Compliance: patch tests, consent and intake forms

Compliance: patch tests, consent and intake forms

If some of your services need a patch test, a signed consent, or an intake form before a client sits down, ResNeo can collect those for you, attach them to the right services, and warn or block bookings when a record is missing or out of date.

Three words to know: a type is the kind of record you collect, like a patch test. A requirement is the link that makes a service ask for it. A record is the form a client actually completed, valid until its expiry date.

Before you start

• Compliance records are part of every Appointments plan (Light, Plus and Pro).
• Only an admin can open Settings → Compliance or create and edit types. Once compliance is on, everyone on your team can see the Compliance page in the sidebar and collect records from a booking.
• While compliance is switched off, none of it appears: no Compliance item in the sidebar, no compliance on your bookings, and nothing for your clients.

Step 1: Turn compliance on

Open Settings from the sidebar, then the Compliance tab. It opens on General settings, with Templates & types and Requirements alongside it.

1. Tick Enable compliance records for this venue. Nothing else works until you do.
2. Choose your Default form-link channel, either Email or SMS. This is how a form link reaches a client. If an SMS cannot be sent, ResNeo emails the link instead so it always arrives.
3. Set your Reminder cadence (days before expiry), which is how many days ahead ResNeo reminds a client to renew. Set it to 0 to turn expiry reminders off.
4. Set your Form-link expiry (days), which is how long a link you send stays usable.
5. Click Save settings.

You must do this first. Until compliance is on, the Templates & types tab cannot create anything.

Step 2: Add a type, from the library or from scratch

Go to the Templates & types tab.

To use a ready-made form, click Add from library. Each template shows its category, how long it lasts and how many questions it has. Click Preview to read it, then Add. It is copied in as your own type, fully editable, and nothing links back to the original.

To build your own, click Create custom type. On the New compliance type page:

1. Give it a Form name and pick a Category: Test, Consent, Intake, Declaration or Certificate.
2. Choose a Result type: Pass / fail (staff decide a result), Signed (requires a signature), Completed (no result) or File upload (requires a file).
3. Set the Validity: No expiry (lifetime), Per visit (single-use) or Expires after N days.
4. Use the Captured by tickboxes to say who can fill it in: Staff in venue, Client online, or both. Leave Staff in venue ticked if you want to complete it on a tablet with the client in front of you.
5. Add a Description (optional) and Intro text (optional, markdown) if the form needs a preamble.
6. Build the questions. Click a field type on the left to add it: Short text, Long text, Dropdown, Checkboxes, Date, Signature or File upload. Each field has a label, optional help text, Required and Staff only tickboxes, and options where the type needs them. Drag the handle to reorder.
7. Click Preview as client to see exactly what the client will see, then Back to editor.
8. Click Create type.

If you choose the pass or fail result type, ResNeo adds a staff-only Result (staff decision) question with Pass and Fail options and marks which answer means which. Rename it or its options if you like.

Use Message when a booking is blocked (optional) when clients cannot complete the form themselves, for example a patch test your team carries out. It is the text they see online instead of a dead end, so tell them what to do next.

Back on the list, each type has Edit, Duplicate (a copy to change without touching the original) and Archive. An archived type keeps its records and shows an Archived pill, and Restore brings it back.

Pick the result type with care. Most things can be changed later, but the result type is locked once the type is created.

Editing saves a new version. The button reads Save new version, and you can note What changed (optional). Records already collected keep the version they were signed on. Version history lists every version, and Restore brings an older one back as a new current version.

Step 3: Attach the type to a service, or to all bookings

1. Go to the Requirements tab.
2. Click a service to expand it. To ask every client for a form whatever they book, such as a new client intake form, expand All bookings at the top instead.
3. Click Add requirement and choose the Compliance type.
4. Set When unmet, which is how strict it is.
5. Set a Lead time (optional) if the record must be on file in advance rather than on the day. Type the number of hours. A patch test before colour is usually 48.
6. Set Online booking to decide where the client fills it in:
   • Email a link in the confirmation: they book, then complete it before the visit.
   • Show in the booking flow: they fill it in while booking.
   • Do not collect online: your team collects it in the venue.
7. Click Add requirement again to save.

Each service shows a requirements count, so you can see at a glance which ones ask for something. You can also set a single service's requirements while you are editing it, at the bottom of the service form under Compliance requirements.

How often a client is asked comes from the type's Validity. No expiry means once per client. Per visit means every booking. A number of days means again after that long.

Step 4: Choose how strict it is

• Warn staff: your team sees a flag, nothing is blocked. The client is not told.
• Warn client: the client sees a note while booking online but can still book, and your team sees the flag too.
• Block online booking: clients cannot book this online without a valid record. Your team can still book them in from the dashboard.
• Block all bookings: the same online, and your team sees a red reminder that the record is required before the appointment. Your team is never blocked from making a booking.

Start gentle, then tighten. Many businesses begin with Warn staff while they gather records, then move up once most regulars are covered.

What your clients see

It depends on the Online booking setting for that requirement.

