For hair and beauty salons

Salon rota software: stylists on their own days, reception covered every hour the door is open

A salon rota is the appointment book seen from the other side: every stylist has a column, the column is only open on the days they work, and the desk has to be covered from the first client to the last. InShift gives each stylist their own pattern of days with a late on Thursday and Friday, keeps reception on the same rota as the floor, takes holiday requests months ahead in the app, and repeats the week with “Copy last week”.

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The rota decides which columns are open, so it has to be right months ahead

A salon of eight runs Tuesday to Saturday, with late nights on Thursday and Friday until eight and an early start on Saturday. Every stylist has their own days: the senior stylist on Tuesday to Saturday with the Thursday late, the colourist on four days, the part-timer on Friday and Saturday only, the apprentice on whichever days college allows. Reception is open from the first client to the last, which on a late night means two receptionists and a handover, and the owner is on the floor with a column of their own.

The trouble is that the rota is written twice: once as the days people work, and again as the columns the booking system opens for appointments. When the two disagree, a client is booked with a stylist who is on holiday, or a column stays open on a day nobody covers the desk. A holiday agreed by text in March is forgotten by July, when the column is already full. And a swap between two stylists on a Saturday moves fifteen appointments with it.

Below is how a salon of eight looks in InShift: shift types that know which days they run on, a week where reception and stylists sit in the same grid, the owner approving a holiday from the phone between two clients, and the stylist watching their holiday balance in the app.

Shift types by day

A shift type knows which days it runs on and what time it starts on each

Shift types belong to the location, and each one carries the days it applies to and its hours on those days: “Day 09:00–18:00” on Tuesday to Saturday, “Late 11:00–20:00” on Thursday and Friday only, “Saturday 08:30–17:30” on its own day. A shift type can also belong to a position, so the desk has its own “Reception 08:45–18:15” that the stylists never see. The planner offers each type only on the days it runs, and the week is built by putting people on them.

  • “General shifts” for the whole salon, and a shift schedule under each position for the desk
  • “Days” on every shift type: the late on Thursday and Friday, the early on Saturday
  • Different hours on different days inside one type, so “Day” can end at 20:00 on a late night
  • A colour per type, so the week reads at a glance: day, late, Saturday
The admin panel screen by screen

The week of an eight person salon, reception and floor on one grid

Tuesday to Saturday, late nights on Thursday and Friday. One code per shift type, the way the planner colours them.

WhoTueWedThuFriSat
Reception 1DDDDS
Reception 2··LLS
Senior stylistDDLDS
Stylist 1DDDLS
Stylist 2·DLLS
Colourist·DDLS
Part-timer···LS
ApprenticeDD·DS

D is “Day 09:00–18:00”, L is “Late 11:00–20:00” on Thursday and Friday, S is “Saturday 08:30–17:30”. Closed Sunday and Monday. Every late night has a receptionist until the last client and at least two stylists; the owner’s own column is on the rota too. Next week is “Copy last week” with the apprentice’s college day moved.

Between two clients

A holiday approved from the owner’s phone, before the column fills up

The admin panel fits a phone screen, and “Requests” is where the owner spends the thirty seconds between clients: the holiday, the sick day and the swap in one list, with “Approve” and “Reject” on each. A stylist asks for a week in July from the app in March; the owner sees the dates next to the other requests for the same week and decides. The approved holiday stays on “Requests” and shows under “Off” in the day view of the manager’s app, so the desk knows which column to keep closed before anyone books it.

  • “Time off”, “Swaps” and “Open” tabs, a search by name, filters by status and location
  • “Approve” or “Reject” with one tap; the stylist gets a push notification either way
  • “Vacation days per year” on each person’s card, and the app says when a request goes over the balance
  • Time off “Manager approves” or “Off” in “Request rules”; swaps between stylists “Coworker only” or with the owner’s say

In the stylist’s app

Holiday balance, requests and their status, all in the stylist’s pocket

The “Requests” screen of the app shows the year’s holiday as a balance: “Vacation 2026”, used and left, from the “Vacation days per year” on the card. A new request takes the type, the dates and a note: “Holiday”, “Sick leave”, “Personal” or “Unpaid”. It sits there as “Pending” until the owner decides, then turns “Approved” with the owner’s note, and the stylist can cancel it while it waits. The same screen holds the swaps and the open shifts.

  • “Vacation 2026”: used and left, and a warning when a request goes over the balance
  • “Holiday”, “Sick leave”, “Personal” and “Unpaid”, each with dates and a note
  • “Pending” and “Approved” with the manager’s note; “Cancel” while it waits
  • “Swaps” and “Open” on the same screen; “My schedule in the phone calendar” for the diary
The app screen by screen

Moving a salon onto InShift

An hour for a salon of eight, the team joining included.

  1. 1

    Sign up and the salon

    Email or Google. The salon is a location; a second salon across town is a second location on the same screen.

  2. 2

    Positions and shift types

    Stylist, senior stylist, colourist, apprentice, reception. Shift types “Day 09:00–18:00” on Tuesday to Saturday, “Late 11:00–20:00” on Thursday and Friday, “Saturday 08:30–17:30”; a “Reception 08:45–18:15” under the reception position.

  3. 3

    The team and the holiday quota

    “Add multiple” pastes the team with a position; “Vacation days per year” on each card or the company default; pay per hour, per shift or a monthly salary on the “Pay” tab. “Invite team” gives the code and the QR for the staff room.

  4. 4

    The first week and publish

    Each stylist on their days, reception on the desk, then “Publish”. Next week is “Copy last week”, and “Request rules” decide who approves a swap.

Frequently asked questions

Can the rota follow the appointment book?▾

The other way round is the safer habit: the rota decides which columns are open, and the booking system is set from it. InShift does not connect to salon booking software; the rota goes to the team’s phones, sits in the phone calendar through “My schedule in the phone calendar”, and “Print” or “Download Excel” gives the desk a copy of the week. For a developer who wants to connect a booking system there are API keys and webhooks under “Integrations”.

How does a stylist get their own pattern of days?▾

By being placed on those days in the first week and copied forward: “Copy last week” carries the whole week as drafts, the owner changes what changed and presses “Publish”. Shift types carry the days they run on, so the “Late” is only offered on Thursday and Friday. There is no separate availability grid; a stylist who cannot do a day asks for it as time off or swaps it in the app.

Can self-employed stylists and chair renters be on the rota?▾

Yes. They are people on the “Employees” list with a position, a location and the pay model “Unpaid”, so their days are on the rota and the desk knows which columns are open, and no wages are counted for them. The same model suits the owner and a partner who work a column of their own.

What happens when two stylists swap a Saturday?▾

The stylist offers the shift from “Substitute” in the app to a colleague with the same position, or takes one from “Available swaps”. Who approves is set in “Request rules”: “Coworker only”, “Manager only” or “Coworker + manager”. The rota updates when the swap goes through, and the desk sees the new name on the day. Moving the appointments between the two columns stays with the desk.

Does reception see the whole rota or only their own shifts?▾

That depends on the role. A “Team Member” sees their own shifts and “Who else is working” on the day. A receptionist who needs the whole week gets “View rota” set to “My locations” on the “Access rights” tab; the “Rota view” in the app’s settings then offers a “Table” with the salon’s week, everyone included, and the “Print” menu of the panel gives the desk a paper copy.

What does it cost for a salon of eight?▾

Free for one location and up to 10 people. Beyond that it is a subscription per active person on the “Employees” list, with locations, payroll and the team app included. The numbers are on the pricing page.

Get the whole salon on one rota

Positions, shift types and the first week take an hour, and every stylist sees their days in the app the same afternoon.

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