Beauty business
How many clients do I need?
Start from the take-home you want. Add fixed costs, supplies and a tax set-aside, and see how many clients and hours it takes.
Revenue needed = (goal / (1 - tax set-aside) + fixed costs) / (1 - variable cost share). A $60,000 goal with $1,500 a month fixed costs, 10% variable costs and 20% set aside for tax needs about $103,300 of revenue: roughly 27 clients a week at an $80 ticket.
Your numbers
Result
Worked example
Goal: $60,000 take-home. With 20% set aside for tax, profit before tax must be $60,000 / 0.80 = $75,000. Add $18,000 of fixed costs ($1,500 x 12) for $93,000, then divide by 0.90 to cover 10% variable costs: $103,333 of revenue. At an $80 ticket that is 1,292 clients a year, 26.9 a week over 48 weeks, or 5.4 a day on a five-day week.
How it works
Step 1: take-home goal / (1 - tax set-aside) = profit needed before tax. Step 2: add fixed costs for the year. Step 3: divide by (1 - variable cost share) to get revenue. Step 4: revenue / ticket = clients; divide by weeks and days worked.
The tax set-aside is a number you choose. Self-employed income tax, CPP or Social Security and sales tax depend on your province or state and income, and this tool does not compute them; ask an accountant or use the tax authority's calculator for the real figure.
Appointment hours are clients x appointment length. They exclude admin, cleanup and gaps, so the hours you actually need in the shop are higher. See the utilization calculator for that.
Sources and basis (checked 2026-10-05): Arithmetic on your inputs. The tax set-aside is user-entered; no tax rates are applied.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or stored.
FAQ
How many clients does a hairstylist need to make $60,000 a year?
It depends on ticket price and costs. At an $80 average ticket with $1,500 a month fixed costs, 10% variable costs and a 20% tax set-aside, about 27 clients a week over 48 weeks. Change the fields to match your own numbers.
Is the income goal before or after tax?
It is take-home after tax. The tool grosses it up using the set-aside percentage you enter.
What should I include in fixed costs?
Booth or chair rent, insurance, software, licences, phone, and other monthly costs that do not change with the number of clients. Supplies and card fees go in the variable percentage.
Does the ticket include tips?
Leave tips out. Tips are not business revenue you can plan on and are usually handled separately.