How this calculator works
The sum has four steps and the page shows every one of them. Start with the appointments a week where nobody turns up. Take off the ones you normally manage to refill, because a slot somebody else takes is time lost rather than income lost. Multiply what is left by your average appointment value to get the weekly cost. Multiply the week by 52 for the year, then divide the year by 12 for the month.
The month is worked out from the year on purpose. An average month is closer to 4.33 weeks than to 4, so treating a month as four weeks understates the cost by roughly 8% and does it quietly.
The deposit line applies your chosen percentage to the appointments that actually cost you money, never to the ones you refilled. It cannot claim you recover more than you lost, which makes the figure a floor rather than a best case.
Treat the result as an estimate of lost revenue for planning. It is not a tax calculation and it is not legal advice.
Why clients do not turn up
Very few people set out to waste your time. Most missed appointments have an ordinary cause. Somebody books three weeks ahead and forgets. A reminder goes to a mobile number that changed last year. The booking was made in a hurry and never reached a diary. Work overruns, childcare falls through, the car will not start.
There is a second group and it is the one deposits exist for. When a booking costs nothing to make and nothing to break, a small number of people will hold slots at two or three businesses and go to whichever suits them on the day. That is not malice either. It is a reasonable response to a commitment that carries no weight.
The split matters because the two causes need different answers. Forgetting is solved by reminders that actually arrive. A booking with nothing behind it is solved by asking for something behind it.
What a deposit policy changes
A deposit does two separate jobs. It recovers part of the money when somebody does not arrive, which is the part this calculator can show you. It also stops a share of careless bookings being made at all, which no calculator can show you, because the appointments it prevents never reach your diary.
It changes the conversation too. Chasing a client after a missed appointment is uncomfortable and it rarely ends with you being paid. Taking a card at the point of booking moves that decision to a moment when the client is already committed, and nobody has to make an awkward call afterwards.
The trade off is real and worth stating plainly. Some people will not book if they have to put money down first. Whether that costs you more than the missed appointments do is exactly the question the figures above are meant to help you answer.
What a reasonable UK deposit looks like
There is no legal standard and no single right answer. What UK service businesses commonly settle on is a percentage of the service price rather than a flat amount, because £20 is trivial against a £180 colour and heavy against a £14 dry cut.
Somewhere between 20% and 50% covers most of what you will see in practice. Shorter appointments at lower prices sit at the bottom of that range. Long appointments that block out half a day, first visits from someone you have never met and services with product cost attached sit nearer the top.
Two things matter more than the percentage itself. Say it plainly before the client confirms, and apply it to everybody. A policy applied selectively is the one that generates complaints, and a policy nobody saw is the one that gets disputed.
Whatever level you settle on, write it into your booking terms and show it before the client confirms. This page is general guidance rather than legal advice, so have your own terms checked by somebody qualified before you rely on them.
How Youzse handles deposits and no-show fees
Deposits and no-show fees are part of Youzse rather than an extra you bolt on afterwards. A deposit can be a percentage or a fixed amount, and it can be set per service, so a half day appointment carries a heavier one than a quick appointment. The policy is shown to the client before they confirm and the card is taken at the point of booking.
Youzse starts at £19 a month, with extra locations from £15 a month and a 30 day free trial that needs no card. Card payments are charged at 2.5% plus 35p, and the Youzse platform fee sits inside that rate. There is 0% commission on new clients who find you through the Youzse directory. Over 60 trades are supported, from barbers and salons to garages, groomers and mobile trades.
Common questions about no-shows and deposits
How much do no-shows cost a UK service business?
It depends entirely on your prices and your diary, which is why this page asks for your numbers rather than quoting an average. Two unfilled slots a week at £45 each works out at £90 a week, £390 a month and £4,680 a year. Change the figures at the top of the page and the same sum runs on your own numbers.
Should I count a slot I managed to refill?
No. If somebody else took the appointment you did not lose the income, you lost the time spent rearranging it. The calculator asks how many you usually refill and removes them before it works out anything else.
What is a reasonable deposit to ask for?
Most UK service businesses land somewhere between 20% and 50% of the service price. Lower priced, shorter appointments sit at the bottom of that range, while long appointments, first visits and services with product cost attached sit nearer the top. There is no legal standard, so the level is yours to set as long as it is clear before the client confirms.
Will asking for a deposit lose me bookings?
Some, and that is worth being honest about. A deposit asks for a commitment and not everybody will give one. The question is whether the bookings you lose are worth more than the appointments you stop losing, which is the comparison the figures on this page are built to make.
Can I charge a fee after the appointment instead of taking a deposit?
You can, and Youzse supports a no-show fee per service as well as a deposit. Collecting after the event is harder than holding a card up front, and it only works if the client agreed to your terms at the time they booked, so make the policy visible at the point of booking either way.
Are deposits included on every Youzse plan?
Yes. Deposits and no-show fees are part of the platform from £19 a month, with a 30 day free trial that needs no card. Card payments are charged at 2.5% plus 35p, which already includes the Youzse platform fee, and there is 0% commission on new clients who book you through the Youzse directory.
Put a deposit policy behind your diary
Deposits and no-show fees are part of every Youzse plan, from £19 a month, with a 30 day free trial that needs no card.
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