The five things a nail counter needs
Nail is a high-frequency, low-ticket business with a long tail of regulars. The money is in the repeat visit and the package, not the single manicure. That shapes what the till has to be good at.
- Packages that draw down cleanly. Sell ten sessions once, then redeem one at a time without charging again — and show the counter how many are left before they rebook.
- Deposits on bookings. A no-show on a Saturday afternoon is a chair earning nothing. A deposit entered at the time of booking is the cheapest fix there is.
- Commission that comes out of the till, not a notebook. Technicians paid on what they did, worked out from the actual transactions.
- Retail stock alongside services. Files, polish, treatments — on the same bill, counted in the same inventory.
- A client record somebody can actually read. Last visit, what they had, what they are allergic to, what they bought.
How FingerBooth covers them
Eight modules come with the system — there is no tier where the useful ones are held back:
- Cashiering — the till itself: services, products, packages, deposits, split payments, receipts.
- Customer Data Analytics — who is spending, who has lapsed, what they buy.
- Stock Inventory — retail and back-bar, across branches.
- Appointment Manager — the calendar your counter actually lives in.
- Live Sales Tracker — today's takings while the day is still running.
- Loyalty Program — credit balances, packages and sessions left.
- Promotions & Birthday — SMS that goes out on its own.
- Staff Commission & Payroll — commission worked out from what was actually rung up.
The appointment book
Most of a nail salon's day is the calendar, so it is worth being specific. The Appointment Manager holds a column per technician, drag-and-drop to move a booking, colour coding you set the meaning of, block-out time for a closed floor, and staff leave marked as time off so nothing gets booked over it. Clients get an SMS reminder before the appointment.
An SMS reaches a phone that has no app installed and no data on. For a salon client base that matters more than it sounds — the people most likely to miss an appointment are the least likely to have installed anything.
Online bookings
The Online Booking Form extension puts the same calendar on your own website, so a client books into the real diary instead of sending a message somebody has to read and key in. Bookings land in the counter's calendar as they come.
What it costs
The first year's maintenance is included in the purchase. Big Mouth Marketing is not GST-registered, so the figure you see is the figure you pay. There is currently no grant for FingerBooth.
Priced per branch. A second outlet is a second licence, and the two sync.
Questions we get asked
Can it handle a 10-session manicure package?
Yes. A package is sold once at the till and then drawn down session by session. The counter sees how many sessions are left before they book the next appointment, and a redemption is booked against the package rather than charged again.
How is technician commission worked out?
From what was actually rung up at the till, per staff member, including retail. The Staff Commission & Payroll module does the arithmetic so nobody is reconciling a notebook against a spreadsheet at month end.
We have two outlets. Is the client list shared?
Yes — branches sync live, so a client who usually goes to one outlet can be served at the other with their history, credit balance and package intact.
Does it take deposits for appointments?
Yes. A deposit is entered as an amount against the booking and carried through to the bill when they come in.
What does it cost?
$2,500 per branch for the software, paid once, or $3,500 with a laptop, thermal receipt printer, cash drawer, setup and installation. Maintenance is $688 per branch per year from year two — about $57 a month — and the first year is included. No GST.