For a general overview of System Settings, see System Settings Overview.

Introduction

Base Services answer the “What?” question when a client books—30‑Minute Walk, Overnight Care, Grooming Session, and so on. They hold the price, sitter pay, timing options, and behavior rules for every visit. 

Important: Never delete a Base Service that already has visits; doing so breaks history and reports. To retire a service, either switch Active to No, or remove the Service Name (all Clients view) so clients can’t request it.

Details

  • Group – Optional drop‑down that appears only after you create one or more Service Groups. Groups are manager‑only and never shown to sitters or clients.

  • Name – Internal label staff see on the Master Schedule and other admin pages.

  • Service Name (all Clients view) – Leave this blank to hide the service from client requests. This is the fastest way to keep a service staff‑only while still letting you schedule it manually.

  • Time Blocks – Check the blocks when the service can be requested or scheduled

  • Active – Set to No to retire a service without deleting historical data. (Deleting services with past visits breaks reports.)

Restrictions

  • Days of the Week – Uncheck weekdays to prevent requests on those days; staff can still schedule manually.

  • Animals – Prevents clients without a matching pet type from requesting.

  • Client Segments – Limits requests to clients in the selected Segment(s). Powerful for region‑specific or VIP‑only services.

Pricing

  • Default Client Price – Baseline amount clients are charged (unless you override in the client profile).

  • Default Pet Sitter Pay – Baseline amount or percentage paid to sitters (overrides live in each staff account).

  • Frequency & Combination Discounts – Prefer the newer Discounts tool, but legacy rows are still honored if present. Discounts (click for info)

  • Additional Pet Pricing
    1+ means “one or more” pets; 2+ means “two or more”—choose 2+ if you only want the surcharge starting with the second pet. Incorrectly picking 1+ is a common mistake that charges for a single‑pet household.

  • Effective Date for Changes – Applies new pricing to existing future visits starting on the chosen date; new requests always use the latest price.

Length & Behavior

  • Expected Length – Drives overbooking warnings and late‑length notifications. Visit Expected Lengths and Overbooking (click for info)

  • Behavior flags – Toggles for who gets notified (Management or Pet Sitter) and whether the system should auto‑complete visits that exceed the expected length.

Additional

  • Description – Plain‑text/HTML block clients can read when choosing a service. Include pricing if you want clients to see dollar amounts before requesting.

Maintaining Base Services

  • Edit any row, make changes, and Save.

  • Reorder services for easier selection in staff drop‑downs: click View > Reorder in the top bar and drag‑drop to reorder.