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Cancellation and no-show policy generator
Pick your trade, your notice window and your deposit or fee, and get a plain-English policy to copy or download. A clear policy is the cheapest thing you can do about no-shows. Most no-shows are not malicious; they are people who never had a reason to think about it.
Your policy
[Your business name] reserves your appointment time for you alone. To keep that fair, please give at least 24 hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule.
- A $50 deposit is taken when you book. It comes off the price of your appointment.
- Cancel with at least 24 hours' notice: your deposit is refunded in full. Reschedule with at least 24 hours' notice: no charge, and your deposit moves with you.
- Cancel with less than 24 hours' notice, or miss your appointment: the $50 deposit is kept as a late cancellation fee.
- If you book with less than 24 hours' notice, there is no late cancellation or no-show fee on that booking.
To cancel or reschedule, use the link in your booking confirmation or contact [Your business name] directly.
By booking, you agree to this policy.
Not legal advice. Cancellation and card-on-file rules vary by state and trade, so check what applies to you.
Put this policy on your free booking page. Your window, your deposit or fee and your extra rules carry straight into your first service, so your page is set up when you arrive. Starter is free with no card. Clients see your notice window before they book; taking the deposit or charging the fee is free on Starter too, once your own Stripe account is connected; we keep 2% (max $10) only when we collect one.
Put this on my booking pageFree, no cardPrefer a fill-in template?
I reserve your appointment time exclusively for you and prepare specifically for our session. To respect both of our schedules, I ask for at least [24 hours] notice to cancel or reschedule.
• Cancellations or reschedules with at least [24 hours] notice: no charge.
• Cancellations with less than [24 hours] notice: [50%] of the service price.
• No-shows: [100%] of the service price (or your [deposit]).
A card is required to book. By booking, you authorise [Your Business Name] to charge the fees above to your card on file if the policy applies.
Replace the highlighted parts with your own notice window, fees and business name. Keep the first sentence. It is the one doing the persuading, because it explains why the policy exists before it says what it costs.
This template covers the two events that actually cost you money: a late cancellation and a no-show. Everything else is best handled as a conversation rather than a clause: rescheduling inside the window, or a client running twenty minutes late, and a policy that tries to legislate for all of it stops being read.
Variations
48-hour notice, for longer or higher-value sessions
Swap “24 hours” for “48 hours”. Useful for intensives, shoots, half-day sittings or anything where refilling the slot takes real lead time. The right window is the one where you could plausibly fill the gap, not the longest one you can justify.
Deposit-based
Require a non-refundable deposit to hold the appointment, applied to the final price if the client shows. The deposit is forfeited on a late cancel or no-show. This is the version that changes behaviour most, because the client has already parted with something.
Flat late-cancel fee
Charge a fixed amount, say $25, for any cancellation inside your window, whatever the service price. Simplest to explain, and worth considering if your prices vary a lot.
Card on file, nothing taken
A different promise from a deposit, and worth wording as one: the client saves a card, nothing is charged at booking, and the fee only lands if they miss the appointment. Say that explicitly, nothing is charged unless you don’t show up, because a client who thinks they have been charged will email you about it.
This template is a starting point, not legal advice. Cancellation and card-on-file rules can vary by location and industry. Adapt it to what applies to you.
What makes a policy actually hold
Three things, and none of them are about the wording. It has to be visible before payment rather than linked underneath it. The deadline has to be a date and a time rather than a duration, because “48 hours” is a sum the client does at the worst possible moment. And it has to be charged consistently. A fee waived twice is a fee that no longer exists.
That last one is the reason most policies fail. Nobody enjoys invoicing a person for not turning up, so the invoice never gets sent, and within a month the policy is decoration. The fix is not more willpower; it is that the client agreed at booking, their card is already saved, and charging the fee takes you one tap.
Which is also why the template above asks for a card. A policy with no card behind it is a request; a policy with a card authorised through Stripe at booking is an agreement. That single line is the difference between a document about no-shows and a document that does something about them.
Make the policy enforce itself
Sessurely shows your policy at booking and stores the client’s deposit or card with Stripe. A late cancel is settled when the client cancels inside your window, and a no-show is charged in one tap when you mark it, so the policy does its job without you having to be the bad guy. Clients can also reschedule themselves within your window from a private link, which makes honouring the policy the easy option on their side too. See how no-show fees get charged →
Where it belongs
On the page, above the button. Not in a link nobody opens.
Your policy is two things at once: the client’s fairness signal and your cover if a charge is ever queried. Both of those need it in front of them at the moment they pay, which is where Sessurely puts it, rendered from the window and the fee you set on each service, so it can never drift out of date.
The client ticks to say they have read it. That tick is what turns your wording into an agreement.
Deadlines are shown as real dates and times rather than as a number of hours, so the client never has to do the arithmetic themselves.
Your policy, on your own page
The rest of it
More than no-show protection
Enforcing a policy is one job; running the book around it is the rest. Sessurely is the booking app that runs your whole appointment business: your own booking page, a calendar that stays in sync, and a real client book with history, notes and photos. Add your services and deposits, send intake forms, sell gift cards and packages. Reminders go out on their own, and follow-ups are drafted for you to approve.
You keep what you earn, too. There is no commission on your sessions. Money goes straight to your own Stripe account, and your clients are always yours. The only fee is a 2% no-show-protection fee, capped at $10, on the deposits and no-show fees we process.
FAQ
Cancellation policy: common questions
How much notice should I require?
24 hours is the most common window for solo appointment businesses; 48 hours is typical for longer or higher-value sessions. Pick what gives you a realistic chance to refill the slot.
How do I actually enforce a cancellation policy?
A policy only works if it’s collected up front and charged consistently. Sessurely shows your policy at booking and keeps a deposit or a card on file. A late cancel is settled when the client cancels inside your window, and a no-show is charged when you mark it, so you never have to send the awkward invoice.
Where should the policy actually appear?
Before payment, not after it. On the booking page next to the deposit, in the confirmation, and in the reminder. A policy the client agreed to before paying is your cover if a charge is ever disputed; a policy linked underneath the pay button is not.
Should the deadline be a duration or a date?
A date and a time. “Free to cancel until Sunday at 2:30pm” is a fact the client can act on; “48 hours notice” is a sum they have to do at the moment they are least inclined to. Write the window in your policy and let the booking show the actual deadline.
Keep reading
More on no-show protection
How no-show fees work → How to stop no-shows → What no-shows cost you → Sessurely vs. Calendly →
Get started
Let the booking page enforce it.
Paste it into Sessurely once and it appears on every booking, with the deposit and the deadline filled in from the service. Start free on Starter with no card and no trial clock. Your booking page, client book, intake forms, a waitlist, email reminders and 100 texts a month to U.S. numbers cost nothing and never expire. Pro is $29.99/mo, or $249.99/yr, effective $20.83/mo, and free for your first 7 days.