Tip Pooling Calculator
Enter your total tips and your team, pick a split method, and get each person's payout instantly — reconciled to the penny. Includes a printable tip-out sheet and tip pooling rules for every U.S. state.
Results
| Name | Role | Payout | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Server | $0.00 | 0.0% |
| — | Bartender | $0.00 | 0.0% |
| Total | $0.00 | 100% | |
Tip pooling combines all or part of staff tips into a single pot, then redistributes it by an agreed rule — equally, by hours worked, by role points, or by set percentages.
How to calculate a tip pool
- Total the tips. Add up all tips collected for the shift or period you are splitting.
- List the team. Add every staff member who shares the pool, with their role and hours or points.
- Pick a method. Choose equal, by hours, by role points, or by percentage.
- Distribute. The calculator splits the pool to the penny and shows each person's payout.
Worked examples
Even split: A $600 dinner pool shared equally among 4 servers pays $150 each.
By hours: A $400 pool split across a server who worked 8 hours and one who worked 4 pays $266.67 and $133.33.
Hybrid pool: From a $1,000 pool, 5% goes to the bar off the top ($50). The remaining $950 is split by hours among servers who worked 8, 6 and 5 hours: $400, $300 and $250.
For one server tipping out bussers, food runners and the bar from their own tips, use the tip-out calculator.
Tip pooling FAQ
Is tip pooling legal?
Yes. Federal law allows tip pooling among employees, but managers, supervisors and owners can never keep employees' tips. State rules vary — see the state panel above.
Can back-of-house staff be included in a tip pool?
Under federal law, only if the employer pays the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit. If a tip credit is taken, the pool is limited to customarily tipped employees. Some states are stricter: Massachusetts and New York keep kitchen staff out of pools even at full minimum wage.
What is a tip-out?
A tip-out is the portion a tipped employee (usually a server) passes to support staff such as bussers, runners and bartenders, often as a percentage of tips or sales.
How should tips be split — by hours or equally?
Both are common. Equal splits reward presence; hours- or points-based splits reward longer shifts and higher-responsibility roles. Pick what your team agrees is fair and apply it consistently.
Do owners or managers get a share of the tip pool?
No. Under the FLSA, owners, managers and supervisors may not retain any portion of employees' tips, even in an otherwise valid pool.
What percentage do servers usually tip out?
There is no legal or industry standard: each restaurant sets its own tip-out rates, as a percentage of sales or of tips. To see what a set of rates comes to for one server’s shift, use the tip-out calculator.
Is this calculator free?
Yes — it runs entirely in your browser, requires no account, and your numbers never leave your device.
Does the split always add up to the total?
Yes. The calculator distributes every cent using the largest-remainder method, so the payouts always reconcile exactly to the total entered.
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