Introduction
Whether you sell blocks of 10 or 20 sessions, tracking who's paid and how many they have left can get messy fast. Session blocks in Foundations are designed to fix just that, keeping payments, session counts, and history in one place so you always know exactly where every client stands.
In this article we'll cover:
- What session blocks are
- Why session blocks beat pay-per-session
- The life-cycle of a session block
- How to create a session block
- How to count a session towards a block
- Some FAQs
1. What exactly is a session block?
A session block is a prepaid bundle of sessions you sell to a client. In Foundations each block is a tidy record that keeps three things in sync:
- Money – the payment that funded the block.
- Usage – how many sessions the client has paid for and how many they've used.
- History – every session that gets ticked off against the block.
Because all three live in one place, you always know who has credit, how much is left, and when to remind them it's time to top up.
2. Why session blocks beat pay-per-session
A Comparison
| Pay-per-session | Session block |
|---|---|
| Have to issue a separate invoice for every session | Money collected up-front when client pays a single invoice |
| Less visibility on future income | Sale is recognised instantly |
| Harder to encourage commitment | Clients feel invested and more likely to complete the program |
3. The life-cycle of a session block
A session block is always in one of the following states:
- Draft – You've created the block but haven't invoiced the client yet.
- Pending – The invoice has been sent; you're waiting for payment. If it stays unpaid, your client gets up to two reminders.
- Active – Payment received, session credits unlocked. Every time you schedule a session and link it to the block, Foundations automatically decreases the number of sessions remaining.
- Completed – All session credits have been used up.
- Cancelled – The block has ended. Cancel block cancels any future sessions on it (your client is emailed about each one) and voids an unpaid invoice, but refunds nothing. To give money back on a paid block, use Refund block instead. It refunds the unused paid sessions at the price per session (bonus sessions are not refunded) and marks the block as cancelled. Any future sessions already booked on the block stay booked, so cancel them separately if they won't go ahead.
Low sessions marker: When a client has 20% or less of their block left, the Sessions left column in the clients table marks it as low.
4. How to create a session block
Foundations keeps things simple: each client works through one block at a time. If they already have a draft, unpaid or active block, Add session block won't appear in their menu until that block is used up, cancelled or deleted. Here's how to create one:
- In the clients table, click the three dots at the end of your client's row to open the menu, and click Add session block.
- Enter the number of sessions to include in the block, and the price you would like to charge for each session. The total price is calculated for you. You can add a description, which your client sees on the payment page. You can also tick Auto-renew. When the last session in the block is used (a session counts as used as soon as you schedule it against the block, not when it takes place), Foundations creates a new block with the same number of sessions, price and description, and emails your client its invoice straight away. If your client has a saved card and Auto-charge session blocks switched on, you choose what happens instead: charge the card (your client gets a receipt), send an invoice, or Not now, in which case nothing is created or sent.
To put your price up at renewal, open the block and click Change beside Renews at, or choose Change renewal price in the block's menu. Enter the new price per session and click Save renewal price. Only the next block changes, and it keeps the new price for the renewals after it. Its invoice reads, for example, "10 sessions at £110 per session". Foundations doesn't email your client about the change, so tell them before the block renews.
- After you click Review details, you'll see the details for the block you're about to create. Nothing is charged yet. Once you're happy, click Create block.
- You'll then see that the block is a draft until you invoice your client. Click Issue invoice to send the invoice now, or Not now to issue it later from the Session blocks tab.
- After clicking Issue invoice, you'll see a preview of the email your client will receive. You can edit the email subject and add a message. You can also click Send test to myself if you'd like to preview the email before sending it to your client. Once you're ready, click Send to (your client's first name). If you see a greyed-out Payments not ready button instead, you need to finish setting up payments first (the checklist in the sidebar takes you there). Your block stays as a draft, so you can come back and issue the invoice from the Session blocks tab once payments are ready.
- Finally, you'll see a confirmation that the invoice has been sent successfully.
And that's it – you've created a session block and sent an invoice for it.
In the clients table, you'll see your client's billing status has changed to Outstanding. If you hover over the badge you'll see the details of the invoice you just sent.
If your client hasn't paid after 2 days, they get a reminder email, and one more after 5, then nothing more. For a block, reminders wait until the sessions your client has already paid for have happened. That matters for renewals, which are invoiced as soon as the last session of the old block is booked, so your client isn't asked to pay while they still have paid sessions to come.
Reminders are on by default. You can switch off Send payment reminders in Settings > Reminders, untick Remind … automatically if it remains unpaid when you send the invoice, or click Stop reminders in the menu on the invoice's page. If your client paid you another way, stop the reminders or void the invoice (voiding puts the block back to draft).
Once your client pays, the badge turns green, and you're ready to start booking sessions for the block.
5. How to count a session towards a block
- From the dropdown menu in the clients table, click Schedule session.
- Fill in the details for the session.
- In the Session block field, use the dropdown and select the block.
- Click Schedule.
And that's it. Foundations has automatically decreased the sessions remaining in the block. If you sent a calendar invite, your client's email shows how many of their block's sessions they have left and the block's latest sessions, with a link to a page listing them all.
6. FAQs
What if a client cancels late?
Cancel the session but keep the credit used. Use the dropdown menu for the session (for example on the client profile) and click Cancel session. In the dialog, untick Credit back to the session block (it is ticked by default), then click Cancel session to confirm. The session stays used on the block. If the session time has already passed, you can click Mark no show instead, which also uses one credit.
Can I part-refund a block?
Yes. If you refund a block that has unused sessions, the remaining sessions get refunded automatically. You can do this from the client profile. Use the dropdown menu for a block and click Refund block.
This opens a dialog giving you a breakdown of the refund amount and the number of sessions remaining.
Can you have different session lengths inside one block?
Yes. Credits are just the number of sessions, so a 45-minute and a 60-minute session both consume one credit.
What if I forget to link a session to a block when I schedule it?
No problem. On the dashboard you'll see a section titled Needs attention. Any unlinked sessions appear there under Unlinked sessions. In Foundations, an unlinked session refers to a session that is not linked to an invoice or a session block. You can resolve it in one click by either issuing an invoice or linking the session to a block.
Session blocks help you stay organised, get paid up front, and keep every session accounted for. Try creating your first block and experience the improved workflow for yourself.