Declare Cash Tips Overview

Last updated: Mar 25, 2026, 1:48 PM

Learn how to set up and use the declare cash tips feature on the POS.

In this Article:

 

Note: In order to access My Account > Shift Review on the main menu of the Toast app on your POS, a job must have at least one of these permissions enabled: 1.1 Table Service Mode, 1.2 Quick Order Mode, or 1.4 Payment Terminal Mode. These are required for an employee to complete shift review and tip out. Be sure to apply one of these permissions to any bussers or barbacks who are required to claim cash tips  but who don't need access to the POS except for timeclock and declaring tips. 

 

Declare Cash Tips

Note: Declaring cash tips refers to strictly cash tips, not credit card tips.

When referencing a shift review or reporting, you will see four different types of tips or gratuities:

  • Non-Cash Tips: Tips left by using a credit card
  • Cash Tips: Specifically tips left using cash
  • Non-Cash Gratuities: Tips added via a service charge using a credit card
  • Cash Gratuities: Tips added via a service charge using cash


Managers can require employees to declare cash tips at the end of a Shift Review. Declaring cash tips must be done in a Shift Review. Make sure you have marked Shift Review as Required in Toast Web under Employees > Shift Review > Shift Review Setup, as shown below.


 Shift review setup page

 

To start, an employee who is required to declare cash tips MUST have the tipped option selected on the job title they are assigned. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. In Toast Web, navigate to Employees > Employee management > Jobs.
  2. Select the box in the Tipped? column and hit Save for the job you are updating.

 

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Configure Declaring Cash Tips During Shift Review

To configure how cash tips are declared during shift review, follow these steps:

 

  1. In Toast Web, navigate to Employees > Shift Review > Advanced shift review setup.
  2. Under the Declare cash tips section and/or setting, select Tipped employees must declare cash tips to ensure servers and bartenders declare their cash tips when completing their Shift Review. 

    • If you need to set a minimum tip percentage to be reported during their shift review, navigate to Front of house > Order screen setup > UI options > Enter the percentage amount.
      • Please note that this percentage is a percentage of cash sales tips only as an employee's credit/non-cash tips are already reported automatically when customers tip on credit cards.

  3. Save and publish your changes.


Note: When the above feature is enabled, this step cannot be bypassed and $0.00 cannot be declared if a minimum percentage is configured.

With the Toast POS, servers will see the minimum dollar amount required to declare cash tips (which is based on the minimum tip percentage that was configured in Toast Web).

In the example below, the alert tells the server that a $72.25 cash payment is the minimum amount that needs to be declared. Notice also that the Declare button is not enabled until the minimum is entered by the server.

 

declare cash tips alert

 

Once the minimum is met, the check mark next to the dollar amount confirms the amount is sufficient and the server can declare their cash tips. They can now select the Declare button.

 

checkmark next to minimum required

 

They will then be taken to the next screen, where they have the option of closing the shift or making any updates.


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Require Collect and/or Tip Out in Shift Review

In the event that an employee did not declare their cash tips during their Shift Review, their cash earnings are not accounted for in Toast and cash reports will therefore be skewed. 

To prevent employees from skipping the step where they declare their cash tips, follow the instructions below.

 

  1. In Toast Web, navigate to Front of house > Order screen setup > UI Options.
  2. Under the Shift Review/Closeout section, for Require Collect and/or Tip Out, select Yes. This ensures that employees cannot skip the Collect Cash and Tip Out step of their Shift Review. 
  3. Save and Publish your changes.

 

See the image below to see this workflow on a device.

 

Checks closed, cash tips reported, reconcile cash and tips


Note: If you're currently using Toast Tips Manager for tip management and distribution, the Shift Review is an important step and will change the tip distribution and report if shifts are left unclosed. To learn more, check out Why don't I see any/all of my tips on the Tips Management report? in Get Help With Toast Tips Manager


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Edit Cash Declared Tips on Closed Shifts  

In some cases, you may need to update the declared cash tips after a shift is closed. The Time Entry Management report lets you easily make declared tips updates.

 

  1. In Toast Web, navigate to Reports > Labor > Time entry management.
  2. Use the report filters to select the date range and location needed.
  3. Locate the time entry and find its Cash tips decl. field.
  4. Edit this field directly on the report and select the checkmark when you're finished. Your changes will be automatically saved.

 

Update Cash tips decl. field in-line on the report


Managers can also edit the cash tips declared for an employee on the POS using the Review Employee Shifts function. For instructions, see this Support Center article: Edit Employee Time Clock Entries.