Tip Pool & Tip-Out Calculator
Enter the shift’s cash and card tips, who worked and for how long, and how you split. Get every person’s payout to the cent, tip-outs included, ready to copy or download.
Last updated November 12, 2026 · Free · Nothing stored
Start from an example shift
Example numbers to start from, not benchmarks. Replace them with tonight’s shift.
Tips to distribute
$1,800.00
8 people, 45.5 hours, about $39.56/h in tips on average.
Payouts reconcile to $1,800.00 ✓
Where the tips go
- Cash tips
- $420.00
- + Card tips
- $1,380.00
- − Tip-out to Bartender (1.5% of $7,200.00 sales)
- −$108.00
- = Pool, split by points
- $1,692.00
- Server × 4$55.48/h$1,248.19
- Busser × 2$27.74/h$305.12
- Runner × 1$27.74/h$138.69
- Bartender × 1$15.43/h$108.00
The link holds amounts, hours and role names, never staff names. Nothing is sent to us.
Payout per person
Rounded to the cent. Leftover cents go to the largest fractions, ties to whoever is listed first.
| Person | Role | Hours | Tip-out | Pool | Total | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server 1 | Server | 6 | – | $332.85 | $332.85 | $55.48/h |
| Server 2 | Server | 6 | – | $332.85 | $332.85 | $55.48/h |
| Server 3 | Server | 5.5 | – | $305.11 | $305.11 | $55.47/h |
| Server 4 | Server | 5 | – | $277.38 | $277.38 | $55.48/h |
| Busser 5 | Busser | 6 | – | $166.43 | $166.43 | $27.74/h |
| Busser 6 | Busser | 5 | – | $138.69 | $138.69 | $27.74/h |
| Runner 7 | Runner | 5 | – | $138.69 | $138.69 | $27.74/h |
| Bartender 8 | Bartender | 7 | $108.00 | – | $108.00 | $15.43/h |
| Total | 45.5 | $108.00 | $1,692.00 | $1,800.00 | $39.56/h | |
Under the federal rules in the Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #15, managers and supervisors may not receive tips from the pool, and cooks or dishwashers can share it only when the employer takes no tip credit. State law can be stricter. This is arithmetic, not legal advice.
How do you split a tip pool fairly?
Agree the rule before the shift, then apply it the same way every time. By hours, divide the pool by total hours and multiply by each person’s hours: $1,000.00 over 25 hours is $40.00 an hour, so a server on 8 hours gets $320.00. By points, weight each role first: with servers at 10 points and bussers at 5, the same server gets $380.95. Take tip-outs off the top first, and keep managers out of the pool.
Who may share a pool, and the card-fee rule, come from the US Department of Labor: Fact Sheet #15 on tipped employees and its page on the FLSA tip regulations, which covers tip pooling under 29 CFR 531.54. Both are linked in the section on who can be in a tip pool. The tips, hours, points and role percentages in the examples are placeholders that show the arithmetic, not typical takings.
How to calculate a tip pool
Add up every tip from the shift, cash and card. Take off any tip-outs owed to people outside the pool. Divide what is left by the total hours worked to get a tip rate per hour, then multiply each person’s hours by that rate.
Rounding to the cent is where hand-done splits drift: three people sharing $100.01 cannot each get exactly a third. The calculator pays everyone their whole cents first, then hands the leftover cents one at a time to the people with the largest fractions, ties going to whoever is listed first. The payouts always add up to the exact total, so the drawer balances.
