Guide

Customers & Pets

Intake Forms Guide

An intake form is a questionnaire your clients fill in before their appointments. You build it on Fields & Forms, choose who gets it and when, and read the answers on the form and on each client's profile.

Updated 27 September 2026 - 10 min read
Open in Petboost

This guide covers creating a form, its settings, and its lifecycle from active to archived.

Find your forms

  1. Open Fields & Forms and choose the Forms tab.
  2. Optional: filter the list with All, Active, Inactive or Archived.

Each form shows a green Active, an amber Inactive or a grey Archived badge.

Create a form

  1. Open Fields & Forms and select Add Form.
  2. Choose Start from scratch, or select Preview on one of the Quick-start templates and then Choose this template.
  3. From scratch, enter the Form Name. Clients see it, so keep it clear, such as "Boarding Health Questionnaire".
  4. Optional: add a Description (optional), shown to clients at the top of the form.
  5. Select Add Form. The form opens on Builder, where you add sections and fields.

The Quick-start templates are New Client Intake, Dog Grooming Intake, Dog Daycare Intake, Dog Walking Intake, Dog Training Intake, Pet Boarding Intake, Pet Concierge Intake, Puppy School Intake and Canine Rehab & Physio Intake.

Templates only include questions the pet owner or pet profile does not already hold. Name, email, phone, address, vet details, emergency phone, vaccinations and pet attributes stay on the profile. Delete or edit any template field you do not need.

Build the form

Every question sits in a section, a heading that groups related questions and helps clients follow a longer form. Sections are worth adding once a form has more than five or six questions.

  1. Open Fields & Forms and select the form.
  2. On Builder, select Add Section and fill in the Section title, such as "Feeding Instructions" or "Home Access". Section description (optional) sits under it.
  3. In the section, select Add Field and choose the field type.
  4. Type the question in Question.
  5. Optional: switch on Required to make the answer mandatory, and fill in Placeholder text and Help text.
  6. For a Dropdown or Multi Select, fill in each option. The field starts with two, and Add option adds more. Clients see the options in the order you enter them.
  7. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Drag a section or a field by its grip, or use its arrows, to reorder it.

Field types

TypeDescriptionExample use
TextShort single-line answer"Preferred pickup time"
TextareaMulti-line longer answer"Describe your pet's typical daily routine"
NumberNumbers only"How many meals per day?"
DropdownOne choice from a list you define"Feeding schedule: Morning / Evening / Both"
Yes/NoYes or no"Has your dog been to daycare before?"
DateDate picker"Date of last vet visit"
SignatureElectronic signature pad"Client signature for waiver acceptance"
Info BlockRead-only text shown to the clientTerms and conditions text, instructions
Multi SelectSeveral choices from a list you define"Select all that apply: reactive, anxious, resource guards"
Street AddressAddress with suburb lookup"Pickup address"
TimeTime of day"Preferred pickup time"
File UploadOne photo or PDF, up to 10 MB"Photo of your dog's coat"

A File Upload field takes one file per answer. To open the file, select its name in the response. Info blocks are always optional. Forms do not include a map location picker.

Preview as client

The preview is a working form you can type into, and required fields behave as they do live. Open Preview as client on the form summary card, select Preview at the top of Builder, or open it in the booking-flow simulation. Forms do not hide or show questions based on earlier answers: every field is visible.

Choose who gets the form and when

  1. Open Fields & Forms and select the form.
  2. Open the Settings tab.
  3. Under Frequency, choose Once per client or Every appointment.
  4. Under When to collect, choose Send after booking, Required before booking or Send manually.
  5. Under Apply to services, choose All services, or Specific services and pick the services, such as boarding only.
  6. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Frequency

A new form starts on Once per client.

  • Once per client counts per pet owner account, not per pet and not per service. Any completed submission, including one your team fills in on the client's behalf, stops it being sent again automatically or with Send. Completing the form for one dog blocks it for a sibling on the same owner
  • Every appointment creates a new pending submission each time a booking is made for a linked service. An old pending one does not block a new send

Use Every appointment for questions that change, such as "Has anything changed since the last visit?". Use Once per client for one-off paperwork, such as a liability waiver or an initial assessment.

