Move the sliders to a barber’s week: what he takes home and what the shop keeps, three ways — before tax.
Before tax. An example to compare with, not tax or legal advice.
The shop pays the barber a share of what he takes in: on 50%, a €25 haircut is €12.50 for him and €12.50 for the shop. Some shops count the share on the price before a discount, others on what the client paid. A good week pays him more, a quiet week less.
A fixed amount for every day worked, however busy it is. Some shops pay more for a Sunday, or add a share of the clients taken after hours. The shop carries the quiet days and keeps more of the busy ones.
The barber rents the chair for a fixed amount a week and keeps everything he takes in. He works for himself: his own clients, his own hours and his own tax return. The shop’s income is the rent, busy or not.
A barber paid on commission or a day rate is usually employed: his pay goes through the shop’s payroll with PAYE, PRSI and USC taken off, and the shop pays employer’s PRSI on top. He must get at least the national minimum wage for every hour worked — €14.15 an hour since 1 January 2026 for workers aged 20 and over — and commission counts towards it.
A barber who rents a chair is usually self-employed: he registers for tax himself, keeps his own records and files a return every year. Whether someone is employed or self-employed depends on how the work is really done, not on what it is called — see the Code of Practice on Determining Employment Status, and ask your accountant.
Tips are the barber’s, whichever way he is paid, so the calculator keeps them apart. A tip paid by card comes into the shop’s account, and the shop pays it out to him — from the till, or with his wages.
Tillcut adds up each barber’s commission or day rate — a Sunday rate, late clients, tips from the till and advances in the week — and every barber sees his own on his phone.