Booking deposit policy template for service businesses

A good booking deposit policy fits on one screen and answers four questions before the client pays: how much the deposit is, until when they can cancel and get it back, what happens if they cancel late or don’t come, and how they can move a booking. Copy the template below, replace the parts in square brackets, and show it next to the deposit when clients book.

The template

Deposits and cancellations

To confirm your booking, we take a deposit of [20% of the price / €15]. It is deducted from the price of your appointment.

Cancelling or moving your booking. You can cancel or move your booking online until [24] hours before it starts, using the link in your confirmation email. If you cancel in time, we refund your deposit in full.

Late cancellations and missed appointments. If you cancel less than [24] hours before your appointment, or don’t come, we keep your deposit. [If a no-show fee applies: We also charge a no-show fee of [50% of the price], less the deposit, which is payable before your next booking.]

Running late. If you arrive more than [15] minutes late, we may need to shorten or reschedule your appointment.

If we need to cancel. If we have to cancel your appointment, we refund your deposit in full.

Questions? Contact us at [email / phone].

Notes on each part

• The deposit. Say the amount, or how it is worked out, and that it counts towards the price. See should you charge a booking deposit? for how much to take.
• The cancellation window. Pick a deadline you can still refill the slot by. Give the client a way to cancel online; a policy that requires a phone call during opening hours turns some cancellations into no-shows.
• Late cancellations and no-shows. Keeping the deposit is the simplest rule. A separate no-show fee is a firmer step, usually kept for clients who miss appointments repeatedly — see how to handle repeat no-show customers.
• Running late. Optional, but it heads off arguments about shortened appointments.
• If you cancel. Clients trust a policy more when it is fair both ways.

Where to put it

Show it where the client pays the deposit, and repeat it in the confirmation email. A client who saw the policy before paying has far less reason to dispute it later.

How Rezervito uses your policy

Rezervito, our booking app for Shopify (launching November 2026), builds the cancellation wording clients see before they pay from your own settings — the deposit, until how many hours before the start they can cancel, and what happens after that — for example: “€12.00 deposit. Refundable if you cancel at least 24 hours before. Non-refundable after that.” Clients can cancel and reschedule online up to your deadline, from the link in their emails. See how the cancellation window and no-show fee work together.