Salon Service Price Calculator (product cost, time and overhead)
Minimum and target prices for every service on your menu, from what each one costs.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: the target price of the service shown in full, with the first rows of the price list and cost breakdown (up to 3) and the first step of the working.
- Locked until you unlock it: download and copy.
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Where the price goes
Price list
How this was calculated
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Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
How this tool is checked
- Based on
- the method set out under ‘How the price is worked out’.
- Sources
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This guide cites one source:
- Tests
- 10 automated tests check its results.
- Found an error?
- Report a problem or write to support@mysmartcopilot.com, with what you entered and the result you expected.
About the Salon Service Price Calculator (product cost, time and overhead)
Price each service on a salon, spa, barber or nail menu from what it really costs: the product used, the time it takes, the stylist’s pay (an hourly cost or a commission), the salon’s overhead per booked chair-hour — rent, utilities, software, laundry and marketing divided by the hours chairs are actually booked — card fees and tax (GST, VAT or sales tax), plus the margin you want to keep.
For every service the calculator gives the minimum price (where it stops losing money), the target price with your margin, rounded up to a step if you like, and the profit per service and per hour. Add today’s prices to the price list and it shows which services lose money and which earn less than your margin. Without a pass the free preview shows the target price of one service in full, with the first rows of the price list; the other figures, the copy and the CSV need a Pro pass.
How to use it
- Enter the month’s overheads: rent, utilities, software, laundry, marketing and anything else the salon pays every month.
- Enter the chair time: chairs or rooms, days open in a month, hours open a day, and the share of those hours that is booked. Overhead is spread over the booked hours only.
- Choose how the stylist is paid — an hourly cost (wage and employer costs) or a commission of the price before tax — and enter the card fees, the tax rate and whether your menu shows prices with the tax in them.
- Set the margin you want and, if you like, a step to round prices up to. Add each service with its minutes, its product cost and today’s price.
- Read the target and minimum prices and the price list. The copy and the CSV download open with a Pro pass or after unlocking this result.
Examples
Overheads 2,800 a month · 4 chairs × 25 days × 8 h × 50 % booked · stylist 18 an hour · product 3 · card fees 2 % + 0.20 on half the payments · 10 % tax added at checkout · margin 20 % · prices rounded to the nearest cent (no step)
Overhead 7.00 per booked chair-hour · minimum price 28.42 · target price 35.62 · profit 7.13 a service and an hour
With prices rounded up to 1, as the page starts, the target is 36.00.
Minimum 17.15 · target 25.97: the commission grows with the price, so the costs that do not are smaller
No card fees · 20 % VAT in the menu price · margin 20 %
Price before VAT 35.00 → menu 42.00 → rounded up to 45.00, which earns 9.50
Common uses
- Setting prices for a new salon menu from the real cost of each service.
- Finding the services that lose money at today’s prices before changing them.
- Seeing what a rent rise, a new commission rate or more booked hours does to every price.
- Comparing a VAT-inclusive menu price with the price before tax and the profit left.
Overhead per booked chair-hour
Overheads are paid whether a chair is busy or not, so they are spread only over the hours that earn: 2,800 a month over 4 chairs × 25 days × 8 hours × 50 % booked = 400 booked chair-hours is 7.00 an hour. A 60-minute service carries 7.00 of overhead, a 30-minute one 3.50. When more of the chair time is booked, the overhead per hour falls and every service gets cheaper to run.
How the price is worked out
The price before tax must cover the product, the pay, the overhead and the card fees and leave the margin as profit. Costs that grow with the price — a commission, the card fee’s percentage (charged on the amount paid with tax) and the margin itself — are taken off 1 first:
- price before tax = (product + hourly pay + overhead + fixed card fee) ÷ (1 − margin − commission − card fee % × (1 + tax rate))
The minimum price uses a margin of 0. The menu price adds the tax when your menu shows prices with tax; otherwise the tax is added at checkout.
Tax on salon services
Enter the rate that applies to you. In India, beauty and physical well-being services — salons, barbers, spas, gyms and yoga centres, SAC group 99972 — carry GST at 5 % without input tax credit (GST Council press release). Without input tax credit the GST you pay on products, rent and other costs cannot be set off, so enter those costs with the GST in them. Where a menu must show prices with VAT in them, tick “Menu prices include the tax”.
Limitations
- Costs are what you enter for one month; seasonal months and one-off costs change the overhead per hour.
- The stylist’s cost is one rate or one commission for every service; services done by staff on different pay need their own run.
- Income tax on the salon’s profit is not included, and the tax rate is the one you enter: the page does not decide which rate applies to you.
Privacy
On this device: nothing is sent
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Salon Service Price Calculator (product cost, time and overhead) shows the target price of the service shown in full, with the first rows of the price list and cost breakdown (up to 3) and the first step of the working. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or copied. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
How do I price a salon service?
Add up what one appointment costs — product, the stylist’s pay for its minutes, its share of overhead at your cost per booked chair-hour and the card fees — then set a price before tax that leaves your margin after those costs, and add the tax.
What is overhead per chair-hour?
The salon’s monthly overheads divided by the hours its chairs are actually booked: 2,800 over 400 booked chair-hours is 7.00 an hour. Each service carries it for its minutes.
Why does commission give a lower minimum price than an hourly wage?
Commission is a share of the price, so it shrinks when the price does; an hourly cost has to be paid in full whatever the price. In the example the same cut breaks even at 17.15 on 40 % commission and at 28.42 on 18 an hour.
What GST applies to salons in India?
Beauty and physical well-being services (SAC group 99972) carry GST at 5 % without input tax credit, according to the GST Council’s press release. Enter your costs with the GST you paid on them.