Synchronizing your OfferingTree Schedule with Google Calendar

This article explains how to synchronize your OfferingTree schedule with your Google Calendar. This two-way sync keeps your availability consistent across both platforms. When set up, your OfferingTree events and appointments will automatically appear on your Google Calendar. Conversely, any events already on your Google Calendar will block off that time in your OfferingTree schedule, preventing double bookings. Crucially, this includes recurring events, eliminating the need to manually add time-off blocks in OfferingTree. This integration streamlines your scheduling process and ensures you never miss an appointment or class, while also simplifying time management.

Step 1: Connecting Your Google Calendar

To begin synchronizing your OfferingTree schedule with Google Calendar, you'll first need to connect your Google account. Navigate to the "App Integrations" section. This can be found under "Business Settings" if you are the business owner, or directly under "App Integrations" if you are a staff member. Once there, click on the "Google Calendar" tab, and then click the "Add a Calendar" button.

Step 2: Granting Permissions

You will now be prompted to sign in to your Google account. After signing in, Google will ask you to grant OfferingTree permission to access your calendar. Specifically, you will need to allow OfferingTree to "View and edit your events" and also grant permission to "View all your calendars." Both of these permissions are required for the synchronization to work correctly. 

Step 3: Configuring Calendar Sync

After granting permissions, you'll need to configure which calendars OfferingTree should use for synchronization. This involves two key settings:

• Pulling Calendars (Blocking Availability): Select the Google Calendars from which OfferingTree should pull events to block off your availability. On the Essentials plan, you can only select your primary Google Calendar for this purpose. However, on other OfferingTree plans, you have the flexibility to select multiple Google Calendars. Any events on the selected calendars will prevent you from being booked in OfferingTree during those times.

• Pushing Calendar (Adding OfferingTree Events): Select the Google Calendar to which OfferingTree should push your events and appointments. You can only select a single Google Calendar to receive your OfferingTree events. This means all your OfferingTree bookings will be added to this designated calendar.
  
  If you are part of a business with staff members added to OfferingTree, only classes and appointments assigned to you as a staff member will be pushed to the Google Calendar.

Step 4: Synchronization Complete

That's it! You've successfully connected and configured your Google Calendar with OfferingTree. The initial synchronization between the two platforms may take a few minutes. After this initial sync, any new events or appointments added to either OfferingTree or your Google Calendar will be synchronized within minutes, keeping your schedules consistently up-to-date.