Navigate to: Admin > Clinic Settings
Clinic Settings provide behind-the-scenes options that keep your Shepherd account running smoothly. From tax rates and payment types to SOAP defaults and practice hours, this is where you customize Shepherd to match your clinic's workflows.
You can open any section of Clinic Settings by clicking the tile header or by selecting an individual item within the tile.
Can't find a section? First, confirm you're following the correct navigation path for that setting. If you've reached the right location and a section is still missing, here are the most common reasons:
You see the section but can't interact with it: your user role may not have permission
The section isn't visible at all: it may be restricted by your user role, or it may require a feature to be enabled, or it may not be available for your account configuration
If you've confirmed the path is correct and the section still isn't there, contact Shepherd Support.
Clinic Profile & Operations
Clinic Settings > Clinic Profile & Operations
Clinic Profile & Operations contains your clinic's core identity, contact information, hours, subscription details, and optional feature toggles.
General Information
Clinic Settings > Clinic Profile & Operations > General Information
General Information in Clinic Profile & Operations stores your clinic's core contact and identity details used across Shepherd.
Name: your clinic name
Email: your clinic's general email — or the best email for clients to reach you at
Phone: the best phone number for clients to call
Fax: your clinic's fax number
Website: your clinic's website
Clinic ID: your Clinic ID may be required for certain integrations
Address: the physical address for your clinic
Time Zone: needs to be selected for reminders, as well as for logging activity within Shepherd (records, invoices, etc.)
Currency: currently Shepherd only supports United States Dollars
Clinic Logo and Info: displays at the bottom of printed documents. This can be a tagline, slogan, or practical information like business hours. To make changes, select Edit.
Recommended file size: 181 x 65 pixels
Office Hours & Closures
Clinic Settings > Clinic Profile & Operations > Office Hours & Closures
Office Hours & Closures in Clinic Profile & Operations controls when your clinic is available.
Routine Clinic Availability: the clinic's hours of operation, as well as scheduled breaks
Office Closures: specify days/holidays the clinic is closed
Additional Availability: specify additional availability outside of routine hours
Subscription & Billing
Subscription & Billing in Clinic Profile & Operations is where you manage your billing details and subscription information.
Subscription Status
Subscription Billing Details & Billing Portal
Subscription Invoices
Feature Settings
Clinic Settings > Clinic Profile & Operations > Feature Settings
Feature Settings in Clinic Profile & Operations controls which optional features are active for your clinic.
Inventory: Allows tracking and management of clinic inventory
Track Lots & Expiration Dates: Enables lot number and expiration date tracking for inventory items. (Once this is turned on it cannot be undone.)
Enable Whiteboard: Activates a digital whiteboard for patient workflow and task management
Enable Boarding: Enables boarding management for hospitalized or staying patients
Enable Time Clock: Allows staff to clock in/out and track work hours
Enable Wellness Plans
Financial Settings
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings
Financial Settings contains payment processing, tax configuration, invoice options, production rules, finance charges, payment types, and client and patient discounts.
Shepherd Pay
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Shepherd Pay
Shepherd Pay is Shepherd's built-in payment processing solution. Learn more about Shepherd Pay.
Enable Shepherd Pay: Activates Shepherd's built-in payment system
Enable Recurring Payments: Automatically charges clients on a schedule. Used with Wellness Plans
Autosave Client Credit Cards: Automatically saves a client's credit card on file after purchase
Shepherd Pay also requires the following credentials, provided during setup:
Source Key
PIN
Public Key
The EMV Chip Terminals section at the bottom of this tab is where you add and manage in-clinic card readers.
Tax Settings
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Tax Settings
Tax Settings in Financial Settings controls how tax rates are calculated and applied.
Use the Tax Rate Based On dropdown to select whether rates are determined by Client Zip Code, Clinic Address, or Product.
Once a method is selected, you can define individual named tax rates in the Product Tax Rates section below. Select + Add New Tax Rate to create a rate, or use the remove icon to delete one.
Invoice Settings
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Invoice Settings
Invoice Settings in Financial Settings controls what information is included on client invoices.
Include Rabies Certificate on Invoice: Automatically displays any Rabies certificate(s) on invoices
Include Discharge Instructions on Invoice: Displays patient discharge instructions on invoices
Include Patient Reminders on Invoice: Displays upcoming patient reminders on invoices
Include Appointments on Invoice: Displays scheduled appointments on invoices
Production Settings
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Production Settings
Production Settings in Financial Settings controls how production credit is assigned when services are invoiced.
