# Block Bookings (Plus2 Hosted Reservations) and Invoicing

HTML version: [Block Bookings (Plus2 Hosted Reservations) and Invoicing](https://support.gladstonesoftware.cloud/gooperator/block-bookings-plus2-hosted-reservations-and-invoicing)

## Problem
You need to set up a block booking in Plus2: a recurring reservation charged to one customer (a person, club, school or company), then invoice it, take payment and handle cancelled sessions.

## Resolution

### Create the block booker

1. **Add the member in Plus2**
   - Go to `Members > New`. Only the red mandatory fields are needed (name, date of birth, gender and so on). You can use the organisation as the name.
   - **Price level**: for example, Adult. **Status**: *Block booker* (see [System Specification – Building a New Site](../plus2/system-specification-building-a-new-site.md) for statuses).

2. **Enter the work address**
   - Enter the company, phone and address on the **Work address** tab.
   - On **More details**, set the **preferred mailing address** to **Work** so it prints on invoices. Invoicing always reads the **work** address type (Go Book/Join reads the **home** type), so the label matters, not what kind of address it is.

3. **Save**
   - Click **Save**.

### Create the hosted reservation

4. **Open Reservation configuration**
   - Go to `Configuration > Bookings > Reservations > New`, or from the booking sheet: go to the first booking date, left-click the area (or resource group) at the start time, then right-click > **Reservation configuration**, which pre-fills that resource, date and time.

5. **Enter the ID, name and duration**
   - **ID** (max 15 characters, must be unique): use a documented compact pattern staff can read without opening the booking, for example site + weekday number + start time (`1200`) + `BB` + a 3-letter type (for example, `FTB`) + month/year (`0825`). A customer or organisation code can also be included. Never put personal data in an ID. See [Naming Conventions for Plus2 IDs and Descriptions](../plus2/naming-conventions-for-plus2-ids-and-descriptions.md).
   - **Name / description** (for example, "Football club – Astro"), the **block-booking activity group**, and **duration** (for example, 60 minutes). Booking limits on this tab do not matter.

6. **Set the dates**
   - On the **Dates** tab, check the start date and time carried through from the booking sheet.
   - Enter the end date (block bookings usually have one), the approved number of weeks, or indefinite.
   - Tick the weekday(s).
   - Add **excluded dates** for bank holidays, closures and dates the customer will not come. Dates can also be excluded later.

7. **Add the resource products**
   - On **Products**, add only the **resource products** (search IDs starting `Z`, for example Pitch A and Pitch B).
   - Check the one selected from the booking sheet is present, copy its ID to search for the others if helpful, **Add** each extra resource, and check nothing unintended is included.

8. **Set colours (optional)**
   - On **More details**, add optional notes, the booking **colour** and **text colour**. Use colours consistently so staff can tell booking types apart.

9. **Set the host and charges**
   - On the **Hosted** tab:
     - **Host member**: search for the block booker (use **Same as last** if you just created them).
     - **Billing period**: per booking (itemised on the invoice), monthly, bi-monthly or whole reservation.
     - **Due date** (when billing occurs): start or end of the billing period, or one or two months before.
     - **Payment method**: **Invoice** for an invoicing account. The first time, open the invoice-payment details and enter the method they normally settle by (for example, EFT/bank transfer) and a **credit limit** sufficient for the booking value. Do not use an arbitrary credit limit in production; follow the organisation's credit-control approval. Leave it as a standard (cash) account for customers who pay each week as they attend.
     - **Products** to charge: add or create block-booking price products (for example, "Astro block booking 60 min", with **Apply to all** price levels). Set the charging unit and quantity: for two pitches, add the product twice (or set quantity 2), or tick **price override** and enter the combined price. Check the unit price × recurrence gives the expected total.
     - **Tax**: review the default tax code. Enable the override and choose the rate only where an approved exemption applies (for example, some schools or charities). Do not assume an account is tax-exempt.
     - Extras such as floodlights can be charged **per booking** or as a **one-off** charge.

