Self-employed beautician in the UK: bookings, payments and admin
By Martynas Gecas, Founder, Elite Booker. Updated .
Going self-employed as a beautician, nail tech or lash tech means running the business side as well as the treatments: registering with HMRC, checking licences, keeping records, and taking bookings and payments. This guide covers the essentials with links to official sources, then explains how to set up bookings so they do not take over your evenings.
Register with HMRC
GOV.UK says you must register for Self Assessment as a sole trader if you earn more than £1,000 in a tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April, and that you must keep records when you start trading. You can register earlier if you choose. Read the sole trader guidance for the deadlines and what to record.
Check whether you need a licence
Some treatments need a licence or registration from your local council. In London, boroughs license premises that offer treatments such as massage, manicures and nail extensions, tattooing, cosmetic piercing and laser under special treatment licensing; the treatments covered, exemptions and fees vary by borough. Outside London, councils have their own rules, especially for skin piercing and tattooing. Check your council's licensing pages before you start.
Insurance and qualifications
Most beauty professionals take out insurance that covers the treatments they offer, and many insurers and councils ask to see recognised qualifications for each one. Check that your cover matches every treatment on your price list, including any you add later.
Set prices, durations and a booking policy
Write down each treatment with its real duration, including set-up and clean-down, and its price. Decide your cancellation and deposit policy before you take your first booking, and show it to clients before they pay.
Take bookings online
A booking page lets clients see your free times and book without messaging you, so you are not replying between treatments. Put the link in your Instagram profile and on your Google Business Profile if you have premises clients visit, and keep phone and message bookings in the same diary.
Elite Booker's Basic plan is £0 a month with every feature; your client pays a £0.99 booking fee when they pay online. Until you connect Stripe, clients book and pay at your business. Email reminders are included, consent forms can be attached to the treatments that need them, and signing up starts a 60-day trial with no card.
Keep records from day one
Keep a record of income and expenses as you go, not at the end of the year. A booking system keeps each client's appointment history, and online payments arrive in your own Stripe account with their own records, which makes Self Assessment easier to prepare.
Sources and further reading
Set up online booking for your beauty business