Prevent changing the default supervising doctor for production: When enabled, the default production user assignment will always be the supervising doctor, regardless of whether the treatment administering user has production enabled
Require Production User Assignments: When enabled, all invoiced items must have a designated production user assigned
Finance Charges
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Finance Charges
Finance Charges in Financial Settings lets you automatically apply fees to overdue client balances.
Enable Finance Charge: When enabled, overdue client balances will automatically incur finance charges. Finance Charges will only apply to invoices created after this feature is enabled.
Default Fee: Choose how finance charges are calculated — either a Flat Fee or a Percentage of the outstanding balance.
Amount: The flat or percentage amount applied during each billing cycle.
Minimum Balance: Finance charges apply only when the balance is greater than or equal to this amount.
Grace Period: The number of days after the invoice date before the first Finance Charge is applied. After the grace period is met, Finance Charges will be applied every 30 days until the outstanding balance is paid or no longer meets the minimum balance requirement.
Client Type Exceptions: Select client types to exclude from Finance Charges.
Invoice Status to Incur Fees: Define which invoice statuses trigger Finance Charges. If no status is selected, Finance Charges will apply to all invoices.
Accrue interest/fees on finance charge invoices: Allows Finance Charges to compound (charge interest on prior fees). Applies only to new Finance Charges generated after enabling this setting. Existing charges will not be recalculated.
Payment Types
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Payment Types
Payment Types in Financial Settings is where you manage the payment methods available at checkout. Payment types are created and managed by your clinic and can include credit card types (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, etc.), financing options (Scratch Pay, Cherry Payments), and any other custom methods your clinic accepts.
To add a new payment type, select + Add New
To update an existing payment type, select the edit pencil icon in the Actions column
Client & Patient Discounts
Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Client & Patient Discounts
Client & Patient Discounts in Financial Settings are applied to discountable line items and automatically calculated on invoices. To create a discount, assign a descriptive name (e.g., Employee, Teacher, Military) and a default discount percentage, or define it by product type.
Client discounts are applied to the client profile when creating or editing a client.
Practice Management
Clinic Settings > Practice Management
Practice Management contains prescription formatting, document notes, shortcuts, locations, referral sources, and client types.
Prescription Settings
Clinic Settings > Practice Management > Prescription Settings
Prescription Settings in Practice Management lets you customize written prescription formatting to comply with state-specific regulatory requirements.
Written Prescription Signature Format: Customize the order of the signature lines on written prescriptions. Adjust the placement of 'Dispense as Written' and 'Substitution Permitted' lines based on your state's guidelines.
Notes & Disclaimers
Clinic Settings > Practice Management > Notes & Disclaimers
Notes & Disclaimers in Practice Management lets you configure standard text that appears on client-facing documents.
Invoice Note: Add a note, update, or information regarding closures that prints on every invoice
Estimate Disclaimer: Write a disclaimer that will appear on every estimate
Statement Note: Write a note that will appear on every client statement
Postcard Note: Add a note that will print on the bottom of reminder postcards
Rabies Certificate: Add a note that will print on the bottom of rabies certificates
Notes & Disclaimers supports text only. Images are not supported.
Clinic Shortcuts
Clinic Settings > Practice Management > Clinic Shortcuts
Clinic Shortcuts in Practice Management lets you save time by creating shortcuts to quickly input custom pre-determined text throughout Shepherd. Learn more about Clinic Shortcuts.
Locations
Clinic Settings > Practice Management > Locations
Locations in Practice Management refers to anywhere a patient can be in your practice — parking spots, the lobby, boarding, surgery, or exam rooms.
To add a new location, select + Add New
To edit or archive an existing location, select the pencil icon
You can filter the dashboard by location to see all of the patients within a specific location
Referral Sources
Clinic Settings > Practice Management > Referral Sources
Referral Sources in Practice Management tracks where new clients are coming from. A referral source can be another referring clinic, a digital marketing campaign, or a search engine result.
To create a new referral source, click + Add New
To edit or archive an existing source, use the pencil icon next to it
Referral sources can be:
Assigned when creating or editing a client
Linked directly to a patient's profile within the General Information section
Client Types
Clinic Settings > Practice Management > Client Types
Client Types in Practice Management lets you assign a classification to client profiles. This supports enhanced reporting and makes it easier to identify client types within profiles. Learn more about Client Types.
