Tip-out calculator

What do you actually take home?

Switch between sales-based, tips-based, and role-split modes. Numbers update as you type. Nothing leaves your browser.

Your shift

Type your numbers below. Defaults to a $1,800 sales / $360 tips night.

Cash + credit tips before any tip-out

Most restaurants are 2–6% of total sales

How tip-out actually works

Tip-out is the share of your tips you pay to support staff at the end of the night. The math is simple but the policy varies wildly by house. Three common models:

  • Percentage of sales. The most common model in U.S. restaurants. You owe a fixed percentage of your nightly food + bar sales, regardless of how well you tipped. Example: 4% of $1,800 in sales = $72 to support staff. This protects support staff on slow tipping nights.
  • Percentage of tips. Common in bars and casual concepts. You owe a fixed percentage of the tips you actually collected. Example: 15% of $360 in tips = $54 to support. This protects servers on weird nights when comps or voids inflate their sales.
  • Role-split. The house assigns each support role its own percentage. Example: bartender gets 1.5% of sales, busser gets 1.5%, food runner gets 1%. Totals add up to a flat 4% in this case, but you see exactly where each dollar is going.
Heads up — tax math. You only report the tips you actually kept, not the gross tips you collected. The calculator's "Take-home tips" line is your true reportable tip income. NeighCheck handles this automatically so you don't end up double-taxed on money you never had.

What's legal?

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. § 203(m)(2)(B)), tip pools are only legal if all participating employees earn the full minimum wage (no tip credit) and no manager or supervisor takes a cut. Tip-outs to non-management support staff are universally legal. Many states layer on additional rules — see our tip pool rules guide for the full federal-plus-state picture.

How to use this calculator

  1. Enter your total sales and total tips collected for the shift.
  2. Pick the mode that matches your house policy.
  3. For percentage modes, enter the rate. For role-split, enter each role's individual percentage.
  4. Read your take-home tips on the right.

Related guides

FAQ

What does "tip-out" mean?

Tip-out is the portion of your tips you share with support staff — typically bartenders, bussers, food runners, and barbacks. It can be a fixed percentage of your sales, a fixed percentage of your tips, or a role-by-role split agreed upon by the house.

Is tip-out the same as a tip pool?

No. A tip-out is a one-way share — you pay support staff out of your tips. A tip pool combines tips across servers and bartenders and redistributes them. Both are legal under federal law as long as participating workers earn full minimum wage (no tip credit) and managers are excluded.

What's a typical tip-out percentage?

Most restaurants charge 2% to 6% of sales total: roughly 1% to bartender, 1–2% to bussers, 1% to food runners. Bartender-only tip-outs are usually 5–10% of liquor sales. Always check your employee handbook — house rules vary widely.

Do I owe taxes on what I tipped out?

No. The IRS lets you report only the tips you actually kept. If you tipped out $50 from a $300 tip night, you report $250 in tips. NeighCheck tracks the tip-out automatically so this never gets confused at tax time.

Can my manager take a cut of my tip-out?

No. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, managers and supervisors cannot keep any portion of an employee's tips, even in a valid tip pool. This applies in every U.S. state.