Front Desk & Operations
Front-Desk Opening & Closing SOP Checklist
The front desk sets the tone for every guest and controls the money, the schedule, and the doors. When opening and closing depend on whoever happens to be on shift, small things slip: a card reader left offline, a deposit never reconciled, an unlocked retail cabinet overnight. This SOP checklist gives your med spa front desk a repeatable open-to-close routine that any team member can run on their first solo shift. It covers unlocking and setting up the space, bringing your booking and point-of-sale systems online, reviewing the day's schedule and consults, resetting the lobby and retail area, batching out and reconciling payments, and securing the building at close. Every line is concrete enough to check off. Print it, laminate it, or load it into your task system, and use it as the accountability record for who opened and who closed. It is built for owner-operators and front-desk leads who want consistency without hovering.
Opening — Unlock & Set the Space
- Disarm the alarm and log your entry time; note anything out of place from overnight.
- Turn on lobby, hallway, and treatment-hall lights; set the thermostat to guest-comfort temperature.
- Start music at lobby volume and turn on any scent diffuser; refresh the beverage and water station.
- Unlock the front door only at your posted open time, not before check-in is ready.
- Do a 60-second lobby walk-through: chairs straightened, materials tidy, restroom stocked and clean.
Opening — Bring Systems Online
- Power up the front-desk computer, booking/EMR software, and the payment terminal; confirm each one connects.
- Verify the card reader is online and the receipt printer has paper.
- Take phones off after-hours mode, check overnight voicemail, and route or return any urgent messages.
- Open the shared inbox and booking texts; clear any online booking requests awaiting confirmation.
- Verify the cash drawer starting float matches the logged amount, then lock the drawer.
Opening — Review the Day's Book
- Print or pull up the full day schedule; note gaps, double-bookings, and provider blocks.
- Confirm each appointment by text or call per your reminder policy; update any no-responses.
- Flag new-patient consults: confirm intake forms are complete and deposits are on file.
- Pull records to the correct rooms and confirm required forms are ready at the desk (front-desk prep only, no clinical review).
- Check that members and package holders on today's book have available credits; note any expiring soon to mention at checkout.
- Confirm retail testers, samples, and the beverage station are stocked for the day's expected traffic.
Midday — Keep the Desk Tight
- Rebook every guest at checkout before they leave; offer the next standing appointment first.
- Collect balances and apply deposits at checkout; never let a guest leave with an unlogged charge.
- Capture a card on file for any new guest at check-in per your policy.
- Reset the lobby and beverage station between rushes; restock retail gaps as they appear.
- Log every late arrival, cancellation, and no-show in the system so fees and credits apply correctly.
Closing — Wrap the Schedule & Guests
- Confirm tomorrow's first two hours of appointments are reminded and deposits are secured.
- Follow up on today's cancellations to rebook, and work the waitlist to fill tomorrow's open slots.
- Clear the online booking queue and shared inbox so nothing carries over unattended.
- Note any guest issues or promised follow-ups for the owner or manager before you forget them.
Closing — Payments & Reconciliation
- Batch out and settle the payment terminal for the day, and print the batch report.
- Count the cash drawer, compare to the system total, and record any over or short with your initials.
- Reconcile deposits taken today against the appointments they were applied to.
- Secure cash per your bank-drop procedure; never leave cash in an unlocked drawer overnight.
- File the day's sales and reconciliation report where the owner can review it.
Closing — Reset & Restock
- Straighten the lobby, wipe down the front desk and beverage station, and empty the water pitcher.
- Restock retail shelves and testers; write down anything low for the reorder list.
- Hand off used linens and gowns to laundry or the back per your process (front-desk handoff only).
- Turn off or set to standby non-essential equipment: printers, tablets, and beverage machines.
Closing — Secure & Shut Down
- Log out of the booking/EMR and payment systems and lock the computer.
- Lock the retail cabinet, product storage, and any cash or controlled areas the front desk manages.
- Turn off music, diffusers, and lights except designated overnight or security lighting.
- Confirm back and side doors are locked and verify cameras are recording.
- Arm the alarm, lock the front door, and log your close-out time and initials.
Put it to work.
Swap in your actual software names, open and close times, alarm and bank-drop steps, and cabinet and room specifics so the list matches your floor exactly.
Assign each shift a named opener and closer, and have them initial and time-stamp the list so it becomes your accountability record.
Keep it at the desk, laminated or in your task app, and walk through it with every new hire on their first opening and first closing shift.
Questions, answered.
Who should own opening and closing?
Assign a named opener and closer per shift rather than "whoever's here." The initials-and-time-stamp habit is what turns the checklist into an accountability tool instead of a suggestion.
How is this different from a generic retail open/close list?
It is built around med-spa realities: deposit and card-on-file capture, consult and intake readiness, membership and package credit checks, and reconciling deposits against the appointments they applied to — steps a generic store checklist does not have.
Should the front desk touch treatment rooms or charts?
Only for front-desk prep, such as pulling records to the right room and confirming forms are present. Clinical setup, product handling, and anything patient-care related stays with licensed staff and is not on this list.
How long should open and close take?
It depends on your floor size and how much traffic you carry, but payment reconciliation is usually the longest step at close. Time your own opening and closing runs for a week, then staff and schedule so no one is ever rushing the money count or the security checks.
Can I split this into two separate cards?
Yes. Many owners print opening and closing as separate laminated cards. Keep the payment-reconciliation and security sections on the closing card and treat them as non-skippable.
Stop re-typing it every time.
When you're ready to stop chasing paper, The MedSpa OS turns this checklist into a dated open/close task list that auto-assigns to the on-shift staffer and logs each completed run for you.
Get the operations audit and a free sample skill.
A one-page diagnostic of the three biggest leaks in your operating week, plus one complete MedSpa OS skill you can run today with nothing but a Claude plan. Emailed once. No nurture sequence.
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