How do tips appear in processing reports?

The short answer

Current Square guidance describes tips as voluntary gratuity added by customers and notes that its sales-summary tip metric excludes cash tips that were not recorded in the point-of-sale app. Current Toast guidance shows that tips may be reviewed in a sales summary, broken down by payment source, displayed on itemized orders, or separated into cash and non-cash amounts in employee shift reporting. These are useful examples of reporting patterns, not universal specifications.

For a broader explanation of related records, visit the statements, reporting and reconciliation hub.

Where tips may appear

Separate the categories before reconciling

Create distinct columns for the sale amount, tax, voluntary electronic tip, recorded cash tip, service charge or automatic gratuity, refund, and total payment. This keeps unlike amounts from being combined simply because a dashboard uses a broad label such as gratuity or tips.

Cash tips deserve special attention. A point-of-sale report can include only cash-tip information that was actually entered or declared through the system's supported workflow. Cash handed directly to an employee may be absent from a payment report. Likewise, a sales report and an employee distribution report may answer different questions: one describes what customers added, while another may describe how recorded tips are assigned.

If you need a durable working copy, follow the privacy-safe process for exporting credit card processing data.

Use a repeatable tip-reconciliation workflow

1. Choose one reporting period. Match the date range, time zone, business-day cutoff, account, and location across every report.
2. Confirm the population. Include only completed payments and identify whether refunds, voids, open checks, or later tip adjustments are present.
3. Compare the same tip category. Keep voluntary card tips, recorded cash tips, service charges, and distributed or pooled amounts separate.
4. Trace exceptions to detail. Use masked transaction or order references to connect the summary total to itemized records.
5. Document the report logic. Save the report name, filters, export time, and provider definitions used for the comparison.

When POS activity must also match processor activity, use the related workflow for reconciling POS sales to processor batches.

Why tip totals can differ

Differences often come from scope rather than a missing payment. One report may use the order-close date while another uses the payment or capture date. A shift report may exclude an open shift, and a static export may not reflect later edits that appear in a live dashboard. Multi-location filters, device filters, payment-source filters, and employee assignments can also change the population.

Refunded or adjusted tips may be reported in the period when the change occurred rather than the period of the original sale. If a tip-related refund is involved, review how partial refunds appear in reports and confirm the provider's current status and date definitions.

Do not force totals to match by manually reclassifying an unexplained difference. Isolate the affected records and ask the provider which event date, status, and configuration control each report.

Keep the review privacy-safe

Tip reports may expose employee names, customer details, transaction references, location performance, and business account information. Store exports only in an approved access-controlled location and share the minimum fields needed for reconciliation.

Use masked payment references whenever possible. Do not place complete card numbers, security codes, passwords, bank credentials, secret API keys, complete account numbers, or unredacted statements in spreadsheets, email, or a general contact form. Use the provider's approved secure support channel when detailed records are required.

Questions to ask about a tip report

• Does the total include voluntary electronic tips, declared cash tips, or both?
• Are automatic gratuities or service charges reported separately?
• Does the report show collected tips, employee assignments, or final distributed amounts?
• Which date controls the report when a tip is adjusted or refunded later?
• Are open checks, open shifts, voids, and incomplete payments excluded?
• Which itemized export can be used to trace a difference without exposing sensitive data?

Write down the answers with the report name and filters. That small data dictionary prevents the same labels from being interpreted differently by operations, payroll, and bookkeeping teams.