Tips

Tips — an optional amount that a guest leaves on top of the order cost. Meni allows accepting tips both during online ordering via QR menu and at the POS. Important: tips are not counted as venue revenue and are displayed in reports as a separate line.

Enabling and Setup#

Tips are configured separately for each location:

1. Go to Admin Panel → Locations and select the desired location.
2. In the settings section, find the "Tips" block.
3. Turn on the "Tips enabled" toggle.
4. Specify suggested percentages — for example, 5, 10, 15. These are quick presets that the guest or cashier will see. If left blank, the system will apply default values.
5. Optionally, allow a custom amount — the guest or cashier will be able to enter any amount manually.

Save your settings. Presets will immediately appear at checkout and on the POS.

Country Matters a Lot#

There are two mechanisms, and it is helpful not to confuse them.

Country preset in location settings. In the location card, there is an "apply country presets" button, and the same preset is applied automatically when you change the country of jurisdiction. Presets are configured for 65 countries and set percentages right away — along with currency, tax, and service charge. At the same time, the preset determines the status of the block itself: where tips are expected (USA, Canada, Mexico), it enables them; where they are not customary (Japan, Korea, China, Singapore), it disables them, hiding the block in the form by default with a "show anyway" button; in other countries, the field is left untouched. The preset is a starting point, which you can customize further.

Storefront fallback. If percentages are set neither manually nor via preset, the guest is shown values based on the establishment's country: USA and Canada — 18/20/25%, Georgia, Australia, and New Zealand — 5/10/15%, rest of Europe and the world — 10/15/20%. In Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, no prompt is displayed at all.

The POS also has its own fallback set — 5/10/15%, if percentages are not configured for the location.

For over-the-counter and non-food verticals, the tips block on the POS is disabled by default: retail store, pickup point, online store, professional services, blog, business card website, widgets, and chat — tips are not collected there.

Guest adds tips during online ordering#

When a guest places an order via the QR menu and selects online payment, a tip selection section appears on the checkout screen:

• Quick percentage buttons (for example, 5% / 10% / 15%).
• Custom amount field (if enabled in settings).
• Tips are calculated from the item subtotal (excluding the service charge).
• The total amount due is displayed with a breakdown: order cost + service charge + tips.

If the guest does not want to leave a tip, they simply do not select a preset and leave the field blank.

Self-service kiosk#

The kiosk payment screen also features its own tip section: the same location percentages (or country fallback), a "No tip" button, and three presets. It is enabled via a separate toggle, "Prompt for tips at checkout", in the kiosk settings — completely independent of the section in the QR menu and POS.

Cashier or Waiter Adds Tips in the POS#

When working via the POS, tips are added at the payment acceptance stage:

1. Assemble the order in the ticket as usual.
2. Click "Pay".
3. Percentage preset chips will appear on the payment screen — tap the desired one. The tip amount will be recalculated from the subtotal and displayed in the ticket.
4. If a different amount is needed, enter it manually in the tip field.
5. Complete the payment: the total amount includes tips.

Tips are saved in the order. If the distribution policy has not been changed, in reports they are assigned to the waiter to whom the order is linked (usually the one who created it; the assignment is set automatically if the order was placed by an employee with the waiter role). When tip pooling is enabled, distribution is calculated differently — see the next section.

Who gets the tips#

A separate setting determines how the collected tips are split among staff for a period. Go to: Staff → "Payroll" tab → "Tips" section, field "Distribution method". There are three options:

Nearby is the checkbox "Pay out via payroll". It does not affect accounting, but rather the payout itself: with it checked, tip shares are included in the employee's payroll calculation and paid out together with it; without it, tips are only tracked (including in tax bases where required).

The "Payroll" section is available to the account owner. For more details on the tab and calculations, see Staff and shifts.

Tips in the Order List#

In the Orders section, each order with tips displays a breakdown:

This way, staff can immediately see what portion of the total is tips.

Reporting in the "Finance" Section#

The Finance section displays tips separately from revenue:

• "Tips" KPI — total amount of tips for the selected period (7 / 30 / 90 days or 12 months), broken down by currency if you have multiple locations with different currencies. The card can be hidden from the dashboard in the section view settings.
• "Tips by Waiter" — a chart on the "Sales" tab showing how much each waiter collected in tips over the period. Orders without an assigned waiter are grouped into a separate line.

Since tips are not venue income, they are not included in revenue and gross profit metrics.

What you need to get started#

• Tips switched on in the settings — preset amounts are filled in from the location's country.
• Working online payment — if the guest leaves a tip on the storefront, when paying the bill at the table or at the kiosk (Payments).
• Employees in the system — so there is someone to distribute tips to (Staff).
• A distribution policy — to a specific server, or into a shared pool by hours worked.

Limitations#

• Tip reporting lives in the Finance section, and that runs on the AWS contour: on cenaly.ru these reports do not exist.
• Online tips depend on online payment — where there is no payment provider, the guest cannot leave a tip; at the POS tips are always available.
• In a guest split, the tip is calculated against that guest's share, not against the whole bill.
• Distribution feeds the payroll databases, but the wage fund is not posted as a separate expense line in the finance database — treat it as management accounting, not bookkeeping.

Troubleshooting#

The guest does not see a tip selector. Tips are switched off in the settings, or the location has no live online payment.

The tip did not reach the server. Check whether a server is assigned to the order and which distribution policy is selected: a pool by hours splits the amount between everyone on shift.

The presets look wrong for us. Presets are filled in from the location's country — change them manually in the settings.

There is no tip report. On the Russian brand the Finance section does not work, and this reporting goes with it.

Related Sections#

• POS — order taking and payment acceptance by the waiter
• Finance — management dashboards: revenue, purchasing, staff
• Online payment — payment methods for guests
• Orders — order lifecycle and monitoring
• Staff — roles and assigning orders to waiters

Frequently Asked Questions#

Are tips included in the venue's revenue?#

No. Tips are accounted for separately and do not affect revenue, food cost, or gross profit metrics in the "Finances" section.

Can I set up different presets for different locations?#

Yes. Percentage presets and custom amount permissions are configured individually for each location in its settings.

Is a guest required to leave a tip?#

No, tipping is always voluntary. If a guest does not select a preset and does not enter an amount, the tip is zero.

Can tips be shared across the entire shift instead of per waiter?#

Yes. In Employees → Payroll → "Tips", select "Tip pool — by hours" (shares are proportional to hours worked) or "Tip pool — by role weight" (with coefficients by job title). Tip payouts via payroll are also enabled there.

How can I find out which waiter collected the most tips?#

In the Finances → Sales section, there is a "Tips by waiter" block that shows the tip total for each employee over the selected period.

Are tips included in online payments?#

Yes. If a guest pays for an order online and adds a tip at checkout, it is included in the final amount charged.