Salon & Hairstylist Bookkeeping in Winnipeg
Card tips, stylist commissions, chair rent, gift cards and retail products sales: a salon’s daily deposit is never just “sales.”
Wiltshire Business Services, Inc. untangles it.
We connect your booking software, pay tips and commissions correctly, and keep CRA and Manitoba Finance satisfied.
Salon Bookkeeping Services
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Booking software, connected properly. We work with Vagaro, Fresha, Daysmart, Square Appointments and other salon platforms. We map services, retail, tips, gift cards and card fees to the right accounts, and treat processor deposits as transfers so no sale is counted twice.
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Tips handled the CRA way. CRA splits tips into two kinds. Controlled tips, such as card tips your salon collects and pays out or a pool you manage, go through payroll with CPP, EI and income tax deductions and appear on the T4. Direct tips don’t. We help you set a tip policy that matches how tips actually move, and document every payout.
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Commission and hourly payroll. Service and product commissions, minimum-wage top-ups, vacation and general holiday pay, all calculated under Manitoba's Employment Standards Code.
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Chair renters and EI. Renting out chairs doesn’t end your payroll duties. CRA treats salon owner as the employer, for EI purposes, of barbers and hairdressers working in the salon, including self-employed chair renters. We set up the premiums and slips correctly.
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Retail product and RST (PST). Hair and beauty services aren’t subject to Manitoba RST, but the products you sell are. RST applies when a gift card is redeemed for product, not when the card is sold. We keep service and product sales separate so you charge tax only where it applies.
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Gift cards and packages. Unredeemed gift cards and prepaid packages are a liability until used, not income. Most Manitoba gift cards can’t expire, though a card for a specific service can. We track outstanding balances so revenue stays accurate.
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Backbar versus retail stock. Product used on clients is an operating cost; production on the shelf is inventory. Tracking both shows your real margin on retail.
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Independent stylists, too. Renting a chair? We keep your books, track deductible costs such as tools, education and chair rent, and tell you when you cross the$30,000 GST registration threshold.
Who We Work With
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Hair salons
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Barbershops
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Spas, Beauty Bars and Esthetics Studios
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Independent Stylists and Chair Renters Across Winnipeg.
How We Get Started
1. Connect. We get access to your booking software, bank and payroll.
2. Clean up. We fix account mappings and reconcile past months.
3. Monthly. Deposits and accounts reconciled, payroll runs, a one-page report on services, retail and tips.
4. Year-end. T4 slips, GST and RST returns, and a clean package for your accountant.
Spend your time behind the chair, not behind the books.
Book a FREE consultation with Wiltshire Business Services, Inc. at the button below!
Frequently Asked Questions
• Do I have to run tips through payroll? It depends who controls them. If your salon collects tips, for example on card payments, and decides how or when they’re paid out, they’re likely controlled tips and go through payroll. Tips a client hands directlyto a stylist generally don’t.
• I rent out chairs. Why do I owe EI? CRA treats the salon owner as the employer for EI purposes of barbers and hairdressers working in the salon, even self-employed ones, and the owner pays both the worker’s and the employer’s share.
• Does Vagaro connect to QuickBooks? Yes, Vagaro offers a QuickBooks Online integration. Most problems come from how it’s mapped, not the connection itself, and that’s what we fix.
• Do I charge RST (PST) on haircuts? No. Manitoba removed RST from personal services such as hair and skin care, with tanning as the exception. Retail products are still taxable.
• Can you help a single stylist? Yes. We offer bookkeeping for independent stylists and chair renters.