Free restaurant calculator
Restaurant tip pool calculator
Free to use. Nothing you type leaves your browser. Figures checked against official sources on October 1, 2026. Estimates only, not legal or tax advice.
Enter your numbers
Card tips, cash tips and service charges, with no card fee taken out.
| Name | Hours | Share | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.00 | |||
| $0.00 | |||
| $0.00 | |||
| $0.00 |
Result
Enter the pool and each person's hours to see the split.
The formula
- Rate = total pool ÷ total hours (or total points)
- Each share = that person's hours (or points) × rate
- Shares are rounded to the cent, and any leftover cents go to the largest remainders so the total paid equals the pool
How to read the result
Splitting by hours treats every hour on the floor the same. Splitting by points lets you weight roles, for example a server at 10 points and a busser at 5. With points, enter each person's points for the shift, or points multiplied by hours if they worked different lengths.
In Massachusetts the pool is for people who served guests directly or made drinks for service, and who had no managerial duties that shift. Leave kitchen staff, managers and owners out of the list. If you want to reward the kitchen, pay it from the business.
Put the whole card tip into the pool. Massachusetts does not allow the card processing fee to come out of tips.
Massachusetts rules
The rules behind the numbers
Who is allowed to share in a tip pool in Massachusetts?
Only wait staff, service bartenders and service employees. Wait staff means people who serve food or drink directly to customers or clear their tables, including bussers and counter staff in quick-service restaurants, and who have no managerial responsibility that day.
Full answer and official sourceCan cooks and dishwashers share in the tips?
No. Kitchen staff do not serve customers directly, so under the Massachusetts Tips Act they cannot receive tips or service-charge money. The narrow exception is counter staff in a quick-service restaurant who prepare or serve food as part of a counter team.
Full answer and official sourceCan a manager, shift lead or owner share in the tip pool?
Owners never can. A manager or supervisor cannot share on any day they have managerial responsibility, even if they also served tables. The Attorney General names shift supervisors, assistant managers, banquet captains and many maître d's.
Full answer and official sourceCan a restaurant take the credit card processing fee out of card tips?
The Massachusetts Tips Act bars employers from taking any payment or deduction from a tip, and it defines a tip to include amounts added by a credit card customer. Federal law allows a proportional card-fee deduction, but Massachusetts gives no such exception, so pass the full card tip to the server.
Full answer and official sourceWhen do tips and service charges have to be paid out?
The Tips Act says by the end of the same business day, and never later than the normal Wage Act payday. The Attorney General's Fair Labor Division treats tips as paid on time if they are paid by the end of the pay period in which they were earned.
Full answer and official source
Rules checked against official sources on . General information, not legal or tax advice.
Common questions
How do you calculate tips by hours worked?
Add up the pool, add up everyone's hours, and divide the pool by the hours to get a rate per hour. Each person's share is their hours multiplied by that rate.
How does a tip pool point system work?
Each role gets a number of points, the pool is divided by the total points on the shift, and each person receives their points multiplied by that rate. Write the points in your tip pooling policy so the split is the same every night.
Can the kitchen be included in a tip-out in Massachusetts?
No. Under the Massachusetts Tips Act, cooks and dishwashers cannot receive tip or service-charge money. Only wait staff, service bartenders and service employees can share in a pool.
Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel. A calculator gives an estimate from the numbers you enter. Confirm anything that affects pay or taxes with your payroll provider, attorney or tax adviser.
Want these numbers checked every pay cycle?
Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel.