How to run a nightly close and tip-out without the 1 a.m. spreadsheet

A repeatable four-step close: confirm hours, confirm sales and tips, preview the math, then publish statements your staff can read.

Most tip-out disputes aren’t about the policy—they’re about inputs. Someone’s hours were wrong, a server’s sales came from the wrong report, or the bar share was calculated on a different number than last week. A good close fixes the inputs first and leaves a record of how each number was reached.

Before your first close: write the policy down

In 86’d, open Tip-Outs → policy and describe how this location already shares tips: a pool, percentage tip-outs by role (for example, servers tipping out bar and bussers on a share of sales), or a starting template. Use “Test policy” with sample numbers before saving. Each save becomes a version, so you can always see which policy applied to which shift.

The four steps

1. Employees & hours — confirm who worked, in which role, and for how long. Fix hours here, not after the math.
2. Sales — confirm each person’s sales and tips, entered or imported. 86’d links POS employee IDs to the right person.
3. Tip-out preview — review every pool and transfer to the cent before anything is saved.
4. Finalize & publish — finalize the shift, then publish statements to employees.

When someone finds a mistake

Employees can tap “Request a correction” on their statement. The manager reopens the shift, records the reason, fixes the input and republishes. The shift history keeps both versions, which is what you want if a question comes up later.

A checklist for consistent closes

• Close in the same order every night.
• Fix hours and roles before reviewing amounts.
• Never edit a published shift without a reason.
• Export the period’s tip-out PDF for payroll on the same day each week.