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Toast tip pooling without Toast Payroll

Toast's built-in Tips Manager is sold as an add-on to Toast Payroll (about $2.50 per employee per month as of 2026). If you run payroll through Gusto, ADP, Paychex or your accountant, you need another way to turn Toast data into a fair, compliant tip split.

Option 1: The spreadsheet (what most restaurants do)

1. In Toast Web, export your Time Entries for the pay period (Reports → Labor, or a scheduled data export).
2. Copy hours and tips into a spreadsheet, total each employee's shifts, and apply your pool formula.
3. Check the result against the tip-pool rules by hand, then type the amounts into your payroll system.

It works, but it usually takes 30–60 minutes a week, and the totals are easy to get wrong.

Option 2: Upload the Toast export to TipSplit

1. Export Time Entries from Toast as a CSV.
2. Upload it with Import POS timecards. TipSplit reads Toast's columns (Employee, Job Title, Payable Hours, Cash Tips Declared, Non Cash Tips) and totals every shift per person.
3. Pick how you split (hours, role points, or both), choose your state's rules, and review the warnings.
4. Print a statement for each employee and download a payroll-ready CSV for Gusto, ADP or your accountant.

Option 3: Switch to Toast Payroll

If you're already considering Toast Payroll for other reasons, Tips Manager keeps everything inside Toast. Compare the total cost (payroll fees plus about $2.50 per employee per month for Tips Manager) against what you pay now.

Rules to check whichever option you pick

Keep reading

General information about U.S. federal law (FLSA, 29 U.S.C. §203(m)) and selected state and city rules as of October 2026. Not legal advice. Check your state labor department or an employment attorney before changing your pay practices.