INDUSTRY · SALONS AND SPAS
Bookkeeping for salons and spas,
where not every dollar in the till is yours.
Bookkeeping for salons and spas keeps card tips as money owed to staff, books booth rent as income, separates retail product sales from services, holds gift cards as a liability until they are used, and grosses card deposits back up before processor fees. ZeraBooks bookkeeping services keep salon books this way from $150 a month.
Free call · from $150 a month (USD) · salons and spas anywhere in the U.S. and Canada
WHAT MAKES SALON BOOKS DIFFERENT
Why is bookkeeping for a salon different?
A busy Saturday puts services, product sales, tips and gift cards through the same card reader. The bank sees one deposit. The books have to pull it apart.
Card tips belong to your staff
Tips added on a card land in your account with the sale. They are not revenue; they sit in a tips payable account until they go out to staff through payroll.
Booth rent is your income
Renters pay you to use a chair or room. That rent is income to the salon, recorded apart from service sales, and the renter keeps their own books.
Retail is a different business
Shampoo and skincare sold off the shelf have a cost of goods and a margin of their own. Mixed into service revenue, you can’t tell whether the retail wall earns its space.
Backbar is a supply, not stock
Color, developer and towels used on clients are salon supplies. Product bought to resell is retail inventory. The same distributor invoice often has both.
Gift cards and packages are owed
A $100 gift card sold in December is money you owe a service later. It becomes revenue when it is redeemed, not when it is sold.
Tell us about your books. We’ll scope the work and quote it before anything starts.
CHART OF ACCOUNTS
What chart of accounts does a salon or spa need?
A starting list. Spas usually add treatment rooms or service lines as separate revenue accounts.
| Account | Type | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| Service revenue | Income | Cuts, color, treatments, massage, nails |
| Retail sales | Income | Product sold to clients |
| Booth and room rent income | Income | Rent from independent renters |
| Cost of retail products | Cost of goods sold | Product bought for resale |
| Salon supplies (backbar) | Expense | Color, developer, disposables, towels and laundry |
| Wages and commissions | Expense | Gross pay from the payroll report |
| Merchant fees | Expense | Card processor and booking app payment fees |
| Tips payable | Liability | Card tips collected, waiting to be paid to staff |
| Gift cards and packages outstanding | Liability | Sold, not yet redeemed |
WORKED EXAMPLE
What does a salon’s month look like in the books?
Juniper Hair Studio is a fictional salon with commission stylists and three booth renters. Here is October 2026, cash basis.
| Line | Amount | Account |
|---|---|---|
| Card sales, services | 28,400.00 | Service revenue |
| Card sales, retail product | 3,600.00 | Retail sales |
| Cash services deposited | 1,850.00 | Service revenue |
| Booth rent, 3 renters at $900 | 2,700.00 | Booth and room rent income |
| Card tips collected | 4,200.00 | Tips payable |
| Card tips paid out in payroll | (4,200.00) | Tips payable |
| Processor fees on $36,200 of card volume | (1,013.60) | Merchant fees |
| Retail restock | (1,450.00) | Cost of retail products |
| Backbar color and supplies | (960.00) | Salon supplies |
| Stylist wages and commissions, gross | (14,300.00) | Wages and commissions |
| Employer payroll taxes | (1,093.95) | Payroll taxes |
| Rent | (4,500.00) | Rent |
| October profit | 13,232.45 |
Revenue is $36,550 and expenses are $23,317.55. The $4,200 of tips came in and went out, so it never touches profit. Book tips as revenue instead and October looks $4,200 better than it was, then payroll looks $4,200 worse.
WITH ZERABOOKS
How does ZeraBooks keep a salon’s books?
Our team keeps the books on our own AI-native ledger. You upload documents and see every month in a read-only login.
- 1
A free call
How many chairs, renters or commission staff, which booking and card system, and whether you sell retail. The monthly price is agreed on the call.
- 2
Upload each month
Bank and card statements, your booking system’s sales and tips summary, the payroll report and distributor invoices. There is no bank or POS feed.
- 3
Deposits pulled apart
Each card deposit grossed up to the sales, tips moved to tips payable, retail split from services and fees booked as an expense.
- 4
Proven every month
Every account tied to its statement to the cent before the month closes, with profit by service and retail in your reports. See monthly bookkeeping services for what each month includes.
MORE INDUSTRIES
Books for other kinds of business
- Church accounting softwareFunds, restricted gifts and several bank accounts in a general ledger.
- Bookkeeping for nonprofitsRestricted grants, functional expenses and a worked month.
- Bookkeeping for restaurantsPrime cost, tips and sales tax, with a worked month P&L.
- Bookkeeping for law firmsTrust accounts, three-way reconciliation and a worked month.
- Bookkeeping for property managementTrust accounts, deposits and a 12-unit worked month.
- Bookkeeping for contractorsRetainage, over and under billing, and subs.
How much does salon bookkeeping cost?
ZeraBooks starts from $150 a month in U.S. dollars, with the exact price agreed after a free call. It depends on locations, accounts and staff. Months that were never done are quoted once as catch-up bookkeeping.
Do you run payroll for my stylists?
No. ZeraBooks books payroll from your payroll provider’s report: gross wages, commissions, tips paid out and employer taxes. Your payroll provider runs the payroll and files the payroll returns.
Are booth renters employees or contractors?
That depends on how the arrangement actually works, and it is a question for your accountant. In the books, rent from renters is income; anyone you pay through payroll is staff.
Does ZeraBooks connect to my booking app or card reader?
No. Export the monthly sales and tips summary from your booking system and upload it with your bank statements. Every month is checked against the bank statement, not a feed.
I also run a spa with memberships. Is that different?
Memberships paid in advance work like gift cards: money owed until the service is used. A med spa owned by a medical practice should also read bookkeeping for medical practices, and bookkeeping for restaurants shows tips handled the same way in hospitality.
WE DO YOUR BOOKS
Keep the chairs full.
We’ll keep the books straight.
Tips, booth rent, retail and gift cards, booked correctly every month from $150 (USD). Book the free call. Your books run on ZeraBooks AI bookkeeping, proven against each statement.
Last updated November 4, 2026 · Written by Damin Mutti, founder of ZeraBooks