The formula
Payout = (cash tips + card tips − tip-outs) ÷ total hours × your hours
Worked example
- $300.00 cash + $700.00 card = $1,000.00 in the pool
- 8 + 6 + 6 + 5 hours = 25 hours worked
- $1,000.00 ÷ 25 hours = $40.00 an hour
- Server on 8 hours: 8 × $40.00 = $320.00
Tip pool by hours vs by points
Splitting by hours treats every hour the same. Splitting by points gives each role a weight, so an hour from a server counts for more than an hour from a busser. With points, a person’s share is their hours × their role’s points, divided by everyone’s points. On the shift below that is 210 points, so each point is worth $4.76. A role percentage goes one step further: you decide the share each role gets (Servers 70% here), and people inside a role split it by hours. Same $1,000.00, same people, four answers:
| Person | Hours | Points / h | By hours | By points | Equal | By role % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server 1 | 8 | 10 | $320.00 | $380.95 | $250.00 | $400.00 |
| Server 2 | 6 | 10 | $240.00 | $285.71 | $250.00 | $300.00 |
| Busser 3 | 6 | 5 | $240.00 | $142.86 | $250.00 | $150.00 |
| Bartender 4 | 5 | 8 | $200.00 | $190.48 | $250.00 | $150.00 |
| Total | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | ||
Hours suit a team doing similar work
Baristas on one bar, bartenders on one well. Everyone can check it in their head, and nobody argues about weights.
Points suit mixed roles
Servers, bussers and runners on one floor. Write the points down before the shift and keep them the same week to week, so the split is agreed, not argued at close.
Tip pool vs tip out
A tip pool puts everyone’s tips together and splits the total by a rule: hours, points, equal shares or role percentages. A tip-out is a fixed cut one person or role pays to another, usually a percentage of their sales or of their tips, such as a server tipping out the bar or a busser.
Many places run both. The calculator takes tip-outs off the top first, splits each one by hours among the people in that role, then splits what remains as the pool. A role can receive a tip-out without sharing the pool: untick “in pool” for it.
- Tip-out on sales
- 1.5% of $7,200.00 in sales to the bartender = $108.00, leaving $1,692.00 of $1,800.00 for the floor pool. A tip-out on sales does not shrink on a night when tips run light, which is why staff watch the percentage.
- Tip-out on tips
- 15% of $700.00 in stylist tips to 2 assistants = $105.00, split by their hours. It rises and falls with the tips.
Tip pool examples for restaurants, bars, cafés and salons
Four example shifts to start from. The amounts and hours are made up to show how each setup works, not typical takings. Load one, then type in your own shift.
| Shift | Split | Tips | People | Per hour | Load |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant floorServers, bussers, runner; bar tip-out | By points + tip-out | $1,800.00 | 8 | $39.56 | |
| BarBartenders and a barback | By hours | $1,600.00 | 4 | $59.26 | |
| CaféTip jar and card tips, baristas | By hours | $245.00 | 4 | $10.65 | |
| Salon with assistantsStylists pool, assistants tipped out | By hours + tip-out | $700.00 | 5 | $19.44 |
Who can be in a tip pool
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the answer depends on whether the employer takes a tip credit. The rules below are from the Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees and its page on the FLSA tip regulations (tip pooling is 29 CFR 531.54).
- Employers, managers and supervisors may not keep employees’ tips, directly or through a pool, and may not receive tips from the pool. A manager may keep a tip a customer gives them directly for a service they directly and solely provided.
- Who counts as a manager or supervisor is a duties test: their main job is managing the business or a department, they regularly direct the work of at least two full-time employees or the equivalent, and they can hire or fire, or their recommendations on it carry particular weight.
- With a tip credit (a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour federally, with tips making up the rest), a mandatory pool may include only employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, such as servers, bussers, counter staff who serve customers and service bartenders.
- Without a tip credit, where everyone is paid at least the $7.25 federal minimum wage in cash, the pool may also include employees who are not usually tipped, such as cooks and dishwashers.
- Tips collected for a pool must be paid out in full by the regular payday for that workweek, or as soon as practicable after it if the amounts are not known in time.
- Card fees: an employer may reduce a card tip by the card company’s percentage fee and no more, and may not hold the tip while waiting to be paid by the card company.
State law can be stricter
Fact Sheet #15 says that where state law differs, the employer must follow whichever standard is more protective of employees. Some states require a higher cash wage than $2.13 or limit tip pools and card-fee deductions further. Check your state labor department before setting a policy.
