Booking advance on WhatsApp: An advance that holds the slot
Ask for an advance when a customer books. The time is kept while they pay you directly, and released by itself if they do not.
Part of Bookings · included in Basic and above · not on Free
Hello Kavya, this is Your business. We are holding a slot for you: Haircut & styling with Riya on Tue, 27 Oct 2026 at 11:00 AM. To confirm this booking, an advance of ₹200 is to be paid by Sun, 25 Oct 2026, 4:57 PM. You can read the cancellation policy and pay using the button below. If the advance is not received by then, the slot will be released.
Hello Kavya, your booking with Your business is confirmed. You are booked for Haircut & styling with Riya on Tue, 27 Oct 2026 at 11:00 AM. Where: 14 Gariahat Road, Kolkata Advance received: ₹200 To pay at your visit: ₹400 Cancellation policy: You get this advance back if you cancel at least 24 hours before your booking. After that, or if you do not come, it is not refundable. If you need to reschedule or cancel, please use the button below.
- The slot is held on your booking page, unless you change it
- 15 min
- Held when your team asks for the advance
- 24 hours
- Nothing passes through Fliok
- Paid to you
- Part of Bookings, not an add-on
- Basic & up
What it does
Everything in Booking Advance
- An advance asked for at booking
- The slot is held while the customer pays
- Released by itself if the advance does not come
- Paid to your UPI ID or your own gateway
- A fixed amount, or a share of the price
- Your cancellation policy, read before paying
- Payments to check and refunds to make, in one list
- A receipt for every advance, with Invoices on
What your customer sees
The time is kept while they pay
After picking a time, the customer sees what to pay now, what is left for the visit and your cancellation policy, with 15 minutes on the clock.
- A UPI QR for the exact amount, or Pay online through your gateway
- I’ve paid tells your team to check
- Cancel and release this time, if they change their mind
You get this advance back if you cancel at least 24 hours before your booking. After that, or if you do not come, it is not refundable.
Your business will check the payment and confirm your booking.
Your rules
How much, how long, and what your customer reads
One section of the Bookings settings: the amount each service asks for, how long a slot is held, and the cancellation policy, in one sentence the product writes.
- Refundable until a time you choose, or not refundable
- A note in your own words, on the page and in the email
- Off until you switch it on
A booking that asks for an advance is confirmed once it is paid. Until then its time is kept for that customer and offered to nobody else.
- Haircut & styling
- ₹200
- Hair colour · its own
- ₹700
- Bridal make-up trial · its own
- ₹1,000
- Beard trim · its own
- Nothing
You get this advance back if you cancel at least 24 hours before your booking. After that, or if you do not come, it is not refundable.
In short: Refundable until 24 hours before the booking.
What needs a person
Payments to check and refunds to make, in one list
Two things stay with your team: checking that a UPI payment arrived, and sending a refund that is owed. Each waits in its own list on the Bookings page.
- Money arrived, or No money came, in one tap
- 12 hours to check, unless you change it
- Mark as refunded once you have sent the money back
These customers say they have paid their advance. Check that the money arrived, then say so.
Fliok does not send refunds. Send it yourself, then mark it here.
How the money moves
From your customer to you, and nowhere else
The settings say it in four sentences, and so does this page: the money is yours from the moment it is paid.
- A no-show keeps the advance
- A booking you cancel always owes it back
- With Invoices on, each advance gets its receipt
- The money is paid straight to you. It never passes through Fliok.
- Fliok never sends a refund. A cancellation that is owed one shows up as “Refund to make” on the Bookings page: you send the money back and mark it done.
- A customer who does not come loses the advance. When you cancel a booking yourself, the advance is always owed back.
- Every advance gets a receipt in Invoices & receipts by itself.
Drawn with the dashboard's own components, with sample data.
Getting started
Up and running in four steps
- 01
Add a way to be paid
Your UPI ID in the business details, or your own payment gateway connected.
- 02
Switch on Ask for an advance
In Settings, Integrations, Bookings. Choose a fixed amount, a share of the price, or an amount per service.
- 03
The customer books and pays
The time is kept for 15 minutes on your booking page while they pay.
- 04
The booking is confirmed
A gateway payment confirms it by itself. A UPI payment waits for your team to press Money arrived.
