Online accountants for hairdressers & beauty
Chair rental, employed-vs-self-employed staff, retail commission, salon books look nothing like a normal small business.
Certified with the tools you already run on
A generalist keeps you compliant. A specialist keeps you ahead.
We already know where hairdressers & beauty win and lose money, so the planning happens before the deadline, not after.
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Stay the right side of the £90,000 VAT cliff edge
The VAT registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover in any rolling 12 months (deregistration £88,000). For a salon that's a hard ceiling, because a stylist's £45 cut and a £120 colour are all standard-rated at 20%. Cross it and you either absorb the 20% or pass it to price-sensitive clients. We monitor your rolling turnover month by month, model whether the Flat Rate Scheme (13% for hairdressing and beauty) saves you money, and plan the timing so you never get a nasty surprise from HMRC.
Get rent-a-chair and freelance status genuinely watertight
Since October 2012 rent-a-chair income has been specifically standard-rated for VAT, and HMRC's 2025 hair-and-beauty guidance plus the post-Uber crackdown mean a sloppy 'self-employed' arrangement can be reclassified as disguised employment, landing the salon with back-dated PAYE and NIC. We draft the commercial reality test, keep each chair-renter's income properly separated, and make sure your agreements match what actually happens on the salon floor.
Claim every tool, product and fit-out cost you're entitled to
Scissors, clippers, dryers, styling chairs, wash units, salon fit-outs, mirrors and POS systems are plant and machinery you can write off, with up to £1,000,000 a year of Annual Investment Allowance and 100% full expensing on new main-rate kit for companies. Stock, colour, retail products, laundry of uniforms, insurance, DBS checks and CPD training are all deductible. We make sure nothing legitimate is left on the table.
Pay yourself tax-efficiently as a salon limited company
If you've incorporated, the dividend allowance is now just £500 and dividend tax runs 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35%, so the old 'tiny salary, big dividend' playbook needs recalculating every year. With Corporation Tax at 19% up to £50,000 and marginal relief biting above it, we set your salary/dividend split to suit your numbers and a family-run salon's shareholdings.
What working with us actually covers
Each line is somewhere a generalist usually leaves money behind. For us it is standard, never an add-on.
- 01
VAT done properly for hair and beauty
Hairdressing, barbering, colouring, nails, lashes, waxing, facials and cosmetic aesthetics are all standard-rated at 20% once you're registered, with no health exemption (only treatment by a registered health professional for a medical purpose qualifies, and a cosmetic facial doesn't). We assess the Flat Rate Scheme at 13%, watch for Limited Cost Trader status, and handle retail product sales correctly.
- 02
Rent-a-chair, room rental and freelancer arrangements
Whether you let chairs to stylists or rent a chair yourself, we get the VAT treatment, income separation and employment-status risk right. Critically, if you collect a renter's takings through your till, that money counts towards YOUR VAT turnover even if you pay it straight on, so we structure tills and agreements to keep you below the threshold where possible.
- 03
Tips, tronc and cash gratuities
Tips paid directly to a stylist are their own income; tips pooled and shared through the business may need a tronc arrangement to keep them out of NIC. We set up the right system so tips are taxed correctly without quietly inflating your wage bill or your VAT.
- 04
Sole trader, partnership or limited company
Many stylists start as sole traders on the £1,000 trading allowance, then outgrow it. We model the tax saving of incorporating once profits rise, weigh up the £500 dividend allowance and Corporation Tax marginal relief, and handle the company formation, payroll and pension auto-enrolment if you take on staff.
- 05
Expenses, mileage and the home-and-mobile reality
Mobile and home-based therapists can use simplified mileage at 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles then 25p, plus the home-working allowance. Salon owners get product, laundry, insurance, software (Treatwell, Fresha), training and fit-out relief. We build a clean expense policy so every claim survives an HMRC enquiry.
- 06
Making Tax Digital and clean bookkeeping
MTD for Income Tax starts April 2026 for sole traders and landlords over £50,000, April 2027 above £30,000 and April 2028 above £20,000, meaning quarterly digital submissions. We get you onto Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage with your booking system feeding in, so you're compliant before the deadline rather than scrambling after it.
From first call to filed
Four steps, one named accountant, no jargon. Most hairdressers & beauty are fully set up inside a week.
- 01
Discovery
Understanding your business needs.
- 02
Solution Design
Crafting your custom accounting strategy.
- 03
Onboarding
Quick and easy integration.
- 04
Regular Rhythm
Consistent monitoring and reporting.
Tax guides worth a read
Plain-English explainers, kept current with the latest HMRC rules.
Questions hairdressers & beauty ask us
Only once your taxable turnover passes the £90,000 registration threshold in any rolling 12-month period. Below that you can stay unregistered. Once registered, almost everything you do, cuts, colours, nails, lashes, waxing, facials and cosmetic aesthetics, is standard-rated at 20%. There's no beauty exemption: only treatment by a registered health professional for a genuine medical purpose is exempt, and a cosmetic facial or Botox-for-looks isn't.
Yes. Since October 2012 HMRC has specifically standard-rated rent-a-chair and room-rental income at 20% once you're VAT-registered. The bigger trap is the threshold: if you collect a freelancer's client takings through your own till, that money counts towards your VAT turnover even though you pass it on, which can push you over £90,000 unexpectedly. We structure the tills and agreements to avoid that.
It can be. HMRC's 2025 hair-and-beauty guidance and the post-Uber crackdown mean genuinely self-employed chair-renters must set their own prices, keep their own client list, run their own bank account and insurance, and control their own hours. If the salon dictates those things, HMRC can treat it as disguised employment and demand back-dated PAYE and National Insurance. We use the CEST tool and a written agreement that matches reality to keep you safe.
It depends on your profit level. Incorporation can save tax once profits rise, but the dividend allowance is now only £500 and dividend rates are 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35%, so the saving is smaller than it used to be. With Corporation Tax at 19% up to £50,000 and marginal relief above it, we run the numbers both ways and only recommend incorporating if it genuinely pays.
Business mileage at the simplified rate of 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles then 25p, the flat-rate home-working allowance, plus products, kit, insurance, DBS checks, booking-app fees and training. Your scissors, kit bag, portable couch and equipment are plant and machinery covered by the £1,000,000 Annual Investment Allowance, so most are fully deductible in the year you buy them.
Tips a client gives directly to a stylist are that person's own income to declare. Tips pooled and redistributed through the business can attract National Insurance unless run through a proper tronc arrangement. We set up the right structure so tips are taxed correctly without inflating your NIC bill or your VAT turnover.
If you're a sole trader, MTD for Income Tax begins April 2026 for income over £50,000, April 2027 over £30,000 and April 2028 over £20,000, requiring quarterly digital updates. We get your books onto Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage with your booking system feeding in, so you're ready well before your deadline.
Stop overpaying tax. Start filing in 5 days.
Thirty minutes with an ACCA-qualified accountant. Most owners uncover £1,000-£3,000 in annual savings on the first call. If we are not the right fit, you walk away with a free tax review on the house.
