How to set a tip policy as a solo beauty pro
The awkward moment happens every day in solo beauty: the service is done, the client looks great, the card is on the counter, and there is a 30-second silence where nobody is sure what the right thing to do is. The client wonders if she should tip, how much, whether cash is better, whether the card reader has a tip prompt. The pro wonders if she should say something, if saying something looks greedy, if the client even knows tipping is normal here.
That silence is not a personality problem. It is a policy problem. The solo beauty pro who has a tip policy — two sentences, written down, communicated before the client arrives — does not have that silence. The client knows what to expect. The pro does not have to navigate the moment. The checkout takes 90 seconds instead of four minutes.
This guide covers the two valid tip positions (and the one that is not), how tips flow through Stripe and other payment processors, how to set up a tip prompt that actually converts, the difference between card and cash and Venmo tips from a tax standpoint, the three scripts that remove the awkward checkout moment, the tip-splitting problem for booth renters who share services, and what the right tip setup looks like for each solo beauty vertical.
The two valid tip positions (and the one that is not)
A tip policy starts with a binary decision: do you accept tips, or do you not?
Position A: Accept tips and systematize collection. You accept tips from clients who want to tip. You set up a clear tip path (card, cash, or both). You communicate the path before the client arrives so she does not have to guess. You track everything for tax purposes.
Position B: Tip-inclusive pricing, no tips accepted. You price your services high enough that you do not need tip income. When clients offer a tip, you decline with a one-sentence explanation: "I build my pricing so I do not need to rely on tips — thank you, though." This works best when your price point is already at the premium end of your market. It is not a common position in solo beauty, but it is a coherent one, and the clients who prefer a no-tip environment actively seek out pros who operate this way.
The position that does not work: ambiguity. No stated policy, no card tip path, some cash tips accepted, the checkout moment handled differently every time depending on how the pro feels that day. Ambiguity leaves money on the table from clients who want to tip but do not know how. It creates anxiety for clients who are uncertain about the etiquette. It produces no tax paper trail for the cash tips that do occur. And it makes the checkout moment awkward every single appointment.
Most solo beauty pros end up in the ambiguous middle not because they thought about it and chose ambiguity but because they never thought about it at all. Nobody wrote a tip policy. Nobody set up a card tip path. The situation evolved from the first client who pressed a $20 bill into a hand and the pro who did not know what to say except "thank you." A policy is a deliberate choice. Ambiguity is the default when no policy exists.
How tips flow through your payment system
Before you can set a tip policy, you need to know what the mechanics actually are. Most solo beauty pros have a Stripe account for online deposits and some combination of cash, card reader, or Venmo for the service balance at checkout. Tips run through whatever channel the client uses at the moment of checkout.
Stripe Payment Links do not have a native tip prompt. A standard Stripe Payment Link for a fixed service amount shows the client the amount and asks for a card. There is no tip screen. You can add a tip as a separate adjustable line item — a "tip" product set at a custom amount — but the client has to enter the amount manually. Conversion on manual-entry tip links is low because it requires the client to decide on an amount and then type it in.
Stripe Terminal enables tip prompts at in-person checkout. If you have a Stripe card reader (the BBPOS WisePOS E or the Stripe Reader S700), you can enable tip collection on the terminal. The reader shows suggested amounts after the client taps or inserts the card. This is the highest-converting tip mechanism in Stripe's product suite. The hardware costs $299–$399. It is the right setup if you do all of your in-person checkout through Stripe and want tip collection fully integrated.
Square readers have a native tip prompt. Square's card reader shows a tip screen with three suggested amounts after each transaction. Many solo beauty pros use Square at in-person checkout even if they use Stripe for online deposits — two separate accounts, two separate systems. This is a common and functional setup: ChairHold or a Stripe Payment Link for the deposit at booking, Square reader at the chair for the service balance plus tip. Square's processing fee is 2.6% + $0.10 for card-present transactions, comparable to Stripe's 2.7% + $0.05 for card-present.
