Guide · 5 min read
Tips, chair rent, product sales, and supplies — books that fit between clients.
Cash tips, color and supply runs, education trips, and product inventory get tracked sloppily — or not at all. Clean books typically save booth-renters $2,500–$5,000 a year in tax.
All service payments into one business checking. One credit card for color, foils, shampoo, retail product, and education.
Cash + card tips, totaled daily on your phone. 60 seconds. Protects you in an audit and gives a real picture of take-home.
Retail product = inventory. Color/foils/back-bar = supplies. Separate categories make COGS and tax simple.
Set aside 25–30% of every payment to a tax account. Pay quarterly. A SEP-IRA can shelter up to ~20% of net earnings.
SnapBooks tracks every service, tip, and supply order — and tells you what you owe.
Start freeYes — booth/chair renters are self-employed. The salon owner gives you a 1099 only if they paid you directly. Rent payments are deductible.
Always. Cash and card tips both. Log daily totals — the IRS expects tip income to be roughly 8%+ of service revenue and audits patterns.
Yes. Retail product is inventory — track cost (COGS) and the sale price. Profit on retail is taxable just like service income.
100% deductible as supplies. Same for capes, towels, shears, blow dryers, brushes. Keep receipts.
Recommended for liability protection — chemical reactions and burns happen. Tax-wise, sole prop is fine until ~$60–80k net; then look at S-Corp election.