Clinic template
A clinic cancellation policy template for Cliniko clinics
This is policy wording a clinic publishes as its online booking terms of use, paired with the three Cliniko settings that enforce it: a minimum notice period that locks a patient out of self cancelling too late, an SMS reminder template that repeats the policy, and an online deposit that is forfeited under Cliniko's own cancellation rules if the patient pulls out.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Free template ยท Cliniko
Document: cancellation policy plus online booking and reminder setup: allied health (general)
The template: 8 fields
| Section | Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy wording | Notice period | Text | State the minimum notice in hours or days a patient must give to cancel or reschedule without a fee, matching the Minimum notice for cancellations setting you configure below. |
| Policy wording | Fee for late cancellation or non attendance | Text | State the amount or a percentage of the session fee, and whether it is waived at the practitioner's discretion for genuine emergencies. |
| Policy wording | How the fee is collected | Text | State whether it is charged against a card on file, an online deposit already paid, or invoiced separately. |
| Policy wording | Exceptions | Text | State what counts as an exception, for example illness with notice given as soon as reasonably possible. |
| Cliniko online booking setup | Add the policy to booking terms of use | Text | Not a patient facing question. Internal note: Settings > Online bookings, Terms of use field, shown to every patient before they confirm a booking. |
| Cliniko online booking setup | Minimum notice for cancellations | Text | Internal note: Settings > Online bookings. Choose a value from the Minimum notice for cancellations menu that matches the notice period stated in the policy above; a patient trying to cancel later than this is locked out of the self service cancellation link. |
| Cliniko online booking setup | Require a deposit for online bookings | Text | Internal note: Settings > Online payments. A patient who pays a deposit online can still cancel through the link, but a patient who pays in full cannot; set the deposit amount to match the fee named in the policy above. |
| SMS reminder text | Reminder SMS wording | Text | Draft the SMS reminder to restate the notice period and fee in one short line, for example a placeholder driven message naming the appointment time and the cancellation cut off. |
Build it in Cliniko
- Write the policy wording fields above as plain paragraphs, then paste the finished text into Settings > Online bookings, Terms of use, so every patient sees it and has to agree before a booking is confirmed.
- In the same Online bookings settings, set Minimum notice for cancellations to the notice period named in your policy, which stops a patient from self cancelling online inside that window.
- If you charge a fee for late cancellation, set up an online deposit under Settings > Online payments for your bookable appointment types. Cliniko will not let a patient cancel online once they have paid the deposit or the full fee, so the deposit itself becomes the enforcement mechanism rather than a separate manual charge.
- Build the SMS reminder under Settings > Reminders: click New SMS template, name it Appointment reminder with cancellation notice, and write a short message using Cliniko's placeholders for the appointment date and time, followed by a one line restatement of the notice period and fee.
- Attach the new SMS template to the appointment types it should apply to, choosing how many reminders and how long before the appointment each one sends, under Select which appointments should send reminders.
- Test the whole chain on a dummy booking: confirm the terms of use shows the policy, that cancelling inside the notice window is blocked, that a paid deposit blocks self cancellation, and that the SMS reminder sends with the correct wording.
A policy is only as good as what enforces it
Most clinics already have cancellation policy wording somewhere, in an intake pack, a website page, or a sign at reception. The gap is usually not the wording, it is that nothing in the booking system actually applies it. A patient can self cancel online five minutes before an appointment because no one set a notice cut off, or a late cancellation fee never gets charged because there is no deposit or card on file to charge it against. This template treats the policy and the three Cliniko settings that enforce it (booking terms, minimum notice, and deposits) as one piece of work, not two.
Why the fee sits on a deposit, not a manual charge
Cliniko does not have a dedicated cancellation fee button that fires automatically when a patient cancels late. What it does have is a rule that a patient who has paid an online deposit, or paid in full, cannot use the self service cancellation link at all. Building the fee into a deposit taken at the time of booking means the money is already collected before the appointment happens, rather than relying on reception to remember to invoice a no show fee after the fact, which is where most cancellation policies quietly stop being enforced.
The reminder text is where patients actually see the policy again
A policy a patient agreed to once, in the fine print of an online booking form, is easy to forget three weeks later when they need to reschedule. Repeating the notice period and fee in the SMS reminder, sent close enough to the appointment that the notice window is still front of mind, is what actually changes behaviour. Keeping this line short matters: an SMS reminder is meant to be brief, so the cancellation reminder is one added sentence to the appointment time, not a restatement of the full policy.
Sources
- Cliniko's online booking terms of use field is shown to a patient before they confirm a booking, and a clinic can use it to alert patients to a cancellation fee or no show fee before they book. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's Minimum notice for cancellations setting locks a patient out of self cancelling an online booking once less time than the chosen notice period remains before the appointment. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- A patient who has paid an online booking in full cannot cancel it themselves using the cancellation link; a patient who has paid only a deposit can still cancel online. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- SMS reminder templates in Cliniko are created under Settings > Reminders by adding a new SMS template, and clinics are encouraged to use placeholders so appointment details populate correctly; which appointment types trigger which reminders is then chosen separately. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.