--- title: Salon Pricing Calculator | Kitomba description: Work out exactly what to charge for your salon services. Free calculator covering running costs, take-home pay, GST and card fees. Download your price list. --- 01 Start here 02 Costs 03 Take-home 04 Capacity 05 Your rate 06 Services 07 Reality check 08 Price list ## Set the right price for your services Use this calculator to understand how much to charge your clients while still making a profit. From take-home pay to pesky credit card surcharges. Your costs are covered. Start calculating 02 Running costs ## Your monthly *running* costs Everything you pay to operate the business (rent, software, supplies, marketing) before income tax. We'll handle your take-home and income tax in the next two steps. More cost categories + Add a custom running cost Running costs subtotal Paid from revenue, before income tax $0 Next: your take-home pay → 03 Take-home ## What you want to *take home* Your pocket money each month: pay, KiwiSaver, savings. We'll gross this up for income tax in step 5 so what's left in your pocket is actually what you wanted. + Add a custom take-home item Target take-home subtotal What ends up in your pocket, after income tax $0 ← Back Next: capacity → 04 Capacity ## Your team's working hours, *realistically* Add a row for each person, including yourself. Be honest about admin time and your real booking rate. Pretending you'll be booked 100% of the time is the fastest way to underprice yourself. Weeks the salon is open per year 52 minus public holidays and closure days. Most salons are realistically 46–50. ### Team members | Name | Hours / week | Admin / week | Booking rate | Skill tier | Billable hrs/mo | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | Skill tier multipliers: Junior × 0.80 · Standard × 1.00 · Senior × 1.25 · Master × 1.50. A Senior's hour earns 1.25× a Standard's at the same time slot. + Add a team member *Reminder:* staff wages live in step 2 (running costs). Add a team member here and don't forget to update the staff wages line. Total bookable hours per month = all team hours minus admin — Realistic billable hours per month × each person's booking rate — Tier-weighted billable hours billable × skill tier, the divisor for required revenue — ← Back Show me my rate → 05 Your rate ## Your *required* hourly rate Income tax rate on business profit: % Effective rate, not your top bracket. Ask your accountant. $ — per billable hour *Required revenue ÷ realistic billable hours.* This is what every hour of client work has to earn to cover your running costs *and* leave the take-home you want in your pocket, *after* income tax. Required monthly revenue = running costs + (take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate)) — ← Back Price my services → 06 Services ## Price each of your services For each service: time × hourly rate × skill multiplier, plus any product cost. The rounded column gives you the price to publish. Round prices to: Up to next $1Up to next $5Up to next $10Up to next $X9 GST / VAT registered? YesNo GST rate: % Card surcharge: Don't pass onto clientPass onto client Surcharge rate: % | Service | Time (hrs) | Product cost | Skill tier | Calc. price | Rounded | GST-incl. | Card fee | Current price | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | Skill tier multipliers: Junior × 0.80 · Standard × 1.00 · Senior × 1.25 · Master × 1.50 + Add a service ← Back See the reality check → 07 Reality check ## Does this *actually* work? These numbers show what's happening at your suggested prices. If anything looks off, jump back to any step using the bar above. Total monthly cost — Running + take-home Required hourly rate — Per billable hour Average suggested price — Rounded ex-GST, all services Average current price — For services where you've entered one Annual revenue target — Ex-GST, before income tax Break-even booking rate — % needed to cover running costs only Avg price change — From current to suggested Annual take-home — In your pocket, post-tax If your break-even booking rate is anywhere near what you expect to book, you have very little margin. You'll need to raise prices or cut costs. How this calculator works #### The model in three lines Required monthly revenue = Running costs + Take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) Billable hours/month = (Hours/week − Admin) × Weeks/year ÷ 12 × Booking rate Hourly rate = Required revenue ÷ Billable hours #### The tax maths most calculators get wrong Most pricing calculators add income tax as a flat markup on top of cost. Tax doesn't work like that; it comes *out* of what you charge, not on top of cost. This calculator grosses up your take-home target by your tax rate, which means after running costs and income tax, you actually end up with the take-home you wanted. The difference is roughly your tax rate (typically 20–30%), which is the gap between "looks right" and "actually right." #### Per-service price For each service: *Price (ex-GST) = Time × Hourly rate × Tier multiplier + Product cost.* Product cost is optional. Leave it blank if your general supplies are already in step 2, or use it for high-product services (colour, full sets) so you're not eating the materials. #### Why no "cushion" percentage? The booking rate you set for each person in step 4 already does this job. By saying honestly that you'll only book, say, 75% of your available hours, that buffer is baked into the maths. Same idea, less hand-wavy. #### GST / VAT If you're registered, set the toggle in step 6 to Yes and enter your rate. The calculator builds everything ex-GST and adds GST in the right-hand column for display. #### Card surcharge If you can *pass it on* to clients, prices stay the same and the surcharge is added at the POS, so the salon nets the published price. If you *can't*, the calculator grosses up the rounded prices so you still net the same after the merchant fee comes out. Same maths underneath, just different ownership of the fee. The default rate is 1.7%; change it if your provider charges you more or less. #### What this won't do It won't account for tip income, gift cards, or product-only sales. It assumes a flat effective tax rate. Real tax is progressive, so talk to your accountant for your number. It treats loan repayments as fully expensed for simplicity; technically the principal portion is post-tax, but it's close enough for pricing. ← Back Get your price list → 08 Your price list ## Take your prices with you Your numbers are ready. Enter your details below and your price list will download. ### Choose your format PDF for a printable handout. CSV if you want a spreadsheet. ↓ Download PDF ↓ Download CSV ### Where should we send it? Pop your details in and your price list will download. ← Back Start over Built for salon owners who want to make the maths work. ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=126704991068818&ev=PageView&noscript=1)