How to run a tattoo business: bookings and the books

Running the shop is the booking, the money, and a file you can hand someone else. On November 8, 2026 this post read the message help, the reports help, and the pricing page. A podcast, an ad manager, and a mail tool were not opened, so their screens are not described here.

What the day uses

A client sends a request through your booking form. Help says they get an email confirming that one request, and a reply lands in Inbox, then Messages. The screen is labeled Beta. Older requests, from before messaging existed, do not open a thread.

Scheduled notes to the client are texts. Settings, then Message Editor, has a booking confirmation when the appointment is booked, and up to five reminders before it. Both are SMS. The pricing page says those texts are unlimited on every plan, with no per-message charge.

An email address can sit on the intake form, and a booking request can store a newsletter opt-in. That toggle keeps a preference. It does not start a mailing. If you want a campaign, that work happens in a mail tool this post did not open.

A deposit goes out on a hosted link. Online deposits is that flow. Pay over time, once you have turned it on, can appear on the same kind of online page. The studio side is tattoo payment plans.

The books you can export

Reports covers sales, taxes, deposits, trends, commissions, tips, and payouts. On the web, Export downloads a CSV of the rows in your filter, and that file includes a payment method column. Card and card-reader totals both show as Stripe.

Each commission line keeps the rate saved at checkout. Payouts adds tips, and a salary number if you stored one. Under commissions, the reports help lists “Calculate payroll” and “Export for payroll processing” as uses of those numbers. On the reports page, the product does not withhold taxes, issue paychecks, or generate W-2s or 1099s. Downloading the CSV is the whole handoff. That file does not connect to QuickBooks, and the Payouts view does not send the money.

Deleting a transaction takes it off Reports and off the client profile. It does not refund a card. Card refunds are done in Stripe.

Solo on the pricing page is $29 a month or $239 a year. Crew is $69 a month or $579 a year. Annual billing there saves 30%. Larger plans sit on that page too. The amounts above are the dollar figures printed there, and this read did not find a separate tax line.

Left out on purpose

Instagram, flyers, and paid ads were not opened on November 8, 2026. A tax return is the accountant’s job. The reports CSV is the file from our side.

FAQs

Where do client mailings come from?

Client mailings are outside this app. A newsletter opt-in stores a preference, and scheduled reminders in Message Editor are texts. The booking-request email is one thread, labeled Beta on the screen.

What does the reports download contain?

The filtered transactions. On the web, the CSV includes payment method. The views are sales, taxes, deposits, trends, commissions, tips, and payouts.

Does the Payouts view pay the artist?

It shows commissions, tips, and a salary figure you stored. Help calls that preparing team member payments. The public reports page says the product does not issue paychecks. Nothing in that view transfers the money.

Is the commission report a payroll run?

Payroll shows up in the help page as a use of the numbers, while the reports page says there is no withholding, no paycheck, and no W-2 or 1099. QuickBooks is not connected.

Where does pay over time show up?

On the online payment page and on deposit links, after you turn a method on. It does not run on the in-person card reader. The studio side is tattoo payment plans.

What do the plans cost?

Solo is $29 a month or $239 a year on the pricing page. Crew is $69 a month or $579 a year. Annual billing saves 30%. The page lists larger plans too. No separate tax line was on the page this read.