Help Center & User Guide

Getting Started

When you create your SOSalone account, you automatically get the Free plan with no expiry date. Follow these steps to set up your salon:

1. 1

   Create an account and log in

   Click "Get Started" on the homepage, enter your salon name, email, and password. After registration, log in via /login to access the dashboard.

2. 2

   Complete your business profile

   Go to Settings > Business Details and enter your salon name, phone, address, logo, cover photo, timezone, currency, and official working hours. This data appears on invoices and the public booking page.

3. 3

   Add branches

   If your subscription supports multiple branches, go to Settings > Branches and add each branch with its name, location, and main branch flag.

4. 4

   Set up users and roles

   From Settings > Users & Roles, create accounts for managers and staff. Assign each user a role (owner, admin, manager, receptionist, staff) to control access permissions.

Main Dashboard

The dashboard is the first page after login. It gives you an overview of your salon's performance for the selected period.

1. 1

   Statistic cards

   Displays total revenue, number of appointments, new clients, and invoices. You can filter results by today, yesterday, last 7 days, current month, last month, or current year.

2. 2

   Quick actions

   Use the quick action buttons to create a new appointment, new invoice, new client, or new service without navigating through menus.

3. 3

   Recent activity

   The lower section shows recent appointments and invoices with quick links to view details or edit.

Appointments & Calendar

Appointment management is the heart of the system. You can create appointments from the dashboard or receive online bookings from clients.

1. 1

   Appointments list

   Go to Appointments to view all bookings in a searchable and filterable table. You can filter by status: booked, confirmed, completed, cancelled, or no-show.

2. 2

   Calendar view

   Go to Calendar to view appointments in daily/weekly/monthly mode. Appointments are color-coded by status, and you can click them to view details, edit, or create an invoice.

3. 3

   Create a new appointment

   Click "Book Appointment" and select the client (or add a new one), then choose the branch, service or package, specialist, date and time, and room/resource if applicable. You can add multiple services to one appointment, each with its own staff, duration, and price.

4. 4

   Booking sources

   Set the booking source: online, walk-in, phone, or admin. This appears later in reports to identify your most effective booking channels.

5. 5

   Rooms and resources

   From the Rooms section, add rooms, cabins, or equipment and assign them to appointments to prevent double-booking the same resource.

Point of Sale (POS), Invoices & Cash Registers

The POS lets you complete quick sales whether linked to a prior booking or for walk-in customers. It integrates with invoices, payments, and cash registers.

1. 1

   Open the cash register session

   When you enter POS, the system automatically checks for an open cash register. If none is open, a mandatory dialog appears to select the branch and enter the opening amount. No sale can be completed before opening the register.

2. 2

   Create a quick sale

   In the POS screen, select the client (required), then add items from tabs: Services, Products, Packages, Memberships, Gift Cards, or Other. When you select a service, a list of linked service providers appears; choose the provider who will perform the service before completing the sale.

3. 3

   Discounts and taxes

   You can add a general tax rate, general discount amount, coupon code, or redeem loyalty points. The subtotal, discount, tax, and total are shown in real time.

4. 4

   Split payments

   Add one or more payment methods (cash, card, bank transfer, wallet, online, gift card). Enter the amount and reference for each method. The sum of payments must equal the total.

5. 5

   Complete the sale and invoice

   Click "Create Invoice" to send data to the system. On success, an invoice summary appears with options to print or send via WhatsApp/email.

6. 6

   Invoice management

   From Invoices, view all invoices by status (draft, sent, paid, partially paid, cancelled, refunded), and edit, cancel, or delete them.

7. 7

   Close the cash register

   At the end of the day, go to Cash Registers and click "Close". Enter the actual amount in the drawer so the system compares it to the expected amount and shows the variance with a printable closing report.

Catalog: Services, Products, Packages & Departments

The catalog is the foundation for bookings and POS. Set it up before accepting customers.

1. 1

   Manage departments

   From Departments, create your main salon departments (e.g., Hair, Skin, Nails). Departments are used to organize services, staff, and rooms.

2. 2

   Link departments to rooms

   From Rooms > Add New, create rooms or booths, then link each room to the departments allowed to use it. This ensures resources are assigned correctly during bookings and POS workflows.

3. 3

   Create a service

   Go to Services > Add New. Enter the name (Arabic/English), description, category, department, duration in minutes, price, cost price, tax rate, and color. Choose whether it is available for online booking.

4. 4

   Link service to staff

   In the service form, use the Staff field (staff_ids) to choose which employees can perform this service. You can also link staff to services from the employee page.

5. 5

   Link service to consumable products

   If the service consumes products (e.g., hair dye or skincare cream), link products to the service and set the quantity used per service. The system deducts them automatically from inventory when the invoice is completed.

6. 6

   Create a package

   From Packages > Add New, enter the name, description, price, and expiry date. Then add the included services with quantities. Packages can be used in bookings and POS.

7. 7

   Create a product

   From Products > Add New, enter the name (Arabic/English), category, supplier, SKU, barcode, cost price, selling price, current quantity, low-stock alert threshold, and unit.

8. 8

   Service and product categories

   Use service categories and product categories to organize your catalog and make searching easier at POS and in reports.

Human Resources (Staff, Attendance, Leaves, Payroll)

The system provides comprehensive staff management including personal data, schedules, attendance, leaves, advances, and payroll.

1. 1

   Add a new employee

   From Staff > Add New, enter the name in Arabic and English (both required). Choose the designation from the dropdown or add a new one by clicking the + button. Enter email, phone, fixed salary, bonus settings (type, value, target), color, and linked departments. Choose the services the employee performs. If you want to create a user account, enable the option and enter username, password, and role.

