Hair & grooming
Books and taxes for curly hair specialists.
A two-hour dry cut and diffuse, a curl consultation add-on, and a retail shelf built around curl creams and gels. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May came in at $11,500. Curl consultations booked as their own line item picked up again this spring, so I tracked them apart from the cut-and-diffuse appointments they usually lead to.
- Schedulicity payoutCurl cut appointments
- Curl consultation, standaloneConsultations
- Retail sale, curl creamRetail sales
- Curl product distributor orderCurl treatment product
- Certification renewal, dry-cut methodCertification and training
Why your books are different
A curly hair specialist's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist prices a haircut by the minute a stylist is booked for. Your appointments run long because a proper dry cut and diffuse takes real time, and your retail shelf built around curl-specific product is a bigger part of the business than a typical salon's. When the books cannot see the time or the shelf, pricing becomes a guess.
-
1
Long appointments get priced like a standard cut
A dry cut with diffusing can run two hours or more, far longer than a standard wet cut, but if pricing and scheduling assume standard cut times, the chair earns less per hour than it should.
What we doTracks revenue by service type and length, so you can see what a curl appointment earns per hour of chair time, not just per visit. -
2
Curl consultations get folded into the cut
A standalone curl consultation, figuring out a client's pattern, porosity, and product routine, often gets bundled into the first cut with nothing showing what the consultation itself is worth.
What we doKeeps consultations in their own line, apart from cutting and styling revenue. -
3
Curl retail blurs into backbar product
The same distributor order can carry the styling cream used to diffuse a client's hair and the identical product sold at retail, and one receipt makes both look like one cost.
What we doSplits product used in service from retail inventory, so the retail shelf shows its own real numbers. -
4
Certification in a specific cutting method gets buried in supplies
Training in a dry-cutting or diffusing method used by curl specialists can be a real yearly cost, and it is easy to log it the same way as a routine product order.
What we doKeeps certification and training costs in their own line, apart from product purchases.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a curly hair specialist.
Set up once for how appointments get paid and what the business spends. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Curl cut appointmentsDry cuts and diffuse styling booked through Vagaro or Booksy.
- ConsultationsStandalone curl pattern and product routine consultations.
- Retail salesCurl cream, gel, and diffusers sold at the counter.
- Treatment add-onsDeep conditioning or protein treatments added to a cut.
Money out
- Curl treatment productCream, gel, and conditioner used behind the chair during a cut.
- Retail inventoryCurl product and diffusers bought to resell, kept apart from backbar.
- Certification and trainingDry-cutting or diffusing method certification and continuing education.
- Booking softwareVagaro or Booksy subscription and card processing fees.
- Tools and equipmentDiffusers, shears, and dryers that wear out and get replaced.
- Studio rent and utilitiesLease, water, and power for the space.
What we watch for you
- Revenue per chair-hour
What a curl appointment earns against the time it takes, since dry cuts run long.
- Consultation-to-cut conversion
How many standalone consultations turn into a booked cut, since it shows if pricing the consultation separately is working.
- Retail attach rate
Share of appointments with a curl product sale added.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things curly hair specialists ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
I track revenue by chair-hour, not just per visit. Right now your curl cuts earn a bit less per hour than a standard cut would, worth a look at your pricing.
That is a pricing call, but I keep consultations in their own line either way, so you can see what they are worth on their own.
Usually yes. I logged it as certification and training, apart from your regular product purchases, so you can see what training actually costs each year.
The tax side
The tax side of running a curly hair specialty business.
Most of what goes wrong here is pricing long appointments right and keeping retail apart from backbar product.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Self-employment taxA specialist running her own business rather than working someone else's payroll owes self-employment tax of 15.3 percent on top of regular income tax, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
- The no tax on tips deductionThrough 2028, you can deduct up to $25,000 of tip income from federal tax. Tips still owe payroll or self-employment tax either way.
- Section 179 on styling equipmentDiffusers, dryers, and styling chairs can usually be written off the year they are bought, with 100 percent bonus depreciation for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- The pass-through deductionMost specialists can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions curly hair specialists miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Curl cream and diffusing product
- Deep conditioner and protein treatment
- Diffusers and dryers
- Shears and cutting tools
- Certification and training courses
- License renewal fees
- Booking software subscription
- Card processing fees
- Retail inventory purchased
- Studio rent and utilities
- Social media and marketing
- Trade shows and curl conferences
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A curly hair specialist's year, kept every month.
Humidity swings through spring and summer change how often clients come in more than a single holiday rush does. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring and summer bookings changed the number.
- October
Before December bookings
Gus looks at equipment or certification worth doing and any moves worth making before December bookings pick up.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for curly hair specialists. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions curly hair specialists ask first.
My appointments run much longer than a standard cut. Does that get reflected anywhere?
Yes. Gus tracks revenue by service type and how long it takes, so you can see what a long curl appointment actually earns per hour of chair time.
Should I book consultations as their own appointment?
Many specialists do. Whether you charge for them separately is a pricing decision, but Gus keeps consultation revenue in its own line regardless, so you can see what it is worth.
My retail shelf is a bigger part of my business than a typical salon's. Does Gus handle that differently?
Gus splits retail product from the product used in service the same way for every hair business, but for a curl specialist that split often matters more since retail carries a bigger share of revenue.
Is certification in a specific curl-cutting method deductible?
Usually yes. Training and certification in your method are ordinary business expenses, kept apart from product purchases so you can see what training costs you each year.
My books have never separated consultations from cuts. Can that get fixed?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts consultations, cuts, and retail apart going forward, and most specialists see the difference within a month or two.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever