Tip-out sheet and calculator
A tip-out sheet records how tips are shared after a shift: either each server pays a percentage of their sales or tips to the bartenders, bussers and runners who supported them, or a tip pool is split by the hours each person worked. Print one for each shift, or use the tip out calculator below to work out every share to the cent and download it as a spreadsheet.
By Felix S. Pavel · Updated · How it's worked out
Download the free template
The PDF is for printing and filling in by hand. The .xlsx opens in Excel or Google Sheets. No email asked.
Free calculator
Your tip-out or tip pool
Works in any currency. Nothing you type is sent to us.
Example numbers. Replace them with yours.
For the shift, from the POS server report.
For the shift, card and cash: to show what they keep.
With the example numbers
The total tip-out is 56.25 (4.5% of net sales). The server keeps 153.75.
| Role | % of net sales | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Bartender | 2% | 25.00 |
| Busser | 1.5% | 18.75 |
| Food runner | 1% | 12.50 |
| Total tip-out | 4.5% | 56.25 |
| The server keeps | 153.75 |
- This sheet only works out a split from the numbers you give it. It doesn't say whether a tip-out or a tip pool is allowed.
How we worked it out
- Bartender: 1,250.00 net sales × 2%
- 25.00
- Busser: 1,250.00 net sales × 1.5%
- 18.75
- Food runner: 1,250.00 net sales × 1%
- 12.50
- Total tip-out: 25.00 + 18.75 + 12.50
- 56.25
- The server keeps: 210.00 tips − 56.25 tip-out
- 153.75
tip-out.csv: the base, each role's percentage and amount, the total and what the server keeps. It opens in Google Sheets, Excel or Numbers, and it's made on this device.
How to calculate tip out
A tip-out by percentage starts from the server's base: their net sales for the shift (before tax and tips), or their tips. Each support role gets its percentage of that base, to the cent.
The server keeps = their tips − the total tip-out
- Bartender, 2%
- 25.00
- Busser, 1.5%
- 18.75
- Food runner, 1%
- 12.50
- Total tip-out
- 56.25
- The server's tips
- 210.00
A tip pool calculator shares the pool by weight. Each person's weight is their hours, or their hours × points when the pool gives some roles more, such as 1.5 for a bartender. Points left blank count 1.
Share = the pool × the person's weight ÷ everyone's weight
Rounding each share to the cent can leave the shares a cent or two off the pool. That remainder goes on the largest share, and the sheet says so.
- Ana: 6 hours × 1 point
- 141.17
- Ben: 5 hours × 1 point
- 117.65
- Cy: 4 hours × 1.5 points
- 141.18
Rounding each share to the cent left 0.01 too much; it was taken off Ana's share, the largest (the first of equal shares), so the shares add up to the pool exactly.
How to use the tip-out sheet each shift
- Write the percentages for each role, or the pool's points, at the top of the sheet, so everyone works from the same numbers every shift.
- At close, take each server's net sales and tips from the POS server report. For a pool, total the tips and take everyone's hours from the time clock.
- Work out each share, and have each person initial the line with what they received, so anyone can see how their share was worked out.
- Keep the sheets with the shift's reports, so you can answer a question about a payout later.
What the U.S. Department of Labor says about tips
An employer may not keep any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, and may not require an employee to give their tips to the employer, a supervisor or a manager.
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)A manager or supervisor may keep only the tips they receive directly from a customer for the service they directly and solely provide.
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)An employer that takes a tip credit can require tipped employees to contribute tips only to a tip pool limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), bussers and service bartenders.
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)State rules vary. The Department of Labor lists each state's minimum wage.
U.S. Department of Labor, State Minimum Wage Laws
Common questions
Should a tip-out be a percentage of sales or of tips?
The sheet works out either. A share of net sales stays the same whatever the tables tipped, so a server pays the same tip-out on a night of small tips. A share of tips moves with what the server took in. Pick one base and use it every shift.
What tip-out percentage should I use?
RestaurantDoctorAI doesn't set one. Restaurants choose their own roles and percentages; the sheet works out whatever you set, and shows the total as a share of the base so you can see it at a glance.
How does the tip pool calculator split by hours?
Each person's share is the pool × their hours ÷ everyone's hours. With points, hours are multiplied by each person's points first, so a role with 1.5 points gets one and a half times the share per hour.
Why is one share a cent off?
Shares are rounded to the cent, and the rounded shares can add up to a cent or two more or less than the pool. The sheet puts that cent on the largest share, so the shares add up to the pool exactly, and it says whose share carries it.
Is anything I type sent anywhere?
No. The calculator works in your browser, and the spreadsheet download is made on your device.