Scheduling in HoneyBook helps you get time back by eliminating back-and-forth. We'll cover some common Scheduler errors and steps to resolve below, so meetings are scheduled and attended without issue.
Check the Scheduler Troubleshooter
If you're running into an issue with your Scheduler, you can consult with the Troubleshooter to understand what the issue is.
1. In the top navigation menu, select Workflow → Scheduler.
2. Find the session scheduler you're having issues with, then select Troubleshooter.
3. Select the time slot that's causing an issue (they'll usually be colored red) to get a message for why the slot isn't available for scheduling.
The troubleshooter will give you the reason why that time slot isn't available, but you cannot fix the issue from here. The next section will walk you through fixing the most common issues you might face.
Fixing the issue at hand
There may be a few reasons why your Scheduler tool isn't functioning as expected. Here are some common issues you can troubleshoot on your own:
Incorrect times showing: check your time zone
Incorrect times showing: check your time zone
The time zone in your Scheduler tool and the time zone in your company settings need to match. If they are mismatched, your session times will present as a few hours off.
Incorrect/no availability showing: check availability vs. duration
Incorrect/no availability showing: check availability vs. duration
Availability is another way of defining your business hours—essentially, just the windows of time on any given day when you would like a client to be able to book a session with you. For example, you might like to take sessions from 8:00am-12:00pm and then again from 1:00pm-4:00pm Monday through Friday. This is your availability.
Duration is the window of time that you'd like to actively be in a session for. For example, if your standard consultation call runs 30 minutes, you'd want to set your Consultation Call Session duration to 30 minutes.
Your availability must be a broader window of time than the session's duration. If your availability is a smaller window than your session duration window, you will see no available sessions.
📚 Tip
Set your availability to be 2x your session duration to avoid any hiccups. You can also utilize the buffer feature within your session to eliminate back-to-back meetings, if you'd like.
Buffers prevent back to back meetings so your clients won't see availability immediately following a booked session time when buffers are turned on.
For example, if you have 30 minute sessions available all day long with 10 minute buffers turned on and a client books an 8:00am session with you, your 8:30am session will no longer be available. Your 8:00am, 30 minute session will run right up until 8:30am, but when a 10 minute buffer is added, you've required HoneyBook to mark you as unavailable from 8:00am to 8:40am, therefore removing the 8:30am session time as available.
📚 Tip
Before any sessions are booked, all sessions will show as available, even with buffers on! Once one session is booked, the buffers apply so the next client booking only sees your available sessions with all buffers and booked sessions accounted for.
Inaccurate Calendar conflicts: check your Calendar
Inaccurate Calendar conflicts: check your Calendar
If a time appears blocked that you want to be available for, or, conversely, a client was able to book over a legitimately blocked time with you, your first stop should be your HoneyBook Calendar to double check the following:
Check the settings of your Google Calendar events
In order to block time from being available, you'll need to set Google Calendar events to "Busy" instead of "Free."
Check for booked projects
Booked projects (in which the client has signed the contract or made a payment) in HoneyBook will, by default, mark you as busy/unavailable. To make sure you're marked as available at the correct times, try adding start and end times to your Project's Details section. Adding a start and end time will mark you as unavailable only during that window rather than the entire day.
✅ Note
You can also manually adjust your availability for booked projects. Learn more about setting your availability.
Check for non-booked projects
Non-booked projects in HoneyBook (aka tentative projects, in which a client has not yet signed a contract or made a payment) will, contrastingly, list you as available until the projects are booked.
No availability showing: multiple companies and busy projects
No availability showing: multiple companies and busy projects
If you use multiple companies in HoneyBook and have a busy event or meeting scheduled in one of them, you will be unavailable in your other companies's schedulers. If you want to open up the taken time slot, you'll need to change the original event's availability from busy to free.
Setting single-day availability
Setting single-day availability
Some members prefer to only show availability for a single date or set date range, versus, for example, every Monday for the next year.
To set a fixed date range for your availability:
Select the Fixed Date Range option, and set the Start Date and End Date accordingly
Set your availability correctly for the intended booking day or date range
For example, in the images above, you'll see that the session is a 15-minute video call, which can be booked any time between 9:00am-5:00pm, and only on January 7th (since no availability is listed for any other dates).
📣 Note
Since the fixed date range in this example is January 7 - January 8, all other days are greyed out, so an availability block cannot be added. The dates included in the fixed date range are the only days for which you'll be able to set availability.
Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!