If something looks wrong — troubleshooting & FAQ

Hit a button that didn't do anything, seen a number that looked off, or wondered "did I just break something?" Find your symptom below, in plain words, and follow the calm steps.

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"I can't sign in"

Check your email address — make sure you're using the same email you registered with.

Reset your password — on the sign-in screen, click Forgot password? and follow the link sent to your email.

Check you're using the right link — Wattle Clinic is accessed through your clinic's specific link. If you've lost it, ask your clinic owner or admin.

If none of the above helps, contact your clinic admin — they may need to check that your account is correctly set up. See Signing in & your account.

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"My invite code isn't working"

Invite codes expire after 7 days and can only be used once. Ask your clinic admin to generate a new invite code and share it with you.

If you're still having trouble after receiving a fresh code, make sure you're entering it exactly as shared — codes are case-insensitive but must match completely. See Your team & permissions.

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"A button is greyed out (disabled)"

A greyed-out button isn't broken — it's waiting for something, or it's not meant for your situation. Here are the usual reasons.

The Export button is greyed out

You haven't selected anything to export yet. Tick at least one entity (Clients, Patients, etc.) and the Export button wakes up. See Exporting & backing up your data.

The "Delete my account" button is greyed out

This one is greyed out on purpose. To delete your account and all your data, email hello@wattlevet.com and ask. The team will action it (see "How do I delete my account?" below). See Signing in & your account.

The "Save" button stays greyed out after I typed a reason

Some fields (like the Reason on a Schedule 8 adjustment, or a required field on import) need real text, not just a space or a tab. If Save won't light up, click into the field and type an actual word. Spaces alone don't count. See The Schedule 8 register.

The "Next" / "Import" button won't light up when importing

This usually means a required field isn't mapped yet, or there are duplicates still to sort out:

• Look for small red text near the top of the mapping step (e.g. "2 required fields not yet mapped: Species, Sex"). Map those columns and the button wakes up.
• If you're at the review step, every flagged possible duplicate must be set to Link to existing or Create new before you can continue. Work down the list one at a time.

See Exporting & backing up your data for the import companion flow.

The "Finalise Visit" button is greyed out

The Finalise Visit button requires clinical notes to be entered before it will activate. Click into the Clinical Notes field, type your notes, and the button will become available. See The consult (a visit).

The "Convert to Invoice" button has vanished from an estimate

If the estimate's valid-until date has passed, it shows Expired and can no longer be converted. That's by design — prices go stale. Just create a fresh estimate, or add the charges to a new invoice. See Estimates (quotes).

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"I don't see a feature / a tab / a button I expected"

Missing things are almost never lost — they're usually hidden by a setting, a permission, or your clinic's setup. Run through these.

A whole feature is missing (Communications, Prescriptions, Hospital, Paddocks, Schedule 8…)

Several parts of Wattle are optional and switched on per clinic. If you don't see them, they simply haven't been turned on for you.

• The Communications tab on a client only appears if your clinic has it enabled.
• The Prescriptions card on a visit is optional too.
• Hospital, Paddocks and the Schedule 8 register are each switched on separately.

Can't see this feature? Your clinic may not have it switched on, or your account may not have permission — ask whoever set up your clinic. See Settings — a guided tour and Your team & permissions.

A catalogue item isn't showing up when I try to add it to an invoice

Items only appear in the billing picker if they are set to Active. Ask your clinic admin to check the item in the Catalogue and make sure it's active.

The "Transfer" button isn't on my Schedule 8 register

Transfer only appears when your clinic has two or more drug safes. With a single safe there's nothing to transfer between, so it stays hidden. If you add a second safe later, the button appears. See The Schedule 8 register.

I click a tab and it bounces me straight back home

Some Settings tabs — Import & Export, Audit Log — are admin-only. The tab is visible to everyone, but opening it on a non-admin account quietly returns you home. You haven't broken anything; you just don't have permission. Ask your practice manager. See Your team & permissions.