Not legal advice
This calculator does the arithmetic of a split you choose. It does not decide who may be in your pool. For that, read the Department of Labor guidance above, your state’s rules, or ask an employment lawyer.
More tools for tips and pay
01
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Large-party gratuities and service charges are set on the guest’s bill. This calculator works out those amounts before the shift is counted.
Restaurant gratuity calculator →02
Salon tips from the client’s side
When a colour and a blow-dry are done by two people, the client splits the tip at checkout. This works out what they leave.
Salon and spa tip calculator →03
Pay structure for stylists
Tips sit on top of pay. Compare what a stylist keeps on booth rent against a commission split before setting either.
Booth rent vs commission calculator →04
Keep the host stand off the phone
An AI receptionist answers reservation calls during the rush so the people in the pool are on the floor, not on hold.
AI receptionist for restaurants →
Hours for the split usually come from the same schedule your front desk books around. If the phone pulls people off the floor during a rush, an AI receptionist can answer and book while they serve, and after-hours answering covers the calls once the pool is counted.
How to split a tip pool and tip-outs
01
Enter the tips and who worked
Type the shift’s cash and card tips from the drawer and the POS tip report, then add each person with their role and hours. Names are optional.
02
Pick how to split
Choose by hours, by points (role weight × hours), equal shares, or a percentage per role. Add any tip-outs, such as a share of sales to the bar, that come off the top.
03
Check and share the payouts
Read each person’s payout and tips per hour, confirm the total reconciles to the cent, then copy the summary, download a CSV, or copy a link without names.
Common questions
How do you calculate a tip pool by hours?
Add all cash and card tips, take off any tip-outs, and divide by the total hours everyone in the pool worked. That gives a tip rate per hour; multiply it by each person’s hours. A $1,000.00 pool over 25 hours is $40.00 an hour, so someone on 8 hours gets $320.00.
How does a tip pool point system work?
Each role gets a number of points per hour, and each person’s share is their hours × their role’s points divided by everyone’s points. On the example shift, with servers at 10 points and bussers at 5, a server on 8 hours gets $380.95 instead of $320.00 by hours, and a busser gets $142.86 instead of $240.00.
What is the difference between a tip pool and a tip-out?
A tip pool puts everyone’s tips together and splits the total by a rule such as hours or points. A tip-out is a set cut one person or role pays another, usually a percentage of sales or of tips, such as servers tipping out the bar. Many places take tip-outs off the top first and pool the rest, which is how this calculator works.
Can managers or supervisors be in a tip pool?
Not as recipients. The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #15 says employers, managers and supervisors may not keep employees’ tips or receive tips from a pool. A manager may keep a tip a customer gives them directly for a service they directly and solely provided. Fact Sheet #15 sets out the duties test for who counts as a manager or supervisor.
Can cooks and dishwashers share in a tip pool?
Under federal law, only if the employer takes no tip credit and pays everyone at least the $7.25 federal minimum wage in cash. If the employer takes a tip credit, a mandatory pool is limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, such as servers, bussers and service bartenders. State law can be stricter. This is not legal advice.
Can an employer take the credit card fee out of tips?
Under the FLSA, Fact Sheet #15 says an employer may reduce a card tip by the percentage the card company charges, and no more, and may not hold the tip while waiting to be paid by the card company. Some states do not allow the deduction, and the more protective rule applies. The calculator leaves the fee at 0% unless you set it.
Is there a tip pool calculator for Excel?
Use Download CSV under the results. It saves each person’s role, hours, tip-out, pool share, total and tips per hour, plus the shift totals, as a file that opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Nothing is uploaded; the file is built in your browser.
What happens to leftover cents when tips do not split evenly?
Everyone gets their whole cents first, then the leftover cents go one at a time to the largest fractions of a cent, ties to whoever is listed first. Three people sharing $100.01 equally get $33.34, $33.34, $33.33, so the payouts always add up to the exact total.
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