--- title: "Let clients book multiple services in one appointment" description: "How to let clients book multiple services in one appointment: back-to-back times, one deposit, sensible combinations and a single checkout at the till." url: "https://bookatu.com/en-nz/blog/book-multiple-services-in-one-appointment" language: "en" section: "Blog" category: "Grow your business" author: "The Bookatu team" published: "2026-10-29" updated: "2026-10-29" tags: ["multiple services one appointment", "multi-service booking", "back to back appointments", "service add-ons", "salon booking software"] --- # Let clients book multiple services in one appointment How to let clients book multiple services in one appointment: back-to-back times, one deposit, sensible combinations and a single checkout at the till. > **The short version** > > - A combined visit should only offer times where every service fits, back to back. > - Each service can have its own person, so a colour with one stylist and a cut with another is still one booking. > - The client should get one confirmation, one reminder, one deposit and one checkout. > - Set rules so combinations you can't do are never offered in the first place. To let clients book multiple services in one appointment, your booking system has to do three things. It adds the services up and only offers start times where they all fit, one straight after another. It sends each service to the right person. And it treats the result as one visit: one confirmation, one deposit and one sale at the till. Without that, clients book a colour and a cut separately and hope the times line up, or they ring you. This guide covers what a good combined booking looks like, the rules worth setting, and how to switch it on in Bookatu. ## Why one visit beats several separate bookings Two separate bookings look fine until the day. Then the problems show: - The times don't line up, so the client waits forty minutes between a colour and a cut. - Gaps open up in your day that nobody else can book. - Two confirmations and two reminders make the client wonder if they booked twice. - Two deposits feel like a lot to pay up front. - At the till, someone has to put both bookings on one bill. One visit fixes all of this. The client books what they want, the way they would say it: a colour, then a cut. ## What a good multi-service booking needs Whatever system you use, this is the checklist worth holding it to: 1. **Back-to-back times only.** Every start time on offer is one where each service fits straight after the one before. 2. **A person for each service.** Each service can go to a different team member, or to whoever is free. 3. **One confirmation and one reminder.** Listing every service with its time. 4. **One fair deposit.** Enough to protect your time, not the price of the whole day. 5. **Rules for what goes together.** So nobody can book two services you would never do in one sitting. 6. **Extras that take real time.** An extra that takes fifteen minutes should make the booking fifteen minutes longer. 7. **One sale at checkout.** With each service credited to the person who did it. ## How back-to-back times are worked out First the services are put in order and their lengths added up. A 90-minute colour followed by a 45-minute cut is a visit of two hours and fifteen minutes. Then the system looks for start times where the person doing the colour is free for its 90 minutes, and the person doing the cut is free for the 45 minutes straight after. If either of them is busy, that start time isn't offered. So a combined visit can show fewer times than a single service. That is the point. Every time the client sees is one that really works, with no waiting around in between. ## Decide what can and can't be booked together Not every combination makes sense. A good system lets you say so once, instead of fixing odd bookings by hand. ### Services that only go with certain others Some services only make sense next to particular others. A toner might only go with a colour, or a brow tint with a brow shape. Limiting these keeps the choices short. ### Services that must never be booked together Some pairs can't happen in one sitting. A client wants 4 braids or 6 braids, not both. Mark these as never together, and they can't be booked as one visit. ### Extras and add-ons, and when an extra should add time Extras are the small things added to a service, such as a scalp massage or a gloss. Some take no extra time. Others take ten or fifteen minutes and should make the booking longer, or your next client starts late. ## Deposits for a combined visit Deposits are where combined bookings often go wrong. If the system simply adds up every service's deposit, a client booking three services faces a large payment before they walk in, and may not book at all. A better rule puts a ceiling on it. In Bookatu there is one deposit for the visit: each service's deposit added up, but never more than the first service's price. If you use the No-show shield, it can still adjust the deposit for each client, as it does for a single booking. For deposit amounts in general, our guide How to Take Deposits for Appointments: A Practical Guide goes further. ## Moving, cancelling and checking out a visit To the client a visit is one thing, so they handle it as one. From their booking link they move or cancel the whole visit at once. A move keeps each person, and counts once against your Most times one booking can be moved online setting. If you have Client moves need approval too turned on, the client is asked to contact you to move a visit. Your team has more freedom. On the calendar each service is its own booking, marked Visit 1/2, Visit 2/2 and so on. Dragging or cancelling one there changes only that service. At the till, tap Check out on any service in the visit. It becomes one sale, with a line for each service, credited to the person who did it. ## How to let clients book multiple services in Bookatu 1. **Turn it on.** Open Settings, then Several services in one visit. Turn on Clients can book several services in one visit and tap Save. It needs the Manage the business permission, which owners and admins have by default. 2. **Set your combination rules.** Open Catalog, then Services, and tap Edit on a service. Under Combination rules, choose In the same visit (Any other service, or Only the services I choose), tick anything it is Never with, and pick which extras go with it under Extras offered with it. Tap Save combination rules. 3. **Mark the extras that take time.** An extra is a service with Offer as an add-on switched on. On its own rules, turn on Adds its time to the booking if it makes the appointment longer. It is off by default. 4. **Try it as a client.** On your booking page, pick a first service. On the date and time step, tap Add another service. A visit takes up to 4 services. Only times where the whole visit fits are shown, and the review lists each service with its start time and price. Never with holds both ways round. A combination that isn't allowed is refused with the reason, for example 4 braids and 6 braids can't be booked together. Your team can always book a visit, whatever the setting. On New booking, or when you drag across a staff column on the Calendar, pick the first service and tap + Add another service. Each row has its own person or Any available. If the visit doesn't fit, the form names the service, the time and the person causing the problem. On the booking widget on your website, Book several services in one visit opens your full booking page in a new tab. Our help articles Book several services in one visit and Set which services can be booked together have every detail. > Clients don't think in services. They think in visits, so let them book one. ## When to keep services separate A combined visit is for one client having several services, one after another. A few things are better booked on their own: - A service that needs two or more people at once, such as two stylists on one client. In Bookatu it is always booked on its own, never as part of a visit. Our help article Book a service that needs two or more people explains how it works. - Classes and group sessions. They work differently, and have no combination rules. - Restaurant reservations, which are one booking for a party rather than a run of services. ## Questions owners ask ### Can a client book a cut and colour with two different stylists in one visit? Yes. Each service in a visit can have the same person or a different one. On your team's New booking form, each row has its own person or Any available. ### How many services can a client book in one appointment? In Bookatu, a visit is 2 to 4 different services for one client, back to back. That covers most real combinations, such as a colour, a toner, a cut and a blow-dry. ### How is the deposit worked out when a client books several services? Each service's deposit is added up, but the total is never more than the first service's price. ### Can I stop certain services being booked together? Yes. Each service has its own Combination rules. Choose Only the services I choose under In the same visit to limit what it goes with, or tick services under Never with to keep two apart. ### Can a client move just one service of the visit? Not online. From their booking link the client moves or cancels the whole visit. Your team can change a single service on the calendar, by dragging or cancelling just that one. ## Where to start Check the combination rules on the services your clients most often pair. Then turn on Several services in one visit and book one yourself, the way a client would. Every Bookatu plan includes every feature, and the pricing page shows what you would pay.