IN BRIEF:
Learn how to create and manage party bookings directly from the Office Portal. This guide walks through the required staff permissions, step-by-step booking instructions, and essential follow-up actions such as assigning charges and payments.

• Overview
  • Important Notes
• Accessing the Feature
  • Required Staff Permissions
• Step-by-Step Instructions
  • Booking a Party
  • Booking Window Example
• Troubleshooting & FAQs
• Related Articles

Overview

The Party Booking Management feature allows staff to schedule parties, assign packages and add-ons, link bookings to family records, and manage related financial transactions. All party bookings created in the Office Portal are tied to staff permissions to ensure appropriate access and control.

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Important Notes

• Interactive demos for configuring and using the Party Booking Management System are available in the Education Corner, accessible from the Office Portal Welcome screen.
• Full details for creating party bookings are also covered in Chapter two of the Party Booking Management: Creating and Updating Party Bookings demo.

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Accessing the Feature

Before booking a party, staff must have the correct permissions assigned.

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Required Staff Permissions

Page Access

• Parties Page
  • Full access required to view party bookings and page content.
• Settings Page
  • Full access required to manage party packages, timeslots, and configuration options.

Task Access

• Parties Task
  • View – allows viewing existing party bookings.
  • Full – allows creating and editing bookings, and enabling or disabling timeslots.
• Delete Parties Task
  • Full – required to delete existing party bookings.

Note: Staff members with Admin Access (Full Permissions) automatically have all required access.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

Booking a Party

To create a new party booking:

1. Navigate to PARTIES in the Office Portal.
2. Select a station.
   • Use the station drop-down menu to choose a party station.
   • Select the orange help icon to view the station description.
3. Choose the date and time slot.
   • Only available dates and times will display to prevent double-booking.
   • Timeslots are limited to the next twelve months.
     • Example: If the current date is January 5, 2026, timeslots will only display through January 2027.
4. Enter a party title.
   • Use a clear, descriptive title to help staff easily identify the booking.
5. Specify the number of guests.
6. Attach a family.
   • A family record is required for booking and financial tracking.
   • Use Search Families to locate an existing family by:
     • Guardian first or last name.
     • Email address.
     • Phone number.
   • Select Select next to the correct family.
   • Use New Family to create a new family by entering:
     • Guardian name.
     • Phone number.
     • Email address.
   • If the email address is already used:
     • As a primary email on another family: a warning displays and changes cannot be saved.
     • As a non-primary email on another family: a warning displays but can be overridden.
7. (Optional) Add a person of honor (honoree).
   • Select an existing student from the family, or
   • Select Add Honoree to create a new honoree.
8. Complete the contact section.
   • Enter the contact name, phone number, and email address.
   • Confirmation emails are sent to this email address.
   • This section auto-populates when an existing family is selected.
9. (Optional) Add notes.
   • Customer Notes
     • Visible on Party Booking Forms.
     • Can be included in confirmation emails if the [[party_notes]] variable is used.
   • Staff Notes
     • Internal only and visible to staff.
10. Select a party package.
    • Select Details to view included options.
11. Choose add-ons (if applicable).
    • Select Details to review available add-ons.
    • This section does not appear if no add-ons exist for the selected package.
12. Assign hosts.
    • Select one or more staff members to host the party.
13. Review party totals.
    • Includes:
      • Package fee.
      • Guest count.
      • Add-ons.
      • Applicable taxes.
14. Save the booking.
    • The booking must be saved before charges can be created.
15. (Optional) Send a booking confirmation email.
    • Sent emails are recorded in the booking confirmation details.
16. Create a new charge (from the Ledger section).
    • Program and charge category auto-populate based on party settings.
    • Charge due date auto-populates to match the party date.
    • Staff with appropriate permissions can edit the due date.
    • Tax is calculated either:
      • After the line item is added, or
      • When the charge is saved.
17. Create a new payment.
    • Enter a payment for the deposit or the full party price.

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Booking Window Example

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Troubleshooting & FAQs

• Why can I not see certain dates or timeslots when booking a party?
  • The System only displays available timeslots and limits booking to the next twelve months to prevent double-booking.
    • “Available” timeslots are those that are enabled do not have a party booking associated with them.
• Why can I not save a new family record?
  • If the email address entered is already used as a primary email on another family, the System will display a warning and prevent saving until the email address is changed.
• Why can I not create charges for a party?
  • The party booking must be saved before any charges can be created.

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Related Articles

• How Do I Activate the Party Booking Management System and Give Staff Members Access?
• How Do I Navigate the Party Booking Management System?
• Where Do I Configure Party Booking Management Settings?
• How Do I Create Party Time Slots?
• How Do I Create Party Stations?
• How Do I Create Party Packages?
• How Do I Create Party Add-ons?
• How Do I Configure Financial Settings for Parties?
• How Do I Configure the "Other" Party Settings?
• How Do I Manually Create a Charge for a Party?

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