Ulta Beauty Q2 FY2026 Earnings: $3.0B in Sales, 3.8% Comps and No Tariff Refund
Ulta's Q2 FY2026 sales rose 8.9% to $3.04B on 3.8% comps, with operating income up 10.1% to $379.6M and no tariff refund in the margin.
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Beauty
Financial management, accounting, and business tips for beauty salons, spas, and personal care businesses
Estée Lauder FY2026 Earnings: $15.0B Sales, a Return to Profit, and Restructuring Between the Margins
Estée Lauder FY2026: net sales $15.05B (+5% reported, +3% organic), net earnings $182M after a $1.13B loss, and adjusted EPS $2.51 (+66%). Fragrance grew 10% organic and mainland China 9%, gross margin expanded 150 bps to 75.5%, and the FY2027 adjusted operating margin guide was raised to 12.7%–13.5% — while the 6-point gap between 5.2% reported and 11.2% adjusted margin remains the story. Tracked in a public Beancount ledger spanning FY2022–FY2026.
Bridal Makeup Artist Bookkeeping: How to Track Your Kit, Travel Fees, and Wedding-Season Cash Flow
A working bookkeeping system for freelance and bridal makeup artists — separate business accounts, retainers recorded as liabilities until the wedding day, kit split into consumables versus equipment, mileage logged at the 2026 IRS rates of 72.5 and 76 cents per mile, and a peak-season reserve sized to cover the roughly six quiet months outside the May–October wedding window.
Hair Salon Booth Rental Bookkeeping: Why the IRS Sees Your Chair as a Separate Business
A booth renter is a separate business, not a salon employee — rent is a Schedule C expense, client payments arrive with nothing withheld, and 15.3% self-employment tax plus quarterly 1040-ES estimates are the renter's alone. This guide covers the IRS control tests, which 1099s and W-9s each side owes, and the account structure that keeps a chair rental defensible in an audit.
Med Spa Bookkeeping: How to Handle Injectable Inventory, Injector Commissions, and Membership Revenue
A practical bookkeeping guide for med spa owners covering the industry's hardest problems — tracking expiring injectable inventory with FIFO and treatment recipes, calculating 15–25% injector commissions from provider-level revenue, deferring membership and package revenue until services are delivered, and building a chart of accounts that shows which service lines actually carry margin.
Eyelash Extension Studio Bookkeeping: The Supply, Retail, and Depreciation Lines Most Lash Artists Get Wrong
A lash studio's costs don't fit one "supplies" line — service consumables, retail inventory, and depreciable equipment like lash beds and LED lamps each need their own account. This guide covers a six-category chart of accounts, the Section 179 deduction most lash artists miss, quarterly retail inventory counts, and booth-renter vs. employee classification.
Freelance Personal Stylist and Wardrobe Consultant Taxes: A Bookkeeping Guide
Client wardrobe advances are pass-through funds, not revenue — the bookkeeping distinction that determines whether a freelance stylist's books reconcile. Covers Schedule C, why work clothing is almost never deductible, the home-office exclusivity test, sales tax on markup resale, 1099-NEC vs 1099-K, and a minimal chart of accounts.
Independent Esthetician and Skincare Suite Bookkeeping: ASC 606, FDA Classification, MSO/PC, Section 179, and Section 45B FICA Tip Credit Under OBBBA
How independent estheticians and multi-suite skincare studios should book seven distinct revenue streams under ASC 606, classify equipment against FDA cosmetic-versus-device rules, structure an MSO/PC for injectables, capitalize a $40,000 hydrafacial under restored 100% bonus depreciation, claim the newly expanded Section 45B FICA tip credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and track the four KPIs that decide a five-year lease renewal.
Independent Nail Salon and Mobile Manicure Bookkeeping: ASC 606, the OBBBA Section 45B Expansion, and the KPIs That Predict Whether You'll Survive Year Two
Nail salon bookkeeping in 2026 — ASC 606 deferred revenue on prepaid packages and gift cards, the new OBBBA Section 45B FICA tip credit for beauty services, ABC-test worker classification after California's booth-rental expiration, MMA monomer compliance, and the chair-utilization and revenue-per-square-foot KPIs that separate profitable salons from the bottom half.
Salon Suite and Booth Rental Bookkeeping: A Practical Guide for Suite Operators and Independent Stylists
How salon-suite operators and booth-renting stylists should separate ASC 842 lease revenue from ASC 606 service revenue, capitalize the build-out under QIP and Section 179, navigate the DOL 2024 worker-classification rule and state ABC tests, and track the few KPIs — suite occupancy, RevPRSF, average tenure — that actually predict location survival.
Salon and Barbershop Booth Rental Bookkeeping: Schedule C vs Schedule E, 1099 Rules, and Self-Employment Records
Salon and barbershop booth rent can land on Schedule C, Schedule E, or both — and it is usually the booth renter, not the shop, who owes the Form 1099-MISC. A practical guide to worker classification, deductions, and audit-ready bookkeeping for shop owners and booth renters.
Section 45B FICA Tip Credit: How Restaurants and Salons Recover Employer Payroll Tax with Form 8846
Claim the Section 45B FICA tip credit with Form 8846 to recover 7.65% of employer payroll tax on tips above a $5.15/hour floor.