Salon and barber bookkeeping: chair income against what keeps the chair running
A stylist's income arrives as weekly card-processor deposits; the costs are product orders, software and renewals. The bank statement is where both sit, so the month's profit starts there.
Worked example: one September
The tool ships a synthetic statement for a stylist (fixtures/salon-checking.csv): four Square deposits and seven costs. Six of the seven get a suggested account with no rules taught; the towel laundry stays in review.
| August 2026 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Square deposits (four weeks) | $8,205.00 |
| Sales | $8,205.00 |
| Sally Beauty, SalonCentric (supplies) | −$602.70 |
| Vagaro (software) | −$30.00 |
| Cosmetology board renewal (taxes and licenses) | −$75.00 |
| Liability insurance (insurance) | −$199.00 |
| Meta ads (advertising) | −$120.00 |
| Towel laundry (left in review; you file it) | −$64.00 |
| Profit | $7,114.30 |
Booth or chair rent, tips paid out in cash and the processor's fee taken before each deposit are not separate lines here, so the profit is after the fee and before any rent you pay in cash.
What the tool does for a stylist
- Imports the bank CSV and suggests Sales for Square deposits.
- Files the recurring costs: supply orders, booking software, licence renewals, ads and liability insurance.
- Reports a P&L and a Schedule C worksheet, with a mileage log and quarterly estimated-tax dates in the tax calendar.
Rules are written from company names; no real salon's statement has been tried.
Questions
Are card-processor deposits my income?
Square and Vagaro deposits are your sales after the processor's fee, so the deposit understates what clients paid. Book the deposit as sales here; if you need gross sales and fees separately, use the payout importer. A booth renter or independent stylist owes self-employment tax on the profit; the Schedule C worksheet in this tool shows the figure, and your accountant decides what applies to you.
Where do supplies, licence renewals and insurance go?
The importer files Sally Beauty and SalonCentric under supplies, the cosmetology board renewal under taxes and licenses, liability insurance under insurance, booking software under software and Meta ads under advertising. A line it does not recognise, such as a towel laundry service, stays in the review queue for you to file.
Is it free?
Yes. It is open source (MIT), runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
Open AI Bookkeeper and import your bank statement.