Last-minute cancellations are frustrating enough. Managing the fees that come with them shouldn't create even more work for your cleaning business.

When a customer cancels an appointment, you might find yourself checking your cancellation policy, calculating the appropriate fee, explaining it to the customer, and manually creating an invoice.

It's a lot of administrative work for an appointment that isn't even happening.

Allison makes this process much easier.

With Allison, you can configure your cancellation fees, include your policy in customer communications, and apply cancellation fees directly when a job is canceled.

Here's how it works.

1. Configure Your Cancellation Fees

Every cleaning business handles cancellations a little differently.

Some charge a percentage of the scheduled cleaning price. Others prefer a flat fee. Many have different fees depending on how much notice a customer provides.

Allison supports all of these approaches.

To configure your cancellation policy:

1. Open Settings in Allison.

2. Select Scheduling and Clocking In.

3. Click Edit and find the Cancellation Fees section.

4. Configure your fees based on how far in advance the customer cancels.

5. Review your policy summary and save your changes.

You can configure fees for several cancellation windows:

• Same-day cancellations

• Within 24 hours

• Within 48 hours

• Within 72 hours

For each window, you can choose between a fixed dollar amount and a percentage of the scheduled job price.

For example, your policy might look like this:

This is an example configuration. Your business can choose the amounts and cancellation windows that work best for your policies.

As you configure your fees, Allison displays a summary of your policy so you can see exactly how the different rules will apply.

Once saved, your cancellation fee settings are available when you need to process a canceled job.

2. Automatically Communicate Your Policy to Customers

Having a cancellation policy is important. Making sure customers are aware of it is just as important.

After all, the last thing you want is a disagreement with a customer who didn't realize your business charges for last-minute cancellations.

That's why Allison lets you include your cancellation policy directly in your customer communications.

Navigate to Messages → Content in Allison.

This is where you can customize the messages your business sends to customers, including job confirmations and appointment reminders.

Within the email editor, you'll find a dedicated Cancellation Policy content block.

Simply include that block in your email template, and Allison will display the cancellation policy you've configured in your settings.

If you update your cancellation fees later, the content block will reflect your updated policy in future messages.

This makes it easier to communicate your policy consistently without manually updating the fee amounts throughout your customer communications.

The result: Customers know what to expect, and your team has a clear policy to reference if a cancellation occurs.

3. Apply Cancellation Fees When a Customer Cancels

Now for the part that can save your office the most time.

Let's say a customer calls to cancel their cleaning appointment just 40 minutes before the job is scheduled to begin.

Instead of manually calculating a fee and creating an invoice, you can handle the process directly in Allison.

Here's what happens:

1. Open the scheduled job.

2. Select Edit and choose to cancel the job.

3. Decide whether you want to apply a cancellation fee.

4. Review the fee Allison suggests based on your configured cancellation policy.

5. Confirm the cancellation and apply the fee.

Because Allison already knows your cancellation rules and the scheduled job amount, it can suggest the appropriate fee.

For example, if your policy charges 100% for same-day cancellations, Allison will suggest the full job price.

But you're always in control.

You can accept the suggested fee, select another fee amount, enter a custom amount, or waive the fee entirely.

Once you confirm the cancellation and apply the fee, Allison creates an invoice with the cancellation fee included as a line item.

That invoice can then be managed through your normal billing workflow.

No separate calculations. No manually creating an invoice from scratch.

4. Make Exceptions Without Losing Consistency

Just because you have a cancellation policy doesn't mean you need to enforce it every single time.

Sometimes a longtime customer has an unexpected emergency. Other times, a customer may have a history of repeatedly canceling appointments at the last minute.

Those situations probably shouldn't be handled the same way.

When canceling a job in Allison, you'll see helpful context about the customer's cancellation history.

For example, Allison may show that this is the customer's first cancellation in the past six months.

That information can help you make a more informed decision about whether to charge a fee.

Maybe you decide to waive it for a customer who rarely cancels.

Or perhaps you apply the fee for someone who has repeatedly canceled with little notice.

Either way, the decision is yours.

Allison gives you a consistent policy to work from while preserving the flexibility to handle individual situations appropriately.

5. See Cancellation Fees in Action

Want to see the entire process?

In this walkthrough, we'll show you how to configure your cancellation fees, add your policy to customer communications, and apply a fee when a cleaning appointment is canceled.

[VIDEO EMBED: How to Set Up a Cancellation Policy in Allison]

The video covers:

• 0:58 — Configuring your cancellation fees

• 2:26 — Including your policy in customer messages

• 3:37 — Canceling a job and applying a fee

• 5:10 — Final thoughts

Whether you're just getting started with a cancellation policy or looking for an easier way to enforce your existing one, Allison helps you manage the entire workflow in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Allison charge different cancellation fees based on how much notice a customer gives?

Yes. Allison allows you to configure different cancellation fees for same-day, 24-hour, 48-hour, and 72-hour cancellation windows. Each fee can be a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of the scheduled job price.

Can I waive a cancellation fee for a specific customer?

Absolutely. When canceling a job, you can decide whether to apply a cancellation fee. You can also override Allison's suggested fee with a different amount.

Will Allison automatically create an invoice for a cancellation fee?

Yes. When you cancel a job and choose to apply a cancellation fee, Allison creates an invoice containing the fee. You can manage that invoice through your normal billing process.

Can I include my cancellation policy in customer confirmation emails?

Yes. Allison provides a cancellation policy content block that you can add to supported email templates. The block displays the cancellation policy configured in your settings.

What if I haven't established a cancellation policy for my cleaning business?

If you're still figuring out what your cancellation policy should look like, start with our guide to handling last-minute cleaning cancellations.

It covers setting customer expectations, choosing appropriate fees, and protecting your cleaning business when appointments are canceled.

Spend Less Time Managing Cancellations

Cancellations are part of running a cleaning business, but the administrative work that follows doesn't have to be.

With Allison, you can set clear cancellation fees, communicate your policies to customers, and create cancellation fee invoices without jumping between different systems.

And because Allison manages your scheduling, customer information, and invoicing together, the entire process happens in one place.

Want to see how Allison can simplify your cleaning business operations?

Schedule a Demo of Allison

Already using Allison? Head to Settings → Scheduling and Clocking In to configure your cancellation fees.