No-Show & Cancellation Fee Calculator

For personal trainers, salons, tutors, therapists, and other appointment-based service businesses: put a specific, defensible number on your no-show fee and get a policy you can hand to clients today.

After using this, you can now state and defend a specific no-show/late-cancellation fee — and hand clients a ready-to-use policy — which used to take guessing a number or copying a boilerplate template that doesn't match your prices.

Already booking through scheduling software? This calculator vs. Acuity Scheduling explains why the two sit next to each other: the platform carries and enforces the policy, this page works out the number that goes in it.

Pricing an upfront deposit instead of an after-the-fact fee? The appointment deposit calculator turns your service price into a deposit amount, balance due, and draft policy — nothing uploaded.

Tempted to just pick a round number? Why a flat fee guess doesn't scale with your price shows what a flat $25 guess costs a $200 session versus a $35 one.

Your numbers

No conversion is performed. Choose the currency your prices already use.

Not sure? Count last month's no-shows and late cancels, divide by total bookings, times 100.

How often you expect to actually collect the fee once the policy is in place. This is your assumption, not a measured number — the tool shows it back to you rather than hiding it.

Compared against chasing the no-show fee after the fact. The deposit is treated as already collected when the slot is reserved — not as a second invoice you have to chase.

What one overflow hour costs you: overtime, a voucher, a refund, or lost goodwill. Leave blank to price it as one full session. Used only in the overbooking table.

Waitlist fill if you get that notice (your assumption)

How often you actually refill a cancelled slot when the client gives you that much warning. Same-day is usually near zero; 48 hours is why people ask for it. Count last month's late cancels that you filled, or leave the defaults. Why 24 hours vs 48 hours is a cash question.

For the generated policy text (optional)

This only changes the draft wording. Confirm your payment processor and booking-system rules before using it.

Your numbers are saved only in this browser so you can return without retyping them. Shared links still take precedence.

Common questions

How much should I charge for a no-show or late cancellation?

There's no single right number, but a common starting point is charging close to the full service price for a true no-show (the slot usually can't be rebooked) and a partial fee for a late cancellation with some notice. This calculator turns your own price, notice window, and fee percentage into a specific number.

Is a cancellation or no-show fee legal?

Charging a disclosed cancellation fee is common practice across many service industries and is generally enforceable when clients agree to it in advance, but rules vary by location, payment processor, and industry — some regions treat fees for medical or dental appointments differently, for example. This is not legal advice; check the requirements for your business type and location.

How much notice should I require?

24 hours is the most common default — usually enough time to fill the slot from a waitlist. Businesses with longer or harder-to-fill sessions often use 48 hours instead. The table above compares same-day, 24-hour, and 48-hour windows using your own fill-rate assumption so you can see how much empty-slot cash a longer window actually recovers.

Should I overbook or charge a no-show fee?

They recover different money. A fee pays you when the chair stays empty and you collect. Overbooking tries to fill that chair in advance and risks a double-booked hour when everyone shows. The table above compares a fee-only book to overbooking 50%, 100%, and 150% of your expected no-shows, plus matching the rate and dropping the fee. It does not tell you which policy to publish.

Should I take a deposit instead of charging a no-show fee?

A deposit is collected when the client books, so a late cancel does not depend on a second collection attempt. A no-show fee is invoiced after the missed slot, so it only comes in at the rate you actually enforce. Compare the two on your own numbers above — this tool does not decide which is lawful or appropriate for your business.

Usage

Everything above runs in your browser. Nothing you type is ever uploaded — there is no server, no account, and no analytics vendor. This calculator counts a small number of anonymous events (which buttons were used, nothing about who used them) and keeps the count only in this browser, so it can tell whether anyone is using it at all. Your calculator numbers are also saved locally for convenience and can be removed with Reset saved numbers.

Disclaimer

No warranty. This tool is provided free and as-is, without warranty of any kind, express or implied. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not replace a qualified professional. You are responsible for reviewing and verifying its output before relying on it, and for meeting any obligation it helps you prepare for. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the authors accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from its use.

Best-effort hosting, no SLA. These tools are free, experimental, and may be slow, broken, moved, or taken offline without notice. We do not promise uptime, backups of anything you type, or that a URL will keep working. Do not use this as a system of record. If a tool needs to survive, export your inputs and run it yourself.