The paper card + QR code method. Low-tech, effective. A small printed card at your station with a QR code that links to a Stripe Payment Link set at a $0 minimum with an adjustable tip amount. The client scans the QR, enters her tip, pays. No hardware required. Conversion is lower than a terminal prompt — the client has to decide to scan — but it removes the verbal ask entirely for clients who prefer not to have a money conversation at checkout.
The verbal ask plus manual charge. At checkout, the pro asks "Would you like to add a tip? I can run it as a separate card charge." The client says yes or no. If yes, the pro opens the Stripe Dashboard on her phone, goes to "Charge a customer," enters the tip amount, and runs the card again. This works with zero hardware or setup. It requires the pro to ask out loud, which many find awkward, but for clients who would not otherwise know the tip option exists, a direct offer converts at high rates.
Displayed tip amounts versus no prompt
How you present the tip option has a larger effect on tip rates than almost any other variable. Research from point-of-sale tipping studies (across food service, personal care, and transportation) consistently shows the same pattern:
A terminal or screen that displays three suggested amounts — say $10 / $15 / $20 for a $65 lash fill — produces tip conversion rates of 60–75% among clients who reach the tip screen. A blank field that says "add tip" produces conversion of 25–35%. No prompt at all produces conversion of 15–20% (only the clients who proactively ask how to tip).
Dollar amounts convert better than percentages. When a client sees "15% / 20% / 25%," she has to do math. When she sees "$10 / $15 / $20," she does not. For a $65 lash fill, the percentage math produces $9.75 / $13 / $16.25 — numbers that feel arbitrary. The dollar amounts produce clean round numbers that feel like deliberate choices. Clients at terminals with dollar amounts tip at higher rates and higher average amounts than clients at terminals with percentages.
Anchoring: clients select the middle amount most often. If your three suggested amounts are $10 / $15 / $20, most clients who tip will select $15. If you shift to $15 / $20 / $25, most will select $20. The middle amount is the perceived "normal" choice. Setting your middle amount at the tip you consider standard for your price point is more effective than setting your lowest amount there and hoping clients select higher.
Pre-selected amounts create a different social dynamic. Some terminals pre-select a tip amount (usually 18–20%) by default and require the client to actively tap "no tip" to remove it. This produces higher tip rates but also produces more client resentment — clients feel like the default was chosen for them. The better UX for a solo beauty relationship — where repeat business depends on how the client feels about the whole experience — is three equal-weight options with no default, plus a "no tip" button at the same visual weight as the tip options.
For a $180 color service, appropriate dollar amounts are $25 / $35 / $45. For a $65 lash fill, $10 / $15 / $20. For a $45 gel manicure, $8 / $10 / $15. For a $90 full-set nails, $15 / $20 / $25. For a $125 mobile dog groom, $15 / $20 / $25. Set amounts that represent 15–20–25% of the typical service ticket, rounded to clean dollar amounts.
Card tips vs. cash tips vs. Venmo tips
Tips arrive through three main channels for most solo beauty pros. Each has different mechanics, different tracking requirements, and different tax implications.
Card tips run through your payment processor (Stripe, Square, or another). They appear on your transaction records automatically. They are subject to the same processing fee as the underlying service transaction — 2.7–2.9% plus a fixed per-transaction fee. At the end of the year, your Stripe or Square tax report includes tip income in your total deposits, which you report as business income on Schedule C. Card tips require no manual tracking. Your payment processor has already tracked them. The only action required at tax time is including the processor's annual totals in your income calculation.
Cash tips have zero processing fee. The full amount stays with you. They are also completely untracked by any system other than a log you maintain yourself. Under IRS rules, all tips are income, including cash tips. If you receive $20 or more in tips in a calendar month, you are required to track and report them. The beauty industry is a sector the IRS specifically monitors for tip income, with published service revenue benchmarks that suggest what tip income should look like as a percentage of total receipts. A solo nail tech with $70,000 in reported service income and zero reported tip income produces a reporting pattern that does not match industry norms.
