Everything you need to know

If there’s one thing every busy entrepreneur dreams of, it’s saving time without sacrificing quality. That’s exactly what Dubsado’s scheduler and calendar integration is here to do. Whether you’re managing a packed personal calendar, juggling multiple devices, or running a thriving creative business, these tools can streamline your scheduling process and keep everything running smoothly. No more double bookings, endless back-and-forth emails, or missed opportunities—just effortless organization.

I use Dubsado to manage client communications and bookings in my own web design business, and as a Certified Dubsado Specialist, I also build out Dubsado for others. If you are a service provider with project based 1:1 work, this is probably a great fit for you.

I know there’s a lot of hesitation and questions around Dubsado schedulers: How reliable is It? What all can I do with it? How will it help me streamline my business? What is it NOT good for?

I’ll answer all of that (with a bit of how-to’s) in this Q&A style blog post.

Dubsado’s scheduling tools are a game changer for anyone who wants to automate their inquiry process and streamline client booking. Imagine this: a potential client fills out your contact form, and instead of manually emailing back and forth to find a time that works, your workflow automatically sends them a scheduler to book a consultation. Need to send a scheduler after a client approves a proposal or signs a contract? Dubsado has you covered there too

When everything is connect right, it works like magic. ✨ Clients pick a time that works for them, and Dubsado keeps everything in sync, blocking off the selected slot and ensuring your availability updates in real time. You’ll get a notification for every booking, and clients will appreciate the smooth, professional process.

Before we begin…

Real quick, I want to clarify when you may need multiple schedulers:

• The appointment available times or duration are different from other appointment types

• confirmation and/or reminder emails need to be exclusive to one appointment type.

• The location is different, or one is a video conference.

One thing to note about Dubsado schedulers (and, well, every other part of Dubsado), is that there are often multiple ways to do one task, and there are often workaround for ways that don’t work natively. Some of those workarounds work amazingly well, and some…. could cause issues in other areas and are best to not be forced. I’ll talk about some of those.

Q&A time, let’s go!

Is there a way to use the scheduler to set a project date?

You can capture the project date in a form if you link the question to the ‘project date’ smart field, and you can enter it manually, but there is no way

The workaround is to create a Google calendar with your availability ~just~ for this project, and embed onto a form (lead capture or proposal). THEN add in a short answer question with the answer mapped to the project date on that same form. This really works best in situations where you haven’t talked to the lead yet. If you’ve already had a conversation and worked out a date, these steps would seem backwards and unnecessary to your client and probably not part of the client experience you’d like to provide. In that case, enter it manually when you’re preparing the proposal to send out.

When someone books an appointment, I need it to start a new project in Dubsado. How?

Attach a lead capture or public proposal on the advanced tab of the scheduler. Using those forms will start a new project.

How can I take payments through a scheduler?

There are two ways to do this.

1. Toggle on the invoice You don’t have a payment plan option here. Balance must be paid in full at the time of booking: If you require a deposit, there are workarounds, but I’d suggest rethinking your processes if you really wanted this.

To set it up, toggle on the invoice from the advanced tab on the scheduler. Click NEW LINE ITEM and fill in the invoice name, description, quantity, price and tax (at a minimum). Select a discount if applicable. (If you want a discount and it’s not here, go to the Payment Plan template section and add it there).

How can I sync my Dubsado calendar with my personal calendar?

Dubsado offers a two-way sync, which works fabulous when it’s set up right. I cannot tell you how much easier this makes my life when I see new consultations pop up from automations I set up years ago. I totally trust that my clients will receive everything they need without me lifting a finger or doing another thing for it.

The key here is to mark yourself as BUSY or AVAILABLE every time you add something to your personal calendar. If you don’t use digital calendars, now is the time to start. (I promise, this is life changing!)

1. Sync your calendar with Dubsado correctly.

2. IMPORT any and all calendars you want Dubsado to watch. I have 11 🫣 (kids, work, blah).

3. You only need to EXPORT to ONE of those. If you export to multiple, then your Dubsado appointments will show up multiple times your Google calendar.

