Will square optimise the resource booked for an appointment?

[glossy]

Hi there, 

For context, I own a beauty salon offering eyelash extensions, brows and lash lift services. I have recently switched to square appointments premium plan, and would like to start using the resource function.

We have 9 resources available (4x brow chairs, and 5x beauty beds). While lash lifts and brows services can be done on either brow chair or beauty bed (any of the 9 resources), lash extensions can only be performed on a beauty bed (1 of the 5 resources). 

I was wondering, in the case where square books 5 of the beauty bed resources for lash lifts, will it automatically optimise when a lash extensions client books in? e.g. will square automatically reassign lash lift client to a brow chair, so lash extensions client is able to book in?

[tomven]

Hi @glossy, great question and you’re thinking about resources exactly the right way for a beauty business like yours.

I don't believe Square can automatically optimise or reshuffle resources once an appointment is booked. If all 5 beauty beds are already booked (even for services that could use a brow chair), Square will block new bookings for lash extensions rather than reassign an existing appointment to a brow chair.

How Square resources actually work
With Square Appointments resource management:

• When a client books, Square immediately reserves one available resource that is assigned to that service
• That resource stays locked to the appointment unless you manually change it
• Square does not look ahead or prioritise ‘resource‑restricted’ services like lash extensions over flexible services like brows or lash lifts
• There is no automatic rebalancing or optimisation logic across resources

So in your example:
If 5 lash lift clients book first and Square assigns them all to beauty beds, then:

• All beauty beds are considered unavailable
• A lash extensions client will see no availability, even though brow chairs are free
• Square will not move a lash lift to a brow chair automatically

Recommended setup for your scenario (best practice workaround)

Option 1 – Split flexible services by resource type
Create two versions of your flexible services:

• ‘Lash lift – brow chair’
• Lash lift – beauty bed’
• Same for brows if needed

Then assign:

• Brow chair version > only brow chair resources
• Beauty bed version > only beauty bed resources

This protects beauty beds for lash extensions while still allowing flexibility

Option 2 – Limit beauty bed availability for flexible services
If you want to keep one service listing:

• Assign all 9 resources to lash lifts and brows
• Reduce the number of beauty beds assigned to those services (for example only 2–3 beds)
• Leave all 5 beauty beds exclusively assigned to lash extensions

This ensures lash extensions always have beds available

If this optimisation is critical for your workflow, it’s worth submitting it as a feature request in the Square Feedback space.

Helpful reference
Square resource management overview:
https://squareup.com/help/au/en/article/7065-square-appointments-resource-management