The practical cash tip tracking system: a daily note in your phone (date, amount). The note takes 10 seconds to update after each appointment. At month end, you total it and add it to your monthly income log. At tax prep time, you hand the annual total to your accountant alongside your Stripe and Square reports. If you have a bookkeeping system (QuickBooks, Wave, a spreadsheet), you enter cash tips as a separate income line — "cash gratuity received" — distinct from service income. That separation is not required by the IRS but it makes your tax return easier to review.
Venmo and CashApp tips are the highest-risk tip channel from a tax standpoint, and the risk is not in the tax owed — it is in the reporting mismatch. Starting with the 2023 tax year, the IRS lowered the 1099-K reporting threshold for third-party payment networks from $20,000 to $600. Venmo and CashApp are third-party payment networks. If a client Venmos you $18 as a tip after a service, and that $18 transaction brings your cumulative Venmo receipts above $600 for the year, Venmo will issue you a 1099-K that includes that transaction. If you are already reporting all income through your Stripe and cash logs, the Venmo 1099-K creates a reporting complexity: you now have to reconcile two streams of 1099 income plus cash. If you are not already tracking tip income carefully, the Venmo 1099-K may produce a number that surprises you at tax time.
The cleanest approach: keep card tips through your primary payment processor (Stripe or Square), keep cash tips tracked in your manual log, and avoid Venmo as a tip channel. If a client wants to use Venmo, direct her to the QR code for a Stripe Payment Link or accept cash instead. Venmo tips are not inherently wrong, but they add a third reporting stream without any benefit over card tips except the absence of a processing fee.
Tax treatment of tips: what you owe and when you owe it
All tips are income. This is not a grey area. IRS Publication 531 (Reporting Tip Income) applies to self-employed personal service providers the same way it applies to restaurant servers. The source of the tip — card, cash, or app — does not change the tax treatment. The amount of the tip does not change the tax treatment. A $5 cash tip from a client who tipped spontaneously after a haircut is income. A $200 tip from a regular who wanted to do something nice at the holidays is income.
The $20/month threshold governs when reporting is required under the tip reporting rules (originally designed for employees who report tips to employers). For self-employed sole proprietors with no employer, the threshold is effectively irrelevant — all income from business activities goes on Schedule C regardless of amount. The $20/month figure matters more in an employee context. For a solo booth renter, the practical rule is simpler: report everything.
Tips increase your self-employment tax liability, not just your income tax. Sole proprietors pay SE tax (Social Security and Medicare) at 15.3% on the first $168,600 of net self-employment income (2024 threshold; the SS portion phases out above the threshold, Medicare continues at 2.9%). Tips are part of net self-employment income. If you receive $500/month in tips ($6,000/year), the SE tax alone on that amount is approximately $918. That is before federal income tax. If you are in the 22% federal bracket, add another $1,320. Total additional tax from $6,000 in tip income: approximately $2,238.
Quarterly estimated taxes must include tip income. If you pay quarterly estimated taxes (as most solo beauty pros with self-employment income should), your tip income needs to be included in the income estimate each quarter. A solo nail tech who receives $700/month in tips and does not include that in her quarterly estimate will owe approximately $600 in additional tax at the Q4 filing — plus underpayment penalties if the shortfall exceeds the safe-harbor threshold. The fix is simple: add your monthly tip income to your monthly income total when calculating each quarterly payment.
Card tips make quarterly calculations easy. Your Stripe or Square monthly report shows total deposits, which includes tip income. Pull the monthly total, subtract your service income (which you know from your booking records), and the remainder is your tip income. For card tips, no manual tracking required beyond the payment processor's built-in reports. For cash tips, add your monthly log total to the card tip figure.
What to say: three scripts that remove the awkward moment
The awkward checkout moment exists because neither the client nor the pro knows what to say. Both have information the other needs: the client wants to know how to tip and whether to; the pro wants to collect tips without asking for them. A script solves this by giving each party a clear role.
