Front desk software for Canadian salons: what reception can open
Your receptionist answers the phone, books for six stylists, checks clients in and takes the Interac tap at the end. She needs the whole calendar and the client book. She does not need last month's takings, the payment settings or the right to rewrite the price list. Slotora's front desk login is drawn exactly along that line, and you can move the line one switch at a time.
Give reception its own loginWhy a shared owner password is the thing to stop first
In a lot of salons the front desk logs in as the owner, because the software only has two settings: everything, or a stylist's own column. That means the person who books appointments can also see every dollar the salon took, change the deposit rules and export the whole client list on her last day.
Slotora gives her a seat of her own. She signs in with her own email and password, every change she makes is recorded under her name, and when she leaves you switch the seat off without changing anybody else's login.
What the front desk login opens on day one
Nothing to configure. These are what the seat itself reaches.
Every column of the calendar
Book, move and cancel for anyone on the team, check a client in, and see who is free at the next gap.
The client book
Past visits, notes, tags and photos, so she can tell a regular from a first-timer before the client reaches the counter.
Payments at the counter
Cash, the salon's own card terminal, or a Stripe card reader that takes Visa, Mastercard and Interac debit.
A refund while the client is there
Because that is where clients ask. An Interac payment can only be refunded in person, on the same card, and the screen says so rather than failing.
What stays with you unless you hand it over
Each of these is a separate gate, checked on our server, so typing an address into the browser does not get round it.
What the salon took
Today's, this month's and each stylist's takings. She counts the cash drawer at close without seeing the month.
Prices and discounts
She takes the money for a visit; she does not decide what a visit costs, unless you switch that on for her.
Exports
The spreadsheet of every client's name and email does not leave the building on a receptionist's laptop by default.
Settings
Opening hours, the booking page, deposits and payment settings are the owner's and the admins', and cannot be handed to a front desk login at all.
Six switches, set per person
On the team screen, beside each front desk or stylist login. Each switch starts where the seat puts it, so nothing changes until you change it. Owners and admins always have all six.
Reports
See reports
Open the period reports. Off for the front desk by default; a stylist sees her own figures only.
Takings
See everyone's takings
The whole team's money in those reports. It only works together with the first switch.
Price
Give a discount or change a price
For the manager who runs the floor on Saturdays and settles complaints at the counter.
Refund
Refund
On for the front desk by default. Switch it off for a trainee in her first weeks.
Export
Export
Download spreadsheets — and even then only what her own login may see, never the whole account file.
Services
Edit services and prices
For the senior who keeps the menu up to date when you are away.
Reception at one location of several
If you have two salons on one account, a front desk login can be tied to one of them. Her calendar, her bookings and anything she exports narrow to that address, and she can only book there. The client book stays shared, because clients move between your locations.
You can also hide every client's phone number and email address from the team, front desk included, while the visit history and notes stay visible. Salons usually ask for it after somebody leaves and takes the list with her, and it keeps personal details with the people who actually need them.
Reception does not add to your bill
In Canada the subscription is counted by the people a client can book — each column in the calendar — up to a cap. A front desk login that takes no appointments has no column, so it costs nothing. If your receptionist also does brows on a Wednesday and has a column for it, she is counted like any other bookable person. Start with a 14-day trial and no card.
| A front desk login with no column | Not counted |
|---|---|
| The first bookable person | C$19 a month |
| Each further bookable person | + C$10 a month |
| 6 bookable people or more | C$69 a month at most |
Prices in Canadian dollars. No GST/HST is added at present. Logins are unlimited. No commission is taken on any booking or payment.
Questions about the front desk login
Can my receptionist see how much the salon made today?
Not by default. She can count the cash drawer at close, but the salon's takings and each stylist's figures are yours unless you switch on reports and everyone's takings for her.
Can she take an Interac payment?
Yes, on a Stripe card reader at the counter. An Interac tap above C$100 needs the card inserted with its PIN, which the reader handles.
Do I pay for her login?
No, as long as she takes no appointments herself. Only people with a bookable column in the calendar are counted in the Canadian price.
What happens when she leaves?
Switch her seat off on the team screen. Her history stays on the bookings she touched, and her login stops working at once.
Can a stylist book for colleagues without being front desk?
Yes. Widen her calendar to every column with one tick. It changes what she can see in the calendar and nothing about what she can see of the money.
Before you rely on it
- No text messages from the desk
- Reception cannot text a client from Slotora in Canada yet: confirmations and reminders go by email, and a call is still a phone call.
- The permissions screen on the phone
- Setting the six switches and the location binding is done in the browser today. The app's own screen for it comes with a later version; the rules already apply to every app version.
- Two seats, not a role builder
- There is a front desk seat and a stylist seat, each with six switches. You cannot invent a third seat with its own name.
What permissions cost elsewhere
Role-based permissions are common in salon software; how they are sold varies. Square's Canadian team management page sells Advanced Access, its custom permission sets, as a monthly add-on charged for each location with team members.[1] Phorest's Canadian pricing page includes unlimited staff members in every plan[2] and its rostering page describes assigning permissions based on role.[3]
Sources
Competitor facts from each company's own Canadian pages, read on the date shown.
- Square — team management and Advanced Access (Canada) — https://squareup.com/ca/en/team-management · read
- Phorest — pricing (Canada) — https://www.phorest.com/ca/pricing/ · read
- Phorest — salon rostering software (Canada) — https://www.phorest.com/ca/features/salon-rostering-software/ · read
Stop sharing the owner's password
Add your receptionist as front desk, decide whether she refunds, and keep the takings to yourself until you choose otherwise.