Guide
How much do no-shows really cost you?
The fee you didn't collect is only the start. A missed appointment also costs the time you set aside, the slot someone else wanted, and sometimes the client. Here is how to put a figure on it for your own business.
The fee is the part you can see
Take a barbershop that charges £20 a cut and books 60 cuts a week, where one client in ten doesn't turn up. That's six empty chairs a week, about 26 a month, and £520 a month that never reaches the till. Over 48 working weeks it comes to nearly £5,800.
The same sums work in any currency. A salon in Abidjan charging 8,000 FCFA with the same numbers loses around 208,000 FCFA a month.
The costs that never show up on the till
- Your time. You prepared, you waited, and you may have turned someone else away for that slot.
- The slot itself. On a busy Saturday, somebody else wanted it.
- Stock and set-up: a colour already mixed, a treatment room already warmed.
- The relationship. A client who missed an appointment often feels awkward about booking again, and some never do.
A late cancellation is cheaper, if you can refill it
A cancellation the evening before still costs you the slot if nobody takes it, but it gives you the chance to fill it. A no-show gives you nothing. That's why it's worth counting the two apart, and making cancelling as easy as booking.
Put a number on your own
Four figures are enough: appointments per week, your no-show rate, your average price and the weeks you work in a year. The no-show cost calculator does the sums, and lets you test how much you'd win back by refilling part of those slots.
Bringing the cost down
- Remind clients the day before, with a link to cancel.
- Ask regulars to book their next visit before they leave.
- Keep a short list of clients happy to come at short notice, and ring them when a slot frees up.
- For long or costly services, some businesses ask for payment up front. That's a policy for you to decide; OnTime doesn't handle clients' money.
OnTime's reminder goes out at noon the day before with a cancel link, and once you mark missed appointments the dashboard shows your no-show rate and what those empty slots cost.
Updated 30 September 2026
Questions people ask
An appointment the client neither attended nor cancelled. A cancellation, even a late one, is a different thing and worth counting separately.
It varies too much by trade and country for a single figure to mean much. Measure yours over a month or two and watch whether it moves.
Some businesses do, with a clear policy agreed at booking. OnTime doesn't collect money from clients, so any fee is something you arrange yourself.
Read next
- No-show cost calculatorFour numbers you already know, and what missed appointments cost you each month and each year.
- SMS remindersA text the day before each appointment, with a link the client taps to cancel and free the slot.
- Appointment reminder text templatesReminder texts to copy for salons, clinics, trainers and tutors, with when to send them and what they must say.
Try it on your own week
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