Nail Salon Opening and Closing Checklist (2026)
This is a daily sheet for a US nail salon: what to check before the first client sits down, a quick reset between clients, and what to finish before you lock the door. Copy the tables or print the page. The blank columns are Done, Time, and Initials. It's an operations template. Sanitation steps still come from your state board.
Contents · 9 sections
What this sheet is
A generic salon opening list covers the lights, the sign, and the cash drawer. A nail salon morning also involves stations, pedicure tubs, disinfectant jars, single-use files and buffers, the ventilation fan, chemical bottles, and the booking roster. At closing, all of that has to be put away, the drawer has to be counted, and the keys have to stay with the person who actually locks the door.
As of November 6, 2026, searching for a salon opening checklist or a salon closing checklist mostly turns up general operations guides, sanitation templates, and a PDF built for any kind of salon. Those pages remind you that a shop has a morning and a night. They don't know which tub had a pedicure at 4:40 or which tech has tomorrow's first gel. This page is that nail sheet, built for a US salon. The rows are tasks. They aren't a score, and they aren't Bukkii data.
Use it whether your techs work on commission or rent a booth. Either way, the named opener and the named closer have to be real people who hold the keys. The blank row at the bottom of each table is for a step your shop already does that this page left out, like a back-door check.
Your state board
Follow the rules of the board that licensed your shop. This sheet is the floor routine that sits around those rules. It's an operations template. It isn't legal advice, and it isn't a sanitation protocol.
Your disinfectant, your pedicure-basin steps, and what you log all come from that board. California publishes its rules through the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. Texas publishes cosmetology rules through TDLR. Those two sites are just examples of where a board posts its rules. Go to the board for the state on your license, and copy its steps onto the jar rows, the tub rows, and the implement rows. The rest of the rows stay as the open, the reset, and the close.
This page doesn't name a product, a soak time, or a log entry. The jar rows, the tub rows, and the SDS binder row stay general on purpose. The specific steps come from your board and the product label.
How to use the columns
Every table is right here on the page. There's no file to download. Select a table and copy it into a spreadsheet, or print the page and keep it on a clipboard at the front. Check Done when the row is finished. Time is when that row was finished. Initials are from the person who did it.
Run the opening list before the first client sits down. Run the short reset each time a client leaves the station. Run the closing list after the last client and before you lock up. Use one sheet per day.
Who's scheduled to open and close comes from the weekly staff grid in the nail tech schedule template. The name on that grid is the person who initials this sheet. The book row sits above the station rows on purpose: if a call-out only gets noticed after the jars are full, the booking page has been selling that chair all morning.
Opening checklist
The opener gets the room ready and reads the book. Stations and jars are done before the first appointment, not after the client sits down.
| Task | Done | Time | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named opener is in. Doors, lights, and the open sign are on. | |||
| HVAC and the ventilation fan are on the daytime setting the shop already uses. | |||
| Cash float is counted to the shop's usual amount and written down. | |||
| Card reader and POS are on. Yesterday's batch is closed if that is how the register works. | |||
| Today's book is open: first client, requests by tech name, and any call-out. A call-out is closed on the booking page, not only on paper. | |||
| Each station has a clean towel, a working lamp, and single-use items for the first service: files, buffers, toe separators, pedi liners. | |||
| Disinfectant jars hold the product your state board already names. Refill a cloudy jar the way the label and your board already say. This page does not name the product or a soak time. | |||
| Pedi tubs are empty from last night, a liner is ready if the shop uses one, and your board's basin step is done before the first pedicure. | |||
| Chemical caps are on, nothing is leaking, and the SDS binder is in its usual spot. | |||
| Trash cans have fresh liners. Last night's bag is out. | |||
| Restroom is stocked and the hot water runs. | |||
| The front handset is charged. If the shop number is forwarded, the forward still lands where it was set. | |||
| Any call that rang while stations were being set is written down, with the name and what she asked, if someone heard it. | |||
| Your row |
Between clients
This reset is short on purpose. It happens between two clients at one station, and it's not a second copy of the full close. The tech who just finished the service initials it. If the shop is too slammed to initial every reset, still do the rows. The initials are how you spot which station skipped the towel.
| Task | Done | Time | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Used single-use items are off the station and in the trash. A used file does not go back in the drawer. | |||
| Implements go through the step your board already requires. This page does not publish that step. | |||
| The station is wiped the way the shop already does between clients. | |||
| A clean towel and the single-use items for the next service are set. | |||
| If she had a pedicure: liner out, and your board's between-client basin step. This is not the full close. | |||
| The next name, time, and requested tech are read on the book. | |||
| Your row |
Closing checklist
The closer owns the room, the money, and the lock. A tech who's still in the building but doesn't have the keys isn't the closer, even if she had the last client.