Script 1: Pre-appointment tip disclosure. Include a sentence about tips in your booking confirmation message or on your booking page. "A note on gratuity: I accept tips by card through the link below or in cash at the appointment. Gratuity is always appreciated and never expected." That is two sentences. It answers the question before it becomes awkward. The client who wants to tip knows the path. The client who does not want to tip has been explicitly told it is optional. Nobody has to navigate the question at checkout.
This is the highest-leverage script. Most solo pros never write it because they feel awkward mentioning tips at all — but the pre-appointment disclosure is not an ask. It is an informational note that removes ambiguity. Clients who receive it respond with appreciation, not resentment. They are grateful to know the expectation before they arrive.
Script 2: At checkout, when there is no terminal prompt. If you are collecting the service balance through a Stripe Payment Link (where there is no tip screen), you need to say something. The cleanest version: "The total today is $165. If you want to add a tip I can run it as a separate charge — cash is great too." One sentence. You have offered the option without asking for a specific amount. The client who wants to tip knows how. The client who does not want to tip says "we are good" and you both move on. The sentence takes three seconds to say and produces tips from clients who would otherwise not have known the path.
What not to say: "Do you want to leave a tip?" The yes-or-no framing forces the client into a binary that she does not want to navigate face-to-face with you. "If you want to add a tip" framing gives her an opt-in without requiring an opt-out statement. The linguistic difference is small but the social difference at checkout is significant.
Script 3: When a client asks "how much should I tip?" This question is sincere. The client wants to tip appropriately and does not know the norm. Do not deflect with "whatever you are comfortable with" — that forces her to make the decision she just asked you to help with. Answer directly: "Honestly, I appreciate whatever you feel like giving. If you want a range, most of my clients tip $20–$30 for a service like this." Give actual dollar amounts. If she presses: "Some clients tip 15–20%. On a $180 balayage that is $27–$36. The right amount is whatever feels right to you." You have given her the information she asked for. She decides. The conversation is over in 30 seconds.
The tip-splitting problem for booth renters who share services
In a shared-service setting — two booth renters collaborating on a single client, such as one colorist doing a balayage and a second stylist doing the cut and blow-dry — the tip-splitting question is almost never answered before it becomes a problem.
The typical scenario: the client receives two separate checkout moments (one payment to the colorist, one to the cutter). She tips on the first one and does not know whether to tip on the second. Or she tips one person in cash and not the other. Or she assumes the tip is shared automatically (it is not, because the two pros have separate Stripe accounts).
Three approaches that work, in order of clarity:
Approach A: Each pro takes the tip for her own service. The colorist receives the tip on the color transaction. The cutter receives the tip on the cut transaction. At checkout, the client is told: "You can tip each of us separately — by card through our own links or in cash." Clear, simple, no coordination required between the two pros. The trade-off: the client faces two tip decisions instead of one, which reduces the probability that she tips both.
Approach B: Combined tip, agreed split. The two pros agree on a split percentage before the first shared service — 50/50, or a proportional split based on time spent. One pro collects the full service payment and tip, then transfers the agreed portion to the other. This requires trust between the two pros and a clear prior agreement. The client has one checkout moment and one tip decision. Trade-off: requires reliable follow-through on the transfer, which can become a source of friction if the relationship sours.
Approach C: Inform the client explicitly. At checkout: "We each have our own payment links. You are welcome to tip us separately through the links or leave cash for either or both of us. There is no pressure — we both appreciate whatever you are comfortable with." This gives the client full information and removes the assumption that tipping one covers both. The client can make an informed decision rather than operating on assumptions.
The tip-splitting problem is almost always resolved by defining the approach before the first shared service — not after the first argument about why one pro received a $30 tip and the other received nothing from the same client. If you share services regularly with another booth renter, add tip handling to the conversation where you agree on the collaboration structure.
