Tip-Out Calculator for Servers and Bartenders
See what you owe each role and what you keep. The numbers below are an example, so swap in your own.
How a tip-out is figured
A tip-out is figured one of three ways, and this calculator does the first two. A percent of sales is your sales × each role's percent. A percent of tips is your tips × each role's percent. Either way, add the roles up and subtract the total from your tips. What's left is what you keep. The third way is points in a pool, where the pool is divided by everyone's points.
Say you sold $1,200 and made $240 in tips, and the house tips out 2% of sales to the bussers and 1% to the bar. That's $24 + $12 = $36, so you keep $204.
A percent of sales costs the same dollars on a bad night as on a good one. Change your tips to $120 above and the same $36 is 30% of your tips. If the tip-out is bigger than your tips, “You keep” goes below zero, though Washington and Montana say you can't be made to put in more than you received in tips.
This calculator uses one sales number for every role. If your bartender's share comes from bar sales only, or your runner's from food sales, work that role out on its own. Our guide to calculating your tip-out covers all three methods, what the law allows and how to report what you keep.
Tip’d, our free iPhone tip tracker, has a Tipped out field on every shift, so what you log is what you kept and what you report.
Typical tip-outs by role
We found no independent survey, so these are rules of thumb from companies in the business. Use your restaurant's real numbers if you have them.
| Role | Percent of sales | Percent of tips |
|---|---|---|
| Bussers | 1% to 2.5% | 10% to 30% |
| Bartenders | 1% to 2% | 10% to 20% |
| Food runners | About 1% | 5% to 10% |
| Hosts | 0.5% to 1% | 3% to 5% |
| All roles together | 3% to 7% | 20% to 40% |
Each role's numbers are from Homebase. The totals are from a consultant quoted by Restaurant Business in 2015 (a percent of net sales) and from published rules of thumb, including eTip's chart.
A bad-tip night and a good one
The same $1,200 in sales at different tip averages, with a tip-out of 3% of sales or 15% of tips.
| Tip average | Your tips | You keep at 3% of sales | You keep at 15% of tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $120.00 | $84.00 | $102.00 |
| 15% | $180.00 | $144.00 | $153.00 |
| 18% | $216.00 | $180.00 | $183.60 |
| 20% | $240.00 | $204.00 | $204.00 |
| 25% | $300.00 | $264.00 | $255.00 |
At these rates, a percent of tips leaves you more below a 20% tip average, and a percent of sales leaves you more above it.
Questions people ask
Is a tip-out a percent of sales or a percent of tips?
It depends on the restaurant, so ask yours. If it's sales, also ask whether it's net or gross sales, and which line on your checkout slip it comes from. A percent of tips rises and falls with what you made. A percent of sales doesn't.
What's a normal tip-out?
We found no independent survey, only rules of thumb from companies in the business. Homebase puts bussers at 1% to 2.5% of sales, bartenders at 1% to 2% of total sales, food runners at about 1% and hosts at 0.5% to 1%. eTip's 2026 chart says 20% to 30% of your tips in all at a casual full-service place and 30% to 40% in fine dining.
Can my restaurant make me tip out?
Under federal law, yes, with limits. If you're paid less than the full minimum wage before tips, a required tip-out can go only to coworkers who customarily and regularly get tips. If you're paid the full minimum wage before tips, it can include the kitchen too. Managers and supervisors can't take a cut. There's no federal cap on the percent, but over the workweek your wage plus the tips you keep must still reach the minimum wage. Minnesota is the main exception: there, tip sharing has to be voluntary. Delaware and some other states limit required pools.
Do I report the tips I tip out?
No. IRS Publication 531 says to report only the tips you receive and keep. Add up what you keep each shift, and report the total to your employer by the 10th of the next month for any job where your tips reached $20 in the month. Keep a daily record that shows what you tipped out and who got it.
Does this calculator save my numbers?
No. It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. It's a plain-language summary of federal and selected state rules as of October 2026, with percentages published by companies in the business. Your state's labor department, a lawyer or your tax preparer knows your situation; this page doesn't.
Sources
- Homebase, eTip and Restaurant Business (their published rules of thumb)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15 (who can share in a required tip-out) and 29 CFR 531.54 (tip pools, with no maximum percent)
- IRS Publication 531: Reporting Tip Income (report only the tips you keep; what the daily record holds)
- How to Calculate Your Tip-Out, our guide, with the state sources
