How to Track Nail Tech Commissions Without Spreadsheets
Commission structures are a huge part of the nail salon business. They influence how you price services, how you reward performance, and how motivated your technicians feel day to day. The problem is that many salons still track commissions in clunky spreadsheets that eat up hours every pay period and often lead to disputes.
There’s a better way—and it starts with building commissions directly into your software and your techs’ daily workflow.
Why Spreadsheets Cause Commission Headaches
Spreadsheets seem simple at first, but as your team grows, they turn into a mess:
- You’re copying numbers from the POS to a sheet, which introduces errors.
- Each pay period requires manual updates, checks, and corrections.
- Techs see a final number but no clear breakdown, which leads to questions and mistrust.
- If one formula or column is off, the entire pay run can be wrong.
This isn’t just frustrating—it’s risky. Commission mistakes can cost you money, damage trust with your team, and even cause people to leave.
What an Ideal Commission Tracking System Looks Like
A smooth commission system for nail salons should:
- Automatically record every service on a per-tech basis.
- Apply the correct commission rate for each service or tech level.
- Show totals for each pay period without extra data entry.
- Give techs visibility into how their numbers are calculated.
Tilavon is built around this logic. Because tickets and services are tied to technicians inside the system, commissions can be tracked and reported without manual copying. Through the Tilavon Tech App, techs can also see their commissions and earnings throughout the pay period.
How Tilavon Helps You Ditch Spreadsheets
With Tilavon, commission tracking becomes part of your everyday workflow:
- Front desk or techs add services and add-ons to the ticket.
- The system knows which tech performed each service.
- Commissions are accumulated in the background as tickets close out.
- Techs can open their app to see earnings and commission totals.
- At the end of the pay period, you run reports instead of rebuilding a sheet.
You gain time back, and your team gains transparency.
The Impact of Transparent Commissions on Your Team
When techs can see their numbers, they behave differently:
- They understand how add-ons and upgrades impact their earnings.
- They can set personal goals based on actual, real-time data.
- They don’t have to chase the owner or manager to ask, “Is this right?”
That combination of clarity and ownership leads to more trust, higher motivation, and a stronger team culture. Moving away from spreadsheets isn’t just an efficiency upgrade—it’s a culture upgrade.