Avana adds buffer time after appointments so you have a few minutes to tidy up before the next client, set once for all services or per service. It's in every Avana plan, and your calendar and booking page work around it automatically.
A hair salon, from the first client to the last. Each moment shows which part of Avana is doing the work.
You chose it once in your services and applied it to all of them. Colour gets fifteen minutes for the bowl and brushes, a cut gets five.
Setting up servicesAfter the cut, Avana keeps five minutes free to sweep up and lay out your things. Sophie only ever sees the length of the cut.
On your booking page Mark saw 09:50: the moment your previous appointment, buffer included, finishes. No awkward gap left behind.
Online booking pageYour break is fixed in your opening hours. A colour that would run into your break with its buffer simply isn't offered online.
AvailabilityThe first time you booked Anna in, you added 30 minutes to her colour, and Avana remembered. Today the longer time was there straight away.
Client recordsYou close at 18:00 and the cut takes 45 minutes. The buffer may run past closing time, so 17:00 stayed bookable.
In Avana you set each one once. From then on your booking page, website and calendar all take it into account.
In your services, choose your buffer time and apply it to all of them in one tap. Every new service you add starts with it too.
Open a service and choose a different buffer under its planning settings. That way a cut doesn't cost time only a colour needs.
In your booking rules, choose the time between start times and switch on back-to-back booking. With 20 minutes, clients see 09:00, 09:20 and 09:40.
When you book a client in, add extra time to a service for that client, from 10 minutes to an hour and a half. Avana remembers and uses it next time.
Keeping an eye on your planning yourself, compared with a calendar that does the maths.
| Without a system | With Avana | |
|---|---|---|
| Tidying up after a client | The next client is already waiting | Your buffer, free every time |
| Colour and cuts | The same gap after everything | A buffer of its own per service |
| A client who always takes longer | Remembered and extended by you, every time | Avana remembers it for that client |
| After an appointment | A spare fifteen minutes that stays empty | The next client can start right away |
| Short services | Clients pick 09:15 and 09:50 at random | In your rhythm: 09:00, 09:20, 09:40 |
| Last-minute bookings | Someone books in ten minutes and you're not ready | You decide how late it's still possible |
Avana's timing options are all optional; anything you don't touch stays on a sensible default.
You can always book anything yourself in your calendar. The buffer counts there too: if a new appointment overlaps another appointment's buffer, you see it straight away.
Your buffer doesn't stand alone. Three places in Avana that take it into account automatically.
If a client later adds something that needs extra time, Avana checks the time until your next appointment, buffer included. Anything that won't fit is greyed out with the reason.
A service must be finished, buffer included, before your break. If colour takes an hour with a fifteen-minute buffer and your break starts at 12:30, 11:30 isn't offered online.
Extra time is saved with the client. Book that client in again for the same service and the longer time is already there.
In Avana, one button applies a buffer to all your services. In your services, choose your buffer time and apply it to every service in one tap. That buffer then follows every appointment, and each new service starts with it; you can still change it per service.
Yes, Avana lets each service have its own buffer. Open the service and choose no buffer or 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. If a client books several services back to back, the longest buffer is added once at the end.
No, the buffer stays hidden from clients. Clients only see how long the service takes. The only thing they'd notice is slightly fewer times to choose from.
Partly. Back-to-back booking puts your start times in a rhythm, such as every 20 minutes. Avana also offers the next client the moment your previous appointment finishes, buffer included, so they can start right after. It doesn't pick the time that leaves the smallest gap, so a gap before an appointment can remain; for a tighter day, switch on back-to-back booking or use fixed start times.
Yes, Avana can remember extra time for one client, for appointments you book in yourself. While booking, add extra time for that client, from 10 minutes to an hour and a half, and Avana remembers it per client and per service. When that client books online, Avana uses the normal length, because it only knows who's booking after a time has been chosen.
No, breaks in Avana don't move. A break is fixed at the time you set in your opening hours, up to two a day. No service runs through your break online, buffer included; if you want to eat later one day, block that time in your calendar.
