Tip-out calculator
A tip-out is the share of your tips you pass to the bar, bussers, food runners, or the house. Enter your tips and sales below, add your rules, and see what you actually keep.
Your shift
Tip-out rules
What you keep
- Gross tips
- $0
- Total tip-out
- $0
- Net tips
- $0
- Tip-out as % of tips
- 0%
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Coming soon to theApp StoreHow tip-out is calculated
Most tip-outs are a percentage of either your tips or your total sales, or a flat dollar amount. A common setup is a few percent of sales to the bar, one percent of tips to the bussers, and a flat amount to a food runner. Add each of those as a rule above and the calculator sums them, then subtracts the total from your tips to show your net.
Percent of sales or percent of tips?
Percent of sales is more common for the bar, because it is tied to what was rung up rather than how well you were tipped. Percent of tips is common for support roles. Ask your manager which basis your restaurant uses, since the same percentage produces very different amounts.
How much should you tip out?
Where your restaurant has a written policy, that is the answer — tip-out is usually not discretionary. As a sense-check, most full-service restaurants land near 2% to 4% of sales to the bar, 1% to 3% of tips to bussers or runners, and a flat $5 to $20 a shift for a barback or expo. Stacked together that commonly totals 15% to 25% of gross tips. Enter your own rules above to see what yours costs per shift.
For more, read how tip-outs work,how tip pooling works, andwhat a tip credit is. Since you only owe tax on the tips you keep, your tip-out record matters at tax time too — seeare tips taxable.
Common questions
How do you calculate a tip-out?
Take each rule and apply it to its basis, then add them up. A percent-of-sales rule is your total sales times the percentage; a percent-of-tips rule is your cash plus card tips times the percentage; a flat rule is just the dollar amount. Subtract the total from your gross tips and what remains is your take-home.
How much should I tip out?
Follow your restaurant’s written policy where there is one. Common ranges are 2% to 4% of sales to the bar, 1% to 3% of tips to bussers or runners, and a flat $5 to $20 a shift for a barback or expo. Stacked together, total tip-out at a full-service restaurant usually lands between 15% and 25% of gross tips.
Is tip-out based on sales or on tips?
It depends on your restaurant, and the difference is large. A 3% tip-out on $1,600 in sales is $48, while 3% of $300 in tips is $9. Percent of sales does not fall when you are tipped badly, so it takes a bigger bite on a bad night. Ask which basis your restaurant uses before judging whether a percentage is fair.
Do I pay taxes on tips I tipped out?
No. You report and owe tax on the tips you keep. The staff who received your tip-out report their share themselves — which is why recording the tip-out amount, not just your gross tips, matters at tax time.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, completely. No account, no sign-up, nothing to install, and nothing you enter leaves your browser — the math runs on your device.