Beauty and wellness businesses sit at an interesting intersection of employment law, tax, and consumer service — and the accounting consequences of getting any of those wrong are significant. Whether you run a busy city-centre salon with a team of self-employed chair renters, a multi-treatment clinic with employed therapists, or a growing wellness brand blending treatments with retail product sales, the financial structure underneath the business needs to be built correctly from the start. At Page Ivy, we specialise in exactly this kind of client.
Chair rental is where we spend a lot of time upfront with new salon clients. HMRC’s employment status guidance is detailed and the line between genuine self-employment and disguised employment is one that many salons inadvertently cross. We review your current rental arrangements against the employment status indicators — control, substitution, financial risk, equipment provision — and advise on any changes needed to ensure the position is defensible. Where a renter is clearly self-employed, we treat them accordingly. Where there’s genuine ambiguity, we help you resolve it before it becomes a problem.
Once the structural questions are settled, we focus on the operational accounting: integrating your booking platform with Xero so daily revenue is reconciled automatically, separating product and treatment revenue into distinct income streams with their own margin tracking, and running payroll for employed staff with the correct treatment of tips, commissions, and varying hourly rates. Monthly management accounts give you a clear view of each revenue line’s performance — so when you’re deciding whether to add a new treatment, hire another therapist, or open a second location, the numbers behind that decision are accurate and current.