At the end of this article every tip will be recorded against the barber who earned it, every commissionable sale will calculate the barber’s share, and you will be able to run a payout report for any week. No more end-of-week arguments over a stack of slips. This is general information on using the software, not tax or payroll advice.
Before you start
- Barbers are added and marked as service providers. See Add chairs and barbers.
- Services and products are added. See Add services.
- Each barber’s agreed commission: one rate for everything, or different rates for services and retail.
- How you pay out tips: daily in cash, weekly with pay, or through payroll.
Steps
- Turn on tips at checkout. Go to Settings → Business settings → POS and turn on the tip field. Choose whether to offer preset percentages or a typed amount.
- Pick how commission is calculated. In Settings → Business settings → Sale, set the commission agent to “logged in user” or “select from list”. Barbershops usually pick “select from list” so the front desk can pick the barber who did the cut.
- Set a base rate per barber. Go to Users/Staff → Users, edit each barber and enter their sales commission percentage.
- Add rules per category or item. Go to Users/Staff → Commission rules (or the commission section on the barber). Add rules such as a higher rate on services and a lower rate on retail. Item rules beat category rules, and category rules beat the base rate.
- Ring up a test ticket. Open POS, add a fade and a pomade, pick the barber, add a tip and take payment.
- Split a tip if needed. If two barbers worked on one client, use the split option to divide the tip.
- Check the numbers. Go to Reports → Sales representative report (commission) and Reports → Tips for the test day. Confirm the tip and commission landed on the right barber.
- Record payouts. At the end of the cycle, run the reports for the period. Record what you paid each barber, as an expense or through the HRM payroll basics, so your records match the cash.
- Let barbers see their own numbers. Give the Barber role permission to view their own tips and commission only.
Read more on tips per barber and barber commission. US shops can read the IRS guidance on tip recordkeeping and reporting (opens in a new tab), and should confirm their obligations with an accountant.
Common mistakes
- Wrong barber on the ticket. Commission and tips follow the ticket. Train the front desk to pick the barber every time.
- Paying commission on booth renters. Renters pay you rent; they usually do not earn commission. Keep them on the booth rent ledger.
- Tips typed into the price. If a tip goes into the service price, it gets taxed and commissioned. Use the tip field.
- Changing rates mid-week without a note. Reports for that week will mix two rates. Change on a cycle boundary.
- Cash tips never recorded. If tips are handed over without a ticket, there is no record. Add them at checkout.
Next step
Connect your hardware: Connect a receipt printer, cash drawer and scanner.