Steps marked Required must be done before customers can book. The rest can wait, but most fields want them before opening day.
Phase 1 — Tell PBHQ who you are#
1. Field profile — Required Sidebar → Business → Settings → "Field Information"
Your field name, contact email and phone, address, and your "Booking URL" — the short name in your public booking link. Get the booking URL right now; it's what you'll print on flyers. → Field profile
2. Operations — Required Settings → "Operations"
Your "Timezone" (everything on the calendar depends on it), "Buffer Minutes" for cleanup between sessions, and an optional cap on simultaneous private parties. → Operations settings
3. Operating hours — Required Settings → "Operating Hours"
Open and close time for each day of the week. Leave both blank for days you're closed. Nothing can be booked outside these hours. → Operating hours
Phase 2 — Build what you sell#
4. Activities — Required
Paintball is always on. Turn on "Laser Tag bookings" and "Airsoft bookings" in Settings → "Booking Options" if you run them, and add anything else you offer at Sidebar → Catalog & Pricing → Activities. → Activities
5. Gear tiers — Required
At least one per activity. Each tier is a rental option with a price and a stock count. Sidebar → Catalog & Pricing → Inventory → "Add Gear Tier" → Gear tiers
6. Play areas — Optional
Only needed if you have distinct playing fields and want to book them separately, or cap how many parties run at once. Skip this and everything still works. → Play areas
7. Party packages — Optional but common
Birthday parties, corporate groups — anything sold as a package with a flat deposit. Sidebar → Catalog & Pricing → Party Types → Party packages
8. Extras — Optional
Paint, air fills, rental masks, pizza. Group them, price them, and link each one to the gear tiers it should appear with. → Extras and add-ons
9. Availability by day — Optional
Settings → "Activity Availability" limits which days each activity runs. Settings → "Walk-On Availability" limits which days walk-ons can be booked. Leave everything unselected to allow every open day. → Activities
Phase 3 — Get paid#
10. Connect a payment processor — Required to take money Settings → "Payment Processor"
Choose Stripe or Square and complete the connection. Until you do, PBHQ runs in demo mode — bookings go through and quote a price, but no card is ever charged. → Connect a payment processor
11. Sales tax — If you collect it Settings → "Operations" → "Sales Tax Rate (%)"
One flat rate. PBHQ adds it to what customers pay; you remit it. → Sales tax
12. Deposits — Optional
Decide whether walk-ons pay in full or leave a deposit (Gear deposits), and set the flat deposit on each party package.
Phase 4 — Waivers#
13. Waiver text — Required Sidebar → Business → Waiver
Paste your own release of liability. If you leave it blank, PBHQ uses generic default text — fine for testing, not fine for opening day. Have your insurer or attorney look at it. → Waiver settings
14. Safety video — Optional
Paste a YouTube URL and it embeds at the top of the waiver, with a required "I have watched the safety video" checkbox.
Phase 5 — Make it yours#
15. Photos and branding — Optional Settings → "Booking Page Photos", "Appearance", "Kiosk Logo"
Your colors, your photos, light or dark theme. → Appearance and photos
16. Kiosk PIN — Optional Settings → "Kiosk Mode"
Set a 4–6 digit PIN and the "Launch Kiosk" button in the sidebar comes alive. → Kiosk mode
17. Your team — Optional Settings → "Team" → "Invite"
Add managers and front-desk staff. → Your team
18. Embed on your website — Optional Settings → "Embed Booking on Your Website"
Copy the snippet into your own site so customers never leave it. → Embed booking on your website
Phase 6 — Test before you announce#
Do this before you send anyone your link.
- Click "New booking" in the sidebar and book yourself a session end to end.
- Confirm the gear, price, and times look right at every step.
- Complete checkout and check that the confirmation email arrives.
- Open the waiver link from the email and sign it.
- Find the booking at Sidebar → Operations → Bookings, expand the roster, and check the player in.
- Delete the test booking when you're happy.
If something didn't appear where you expected it, Why isn't this showing up? covers the usual causes.
You're live#
Share yourdomain.com/book/your-slug/ — or embed it — and start taking reservations.
Next, get familiar with game day: Dashboard home and Checking players in.