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FREE TOOL FOR UK BARBERSHOP OWNERS

Chair Rent vs Commission Calculator

For one chair, compare what your shop keeps in a year from an employed barber on commission with what it keeps from a self-employed barber renting the chair.

Includes minimum wage top-ups in quiet months, holiday pay, employer’s National Insurance, pension and VAT, using 2026/27 rates.

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Your numbers

Example numbers — replace them with your own.

The chair

Used only to count card transactions.

A — Employed barber on commission

Hours they must be at work or available, including quiet time with no client in the chair.

Leave at 0 to work it out from weekly hours (× 52 ÷ 12, or only the weeks not on leave when holiday pay is on).

Employer’s NI is 0% up to £50,270 for apprentices under 25. Under-21s get the same relief automatically.

Not every employer qualifies, and the allowance is shared across your whole payroll.

Shop’s costs for this chair

Tips never count towards the minimum wage, so they are left out.

B — Self-employed chair renter
Renter’s own costs (for the barber’s view)

Your results for one chair

On these numbers, commission leaves the shop about £9,458 a year more than chair rent.

  1. Employed on commission

    Shop’s yearly result

    £17,258

    £1,438 per month

    Net takings
    £42,750
    Commission
    −£17,100
    Holiday pay
    −£2,166
    Minimum wage top-ups
    −£849
    Employer’s NI no Employment Allowance applied
    −£2,267
    Employer pension
    −£416
    Products and consumables
    −£1,710
    Card fees
    −£983

  2. Chair rental

    Shop’s yearly result

    £7,800

    £650 per month

    Rent income (excluding VAT)
    £7,800

Break-even

Chair rent would need to be about £332 a week to match commission.

Commission would need to be about 58.7% to match a £150 weekly rent.

Minimum wage check

Minimum wage floor116.0 hours × £12.71 (21 and over)
£1,474.36 a month
Commission per hour, typical month
£12.93
Commission per hour, quiet month
£9.05
Months needing a top-up
2 of 12
Yearly top-up total
£849
Takings for commission alone to meet the floor
£3,686 a month

Commission alone falls below the minimum wage in quiet months. The shop must top it up. How the minimum wage works with commission.

If the chair takes more or less

Rent is fixed whatever the chair takes; commission rises and falls with takings.

Shop’s yearly result if takings are 20% lower, as entered or 20% higher
Takings Commission Chair rent Difference
Takings −20% £9,586 £7,800 £1,786
As entered £17,258 £7,800 £9,458
Takings +20% £21,302 £7,800 £13,502

The barber’s side

Employed: gross pay before tax
£20,115
Renter: profit before taxafter £7,800 rent and their own costs
£32,257

Employment also brings paid holiday (5.6 weeks), employer pension contributions and eligibility for Statutory Sick Pay. Both figures are before Income Tax and National Insurance, which work differently for employees and the self-employed.

A genuine renter’s takings are the renter’s, not your shop’s turnover, so they don’t count towards your VAT threshold the way an employed barber’s takings do. This is general information, not advice. VAT and turnover in the owner earnings model.

Estimates based on the numbers you entered, using 2026/27 rates checked 28 October 2026. Not tax, legal or employment advice — check your arrangements with an accountant or employment adviser.

Employment status

Is your renter genuinely self-employed?

Calling an arrangement chair rental doesn’t make it self-employment. Status depends on how it works in practice. If a ‘renter’ is really working like an employee, the shop can end up responsible for employment rights, tax and National Insurance.

Signs that usually point towards genuine self-employment:

  • They set their own prices and hours.
  • They take and keep their own clients’ payments.
  • They supply their own tools and products.
  • They can choose how the work is done.
  • They bear their own business risk.

Signs that point the other way:

  • The shop sets the rota and prices.
  • Takings go through the shop’s till.
  • The shop decides how the work is done.
  • The barber can’t send someone else or work elsewhere.

