Tip Out Calculator for Servers and Bartenders
Enter your sales and tips for the shift, add who you tip out and at what rate, and see each tip-out to the cent and what you take home. Rates can be a percentage of sales or of tips, and a tip-out can be split among several people.
Your shift
Your sales for the shift, before tax and tips.
Cash and card tips, before tip-outs.
Who you tip out
The × box is how many people share that tip-out, for example two bussers.
Results
A tip-out is the part of a server’s or bartender’s tips that goes to the staff who helped them during the shift, such as bussers, food runners, barbacks and the bar. Each restaurant sets its own rates, usually as a percentage of the server’s sales or of their tips.
Tip-out formulas
- Tip-out on sales: net sales × rate ÷ 100.
- Tip-out on tips: tips received × rate ÷ 100.
- What you keep: tips received − all tip-outs.
- Tip-out as a share of tips: total tip-out ÷ tips received × 100.
Tip out on sales or on tips?
On sales: support staff get the same amount for the same volume, however well each table tipped. The server carries the risk: a table that leaves little or nothing still costs them the tip-out.
On tips: everyone shares the same good and bad nights, and a tip-out can never be more than the tips. Support staff rely on tips being counted accurately, which is easier when most tips are on cards.
Some restaurants mix the two, for example bussers on sales and the bar on tips. Add each line with its own basis.
How to calculate a tip-out
- Enter your shift. Net sales and total tips from your end-of-shift report.
- Add each tip-out. The role, the rate your restaurant uses and whether it is a percentage of sales or of tips.
- Split shared tip-outs. If two bussers share one tip-out, set the people count to 2.
- Check what you keep. Your tips minus all tip-outs, with each tip-out to the cent.
Worked example
A server sells $1,800 and makes $324 in tips. The restaurant’s tip-outs are 1.5% of sales to the bussers, 0.5% of sales to the food runner and 5% of tips to the bar. The bussers get $1,800 × 1.5% = $27.00, or $13.50 each for two; the runner gets $9.00; the bar gets $324 × 5% = $16.20. The tip-outs total $52.20, which is 16.1% of the tips and 2.9% of sales, and the server keeps $271.80. These rates are an example, not a standard.
Tip-out rules in the US
Federal rules for tips that an employer requires staff to share, whether through a tip pool or set tip-outs:
- Managers, supervisors and owners cannot keep any part of the tips that employees earn (Fair Labor Standards Act, section 3(m)(2)(B)).
- If the employer pays tipped staff less than the full minimum wage and counts tips toward it (a tip credit), required tip sharing can include only employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, such as servers, bartenders and bussers. Cooks and dishwashers cannot be included.
- If the employer pays at least the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit, required tip sharing can also include back-of-house staff such as cooks and dishwashers. Federal law has allowed this since 2018.
- State law can be stricter. Several states do not allow a tip credit at all, and some limit who can share tips.
This is a summary, not legal advice. For each state’s rules, see tip pooling laws by state.
Tip-out FAQ
What is a tip-out?
A tip-out is money a tipped employee, usually a server or bartender, passes from their own tips to the staff who supported them on the shift, such as bussers, food runners, barbacks or the bar.
How do you calculate a tip-out?
Multiply the base by the rate: net sales × rate for a tip-out on sales, or tips × rate for a tip-out on tips. For $1,800 in sales at 1.5%, the tip-out is $27.00. What you keep is your tips minus all tip-outs.
What percentage do servers tip out?
There is no legal or industry standard: each restaurant sets its own rates. Rates on sales are smaller numbers than rates on tips because sales are several times larger than tips. Enter your restaurant’s rates to see what they come to as a share of your tips.
Is it better to tip out on sales or on tips?
On sales, support staff are paid for the volume they helped serve, but the server pays the same tip-out on a table that left nothing. On tips, everyone shares the same good and bad nights and a tip-out can never be more than the tips. Restaurants choose one or mix them by role.
What is the difference between a tip-out and a tip pool?
In a tip pool, tips from several employees go into one pot that is split by an agreed rule. In a tip-out, each server pays part of their own tips to specific support staff.
Can managers get a tip-out?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, managers and supervisors cannot keep any part of employees’ tips, so they cannot take a tip-out from staff. Some states have their own rules on who can share tips.
Can kitchen staff get a tip-out?
Under federal law, only if the employer pays at least the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit. Where a tip credit is taken, required tip sharing is limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips. Check your state’s rules too.
Is this tip-out calculator free?
Yes. It needs no sign-up, and the numbers you enter stay in your browser.
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Tip Pooling Calculator
Split a tip pool fairly in seconds — by hours, role points or percentage — with payouts reconciled to the penny and tip pooling rules for all 50 states.
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