Nail salon software that settles whose turn it is
Most days the schedule runs itself. The argument is about turns — who took the last walk-in, who got three fills in a row, who has been sitting since eleven. JotSchedule keeps that count in one place everyone works from.
The turn count is on the board, not in someone's head
Every tech has a turn count for the day, and the board shows it. It also shows who the rotation owes next, and highlights anyone who has fallen behind the leader, so you can see a problem forming before somebody complains about it.
Counts start fresh each day at the hour you set — not midnight unless you want it to be. A salon that closes at nine and reopens at ten does not want yesterday's turns bleeding into this morning.
When the front desk checks someone in, the app puts them with the tech who will be free soonest, falling back to your own running order. The turn count is what you and your staff look at to know whether that came out fair.
A fill and a full set are not the same turn
This is the part most rotation systems get wrong. If every service counts as one turn, the tech who did three polish changes looks equal to the one who did three full sets of acrylics, and nobody in the room believes it.
So every service carries its own turn value, from 0 to 9, in half steps. A full set can be worth 2. A polish change can be worth half. Set a service to 0 and it is booked, billed and completed normally without moving that tech's place in line at all.
The count moves when the tech starts the service, not when they finish — a two-hour set should not leave the board wrong for two hours. If the service is cancelled, the turn goes back.
When someone gets passed over
Sometimes a client will not wait, or asks for someone else, and the front desk moves them on. That is a decision the desk makes, with a reason attached — a tech cannot skip their own turn from their phone.
The tech who was passed over keeps their place. If it happens to the same person twice in a row, the next walk-in goes to them ahead of the normal order. Being passed over is meant to cost them nothing.
Every tech's schedule is on their own phone
Techs do not need an account, an email address, or a password. You generate a one-time code, they enter it once on their own phone, and that phone stays signed in.
It shows their own schedule for the day and the week — not the whole shop's, and never anyone else's. It installs to the home screen and opens like an app.
This is on both plans.
Walk-ins and appointments on the same board
An appointment holds a time with a particular tech. A walk-in joins the live queue and is served in rotation order. Both show on the same board, on that tech's own column, so a walk-in cannot be dropped on top of a two o'clock booking.
The board updates in real time as the front desk works through it, so everyone watching it sees the same picture without refreshing.
Your own booking link
Your booking page lives at a link you choose — your salon's name, not a code. Put it in your Instagram bio, on a card, in a text. Clients book from a browser with nothing to install, and no deposit or card details.
They can pick a specific tech or leave it to you.
It says Technician, not Barber
You set the word your shop uses, and it appears through the booking flow and in the tech app. Technician, Nail Tech, or whatever your team actually calls itself.
Clients with an appointment can check themselves in
ProOpen the check-in page on a tablet at the front desk. Someone who booked ahead types their name, finds their appointment and taps to check in, and it lands on your board straight away.
This is for people who already have an appointment. Walk-ins are still added by whoever is at the desk.
Questions owners actually ask
What happens when a tech skips a turn?
A tech cannot skip their own turn — passing a client to someone else is done at the front desk, with a reason recorded. The tech who was passed over keeps their place, and if it happens twice in a row the next walk-in goes to them ahead of the normal order.
Can I set some services to count as more than one turn?
Yes. Every service has a turn value from 0 to 9, and it moves in half steps — so a full set might be 2 turns and a polish change half a turn. A service set to 0 is billed and completed normally without moving the tech's place in the rotation. The turn is credited when the tech starts the service and handed back if it is cancelled.
What if a customer asks for a specific tech?
Booking online, the client picks their tech or leaves it to you. At the desk, you add the walk-in straight onto that tech's column, which puts them with the person they asked for instead of the next one up. Either way that tech is credited the full turn for the service. You can also save a client's usual tech to their record, and the board shows it when they come in — it is a note for whoever is at the desk, not an automatic assignment.
Do walk-ins and appointments mix in one queue?
They share a board, not a single list. An appointment holds a specific time with a specific tech; a walk-in joins the live queue and is served in rotation order. Both appear on that tech's timeline for the day, which is what stops a walk-in being started on top of a booking.
Does my whole team need logins?
No. Technicians use a one-time code on their own phone and never create an account. The board is for whoever runs the front desk — techs check their own schedule on their phone rather than the whole shop's.
Something not answered here? Email us at support@jotschedule.com
Try it with your own shop
Fourteen days free. Set up your services and turn values, put the board on a tablet, and see whether the rotation argument stops.