Tilavon

Quick-start guide

Welcome. This guide gets your salon up and running on Tilavon. Most owners finish in about an hour. Take your time — you can stop and pick up where you left off.

You can do these sections in any order, but the order below is the smoothest path.

1. Sign in & set up your salon

When your account is created, you get an email with your sign-in link.

  1. Open app.tilavon.app in any modern web browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge).
  2. Sign in with the email and password from your welcome email.
  3. The first screen asks for your salon's basic info. Fill in:
    • Salon name
    • Address
    • Phone number
    • Time zone (so reports show your local time)
    • State tax rate (if you don't know, ask your accountant — you can change it later)
  4. Click Save.
Salon infoSalon nameTilavon NailsPhone(555) 123-4567Save

💡 Tip: You can come back to these settings any time from Settings → Salon info.

2. Add what you offer

Tilavon needs to know what services you offer before you can ring up a ticket.

Add a service category

Categories group services together (Manicure, Pedicure, Lashes, etc.).

  1. Go to Services in the left menu.
  2. Click New category.
  3. Type the category name (for example, "Manicure").
  4. Click Save.

Add a service

  1. In Services, click New service.
  2. Choose the category you just created.
  3. Fill in:
    • Service name (for example, "Gel Manicure")
    • Price
    • How long it takes (in minutes)
  4. Click Save.

Repeat for each service you offer. Don't worry about being exact — you can adjust prices and durations later.

New serviceNameGel ManicurePrice$45Duration (min)45Save

💡 Tip: Optional — add combo services (like "Mani + Pedi") under their own category for one-tap bookings.

3. Add your people

Every person who works at your salon — front desk, techs, managers — gets their own login.

  1. Go to Staff in the left menu.
  2. Click Add employee.
  3. Fill in:
    • Name
    • Email
    • Phone (optional — used for text reminders)
    • Role (see below)
  4. Click Save.

Roles

| Role | What they can do | |---|---| | Owner | Everything, including billing and payment setup | | Manager | Everything except billing | | Front Desk | Check clients in, ring up tickets, take payments | | Employee | See their schedule, clock in/out, view their tips |

You can change a person's role any time.

PIN

After you add an employee, the system assigns them a 5-digit PIN. The PIN is how they clock in and how managers approve overrides (refunds, discounts). Tell each person their PIN privately and ask them to memorize it.

Schedules

  1. Go to Staff → Schedule.
  2. Click a day on the calendar.
  3. Choose the employee and set their start and end times.
  4. Click Save.

💡 Tip: Set up the recurring schedule once. The system carries it forward week after week.

4. Get paid

Tilavon connects to Stripe so you can take card payments. This is a one-time setup that takes about 5 minutes.

Connect Stripe

  1. Go to Settings → Payments.
  2. Click Connect with Stripe.
  3. Stripe walks you through their setup screens — they need:
    • Your business name and address
    • Your EIN (Tax ID)
    • The bank account where money should land
    • A photo of your driver's license (Stripe requires this for fraud prevention)
  4. After Stripe approves you (usually within a few minutes), you're back in Tilavon.

Pair your card reader

When your card reader arrives in the mail:

  1. Plug it in and turn it on.
  2. In Tilavon, go to Settings → Card readers.
  3. Click Pair new reader.
  4. The reader shows a code on its screen — type that code into Tilavon.
  5. Click Pair.

That's it. Your reader is now linked to this kiosk.

Tip suggestions

Tilavon shows three tip buttons to your customers (15%, 20%, 25% by default). To change them:

  1. Go to Settings → Tips.
  2. Adjust the three percentages.
  3. Click Save.

💡 Tip: Tilavon takes no cut of your payments. You pay Stripe's processing fee directly to Stripe; Tilavon's fee is just your monthly subscription.

5. Try it out

Before opening for business, do a dry run. Use your own credit card and refund it after — you won't lose any money.

  1. From the main screen, tap Walk-in.
  2. Pick yourself (or any employee).
  3. Pick a service.
  4. Tap Start.
  5. When the "service" is done, tap Pay.
  6. Tap a tip amount (or No tip).
  7. Swipe or tap your card on the reader.
  8. The screen shows "Payment successful."
  9. Refund it: Open the ticket, tap … (the three dots), tap Refund.

If anything didn't feel right, this is the time to call support: (888) 316-9061.

6. Open for business

You're ready. Three things before your first real customer walks in:

  1. Give the front-desk card to your staff. It's a printed card with the 10 most-common tasks. Print it here.
  2. Show them where to clock in. Tap their photo in the top bar → Clock in.
  3. Plan your end-of-day routine. At close, the owner does a cash count from the Owner Portal — see End of day.

If you get stuck, call (888) 316-9061 or email [email protected]. We're open Mon–Fri 9am–6pm Eastern.

When you're ready (optional features)

Once you're comfortable with daily operations, these features add more to your salon:

  • Online booking — let clients book themselves on your website. Setup guide.
  • Memberships — sell monthly packages (e.g. "2 manicures per month for $80"). Setup guide.
  • Loyalty points — clients earn points on every visit, redeem for discounts. Setup guide.
  • Inventory — track polish, files, gels — get alerts when stock runs low. Setup guide.
  • Text marketing — send appointment reminders and promotions. Setup guide.
  • Mobile apps — Owner Portal app + Tech app for your employees. Setup guide.

Each can be turned on when you're ready. None are required for the basics.

Help? Call (888) 316-9061 (Mon–Fri 9–6 ET) or email [email protected].