Salon & Drop-off Setup
Run a smooth, professional day at your fixed grooming location
1. First-time setup
A few minutes in Settings gets you ready to take bookings.
Go to Settings from the top nav. You don't need to enable Mobile Grooming — leave that unchecked and Shearboard runs in drop-off/salon mode by default.
Set your currency and add payment instructions in the Invoicing section (e.g. "Payment due on collection" or "Stripe link included on invoice"). These print on every invoice.
Then go to Services and add your grooming services with name, duration, and price (e.g. "Bath & Brush · 45 min · $55"). You need at least one service before you can book appointments.
2. Building your client list
Go to Clients → New Client and add each client's details — name, phone, email, and address. Then add their pets with breed, coat type, temperament, and any special instructions.
If you're migrating from another system, use the CSV import on the Clients page to bulk-upload your existing client list.
3. Creating appointments
Supports both drop-off windows and fixed appointment times.
From the Schedule page, click any time slot or the "+ New Appointment" button. Select the client, pet, and service. Set the service delivery to "Drop-off" or "Mobile with drop-off option".
You can optionally set a drop-off window (e.g. 8:00–9:00 am) and a pick-up window (e.g. 4:00–5:00 pm) — useful if you prefer a flexible arrival time rather than a strict slot. If you use pick-up windows, Shearboard will send a drop-off reminder to the client the evening before.
4. Managing your day
The Schedule page shows a weekly calendar on desktop. Appointments are colour-coded by status — Pending (yellow), Confirmed (blue), In Progress (purple), Completed (green).
When a pet is checked in, open the appointment and click In Progress. When grooming is done, click Completed. This triggers automatic invoice generation.
The Dashboard shows today's appointments at a glance so you can see what's coming up without opening the full calendar.
5. Getting paid
When you mark an appointment as Completed, an invoice is automatically created in Draft. Go to Invoices, review it, and click Send. The client receives a professional email with a Stripe payment link — no manual chasing required.
Overdue invoices are flagged automatically. Your Dashboard shows outstanding amounts so nothing slips through the cracks.
6. Client reminders (automatic)
Shearboard sends each client an SMS and email reminder 24 hours before their appointment — automatically, with no action required from you. If you've set pick-up windows, a separate drop-off reminder goes out the evening before at the time you configure in Settings.
Your daily rhythm
- Morning: Check today's appointments on the Dashboard
- As pets arrive: Mark appointments as In Progress
- When done: Mark as Completed — invoice generates automatically
- End of day: Send invoices for all completed appointments