Clinical Settings
Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings
Clinical Settings contains SOAP vital defaults, diagnosis code configuration, body maps, and physical exam templates.
SOAP Vitals
Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > SOAP Vitals
SOAP Vitals in Clinical Settings controls the default units and fields that appear in the Vitals section of patient SOAP records.
Default Weight Unit: Selects the default unit for weight measurements in patient records (g, kg, or lb)
Temperature Unit: Selects the default unit for temperature measurements in patient records (Celsius or Fahrenheit)
Include Blood Pressure on Vitals: When enabled, the Systolic/Diastolic (MAP) mmHg blood pressure fields will appear by default only in the Vitals section of your SOAP. It will not show up on the Comparison Table.
Default Dose
Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Default Dose
Default Dose in Clinical Settings controls the default unit used for injectable products across Shepherd. The default unit is pre-filled in Bundles and Estimates, and during injectable administration and invoicing. It can be overridden per product during usage.
Injectables Default Dose Unit: Select either Dosage or Dose
Dose — uses the column unit defined for the injectable item (e.g., mL)
Dosage — uses the dosage-based unit for the product
Diagnoses Settings
Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Diagnoses Settings
Diagnoses Settings in Clinical Settings controls which diagnosis code libraries are available when documenting in Shepherd.
Shepherd uses the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), and Small Animal Specialty (SAS) subsets from SNOMED codes. AAHA codes are enabled by default. You may opt to also include AAEP and SAS codes.
Shepherd recommends having all code sets enabled, as some diagnoses may only be included in one subset. You can disable any duplicates or irrelevant diagnoses you do not want available as options.
What You Need to Know: AAHA diagnostic codes are the only set enabled by default. If AAEP or SAS codes are not appearing when documenting, they likely haven't been enabled yet. Enable them under Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Diagnoses Settings.
Diagnoses List
Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Diagnoses List
The Diagnoses List in Clinical Settings lets you inactivate or re-activate individual diagnosis codes and enter Discharge Instructions.
Body Maps
Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Body Maps
Body Maps in Clinical Settings are the diagrams used within physical exams. Shepherd provides many default body maps. You can remove any body maps you don't need in your account.
Physical Exam Templates
Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Physical Exam Templates
Physical Exam Templates in Clinical Settings is where you create, edit, and archive the templates used for physical exams in SOAPs.
Label Management
Clinic Settings > Label Management
Label Management in Clinic Settings is where you configure templates for Prescription Labels, Patient Labels, and Cage Cards. Use a default label template or customize your own for each label type. Learn more about Label Printing.
Use a default label template, or customize your own for Prescription, Patient, and Cage Card labels. Learn more about Label Printing.
AI Settings
Clinic Settings > AI Settings
AI Settings is a top-level tab in Clinic Settings that controls Shepherd's clinic-wide AI features. Settings here apply across the entire practice.
Clinical Settings
Clinic Settings > AI Settings > Clinical Settings
The Clinical Settings sub-tab in AI Settings contains the toggles for each of Shepherd's AI-powered documentation tools.
TranscribeAI: Enables real-time transcription for clinical appointments. When enabled, Shepherd captures spoken dialogue during veterinary visits, converts it into text, and supports information extraction for documentation workflows.
SummarizeAI: Enables AI-generated summarization for clinical records. When enabled, Shepherd rapidly generates structured summaries from recorded information to support documentation, review, and record completion.
DiagnoseAI: Enables AI-assisted clinical support within workflows. When enabled, Shepherd can surface differential considerations based on patient data and clinical context.
Default to normal Physical Exam Template values: When enabled, Physical Exam Templates used by TranscribeAI will default to 'normal' exam selections unless an abnormal finding is identified from the clinical context.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is production always being assigned to the supervising doctor instead of the staff member who treated the patient?
The Prevent changing the default supervising doctor for production toggle is enabled under Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Production Settings. When this setting is on, the supervising doctor will always receive production credit regardless of who administered the treatment. To allow the treating staff member to receive production credit instead, disable this toggle.
Where do I set up automatic logout or session timeout?
Automatic logout and session timeout settings are not located in Clinic Settings. To adjust these settings, navigate to Admin > Users > Settings.
Why isn't my client discount applying at checkout?
Client discounts are applied at the client profile level, not at the point of sale. The discount must be assigned to the individual client's profile before it will calculate automatically on invoices. To confirm: verify the discount exists under Clinic Settings > Financial Settings > Client & Patient Discounts, then check that it has been assigned on the client's profile directly.