Where to start

Last updated September 27, 2026

Four things, in this order, and the hall is working: the rooms you hire out, the hours you are open, what you charge, and who your hirers are. Everything else can wait.

It is worth doing in that order because each one leans on the one before. Rates are set per room, closures are set per room, and a booking needs a room and a hirer before it can exist.

Nothing has to be finished in one sitting. The Getting started list remembers what is done, ticks itself off as real records appear, and is there next week when somebody else picks it up.

1 Add your rooms Every space someone can book on its own. One room is fine if that is what you have.

2 Set your opening hours The hours the hall can be hired, day by day, and any closures.

3 Say what you charge Standard prices on each room, and a rate rule for each reason you charge something else.

4 Add your hirers Start with the regulars. One-offs can be added as they ring.

5 Put a booking in Pick a room, a hirer, a date and a time, and watch it refuse anything that clashes.

For example: A new hall usually takes about twenty minutes: two rooms, opening hours copied off the noticeboard, three rate rules, and then hirers added as the old diary is worked through.

Questions people ask

Can we put last year’s diary in?
You can, and some halls do it for the regulars so the clash check knows about them. Past one-offs are rarely worth the typing.

What if we get it wrong?
Everything here can be changed later. Rates apply from when an invoice is raised, so correcting a price does not rewrite invoices already sent.

Do we have to use all of it?
No. Plenty of halls use the diary and invoicing and never touch the duty rota or the key log. Mark what you do not need as not needed and the list stops asking.

What are the questions about our hall for?
Eight yes-or-no questions at the top of Getting started: regular groups, alcohol and music, charity status, your own events, equipment that needs servicing, a caretaker, borrowed keys, and hearing how hires went. Each yes adds the step that goes with it to the list, marked “For your hall”. Tick the box and the few features that need only a switch (What’s on, the alcohol & music checks, feedback on the Standard plan) are switched on as well. A no never switches anything off, and the answers can be changed at the bottom of the page.

There are a lot of screens. How do I find one?
Type in the Find box at the top of the HallPro menu. It knows everyday words as well as screen names: “boiler” finds Equipment, “TEN” finds Alcohol & music, “Gift Aid” finds Donations. Press Enter to go to the first match, or Escape to clear it. The menu is grouped by job: Bookings, Rooms & prices, Money, Community, The building, Committee, Apps & screens and Settings.