10. **Save**
    - Click **Save**. Plus2 checks every requested resource and time slot against the booking sheet. If some dates clash, it lists them and asks whether to book around them. Check the booking sheet after saving.

11. **Verify the booking**
    - Check the series appears across the full date range, exclusions are right, and host, invoice method, credit limit, product, quantity, price and tax are correct.
    - Resolve conflicts before confirming the booking to the customer.

### Invoice and take payment

12. **Raise the invoice**
    - Nothing is owed until an invoice is raised.
    - **One account**: open the account (green person icon), switch the display to the **invoicing** account, then **Invoicing statement run** (third button from the right). Choose the cut-off date, tick **Live**, and click **OK**. It produces a summary, an itemised report and the invoice. The invoice is not sent automatically: save it to Gladstone Drive and send it yourself.
    - **Batch invoicing**: go to `Plus2 > Modules > Invoice statement run`, choose the cut-off date and the invoicing account type, then run live. It raises a separate invoice for every block booker with outstanding bookings in one go (for example, monthly or quarterly). The invoices carry no logo, so some sites raise the sales this way and send their own invoices.

13. **Take payment**
    - The invoice then shows as unpaid sales. Pay it in Plus2, or at a 360 till with **Find invoice** using the (numeric) invoice number, paying individual lines if wanted (see [Paying Invoices and Sending Pay by Link from Gladstone360 POS](../gladstone360/paying-invoices-and-sending-pay-by-link-from-gladstone360-pos.md)).
    - Staff can also pay an invoice or booking account at reception on behalf of a different contact; the sales stay on the right records and the payer is recorded separately.
    - If the customer pays by bank transfer (EFT/BACS) to your finance system, still record the payment against the invoice (for example, with an EFT or **bank transfer** payment method), otherwise it stays as a debt. At a till, non-cash methods must be declared. Keep a cheque or bank-transfer method available for block bookers.
    - **Card payment links**: a Gladstone Pay link can be sent by email so the customer pays by card (see [Invoicing Module and Pay by Link (GladstonePay)](invoicing-module-and-pay-by-link-gladstonepay.md)).
    - **Paying from the Go account**: Operator has a **Pay invoices URL / invoice payments** setting that lets block bookers log into Go and pay an outstanding invoice (see [Other Go Operator Settings: Single Site, SSO, Payments and Notifications](other-go-operator-settings-single-site-sso-and-notifications.md)). Confirm availability on your release before promising it. It is a payment route, not an accounting category: money is recorded on the day it is taken, and normal payment-method reporting applies. A payment covering several periods is not split back across them, although booking reports still show the paid bookings by their booking dates.
    - **Paying ahead without an invoice**: a customer on a **standard** account (not an invoicing account) can instead pay by card for bookings months ahead, with no invoice raised.

### Cancelled sessions and credits

14. **Delete the session and credit it**
    - Delete the session from the booking sheet (double-click > **Delete session**).
    - If it has been invoiced you are warned, then asked whether to refund. Choose **No** to put a **credit line** on the next invoice instead.

