Tip pool calculator
Split a shift's tips by hours, role points or both. Or calculate tip-outs to barbacks, runners and other support staff based on sales or tips. See what each person receives and their tips per hour.
How to split a tip pool
Decide the weights once, write them down, and use the same ones every shift.
Hours alone pays everyone the same rate for every hour worked. Points alone ignores hours and suits a pool where everyone works the whole shift. Hours × points pays by time and by role, so a barback on 0.5 points earns half a bartender's rate for each hour. In the example above, $1,240 over 30.3 weighted hours is $40.92 an hour at 1 point and $20.46 at 0.5.
Tip-outs as a share of sales follow how busy a station was; as a share of tips they follow what the guests left. Sales are the steadier base when one table tips very well or very badly.
Tip pooling rules
In the US, under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers, managers and supervisors may not receive any part of a tip pool, and the duties test, not the job title, decides who counts as one. If you take a tip credit, the pool may include only staff who customarily and regularly receive tips. If you pay everyone at least the full minimum wage and take no tip credit, it may also include staff such as cooks and dishwashers. Tips you collect for a pool must generally be paid out by the regular payday for that pay period. If the amounts can't be worked out before payroll, they must be paid as soon as practicable after it.
States and cities can set stricter rules, and outside the US the rules are different again. This page is a summary, not legal advice: check your state and local rules, or ask an employment lawyer, before you set up or change a pool.
Sources: US federal tip pooling rules, 29 CFR 531.54 and the US Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #15: Tipped employees under the FLSA. Names and figures: an example shift.
- Sarah Dawn MarsWrote this · Head of customer success and community
Sarah co-founded and ran Teresa Cocktail Bar, a Tales of the Cocktail nominee. She was also the first customer success hire at Loaded and now builds Overproof.
Tip pooling questions
What is tip pooling?
Putting the tips from a shift into one pot and sharing it out by an agreed rule, usually hours worked, points per role, or both. It suits a bar where the team serves guests together and nobody owns a section.
What is the difference between a tip pool and a tip-out?
A tip pool shares everyone's tips by a rule. A tip-out keeps each person's tips their own, minus a set share they pay to the people who supported them, such as the barback or the food runner.
Can a bar manager be in the tip pool?
In the US, the federal duties test decides, not the title: a manager or supervisor as the Department of Labor defines one may not receive pool tips, while a working shift lead may (how bar managers get paid).
How are points per role usually set?
The house decides. A common pattern gives bartenders 1 point and support roles a fraction, such as 0.5 for a barback. Agree the points with the team, write them down, and change them only with notice.
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