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Payments & finance

Fair card tip allocation from Square and Deputy

Tip allocation automation totals the card tips taken through Square in each pay period and shares them using approved Deputy timesheets and your written tipping policy. It produces a clear split in Google Sheets that a manager approves before it reaches payroll.

An example of how the studio would build it. No live services are connected.

From card tips in Square to a fair split ready for payroll.

  1. Step 01

    Tips totalled

    Read card tips from Square payments for the pay period, grouped by location and shift.

  2. Step 02

    Hours matched

    Read approved timesheets from Deputy, so each share follows hours worked rather than hours rostered.

  3. Step 03

    Policy applied

    Apply any weighting in your tipping policy, and flag shifts where tips have no matching timesheet.

  4. Step 04

    Split prepared

    Write the split to Google Sheets, showing each person’s share and how it was worked out.

  5. Step 05

    Manager approves

    A manager checks and approves the split before it goes to payroll.

The result

A tips split staff can see and check, ready for payroll.

The split is only a calculation until a manager approves it, and pay is handled through payroll as usual. Each pay period is locked once approved, so any later change shows as a correction.

Before we connect it.

Where this is useful

Useful for restaurants, bars and cafés that share card tips by hand at the end of each pay period. A sensible first version covers one site with a simple hours-based split, then adds weighting by role once the policy is settled.

What we need to connect

  1. 01Square API access to payments, including tip amounts, for each location.
  2. 02Deputy access to approved timesheets, with locations that match those in Square.
  3. 03Your written tipping policy, the pay periods and who approves the split before it goes to payroll.

What needs careful handling

Tips taken late in the evening or on a shift that overran need a clear rule for which shift they belong to. Refunded or disputed payments may take their tip with them, so adjustments carry into the next period rather than rewriting an approved split. UK rules expect tips to be shared fairly under a written policy, with records staff can ask to see, so the sheet keeps each period’s workings.

Questions people ask.

Does this decide how tips should be shared?

No. The rules come from your written tipping policy, which you set, ideally after talking with your staff. The automation applies those rules consistently and shows its workings.

What about cash tips?

Cash tips can be added from a short end-of-shift form, or kept outside the flow if they are shared on the night. Either way, your policy should say how they are handled.

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