Vertical-specific tip norms and setup
Tip culture varies significantly across solo beauty verticals — in expected amounts, in client assumptions about whether tipping is normal, and in the logistics of when and how the tip is collected.
Colorists
Tip culture is strong in hair color. The industry norm is 15–20% of the service ticket. For a $200 balayage, the norm is $30–$40. For a $90 single process, $13–$18. Because color services have high ticket prices and long appointment durations, tip amounts in dollar terms are meaningful. A colorist with 40 appointments per month at an average tip of $30 receives $1,200/month in tip income — $14,400/year. That is a material line item that needs to be tracked and reported.
In a booth-rent solo color context, there is typically no assistant who needs a separate tip. The entire tip goes to the colorist. If you are in a larger salon space where an assistant washes and blows dry, the tipping dynamic is more complex — but as a solo pro, you are the only person in the service, and the tip is yours.
For colorists, a Stripe Terminal or Square reader with tip prompt is worth the hardware investment given the ticket size. A $30 average tip on a $200 service pays for a $399 reader in fewer than 15 appointments.
Lash artists
Tip norms for lash artists vary more by market than in most other solo beauty verticals. In upscale urban markets, 20% is the baseline expectation. In suburban or working-class markets, 10–15% is more typical. Because lash fills run $60–$90 and full sets run $100–$160, tip amounts are smaller in dollar terms than hair color even at the same percentage.
For lash artists, displaying dollar amounts rather than percentages is particularly effective. A client who sees "$10 / $15 / $20" on a Square reader after a $65 fill will tip more often and at higher amounts than a client who sees "15% / 20% / 25%" and has to calculate $9.75 / $13 / $16.25. Set your three dollar amounts to represent approximately 15% / 20% / 25% of your most common ticket, rounded to clean numbers.
Nail technicians
Nail services are the most tipped solo beauty vertical by transaction volume. Tip culture in nail services is universal across market segments — clients expect to tip, and the absence of a tip is a clear signal of dissatisfaction. The norm is 20–25%. For a $45 gel mani, that is $9–$11. For a $90 acrylic full set, $18–$22. For a $35 regular mani, $7–$9.
The volume math for nail technicians makes tip income significant even at low per-tip amounts. A nail tech with 70 appointments per month at an average $10 tip receives $700/month in tip income — $8,400/year. That is more than many nail techs report as tip income because they have been collecting cash tips without a tracking system and not reporting the full amount.
Nail technicians should have the most frictionless tip setup of any solo beauty vertical. Square reader with tip prompt is standard. The tip happens at checkout automatically, without a verbal ask, without a QR code, without a separate transaction. The client taps to pay, the tip prompt appears, she selects an amount, the transaction completes. Twenty seconds.
For nail techs who do not have a card reader and collect the service balance in cash, the tip tracking problem is more acute — you are receiving tip income in cash with no external record, which means the paper trail lives entirely in your manual log. The $400–$500 investment in a Square reader and stand is almost certainly worth it for the combination of tip collection automation and tip income documentation.
Brow artists and PMU professionals
PMU services ($400–$800 for microblading, $350–$600 for powder brows) have the most uncomfortable tip moment in the solo beauty industry. At 20%, the tip on a $600 microblading service is $120. Most clients have not budgeted for that. The tip prompt on a $600 transaction showing $90 / $120 / $150 produces more anxiety than gratitude.
Many experienced PMU artists handle this differently: a flat tip disclosure in the booking confirmation. "If you would like to tip for your microblading appointment, most clients tip $50–$100 in cash. This is completely optional and is not expected, but it is the most convenient format given the service price." This reframes the tip conversation before the appointment, gives the client a specific cash amount to bring if she wants to tip, and removes the awkward card terminal moment entirely.
For brow shaping (lower ticket, $30–$65), standard tip norms apply — 15–20% is typical, a Square reader with tip prompt works well.
