Replace your booking or scheduling software
Replacing your booking software means moving every future appointment, client balance and booking link without double bookings. Here's the safe order.
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Your plan so far
11things this change touches
- critical2
- high7
- moderate1
- low1
Updates as you answer. Every item will explain why it’s there.
What could break
In a typical booking software plan, these are the most serious things to get right.
Export clients, appointments and reports from Setmore
Critical · Data & files
Client contact details, visit history and records you're required to keep can be lost.
Move every future appointment
Critical · Business operations
Double-booked slots, staff who aren't expecting a client, missing reminders, and clients turned away at the door.
Pick a cutover date and plan the overlap
High · Business operations
Clients book into the old tool after you've moved, or into slots that are already taken in the new one.
Client notes and treatment records
High · Health & care
Records needed for client care or required by your regulator could be lost, or end up stored somewhere that doesn't meet your obligations.
Acuity Scheduling: recreate services, prices and staff availability
High · Business operations
Clients book services that no longer exist, at the wrong price, or with staff who aren't available.
Set up email and text reminders
High · Messaging & contacts
No-shows go up in the first weeks, or clients ignore texts from an unfamiliar sender.
Connect payments, deposits and no-show fees
High · Banking & payments
Clients can't pay a deposit, or no-show and late-cancellation fees can't be charged.
Saved client cards may not transfer
High · Banking & payments
You can't charge no-show fees or take payment for clients whose cards didn't move.
Recreate recurring and standing appointments
High · Business operations
Regular clients' future visits disappear from the calendar after the first few weeks.
Carry over packages, memberships and account credit
High · Banking & payments
Clients find their remaining sessions or credit missing and lose trust, and you end up honouring balances from memory.
Before and after the change
Before you change it
- Pick a cutover date and plan the overlap
- Export clients, appointments and reports from Setmore
- Client notes and treatment records
- Acuity Scheduling: recreate services, prices and staff availability
- Set up email and text reminders
- Connect payments, deposits and no-show fees
- Saved client cards may not transfer
- Staff logins, calendars and permissions
- Rebuild intake forms and waivers
After the change
- Move every future appointment
- Recreate recurring and standing appointments
- Carry over packages, memberships and account credit
- Gift card balances and codes
- Switch booking over in one step to avoid double bookings
- Turn off reminders and confirmations in the old tool
- Update booking buttons and embedded widgets on your website
- Reconnect calendar sync
- Google Business Profile booking link
- Tell clients how to book and sign in
- Social profile booking links
- Email signatures, newsletters and printed QR codes
Your own plan adds or removes items based on your answers, and explains why each one is there.
The safe order
Doing things in the right sequence is what keeps you from getting locked out halfway through.
Before the change
Step 1: Plan the cutover
Pick a quiet day and decide exactly when booking moves.
- Pick a cutover date and plan the overlap (high risk)
Step 2: Export clients, appointments and records
Take a full copy before anything changes.
- Export clients, appointments and reports from Setmore (critical risk)
- Client notes and treatment records (high risk)
Step 3: Set up services, staff, reminders and payments
Build the new tool so it's ready before any appointments arrive.
- Acuity Scheduling: recreate services, prices and staff availability (high risk)
- Set up email and text reminders (high risk)
- Connect payments, deposits and no-show fees (high risk)
- Saved client cards may not transfer (high risk)
- and 2 more
During the change
Step 4: Move future appointments and balances
Everything clients have already booked or paid for.
- Move every future appointment (critical risk)
- Recreate recurring and standing appointments (high risk)
- Carry over packages, memberships and account credit (high risk)
- Gift card balances and codes (high risk)
Step 5: Switch booking over in one step
Close the old tool, open the new one and change your main booking link together.
- Switch booking over in one step to avoid double bookings (high risk)
- Turn off reminders and confirmations in the old tool (high risk)
- Update booking buttons and embedded widgets on your website (high risk)
- Reconnect calendar sync (high risk)
Immediately after
Step 6: Update every booking link and tell clients
Google, social profiles, signatures and printed codes, plus a short note to clients.
- Google Business Profile booking link (high risk)
- Tell clients how to book and sign in (high risk)
- Social profile booking links (moderate risk)
- Email signatures, newsletters and printed QR codes (moderate risk)
Verify
Step 7: Test bookings end to end
Book, pay, get reminded, reschedule and cancel as a client would.
- Test booking end to end as a client (high risk)
Clean up
Step 8: Retire the old tool
Keep it read-only for a while, then cancel.
- Keep Setmore read-only, then cancel it (moderate risk)
Later
Step 9: Watch for stragglers
Old links usually show up within a few weeks.
- Watch for bookings or messages still reaching the old tool (low risk)
Why this change needs a plan
Your booking tool is the front door of the business. Clients find the link on your website, your Google listing and your social profiles, and they turn up at the time they booked whether or not that appointment made it into the new system.
The parts most often missed are future and recurring appointments, prepaid packages and gift card balances, reminders still going out from the old tool, and booking links printed on cards and signs.
The safe approach is a planned cutover: build the new tool first, move appointments and balances at a quiet moment, switch every booking link at once, and test the client's journey from start to finish.
Why it matters
Missed appointments and double bookings cost revenue and goodwill straight away. Client balances are money owed to clients, and client records can carry privacy obligations.
What makes it risky
Risk is highest with many future or recurring appointments, with prepaid packages, memberships or gift cards, and with client notes or health information that carry privacy and record-keeping rules.
Common mistakes
- Moving clients but not every future appointment, so clients arrive for bookings the new calendar doesn't show.
- Leaving reminders switched on in the old tool, so clients get duplicate or wrong reminders.
- Updating the website but forgetting the Google Business Profile booking link.
- Not carrying over package, membership and gift card balances clients have already paid for.
- Cancelling the old tool before exporting client notes, intake forms and sales reports.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move future appointments to new booking software?
Usually, either by export and import or by re-entering them. Do it as close to cutover as you can, with confirmation messages switched off during the import, and compare both calendars for the next few weeks.
Will clients need to create new accounts?
Often, yes. Client logins and passwords usually don't transfer between booking tools. Tell clients before the switch so they're not surprised.
Do saved client cards transfer to the new tool?
Only in some cases, usually when both tools use the same payment processor and it supports moving them. Ask both tools and your processor before you switch.
How do I avoid double bookings during the switch?
Switch in one step: turn off online booking in the old tool, open it in the new one, and update your main booking link at the same time. Move any stray bookings by hand.
What should I do with client notes and health records?
Export them in full and check that the new tool meets your privacy and record-keeping obligations, which depend on your profession and where you operate. Keep the old records for as long as your rules require.
Regional notes
General information, not legal advice. Check the official source where you live.
- Canada
- PIPEDA and provincial privacy laws can apply to client records, and some provinces have separate rules for health information. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has guidance for businesses.
- United States
- If your practice is a HIPAA covered entity, health information in your booking tool is covered by HIPAA rules, including rules about vendors that handle it. HHS has guidance for professionals.
- United Kingdom
- UK GDPR treats health data as special category data, which has extra conditions. The ICO has guidance for organizations.
- Australia
- The OAIC explains how Australian privacy law restricts how health service providers handle patient information.