Overview
Booking Approvals lets venues control bookings by requiring admin review before the booking is confirmed. Instead of creating a booking immediately, users submit a booking request, which remains pending until an admin approves or rejects it.
Key features:
Customizable rules: Define exactly which spaces require approval, with the option to target specific user groups using tags.
Centralized management: A dedicated page allows admins to efficiently manage and process all incoming booking requests in one place.
Automated User Notifications: Users are automatically notified via email when their booking request is approved or rejected, ensuring timely communication.
Plan Requirement:
Please note that Booking Approvals is only available on the Premier plan (Skedda) and the Advanced plan (AllBooked). If you are on a different plan, please reach out to our team to discuss upgrading.
Setup
The owner or system admins will have access to the Booking requests page in the settings area of the app where the can create booking request rules.
Create a booking request rule
Go to the 'Booking requests' settings page.
Click on 'Add rule'
You can customize the rules by spaces and user tags as shown below.
Test out your rules with these instructions.
What users see
You can easily see which spaces require approval on the scheduler. If you or someone on your team matches the rules set out for approvals, you'll see a stamp icon next to the space name in the Day view or on the space marker in the map view.
Day view
Map view
Submitting a booking request
Submitting a booking request works exactly how you would make a booking, except that at the end of it, a booking is not immediately created.
You will notice some changes that make it clear that you are submitting a booking request and not a confirmed booking.
The green button at the top will say 'Request' rather than Book.
The form will indicate that it is a 'New booking request' which needs to be manually approved by an admin.
Once the request is submitted, you will not see any booking on the scheduler as it has not been confirmed. You can see your request by clicking on the link on the success alert or by going to the booking requests page.
Viewing & cancelling your pending request
Go to the booking requests page and find the pending request that you'd like to cancel and then click on 'Manage'.
Click on 'View request details' to see the details of your pending booking request.
To cancel your pending request, click on 'Cancel request' which will then prompt you to confirm your cancellation.
Manage booking requests as an admin
The Owner, System admins, and Booking admins will have access to a dedicated page to efficiently manage and process all incoming booking requests in one place.
Note: You delegate management of approvals for specific spaces to your colleagues without giving them full admin privileges using custom admin roles.
Approving or rejecting a booking request
To approve a pending request, simply click on the approve (green tick) button which will open the 'New booking' form where you can review the details of the booking request, make changes if needed and then click on 'Approve request'.
To reject a pending request, simply click on the reject (red cross) button which will open the a modal to add an optional rejection note & confirm rejection.
Alternatively, you can click on 'View details' to see the full details of the booking request and then choose to 'Approve' or 'Reject' the booking from there.
Email notifications
Users will be notified when a booking request is submitted, approved, rejected or cancelled.
The venue's contact email will also receive notifications when a booking request is created, approved, rejected or cancelled.
The setting to notify the venue can be turned off if needed from the 'Notifications' settings page.
FAQs
Do booking requests appear on the scheduler?
Do booking requests appear on the scheduler?
No - only confirmed bookings are shown on the scheduler. Booking requests can be accessed from the booking requests page.
Can users edit approved bookings?
Can users edit approved bookings?
No. Only admins can edit bookings once they have been approved. Users can cancel them if the venue's lock-in policy allows them to do so.
Do quotas and other rules apply to booking requests?
Do quotas and other rules apply to booking requests?
Quotas and other rules are checked at the time of submitting a booking request, but a booking request does not count against a user's quota.
Can users submit multiple conflicting requests?
Can users submit multiple conflicting requests?
Yes. Booking requests don't block each other. Admins can choose which one should be approved.
When will I get charged for my booking?
When will I get charged for my booking?
If your booking involves payment, you will only be charged for your booking after it has been approved. Submitting a booking request is free of charge.
Do booking approval rules apply to custom admins?
Do booking approval rules apply to custom admins?
If you are using custom admin roles, booking approval rules (if set up) will apply only for spaces that the custom admin does not manage. For spaces that they manage, the approval rules do not apply.
Can I set up approval rules on spaces that are synced to my Outlook / Google calendar?
Can I set up approval rules on spaces that are synced to my Outlook / Google calendar?
Currently, we don't support calendar sync on spaces with approval and vice-versa. We strongly recommend managing your most important spaces with an approval workflow within Skedda while we work on adding support for calendar sync.