Eventually, it is all about money, honey and someone or something has to keep a tab on it. Like in any other business, the beauty salon business also has a lot to account for. Inventory, Revenue, Wages, Taxes, Tips all need to be accounted for to ensure that your business stays both healthy and profitable. A beauty salon accumulates a lot of financial data and it is this financial data, which helps the owners and managers make informed decisions on how to steer the business forward.
While one may argue that information can be stored in multiple ways such as manual book keeping or on excel spreadsheets, but it must be borne in mind that not only are these methods archaic and time consuming but also provide only a vague idea of your financial health and are prone to errors. In fast paced world today, these traditional methods don’t really help. Thus, the best solution is a beauty salon accounting software. There are multiple advantages of using a salon accounting software. From monitoring your cash flow to improving your overall productivity a beauty salon accounting software is essentially the eyes and ears of your business. Read along to know how your business can benefit by using a salon accounting software.
Accounts Receivable
Of all things about money, accounts receivable is clearly the exciting one. One of the primary advantages of using a salon accounting software is to get real time update on the quantum of money that is owed to you by clients. Whether the revenue is from services or from channel partners for either promotion or advertisements, the salon accounting software can you give you the update on the funds owed during a given time period. As the system provides a line by line details, it eliminates the issue of forgetting an invoice or two. Ideally the accounting software should work in handshake mode with your salon POS (point of sale) system. Working in tandem with your POS system, which collects cash associated with the services, the accounting software can easily track payments for each and every transaction, make the relevant accounting entries and help you easily balance your books.
Accounts Payable
Similar to accounts receivable, the salon business also has accounts payable. This is the quantum of money you owe to your landlord, your vendors, towards payroll obligations, tax authorities, and other statutory authorities. While the numbers on this side of the equation may not seem as exciting as accounts receivable, these numbers have a higher significance. A salon accounting software is designed to give you the real time data about the sum of money you owe during a given period. Some salon accounting software such as the one from Zenoti are equipped state of the art features such as automatic payments to take care of timely payment of your recurring expenses, and also run payroll by working in tandem with the employee management module.
Inventory Management
When it comes to accounting, the process isn’t only limited to keeping a track of amounts receivable and payable for services. A crucial process in running a salon is also about accounting for products that are sold and / or are used in rendering services. Thus, inventory management is also important and in order to help manage inventory, most salon accounting software now come with the inventory management module. From tracking consumption of goods to render services to keeping a track of stocks for sales, the inventory management module ensures that you are always updated about your stocks and the amount of capital that is blocked in maintaining the inventory. Furthermore, as the system tracks the consumption pattern and the lead time for delivery, it automatically prompts suggestions when it is time to re-order products on the vendors. Once you realize the advantages of inventory management such as error free accounting and prevention of theft and pilferage, you will turn it into a cornerstone of your business.
Comprehend your Fund Flow
Last but not the least, the salon accounting software is the tool that will help you comprehend your finances. Whether you compute your numbers, daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly your salon accounting software will give you the clear picture of your cash flow situation based on your selected time period. The salon accounting software from Zenoti comes with a state of art UX, which creates a dashboard to give you an overview at a glance. If you run a salon, with multiple outlets, the dash board can be configured to give you a comprehensive view of all stores or get details of specific locations. With such features you shall never be in surprise about your cash flow situation.
We understand that accounting isn’t the focus of businesses working in the realm of beauty industry. However, one must bear in mind that the process is both critical and integral to every business so much so that without proper accounting no business can survive. There are many such products in the market such as Quickbooks, Boulevard, & Xero. Our personal recommendation of salon management software is Zenoti as it easily integrates with other accounting software such as Quickbooks & Xero.
