1. What the chair books in a typical week
2. The chair and your time
3. Rent, equipment and retail
4. Employ an esthetician or rent the chair
Enter your numbers or load the example, then click Work out the chair.
Result
Each service
| Service | Price | Cost | Profit per treatment | Margin | Per chair hour | Price for target |
|---|
The week at different volumes: what the chair nets three ways
| Volume | Booked | Chair hours | Chair used | You work the chair, after your pay | Employ an esthetician | Rent the chair |
|---|
The arithmetic, and what it leaves out
- Only appointments that show up earn money or use supplies. A no-show empties the slot, and because you still stand at the chair, your own time for that slot is spread over the treatments that did show.
- A treatment costs your chair minutes at the hourly figure you type, plus its supplies, plus its share of the chair's weekly fixed cost: rent, equipment spread over the years you will keep it, and other fixed cost.
- Profit per chair hour is what a booked hour is expected to bring in (the price less supplies, plus the retail margin, after no-shows) before fixed cost and before anyone is paid, so it compares services on the thing the chair runs out of.
- An employed esthetician costs commission on every completed service plus payroll tax and extras on it; you still pay supplies, rent and equipment and you keep the retail margin. A renter pays a flat weekly amount, buys their own supplies and keeps their own retail.
- Not modelled: tips, any pay to you beyond the hourly figure, sales tax, card fees, insurance, licenses, advertising, an esthetician or renter who books fewer clients than you do, vacations and slow weeks, and income tax.
Common questions
How much should an esthetician studio charge for a facial or wax appointment?
Add the chair minutes at what your time is worth to the creams, masks, wax, strips and linens the treatment uses and to the treatment's share of rent and equipment, then divide by one minus the margin you want. Remember that a no-show leaves you standing at an empty chair, so the treatments that do show carry that time. Type your own minutes, rent and no-show rate and read the price off.
Is it better to rent out chairs or employ estheticians on commission?
Renting gives a fixed weekly amount whatever the renter books, and the renter carries the empty hours. Commission gives you a share of every service the esthetician completes, less payroll taxes and extras, but you carry the booking risk, the supplies and the no-shows. The calculator prints what each option nets the shop per week after rent and equipment, the booth rent at which the two pay the same, and the commission at which they pay the same.
How many treatments a week does an esthetician studio chair need to break even?
The chair's weekly fixed cost (its share of rent, the equipment spread over the years you will keep it and other fixed cost) divided by what each completed service leaves after supplies, your own pay for the chair time and the retail margin. The result gives the completed services needed per week and the number you would have to book at your no-show rate.
How much do no-shows cost an esthetician studio?
Each empty slot loses the service margin (price less supplies, plus any retail you would have sold) unless you can fill it. The calculator multiplies your no-show rate by the week's bookings and prints the cost per week and per year, and what halving the rate with a deposit or a reminder text would be worth.
What does this leave out?
Tips, which belong to whoever earned them, the owner's own pay beyond the hourly figure you type, sales tax, card fees, insurance, licenses, advertising, an esthetician who brings fewer clients than you do, and income tax. It is a planning aid, not an estimate of record.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.