Who it’s for
Built for these industries
Businesses that lose time when a booked customer does not come. They are examples, not a list of customers.
- Salons & spas
- Clinics
- Weddings & events
- Home services
- Coaching & classes
- Real estate visits
What it costs
Part of your plan, not an add-on
An advance is part of Bookings, on Basic, Pro and Enterprise. It is not on Free.
| Each month | Basic | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookings madeBy customers or by your team; a moved booking is not counted again | 500 | 2,500 | Unlimited |
| Customer emailsOne per address; shared with Invoices & receipts | 1,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
- The owner and admins are told at 80% of a month’s limit and again when it is used up. Pro gives 1,500 bills and quotations and 2,500 bookings a month.
- Every booking message, from the confirmation to the request for an advance, goes as a utility message.
- Meta bills each WhatsApp message to your own WhatsApp Business account at its own rates; Fliok adds no markup.
- Each WhatsApp message also counts toward your plan’s monthly message allowance.
- An advance is paid straight to you: your own payment gateway or your UPI ID. It never passes through Fliok.
- On Basic, customer pages carry “Powered by Fliok” and emails “Sent with Fliok”. Pro and Enterprise carry neither.
Said plainly
What it doesn’t do
It holds the slot and keeps count of what is owed. These are not part of it.
- Sending refundsFliok records that a refund is owed and that you sent it. The money is sent by you, your own way.
- Checking a UPI payment by itselfA payment through your own gateway confirms itself. A payment to your UPI ID is confirmed by a person on your team.
- Passing your money onThe advance goes from the customer to you. Nothing passes through Fliok on the way.
Got questions?
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about Booking Advance. Anything else, ask us.
Can I take an advance payment for an appointment?
Yes. Switch on Ask for an advance, and a booking is confirmed once the customer has paid; until then its time is kept for them and offered to nobody else. It needs a way to be paid first: your UPI ID in the business details, or your own payment gateway connected.
Where does the money go?
Straight to you: to your UPI ID, or through your own payment gateway under your agreement with it. It never passes through Fliok.
How long is the slot held?
On your booking page the customer has 15 minutes to pay, unless you change that. When your team adds a booking and asks for the advance, the time is kept for 24 hours and the customer gets a message with a View and pay button. If the advance does not come, the time goes back on offer by itself and the customer is told. One WhatsApp number can have 2 slots waiting for an advance at a time.
How do I know a UPI payment really arrived?
You check it. The customer scans the QR, pays and taps I’ve paid; the booking then waits under Payments to check, where you press Money arrived or No money came. You have 12 hours to check, unless you change that, and the time stays theirs meanwhile. Fliok cannot see your UPI account, so it does not confirm such a payment by itself. A payment through your own gateway confirms the booking by itself.
What happens to the advance if the booking is cancelled?
The customer reads your cancellation policy before paying. On a new calendar it says: “You get this advance back if you cancel at least 24 hours before your booking. After that, or if you do not come, it is not refundable.” You can change the time limit, make the advance not refundable, and add a note in your own words. A customer who does not come loses the advance, and when you cancel a booking yourself the advance is always owed back.
Does Fliok send the refund?
No. Fliok never sends a refund. A cancellation that is owed one shows as Refund to make on the Bookings page: you send the money back your own way, then press Mark as refunded.
Can different services ask for different amounts?
Yes. How much to ask is a fixed amount for every booking, a share of the service’s price, or nothing unless a service has its own advance. Each service can follow that rule, ask for its own amount or ask for nothing. A service priced lower than the fixed amount asks for its whole price.
Does the advance show in my books?
If Invoices & receipts is switched on, every advance gets a receipt there by itself. If your bills show tax, each one is left as a draft for you to set the tax and issue as already paid. The booking shows what is left to pay at the visit; the bill for the visit is one you make.
What does it cost?
Nothing extra: an advance is part of Bookings on Basic, Pro and Enterprise, within the month’s bookings (500 on Basic, 2,500 on Pro and unlimited on Enterprise). Meta bills each WhatsApp message to your own WhatsApp Business account at its own rates; Fliok adds no markup. Every booking message, from the confirmation to the request for an advance, goes as a utility message.
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