Tip Pool Calculator: Split Tips by Hours and Role
Enter the pool, then who worked, how long, and their role points. Every share updates as you type and always adds up to the pool, to the penny.
| Name | Hrs x pts | Gets |
|---|---|---|
| Server 1Server | 6 | $261.54 |
| Server 2Server | 5 | $217.95 |
| BartenderBartender | 6 | $261.54 |
| BusserBusser | 2.5 | $108.97 |
Tip pool rules vary by state and change over time. This calculator does the math only. It is not legal or tax advice.
How I use this on a Friday
We don’t pool tips at my store, but the check is the same one I run on hours before anybody gets paid out. I wait until the shift numbers are final, then I look for what doesn’t look right: missing clock-outs, somebody coded to the wrong job, hours that don’t match the shift they actually worked, or a tip number that just doesn’t make sense. The math isn’t usually the problem. Bad information going into the math is. Without a consistent process, somebody eventually gets shorted, somebody gets overpaid, and the manager ends up trying to reconstruct a shift from memory. That’s when a five-minute job turns into a 30-minute problem. A good tip pool should be simple enough that I can check it, explain it to an employee, and know exactly how we got to the final number.
K. Pinckney, restaurant GM and founder of WRI
The math
Each person gets the pool times their hours times their role points, divided by everyone's hours times points added together.
Example: $850 pool. Two servers at 6 and 5 hours (1 point), a bartender at 6 hours (1 point), a busser at 5 hours (0.5 points). Total weight is 6 + 5 + 6 + 2.5 = 19.5. Server 1 gets 850 x 6 / 19.5 = $261.54. The busser gets 850 x 2.5 / 19.5 = $108.97.
Questions operators ask
What are role points?
A weight for each role. Most pools give servers and bartenders 1 point and support roles like bussers or food runners somewhere between 0.3 and 0.7. Set them to whatever your written tip policy says.
Why split by hours and not evenly?
An even split pays someone who worked 3 hours the same as someone who worked 8. Weighting by hours is the most common way to keep a pool fair without arguments at close.
Why do the shares always add up exactly?
The calculator works in cents and hands any leftover penny to whoever was closest to rounding up. The total paid always matches the pool.
Can managers be in the tip pool?
Rules on who can share in a pool vary by state and by whether you take a tip credit. Check your state labor department or an employment attorney before you include managers or supervisors.
Is my data saved?
No. Everything runs in your browser. The link in the address bar holds your numbers so you can bookmark or share a split, and nothing is stored on our side unless you ask us to email it to you.