Touch-up appointments (mandatory at 6–8 weeks for microblading) generate a separate tip moment. Some clients tip again at the touch-up; others do not. A pre-appointment note for the touch-up confirmation can address this: "The touch-up fee is $100 [or whatever your rate]. As with the initial procedure, gratuity is entirely optional." One sentence removes the ambiguity.
Mobile groomers
Tip culture in mobile pet grooming is strong. The standard is 15–20% of the groom price, with higher tips common for large dogs, difficult coats, and behaviorally challenging pets. A mobile groomer who handles a large doodle with a matted coat and three years of grooming avoidance is performing skilled labor under conditions that warrant a meaningful tip — clients who understand the work generally tip 20–25% or more for difficult appointments.
Mobile groomers have a unique logistics challenge: tip collection happens at the door, at a moment when the client is receiving her pet and you are ready to drive to the next appointment. The best setup for this context is a Square reader mounted in a small holder you bring to the door: total on screen, client taps, tip prompt appears, tip is selected, done. The entire checkout takes under 60 seconds.
Venmo tips are common for mobile groomers because clients often ask "can I Venmo you?" when the card reader feels awkward at the door. This works in the short term but creates the 1099-K reporting complexity described earlier. If you receive frequent Venmo tips, add a note to your booking confirmation: "I accept card payment at the appointment and cash tips. I am not set up for Venmo tips." Most clients will switch to cash when directed, and cash tips are the simplest tracking scenario (your log, your choice).
Six common tip policy mistakes
1. No card tip path. Clients who want to tip by card and cannot will often not tip at all — they do not carry cash, the moment passes, they forget to Venmo later. A nail tech with 70 appointments per month and no card tip path loses an estimated $400–$700/month in tips that clients intended to give but had no mechanism to complete. Setting up a Square reader or enabling Stripe Terminal costs $299–$399 and pays back in the first month.
2. Venmo as the primary tip channel. The absence of a card processing fee feels like a win. The 1099-K reporting complexity, the missing payment processor records, and the difficulty of reconciling a Venmo statement against your appointment log at tax time are not worth the saved $0.65 on a $22 tip. Use Venmo for client emergencies. Use card for routine tip collection.
3. Not tracking cash tips. The IRS does not distinguish between tracked and untracked cash tips — all are income. The difference is whether your reported income matches what your bank deposits show. If you deposit $8,000/month in personal bank deposits (card income plus cash tips) but report $6,500/month in business income (card income only), the gap is visible in any bank account audit. Cash tips that are tracked and reported eliminate the gap. Cash tips that are not tracked and not reported create a gap that produces penalties and interest if it surfaces in an audit.
4. Percentage prompts instead of dollar amounts. Your terminal tip screen should show dollar amounts for the three suggested tips, not percentages. Clients tip more frequently and at higher amounts when they see "$15 / $20 / $25" than when they see "15% / 20% / 25%." The configuration change takes five minutes in the Square or Stripe Terminal dashboard.
5. No pre-appointment tip disclosure. The client who wants to tip but does not know if tipping is normal here, does not know if cash is expected, does not know if the card reader has a tip function — that client often does not tip even though she intended to. A two-sentence tip note in your booking confirmation eliminates the uncertainty before it becomes checkout awkwardness. It costs nothing, takes two minutes to write, and produces incremental tip income from every appointment cycle forward.
6. No tip discussion with collaborating booth renters. The first time two booth renters share a service without discussing tip splitting is almost always the last appointment before the conversation becomes uncomfortable. Have the tip-split discussion before the first shared client. Agree on an approach (separate tips, combined split, or informed client). Write it down in a shared note. The agreement takes 10 minutes to reach. The absence of an agreement produces the kind of resentment that ends booth-renter working relationships.
Three-year compound: tip system vs. no system
Two nail technicians. Same skill level. Same market. Same client volume: 70 appointments per month, $45 average service ticket.
Nail Tech A has no card tip path. She accepts cash tips when clients offer them spontaneously. About 20% of clients tip in cash, averaging $9 per tipper. She does not track cash tips and does not report them. Monthly tip income: approximately $126 (14 clients × $9). Annual tip income: approximately $1,512. She does not include tip income in quarterly estimates. At tax time, she has a reporting mismatch and a gap between bank deposits and reported income.