A tab says "Coming Soon" or looks empty

Integrations is now a real page — a grid of integration cards, with Zenbooker live. Its dotted "More coming soon" card is the only placeholder there. Subscription and Security are live too (within Security, only two-factor sign-in is still to come). See Settings — a guided tour.

Tax fields didn't appear in Clinic Settings

The Default Tax Rate and Pricing Mode fields only appear after you switch on GST Registered. Flip that toggle and the extra fields slide in below. That's normal — Wattle hides tax options until you need them. See Settings — a guided tour.

A "Show inactive" or "Show archived" view is hidden

Some lists hide things by default to keep them tidy:

• Patient search hides deceased and archived animals behind a Show inactive toggle below the search box.
• The Paddocks table shows only horses currently on the property; departed horses aren't listed.
• The Audit log starts on the last 7 days only (see "Older records seem to be missing" below).

See Patients (the animals) and Paddocks (horses on the property).

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"I clicked something and nothing happened"

Frustrating, but usually one of a few small things. Stay calm and check these.

I clicked Archive / Delete on a client and nothing changed

On the Clients list, Archive and Delete aren't available yet — they may look clickable but don't do anything. To manage an inactive client for now, contact support. See Clients (pet owners).

The "Book Appointment" button on a patient does nothing

The quick Book Appointment action in the patient list menu isn't wired up yet. To book, open the patient's page and use the overflow menu (⋯) there, which takes you to the Schedule with the patient pre-filled. See The schedule — booking & appointments.

The notifications settings gear lands on a "page not found"

The little gear in the notifications popover points to a settings page that isn't built yet, so it may show a "not found" screen. Just use your browser's back button. Manage what you can from Settings — a guided tour. See Notifications (the bell).

A time field looks empty and won't let me type

Time fields (Start, Finish, Duration on appointments) hide their little clock icon until you hover. You can type the time directly as HH:MM (for example 14:30), or hover to reveal the picker and click. See The dashboard — your home base.

I can't drag an item to reorder it (on a tablet)

Reordering invoice line items uses click-and-drag on the grip handle (≡) at the left of each row. That needs a mouse or trackpad — it won't work by touch alone. On a tablet, plug in a mouse/keyboard, or ask support to reorder for you. See Invoices.

A swatch or status pill doesn't seem to do anything

A few things only reveal themselves on hover or click:

• Colour swatches (appointment types, visit statuses) show their name only when you hover; the chosen one has a ring around it.
• The appointment status badge ("Scheduled", "Checked In") is actually a dropdown — click it to change status.
• Dashboard summary cards (Pending invoices, Overdue invoices, Active patients) are clickable; click anywhere on a card to open the full list.

See The dashboard — your home base and Buttons & symbols cheat sheet.

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"I think I deleted something / I made a mistake"

Breathe. Most actions in Wattle leave a trail or can be undone. Here's how to recover.

I just moved or rescheduled an appointment by accident

Dragging an appointment to a new time or column saves straight away, but a toast appears at the bottom with an Undo button for about 5 seconds. Click Undo if it was a slip. Missed the window? Just drag it back, or open it and fix the date and time. See The schedule — booking & appointments.

I discharged a patient from Hospital by mistake

After discharge, an Undo button appears in the toast for about 5 seconds. If you get interrupted and miss it, contact your clinic manager to restore the admission.

I archived a notification I still needed

Archive only hides a notification — it's not deleted. Open the Archive tab at the top of the notification list and restore it. Note: a restored notification comes back as read, so hover it and click the mail icon to mark it unread again if it's urgent. See Notifications (the bell).

I clicked a workflow button (Check In, Start Consult, Check Out) too soon

These advance the appointment one step. To step back, click the status badge/pill and pick the earlier status. One caution: Start Consult also creates a consult and navigates you to it — so save any appointment edits first. See The dashboard — your home base and The consult (a visit).

I finalised a visit or an invoice and want to change it

• A finalised visit can be reopened with Revert to draft (in the header). It's not a dead end.
• A finalised invoice can be Voided — and a void can be reversed later (Un-void). Voiding keeps the record in the audit trail; it doesn't erase it.

