Cash Tip Jar

How the cash in the tip jar gets split fairly among the people who were actually working when it came in.

TL;DR — Count the whole jar, not your share

At the end of every shift, count everything in the tip jar and enter that total.

Not your share. Not what you think you earned. The whole jar.

The money that appeared in the jar between your count and the count before it gets split among everyone who was on shift for that window, weighted by how long each person was there.

Counting more often can't get you more. Forgetting to count can't take money from anyone else. The system compares totals, so the only thing that matters is that the totals are accurate.

Why we changed how this works

Card and online tips were always pooled — every tip got split among whoever was clocked in at the moment it came in.

Cash didn't work that way. The closing employee typed a number into the POS at the end of the night, and that whole amount was credited to them. Same shared jar, different rules, and nothing could check the number.

Now cash follows the same rule as everything else: the people who were there share what came in while they were there.

What you do

Clocking out (required)

1. Count the jar. All of it.
2. Enter the total in the count screen that appears when you tap Clock Out.
3. Tap Save count & clock out.

You can count bills and coins on the pad ($20 × 3, 25¢ × 6, and it adds up for you) or just type a total if you already counted by hand.

If you genuinely can't count the jar — it's locked in the office, someone already took it to the bank — tap "I can't count the jar right now" and say why. You'll still clock out. Your cash for that shift rolls into the next person's window, and a manager gets flagged to fix the split. Use this when you have to, not to save two minutes.

Clocking in (optional but helpful)

You'll be offered a count when you clock in. Doing it makes your window tighter and your share more accurate — especially if you're arriving mid-day. Skipping it never costs you money.

Mid-shift

The clock panel on My Schedule shows the jar's last count and who took it. Recount the jar any time — at a handoff, or if the number on screen looks wrong.

A worked example

Alice works 11a–5p. Bob comes in at 3p and closes at 9p.

Time	Who	What happened	Jar total
11:00a	Alice	Counts at clock-in	$10.00
5:00p	Alice	Counts at clock-out	$34.00
9:00p	Bob	Counts at clock-out	$50.00

Window 1 — 11:00a to 5:00p, $24.00 came in. Alice was there all 6 hours. Bob was there for 2 of them (3p–5p). Weights are 6:2, so:

• Alice: $18.00
• Bob: $6.00

Window 2 — 5:00p to 9:00p, $16.00 came in. Only Bob was on shift:

• Bob: $16.00

Day totals: Alice $18.00, Bob $22.00. Sum: $40.00 ✓ (matches $50.00 − $10.00).

Notice Bob got a share of the afternoon even though he didn't count anything, and Alice got nothing from the evening even though she opened the jar. Presence decides, not who held the pen.

What if two people count the same money?

Nothing bad. That's the point of counting totals.

Alice clocks out at 5:00p and counts $34. Bob clocks in at 5:04p and counts $34. The window between those two counts earned $0, so nothing is split — and nothing is double-paid. The $24 from the afternoon was already handled by Alice's window.

What if the number is wrong?

The count screen shows you the last count and the difference from it live. If you type $427.50 instead of $42.75, you'll see "$390.25 more than the last count" — that's your cue to check before saving.

If a wrong count does get saved, tell a manager. Counts aren't edited or deleted; a corrected count replaces the wrong one and both stay visible so it's clear what was fixed.

Cash leaving the jar

If cash comes out of the jar for any reason that isn't a tip being earned — someone gets paid out, it goes to the bank, it seeds the change drawer — a manager records that separately. Then the system subtracts it before splitting.

This matters. Without it, $20 leaving the jar looks like negative tips, and the next window comes up short. If you see the jar drop and don't know why, say something.

Things the system deliberately won't do

• It won't split a negative. If the jar shrank and no payout explains it, that window is held out of the split entirely and flagged for a manager. Taking money back out of shares that were fairly earned elsewhere isn't a fix.
• It won't guess who was there. If cash shows up while nobody was clocked in — usually a missed punch — it sits unallocated until someone corrects the time entry. Then it splits on its own.
• It won't round in anyone's favour. Splits are exact to the penny, and the odd penny is assigned the same way every time. The totals always add back up to what was actually in the jar.

Who shares the jar

The same people who share card and online tips:

• Staff: anyone clocked in during the window, weighted by time worked.
• Pinghui: during her published shifts on the schedule. If she isn't scheduled, she isn't in the split — so if you close alone, the whole evening is yours.
• Not included: the shared kiosk login (it's a terminal, not a person) and per-class artists.

Breaks

Break time isn't worked time, so it doesn't earn a share. If you clock a 30-minute break, your weight for that window drops by 30 minutes — the tips that came in while someone else covered the counter go to whoever was covering it.

This applies to card and online tips too: a tip that lands while you're clocked on break goes to the people on the floor.

Two details worth knowing:

• Use the Break button. Break time you don't clock can't be deducted, and break time you clock but don't end runs until you end it.
• Only your most recent break keeps its exact time. The clock keeps a running total of break minutes but only the latest break's start and end. For the jar, earlier break time is still deducted, just spread evenly across your shift instead of pinned to the hour it happened. For card and online tips, which are split per transaction, only breaks with an exact recorded window can be excluded.

If you close after midnight

Cash from a window is filed under the day the closing count was taken. Clock out at 12:15am and that evening's cash lands on the new date, even though the card tips from the same evening are on the previous one. Your total over a pay period is exactly the same either way — it only shifts which single day it shows under. Worth knowing before you conclude a day looks short.

Where to see your cash tips

My Schedule → Tips shows a Cash jar line alongside POS and Online for the period. Managers see the full window-by-window ledger under Payouts & Tips → Cash jar.

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See also: Tip Pool & Distribution for card and online tips · Clock In & Out