting has been reviewed, even if you chose not to change it.
Once all four required items are green, you are ready to schedule appointments.
Tap Company Info.
Enter your business name. This is the only required field in this section.
You can also add optional information such as a mission statement or slogan and a logo. The logo will appear on invoices.
Save your changes. The Company Information indicator will turn from red to green.
A provider is the person who performs the service for the client.
Open Providers and add your first provider.
Enter the provider's information, including their name and phone number, then save.
The phone number is included in your appointment reminders and confirmations by default. If it's not set up, it's not sent to the client. Including it makes it much easier for your client to contact you.
Once at least one provider has been configured, the Providers indicator turns green.
If you operate the business by yourself, you can simply create yourself as the provider.
Open Locations and create the location where appointments are performed.
Only a location name is required, so a location could be something simple such as:
Main Studio
You can also enter the complete street address when appropriate.
The address is included in your appointment reminders and confirmations by default. If it's not set up, it's not included. Including it makes it much easier for your client to find you.
This makes Book Visit Now flexible enough for businesses with a traditional storefront as well as businesses that operate from multiple locations.
Save the location to complete this step.
Open Services Menu and add the first service your business offers. (The services will sort in alphabetical order when making appointments).
Enter a service name and, if desired, a description. The service description is for your reference within the Services Menu.
Next, configure the service:
Duration
Enter the amount of time normally required to perform the service.
Retail Price
Enter the amount you normally charge.
Price Override
Enable price override if you want the ability to change the service price while creating an individual appointment.
Service Cost - Basic or Detailed
Enter your total cost for providing the service. Cost has two ways you can use it. On the main Cost of Service line, you can simply add a flat cost.
Book Visit Now can also track individual items that contribute to the cost of a service. Click Here to review Optional Settings.
Once your first service has been saved, all four required setup items should display green indicators.
Your required Book Visit Now setup is now complete. - You may now make appointments. Unless you need to collect taxes. If so, review taxes before making an appointment.
Tap Schedule to open the Book Visit Now calendar. This view is a little different on an iPhone versus an iPad or Mac, but the appointment steps are the same.
Tap the plus (+) button in the upper-right corner of the Schedule screen.
This opens a new appointment creation window.
Tap Select Client and choose the client from your Apple Contacts.
Book Visit Now brings the client's available contact information into the app so you can use it when managing appointments and client records.
Choose the appointment date and starting time.
If the client has a repeating schedule, you can also create recurring appointments.
Book Visit Now supports repeats including:
Select one or more services for the appointment.
You can also add products when appropriate.
If enabled in settings, you can tap the price and type in a different one.
Once everything looks correct, tap Save.
Your first Book Visit Now appointment now appears on the calendar.
Tap an appointment on the calendar to open it.
From the appointment details, you can review or modify its information, cancel the appointment, or update its status.
Appointment statuses make it easier to see where each client is in the visit process.
For example, select Checked In when the client arrives.
The appointment changes appearance and displays the Checked In status, making it easy to identify directly from the schedule.
When the appointment is finished, tap to open it again and change its status to Completed.
Marking an appointment Completed does more than update the calendar. It also allows Book Visit Now's business reports to reflect the completed appointment and its revenue.
You have now completed the entire Book Visit Now workflow:
Set up your business → select a client → schedule services → manage the appointment → complete the visit.
Your basic Book Visit Now setup is complete, but there are many additional tools you can configure as you become familiar with the app. If you must charge taxes for your services, then Taxes should be the next item you review.
Review the Optional Business Settings
Next, you may want to explore:
You do not need to configure everything at once. Book Visit Now is designed so you can complete the required setup first and add optional business settings as you need them.