Client Intake Forms & Agreements A Andrew Kelly

We offer the ability to build custom forms to gather info from clients before they come in for their appointment*. We'll ask the basics already –– first name, last name, phone number, and email (these are key to organizing your client list and knowing where to send appointment notifications). But any other questions are up to you!

*Note: Intake forms can only be filled out when an appointment is booked. They cannot be sent to clients independent of an appointment, and they cannot be filled out when a subscription or package is purchased. (Instead, the client fills out the form when redeeming the subscription or package for appointments.)

How To Use Intake Forms 

• Intake forms must be created within Acuity rather than uploading pre-existing documents. That way, we know what kind of questions to ask and can save them in a client’s history.
• If you'd prefer not to build new forms you do have the option to include a link to your pre-existing forms into your confirmation and reminder emails for clients to access after scheduling.
• You can set forms to be for internal use only. These forms will be attached to client’s appointments, but Acuity won’t show the forms to clients, and clients will not be able to fill them out. Instead, Acuity users can fill these in from the admin end. This is great for things such as SOAP notes or images.

• You can make a form required by checking the box marked Required. When this is checked, the client will not be able to book the appointment and go on to the confirmation page until the field is filled. A warning* will appear to the client, letting them know that they need to fill in required fields.

*How it will look on your Client's Scheduling Page if the client doesn't complete the field:

• If you want your intake form to seamlessly fit into your client info page, leave the Form Name from your intake form blank:

• You can ask as many questions as you want in each form, but the question itself is limited to 250 characters. The description of the form is unlimited though!
• Client intake forms can be filled out before the client confirms the appointment in the booking process from your Scheduling Page, or by clicking View/Change Appointment in the initial confirmation or reminder email notifications.

• You will not be sent an extra notification when a client fills out intake forms. The form data will be included in normal confirmation emails, if you have your account configured to send them.

The Types of Information You Can Collect:

• Textbox: This option allows clients to enter text. You can choose from Small (one line of text), Medium (about a paragraph), and Large (multiple paragraphs) for the size of the Textbox.
• Drop Down List: Select this option to allow clients to choose from a provided list of responses.
• Checkbox: This is used when only a single check is needed. If it’s marked as required, clients must check it to schedule an appointment.
• Checkbox List: Pick this to allow for multiple options to be chosen from a list.
• Yes/No Choice: Use this option for yes or no answers.
• File Upload: This option is available for paid Acuity users, and allows clients to upload pictures, documents, or other file types (up to a 5mb limit).
• Address: With this option, clients can enter an address. You can set Acuity to automatically use the address the client enters as the location of the appointment. The address will then be included when the event syncs to other calendar systems. You can also reference this in your Email Templates with by including the tag %location%.

You can review submitted forms in the individual appointment details or in a client’s history. Clients can also register for an account to pre-fill their previous form answers for future bookings.

How to Create a New Custom Form

When clients register, Acuity collects their first name, last name and email address by default. If you want additional information, you can use Acuity’s preset options for Terms & Conditions or SOAP notes, or you can create a custom form. Here’s how to make a new custom form:

1. Go to Business Settings > Intake Form Questions.
2. Click the +New Custom Form button. This will create a new, totally blank form.

3. Fill out the form’s name and description, if you want. Both are optional. Any text in those fields will separate the form questions from the default questions on the Client’s Scheduling Page. The difference is illustrated in the example below.

4. Find the ADD QUESTIONS section on the left side of the screen and click on the type of question that you want to add to the form.

5. Fill in the details of the question as prompted, then click Save Question and Form.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have all the questions you want.

7. Drag and drop the questions to put them in the order you want.

8. If you want the form to be for internal use only, click the Internal Use Only box on the left.

9. Use the section at the bottom left to select which appointment types should include the form.

10. Click Save Form.

Note: Forms will appear on the Client’s Scheduling Page in the order they’re listed on the Intake Form Questions page. You can reorder them by dragging and dropping them on the Intake Form Questions page.

Forms for Internal Use Only

These forms are attached to client appointments, but aren’t shown to clients. Instead, they’re filled out by Acuity users from the admin end.

How to create a form for internal use:

Follow the steps laid out in the How to Create New Custom Forms section, being certain to check the box marked INTERNAL USE ONLY.

How to fill out an internal form during booking:

• Begin booking the appointment through the admin end as you normally would.
• Before you finish the process, click on the Forms, Codes and Notes section.

• Fill in the answers to the form questions.

• Click Schedule Appointment.

Note: If you haven’t named your internal form, the questions from the form won’t be separated from the other questions in any way:

How to fill out an internal form for an appointment that has been booked:

• Find the appointment that has the form attached. (There are several ways to do this, including through the Appointment Calendar.)
• Click on the appointment, to bring up its details.
• Scroll down to the form you want to fill out. Hover your cursor over its name. If the form isn’t named, the bar will say (for internal use only).
• An Edit button will appear. Click it.

