How to automatically mark past appointments as completed ?

Who is this article for?

Marking every appointment as Completed by hand after each session takes time, and a forgotten appointment means an invoice that is never sent. With the setting Automatically mark past appointments as completed, Colib does it for you a short time after the end of each appointment, unless the appointment is marked as no-show or cancelled.

This article explains how to turn the setting on, which appointments are concerned, and what happens with your invoicing automations.

Before you start: the setting applies to the whole clinic and is changed in Settings by a clinic administrator. If you use automatic invoicing, read the section "Your invoicing automations apply" below before turning it on.

1Turn on the setting

1. Go to Settings > Scheduler (www.colib.io/settings?show=scheduler).
2. In the General section, turn on Automatically mark past appointments as completed.
3. The change is saved right away. To stop the automation, turn the switch off.

2Which appointments are marked as completed, and when?

Every hour, Colib looks for the appointments that ended at least 2 hours ago and marks them as Completed. In practice, an appointment becomes completed between 2 and 3 hours after its end time.

Mark no-shows quickly: an appointment that is still scheduled or confirmed 2 hours after its end is marked as completed, even if the client did not come. Mark the no-shows and the late cancellations as soon as you know them. If an appointment was completed by mistake, change its status by hand: please see the article titled "How to mark an appointment as confirmed, completed or no-show".

When you turn the setting on, the appointments of the last 10 days that are still scheduled, confirmed or rescheduled are marked as completed at the next pass, with the invoicing automations below. Check the status of your recent appointments first.

3Your invoicing automations apply

An appointment completed automatically is treated exactly as if you had marked it as completed yourself, on behalf of the practitioner of the appointment:

• Invoicing automation — if Automatically send an invoice to the client. or Automatically charge the client. is turned on in Settings > Invoices (www.colib.io/settings?show=invoices), Colib creates the invoice and emails it to the client, or charges the client's payment card. Please see the article titled "How to automatically create and send an invoice when an appointment is completed".
• Already paid — if the appointment has already been paid, nothing is created, sent or charged.
• Group appointments — each participant is invoiced.
• Clients excluded from the automation — the clients for whom Skip invoicing automation is turned on are not invoiced automatically, but their appointment is still marked as completed.
• Interac e-Transfer already received — if Interac automation is turned on and the client has already sent a transfer that fits the invoice, it is applied to the invoice. Please see the article titled "What happens when an Interac payment arrives before the invoice or the client is created?"

When something needs your attention

You receive a notification in the Notification Center (bell icon), starting with Appointment of followed by the date of the appointment, when:

• the appointment could not be marked as completed: The appointment could not be marked as completed automatically. Please update its status manually.
• the appointment was completed but the invoicing did not go through (for example no email address for the client, card declined, or no price for the appointment type): The appointment has been marked as completed automatically, but invoicing needs your attention: followed by the reason.

The notification goes to the practitioner of the appointment. Click it to open the appointment in your scheduler.

Good to know

• You can still change the status by hand — at any time, before or after the automatic change.
• Blocked account — when the clinic's account is blocked (for example after failed payments of the Colib plan), no appointment is marked as completed automatically.

Related articles

• Please see the article titled "How to mark an appointment as confirmed, completed or no-show".
• Please see the article titled "How to automatically create and send an invoice when an appointment is completed".
• What do the icons on appointments represent?

Still have a question?

Write to us at support@colib.io, we will be happy to help.