The thing to be careful with is Delete draft: deleting a draft invoice removes it for good. So: Void for issued invoices (reversible), Delete only for drafts you haven't sent. See Invoices and The consult (a visit).

The trash icon on a charge — did it really delete it?

The trash icon behaves differently depending on the state:

• On a draft visit, it deletes the charge for good.
• On a finalised visit, it voids the charge instead — the charge stays visible but marked void, with an audit trail.

So if a "deleted" finalised charge reappears as voided, that's correct and intentional. See The consult (a visit).

I set the wrong opening balance on a Schedule 8 drug

An opening balance can only be entered once per drug, but it's not unfixable. A vet can correct it with Adjust Stock (or a correction entry). You haven't broken the register. See The Schedule 8 register.

I miscounted during a Schedule 8 stocktake

If you spot the error before submitting, close the dialog and start the count again. If you've already submitted, use Adjust Stock to reconcile to the true count. The discrepancy is recorded either way — that's the register doing its job. See The Schedule 8 register.

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"Changing my password logged me out"

That's expected — and it's worth knowing before you click.

Clicking Change Password in Account Settings signs you out immediately and sends you to the password-reset page. There's no warning dialog, so:

• Save any work first (in this and any other open tabs).
• After you click, you'll land on the login/reset screen and reset your password via your email.
• This is normal and safe — you haven't lost your account.

See Signing in & your account.

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"I can't change my own email or role"

These fields look editable but are intentionally locked.

Your Email Address and Role are managed by support for security. They show as greyed-out with the note "Managed by support — contact hello@wattlevet.com to change." To change your email, copy the address (there's a small copy link) and email support. To change your role, ask your practice manager. You're not doing anything wrong — these are deliberate restrictions. See Signing in & your account and Your team & permissions.

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"My email didn't send / I can't add a recipient"

Email has a few quiet rules. Here's what's usually going on.

I can't find the CC field

CC is hidden until you ask for it. Click + Add CC next to the recipient field and the CC box appears. See Emailing clients.

My attachment was rejected even though it's small

The 25 MB limit is for all attachments combined, not per file. If you've added several files, remove a couple and try again. See Emailing clients.

The send failed and I'd already typed everything

Your clinic has a daily sending limit (around 100 emails a day). A rate-limit warning shows in the main Communications inbox — but not when you compose from a client or patient file. If you've sent a lot today, glance at the inbox before composing from a file. See Emailing clients.

My email went out with the wrong signature

The signature choice (My / Clinic / None) lives in the pen-icon dropdown in the compose window, and it resets each time you reopen compose (default is Clinic). If you need a specific one, set it again before sending. See Emailing clients.

The patient link disappeared when I changed the recipient

Patients belong to one client, so switching the recipient to a different client clears the patient link automatically (no warning). Just re-link the patient after changing the recipient. See Emailing clients.

The trash/discard button behaved oddly

If you've typed something, Discard asks you to confirm. If the draft is empty, it closes quietly with no prompt. Both are normal. See Emailing clients.

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"The numbers look wrong"

Money and counts can look off for understandable reasons. These are the common ones.

An invoice shows the wrong status

Invoice statuses update automatically based on payments recorded. If an invoice shows Overdue but has been paid, check whether the payment was recorded in Wattle Clinic — it may have been received but not entered. See Recording a payment.

If an invoice needs to be cancelled, open it and use the Void Invoice option from the three-dot menu. Voiding keeps the record in the audit trail rather than erasing it.

I recorded a payment but the invoice still shows Overdue / a balance

A recorded payment must be allocated to an invoice — otherwise it sits as account credit and the invoice balance doesn't move. When you take a payment, choose which invoice(s) it covers in the Payment Allocation dialog. If you forgot, use Reallocate to apply the credit to the invoice. See Taking payments and Charges vs invoices (the money model).

A patient's "Account Balance" looks too high

The Account Balance on a patient's Financials tab is the owner's total across all their pets, not just this animal. If an owner has several patients, the figure covers all of them. To see what relates to this patient, look at the Uninvoiced Charges and Invoices sections below it. See Patients (the animals).

