Agreements and waivers

Clients sign electronically, the signed copy is stored on their record, and you can require an agreement before a client can book online.

Only owners and managers can set up agreements.

Building a template

1. Go to Sidebar → Business Settings → Agreements.
2. Press New Template.
3. Give it a Template Name and pick a Template Type (Liability Waiver, Boarding Agreement, Grooming Consent, Medical Release, Daycare Agreement or Custom). Each type starts with sample wording you can change.
4. Set the options below.
5. Write or paste the wording under Agreement Content. Use Preview to check it.
6. Save.

The options that matter most:

• Required for Booking. Clients cannot book online until this is signed. Use it for your main liability waiver and little else — every required agreement is another step before a booking.
• Per Pet. Signed once for each pet instead of once for the client. Right for anything about a pet's health or handling. Wrong for general terms.
• Validity Period. How long a signature lasts: Never expires, 30 days, 90 days, 180 days, 1 year or 2 years.
• Applies to Booking Types. Grooming & appointments, Boarding, and Daycare. When the agreement is required, only the ticked booking types need it.

You can drop in placeholders that fill in automatically: {clientname}, {petname}, {business_name}, {date} and {address}.

Have anything with legal weight checked by someone qualified where you are. Alaga stores and shows your agreement. It does not supply legal wording, and nothing here is legal advice.

How clients sign

Online, all at once. When a client tries to book and has required agreements to sign, the booking page shows Agreements Need Signing. They can press Sign all at once (or Sign now if there is only one). Every agreement is shown in full, each with its own "I have read and agree" box. They sign once and that signature is recorded on each agreement — one record per pet for per-pet agreements. Clients can also sign from the Agreements page in their portal.

Later, at the appointment. The client can press I'll sign at my appointment instead. This is not a signature. It lets them book without signing first, and your team sees a "Will sign at appointment" note on the booking and on the client's Agreements tab. If you add a new required agreement later, it still blocks them until they deal with it.

At boarding check-in. When you check in a boarding or daycare stay, Alaga checks for missing agreements and lets the client sign each one on your screen.

By email. On the client's profile, open Agreements and press Send Reminder next to an agreement. The client gets an email asking them to sign. This needs an email address on file.

Recording a paper signature

If a client signs a paper copy in your shop, record it so they stop showing as unsigned.

1. Scan or photograph the signed paper.
2. Open the client's profile and go to Agreements.
3. Under Awaiting Signature, press Mark signed next to the agreement.
4. Upload the Signed copy (PDF, JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC, up to 10 MB).
5. Fill in Signed by and Date signed. The date cannot be in the future.
6. For a per-pet agreement, tick which pets it was signed for.
7. Press Mark signed.

The agreement now counts as signed everywhere, including the online booking check. It shows as "Signed on paper", and anyone on your team can open the uploaded copy. In the portal, the client sees it as signed in person.

Only owners and managers can mark an agreement signed.

What gets stored

Alaga records who signed, when, and the exact wording they agreed to. Editing a template later does not change what somebody already signed.

Signed agreements cannot be deleted from the app.

Expiry

Agreements with a validity period expire. Once a day, Alaga emails the client a renewal reminder 30 days, 7 days and 1 day before an agreement expires. The client's Agreements tab shows counts of Active, Pending and Expired agreements.

Where signed copies live

On the client's profile, under Agreements — including per-pet agreements, which show which pet they are for. Press View on a signed agreement to see the full signed text and signature, or the uploaded copy for a paper signature.

Practical advice

• Start with one required agreement. Your liability waiver. Add others only when you have a reason.
• Keep it short. A short agreement clients actually read protects you more than a long one they scroll past.
• Turn it off rather than delete it. Use the Active switch to stop a template being used. A template that clients have already signed cannot be deleted.
• Expect questions when you first turn on a required agreement. Existing clients hit it at their next online booking. Email them first.