The problem
Beauty salons often pay therapists a percentage on services and a different one on retail, and working it out from receipts and a spreadsheet each month is slow and easy to get wrong. A salon owner spending an hour a week on it uses about 4.3 hours a month, and a mistake on someone's pay costs goodwill.
What the AI does
Fresha's Team plan lists automatic commission calculations at checkout, using flat rates or tiered structures, for services and products, with a live earnings view for commissions, tips and wages, plus timesheets and pay runs. Set each therapist's service and retail rates once; every sale through the Fresha till is credited to whoever did it. At the end of the month, check the pay-run summary and pass it to your payroll software or accountant.
A worked example
A three-therapist beauty salon in Shrewsbury pays 10% on retail and a tiered rate on treatments. The owner moves bookings and checkout to Fresha Team, enters the rates and asks therapists to ring every product sale through the till.
Before
About 1 hour a week working out commission from receipts
After
About 5 minutes a week checking the summary, saving about 3.9 hours a month
What it's worth
About $132£99€118A$190C$186 a month in time saved: 55 minutes a week saved, times 4.3 is about 3.9 hours, worth $132£99€118A$190C$186 at $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour. That is against Fresha Team at €9.95 (about $12£9€11A$17C$17) per bookable therapist, about $35£26€31A$50C$49 a month for 3, shown in local currency on Fresha's page.
How to set it up
- Set up Fresha Team with each therapist as a bookable team member.
- Enter service and retail commission rates for each therapist, including any tiers.
- Ring every treatment and product sale through the Fresha till so it's credited to the right person.
- At month end, check the pay-run summary and send it to your payroll software or accountant.
- Let each therapist see their own earnings view so they can query it early.
What goes wrong
- Sales rung through another till or taken by bank transfer won't count, so commission will look short.
- Fresha calculates the figures; PAYE payroll and reporting to HMRC still need payroll software or an accountant.
- Commission-only pay must still meet the National Minimum Wage for every hour worked.