How a bookable slot is decided
Understanding this one calculation solves almost every scheduling question. A time is offered to a client only when it survives all of the following checks.
- It falls inside one of your availability rules, either your weekly working hours or a rule specific to that service.
- It is not covered by a manual block such as leave you have added.
- You do not already have an appointment at that time.
- Your Google Calendar shows you as free, if you have connected it.
- It respects your booking notice, the minimum hours ahead a client must book. The default is 24 hours.
- It leaves the slot gap between bookings, which defaults to 30 minutes.
When a client says there are no slots
Work down that list in order. In practice the cause is nearly always the first or the fifth item: either no availability rule covers the period they are looking at, or every remaining slot falls inside your booking notice window.
Setting your working hours
Availability is where you define when you work. Rules are weekly patterns: choose the days, a start and end time, and the date range the rule applies to. Naming a rule makes it easier to manage when you have several.
The page separates active rules from expired ones, so you can keep a history without cluttering your current setup. Because rules have date ranges, you can set up a different summer schedule in advance and let it take over automatically.
Slots are generated in 15, 30, 45 or 60 minute lengths depending on the service duration. If you skipped this during onboarding, PracFlow created a default rule of Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00.
Blocking leave and one off changes
Use Quick Leave on the availability page to block days. You can select multiple dates on the calendar in one go, which is the fastest way to enter a holiday.
Blocked dates remove those slots from every booking page immediately. They do not cancel appointments you have already accepted, so if you are blocking a period you are already booked into, cancel or reschedule those sessions separately.
Busy events in Google also block slots
Once Google Calendar is connected, anything marked busy there blocks the matching PracFlow slots. For short, one off commitments it is often easier to add the event in Google than to create a rule in PracFlow.
Connecting Google Calendar
Connect Google Calendar from Profile Settings, or during onboarding. The connection does three separate jobs, and it is worth knowing which you are relying on.
- Writing events. Confirmed appointments appear on your chosen Google calendar, and are updated or removed when you reschedule or cancel.
- Reading busy times. PracFlow checks your free and busy information so clients cannot book over existing commitments.
- Creating video links. Services set to create links automatically get a unique Google Meet link per session.
Automatic video links need this connection
If Google Calendar is not connected, services configured for automatic meeting links cannot generate one. PracFlow warns you when you save such a service. Either connect Google, switch the service to a fixed link, or add links manually per appointment.
If you keep several Google calendars, choose the one PracFlow should write to. Many therapists use a dedicated work calendar so client sessions stay separate from personal events, while still having personal events block their availability.
Booking notice, gaps and cancellation windows
Three settings in Business Settings shape your calendar as much as your working hours do.
| Setting | Default | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Booking notice | 24 hours | How far ahead a client must book. Raise it to protect your preparation time, lower it if you want to fill last minute gaps. |
| Slot gap | 30 minutes | The spacing between offered start times. This is separate from a service buffer, which pads a specific session. |
| Free cancellation window | 48 hours | How close to the session a client can still cancel without a fee. Inside this window PracFlow forces a no refund cancellation unless you override it. |
Could not find what you needed? Email support@pracflow.ai or use the Need Help button in your dashboard.