• Fill out the form.

• Click Save Changes.

Terms & Conditions, Waivers, Disclaimers, & Other Agreements

We recommend creating a new form and entering your terms in the Form Description. Then, add a required Textbox question for clients with a call-to-action like, “Enter your initials to certify that you agree to our terms & conditions” or a single check box indicating that they’ve agreed. Making this field required with only a check box option will ensure that the client cannot book unless they check the box and agree.

You can also put links into your form description, or the question, if you'd like to link to terms and conditions on your own website instead! Pasting a url (including the http://) will turn it into a clickable link either in the form description or question field. In the form description you can also get even fancier and enter HTML if you wanted!

*If you need the client to physically sign the form our intake forms do not include that feature. Another forms program, such as HelloSign may be a better fit. If you have any questions as to the legality of how our forms work with your clients, you may want to discuss it with your legal team.

SOAP Notes

Acuity has the option to add SOAP notes forms. These forms come pre-populated with questions typically found in SOAP notes, but they can still be customized just like any Acuity form. They also come pre-set to be for internal use only, meaning they aren’t displayed to the client.

To add a new SOAP notes form:

• Go to Business Settings > Intake Form Questions.
• Click the +New Soap Notes Form button at the top right.
• Make any customizations you want, such naming the form or editing (using the pencil icon) or deleting (using the trash icon) individual fields.
• At the bottom left, select which appointment types should have the SOAP notes form applied.
• Click Save Form.

Delete Intake Forms 

Deleting forms won’t affect any previously booked appointments or client information. It will, however, prevent future clients from filling out the form.

A couple things to note:

• All previously answered form questions will remain within your client profiles.
• Deleted intake forms will not be included in appointment exports.

If you’d like to delete a form, scroll down to the bottom of the form page and click the “Delete” button.

Ask Intake Form Questions to New Clients Only

Each appointment type can have its own set of forms assigned to it, which clients will be asked to fill out each time they book an appointment. If you only want to ask questions to new clients, we’ve got a workaround for you! Create a “New Client” appointment type (or types), and only assign forms to new client appointments.

For example, if you offer Private Yoga sessions, you'd create two separate appointment types: "New Client: Private Yoga session" and "Returning Client: Private Yoga session".  The intake form would be applied to only the "New Client: Private Yoga session".  When clients book, they'll select the New Client option and complete your intake form.

This way, existing clients can avoid re-answering the same intake questions during booking when they select the "Returning Client" option.

Where To See Intake Form Answers & Uploaded Files

Go to your Client List, under Appointments > Client List

Click on the client name, and on the right side of the screen you should be able to see your client information.

Here you will see the answers they gave on your intake forms, including any files you have asked them to upload from your Client's Scheduling Page.

For files you have asked your clients to upload, you'll see these files, in this case an image and a PDF, in the client's information under that form's heading:

Print Intake Forms

If you'd like a hardcopy of your intake forms from that you or your client has filled out, here's how to make that magic happen. 

• Head to the appointment from your main Appointments view. 
• Click on the appointment whose intake form you'd like a print out.
• Click the gear wheel icon in the upper right hand corner of the appointment details to reveal the print option.

• Click Print, which will open up the appointment with it's intake form notes as a new window, and will prompt your printer options. 

And there you go! You'll have your nice, neat form all printed for your files, or to hand to your client. Huzzah!

Note: If you want a hardcopy of a blank intake form, you'll need to create that outside of Acuity.

How Clients Access & Edit Forms

Clients will see your forms before booking their appointment, but if you book for the client or if the client chooses to skip the form when booking they can come back to it. The client can get to the form from the confirmation or reminder emails in a couple ways

1. By clicking the Change/Cancel Appointment button in the appointment notification emails (more on that below)
2. You can add a tag variable %formslink% to insert a custom link to that client's form for that appointment. 

More on the Change/Cancel Appointment button:

Next, they will click the Edit Forms button on the appointment confirmation page to fill out any applicable forms. 

You can also edit the button to say something like Edit Forms or Change/Cancel Appointment so that your clients clearly know where to click. Here's an example that makes it more obvious that intake forms can be accessed from the linked button in a confirmation email, and here's a quick guide on how to edit buttons in email notifications . 

How the Admin can Edit Client's Intake Forms ⚓

If you need to update or add information to a client's Intake Form responses, first pull up their appointment. When the appointment details are open, scroll to the bottom to find the Intake Form questions and the client's current responses. Hover over the Intake Form questions and an Edit button will appear.  Click on the Edit button to make any necessary changes. Be sure to click Save Changes when you are done.

If you need to update the Intake Form responses on a Canceled or No-Show appointment, first look up the client in your Client List. Locate the canceled appointment and click on it to open the appointment's detail. Then you can follow the same steps as above.

Video Tutorial

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