Booking minimum notice controls how soon an appointment may start after a customer books it. For consultants, choose a cutoff that gives you enough preparation time, then test nearby slots on the public booking page. Twenty-four elapsed hours do not necessarily provide a working day of preparation, especially across a weekend.
This guide helps consultants configure paid consultation availability. Its calculations and acceptance sheet are original examples; they do not claim a booking test in a customer account or an automatic business-hours calculation.
Separate Minimum Notice From Other Calendar Rules
PayRequest's Booking Calendar documentation defines Lead Time as minimum hours before booking, alongside slot duration, buffer time and maximum advance days. Lead time is the gap before an appointment starts; a buffer reserves space around appointments, while maximum advance limits how far into the future a customer can select.
For example, a 60-minute consultation with a 15-minute buffer may still require 48 hours of notice to review a client's documents. Raising the buffer does not create that advance preparation window. The consultant buffer-time example handles that separate capacity calculation.
Google Calendar similarly describes a minimum-notice setting in its appointment availability guidance. Product labels and defaults vary, so read your own configuration instead of copying a setting from a different scheduler.
Test a Friday-to-Monday Booking Minimum Notice
Assume your practice works Monday–Friday, 09:00–17:00, and a consultation needs four working hours of preparation. A customer books on Friday at 16:00 for Monday at 09:00. The appointment is 65 elapsed hours away: eight hours to midnight, 48 over Saturday and Sunday, then nine to Monday morning.
A 48-hour minimum is satisfied in that example, but only one ordinary working hour remains before the appointment. The calendar rule and your preparation requirement therefore produce different answers. A 24-hour setting would also allow the Monday start without solving the preparation problem.
One option is to increase elapsed-hour notice for this service; another is to limit offered starts or review preparation requirements before promising the appointment. Neither option is a native working-hours notice engine. Agree how urgent exceptions are handled and avoid creating a second payment just to move an appointment.
| Example | Elapsed gap | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 16:00 → Monday 09:00 | 65 hours | Weekend leaves only one working preparation hour |
| Friday 09:00 → Monday 09:00 | 72 hours | A 72-hour boundary needs an exact public-page check |
| Monday 09:00 → Tuesday 10:00 | 25 hours | Enough notice for 24-hour rule, subject to other availability |
All times use the same configured time zone and a week without a daylight-saving transition. Check the client time-zone workflow separately when customers book internationally.
Use a Four-Row Acceptance Sheet
Configure a representative service through Products → Booking → Booking Settings. Record the lead-time value, time zone, available days and booking duration before opening its customer-facing page.
For a 24-hour setting, inspect starts approximately 23 hours 59 minutes away, exactly 24 hours away and 24 hours 1 minute away. The first should be blocked by notice; the last can qualify for notice but may still be unavailable for another reason. Record the exact boundary result instead of guessing about clock precision or slot rounding.
Add a fourth case across your next non-working period. For each row, retain test time, intended appointment, expected result, observed visibility, other blocking rules and preparation feasibility. Recheck immediately before sharing the page: time passes while you test, and an already-booked slot may disappear independently of notice.
Verify Payment Confirmation Separately
Selecting a visible slot is not the final acceptance test for a paid appointment. PayRequest's booking documentation distinguishes pending payment from a confirmed booking after successful payment. Verify the actual order, appointment and confirmation before telling the client the session is secured.
Keep invoicing records connected to any separately billed work. A calendar selection, payment attempt and received payment answer different questions; do not use a longer lead time as a substitute for checking them.
Configure One Deliverable Consultation
Use PayRequest Bookings to set the service's availability and minimum notice. When ready to offer the service, create your account, then complete the cutoff sheet and verify the customer booking/payment route before publishing the link.
Prepared by the PayRequest Team with AI assistance. Documentation and the relevant lead-time code were reviewed on 10 October 2026. Calculations are illustrative, not customer outcomes.
