A numbers-first guide for Perth makeup artists pricing mobile bookings, including kilometres, driving time, parking, early starts, assistants, GST and a worked quote.
Abby's take
What this means for the industry — and for independents
Industry impact. Mobile makeup work is often sold as a service price plus a small distance charge, even though Perth travel can consume scarce early-morning capacity and add parking, loading, kit security and assistant logistics. Underpricing travel transfers those costs from the client event to the artist.
For freelancers. For a solo makeup artist, one distant booking can block the appointments that would normally sit before or after it. If only petrol is recovered, the artist may cover the car while donating the travel time and carrying every delay or access problem.
My take. I would price the complete return journey before accepting the booking, then show the client one clear travel amount and the assumptions behind it. A simple zone can make quoting easier, but it should be built from real time and cost rather than copied from another artist.
What I'd do next
- Measure the return distance, realistic door-to-door time, parking and access requirements before confirming the quote rather than pricing from the suburb name alone.
- Choose an hourly value for travel time that reflects displaced booking capacity, then add vehicle, parking and any assistant or accommodation costs separately.
- Publish a clear zone or quoting method, state when the fee can change and include all unavoidable charges in the displayed total before the client commits.
- Track estimated versus actual travel time and cost for at least ten mobile bookings, then adjust zones that repeatedly lose money.
Watch-out. Travel prices are commercial decisions and must reflect the artist’s real costs, market and contract. The ATO cents-per-kilometre rate is a tax-deduction method, not a compulsory customer fee or proof of actual vehicle cost. This is general information, not tax, legal or pricing advice.
Start with the return journey, not the client’s postcode
A client 30 kilometres away creates a 60-kilometre return journey before detours, kit collection or a second venue. Quote from the actual starting point and route, and confirm whether the artist must travel from home, a studio or an earlier booking.
Distance alone is still incomplete. Record expected driving time, parking search, unloading, venue access, setup and pack-down. A city hotel with paid parking and a loading restriction can cost more to service than a longer suburban drive.
The 91-cent tax rate is not your travel price
For the 2026–27 income year, the ATO cents-per-kilometre method uses 91 cents per eligible business kilometre for taxpayers who elect to use that deduction method. It is designed to calculate a tax deduction and has its own eligibility and record rules.
It does not tell a makeup artist what to charge a client. A client fee needs to recover the commercial impact of the booking, which may include time, parking, accommodation, an assistant and unavailable appointment capacity. A tax deduction also reduces taxable income; it does not refund the full expense.
Put a value on the time the road removes from your diary
Choose a defensible internal value for an hour of travel. That might be the contribution normally produced by a bookable hour, a lower travel-time rate or a blended figure. The right number is not necessarily the client-facing service rate, but zero is rarely accurate.
Then check the shape of the day. Ninety minutes of travel at noon may only occupy ninety minutes. Ninety minutes before a 6 am wedding start may remove the previous evening’s flexibility, require an earlier assistant call and make a second morning booking impossible.
A worked Perth mobile-booking quote
Assume a return journey of 64 kilometres, 90 minutes of driving and $22 parking. Using 91 cents per kilometre only as an internal comparison produces $58.24 for the vehicle. Valuing travel time at a hypothetical $80 an hour adds $120. With parking, the travel component is $200.24 before GST.
If the artist is GST-registered and the quoted components are taxable, adding 10% produces $220.26. This is an illustration, not a recommended fee. Replace the distance, time value, parking and tax treatment with the actual booking and obtain tax advice where needed.
- Return distance: 64 km × $0.91 = $58.24 as an internal comparison.
- Driving time: 1.5 hours × $80 = $120.
- Parking: $22.
- Illustrative travel component before GST: $200.24.
- Illustrative GST-inclusive amount: $220.26.
Zones work only when the expensive edges are protected
A zone table can speed up quotes: for example, included travel within a defined area, then fixed bands or an individual quote outside it. Test each boundary using return time during the hours you usually travel, not only kilometres on a quiet map.
Reserve separate quoting for paid parking, airport access, regional travel, overnight stays, multiple venues and starts that require an assistant or accommodation. State whether a venue change after booking can alter the fee.
Show the total before the client commits
Australian pricing rules require businesses to display a clear total price that includes taxes and unavoidable or pre-selected fees. If travel is unavoidable for the confirmed address, do not advertise a low service price and reveal the compulsory travel amount only after payment details are entered.
A written quote should identify the address assumptions, services, people, arrival time, travel amount, parking treatment, GST status and what happens if the location changes. The client should be able to understand the complete payable amount before accepting.
Put the travel assumptions into the booking contract · Align the quote with the deposit terms
Authoritative sources checked on 8 October 2026
The 91-cent rate was checked against the ATO’s Cents per Kilometre Deduction Rate for Car Expenses 2026 Determination, effective from 1 July 2026: https://softwaredevelopers.ato.gov.au/CentsperKilometreDeductionRateforCarExpenses
Business-travel deductions and record requirements were checked against ATO guidance updated 29 May 2026: https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-and-super-professionals/for-tax-professionals/prepare-and-lodge/tax-time/tax-time-toolkits/tax-time-toolkit-small-business/small-business-guides/travel-expenses
Quote and total-price guidance was checked against business.gov.au: https://business.gov.au/people/contractors/prepare-quotes and https://business.gov.au/legal/fair-trading/display-prices
Check whether the booking pays after the driving
Put service revenue, travel time, vehicle cost and parking into one view before sending the quote.
Run the income calculatorDisclaimer: General information only, not tax, legal or pricing advice. The worked amounts are hypothetical and the ATO kilometre rate is not a required customer charge. Confirm current tax and consumer-law requirements with qualified advisers.
Common questions
Should a Perth makeup artist charge 91 cents per kilometre?
Not automatically. The 91-cent figure is the ATO’s 2026–27 tax-deduction rate for eligible use of the cents-per-kilometre method. A client travel fee should reflect the artist’s own time, costs, capacity and market.
Should travel time be charged as well as kilometres?
It can be commercially reasonable because travel removes bookable time. Decide on a consistent internal time value, explain the fee before the client commits and avoid duplicating the same cost across several line items.
Can parking be added after the makeup booking?
The quote should explain how parking is handled. If a parking cost is known and unavoidable, include it in the total before acceptance. If it cannot be known, state the calculation method and obtain agreement.
Next step at The Beauty Basement
Travel should be quoted as work, not treated as spare time.
Count the return journey, the diary space and the real access cost so a mobile booking supports the business after the kit comes home.
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