Salon Bookings and Payments in Aruba and Curaçao: A Guide

Most salon software is built for Europe or the United States. Run a salon in Oranjestad or Willemstad and you quickly hit the gaps: the currency is wrong, the payment provider does not accept your business, and nobody explains what the tax rules mean for your receipts.

This guide covers what is different on the islands, and what to look for in a booking system.

Which currency do salons use in Aruba and Curaçao?

Curaçao and Sint Maarten replaced the Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG) with the Caribbean guilder (XCG) on 31 March 2025. If your booking system still shows ANG, or worse, euros, your clients see the wrong prices.

Because both florin and guilder are pegged to the dollar, many salons also quote dollar prices for tourists. Choose one currency for your booking page and stick to it; mixing currencies on one menu confuses everyone.

How can clients pay online on the islands?

This is where most international software stops working. Large card platforms such as Stripe do not accept businesses based in Aruba or Curaçao. A button that says "Connect your payment account" simply fails.

The local answer is Sentoo, an online payment platform for Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Sint Maarten. The client pays from their own local bank, and the money goes to the salon's bank account. For a salon that means:

• online deposits at the moment of booking, in local currency;
• payment requests for an open amount after the visit;
• no need for an account in another country.

Card payments in the salon itself still run through your own payment terminal from your local bank.

Deposits work just as well in the Caribbean

No-shows are not a European problem. A deposit at the moment of booking is the most effective way to prevent them, on the islands as much as anywhere. With Sentoo, a client books, pays the deposit from their bank, and the appointment is confirmed. Read more in our guide on how to reduce no-shows.

Curaçao: the fiscal cash register rule

This is the part many salon owners on Curaçao do not know.

Under article 44a of the General National Ordinance on National Taxes (Algemene landsverordening Landsbelastingen), certain sectors must give every customer a receipt from a fiscal cash register system (fiscaal kasregistratiesysteem). Since 1 October 2014, personal services are one of those sectors, next to retail and hospitality. Hairdressers are explicitly mentioned as an example, so salons fall under it.

A fiscal cash register is a register with a printer and a fiscal memory, approved by the tax accountants' office SBAB, sealed by an approved installer and carrying a cash identification sticker. The tax authority has stepped up inspections in recent years, and businesses without a working fiscal register have been temporarily closed.

What this means for your booking system

• Bookings and online deposits are fine. Taking an appointment or a deposit online is not the sale itself.
• The final receipt must come from your fiscal register. Software that is not an SBAB-approved register cannot replace it, however good it is.
• Record the payment in your booking system anyway, so your client history, revenue and reports stay complete.

Exemptions

The rule does not apply to every business. Exemptions exist for:

• small businesses that fall under the small business scheme (Regeling Kleine Ondernemers);
• mobile-only work, such as treatments at clients' homes;
• side activities, where these services are at most 20% of your turnover.

If one of these applies to you, you do not need a fiscal register, and you can check out clients and issue receipts in your salon software.

This is a summary, not tax advice. Rules change. Confirm your own situation with SBAB or a local tax adviser.

Aruba: taxes are in the price, not on the receipt

Aruba has no VAT. Instead, businesses pay turnover taxes (BBO, BAZV and BAVP) on their revenue. Those are a cost of the business, not a tax the client pays on top, and they are included in the price. Since 2019 they may not be charged on top of the price as a separate surcharge.

For your receipts and invoices that means: one total, no VAT line. Software that adds a "VAT 0%" or "VAT 21%" line to an Aruban receipt gets it wrong. We found no general fiscal cash register obligation for salons on Aruba, but keep your records for ten years and check the rules with your accountant every year.

Tourists, hotels and languages

Many island salons serve tourists and hotel guests as much as locals. Two things help:

• A booking page in the client's language. Visitors from the US, the Netherlands, Latin America and Europe book more easily in their own language.
• Bookings for hotel guests. Spas and salons in or near resorts can let guests book and charge treatments to their room. See NOZAIA for hotels.

What to look for in salon software on the islands

• Prices and receipts in AWG or XCG, not euros.
• Online payments and deposits through Sentoo, to your own bank account.
• No VAT line on Aruban receipts.
• On Curaçao: a way to record payments made on your fiscal register, and to switch on checkout if you are exempt.
• A booking page in English, Dutch and Spanish at least.

How NOZAIA works in Aruba and Curaçao

NOZAIA is built for the Dutch Caribbean as much as for Europe. Prices and receipts follow your island's currency, and online deposits and payments run through Sentoo to your own bank account. On Aruba, receipts show one total without a tax line. On Curaçao, you check out on your fiscal register and record the payment in NOZAIA in seconds; if you are a small business, work mobile-only or salons are a side activity for you, you can switch on checkout in NOZAIA itself.

Your booking page is available in English, Dutch, Spanish, German and French. See pricing for your island, or switch from your current system for free.