Unlinking a completed form from an appointment does not reset Once per client. Submissions cannot be deleted. To collect the form again, change the frequency or Duplicate the form.

When to collect

There is no separate automatic send switch. When to collect decides it:

  • Send after booking: Petboost sends the form by SMS and email once a booking is made for a linked service
  • Required before booking: the form appears in self-serve checkout and must be completed before the booking is confirmed. When your team makes the booking, the form is sent afterwards
  • Send manually: nothing goes out when a booking is made. Use Send Form on the client's profile

See Sending Forms to Clients for delivery, resending and silent bookings.

Activate or deactivate a form

A new form is inactive, and an inactive form sends nothing but keeps its submissions and settings.

  1. Open Fields & Forms and select the form.
  2. Select Activate Form, or Deactivate Form to stop it. On a narrow screen both are under Share form link & details.

An active form is sent through When to collect or by hand. Deactivating a form does not delete its submissions or remove it from client profiles; it only stops future sends.

Archive, restore or delete a form

Deactivate takes a form offline. Archive tucks an inactive form out of the way. Restore brings an archived form back. Delete is only offered once a form is archived and has never had a submission.

  1. Open Fields & Forms and choose the Forms tab.
  2. Open the form, or open the actions menu on its row.
  3. If the form is Active, select Deactivate Form, or Deactivate on the list.
  4. If the form is Inactive, select Activate Form to switch it back on, or Archive Form, or Archive on the list, to archive it.
  5. If the form is Archived, select Restore Form, or Restore on the list, to bring it back, or Delete Form, or Delete on the list, when it has never had a submission.

If the form has been sent or filled in, the list shows Delete (has submissions). You can archive that form, but you cannot delete it.

Fill a form on behalf

Your team can record a client's answers as a completed submission, such as over the phone. The submission is attributed to you, and it counts as completed for Once per client.

  1. Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on the pet.
  2. Open the Fields & Forms tab.
  3. Select Fill on Behalf to start a new submission, or Fill on a Pending row.
  4. In Fill form on behalf, choose the Form if you started a new submission.
  5. Optional: choose the pet under For pet (optional), or leave No specific pet.
  6. Optional: switch on Notify client if the client should get the completion message.
  7. Enter the answers, then select Complete Form.

On the staff booking form, use Fill for owner instead. See Sending Forms to Clients.

View responses

  1. Open Fields & Forms and select the form.
  2. Open the Responses tab.
  3. Filter by status: Pending for sent and not yet completed, or Completed for submitted.
  4. Select a completed submission to read the full response.

The Sent via column shows whether the form went by SMS, email, both, or through self-service booking. See Form Responses for more on managing submissions.

Responses are also on each client's profile, on its Fields & Forms tab. Answers linked to custom fields fill in those fields on the profile, where they stay for reference.

Turn off the email when a client fills in a form

Petboost emails your business address each time a client fills in an intake form. It is on by default.

  1. Open Settings, then Notifications.
  2. If Intake Forms is not on screen, type intake form in Find a notification, e.g. intake form.
  3. Switch Email you: intake form submitted off, or back on.
  4. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Completing a form on a client's behalf does not send this email.

Frequently asked questions

Can I edit a form after it has been sent to clients?

Yes. You can add, remove or reorder fields at any time. Existing submissions keep their original answers, and new sends use the updated form.

What happens if I delete a form?

A form can only be deleted once it is archived and has never had a submission. As soon as a form has been sent or filled in, it can be archived but not deleted. Existing submissions stay on the customer's Fields & Forms tab. Archive a form if you might need it again.

Can I duplicate a form?

Yes. Select Duplicate on the Forms list, or Duplicate Form on the form summary card. The copy is a new form, which is how you collect a Once per client form again without changing the original.

Is there a limit on the number of forms I can create?

No. There is no hard limit on forms or fields.

Can I fill in the form the way a client would?

Yes. Use Preview as client on the form summary card, Preview at the top of Builder, or the booking-flow simulation. You can type into it. Forms do not show or hide fields based on other answers.

Do required custom fields block staff from saving a pet or owner?

No. Fields you have marked required for customers carry an amber hint on the staff pet and owner forms. Your team can still save a partial record.