Handling Auto Gratuities and Multiple Payments

Chapter 1. Introduction

If you treat autograts (auto gratuities) the same as tips, it can be a bit confusing how TouchBistro handles the payment and the distribution of the autograt when a customer uses both cash and one or more credit cards to pay a guest check with an autograt. This document will help you understand how TouchBistro handles the autograt and insures the server and house balance out at the end of the server shift.

Chapter 2. Payment

In this example, a server closes a table with a $90 order and a $10 autograt. The bill comes to $100 in total. The customer splits the bill payment 50/50. The customer pays $50 via Amex and leaves $50 cash on the table. Although you cannot see it, TouchBistro will account for the payment of the autograt proportionally. So, $5 of the $50 Amex payment is earmarked by TouchBistro to pay for the $10 autograt. $5 of the cash is earmarked by TouchBistro to pay for the other half of the $10 autograt. If the customer had paid $75 on Amex and $25 in cash, TouchBistro would have accounted for $7.50 of the autograt on Amex and $2.50 of the autograt as cash.

If this was the only bill for the day, the House would need to account for $90 in sales. The server would need to claim $10 in tips. As it stands, the House currently has $50 in credit card charges. The server currently has $50 cash in her pocket.

Put another way, the House needs $45 of the money in the server’s pocket and the House needs $45 of the $50 charged to Amex. The server needs $5 of the $50 in her pocket and the $5 of the $50 Amex charge in the House’s account.

Chapter 3. The Closed Bill

Looking at the closed bill, we can see how TouchBistro deals with a credit card/cash split payment with an autograt. The $5 in the Total Tips line represents 50% of the autograt paid for by Amex. The $5 in the Change line represents $5 of the $50 the server will need to retain.

Chapter 4. How It Balances Out at the End of the Server’s Shift

The server should not actually pull the cash portion of the autograt before shift’s end. When the server clocks out, TouchBistro will properly credit the server and reduce cash owed to the House by the amount of the autograt charged on a credit cards.

In the example server report, it assumes the only table the server closed during her shift was the table with the autograt.

In Sales Totals, we can see the $90 sale. That is the amount the venue needs to account for.

In Payment and Refund Totals, we can see the $45 of the $50 cash the venue is interested in. We also see the $45 of the Amex payment the venue is interested in. Remember, the server has the $50 cash in her pocket currently. The house wants $45 of that.

In the Credit Card Tips Report, TouchBistro calculates $45 in cash is owed but credits $5 of the autograt distributed to Amex. So the shift report indicates the server needs to pay the house $40. The server has $50. The server gives the house $40 of that. The server has $10 in her pocket at night’s end which equals the $10 autograt owed.