Tip out calculator

Enter tonight's tips and sales and your restaurant's tip-out percentages. You will see what goes to each role, what you keep and what the shift paid per hour.

Bar: –
Busser: –
Host / food runner: –
Total tip out: –
Tips you keep: –
Wages: –
Shift total: –
Real hourly pay: –

How tip out works

Tip out is the share of your tips that goes to the people who support your tables: bartenders, bussers, hosts and food runners. Restaurants set it as a percentage of your sales or of your tips. A sales-based tip out is the same amount on a slow-tipping night, so it takes a larger share of what you earned.

Rules worth knowing

Under federal law, managers, supervisors and owners cannot take any part of a tip pool.
If your employer pays the lower tipped wage ($2.13 federal minimum), your wage plus tips must still reach the full minimum wage for the hours you worked. If it does not, the employer owes the difference.
Tips you receive on cards are paid through payroll and show on your paystub. Cash tips usually do not, so keep your own record.

Questions

What is a normal tip out percentage?

It varies by restaurant. Common ranges are 1 to 3 percent of sales, or 15 to 30 percent of tips, split between bar, bussers and hosts.

Is tip out based on sales or tips?

Either. Check your restaurant's policy and pick "sales" or "tips" for each role in the calculator.

Can my manager be in the tip pool?

No. Federal law bars managers and supervisors from keeping any part of employees' tips.

More free calculators

Estimates only. Not legal, tax or financial advice. Wage rules vary by state and job.