Navigating the UK Autumn Budget: Phorest’s new Cost of Service Feature

In response to the recent UK budget, Phorest is excited to introduce a new feature designed to help businesses manage costs more effectively while navigating staff commission structures.

Contribution to Cost: A Solution to Rising Costs

As salons across the UK face tightening budgets and increasing operating costs, many are exploring ways to control costs while still fairly compensating staff. One approach that’s been gaining traction among salons is the introduction of a 5% Contribution to cost, where 5% of the service charge will be set aside to cover operating costs and staff commission will be based on the remaining 95%.

Adding ‘Cost of Service’ within Phorest

Phorest’s new Cost of Service feature can help salons address these financial challenges. Additionally, the change will be reflected automatically in your payroll, commissions, and staff goals.

Here’s how it works:

• Apply a Contribution to cost to your services: You can set a fixed amount or a percentage to be taken out of each service charge to cover operational costs.
• Staff commissions are based on the remaining cost of the service: So if you apply a 5% cost token – for a £100 service, £5 will be taken to cover operating costs, and staff commission will be based on the remaining £95.

Setting Up the Cost of Service Feature

To set this up in Phorest, follow these steps:

1. Go to Services > Advanced > Cost Price
2. You can set the cost of service as a fixed £ amount or a percentage % *

*Across the UK, salons are being advised to implement a 5% cost-of-service

For your reports to accurately reflect this change, you can update your reports with these simple steps:

1. Manager > Reports > Open the Staff tab and click the cog wheel 
2. Toggle Deduct the cost of service to Yes.

This will ensure your reports accurately track Cost-of-Service when running Staff Commission Detail or Staff Commission Overview reports.

Navigating Financial Challenges Together

Phorest is dedicated to standing by salons through these difficult economic times. Our goal is to make your day-to-day operations easier by providing tools that streamline cost management. Our new Cost-of-Service feature aims to support you in navigating rising operational expenses, ensuring you have the resources to weather these challenging times with confidence.

For more information about this feature, please refer to our support article.