Understanding booking status types

Booking status types determine how each reservation behaves in Checkfront, ranging from holding inventory to recording payments and cancellations. They determine when bookings move between stages and help you track progress, trigger notifications, and control availability.

Discover why status types matter, explore a sample workflow, review the default statuses, and understand the next steps.

New to booking statuses? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to Booking Statuses.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

• Manage > Layout > Statuses
   

What more do I need to use this feature?

• Admin permissions to manage your account.
   

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

• This feature is available in both our classic version, which uses classic items (Inventory > Items), and our classic version, which uses classic products (Inventory > Products).  → Learn more about products

Statuses are more than just labels - they’re key to your booking workflow.

• Track progress: See at a glance if a booking is pending, paid, or cancelled.
• Control inventory: Some statuses hold inventory; others release it automatically.
• Trigger notifications: Use status changes to send customer or staff emails.
• Automate actions: Automations and integrations rely on these core system states.

Here’s how booking statuses might progress through a standard customer journey:

These system-defined statuses are essential to Checkfront’s logic. They can’t be deleted or their status IDs changed, but can be renamed or recolored.

Pending

This locked status holds a booking pending confirmation. Inventory is set aside and unavailable for further bookings.

Reserved

This locked status confirms the completion of a booking, whether or not payment has been made. Inventory is set aside and unavailable for further bookings.

Auto-imported bookings from myallocator Bookings that auto-import from myallocator automatically create using the Reserved system booking status. It is recommended not to adjust the Reserved system booking status if you also use myallocator. Learn more about myallocator here: Introduction to the Checkfront integration with myallocator

Deposit

The system uses this locked status when a partial payment has been applied to a booking.

Deposit notifications The system Deposit status notification is only sent when the booking changes to Deposit status. Partial transactions applied when the booking is already in Deposit status do not trigger the Deposit notification to be sent again.

Learn more about ecommerce settings For a detailed look at the available ecommerce settings, check out the following article: Configuring ecommerce settings for deposits, payment types, order confirmation, and reCAPTCHA

Paid

The system sets this locked status after an invoice has been paid in full through a Payment Provider, which means the transaction has been authorized for payment and potentially paid out.

How long it takes for the deposit to arrive in your bank account depends on your payout schedule with your Payment Provider.

This status can be set manually if the POS receives payment. Inventory is set aside and unavailable for further bookings. 

Learn more ecommerce settings For a detailed look at the available ecommerce settings, check out the following article: Configuring ecommerce settings for deposits, payment types, order confirmation, and reCAPTCHA

Waiting

This is an unlocked status by default. Similar to Pending. However, the item/product booked is not held aside while the booking is confirmed.

Cancelled

This unlocked status is used to cancel a booking and return items or products to inventory when a payment has been applied to the invoice.

Void

An unlocked status, like Cancelled, is used to void a booking and return items or products to inventory. A booking can only be marked as Void if no payments have been applied.

If payments have been applied, the Void status is not available for use, and Cancelled should be chosen instead.

Void status bookings are held temporarily Void status bookings are only held in the system for 30 days (aside from permanent notations within the Account Activity report (Reports > Account Activity) showing the Void event). This provides you with a window of opportunity to reconcile your reports and our Support team to troubleshoot missing payments better, etc. If you want to retain the booking records in your system, please use the Cancelled status instead of Void.

Pre-Booking

After the Customer Booking Form is submitted and the payment page arrives, this locked status holds a booking until payment is completed.

If your Ecommerce settings do not require payment to complete a booking, the status automatically sets to the default Customer Status in the Configuration area (Manage > Setup > Configuration). 

Pre-booking status bookings are held temporarily Pre-bookings are only held in the system for 30 days (aside from permanent notations within the Account Activity report (Reports > Account Activity) showing the Pre-booking or Void event). This gives you time to reconcile your reports, and our Support team time to troubleshoot missing payments. Inventory within Pre-Bookings is held for 15 minutes. If the hold time passes before the booking is completed, then the inventory is released unless the Customer chooses to extend the time. There is no option to adjust the default Pre-Booking hold time.

Learn more about pre-bookings For a detailed look at managing and reporting on Pre-bookings, check out the following article: How do I manage and report on abandoned or incomplete bookings (pre-bookings)?

Paid in GYG

For those with the GetYourGuide integration, bookings display with a status of Paid in GYG. The booking status cannot be disabled or set not to lock inventory while the integration is enabled.

Learn more about GetYourGuide For a detailed look at the GetYourGuide integration, check out the following article: Introduction to the Checkfront integration with GetYourGuide

Next Steps

In the following article, we examine how to update the status of a booking.

< Introduction to Booking Statuses    |     Changing the status of a booking >