In Avana, set the latest online booking time in your booking rules, for example 2 hours or 24 hours before. You can set a different limit per service, such as 48 hours for lashes you need to prepare for.
Yes. Buffer time, back-to-back booking, fixed start times, extra time per client and your booking rules are in every Avana plan, including the 7-day free trial. Prices for each plan are on the pricing page.
When a client pays online, a small service fee is part of the price they see from the very first screen: 3% of the booking, at least £1.49 and at most £2.29. You pay nothing on your takings, because Avana charges no commission. That small amount from the client is what lets us pay you out in full, so the whole treatment price stays with you.
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Avana handles buffer time between appointments, back-to-back booking and extra time for a particular regular. One button applies a standard buffer, say ten minutes, to all your services, and you can choose a different buffer per service, such as fifteen minutes after colour. Clients never see the buffer. Back-to-back booking puts start times in your rhythm, such as every 20 minutes, and fixed start times per day let you decide when clients begin. The next client can also choose the moment your previous appointment ends. If one client always takes longer, Avana remembers the extra time for appointments you book in yourself. It's all in every plan. For a solo salon, Avana Business costs £15.99 a month, VAT included, which is £0.53 a day.
Every plan includes VAT, takes no commission on your bookings and can be cancelled any month. Try Avana free for 7 days, no card needed.
£0.53 a day, and no commission on your revenue.
Start free£0.97 a day. One extra appointment a month covers it.
Start free£1.87 a day, with Avana Academy included.
Start freeAll prices include VAT. Move to another plan and you only pay the difference.
Buffer time between appointments is the time you keep free after a client to tidy up, disinfect or just catch your breath. Without it, the next client is in the chair while you're still sweeping, and your whole afternoon runs late. In Avana one button applies a standard buffer to all your services, and you can choose a different one per service, so colour gets fifteen minutes and a cut five. Clients don't see the buffer on your booking page.
Buffer time works with your opening hours. A service plus its buffer must be finished before your break, and the buffer may run past closing time. For a fuller day, switch on back-to-back booking with a rhythm that suits your services, or set fixed start times per day. Your calendar shows the buffer as a dotted line under each appointment.
Some clients simply need longer: thick hair that needs more processing time, or nails that need repairing first. When you book them in, add extra time and Avana saves it with the client in your client records. If a client later adds an extra with add-ons, it only fits if there's still room, buffer included. All of this comes with every plan; see prices.
For most services 5 to 15 minutes is enough: long enough to tidy up, short enough not to leave your day half empty. Base it on what you actually do after that service, not on what feels safe, because every minute of buffer is a minute you can't sell.
A few guidelines from practice. After a cut, five minutes is often enough to sweep. After colour or balayage you need more for the bowl, brushes and basin, so think fifteen. In a nail studio ten minutes after gel polish is common, to clean your table and swap files. After a facial or massage, fifteen minutes helps reset the bed and towels and see the client out calmly. If you find yourself waiting around after a few weeks, lower it; if you keep running late, raise it.
Limit the times clients can start, so each appointment joins on to the one before. A day with no gaps at all is rare when clients choose for themselves, but you can keep gaps small.
Without further settings, clients see whole and half hours plus the moment your previous appointment ends with its buffer, so anyone booking after another client can start right after. A gap before an appointment can still appear. With lots of short services, switch on back-to-back booking with your shortest service as the rhythm, such as 20 minutes for brows. With long services, choose fixed start times per day, such as 09:00, 11:30 and 14:00, so you plan the day rather than your clients.
Buffer time belongs to a service, a break belongs to your day, and preparation time is about how late someone can still book. They're similar, but you set them in three different places.
Buffer time always comes after a service and travels with every appointment, wherever it falls; you set it in your services. A break sits at a fixed time in your day, like lunch from 12:30 to 13:00, and goes in your opening hours, up to two a day. Preparation time is the latest online booking time: choose 2 hours and a 14:00 slot can be booked until 12:00, with a different limit per service if you need one. Use the buffer for what you do after every client, the break for yourself, and preparation time so you're never caught off guard.
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