An invoice has no patient, and I can't tell what it was for

A patient is optional on an invoice (only the client is required). If one was created without a patient, the charges aren't tied to an animal. To avoid this, always pick a patient when creating an invoice; if it's genuinely unknown, add a note in the description rather than leaving it blank. See Invoices.

Account terms of "0 days" behave unexpectedly

On a client, Account terms = 0 days means payment is due at the time of service (no credit), not "no terms". Common terms are 7, 14 or 30 days. See Clients (pet owners).

A Schedule 8 balance or stocktake count seems off

This is exactly what the register is built to surface. A vet can reconcile with Adjust Stock (a reason is required), and discrepancies are logged. See The Schedule 8 register and The audit log.

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"Older records seem to be missing"

Usually they're just filtered out of view, not gone.

I can't find a patient or client

Use the search bar at the top of the Patients or Clients list. You can search by:

• Patients: name, species, breed — or the owner's name, phone or email (so you can find a pet by its owner)
• Clients: name, email, or phone number

If the record still doesn't appear, it may not have been created yet, or it may have been marked as inactive (for patients — use the Show inactive toggle). Check with whoever manages your records. See Patients (the animals) and Clients (pet owners).

The audit log isn't showing an event from last week

The audit log defaults to the last 7 days. To see older changes, click the From date and move it back (or clear it to load all history). The data is still there. See The audit log.

Searching the audit log by name finds nothing

The audit log's search matches record names only (like a patient or client name) — not IDs. To find something without a clear name (an invoice or payment, say), filter by Type and date range instead. See The audit log.

The "View changes" details look like code

For complex changes (settings, prescriptions), the differences are shown in a technical (JSON) format. If it's hard to read, that's not your fault — ask your IT contact or support to help interpret it. See The audit log.

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"It saved before I clicked Save (or there's no Save button)"

Some screens save as you go. This is by design.

My profile has no Save button

Account Settings saves automatically about half a second after you stop typing. You'll see a brief "Profile updated" message. No Save button is needed — your changes are in. See Signing in & your account.

Vitals saved before I'd finished

In the Vitals dialog, pressing Enter saves immediately. To move between fields use Tab, and click Done when everything's entered. Avoid Enter until you're finished. See The consult (a visit).

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"My changes won't save / I got signed out"

If you've left a tab open for a long while, your sign-in session can quietly expire in the background. When that happens — usually the moment you next try to save something — Wattle now shows a dialog titled "Your session has expired" instead of letting a save fail silently.

You have two buttons:

• Sign in again — takes you to the sign-in screen to get a fresh session. After you sign back in, carry on where you left off.
• Not now — closes the dialog without signing you back in. Use this if you have unsaved text on screen you want to copy first (an email draft, clinical notes), then sign in again afterwards.

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"I lost my place / I don't know where I am"

Navigation hiccups, and how to find your footing again.

I clicked a patient's name and ended up somewhere new

Clicking a patient name (from Hospital, a treatment sheet, the cage map, etc.) opens the patient's full record. To come back, use the breadcrumb at the top of the page, or your browser's back button. See The lay of the land.

The sidebar "deactivated" / the menu disappeared on my tablet

On phones and tablets the sidebar is a slide-out drawer that closes after you tap a menu item — that's standard mobile behaviour, not a fault. Tap the menu button (☰) in the top-left to open it again. Breadcrumbs are also hidden on small screens, so the page title tells you where you are. See The lay of the land.

Quick Actions open in different ways

From Quick Actions: New Patient and New Client open full pages, while New Appointment and Compose Email open quick dialogs. To close a dialog, press Esc or click outside it. See Your first 10 minutes.

The command palette won't search until I type a bit

The command palette needs at least 2 characters before it searches for patients and clients. Navigation shortcuts (Go to Patients, New Patient…) appear right away. See Keyboard shortcuts (for power users).

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"There are several ways to do this — which is right?"

You'll sometimes find two or three buttons that do the same job. Good news: they all work, so pick whichever is closest to hand.

