Another day at the spa. Ahhhhhh. Wait, are those fixed assets?

Abiding by strict sanitation codes and keeping up customer satisfaction are essential to business growth for salons and spas, and equipment is at the center of both. Whether their service offerings are limited to manicures and pedicures or vary from tanning bed sessions to massages, salons and spas have numerous fixed assets to keep track of. Because business owners and managers have major responsibilities, like overseeing employee productivity and well being, fixed asset management should be a priority, but it shouldn’t hog all of the decision makers’ time. There are several ways salons and spas can save time and money while tracking their property more efficiently.

Because some machines, like tanning beds and nail buffers need to meet a certain standard of functionality, safety and hygiene, tracking these items is extremely important. Upon acquiring fixed assets, salons should document each item’s description, including make, model, purchase or acquisition date, book value and other notes. Furniture, tools and other durable goods should also be accounted for.

Unlike pedicure chairs and waxing tables, smaller fixed assets, like clippers, hair dryers, towels and pillows can be easy to misplace if they aren’t properly tracked. It’s a good idea to designate storage locations for each of these items. In addition, businesses may want to create policies that mandate equipment and tools be put away correctly after use or wash. This not only prevents stray items from missing and turning up in unexpected places, but it also inhibits theft. Employees will spend less time looking for items, able to focus more on clients. Business owners will save money on cutting unnecessary replacement costs.

Because monitoring equipment vigilantly seems time consuming, fixed asset management solutions can speed up the process, handle accounts and save establishments money. In addition to helping salons and spas monitor for loss and theft, software makes inspections and audits extremely easy. If equipment isn’t evaluated frequently to ensure it works properly, cosmetology and wellness businesses may be putting customer satisfaction and safety at risk. Property tracking programs also monitor the asset value depreciation, which helps businesses save money on tax and insurance fees.

Meanwhile, fixed asset management solutions also help salons and spas decide when items are no longer valuable. Broken or unusable equipment and furniture wastes money and takes up space. Property tracking programs can help with the disposal of these items and keep them from becoming ghost assets.