| Task | Done | Time | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last client is out. Stations are clear of used single-use items. | |||
| Disinfectant jars follow the product label and your board's end-of-day step. This page does not say to dump them or to leave them. | |||
| Pedi tubs: your board's last basin step is done, liners are in the trash, and tubs are left dry. | |||
| Implements are accounted for. None are in a client's bag or sitting in a puddle. | |||
| Trash is out, including the station cans. Chemical-soaked cotton goes where the shop already puts it. | |||
| Drawer is counted. Tomorrow's float is reset to the usual amount. The deposit is set aside. | |||
| The POS batch is closed if that is how the register closes. | |||
| Tomorrow's book is glanced: first appointments, who opens, and any note the opener needs. | |||
| Chemical caps are on. The SDS binder is back in its spot. | |||
| HVAC is on the night setting the shop already uses. The ventilation fan follows that same close. | |||
| Lights, open sign, and music are off. | |||
| The named closer locks the door, sets the alarm if there is one, and keeps the keys. | |||
| Your row |
Who initials
Opening initials belong to the named opener, before the first client. Between-client initials belong to the tech at that station. Closing initials belong to the named closer, after the last client and before the alarm. If Kim is in the building until 7 but Hoa has the keys, Hoa signs the close. The days each person opens or closes are already on the weekly schedule.
At the end of the week, the missed rows are what to talk about on Monday, alongside the other weekly numbers in nail salon KPIs. A checklist with every box checked and a book full of holes still has a hole in it. This sheet doesn't replace the book.
Today's book and the phone
You can keep this sheet on paper. But if the opener should read today's roster on a screen while the jars are being filled, Bukkii Calendar shows who's first, which tech she asked for, and a column you can close the morning someone calls out. Crossing out a name on paper doesn't close that column. How clients get to the booking page is covered in nail salon online booking.
Calendar is $0 for up to 3 staff and includes the booking website. Reserve with Google is not on Free. $20 a month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Email reminders come with the $20 plan. Calendar does not answer the phone. Prices are from bukkii.ai/pricing, checked November 6, 2026. This sheet is written for the floor of a US nail salon.
A lot of morning calls come in while the opener is busy at a station. If nobody heard a name, that ring isn't a row she can initial after the fact. AIVA answers the callers the salon would miss while stations are being set up. AIVA answers callers in English only. She does not speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, or any other language to callers. You can read this page in Spanish or Vietnamese, but the phone voice stays English. AIVA is $200 one-time. No free trial, no monthly fee, no contract. The payment includes a dedicated number, training on your menu and policies, calendar setup, and call forwarding, plus 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS. After that, voice is $0.35 a minute and SMS is $0.035. Packs never expire. She texts the appointment details after it's booked. She doesn't auto-text a caller who already hung up. Setup is done through call forwarding. This page does not describe number porting. The number on your door stays with your carrier. Hear the English voice at (215) 791-6766. Get started.
FAQ
Is this opening and closing checklist a state board form?
No. It's an operations sheet for a US nail salon: stations, pedicure tubs, disinfectant jars, single-use items, the cash float, today's book, ventilation, chemicals, trash, and lock-up. Disinfectant, pedicure basins, and what you log follow the rules your state board has already published. This page doesn't add a product, a soak time, or a log the board didn't write.
Who initials the opening list and the closing list?
The named opener initials the opening list before the first client sits down. The named closer initials the closing list after the last client and before the door is locked. A tech who's in the building but doesn't have the keys isn't the closer. Who opens and who closes each day of the week is on the nail tech schedule.
What belongs on the between-client reset?
Clear away used single-use items, put implements through the step your board already requires, wipe the station the way your shop already does, set out a clean towel and the single-use items for the next client, and read the next name on the book. It's shorter than the opening and closing lists. This page doesn't turn it into a second sanitation protocol.
What should the cash drawer and the card reader check cover?
At open, count the float your shop already uses and write the number down. At close, count the drawer, reset tomorrow's float, and close the batch if that's how your register works. This page doesn't set a float amount.
How does today's booking roster fit the checklist?
Before the first client, open the book and check who's first, who asked for a tech by name, and whether anyone called out. A call-out has to close that column on the booking page the same morning. A line on paper doesn't close the page. At close, glance at tomorrow's first appointments so the opener isn't guessing.
Does Bukkii Calendar answer the phone, and what language does AIVA use?
Calendar does not answer the phone. Calendar is $0 for up to 3 staff and includes the booking website. Reserve with Google is not on Free. $20 a month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Email reminders come with the $20 plan. AIVA answers callers in English only. AIVA does not speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, or any other language to callers. AIVA is $200 one-time, with no monthly fee, no contract, and no free trial. The payment includes a dedicated number, training, calendar setup, and call forwarding, plus 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS. After that, voice is $0.35 a minute and SMS is $0.035. Packs never expire. She texts the appointment details after it's booked. She doesn't auto-text someone who already hung up. Setup is done through call forwarding, not number porting. Prices are from bukkii.ai/pricing, checked November 6, 2026.