• Record a payment — from the client header, the sidebar Account Balance card, or the Financials tab. All identical. ⭐ The header Payment button is usually the quickest. See Taking payments.
• Start a new visit — from the Visit History tab, the Summary/Vitals/Medications panels, or Start consult on a checked-in appointment. ⭐ The Visit History tab is the cleanest starting point. See The consult (a visit).
• Move a triage card — drag it between lanes, or use the card's three-dot menu and pick a lane. Both do the same thing.
• Open Settings — via your user avatar (top-right) → Account. (A Settings link in the sidebar does the same thing.) See Settings — a guided tour.

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Quick FAQ

How do I delete my account?

Email hello@wattlevet.com and ask. The team will delete your account and all associated data (typically within a few business days). The on-screen Delete my account button is greyed out on purpose so this only happens by deliberate request. See Signing in & your account.

Why is my avatar just my initials?

With no photo uploaded, Wattle shows your initials on a grey circle — that's your placeholder avatar, working as intended. Upload a photo in Account Settings → Profile Photo if you'd like a picture instead. See Signing in & your account.

Why must I finish onboarding before I can use the app?

The first-login onboarding wizard is required (about 5 minutes) and runs once. There's no skip on the wizard itself, but you can leave individual steps and finish them later from Account → Getting Started. The separate Getting Started checklist (the floating button) is optional and just tracks your progress — "Skip for now" dismisses it. See Your first 10 minutes and Setting up a new clinic.

I dismissed the Welcome message — can I see it again?

The Welcome dialog shows once. Its summary of your pre-loaded settings also lives in the Getting Started checklist footer. See Setting up a new clinic.

Where did my export file go?

It downloads quietly to your browser's Downloads folder, with no pop-up. If you chose CSV, you'll receive a ZIP archive containing several CSV files (that's normal — open the ZIP to find the spreadsheets). If you can't find it, check the Downloads area of your browser (often a small arrow icon near the address bar). See Exporting & backing up your data.

My export failed — what now?

Exports can fail from a network drop, a permissions issue, or sheer size. Try again on a stable connection; if it keeps failing, note what you selected and contact support. Remember that selecting Patients also includes their reminders and alerts, Consultations include prescriptions, and Invoices include line items and payments — so big selections take longer. See Exporting & backing up your data.

Why can't I enter an international phone number?

Wattle accepts Australian phone numbers only, in formats like (03) 9123 4567. For an overseas contact, store the number in a notes or additional-contact field instead. Phone is usually optional, so you can also leave it blank. See Clients (pet owners).

I can't change a patient on a completed appointment

Once an appointment is Completed or Cancelled, the patient is locked to preserve the record as booked. To use a different patient, cancel the original and create a new appointment. See The schedule — booking & appointments.

When I save an appointment it shows three red errors at once

You need at least one of: a patient, a reason, or internal notes. Any single one is enough — fill in whichever fits and the errors clear. See The schedule — booking & appointments.

What does the Schedule 8 "Priority" number mean? (and Hospital priority)

Lower numbers = higher urgency. Think "1 = critical, 50 = routine". To bump a patient up the list, give it a small number (say 5–15), not a big one.

What do the triage levels mean?

Acuity runs Level 1 (most urgent) → Level 5 (least urgent) — Level 1 means treat now, Level 4–5 can wait. The legend above the triage board lists the target response times.

I can't move a Hospital patient to a cage I can see exists

The Move Cage dropdown only lists empty cages — occupied ones are hidden. If the cage you want is taken, move or discharge its current occupant first, then move your patient.

Why does a "DNR" flag only show on the Whiteboard?

The Do-Not-Resuscitate badge is most prominent on the Whiteboard. Always open the patient card before emergency care to confirm DNR status, whichever Hospital view you're in.

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Still stuck?

If something genuinely isn't behaving — not just hidden or filtered — it's okay to ask for help. Note the screen you were on and what you clicked, then contact your practice manager or Wattle support at hello@wattlevet.com. You won't be in trouble, and you almost certainly haven't broken anything.

Related reading: How the app talks to you · Buttons & symbols cheat sheet · Every screen at a glance · Glossary