## Notes

- A **block booking** in Plus2 is a *hosted reservation*: a reservation booked against one customer rather than open for public booking, charged to that customer (the host). This article covers the **legacy Plus2 method**.
- **Two products.** Gladstone now also has **Block Bookings in Go Operator > Centre Management**, released jointly with the new **Invoicing Module**. It has different billing options, can be edited after creation, and treats date clashes differently. See [Block Bookings in Go Operator (Centre Management)](block-bookings-in-go-operator-centre-management.md) and [Invoicing Module and Pay by Link (GladstonePay)](invoicing-module-and-pay-by-link-gladstonepay.md). Always check which one the site uses, and where a booking was created. Plus2-created block bookings still show in Centre Management, but deliberately degraded (no recurring indicator, limited edit/cancel options). That is not a bug.
- Even with the new product, the **block booker record** and its **invoicing account** are still created in Plus2, and the **Invoicing** payment method must be ticked **Default for Hosts** in Plus2 for Go block bookings to work.
- **How it differs from a class**: a class (standard reservation) has a **price product** and a **resource product** and is open for booking. A hosted reservation has only the **resource product** (where it takes place) on the **Products** tab. The charge is set on the **Hosted** tab, against the host.
- Block bookers can also be added in 360 with the adult add-contact workflow, then their status changed; a separate workflow is not needed for small numbers (see [Designing Gladstone 360 Add Contact Workflows](../gladstone360/designing-gladstone-360-add-contact-workflows.md); individual permissions in [Gladstone 360 Contacts Permissions](../gladstone360/gladstone-360-contacts-permissions.md)). Record photography consent against the block booker and make them responsible for their attendees' consent.
- Once saved, a Plus2 block booking **cannot be changed** (no new resources, dates or price). To add another pitch or an extra date, create another reservation. You can only remove sessions. (Go Operator block bookings can be edited.)
- 360 shows the **standard** account only, so an invoicing account's sales do not appear on the member record in 360.
- The booking sheet does not flag unpaid block bookings. Open the booking to see its status, or use Gladstone Reporting: the **Bookings** dashboard shows booking debt on standard and invoice accounts.
- **Legacy vs new-module invoices at POS**: a **numeric** invoice number in 360 **Find Invoice** uses the legacy Plus2 lookup, where individual lines can be paid. An **alphanumeric** number (for example, `INV-0001`) is a new Invoicing Module invoice, which must be issued first and is paid **in full** only.
- **Alternatives to a hosted reservation**:
  - **Pay as you go block**: create the block booking against a standard (non-invoicing) account. Each week appears as a future unpaid sale, paid when they attend.
  - **One-off events** (for example, a corporate Christmas booking): book an activity (for example, "Corporate event – Astro" with its own price) in advance from 360 or Plus2. Staff can book further ahead than customers.
  - **Blocking time without charging** (for example, partner clubs that pay elsewhere, internal use such as a crèche): add a booking sheet **exception** or **schedule** with a named restricted time band (see [Plus2 Activities, Reservations, Booking Sheets and Closures](../plus2/plus2-activities-reservations-booking-sheets-and-closures.md)). It is not reported on or invoiced.
  - **Volume discounts** for block bookers (for example, a percentage off for many weeks) are usually applied manually rather than through a price level.
- **Moving from another system**: block bookings do not migrate. Only customers do. Re-create them in Gladstone. You can add block bookers and bookings on live before go-live; the later import adds the migrated customers around them. For the overlap period, stop taking bookings on the old system at a set point, or enter them in both, to avoid double bookings.
- **Checklist for each block booking**:
  - Customer or organisation account is correct (status Block booker, work address, preferred mailing address Work).
  - Start date, end date, time and duration are correct.
  - Recurrence days are correct.
  - Holidays and other exclusions are entered.
  - All required resources are included, and no unintended ones.
  - Billing period and due date are correct.
  - Invoice method and credit limit are **approved**.
  - Chargeable product, quantity and price are correct.
  - Tax treatment is correct (exemption not assumed).
  - The full series appears on the booking sheet.
  - Conflicts and exclusions are resolved before confirming to the customer.
- Quick sequence: select booking-sheet slot → **Reservation configuration** → dates and exclusions → all resources → host → invoice method and credit limit → chargeable product → tax → save and verify the full series.
- Related: [Block Bookings in Go Operator (Centre Management)](block-bookings-in-go-operator-centre-management.md); [Gladstone 360 Permission Reference Overview](../gladstone360/gladstone-360-permission-reference-contacts-pos-and-check-in.md); [Invoicing Module and Pay by Link (GladstonePay)](invoicing-module-and-pay-by-link-gladstonepay.md); [Plus2 Activities, Reservations, Booking Sheets and Closures](../plus2/plus2-activities-reservations-booking-sheets-and-closures.md); [Plus2 Products, Calendars and Booking Sheets](../plus2/plus2-products-calendars-and-booking-sheets.md); [Configuring Multiple Sites in One Plus2 Database](../plus2/configuring-multiple-sites-in-one-plus2-database.md); [Gladstone 360 Check-in Screen and Point of Sale (Till)](../gladstone360/gladstone-360-check-in-screen-and-point-of-sale-till.md).