Clinic guides
Switching from Fresha, Phorest, Pabau or Cliniko: what to check before you move
Changing booking system feels risky because your whole clinic lives inside it. Most of that risk is in a handful of things you can check in advance.
The short answer
Before you switch, get a full export of your clients, future appointments, appointment history, treatment notes, consent forms and photos, and list everything that holds money: deposits, prepaid courses and packages, gift vouchers and memberships.
Then check your notice period, how payments are tied to the old system, and which booking links point at it. Pick one cut-over day so no appointment ever lives in two diaries at once, and switch off the old system's automatic reminders the moment you move.
1. Get your data out — all of it
Whichever system you're on, ask its support team for a full export before you give notice, and check it opens properly. A spreadsheet of names and phone numbers is not enough.
| Data | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Client list with contact details | Your client base. Include marketing consent, so you know who you may message. |
| Future appointments | Every booking already made has to exist in the new diary, at the right time, with the right practitioner. |
| Appointment history | Who had what, and when — the basis for rebooking and follow-ups. |
| Treatment notes and records | Products, doses, areas treated and batch numbers where you record them. |
| Consent and medical forms | Signed forms you may need to keep and produce later. |
| Before-and-after photos | Often stored separately from the client record — ask specifically. |
| Services and prices | Your menu, durations and prices, so the new system books correctly. |
Ask what format each comes in. Client lists usually export as a spreadsheet; forms and photos may come as files, or may need requesting separately.
2. Find every bit of money in flight
This is where switches go wrong. Before you move, list:
- Deposits already paid for future appointments — and who holds that money.
- Prepaid courses and packages with sessions still to use.
- Gift vouchers that haven't been redeemed.
- Memberships and recurring payments.
- Cards saved on file for no-show or late-cancellation fees.
If your current booking system also processes your payments, ask how refunds and payouts for bookings made before the switch will work after you leave, and whether saved cards can move with you. Get the answer in writing.
3. Your clinical records are yours
As the clinic, you are the controller of your clients' personal data; your booking software provider processes it for you. Under UK GDPR, the contract between you must say that at the end of the contract the provider will, at your choice, delete the personal data or return it to you. So ask for it back before your account closes, not after.
Check with your insurer or professional body how long you need to keep treatment records and consent forms, and make sure you have a copy you can still open once the old account is gone.
4. Read the contract and the small print
- Your notice period and any annual commitment.
- Add-ons billed separately — text-message credits, marketing tools, extra users — that need cancelling too.
- Whether you lose access to your data on the day you cancel, or have a window to download it.
5. Find every link that books into the old system
Clients book through more places than you remember. Make a list and update them all on cut-over day:
- The link in your Instagram bio and any link-in-bio page
- The Book button on your Google Business Profile
- Your website's booking widget or buttons
- Saved replies, email signatures and WhatsApp quick replies
- Any marketplace listing that came with the old system
6. Plan one clean cut-over day
- Pick a quiet day and tell your team.
- Stop taking new bookings in the old system at a set time.
- Move future appointments and check a sample against the old diary — dates, times, practitioners, deposits.
- Switch off the old system's automatic reminders and marketing, or clients get two reminders with two different links.
- Update every booking link from your list above.
- Keep the old account readable for a few weeks, if you can, in case something needs checking.
7. Messaging channels take longest — start early
If your current system sends WhatsApp or text messages from your clinic's number, ask how to disconnect it. A number generally can't be connected to two providers at once, and business messaging accounts may need approving again for the new one. Start this before cut-over day, not on it.
Moving to myAthenaAI
When a clinic applies to myAthenaAI, we ask which system it books clients in with today — Fresha, Phorest, Pabau, Cliniko, Timely, Ovatu, Boulevard, Vagaro, Mindbody, Square, paper, or something else — so we know what we'd be moving your clients and diary over from. Every clinic is installed by hand: we check your channels and your diary first, and if it isn't a fit, we'll say so. Athena is trained on your treatments, prices, policies and tone of voice, and your messaging channels are approved and connected, before she answers anyone.
Sources
Figures checked 2 November 2026. Rates change — check the source before relying on them.