CashoutTools / Tip log template
Free tip log template
A daily record of your tips is the best protection you have at tax time. Pick a format, print it or open it, and fill in a line each shift.
Printable PDF
Five weeks of daily rows on letter paper, landscape. Prints fine in black and white.
Excel workbook
A log sheet with live totals, a monthly summary, and a how-to tab. Works in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets.
CSV
Just the column headers, for any spreadsheet or for importing your own records.
What each column is for
- Date, job and hours: when and where you worked. Hours let you work out your real hourly rate.
- Cash tips and card tips: kept separate, because card tips are already on the employer's books and cash tips usually aren't.
- Tip-out paid: what you gave to the bar, bussers or runners. You aren't taxed on tips you paid out.
- Tips kept: the tips that are yours, which is the number you report.
- Sales: useful if your house tips out on sales or allocates tips at 8% of sales.
- Reported to employer: what you told your employer, so you can match it to your pay stubs and W-2.
Why a daily log matters
The IRS asks tipped employees to keep a daily record of tips received and paid out, and to report tips of $20 or more in a month to their employer by the 10th of the next month. A log made at the time is what backs up the No Tax on Tips deduction, shows that tip-outs weren't your income, and protects you if your employer allocates tips to you. See the server's guide to taxes for the full picture.
Paper works, but it's easy to miss a night. Cashout logs each shift's tips, tip-outs and hours in a few taps and totals them for you.
