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Terminology cheatsheet

New apps can feel like they’re speaking a different language. Here’s your Barkway-to-English dictionary so the buttons and labels make sense from day one. 🐾

Booking​

An appointment for a pet. It ties together the client, pet, services, price, and time.

Booking status​

The stage a booking is in:

  • Scheduled - coming up.
  • In progress - groom has started.
  • Completed - groom is finished.
  • Cancelled - appointment won’t happen.
  • Draft - a hidden placeholder used when you take a deposit before finishing the booking.

Unavailable booking​

A blocked-out time slot. If you leave the pet blank, Barkway creates a system “Unavailable” booking so your calendar stays accurate.

Client​

The human. They pay the bill, usually hold the lead, and sometimes forget the appointment (hence reminders).

Pet​

The star of the show. Has details like breed, temperament, allergies, vet info, notes, and a photo.

Service​

What you offer: Full groom, Nail trim, Bath & tidy. Each has its own price and duration so Barkway can do the maths for you.

Discount​

Money taken off the total. Could be £10 off or 10% off - Barkway calculates it either way.

Deposit​

Money collected up front to secure a booking.

  • The required deposit is calculated from your settings (fixed amount or % of the booking total).
  • A deposit payment is just a normal payment marked as a deposit in the ledger.

Client balance​

Prepaid money held on a client’s account. You can apply it to a deposit or a remaining invoice balance.

Invoice​

A professional bill generated for each booking. You get a public link and a PDF download.

Invoice status​

The state of the invoice:

  • Unpaid - nothing applied yet.
  • Partial - some money applied.
  • Paid - fully covered.

A shareable link to the invoice page (no login needed). You can text or email it to clients.

Payment​

A recorded amount on an invoice (cash, bank transfer, card, or other). Payments reduce the remaining balance.

Refund​

A recorded return of money. Refunds reduce the paid amount and can move an invoice back to Partial/Unpaid.

Payment method​

How you recorded the payment: Cash, Bank transfer, Card (manual record), Other, or Client balance.

note

Card payments are not processed inside Barkway yet. You can still record a card payment manually for your records.

Recall list​

A list of pets overdue for grooming, based on their last groom date and recall settings. Find it in Pets → Overdue.

Preferred contact method​

How a client wants to hear from you (Email or Text). SMS is not live yet and is not a priority right now, but this setting is saved for the future.

Calendar​

Your command centre. Shows bookings by status and lets you jump into any appointment.

Reminder lead time​

How many hours before a booking Barkway sends the reminder email (if enabled).

Reminder​

An email sent before appointments. If you’ve enabled it, Barkway can also send a thank-you email after a completed and paid booking.

Photos​

Upload before/after shots to a booking. Creates a mini portfolio for each groom, all tied to that appointment.

Smart Scheduler™​

Barkway’s slot suggester. Balances your availability, opening hours, and gaps to recommend the best time.

tip

Keep this cheatsheet handy at first - after a week you’ll be talking fluent Barkway.