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How much should a service cost?
Many self-employed professionals set their prices by looking at the salon next door. This tool starts from the other end: what you want to earn, what you pay, the hours you really bill. From that it works out what an hour has to bring in, then what a service has to cost.
What the service has to cost
CHF 76of which CHF 5.70 VAT, that is CHF 70.33 excluding VATCompared with your current price
Enter your current price to see the gap.
The method
How it is calculated
Four steps you can redo by hand. Nothing is weighted, nothing is hidden.
- To cover per month = target income + fixed costs + contributions (income × rate).
- Hourly rate = to cover per month ÷ (working days × billable hours per day).
- Price excluding VAT = hourly rate × length in hours + product.
- Price including VAT = price excluding VAT × (1 + VAT rate). The yearly turnover needed is the monthly amount to cover × 12.
Income tax is not in the calculation: you pay it on the income you pay yourself. And a calculated price is a floor: if your neighbourhood accepts more, nothing obliges you to stop there.
Three traps
What makes an hour sell at a loss
Three mistakes found in almost every self-employed price list, which the calculation corrects.
- 01
Counting hours on the premises
Nine hours at the salon is rarely more than six billed hours: gaps between two clients, cleaning, messages, orders. Dividing your costs by nine instead of six lowers your price by a third.
- 02
Forgetting the contributions
An income of CHF 5,000 costs more than CHF 5,000: the compensation office takes its share on top, and settles months later. The calculation adds it to the amount to cover, not to the income.
- 03
Mistaking VAT for income
Above CHF 100,000 of turnover, the 8.1% you collect goes back to the Confederation. If your price is calculated without it, every service brings in 8.1% less than planned.
Read on
Questions
What we are asked about prices
What hourly rate for a self-employed hairdresser in Switzerland?
There is no universal right rate: it depends on what you want to earn, on your rent and on how many hours you really bill. That is why the tool works it out from your figures rather than quoting an average. Then compare your price with the salons around you: if you are well below, it is usually the billable hours or the contributions that are missing from your list.
How much are social contributions for a self-employed person?
In Switzerland, a self-employed person pays AHV, IV and EO on her income, around 10% above a certain income, with a sliding scale below. Depending on your choices, a pension (voluntary 2nd pillar or pillar 3a) and daily sickness benefit insurance come on top. Your compensation office gives you the exact rate; put it in the field.
Do I have to charge VAT?
In Switzerland, registration starts at CHF 100,000 of turnover per year; below that you can stay outside VAT and enter 0. Above, the standard rate is 8.1% and it is added to your price excluding VAT. The calculator shows both amounts so you know what is left for you.
What does Napiro do with these prices?
Your services, their lengths and their prices appear on your booking page, and your reports give an indicative turnover each month from the appointments honoured: enough to check that the list holds. The trial lasts 14 days, no credit card.
Your services, lengths and prices on a booking page in your name.
