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
When you clock in and when you clock out, 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
Count the jar at both ends of your shift. One number when you clock in, one when you clock out. Your share is the difference between them, split with whoever else was on — so a shift with only one count has no window, and the maths has to guess.
Typing one total is all a punch asks for. Counting it out bill by bill is a tab away if you want it, and it's the default at close-out.
Clocking in (required)
- Tap Clock In. The count screen comes up before you're clocked in.
- Count the jar. All of it.
- Tap Save count & clock in.
This is what keeps cash that came in before you arrived out of your window. It is not a favour to the person before you — it's the opening end of your own shift.
If you're clocking in outside your scheduled time and have to confirm the override, your count is kept — you won't be asked to count twice.
Clocking out (required)
- Count the jar. All of it.
- Enter the total in the count screen that appears when you tap Clock Out.
- Tap Save count & clock out.
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. This works at both punches. You'll still clock in or out either way; no count ever costs you your hours. A manager gets flagged to fix the split. Use this when you have to, not to save two minutes.
If your shift has no opening count
Sometimes the count screen doesn't appear — a stale app, a dropped connection. If that happened, the jar panel on My Schedule says "This shift has no opening count" and offers Add the opening count. Do it as soon as you notice; it repairs your window without a manager touching anything.
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.
Closing the day
At the end of the day, whoever closes taps Close-out count in the same panel and counts the jar by denomination — every bill and coin. This is the only count that asks for the full breakdown, and it's the number the day is reconciled against.
(This is the tip jar, not the register. The cash drawer is counted and closed out separately in the POS — see the closing checklist.)
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.
See also: Tip Pool & Distribution for card and online tips · Clock In & Out