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Tips and calculations FAQ

Quick answers about how Tip Sheet works out each person's tips. Each answer links to the full guide.

How does Tip Sheet split tips between staff?​

Tip Sheet splits tips in three steps: into service periods such as Lunch and Dinner, then between departments by the percentages you set, then between the people in each department by their hours and tip points. At a weekly venue the whole week is one pool, split by department and then by hours and tip points. See Tip Sheet.

How do tip points affect someone's share?​

Tip points weight a person's hours: within a department, each person's share is their hours multiplied by their tip points, compared with everyone else's. Someone on 6 points who works 5 hours counts twice as much as someone on 3 points who works the same 5 hours. Tip points are set on each person's staff record. See Staff details.

How are tips split between departments?​

Each department gets the percentage of each service's tips set on the venue's Tip Rules tab, such as Front of house 75% and Kitchen 25%. If nobody from a department worked that service, its share is spread over the departments that did. So a percentage is a share when that team is working, not a guarantee. See Departments.

Why did a staff member earn no tips for a shift?​

The most common reason is that the shift isn't approved in your timesheet system: the tip sheet shows Unapproved Timesheet and pays $0 for it. Other reasons:

  • they aren't Active yet, for example a new starter still on the Incoming tab;
  • the shift started after the service's cut-off time;
  • they worked fewer than the service's minimum hours;
  • the shift is marked as leave;
  • their hours fell outside the service's tip earning hours.

See Missing staff and late shift changes and Shifts that earn nothing.

What are tip earning hours and cut-off times?​

Tip earning hours are the part of each service that counts towards its tips, such as 12 pm to 5 pm for Lunch. A cut-off time means anyone who starts at or after it earns nothing from that service. Each service can also have minimum and maximum hours. See Tip earning hours.

Are breaks taken off the hours that earn tips?​

Only meal breaks are taken off, and only when your timesheet system records them. Other kinds of break stay in the hours. A service set to Ignore breaks takes nothing off. See Tip earning hours.

Why don't the tips on the tip sheet match what the POS reported?​

The tip sheet shows what's shared among this venue's staff, which is rarely exactly what the POS took. Common reasons:

  • a share was passed to a dependent venue, such as a shared kitchen (shown as Deductions when you open Tips summary on the tip sheet);
  • cash tips and service charges are added on top of card tips;
  • some card tips aren't placed in a service yet;
  • nobody on the sheet worked a day or a service, so those tips weren't shared;
  • amounts are rounded to the cent for each person, so totals can differ by a few cents.

See Tip Collection.

Can tips end up paid to nobody?​

Yes. Tips aren't paid to anyone when there's nobody to share them with: card tips not placed in a service, a service where nobody on the sheet worked, or a day with tips but no hours on the tip sheet. Tip Sheet can't guess who earned them. Place the tips, import timesheets and check for unapproved staff before you lock the week. See A day with tips but no one to share them.

Is there a minimum or maximum amount someone can earn?​

No. Tip Sheet has no dollar minimum or maximum. The minimum and maximum settings on a service limit the hours that count, not the dollars. You can set an exact amount for one person on the tip sheet, and everyone else in their department is rebalanced around it. See Correct a tip sheet.

How are cash tips shared?​

Cash tips are shared like card tips, once someone at the venue enters them in Tip Collection. Depending on the venue's setting, they're entered for each service, and shared among the staff who worked it, or as one amount for the day. See Enter cash tips.

What happens to tips on a day with custom hours?​

On a day with custom hours, such as a public holiday, the custom service times replace the venue's usual ones for that day, including which hours earn tips. The tip sheet marks the day with a Custom hours tag, in the colour chosen for those hours. See Custom Hours.

Does Tip Sheet work out tips daily or weekly?​

Each venue works out tips either daily or weekly, set on the venue's Tip Rules tab. Daily shares each day's tips among the people who worked that day; weekly shares the whole week's tips in one pool. You can't switch for a single week. See Tip Calculation Method.

How quickly does the tip sheet update?​

Tip Sheet recalculates on its own within moments of new tips, shifts or changes coming in, and your screen updates without reloading. Last calculated at the top of the tip sheet shows when it last happened. Weeks more than 30 days old don't update on their own; use the round arrow icon beside Last calculated. See When it was last worked out.

If I change one person's tips, what happens to everyone else?​

Everyone else in the same department is rebalanced so the total still adds up, and nobody drops below $0. The changed amount shows in orange, and you can put it back at any time while the week is in progress. See Correct a tip sheet.