Tips — how they are captured and paid out

Sidebar: Checkout (or any checkout from an appointment, stay or client) to take tips. Reports → End of Day shows what you owe.

The tip comes after the payment type

First you pick how the customer is paying. Then Alaga asks about the tip.

Card: an Add a Tip step opens before the card is charged.
Cash, Check or Card on terminal: the tip box is on the same screen as the payment.
Account credit: there is no tip step. Credit is money they paid earlier.

Adding a tip

Pick None, 15%, 18%, 20%, 25%, or type a Custom amount.
Choose how it was given:

On the card: the tip is added to the card charge.
Cash tip: the customer hands over cash. This works even when the sale is on a card.

Choose who gets it under Tip goes to….
To share it, click Split between two people. Pick the second person and enter the first person's share. The rest goes to the second person.

If a tip is entered but nobody is picked, Alaga says Choose who the tip goes to and waits.

Who is on the list

For an appointment, the staff on that visit are offered first. For walk-in sales and stays, everyone active on your team is offered. If only one person is on the list, they are picked for you.

Card readers that ask for the tip

On a Square Terminal or Reader, the customer adds a card tip on the Square device. You don't type it in Alaga.

Before the payment you can choose who gets it under If they tip on Square, who gets it? (optional). For an appointment, the groomer is usually picked already. You can leave it blank, because the customer may not tip at all.
After the payment, if the customer tipped and nobody was chosen, Alaga shows $X tip not assigned before you can close the screen. Pick the person (or click Split between two people) and click Assign to add it to payroll. Or click Don't assign. The tip stays on the payment but is not added to anyone's tips.

If the screen was closed before anyone decided, Reports → End of Day lists it under Unassigned Square tips for that day. Click Assign there.

On a Paygistix reader or a Valor terminal, the customer also tips on the device. Alaga only records the tips you enter on the Add a Tip step, so record cash tips there.

On any of these readers, you can record a cash tip on the same screen.

With Alaga Payments, the card tip is entered in Alaga and added to the charge.

Split payments

When you split a bill across two or more payments, the tip is asked once, on the last payment.

Why record cash tips

Cash tips never pass through Alaga. Recording them is still important. It is the record of what each person is owed, and it keeps End of Day and payroll correct.

Finding what you owe

Go to Reports → End of Day. The Tips by Employee (payroll) table shows each person's card tips, cash tips and total for the day. Use it at the end of a shift or for payroll. Any Unassigned Square tips for the day are listed under the table with an Assign button.

Card tips come in with the card payment, so the money reaches your bank first. You then pay it out to staff.

Reports → Payments & Transactions also shows the tip on each payment.

Refunding a tip

Alaga Payments: the owner can refund only the tip. Go to Business Settings → Payment Settings → Transactions, click Refund on the payment and choose Tip only.
Other payments (cash, check, Square, card on terminal): go to Reports → Payments & Transactions, click Refund and enter just the tip amount.

See Refunds, voids and adjustments.

Good habits

Decide your policy first. Are tips for one person, or pooled? Who counts?
Always record cash tips, so End of Day matches what staff take home.
Check End of Day before you pay out. It is easy to forget a tip on a busy day.