Nail Salon Tip Calculator

Emily Post lists 15–20% as a guide for a manicurist. The tip amount is your choice. This tool uses the same calculation for manicures, pedicures, gel and acrylics: the service price you enter multiplied by your chosen percentage.

The input asks for the service price before tax and tip. Emily Post considers a pre-tax tip acceptable. Results use exactly the amount you enter; “service + tip” excludes tax and other receipt charges.

Turn on the two-technician option and enter the price of each person’s service. Your percentage applies to each service separately; each tip is rounded to cents before the tips are added. If one technician did both services, you can enter the combined service price in one field.

Choose the service price you intend to use as your tipping basis, then enter that amount. Check the receipt or ask the salon if the original price is unclear. The calculator uses your entry and does not automatically add a discount back.

Review the receipt and ask the salon what the charge covers before adding more. The DOL distinguishes compulsory service charges from tips. The pool mode here is for tips; do not automatically combine mandatory service charges with that total.

This calculator offers three arithmetic methods: evenly, by turns or by hours entered. You must choose eligible recipients and a policy that follows the rules applicable to the salon. A calculation does not establish that a policy is valid. If total turns or hours are zero, enter positive weights or explicitly choose an even split.

The DOL prohibits employers and managers from keeping employees’ pooled tips. A narrow exception lets a manager or supervisor keep a tip given directly for service they directly and solely perform; it does not permit taking other employees’ pooled tips. State rules may be stricter.