Talk to me about shared calendars and booking with multiple team members:

Dubsado can connect to one main calendar account, but it can monitor multiple individual calendars within that account. This setup isn’t ideal for managing scheduling across multiple team members or entirely separate calendar accounts, as Dubsado wasn’t designed for team-based scheduling.

If you need Dubsado to track availability across multiple calendars—like a spouse’s or shared family calendar—you’ll need to sync those calendars together within one account. Then, connect that single account to Dubsado. From there, Dubsado can export appointments to any calendar within that connected account.

It’s worth noting that syncing between external calendars isn’t handled directly by Dubsado. However, if you establish a two-way sync between your personal calendars outside of Dubsado (using tools like Google Calendar’s sharing and syncing features), Dubsado will still work seamlessly with the main account you connect, pulling in your availability and exporting events as needed.

Here’s how to sync outside calendars to each other:

>On Google calendar, go to the settings of the calendar you want to share. Look under ‘Share with specific groups of people’. You can either send to a specific email address or get a shareable link (Linking to a Google help guide here in case this changes)

>On iCal, right click on any of the calendars you want to share. Then you can either put in an email address or grab the link. Then go to Google and hit the + by Other Calendars. Select FROM URL and paste the link there. The calendars will now have a 2 way sync between each other. Check/uncheck on either calendar to show or hide it from view.

How can I share a scheduler with a lead or client?

Here are 4 ways to share a scheduler:

1. Embed the scheduler on your website by clicking the link button next to the name and copying the ifram code. Paste that into an html box on your website.

2. Share manually inside a project: Open a client project > Appointments > Select ‘Use Existing Scheduler Template’ from the drop down > Choose the scheduler you want to send > Add. Click SEND to email it to a client. Once the appointment is added to a project (either through this manual way or through a workflow), then you could go straight to the EMAIL tab and send it.

3. Grab the direct link and text or share whever you would share a link.

4. Send in a workflow. Use the action SEND APPOINTMENT SCHEDULER, select the scheduler you want to send and make sure that the scheduler smart field is in the email. {{scheduler | scheduler link}}. Wheen the workflow is applied to a client project, the schedule will be added and sent at the appropriate time.

How can I make sure appointments show up on my client’s calendar?

Copy this below in your confirmation email:

Add to calendar: {{appointment | calendarLink}}

Voila.

I want to make sure my scheduler is set up for video conferences. How do I do that?

1. Connect your video conferencing in your account settings first. Gear icon (top right) > Integrations > Video Conferencing.

2. THEN the checkbox will show up on your actual scheduler template.

3. Make sure the video conferencing smart field is inside the confirmation and reminder emails.

   Join video call: {{appointment | appointmentConferencingLink}}

Can I schedule an appointment on behalf of a client?

Yes! Here’s how: Open a client project > Appointments > Select ‘Use Existing Scheduler Template’ from the drop down > Choose the scheduler you want to send > Add. Click OPEN and the calendar window will pop up so you can choose a time.

What if my client and I agree upon a meeting time/location that doesn’t fit inside any of my scheduler’s parameters?

This may happen sometimes when your availability doesn’t line up just right. You may still want them to get the forms and reminders for whatever the appointment TYPE is, but you don’t want to create a new scheduler, since it’s a one time thing. No problem. Here’s what to do:

1. Open the client project. Click on the Appointments tab. Select “use existing scheduler template’ from the drop down. Grab the appointment type you need and click ADD.

2. Now hover over the appointment box and tap anywhere inside it. This opens up an edit window and you can change whatever it is you need. You can edit the availability times, what forms are sent, swap out the confirmation email, etc.

3. Once you’re done, hit SAVE. Then you can either press SEND to email it to your client, or OPEN to book yourself. (if you already have an agreed upon time for sure, just do it for them. for a much better experience on their end.)

How can I resend a scheduler to someone who doesn’t book?

If you send a form in a workflow, there is a trigger WHEN FORM NOT COMPLETED, so Dubsado can watch for that form to be submitted, and send it again if it’s not. We don’t have this same trigger for schedulers.