• Show in the booking flow: once they have typed their email, a Before you book panel appears with the form, marked Required or Optional. They click Save form, and it shows as completed with an Edit link. A blocking form must be done before they can confirm.
• Email a link in the confirmation: the booking goes through, and the confirmation email carries a Forms to complete link. The same link is listed on their manage booking page under Forms to complete before your visit.
• Do not collect online: nothing is shown to them, and your team collects it in the venue.

If a form is needed that they cannot complete online, they see a short notice before they book, headed Before you can book online when it blocks, or Forms needed for this booking when it only warns. Where a record is already on file, the notice says they are all set. A returning client who used a different email address will look like a new one, and the notice suggests they check with you.

A form link opens a plain ResNeo page with your venue name on it. When they submit, they see a Thank you message and can close the page. Links do not last forever, and each one says why it will not open:

• Already submitted: the form has already been completed.
• Link expired: it passed your Form-link expiry (days).
• Link no longer active: someone on your team revoked it.
• Form not found: the link is wrong or incomplete.

In every case, send a fresh link from the booking or from the Compliance page.

Collect a record from a booking

On the bookings list, a booking that needs something shows a compliance pill, either Compliant or a count of forms due, and the calendar shows a small dot on the booking card. Open the booking and expand Compliance.

Under Requirements for this booking, each form has:

• Hand to client: opens the form on your screen for the client to complete and sign on your device.
• Capture now: you fill it in with them or on their behalf, including any staff-only questions.
• Send link: sends a secure link by your default channel. If there is no email or phone on file, ResNeo copies the link to your clipboard instead so you can paste it to them.
• View record: opens the record you already have.

Under Form links you can Copy link, Resend email, Resend SMS or Revoke a link that is still waiting. All compliance records lists everything on file for that client with a View button, and Audit trail shows who did what and when.

Opening a record shows the answers, any signature or file, and lets you Void this record if it was collected in error. Voiding is permanent and the record stops counting. A pass or fail form completed by the client shows Awaiting decision until someone chooses Pass, Fail or Inconclusive.

Renewals and expiry

When a type has a validity period, its records expire and ResNeo watches the clock. A record in its final 30 days is flagged Expiring soon, and one reminder with a fresh link goes out as far ahead as your Reminder cadence. Once a record passes its expiry, the service treats it as missing and your strictness setting applies again.

ResNeo also chases a form link a client has not completed in the last few days before their appointment, up to twice, and stops as soon as they submit it.

Your daily sweep

Click Compliance in the sidebar, just below Contacts. A line at the top counts what is outstanding, or tells you that you are all caught up.

• Today's check-ins: today's bookings with a form still outstanding, grouped by client and shown with their arrival time. Use Complete now to hand your device over, or Send link.
• Missing for upcoming bookings: bookings in the next 14 days needing a record you do not have. Use Send link.
• Expiring soon: records that expire within 30 days. Use Send renewal.
• Awaiting client submission: links you have sent that are not completed yet, with the date sent and when the link expires.

Make it a habit. A two-minute glance before you open means nobody arrives for a service they cannot safely have.

In a venue collective

If your venue is part of a venue collective with shared services, the host's forms come with its services. Each venue gets its own copy of the form, and the records clients fill in stay with the venue they booked with. Only the host can change the form or which services ask for it.

Each venue decides whether to switch compliance records on. Until it does, a service that asks for a form cannot be booked online on that venue's calendars, and the venue's Services page says so with a Turn on button.

Common problems & fixes

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
A client cannot book online because a form is missing	The requirement is set to a blocking level	Collect the record with Capture now or Hand to client, send them a link, or book it for them from the dashboard, where your team is never blocked
The Templates & types tab asks me to turn compliance on	The feature is still off	Tick Enable compliance records for this venue and save
A service is not asking for the form	No requirement links the type to that service, or to all bookings	Add one in Requirements
Clients can still book online without it	The requirement is only set to warn	Change When unmet to a blocking level
A blocking form is never offered to clients	Online booking is set to Do not collect online, so nobody can complete it themselves	Choose where it is collected online, or add a Message when a booking is blocked on the type telling them what to do
No renewal reminders are going out	Reminder cadence is set to 0, which turns them off	Set it to the number of days ahead you want
A record I just collected still shows as missing	The old one expired, it was captured against a different type, or it was captured too close to the booking to satisfy the Lead time	Collect a fresh record, check the requirement points at the right type, and shorten the lead time if it is too strict
A completed form still shows Awaiting decision	It is a pass or fail type and nobody has recorded the result	Open the record with View and choose Pass, Fail or Inconclusive
The client says their link will not open	It has been submitted, revoked, or passed your Form-link expiry (days)	Send a fresh link from the booking or from the Compliance page
Send link copied a link instead of sending it	There is no email or mobile number on file for that client, or the send failed	Paste the copied link into a message yourself, and add their contact details in Contacts
I cannot create or edit types	Type management is admin only, and non-admins do not see the Compliance tab in Settings	Ask an admin

Next steps

• Set up your services
• Your contacts (CRM)
• Using the bookings list