We originally released our Packages feature to Timely in early 2015. Since then, we've received loads of feedback and requests relating to this feature, and so we made the call to improve this feature in 2021.

Based on the feedback from our customers, we identified some key issues with our packages feature:

Packages were treated as revenue when sold, rather than a business liability. This meant there was no way to know what your outstanding package liability was at any one time. Find out more about liabilities in Timely.
There wasn't any way to know what appointments were booked in as a packaged service. Further to this, there wasn't any way to know the true value of appointments booked in for packaged services, as the price was set to the standard service price.
There wasn't a way to sell packages online, or allow clients to book in for their packaged services online.

Introducing our improved packages feature

Our brand new packages feature takes all this feedback on board, and we have released packages that are more in line with the expectations of you, our customers! The first version we have released has introduced 5 key new workflows:

Why should I use the new packages?

If you've been using our existing packages feature, and you've found that you are running into some of the issues described above, new packages are for you!

You'll be able to better report on your package sales, and have them correctly treated as a liability on your balance sheet.
You'll also get better reporting on your appointments booked in, and be able to properly see that they are packaged service appointments.

Why new packages may not be right for you

Our new packages have been built with a particular focus on the beauty industry, and so they may not be a good fit for your business. New packages may not be right for your business if you:

Offer classes (this feature has been sunset)
Sell packages that are made up of hours and minutes (instead of visits)
Sell packages for 'Any service', unlimited visits or no fixed price
If you often make changes to packages that have already been sold to clients (i.e. decreasing visits). We will be releasing the ability to properly reduce a package for no-shows in the very near future, so this scenario would be catered for.
If the current packages work well for your business and you don't want to change
You want to discount your packages at the point of sale. Discounts are applied directly within your package templates, therefore cannot be further discounted at the point of sale when issuing to clients.

FAQ’s for customers moving from Timely’s existing packages to new packages:

Can I still use my existing (old) packages once I change to the new packages?

If you've previously been using packages, there will be some changes to how you use packages in Timely.

Your old package templates will still be visible in your account under Setup > Packages on the Archived tab, but you will no longer be able to edit them. You will be able to delete them if you want to.
You won't be able to create or sell any more of the old packages to your clients. You will still be able to book clients in for old packages and redeem them. This will mean you'll naturally transition away from using the old packages as you sell new packages to your clients and redeem the old ones.

How does my reporting change?

As our new packages are fundamentally different to the old ones, you may notice that your reporting will go through a bit of a transition phase too. Previously we treated package sales as revenue when they were sold - this meant they were part of your totals in the Sales reports. Now, packages are considered a liability when they're issued, so they're only seen as revenue in your reports when they're redeemed against a client's appointment.
We've introduced new package reports, so you may need to use a range of reports for a while. The existing package reports will continue to work as long as you have any issued old packages, but you'll want to use the new reports to report on the new packages you're beginning to sell and book (and redeem!).

Can you migrate all my packages for me?

Not at this stage. To minimise the impact on your reporting and business processes, we recommend using the above gradual phase-out of the old packages from your account.