Build a weekly salon pay sheet for hourly plus service and retail commission, with formulas, so the pay run is quick and the numbers are checkable.
Who it is for
Salon and barbershop owners who work out hourly-plus-commission pay by hand every week.
Tools
ChatGPT or Claude
Excel or Google Sheets
Your booking system's weekly sales and hours report
Steps
Write down each pay rule: hourly rate, service commission %, retail commission %, and any minimum or tier.
Use the prompt below to build the sheet. Anthropic says Claude can create Excel files with working formulas.
Each week, paste hours and sales from your booking system report.
Check two people's pay by hand before sending anything.
Overtime: the Department of Labor says overtime is paid on the regular rate, and its releases say earned commissions can count toward it. Confirm your setup with your accountant or payroll provider.
Send the totals to your payroll provider. Booth renters are not on payroll; handle their 1099s separately.
The prompt
Build a weekly pay sheet (Excel) for my salon. Use only my rules.
Pay rules per person: [NAME OR INITIALS: hourly rate, service commission %, retail commission %, any tiers]
Columns: Person | Hours | Hourly pay | Service sales | Service commission | Retail sales | Retail commission | Total before taxes
Add a row of totals and a note column. Show the formula for each column in one line. Leave rows empty for me to fill. Do not calculate taxes or overtime; flag anyone over 40 hours for me to check.
Tips
Pull sales from the same report every week.
Write tier rules out in full; vague rules make wrong formulas.
Keep the sheet; it explains every paycheck if someone asks.