Tip Calculator
Tip-outs, worked out for every shift
At close, staff scan a QR code and see what to take from the safe, who to tip out and what they take home. Live from your POS, on your rules.
Built on the floor at The Lakehouse.
Friday close
Your night, Alex
Get from the safe
$455.10
Card tips $342.80 + party gratuity $112.30
Hand out
Maya R. Host
2% of food · 3h 10m together
$9.40
Jordan T. Runner
2% of food · 4h 25m together
$12.86
Sam K. Runner
2% of food · 2h 05m together
$6.10
AM bar Bar
4% of alcohol · 2h 40m together
$8.30
Chris B. Bar
4% of alcohol · 4h 50m together
$20.50
Take home
$397.94
01 — How it works
Three steps, then it runs every night
We do the setup with you. Your staff do nothing new except scan a code at close.
Step 1
Connect your POS
And your scheduling tool, if you use one. Sales, tips and shifts come from there.
and others on requestStep 2
We set your tip-out rules
Percents, pools, who gives and who receives. You tell us how your house does it.
- Servers to hosts and runners2% of food
- Servers to the bar4% of alcohol
- Split bytime worked together
Example rules. Yours will differ.
Step 3
Staff scan a QR code at close
They sign in with their POS email and see their night. No app to install.
One code by the safe. Each person sees their own shift, about a minute behind the POS.
02 — What staff see
Their night, on their phone
Friday close
Your night, Alex
Get from the safe
$455.10
Card tips $342.80 + party gratuity $112.30
Hand out
Maya R. Host
2% of food · 3h 10m together
$9.40
Jordan T. Runner
2% of food · 4h 25m together
$12.86
Sam K. Runner
2% of food · 2h 05m together
$6.10
AM bar Bar
4% of alcohol · 2h 40m together
$8.30
Chris B. Bar
4% of alcohol · 4h 50m together
$20.50
Take home
$397.94
- Cash to take from the safe
- Their card tips plus any large-party gratuity. The close stops waiting on a manager with a calculator.
- Who to tip out, and how much
- Each name, the rule behind it, and how long they worked together. Nobody argues with a number they can check.
- What they take home
- What is left after tip-outs. Staff leave knowing what they made.
03 — Rules
Your rules, not ours
Every house tips out differently. We configure the calculator to match yours.
Percent of any sales category
We set a tip-out on food, alcohol, wine or any category your POS reports. Sales count after comps.
Tip pools by role
We pool tips for a role, such as the bar or the kitchen, and split the pool among the people who worked it.
Shares by hours or points
We weight pool shares by hours worked or by points per role, the way your house already does it.
Split by time worked together
We split each tip-out by the minutes two shifts overlapped, so a runner who left at eight is not paid for ten.
Who gives, who receives
We set which roles tip out and which roles receive. Non-alcohol drinks can owe nothing.
Exclusions
We leave trainees out, or exempt the bar, when that is how you run it.
Auto-gratuity and cash tips
We route large-party gratuity to the server who earned it and handle cash tips the way you count them.
Who sees what
We set it to open book, where everyone sees the whole night, or to each person's own card only.
Managers and supervisors are kept out of tip-outs by default.
04 — Transparency
Everyone sees the same math
Every person sees the whole night's numbers and a diagram of how tips move. The math is the same for everyone.
1. Guests tip
On cards, plus gratuity on large parties.
2. It goes to the safe
Tips are held until close.
3. Servers and bar take their own
Each person's card tips and gratuity come back to them.
4. Each server tips out
For example, 2% of food sales to hosts and runners and 4% of alcohol sales to the bar.
5. Take home
What is left is theirs.
A worked example, for example 2% and 4%
- Food sales $1,000, 2% to hosts and runners
- $20
- Alcohol sales $500, 4% to the bar
- $20
- Card tips
- $300
Takes home $300 - $20 - $20 = $260
05 — Integrations
Connects to your POS and scheduling
Live is in production. Beta is new; we check the first sync with you.
Point of sale
Toast
Live
Point of sale
Square
Beta
Point of sale
Clover
Beta
Point of sale
Aloha POS by NCR Voyix
Beta
Point of sale
Lightspeed Restaurant
Coming soonLabor and scheduling
7shifts
Beta
Labor and scheduling
Homebase
Coming soon
Labor and scheduling
Gusto
Coming soon
Other systems on request. Book a demo and tell us what you run.
06 — For managers
The labor numbers, while they matter
- Live labor %
- Front of house and kitchen, as the night runs.
- 7-day trend
- Labor against sales for the past week.
- Auto clock-outs
- Yesterday's auto clock-outs, to fix before payroll.
07 — Sign-in and privacy
No passwords, and only your people
- Their POS email
- Staff sign in with the email your POS has on file.
- A one-time code
- We email a code. There are no passwords to forget or share.
- Removed staff lose access
- When someone leaves, their sign-in stops working.
- Your people only
- Only your restaurant's staff can see your restaurant's page.
08 — Questions
What owners ask first
Is this a tip pool?
It works either way. We set up direct tip-outs, a pool by role, or a pool weighted by hours or points, and each person sees their share.
Does it pay anyone?
No. It does the math. Cash still comes out of the safe, and payroll stays with your payroll provider.
Which POS systems does it work with?
Toast is live. Square, Clover and Aloha POS by NCR Voyix are in beta. Lightspeed Restaurant is coming soon. If you run something else, ask on a demo call and we will look at connecting it.
Do staff need to download an app?
No. It is a web page they open on their phone from a QR code.
Can staff see each other's tips?
Your call. Open book shows everyone the whole night. Own card only shows each person just their own.
How live is it?
About a minute behind the POS while service runs. Closed nights use the POS's final shift totals.
What does it cost?
It depends on your rules and your systems. Book a demo and we will walk through your setup and quote it then.
See your rules on a phone
Book a demo. Bring how your house tips out today, and we will show you what your staff would see at close.