Frequently asked questions.
If your question isn't here, ask us directly — and we'll reply within 2 working days.
Getting started
Who is LemonBooking for?
Venues that hire out space: community centres and village halls, sports facilities, church halls, meeting and conference rooms, libraries, dance studios, parks and council-run buildings. All solutions
Can we try it before we commit?
Yes. There is a 30-day free trial of the whole system, with no card required and no set-up fees. We set the system up from your sign-up answers (spaces, prices and opening hours), so nobody starts at a blank screen. At the end of the trial you choose a plan or walk away.
Do we need someone technical to run it?
No. LemonBooking is built for committees, trustees and small teams rather than for technicians. Separate roles let two or three people share the bookings without anyone needing technical knowledge, and support is included in every plan.
Can we import our existing data?
Yes. Copy your customers and forward bookings into our templates, from another booking system, a spreadsheet or a shared calendar, and we import them for you.
Pricing and billing
How much does it cost?
There are three plans, billed annually, and every one of them includes a website, booking calendar, online payments and your first eight facilities. There are no set-up fees. The pricing page has the current figures for your region and a calculator that works out an exact price.
What counts as a facility?
Any space you take bookings for: a main hall, a meeting room, a tennis court, a pitch, a studio. The first eight are included in every plan and further facilities can be added for a small additional fee.
Do you take a percentage of our bookings?
No. What you charge your hirers is yours. Card processing fees are set by your payment provider and paid to them, and we add nothing to invoice payments. Event ticketing carries a small fee on each paid ticket, and none on free tickets.
Integrations
How do our hirers pay us?
By bank transfer, or by card through whichever provider you connect. Stripe, SumUp, Square and PayPal are all supported, and Pay360, CivicaPay and GOV.UK Pay in the UK. Direct Debit through GoCardless is supported too. They pay from the link on their invoice and don't need an account with us to do it.
Which accounting software does LemonBooking work with?
LemonBooking is a certified Xero integration, and has similar integrations for QuickBooks and Sage, and for FreeAgent in the UK. LemonBooking can sync customer information, invoices, credit notes and payments with your bookkeeping software without anyone typing them in twice. If you don't use accounting software you can also connect your bank directly through open banking and reconcile payments that way.
Can LemonBooking control smart locks and heating?
Yes. LemonBooking issues PIN codes for Nuki smart locks and drives a Google Nest thermostat you already have for heating, both from the booking calendar: the hirer's code works for the hire and stops afterwards, and the room is warmed for the booking and falls back to its idle setting when it ends. Nobody has to hand over a key or remember to turn the heating down.
Can we connect LemonBooking to our website?
Yes. The calendar, booking form, facility list and events are each available as a paste-in snippet that drops into your existing site in the fonts and colours you choose, so it doesn't look bolted on. There is a read-only REST API if you would rather power your own pages, and if your site is past saving you can build a new website in our website editor instead. Hosting is included with all plans.
Running a venue in the UK & Ireland
Do you charge VAT on the subscription?
We invoice from Denmark — Tectonic Software ApS, VAT DK41622148 — so nothing is added to the price you are quoted. In the UK the reverse charge applies: if you are VAT-registered you account for the VAT on your own return, and if you are not, there is nothing to declare, though the value still counts towards your registration threshold. In Ireland, give us your VAT number and the reverse charge applies the same way; without one we account for the Danish VAT ourselves and absorb it. VAT on what you charge your own hirers is separate, and LemonBooking handles that itself.
Can we use LemonBooking in Ireland?
Yes. Irish venues are on the same plans as British ones, with the same 30-day free trial and the same support, and every feature except the UK-only modules: CivicaPay, FreeAgent, GOV.UK Pay and Pay360. Coming soon to Ireland: SMS alerts. Invoices are issued in euro on request and paid by SEPA Direct Debit from an Irish account, and your own hirers can pay you by card through Stripe, SumUp, Square or PayPal, all of which operate in Ireland. The pricing page shows sterling prices; Ask us for a euro quote.
Where is our data stored, and is it safe?
In AWS data centres in the UK, encrypted in transit and backed up daily. We are GDPR compliant, Cyber Essentials certified and registered with the ICO (ZB547878), and we never sell your data or share it beyond the services that run LemonBooking. For an Irish venue that is a transfer to the UK, which the European Commission covers by an adequacy decision; our list of sub-processors is available on request. Access is role-based and every approval, invoice and refund is recorded against a named staff member, so you can answer a subject access or deletion request.
Is the booking site accessible?
Yes. The public booking pages and the websites built in the editor are WCAG compliant: keyboard operable throughout, labelled form fields, visible focus, headings a screen reader can navigate, and contrast that holds up. That is what the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 ask of councils and libraries, and what EN 301 549 asks of an Irish public body. Your own content stays yours: alt text on photos you upload is written by you, and the editor asks for it.
How long are we tied in for?
A year at a time, and you can leave whenever you like. There is no minimum term beyond the year you have paid for, no notice period and no cancellation fee: email us and we register the cancellation on the next working day, then refund any unused months straight away. Everything you hold can be exported before you go.