Nail Tech B sets up a Square reader with tip prompt showing $8 / $10 / $15. She includes a tip note in her booking confirmation. She tracks all tips — card and cash — in her monthly income log. With the tip prompt visible at checkout, 68% of clients tip (48 clients/month) and the average card tip is $11. Another 8% tip in cash at approximately $9. Monthly tip income: approximately $592 (48 card × $11 + 6 cash × $9). Annual tip income: approximately $7,104. She includes this in her quarterly estimates. No tax surprise. No reporting gap. Full paper trail.
Three-year tip income difference: Nail Tech A earns $4,536 in tips over three years. Nail Tech B earns $21,312 over the same period. The gap is $16,776 — from the same client volume, same service quality, same market. The difference is a $399 Square reader, a two-sentence booking confirmation note, and a 10-second per-appointment tracking habit. Nail Tech B also has zero audit exposure; Nail Tech A has a three-year bank deposit record that does not reconcile with her reported income.
Three operational checklists
One-time tip policy setup (30–45 minutes)
1. Decide: accept tips or tip-inclusive pricing. Write it down. If accepting tips, proceed to step 2. If tip-inclusive, write one sentence for your booking page ("My pricing is all-inclusive; I do not accept gratuity") and update the booking confirmation. Done.
2. Choose your card tip channel: Square reader + tip prompt, Stripe Terminal with tip prompt, or Stripe Payment Link with tip line item. Order hardware if needed (Square Reader: $49; Square Stand: $149; Stripe Reader S700: $399).
3. Configure tip amounts in your reader or terminal: three dollar amounts representing approximately 15% / 20% / 25% of your most common service ticket, rounded to clean numbers. No pre-selection. Equal visual weight on the "no tip" option.
4. Write a two-sentence tip note and add it to your booking confirmation template and/or your booking page. Something like: "A note on gratuity: I accept card tips at the appointment and cash. Gratuity is appreciated and never expected."
5. Set up a cash tip tracking system: a note in your phone, a column in your income spreadsheet, or a line in your booking system notes. The format does not matter — daily date and amount matters.
6. If you share services with another booth renter: have the tip-split conversation this week. Choose an approach (separate, split, or informed client). Write it in a shared note. Done.
7. Update your quarterly estimated tax calculation to include projected monthly tip income. If you are not sure of your monthly tip income yet, use your first three months as a basis and adjust the Q2 estimate.
Per-appointment tip protocol (under 2 minutes)
1. Before checkout: the booking confirmation has already communicated the tip policy. No verbal disclosure required unless the client asks.
2. At checkout: present the card reader or terminal. Let the tip prompt run without comment. If there is no terminal prompt, say the Script 2 sentence.
3. If the client asks how much to tip: answer with Script 3 — specific dollar amounts representing your normal range. Answer directly. Do not defer.
4. After the appointment: if a cash tip was received, log it in your cash tip record before the next client arrives. Date and amount. Ten seconds.
Monthly tip income review (30 minutes)
1. Pull your Stripe or Square monthly report. Note total deposits. Subtract service income (from your booking records or appointment log). The difference is card tip income for the month.
2. Total your manual cash tip log for the month.
3. Add card tips + cash tips = total tip income for the month.
4. Add this to your monthly income total for quarterly estimate purposes.
5. If your tip rate (tips ÷ service revenue) is below 10% for three consecutive months, revisit your tip setup: check that the terminal tip prompt is enabled, check that the booking confirmation tip note is still in the template, check whether the suggested dollar amounts are appropriate for your current price point.
If you want the deposit collected at booking linked to the same client record as the service transaction at checkout — so you can see total transaction history per client in one place — ChairHold is in early access at $9/month: one booking link, deposit to your Stripe, and the client record that holds every transaction from booking through checkout.