How to run the front desk

Front desk shows the day with one column per person, checks clients in, and keeps each client's passes, loyalty points, visits, store credit and patch tests.

Updated 2026-10-25

For a salon, spa, studio or clinic: see who is coming today and with whom, check them in as they arrive, and keep the things the desk is asked about, such as "how many classes are left on my pass?". It is part of Jobs, so Jobs must be switched on.

Where

Front desk in the menu, under Jobs. It is listed for health, beauty and wellness businesses, for shops, cafés and restaurants, and for coaches, consultants and other service businesses; anyone else can open it at the same address. For a shop, café or restaurant, the Client tab leaves out patch tests and before-and-after photos. For a service business it also leaves out counter visits and store credit, so it is where you keep session packs.

The day

The Day tab shows the day's visits, one column per person they are assigned to, and one called Not assigned. Use the arrows or Today to change day.

On each visit:

Press Check in when the client arrives, or No-show if they do not come. A no-show is noted on the client's card. Undo check-in takes either back.
Press Start once they are in the chair, and Done when the visit is finished. These are the job's own Start and Done.
After Done, choose how many weeks under Book next visit in at the top, e.g. 6 weeks, and press Book next visit. A new job is made for the same service, person, time and length, that many weeks later.
Press the client's name to open their passes, points and patch tests, or Open to open the job.

Someone who manages the business also sees Open times this week: how many free times the booking page has each day. Press Draft an email about them to make an Outreach campaign listing them, with a Book a time button to your booking page. It opens in Outreach, where you choose who gets it and approve it; nothing is sent until then. Outreach must be switched on.

A visit shows "Will use a visit from 10-class pass when done" when the client has a pass that matches it, and a warning when it needs a patch test the client does not have.

Passes and packages

A pass is something the client bought at the desk, e.g. "10-class pass" or "5 blowouts". Otto records the sale; it takes no payment.

Someone who manages the business adds the kinds under Setup → Kinds of pass and package: a name, how many uses, how long it lasts (e.g. 90 days, or no expiry) and the visit words, e.g. "yoga, class". Positions that see money can also record its price.
On the Client tab, find the client, choose the pass, type how it was paid (e.g. "Cash at the desk") and press Record sale.
When a visit for that client is marked done, from the Day board, the job sheet or anywhere else, and its title holds one of the visit words, one use is taken from the pass that runs out soonest. A visit takes one use at most, even if it is reopened and finished again. An expired or used-up pass is not used.
Press Use one to take a use by hand, or Give one back to undo the last one, e.g. for a visit marked done by mistake.

A coach's session pack works the same way: a kind called "6 coaching sessions" with 6 uses, lasting 180 days, and the visit word "session". Each finished session job with "session" in its title takes one, and the Client tab shows how many are left and when the pack expires.

Loyalty points

Under Setup → Loyalty points, set the points per visit (e.g. 1, like a stamp card), the points per dollar paid (e.g. 2), the points for a reward (e.g. 10 or 100) and the reward, e.g. "A free coffee". Points per visit count each visit recorded on the Client tab. Points per dollar count payments recorded on the client's invoices and what was spent at visits recorded there, in whole dollars. Redeemed points are taken off. On the Client tab, press Redeem once they have enough. Set both to 0 to switch loyalty off.

Otto does not take the reward off an invoice for you: give the discount on the invoice yourself.

Visits at the counter

For walk-ins, e.g. a regular buying coffee: on the Client tab, under Visits, type what they spent if you know it (e.g. 6.50) and an optional note, and press Record a visit. It is recorded, not charged. The last 10 visits are listed. Anyone with Jobs can record one; what was spent is shown only to positions that see money.

Store credit and returns

On the Client tab, Store credit and returns keeps the client's store credit. It needs a position that sees money.

Choose what happened: A return: give credit, Goodwill: give credit or Paid with credit.
Type the amount, e.g. 18.00, and a note. A return needs a note saying what came back, e.g. "1 mug, chipped".
For a return, choose an item under Put one back into Stock to add one back to your stock, or leave it as Do not put it back into Stock. Stock must be switched on and in your position.
Press Save.

The balance never goes below nothing: credit spent cannot be more than the client has. Otto moves no money. A refund in cash or to a card is not store credit; record it on the invoice instead.

Promo codes

Under Setup → Promo codes, someone who manages the business adds a code, e.g. "SPRING10", that takes a percent off (or an amount off, for positions that see money), with an optional last day and number of uses. Once a code is on, the booking page asks for a Promo code. A valid code is noted on the visit's job, and the invoice made from that job has the discount, once. Press Switch off to stop a code.

A customer can also hand you a code at the desk: open their invoice, type it in Promo code and press Apply code. The code's discount goes on the invoice and counts as one of the code's uses. An invoice takes one code, and not one that already has a discount; take that discount off first.

Happy hours

A code can be good only at certain times, e.g. weekdays from 16:00 to 18:00. Before pressing Add, tick Happy hours only, pick the days and type the start and end time, in the business's own time zone. On the booking page the code works only for a visit that starts in those hours; at the desk it works only while it is those hours now. Outside them the customer sees which hours the code is for. The list of codes shows each code's happy hours.

Before and after

On the Client tab, Before and after shows the client's photos tagged Before or After, on their card and on each visit's job, side by side. Choose Photo consent to record what they agreed to: No photos, For their own records only, or For their records and for marketing. Each choice is kept with the day and who recorded it, and noted on the client's card.

Patch tests

Under Setup → Patch tests, type the visit words that need one, e.g. "color, tint, lash", and how long a test lasts (30, 90, 180 or 365 days). On the Client tab, type the product, choose Clear or Reaction and press Record today's test. A visit whose title holds one of the words shows a warning on the Day board if the newest test showed a reaction, has expired by the day of the visit, or there is none.

The client's page

The client's private page (on the client's card in Contacts, under Customer portal) lists their active passes with uses left and their points, and a Book a visit link when online booking is on.

Good to know

The Day board shows up to 300 visits a day.
Check-in is kept beside the job; it does not change the job's state.

If it doesn't work

"Yoga 3-class pass has no uses left." The pass is used up. Record a new sale.
"Loyalty points are switched off." Someone who manages the business sets points per visit or per dollar under Setup.
"Dana has $3.00 of store credit, less than that." Spend no more than the balance.
"Say what came back, such as 1 mug, chipped." A return needs a note.
"Dana has 30 points, fewer than 100." They do not have enough points yet.
"A patch test is recorded on the day it was done, not ahead." Record it on or after the day of the test.
"This job has no day, so there is nothing to count the next visit from." Give the job a day first.
A customer sees "That promo code is not valid. Check it, or leave it empty.", "That promo code has ended." or "That promo code has been used up." The code is wrong, past its last day or out of uses. "That promo code is for Mon, Tue, 16:00 to 18:00 only." It is a happy-hours code and the visit, or the moment at the desk, is outside its hours.
"Outreach is switched off for this business." Switch on Outreach under Settings to draft the open-times email.