Client intake and consent forms: what to ask, and how clients sign

Do you actually need an intake or consent form?

Short answer: if a service touches skin, hair chemicals, or a client's body in a way that carries any risk of an allergic reaction or a sensitivity, yes. If it's a haircut with no chemical service, you can usually skip it.

A form makes sense for lash extensions, chemical treatments, massage, and waxing. It also fits tattoos and piercings, personal training with a health history, and home visits like cleaning where you need an emergency contact and access instructions. It makes less sense for a quick trim or a consult call, where the only real risk is a scheduling mix-up, not a physical reaction.

Ask yourself one question: would you want this in writing, from this client, before you start? If the answer is yes, a form is worth the ten seconds it takes a client to open a link on their phone.

Want the piece of Desk that actually does this? Forms are a Desk Pro feature - the free plan covers appointments, clients, and payments, and Pro adds deposits, forms, extra team members, and full reports. The rest of this guide works whether you use Desk or something else; where it gets specific, it says so.

What to put on the form (and what to leave off)

Short answer: ask what changes how you'll do the service or what you need in an emergency. Skip anything you're collecting out of habit rather than need.

Every extra question costs you completion rate. A ten-field form gets filled out at check-in, standing at the counter, rushed. A four-field form gets filled out the night before, on the couch. Match the form to the actual risk of the service, not to a generic template you found online.

One paragraph of plain-text policy covers most of what a form needs beyond the direct questions. Say what you do if there's a reaction, how you handle a no-show, whether you take before/after photos. A checked box confirming the client read it is enough for most small businesses. This isn't legal advice on whether a specific waiver holds up in your state - that answer varies by state, and by what happened.

How a client actually fills it out before showing up

Short answer: the form goes out as a link by text message. The client fills it in on their phone's browser, and you see a checkmark on the appointment once it's done - no app to install, no printing.

This only works if the form actually reaches the client before the appointment, not as a link buried in a confirmation email nobody opens. In Desk, a form set to Send before goes out by SMS as soon as the appointment is created. The client signs it right in the browser, and you can see whether it's done before you even confirm the booking. A form set to Send after goes out once you mark the appointment complete instead. That's useful for a short follow-up survey, not for anything that needs a signature ahead of time.

If a client didn't get the text, or their number changed, you're not stuck. Copy the form's link and send it yourself, by whatever method actually reaches them.

1. The client books (or you book for them) and the appointment is created.
2. If the service has a required "Send before" form, the link goes out by text.
3. The client opens it in their browser, fills in the fields, and signs.
4. The appointment shows a checkmark once it's done, or a small clock icon while you're waiting.
5. Tap the completed form on the appointment any time to read the answers.

Sending that link uses SMS credits like any other text Desk sends on your behalf - 2 credits per required form link, the same rate as a deposit link. New accounts start with 25 free credits, and SMS is billed separately from the app subscription once those run out.

Making a form required for a specific service

Short answer: attach the form to the service, not to your whole business, so a client booking a haircut never sees a waiver meant for chemical color.

A form that fires for every single service trains clients to ignore it, since most of it won't apply to them. Attaching it service by service keeps the form relevant, which is also what keeps completion rates up.

In Desk, each form has a Required for setting. Pick the specific services it applies to, then choose whether it's required for every appointment or only the client's first appointment with that service. The second option matters more than it seems. A returning lash client who already signed the consent form doesn't need to sign an identical one every four weeks. A new client booking the same service for the first time still does.

Build the form from a small set of blocks. Plain paragraph text covers your policy or instructions. A checkbox handles something the client agrees to. A text field takes an open answer, like "any allergies we should know about." A star rating works for a post-visit follow-up. Four block types are usually enough - an intake form shouldn't turn into a questionnaire nobody wants to finish.

What the form does and doesn't protect you from

Short answer: a signed form documents that a client told you something (an allergy, a condition, an agreement to a policy) before you started. It isn't automatic legal protection, and whether a specific waiver holds up depends on your state and what actually happened.

Treat the form as a record, not a shield. Say a client discloses an allergy and you proceed anyway without adjusting the service. The form documents that you knew - it doesn't excuse what happens next. Where a form genuinely helps is the more common case: a client who never mentioned a sensitivity, and later says they did. A dated, signed answer backs your side of that disagreement, without anyone needing to remember a conversation from three weeks ago.

Some things need more than this. A formal liability waiver. A cancellation-fee agreement with legal weight. A licensed service with specific consent rules - tattoo, piercing, a cosmetology procedure that requires a state disclosure. Check what your state and your professional license actually require for those. This article describes how the tool works, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state and by license type, so confirm with your state board or a lawyer before treating any wording here as sufficient.

Who sees the answers, and what happens if you delete a form

Short answer: answers to a follow-up ("Send after") form are visible to owners and managers only, not to every team member. Deleting a form stops new signatures without erasing the answers you already collected.

That visibility rule matters most for health and allergy questions. A specialist doesn't need to see a client's full medical disclosure to do the service, but the owner or manager handling a complaint or an incident does. Say you delete a form because you're replacing it with an updated version. The old link stops working immediately, but every submission a client already made stays attached to their profile and their past appointments. You won't lose the history; you just can't collect new answers on that exact form once it's gone.

A short setup walkthrough

Short answer: build the form once, attach it to the right services, and test it yourself before a real client sees it.

1. Go to Business Settings -> Forms and tap Add Form.
2. Give it a title a client will recognize, like "New client intake" or "Color consent."
3. Choose Send before for anything that needs a signature ahead of the visit, or Send after for a post-visit follow-up.
4. Under Required for, pick the services it applies to, and whether it's required every time or only on a client's first visit for that service.
5. Add your sections under Customize Form - policy text, a checkbox, and one or two short questions is plenty for most services.
6. Save, then use the preview to fill it out yourself exactly as a client would.
7. Book a test appointment for one of the attached services and confirm the text actually goes out and the link opens cleanly on a phone.

What to say to a client who's annoyed by "one more form"

Most pushback isn't really about the form - it's about not understanding why it exists. A short, honest reason usually settles it.

• "It's the same one every client fills out for this service - it just tells me what to watch for."
• "It takes less time than the conversation we'd have anyway once you're in the chair."
• "You only sign this once, unless something changes - it's not a new form every visit."

What doesn't help: apologizing for asking, or making it optional for whoever complains. A form that's sometimes required and sometimes skipped stops being useful as a record for anyone.

Sources

• Desk Help - Forms - how intake, consent, and follow-up forms work, including Send before/after and Required for
• Desk Help - SMS notifications - what triggers a text and how many SMS credits it costs
• Desk pricing - Free vs. Pro feature split

A haircut doesn't need paperwork. A lash fill, a chemical service, or a first training session usually does, and the paperwork only works if it's signed before the client sits down, not after. Desk Free covers booking, clients, and payments with no subscription; Forms, along with deposits and full reports, are part of Desk Pro.