Admin-created bookings never charge a card, so they're free unless you apply the customer's credit, record an on-site payment, or send them a link to pay online.
Open the Add booking panel
Pick the session on Bookings or Sessions and select Add booking. On Bookings it is always in the session header: a + button on a tablet-sized screen, and in the Menu on a phone. To add to one start time of a session with lengths, use the ⋮ beside that start.
Choose the customer
- 1In the User field, search by name or email and click a matching customer.
- 2If there's no match, click Add as new user and enter their email and, optionally, their name and phone (if you collect it). They can claim the account later by signing up with the same email. Tick Email me occasional updates under Email preferences only if they've asked to join your mailing list; a tick never overrides a choice they already made. Someone who uses Session at another venue but hasn't booked with you won't be in the search: enter their email and the booking joins their existing record.
Set the spaces
Use the Spaces stepper. On a session with lengths, pick the Length first - each shows the spaces left for it.
If the session sells two or more prices, such as a 55-minute and a 30-minute ticket, pick the Ticket too. It shows the names and prices customers see for this time. It doesn't fill in the payment.
If this session sells add-ons, add extras like towel hire under Add-ons. They're charged unless you choose Free or a code or bundle covers the booking, and a membership's free session covers spaces only. Add-ons are never discounted: to not charge one, leave it off.
There's no capacity limit when you add a booking yourself: going over shared capacity shows a warning but won't stop you.
Book a private hire or group price
Private hire and group prices are in the Ticket list too. Pick one and Spaces is set. For a private hire, set How many guests? (it sizes the waivers).
A private hire gets its badge and closes the session, as if booked online. Record the whole amount under Payment, or use Voucher / discount code. Bundles can't pay. Free sessions pay only with Free sessions cover private sessions.
Apply the customer's account credit
If the customer has credit valid for this session, an Account credit section appears, ticked by default. A bundle draws one session per covered space; a membership's included session covers the first space if they have one left this period. Extra spaces are added free, and Paid is switched off while credit is applied.
Their own codes show there too, such as a cancellation credit. Use fills it into Voucher / discount code, with the ticket price as Price before discount. Anything it doesn't cover is free.
Record an offline payment or apply a voucher
Under Payment, choose what happened:
- Pay later (the default on a priced session) records the Amount due, prefilled with the usual price plus any add-ons. It shows as owing until you record the payment.
- Free is for comps.
- Paid records the Amount you took, in your venue's currency, and the Method: Card machine, Cash, Bank transfer or Other. Include any add-ons in the amount.
- Voucher / discount code takes a voucher or discount code; click Check to confirm it's valid. A session-pack or gift-card code draws from the customer's balance. For a percent or fixed-amount code, also enter the Price before discount, or it's refused.
Record it later. Open the booking's details and use Record payment or apply a voucher/credit. It works on a booking you created that nothing has paid or covered. To change how an online booking was paid, the customer cancels and rebooks with the code.
An offline payment shows on the booking with its method and counts as gross revenue in reports and CSV exports. Payment reconciliation never flags it.
A recorded "Paid" amount is for your records only, so Session never refunds it for you. To refund, cancel or reduce the booking, record the refund amount, then return the money the way you took it. See refunds.
Add notes, a confirmation and a waiver
Add a Staff note if needed. Send booking confirmation email is on by default; untick it for a quiet comp. Ask the customer to sign a waiver (shown with an active waiver) emails a signing link and offers Sign waiver now on your tablet. Then click Add booking.
Let the customer pay online instead
Copy the link under Or have them pay online, which takes them to this exact time to pay. Add &gv=CODE to pre-apply a discount code. Send it, then close the panel with Cancel: pressing Add booking too would book them in twice. For a private hire at a custom time or price, see private sessions.
Common questions
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Can staff record offline payments? Yes, anyone who can add bookings can. See admin and staff roles.
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The customer's earlier booking on this session was cancelled. Can I add them again? Yes. If nothing was refunded and you choose Free, adding them restores the original booking. Otherwise it creates a fresh booking.
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Can I take a card tap in Session, like iZettle or SumUp? No. Take the tap on your own reader and record it as Paid with the Card machine method. See card readers for the reader we recommend.
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Can I add extras to an existing booking? Not yet. Note them and include them in the payment.
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Can I edit a customer who has their own Session account? Not their name, email or phone. The same account works at every venue they use, so they change those from their own account page. You can book them in, use their credit and collect their waiver as normal.