Hair salon end-of-day routine: a step-by-step plan for the calendar, the client card and tomorrow
The last client has gone, the dryer is back in its holder and the till has been counted. Your working day still is not really closed. Does every appointment from today have the right status? Will you remember in six weeks which colour you mixed this afternoon? And will your colleague see first thing tomorrow that the opening client has a two-hour regrowth treatment? This plan shows you how to put the calendar, the client cards and the next working day in order in about fifteen minutes, so tomorrow does not start with detective work.
Closing the day is more than closing the till
When hairdressers think about closing the day, they think about the till: count the drawer, compare the card total, check the day report. That matters, and we cover that side in our guide to the end-of-day close with your POS system.
In a hair salon, though, the till is not the only thing that needs to add up at the end of the day. The craft of cosmetology and hairstyling is about work you will later need to repeat or adjust: today's colour is the starting point of the next appointment, and a client who ran twenty minutes over needs a longer slot next time. Whatever you do not record tonight, you will have to reconstruct from memory later.
That is why we split the close into four short steps that are not about money: the calendar, the client card, tomorrow and the handover. Together they take about fifteen minutes, and they save you the searching the next morning.
Step 1: give every appointment from today a final status
Go through today's calendar from top to bottom. Every appointment should end in one of three outcomes: completed, no-show or cancelled. An appointment that still says scheduled while the client has long gone home tells your reports, your client card and your colleague something that is not true.
Completed, but no receipt? Then something probably went wrong at checkout. Sort it out now, while you still remember whether the client paid cash or the receipt ended up on another appointment.
Did not show up? Mark the appointment as a no-show, not as cancelled. The difference matters: it shows you later which clients stay away more often, and that is the basis for a fair no-show policy.
Ran over or finished early? Note it on the appointment. A balayage that always takes forty-five minutes longer than your calendar says is not bad luck, it is the wrong treatment duration.
In Salonnare you do not have to rely on memory for this. An appointment that is over and still marked as scheduled shows up as a task in your notifications, with the option to check out, complete, mark as no-show or cancel. So no appointment from today is left hanging.
Step 2: record the colour formula while you still remember it
This is the step that gets skipped most often, and the one that costs you most when it is missing. At 11am you know exactly which ratio you used. By 6pm you are already unsure, and in six weeks there is a client in your chair who wants "the same as last time".
For every colour service, record at least:
Brand and line of the product.
Starting shade and target shade, for example from 7/0 to 6/77.
Amount and developer: how many grams and which percentage.
Who did it and what stood out: processing time, a section that took differently, what you would change next time.
In Salonnare you switch on colour formulas on the client card in the settings under Client settings. You can then record a formula per client with exactly those fields: date, brand, starting shade, target shade, amount in grams, developer, staff member and a free note. Next time the history is on the client card, even if a colleague takes over the client. With permissions per staff member you decide who may view client cards and who may edit them.
One exception: did the scalp react to a product, or did the client mention an allergy? That is health data and does not belong in an ordinary note. For that, Salonnare has a separate, encrypted health vault with its own permission per staff member. It is included in every plan, including the free one.
Step 3: spend five minutes looking at tomorrow
Open tomorrow's calendar and ask yourself three questions.
Who comes in first, and what does that client need? A long colour service at 9am means the colour has to be ready and the chair free. Read the client card for the first two appointments now, so you do not start tomorrow by searching.
Do you have enough product? Look at tomorrow's colour services and check that the shades you need are in stock. If you use inventory management in Salonnare, every till sale deducts stock straight away and you get a notification when a product drops below its minimum level.
Is the time slot right? If you see an appointment you know from experience is booked too tight, call or message the client now rather than at 8:55 tomorrow.
You do not have to send reminders yourself: Salonnare automatically sends clients an email reminder. If an appointment tomorrow belongs to a client without an email address, you know that client will not get a reminder. That is a good moment to get in touch yourself.
Step 4: leave a handover someone else can read
If you work with others, closing the day is also a handover. A note saying "check appointment" helps nobody. Write down what needs to happen, for whom and why:
Specific: "Mrs Smith, tomorrow 10:00, wants it shorter than last time. Formula is on the card, developer down from 9 to 6 percent."
Open items: a receipt you could not close, a client who will call back, an order that is on its way.
One fixed place: agree where the handover lives. A note by the till, a group chat and a calendar note all at once means half of it gets missed.
Keep it short. Anything about a single client belongs on the client card or the appointment, because that is where your colleague will look. The handover is only for what needs action tomorrow.
And the till? In short
The till side of the close belongs in the routine too: every receipt completed, cash and card compared with what you count, and every difference written down before you go home. Do that check before step 1, because you find an appointment without a receipt fastest right after going through today's receipts.
In Salonnare the till with cash and card is included in every plan, including the free one. The day report, with revenue per staff member and per payment method and tips shown separately, is available from Starter. How to choose a POS system that suits your salon is covered in our guide to choosing a POS system for your salon.
How to set up this routine in Salonnare
You do not need a complicated setup. Switch on colour formulas on the client card, agree with your team that every appointment gets a final status before closing time, and pick one place for the handover. After a week it is a habit.
Salonnare brings the calendar, the client card with colour formulas, the till and the reminders together in one place, built for hair salons. There are three plans: Free at €0 per month (1 staff member, 50 appointments per month), Starter at €29 and Pro at €59 per month.
Want to try it yourself? Start free with Salonnare and set up your first end-of-day close tonight.
Close your day without detective work tomorrow
Calendar, client card with colour formulas and till in one place. Start free and set up your end-of-day close tonight.
Start freeFrequently asked questions
How long does an end-of-day close take in a hair salon?
With a fixed order, about fifteen minutes plus the time for the till. Going through the calendar takes a few minutes, recording colour formulas about a minute per colour client, and looking at tomorrow plus the handover around five minutes together. The more often you do it, the shorter it gets.
What is the difference between closing the day and cashing up?
Cashing up is only the till: comparing receipts, cash and card with what actually came in. Closing the day is broader. It also covers the status of appointments, the client cards and preparing for the next working day.
Where is the best place to keep colour formulas?
On the client card, per service with a date. That way every colleague sees the client's history, even when you are not there. In Salonnare you switch on colour formulas in the settings under Client settings. Health information such as an allergy does not belong in the formula but in the encrypted health vault.
Is this included in the free plan of Salonnare?
The calendar, appointment statuses, the client card with colour formulas, the till with cash and card, email reminders and the health vault are included in every plan, including Free. The day report and inventory management are available from Starter (€29 per month).