How to pay groomers: commission models that don't cause arguments

There are three ways to pay a groomer, they produce three different businesses, and the argument that follows is almost never about the model. It’s about the numbers not matching.

The three models

Flat wage

You pay for time. Predictable for both sides, easy to run, and the right answer for apprentices, bathers and anyone still learning.

The problem shows up with experienced groomers. A flat wage pays the same whether they do four dogs or seven, so there’s no reason to do seven. Some people are conscientious enough that it doesn’t matter. Most people are human.

Use it for: trainees, bathers, part-time help, anyone whose output you’re still building.

Straight commission

They take a percentage of what they bill. Typically 40–50% of the service price where the salon supplies everything, sometimes up to 60% where the groomer brings their own kit and clients.

Motivating, and it self-corrects for a slow week. But it pushes behaviour you may not want: rushing, cherry-picking the easy dogs, reluctance to take the matted rescue that’ll take two hours and pay the same as a Bichon tidy. And in a genuinely quiet January, someone on straight commission may not earn enough to stay.

Use it for: experienced groomers with a following, in a salon with reliable volume.

Base plus commission

A modest guaranteed base, plus a lower percentage on top — often a base around minimum wage with 20–30% of billings, or commission only above a weekly threshold.

It’s the one most established salons land on. The base means nobody starves in February. The commission means the seventh dog is worth doing.

Use it for: most permanent grooming staff, most of the time.

Choosing a percentage

A rough sanity check: total staff cost on the grooming side should land somewhere around 40–50% of grooming revenue. Much above that and there’s nothing left for rent, product and you. Much below and you’ll lose good people to the salon down the road.

Work backwards from that. If a groomer bills 400,000 in a month and your target staff cost is 45%, you have 180,000 to spend on their base plus commission plus employer costs. Whatever split gets you there works.

The decisions that actually cause the arguments

The model is rarely the fight. These are:

Commission on what, exactly? On the service price, or the whole bill? Almost always services only. If they sell a bag of food at the counter, that’s retail, and it usually pays a smaller separate rate if it pays anything.

Before or after tax? On the net service price, before tax. Say so, because “1,800 groom” and “1,800 including tax” are different numbers and this is where people feel cheated.

What about discounts? If you give a regular 20% off, does the groomer take the hit? Fairest answer: commission on what was actually collected. If the discount was your decision, you might absorb it. Decide once, write it down.

Package sessions. A dog on a ten-groom package pays nothing on the day. The groomer still did the work. Commission has to accrue at the session, valued at the per-session price, not at the point the package was sold.

Add-ons. Nail trims, teeth, de-shedding. Usually same rate as the main service. Sometimes higher, to encourage the upsell.

No-shows. Does a groomer with an empty slot through no fault of theirs get anything? Under base-plus-commission the base covers it, which is a good argument for that model.

Refunds and redos. If a dog comes back to be fixed, commission on the redo is usually zero, and the original stands. Say it up front, gently, because it will happen and it’s better agreed in advance than negotiated while someone’s upset.

Write it down

One page, signed, per person:

Base: X per month. Commission: Y% of net service revenue you personally deliver, excluding tax and excluding retail. Package sessions accrue at the per-session value on the day the groom happens. Add-ons at the same rate. Discounts: commission is on the amount actually collected. Redos within 14 days: no additional commission; the original is unaffected. Paid monthly with your salary, from the commission report, which you can see any time.

That last clause is the important one, and it’s the one most salons don’t have.

The real problem is the counting

Here’s what actually happens in most salons at the end of a month.

The owner adds up the tickets. The groomer has a rough number in their head from the days they were busy. The two don’t match. Neither can prove anything, because the evidence is a diary with crossings-out and a card machine printout. So the owner splits the difference, resents it, and the groomer leaves feeling they were short-changed.

The pay model isn’t broken. The record is.

Fix that and the arguments largely stop, because there’s a shared source of truth that neither party is guessing at.

What that looks like in practice

In Fretso, the grooming ticket records which groomer did which dog, which services, and what was charged. When the ticket is invoiced, the commission rule accrues to that person’s ledger straight away, at the rate you configured — percentage or flat, per service or per person, including package sessions at their per-session value.

Two things follow. The groomer can see their own running total whenever they want, so there’s no month-end surprise. And payroll is a report you open, not an evening with a calculator.

The number stops being an opinion.

If you’re changing an existing arrangement

Don’t spring it. Changing how someone is paid is the most sensitive conversation in a small business.

1. Model it first. Run the new structure against the last six months and see what each person would have earned.
2. Nobody should go backwards in the first year without a very good reason. If the new model pays someone less, top them up while they adjust.
3. Give notice. A month minimum, ideally at a natural point like the start of a financial year.
4. Show your working. Sit down with each person and show them the six-month model with their own numbers on it.
5. Get the system running first. Have the tracking in place for a month or two before the pay change, so when you switch, the numbers are already trusted.

Do it that way and it’s a conversation. Do it by announcement and you’ll be recruiting.