Free tips and tronc distribution sheet template
This free tips and tronc distribution sheet template — printable PDF or editable Excel — records the tips collected for a period and splits them by hours worked or a points system, with the whole calculation visible so anyone can check their own share.
Free. No email address, no sign-up — the tips & tronc distribution sheet downloads straight away.
Tips cause more resentment than pay does, and almost always for the same reason: nobody can see the sum. A distribution sheet that shows the pool, the total hours or points, the rate per hour or point and each person's share removes the argument entirely, because anyone can check their own line in ten seconds.
Decide and write down which method you use before the period starts. Hours worked is the simplest and hardest to dispute. A points system lets you weight roles differently — a section server on more points than a runner — but only works if the points are published in advance. Changing the method after the tips are counted is the single fastest way to lose a team's trust.
Keep card service charge and cash tips as separate lines. They often arrive differently, are recorded differently and may be treated differently for tax and payroll, and pooling them into one figure makes any later question impossible to answer. Record what came in through each route, then pool for distribution if that is your policy.
The rules on tips are genuinely different by country and change over time: who may participate, whether an employer can retain any part, whether a service charge must be passed on, how it is taxed, and what records you must keep. This sheet is a transparent calculation tool, not tax or legal advice — set your policy against your own local law and take advice if you are unsure.
What's on the sheet
Log sheet — blank rows to fill in · Landscape A4 · PDF, Excel and CSV
Header fields
Venue / site · Period covered · Distribution method (hours or points) · Tronc administrator
Columns
- Staff member
- Role
- Hours worked in period
- Points weighting — If using a points system
- Points total — Hours x weighting
- Share of pool — %
- Amount due
- Paid via — Payroll / cash
- Signature
Extra columns in the Excel version
- Card service charge in pool
- Cash tips in pool
- Deductions per written policy
- Notes
These are left off the printable version so the columns stay wide enough to write in by hand.
16 blank rows per sheet.
What you get
- ✓Printable PDF, landscape A4, 16 staff rows per period
- ✓Excel (.xlsx) version with separate card service charge and cash tip pool columns
- ✓CSV version for import
- ✓Hours and points columns so it works for either distribution method
- ✓Share percentage and amount due columns showing the full calculation
- ✓Signature column and tronc administrator field
How to use it
- 1
Agree and publish your distribution method and any role weightings before the period starts.
- 2
Record card service charge and cash tips separately as they come in, then total the pool.
- 3
Enter each person's hours worked for the period from your rota or clock-in records.
- 4
Apply the points weighting if you use one, and total the points across the team.
- 5
Divide the pool by total hours or points to get the rate, and calculate each person's amount due.
- 6
Publish the sheet with the totals shown, pay through the agreed route, and have each person sign for what they received.
Questions
What is a tronc?
A tronc is an arrangement for pooling and sharing tips and service charge among staff, usually run by a nominated administrator rather than by the business owner. How a tronc must be operated and taxed depends on your country, so check your local rules before setting one up.
Should tips be split by hours or by role?
Hours worked is the simplest and hardest to argue with. Points let you weight roles — front of house against kitchen, senior against junior — but only work if the weightings are published before the period, not decided after the money is counted.
Can an employer keep part of the tips?
That depends entirely on your jurisdiction, and the rules have tightened in several countries in recent years. Check your own local law and, if any deduction is permitted and applied, state it in a written policy and show it on the sheet.
Do kitchen staff get a share of tips?
Many venues include the kitchen, some through a lower weighting. Whatever you decide, publish it in a written policy that says who participates — the disputes come from an unwritten rule people discover on payday.
Or stop printing it altogether
Rotahr does this check on a phone — timestamped, with the person who did it attached, reminders when one is due, and a PDF export when somebody asks for a month of records. Same job, no folder to search through.
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Free to print, copy and use in your venue — no attribution required. Written for an international audience: where a threshold is a widely used figure it is printed as one, but food safety and employment rules differ by country and change. Check yours before relying on this sheet.
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