2. 2

   Manage designations

   Go to Staff > Designations to add or edit available designations (e.g., Hairstylist, Skin Specialist, Receptionist). These designations are used when adding employees.

3. 3

   Work schedules and roster calendar

   From Work Schedules, select an employee and set working hours for each day of the week, plus break periods. These schedules determine available booking slots. Review the daily/weekly/monthly roster to see who is working or on leave each day.

4. 4

   Attendance check-in/out

   From Attendance, record each employee's daily status: present, late, absent, or on leave. You can save multiple records at once using bulk save. Check-in and check-out times are locked after the first save; if you need to edit a locked time, the system will ask for a correction reason and log the change.

5. 5

   Leaves

   From Leaves, record employee leaves (sick, annual, etc.) with dates and notes. Approved leaves appear on the roster calendar and bookings are automatically blocked during leave periods.

6. 6

   Advances and deductions

   From Staff Advances, add cash advances or deductions for an employee to be automatically deducted from salary.

7. 7

   Payroll statements and bonuses

   From Payroll, select the payroll period and employee. The system displays fixed salary, commissions, bonus calculated from invoice items linked to the employee, deductions, advances, and working hours to calculate net salary. You can generate and pay payroll statements.

Client Management (CRM)

The client profile is the central hub for all customer information: personal details, appointments, invoices, packages, points, and notes.

1. 1

   Add a client

   From Clients > Add New, enter the name, phone, email, gender, date of birth, address, and notes. Clients can also be added while creating an appointment or POS sale.

2. 2

   Client detail page

   Clicking a client opens a detail page with tabs: personal info, appointments, invoices, packages/memberships, before/after photos, documents, consent forms, and points/wallet.

3. 3

   Loyalty points and wallet

   Clients earn loyalty points with each purchase. Points can be redeemed as discounts at POS. You can also top up a client's wallet and use the balance for payment.

4. 4

   Referrals

   Record which client referred a new client to track your referral program and reward loyal customers.

Inventory & Purchases

Track products, warehouses, purchase orders, and branch transfers. Inventory integrates with POS to deduct quantities automatically.

1. 1

   Warehouses

   From Warehouses, create a warehouse for each branch or a central warehouse. Link each warehouse to the appropriate branch.

2. 2

   Inventory transactions

   From Inventory Transactions, record different operations: receive, transfer, issue, return, or manual adjustment. Each transaction updates the product balance automatically.

3. 3

   Purchase orders

   From Purchase Orders, create a purchase order for a supplier, add products, quantities, and prices. When goods arrive, click "Receive" to increase inventory.

4. 4

   Suppliers

   Add supplier details (name, phone, email, address) to use in products and purchase orders.

5. 5

   Low-stock alerts

   Low-stock products appear in red in the list and on the dashboard when their balance reaches or falls below the alert threshold.

Expenses

Record all salon expenses and categorize them to track profit and loss accurately.

1. 1

   Expense categories

   From Expense Categories, create common categories: rent, salaries, electricity, water, advertising, maintenance, etc.

2. 2

   Record an expense

   From Expenses > Add New, enter the date, category, amount, payment method, reference, recurrence (one-time/monthly/yearly), and notes.

Marketing & Loyalty

Increase sales with coupons, gift cards, marketing campaigns, and the loyalty program.

1. 1

   Coupons

   From Coupons, create a discount code (percentage or fixed amount) with maximum usage count and expiry date. Use the code at POS or bookings.

2. 2

   Gift cards

   From Gift Cards, create a card with a set balance and expiry date. It can be used as a full or partial payment method at POS.

3. 3

   Marketing campaigns

   From Campaigns, create an email, SMS, WhatsApp, or push notification campaign. Define the name, subject, content, send date, and filter the audience by gender and number of visits.

4. 4

   Loyalty points

   From loyalty settings, set points earned per currency spent and redemption value. Points are used as discounts at payment time.

Reports & Analytics

Gain deep insight into your salon's performance through multiple reports.

1. 1

   Report tabs

   The Reports section includes 15 tabs: Dashboard, Sales, Services, Products, Staff, Customers, Inventory, Marketing, Cash Register Sessions, Financial Report, Sales Tax, Purchases Tax, Tax Difference, Payments Log, and Packages.

2. 2

   Choose a period

   Select the date range you want to report on, then view data and charts.

3. 3

   Export

   Most reports can be exported to CSV for opening in Excel or Google Sheets, or sending to your accountant.

Settings

Settings control the entire system. Review them regularly to ensure your data stays consistent.

1. 1

   Business details

   Update salon name, email, phone, address, timezone, language, country, currency, currency symbol, decimal places, symbol position, logo, cover photo, and working hours.

2. 2

   Users and roles

   Add users and assign roles (owner, admin, manager, receptionist, staff). Define permissions precisely for each role from organized permission groups.

3. 3

   Payment methods

   Enable or disable payment methods (cash, card, transfer, online, wallet, gift card). Set whether each method affects the cash register, requires a reference, or deducts a commission.

4. 4

   Notification templates

   Customize notification templates for 7 events: client welcome, appointment confirmation, appointment cancellation, payment received, post-service thank you, appointment reminder, and invoice created. Use dynamic variables to insert client name, appointment number, and amount.

Subscription & Plans

SOSalone offers multiple plans to fit all salon sizes. Your plan controls available features and limits (branches, staff, appointments).

1. 1

   Available plans

   Free: a free plan with no expiry, including 1 branch, 2 staff, 50 appointments, 100 clients, and 50 invoices. Essential: $29/month with POS, invoices, and commissions. Advance: $79/month with inventory, loyalty, and campaigns. Expert: $149/month with unlimited branches, API, and QuickBooks.

2. 2

   Upgrade and renew

   From your current plan page, you can upgrade immediately with prorated difference calculation, or enable automatic renewal.

Frequently Asked Questions