Ask most salon owners about their revenue, and they'll have the numbers ready without thinking twice. But ask them where the money goes each month, and many won’t have clear figures until the margins start tightening.

Running a thriving salon is about more than making money; it’s also about monitoring and regulating expenses. In this article, we’ll look at some salon budget examples, typical monthly costs, and benchmarks to measure your business against.

What Does a Monthly Salon Budget Look Like?

A salon's monthly expenses are varied: payroll, rent, utilities, products, marketing, and insurance. Weighing these fixed and variable costs against revenue can help you build a more financially sound business.

Profitable salons often have total expenses around 85–90% of gross revenue, leaving room for a 10–15% net profit margin. If your costs consistently exceed this range, they’ll likely start to eat into your profits.

Salon Budget Examples

Salon expenses depend a lot on the size and structure of your business. Here’s how monthly costs can differ across categories.

Salon Suite or Independent Renter

Salon suite owners and renters often have monthly expenses between $2,000 and $6,000, depending on the business’ location and service menu.

The monthly cost breakdown might look like this (all numbers are illustrative):

• Rent: $600–3,000 based on location, size, and amenities

• Specialized equipment: $350–2,500, depending on the depth and complexity of the service menu

• Supplies: 6–12% of gross revenue

• Marketing spend: $150–750

• Credit card processing fees: 2.6–3.5% per transaction

• Software subscriptions: $50–150 for booking software, website hosting, and email marketing tools

• Business insurance and licenses: $50–350

Mid-Sized Traditional Salon

A typical mid-sized salon might have 5–10 staff and offer a range of beauty services, including hair styling, manicures, facials, and waxing. This type of business usually pays $8,000–25,000 toward monthly expenses.

Here’s a monthly expense breakdown (all numbers are illustrative):

• Payroll: $4,000–20,000, depending on whether staff are employees or commission-based workers

• Rent: $2,500–10,000 for 1,000–1,500 square feet, varies significantly depending on location and local foot traffic

• Backbar and retail products: 6–12% of gross revenue, includes backbar supplies and retail inventory

• Equipment loans: $150–1,500, covers monthly payments for items like massage chairs, wash stations, manicure and pedicure tables, and recliners

• Business insurance: $100–500 for general liability, professional liability for all employees, property coverage, and fire safety insurance

• Licenses and permits: $50–150, may include business registration plus health and sanitation permits

• Marketing: $500–1,500 for promotion through channels like social media, emails, print media, and paid ads

• Processing fees: 2.5–3.5% per transaction

• Software subscriptions: $50–350 for tools to manage POS, inventory, online booking, and memberships

• Utilities: $500–2,500, based on both the location and the type of equipment used

Expenses Every Salon Owner Should Track

Fixed costs remain constant, while variable costs can be regulated depending on your revenue situation. When budgeting for your salon, consider both types of expenses separately.

Fixed Costs

Salon owners make fixed payments on rent, equipment loans, insurance, subscription payments, and licensing fees every month. If your fixed expenses are capped at 30–35% of your monthly revenue, it should be easier to manage slow months without cutting corners.

Variable Costs

Variable costs fluctuate with changes in client volume and service demand. Keeping a close eye on these expenses helps you catch overspending before it becomes a severe cash crunch or profit problem.

As a general benchmark, your variable costs for payroll, backbar supplies, retail inventory, and marketing should total about 40–55% of your gross revenue. Don't forget to add overtime pay, payroll taxes, product expiry, waste shrinkage, and credit card processing fees to your hair salon expenses list. These smaller line items add up fast, but they often get missed in basic budget plans.

Benchmarks to Keep Your Salon Budget on Track

For most mid-sized salons, payroll, rent, and supplies are the top three expenses. Let’s look at a few benchmarks to help you see if your costs are within an appropriate range:

• Payroll: A payroll percentage (including payroll taxes) between 40–50% of gross revenue generally signals a healthy operation. If you go much over 50%, you’re more likely to face profitability issues, even during fully booked months. If your payroll is consistently high, consider using smart scheduling software that optimizes provider utilization while minimizing gaps.

• Rent: While this number varies widely by location, 8–15% of gross revenue is a good range to aim for. Rent will remain constant even during slow months, so keep this part of your budget realistic and negotiate your lease terms carefully.

• Supplies and retail inventory: This category often makes up 8–12% of gross revenue for healthy salons. To keep spending low, automate inventory tracking and train staff on how to avoid waste.

Keep in mind that these numbers are general estimates and should be used as starting points when planning or overhauling your salon’s budget.

How Boulevard Helps You Grow Your Salon Business Sustainably

Whether you own a salon suite or a luxury, multi-location business, you need a thorough understanding of all monthly expenses and their effects on growth. That requires real-time visibility into revenue performance, broken down by factors like providers, services, and locations.

Boulevard is built for salons and other wellness businesses, and its reporting dashboard is integrated with tools for POS, booking, staff management, and inventory tracking. This centralization helps you quickly identify performance dips and shifts in profitability drivers, then make changes that make your business more profitable and sustainable.

Manage your budget effectively with Boulevard’s Salon Software.

FAQ

What Does a Monthly Budget Look Like for a Nail Salon?

A nail salon’s monthly expenses vary widely depending on whether it's an independent suite or a thriving specialty business. Fixed and variable costs like rent, payroll, supplies, and marketing all impact the proportion of a salon’s expenses to its revenue.

Should I Track Salon Expenses Using a Spreadsheet?

You can use a salon expenses spreadsheet to track and categorize monthly costs, and this method may be sufficient for renters and small suite owners. However, spreadsheets alone don’t give you the insights needed to fix problems and grow your business. It’s also important to have real-time reporting tools integrated into your salon management platform, so you see how expenses and other factors impact revenue.

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Salon Monthly?

Many factors influence the cost to run a salon, including location, staffing, business model, and service offerings. Salon owners need to account for expenses like rent, payroll, supplies, insurance, equipment loans, utilities, and marketing. Renters and small suite owners may have monthly expenses as low as $2,000, while mid-sized, growing salons can cost $25,000 or more to run.

How Does Boulevard Help Salon Owners Manage Expenses?

Boulevard helps salon owners visualize expenses and their impact on the business with real-time reporting dashboards. You can customize visibility by location, service, and staff to understand how factors like performance and sales affect growth. These insights can also help you determine where expenses return real value and where to optimize.