With no native way to do this, here is the workaround, with the actions and triggers you need, in the order they need to be in:

1. Send appointment scheduler

2. Send follow up email X days after all previous actions are complete

3. Start a new workflow 0 days after appointment is scheduled (optional)

4. Pause workflow 0 days after an appointment is scheduled.

The big thing to know here is that if you send a fresh copy of the scheduler in your follow up (SEND APPOINTMENT SCHEDULER rather than SEND EMAIL), Dubsado will send a fresh copy of that scheduler. So now there will be *2* appointments of that type in the client’s project. Which can be confusing, but it’s fine if you understand how it works. What that means is if you have any further steps in the workflow depending on that appointment type, you need to be clear which appointment it’s for, which is why it’s easier to start a new workflow

All confirmations and reminders are sent with the scheduler, so you don’t have to worry about those at all— which is fabulous 🙌🏼

In your follow up email, I would point them back to the original email - share the subject line to help them find it easier. So if you have any steps in a workflow that are dependent on this scheduler, they won’t be affected.

Since there isn’t a native way to do resend a scheduler to someone who didn’t book an appointment (at the time of this writing!), I linked to Dubsado’s roadmap at the bottom of this page, so that we can all request this much needed feature!

I’m a coach with who sells coaching packages with multiple sessions. How can Dubsado help my clients book their appointments?

While Dubsado doesn’t currently offer a recurring appointment feature, there are a few ways to manage this efficiently:

1. Manual Scheduling: If your clients prefer consistent times (e.g., every Tuesday at 10 a.m.), you can manually schedule each session. This ensures their spots are reserved in advance.

2. Monthly Scheduler Links: Another option is to provide clients with a scheduler link each month, allowing them to book their sessions at their convenience.

   • To streamline this, you can either:
     a. Create a standalone scheduler to share directly with clients.
     b. Incorporate it into a workflow that sends the scheduler link automatically—paired with prep forms, if needed.

3. Weekly Reminders: If you prefer a rolling approach, set up a workflow that sends a new scheduler link every Sunday (or on a day of your choice). Include a reminder in their session follow-up emails to prompt them to book their next appointment when the link goes out.

Check out the link below to request this feature be added to Dubsado’s roadmap!!

Can I set up recurring appointments?

Dubsado doesn’t currently have this feature natively. If this is something you need, here are some workarounds to tackle it:

1. Create multiple appointments (label them ‘Session 1’, Session 2’, or something that helps them keep track. Then add them to a scheduler group, so clients can book multiple appointments from that group.

2. Allow them to choose the FIRST appointment, and manually book the rest at the same time each week on their behalf.

3. Set up a workflow that is X weeks long, and you send an email for them to book each week (or do this at whatever intervals that owrk for you)

4. Use Zapier to connect another booking app- like Calendly or Acuity that are a little more intuitive for this need.

A downside of these workaround is that there isn’t any way to keep track of whether or not the client has booked, or how many appointments they have left. I would suggest using Airtable or Notion or a task management system to keep track of this.

I’d like to give the option of allowing people to choose between multiple packages when booking an appointment. How can I do this?

Attach a public proposal, and add all 3 packages to that. Make sure in the settings, ‘create a new project’ is toggled on! Add the proposal to the scheduler on the advanced tab. Do not turn on invoicing on the scheduler.

What is a scheduler group?

A scheduler group allows you to group individual schedulers and send them as a group to a client- so that they can choose which appointment type they would like. Ex: You might have a consultation that’s in person and another one on zoom. You could also be a coach and offer different length appointment types. Or a photographer with different locations for shoots.

Set up each individual scheduler first, then on the scheduler template page, click on the Scheduler Groups tab at the top, then select ‘Add Group’

Final thoughts

So, there you have it—Dubsado’s scheduler and calendar features can make your business life so much easier. Whether you're a coach mapping out sessions, a photographer booking shoots, or just trying to keep your schedule under control, it’s all about working smarter, not harder.

If you’re ready to ditch the scheduling headaches, check out my shop for workflow guides that’ll walk you through each stage of the client journey, step by step. Or, if you’d rather have someone in your corner to figure it all out, book a kickoff call, and we’ll sort your Dubsado setup together. Less chaos, more focus—sounds good, right?

Did you know…

Dubsado has a public roadmap where you can not only find out exactly what they’re working on and what’s queued up, but you can submit ideas as well? And trust me, they look at these submissions.

Dubsado’s Roadmap

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