# Approve or Reject Booking Requests

> Require admin approval for bookings, work the pending queue, approve in bulk, and reject with a reason that gets emailed to the requester.

Canonical: https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/help/approve-or-reject-booking-requests
Last updated: 2026-10-17

Help › Bookings

Turn on approval so nothing is confirmed until you say so, then work the pending queue — including bulk approving and rejecting with a reason.

By [Jordan Ellis](https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/authors/jordan-ellis), Facility Operations Lead. Last updated October 17, 2026.

By default a booking is confirmed the moment it is made. If your facility needs to vet who is using the space — schools, churches, community centres and anywhere with a permit process usually do — turn on approval and every request waits for a decision.

## Turn approval on

In Settings, under Booking Settings, enable requiring admin approval for bookings. From then on new bookings arrive as pending rather than confirmed, and your admins are emailed that a request needs a decision.

## Work the queue

Pending requests appear on your dashboard home so nothing sits unnoticed, and in the Bookings list filtered by pending status. From the list you can approve several at once, which is the difference between five minutes and half an hour after a busy weekend.

## Rejecting well

Rejecting asks for a reason, and that reason goes into the email the requester receives. Take the extra ten seconds over it: "the hall is already booked for the school play that evening, try Thursday" turns a rejection into a rebooking, where a bare rejection turns into a phone call.

The reason is stored on the booking too, so the record explains itself later.

## What each decision sends

- A new request emails your organisation admins
- Approving emails the person who booked, confirming the slot
- Rejecting emails them with your reason
- Cancelling a confirmed booking emails them with the cancellation reason

## When approval is the wrong tool

If you are only trying to stop people booking outside your hours or for silly durations, venue operating hours and booking constraints do that automatically and without anyone having to click approve. Save approval for when you genuinely need a human to decide who gets the space.

## FAQs

### Where do I turn on booking approval?

Settings, then Booking Settings, then require admin approval for bookings. It applies to new bookings from that point on; bookings already confirmed are not affected.

### Can I approve several requests at once?

Yes. Filter the Bookings list to pending and approve in bulk. Rejections are done individually because each one asks for a reason.

### Does the customer know their booking is only pending?

Yes. A booking awaiting approval is not confirmed, and the requester is emailed once you approve or reject it.

### What happens to a paid booking that gets rejected?

Payment is taken through your own Stripe account, so refunds are issued from Stripe. Reject the booking here so your calendar is right, then refund in Stripe.

## Related

- [Set Up Your Public Booking Page](https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/help/set-up-your-public-booking-page)
- [Create and Manage Bookings](https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/help/create-and-manage-bookings)
- [Set Up Recurring Bookings](https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/help/set-up-recurring-bookings)