The Problem
"I spend more time chasing payments than doing what I love."
Sound familiar? Every pet business owner knows the admin burden:
- Manually sending booking confirmations
- Texting reminders one by one
- Chasing customers for payment
- Following up on failed cards
- Reconciling invoices at night
Industry research suggests pet business owners spend 10-20 hours per week on admin tasks that could be automated. That's half a working week. Every week.
The Solution: Automatic Actions
Automatic Actions are the settings that move an appointment from booked to paid without anyone touching it. Switch on the ones you want and they run in the background.
Here's the chain:
| Step | Setting | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Instant confirmation | Confirms an online booking without manual approval; with it off, the booking waits as Pending |
| 2 | Pre-hold funds | Places a hold on the card on file 72 hours before the appointment |
| 3 | Auto-start appointments | Marks the appointment In Progress at the scheduled start time |
| 4 | Auto-complete appointments | Marks it Completed when the appointment duration ends |
| 5 | Auto-finalise appointments | Generates the invoice 30 minutes after the appointment ends, ready for payment |
| 6 | Auto-pay invoices | Charges the card on file once the invoice is finalised |
From the moment a customer books to the moment you're paid, the steps you switch on handle it.
Who Benefits Most
| Business Type | Primary Benefit |
|---|---|
| Solo groomers | Reclaim evenings from admin |
| Growing daycares | Scale without adding office staff |
| Multi-service businesses | Consistent processes across service types |
| High-volume operations | No manual work as volume increases |
Automatic Actions are part of Business Pro, Business Flex and Business Max.
Key Capabilities
Instant confirmation: No Waiting on You
With Instant confirmation on (Settings, Booking Settings), an online booking is confirmed the moment it is made. With it off, the booking waits as Pending until you accept it. Either way, the customer's confirmation email goes out while Email the customer: booking updates is on.
No more "Did you get my booking?" questions.
Pre-hold funds: Protect the Booking Before the Day
This is where payment protection begins. With Pre-hold funds on (Settings, Pricing & Payments), Petboost places a temporary hold on the customer's saved card 72 hours before the appointment:
- The customer is told about the hold and sees a pending line on their bank statement
- The hold becomes the real charge after the appointment, or drops off if the booking is cancelled, apart from any late cancellation fee your policy takes from it
- Bookings that already paid online are not held again
If the hold is declined, Petboost makes up to five attempts, four hours apart, and texts you and the customer so there is time to sort out the card. No more "forgot my wallet" surprises at checkout.
Auto-start appointments: Status Right From the Start
When an appointment's scheduled start time arrives, Auto-start appointments marks it In Progress, so the status is right the next time anyone opens Mission Control or the scheduler.
Auto-complete appointments: Finish on Schedule
When the appointment duration ends, Auto-complete appointments marks it Completed. If a visit finishes early, your team can still complete it by hand.
Auto-finalise appointments: Zero Manual Data Entry
Thirty minutes after the appointment ends, Auto-finalise appointments generates the invoice from the booking and moves it to Ready to Pay. The gap leaves time for last-minute adjustments; if your team checks an appointment out by hand, its invoice is finalised there and then.
- Correct service pricing
- Applied add-ons
- No typing, no spreadsheets
Auto-pay invoices: Get Paid Without Asking Twice
The final step. Once the invoice is finalised, Auto-pay invoices charges the balance to the customer's saved card:
- The appointment moves to Paid
- The receipt is emailed while Email the customer: booking updates is on
- If the card declines, the appointment moves to Payment Declined and the customer is texted a link to update their card, then retries it from their account; you can retry it from the appointment
Money reaches your bank on your Stripe payout schedule. No awkward payment conversations.
Real-World Impact
Before Automatic Actions:
- Marcus spent 3 hours every evening sending invoices and chasing payments
- 15% of his grooming customers paid late or required follow-up
- Sunday nights were dedicated to Monday's reminders
After Automatic Actions:
- Marcus checks his phone in the morning to see payments already processed
- Late payments dropped to under 2%
- Sundays are for rest, not admin
Multiply this across hundreds of pet businesses, and the pattern is clear: automation changes everything.
How to Get Started
- Open Settings, Automatic Actions in Petboost for the four lifecycle switches
- Turn on Pre-hold funds in Settings, Pricing & Payments, and Instant confirmation in Settings, Booking Settings, if you want them
- Set exceptions per service where one service should run differently
- Test with a sample booking to see the chain in action
Each setting can be turned on or off independently. Start with Instant confirmation and Pre-hold funds, then add the others as you get comfortable.
The Bottom Line
Automatic Actions take the repetitive admin off your plate. Confirmations, holds, invoices, payments: handled once you switch them on.
Set it up once. Get paid automatically, every time.
Ready to Automate Your Business?
Automatic Actions are part of Business Pro, Business Flex and Business Max.
Start your free 14-day trial →
Learn more about automations or see how payments work.