Short answer
A package needs a reconstructable balance: issued credits minus applications, plus authorised reversals and identified adjustments. Cancelling an appointment alone does not establish that its credit returned, and a positive balance does not guarantee a right to use it once validity has ended. In SimplyBook.me inspect the specific credit-refund setting and distinguish that movement from a monetary refund.
Key verification: The displayed balance matches identified movements and cancellation produces the intended credit effect.
Sources and limitationsSomeone buys a package, books two sessions and cancels one. The team may be discussing three different balances: active appointments, available credits and outstanding cash. Separating them prevents assuming one fewer credit merely because an appointment disappeared from the calendar, or refunding money when the right outcome was to restore a credit.
Three balances that must not be mixed
Before correcting anything, decide which question you are answering. Each has its own source and its own owner:
| Question from the client or the team | Balance that answers it | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| How many sessions have I booked? | Active appointments | Calendar and status of each booking |
| How many sessions can I still book? | Available, valid credits | The package movement ledger |
| Will I get anything back? | Money charged and refunded | Payments, invoices and refunds |
| Can I use it for another service? | Entitlement to use | Included services and validity date |
No-shows have their own treatment: the guide to the no-show rate explains how to count them. Here only their effect on the package balance matters.
Fictional credit ledger
| Movement | Credit change | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Package issued | +5 | 5 |
| Applied to booking A | −1 | 4 |
| Applied to booking B | −1 | 3 |
| Authorised reversal for A | +1 | 4 |
The example assumes the reversal was recorded; without it, the ledger balance remains 3. It neither adds a session for a no-show nor treats a future booking as attended. Preserve booking and movement identifiers and owner so one cancellation cannot reverse credit twice.
Every cancellation should end in one of two explicit states. The flow below shows which, and keeps the money refund out of the credit ledger:
The SimplyBook.me setting to review
The Packages documentation, consulted on 27 October 2026, states that credits are not returned to the client’s balance after a cancellation by default. To return them, it describes the option “Automatically refund a package credit when a booking is cancelled” within the packages custom feature. That refund is of service credit, not money.
The same page explains that a package can include several services, products and add-ons, that each item needs its own quantity, that a validity period is defined and that an administrator can cancel a client’s package from the issued packages report. It also states that if a recurring service is linked to the package, a single credit covers the whole series. It does not describe how to edit a client’s balance by hand: ask support how any adjustment is recorded before relying on it.
Second scenario: positive balance with no right to use it
A fictional package of 10 credits for a single service, valid for 90 days from 1 March. Six are applied, one is returned after an authorised cancellation and the client asks to book on 5 June.
| Item | Credits | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Issued | 10 | Included service and start date |
| Applied to bookings | −6 | One booking identifier per movement |
| Returned after cancellation | +1 | Cancellation within policy |
| Ledger balance | 5 | Matches the panel |
| Usable on 5 June | 0 | Validity ended on 29 May |
The ledger says 5 and the usable entitlement is 0: from 1 March to 29 May there are 90 days counting both ends. If the system counts validity differently, the end date shifts by a day; check it in the test instead of assuming. Extending validity or exchanging the balance is a commercial decision that should be recorded as its own movement, not as a silent correction.
The other edge case is the recurring series: if a series uses a single credit, cancelling one of its appointments need not return anything. Test what happens when cancelling a single appointment and when cancelling the whole series.
Find a duplicate reversal
The expected balance in the first example is 5 − 1 − 1 + 1 = 4. If the panel shows 5, look for a second reversal for A: an automatic and a manual credit could explain the one-credit difference. The difference alone proves no cause; match movements to their identifiers before adjusting anything.
Retain one row per movement with package, booking, type, change and resulting balance. Mark a cancellation without reversal as “cancelled, credit not restored” until reviewing the applicable policy. This explains one active booking alongside four credits without treating them as the same quantity.
Common mistakes and how to detect them
- Double credit. Symptom: the panel shows one credit more than the ledger. Check: look for two reversals with the same booking reference.
- Automatic refund disabled without anyone knowing. Symptom: clients claiming credits after cancelling in time. Check: review the setting and cancel a test booking.
- Credit returned for a no-show. Symptom: the balance rises with no prior cancellation. Check: match credits against appointment status.
- Money refund recorded as a credit. Symptom: the client receives the refund and keeps the balance. Check: reconcile refunds with package movements.
- Expired balance shown as available. Symptom: bookings rejected despite a positive balance. Check: compare the booking date with the validity period.
Balance and expiry exercise
Using an authorised fictional package, apply two credits, cancel one booking and compare history and balance. Also test the agreed validity and eligible services; a positive balance does not establish entitlement to any service on any date. If the package combines a practitioner and a room, joint availability is covered in the guide to booking a practitioner and room together; and if the released slot goes to someone else, the waiting list has its own rules.
Accept the test when the panel balance matches the ledger after every step and each cancellation ends in one of the states in the diagram, with no unexplained exceptions. Document manual adjustments with reason and owner. A spreadsheet can manage a few packages; SimplyBook.me is relevant when bookings and entitlements need coordination. CallsIQ has made no real purchase, booking or cancellation for these examples.
From the author's experience
I don't have a track record of my own with packages that lets me single out one dominant cause among a double credit, a cancellation with no reversal, or a booking applied to the wrong package. What I would do either way is reconcile every credit movement against its booking, its cancellation and any manual adjustment — that is almost always where the gap between the panel and the ledger turns up.
I would automate credit returns only when the rule is unambiguous and auditable, and keep a human approval step for exceptions, disputed penalties, or services that have already consumed resources. I would treat expired balances the same way: clear, previously communicated conditions with a procedure for exceptions, rather than presenting extension, exchange, or forfeiture of the balance as a universal practice or a purely technical call.
The confusion I would expect most at the front desk is mixing up available balance, booked sessions and consumed sessions; I would always explain it by showing the actual movements, so a future booking does not look like one already used. And I would design the reconciliation specifically to catch a single cancellation that ends up producing both a money refund and a credit return, when that combination was never meant to happen.
I would not set a fixed number of active packages at which a spreadsheet stops being reliable; I would move to a transactional record as soon as there are concurrent bookings, reversals, or several people editing the balance at once.
Sources and limitations
Documentary review: . Content type: Documentation-based guide with original exercise.
Linked sources describe the terms and capabilities each provider publishes. Examples that use fictional data are labelled in the text.
Scope: Documentation reviewed on 16 October 2026. Examples are fictional and tests are proposed; CallsIQ has not performed product tests.
- Packages documentationhelp.simplybook.me
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