Bookings for every chair in your shop

KERSIVO Starter is £0/month for up to 4 active bookable barbers. Full KERSIVO is £39/month per location with unlimited barbers (fair use), your own website and domain. 0% KERSIVO commission; Stripe fees apply.

See KERSIVO Starter Compare plans

Methodology

How this calculator works

Takings
Yearly takings are your typical month for the busy part of the year plus your quiet months at the percentage you enter, all as paid by clients.
VAT
If the shop is VAT registered, an employed barber’s takings are shop turnover, so the calculator removes 20% VAT before working out the shop’s income. You can choose whether commission is paid on takings including or excluding VAT.
Minimum wage, month by month
Each typical and quiet month is checked on its own: commission is compared with the hours the barber must be at work or available, multiplied by the minimum wage for their age band. Any shortfall is a top-up the shop pays. Tips never count.
Holiday pay (a simplification)
With holiday pay on, the barber is at work for 46.4 weeks and the calculator adds 5.6 weeks of paid leave at their average weekly pay over those weeks. Real holiday pay for variable pay uses a 52-week reference period of weeks actually worked, so payroll figures will differ.
Employer’s National Insurance and allowance
15% on yearly pay above £5,000. For employees under 21, and apprentices under 25, employer’s NI is 0% up to £50,270. If you can claim Employment Allowance (up to £10,500 a year across your payroll), enter the amount left for this barber.
Pension
If the barber is in a workplace pension, the employer’s minimum 3% is charged on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270.
Shop costs vs rent income
Under commission the shop pays for products, card fees and booking software for the chair. Under chair rent the shop keeps the rent (excluding any VAT it passes to HMRC) less any extra costs it covers, and the renter pays their own costs.

The same rules and figures are explained in two KERSIVO Insights articles: Commission Pay for Barbers: The Minimum Wage Line Under Every Percentage and What Does a UK Barbershop Owner Actually Earn? A Model Profit and Loss, Chair by Chair.

2026/27 rates checked 28 October 2026 on GOV.UK and The Pensions Regulator. Sources: gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates , gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027 , gov.uk/claim-employment-allowance , thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/new-employers/im-an-employer-who-has-to-provide-a-pension/declare-your-compliance/ongoing-duties-for-employers/earnings-thresholds , gov.uk/vat-rates , gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights , gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax .

Trade-offs

Commission or chair rent: the trade-offs

Employing on commission

  • More control and consistency: you set the rota, standards and prices, and client records stay with the shop.
  • You share the upside when the barber is busy.
  • You carry the minimum wage, holiday pay, employer’s NI, pension and other employment obligations.

Renting out the chair

  • A fixed, predictable income and less payroll admin.
  • Rent is protected when the chair is quiet, but doesn’t rise when it’s busy.
  • Less say over how the chair is run, and a status risk if the arrangement works like employment.

Related guides and tools

FAQ

Chair rent vs commission: FAQ

Short answers for UK barbershop owners comparing employed barbers with chair renters.

It depends on how much the chair takes, the commission rate and rent you agree, and how much control you need over the rota, prices and standards. Busy chairs tend to favour commission; quiet ones favour a fixed rent. The calculator shows the break-even rent at which both leave the shop the same.

Yes, for employees and workers. It is checked for each pay reference period (usually the month) by dividing the pay that counts by the hours that count, and tips don’t count towards it. Genuinely self-employed chair renters aren’t covered. Our article on commission pay and the minimum wage explains the rules.

Start from the break-even rent, which shows what the chair would leave the shop if you employed a barber on commission instead. Then consider what the renter needs to earn after their own costs. Turn on the barber’s side to see both views together.

Yes. Commission is pay, so employer’s National Insurance applies to earnings above the secondary threshold: 15% above £5,000 a year in 2026/27. Lower rates apply for employees under 21 and apprentices under 25, and Employment Allowance can reduce the bill if you are eligible.

It depends on whether your shop is VAT registered and on exactly what the arrangement includes. Check the VAT treatment of your chair rental with your accountant.

No. Everything is worked out in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent. A share link only puts your inputs in the address after the # sign.

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