Split the week’s gratuities fairly, in a minute.
Many lodges collect one gratuity from each group and share it among guides, the kitchen, housekeeping and the dock. Enter the pool, give each role its points, add the days each person worked, and print the payout sheet.
Your gratuity split
Defaults are a six-day fishing week. Change anything; the payouts update as you type. The link in your address bar keeps your numbers, so you can bookmark it for next week.
Payouts
| Name or role | Points | Days | Share | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | – | |||
| Left after rounding | – | |||
Points × days, then rounded down
Restaurant tip calculators split by hours in a shift. A lodge week is different: a head guide is on the water six days, the cook works seven, a dock hand joins for four. So the calculator weighs each person by points for the role × days worked.
The formula
- Pool to split = amount collected × (1 − card fee %)
- Each person’s weight = role points × days worked
- Each person’s share = pool to split × their weight ÷ the sum of all weights
Payouts are rounded down to the step you choose (1, 5 or 10), so the envelopes never add up to more than the pool. Whatever is left from rounding is shown on its own line; most lodges add it to next week’s pool.
Choosing points
The defaults (head guide 1.2, guide 1.0, cook 1.0, housekeeping 0.8, dock hand 0.7) are a starting point, not a standard. Agree on the points with your crew before the season, write them in the staff handbook and keep them for the whole season, so nobody argues about the split in August.
Several currencies
If a group tips partly in US dollars and partly in pesos or Canadian dollars, run the calculator once per currency instead of converting. Your staff are paid in the currency the guests left, and nobody has to agree on an exchange rate.
Tips paid directly to a guide
Cash a guest hands straight to their guide usually stays with that guide. Leave it out of the pool unless your crew has agreed otherwise, and say which rule you follow in your pre-arrival letter.
Where the lodge software fits
Malvavisco keeps each booking’s charges and payments, so the gratuity a group pays at checkout is recorded on their bill like any other payment, in the currency they paid. It has eleven staff roles, from guide to kitchen and housekeeping, and reports that keep each currency apart.
It does not run payroll or calculate tip splits for you yet. Use this calculator for the split and Malvavisco for the bookings, the guide and boat schedule, the kitchen and the bill. See how it works for fishing lodges.
Tip pools at lodges
Most lodges that pool gratuities weigh each role with points and multiply by the days each person worked, then divide the pool in proportion. Guides often get slightly more points than kitchen or housekeeping, and the split is agreed with the crew before the season.
It depends on the lodge. Many keep a pool for all staff and let guests tip their own guide directly as well. Whatever you choose, state it in your pre-arrival letter so guests know whether their gratuity is shared.
In the United States, no: the Fair Labor Standards Act bars employers, managers and supervisors from keeping any part of employees’ tips. Other places have their own rules, so check locally.
Enter the card processing percentage in the calculator. US rules allow the employer to pass on a card tip minus the card company’s fee; deduct nothing else.
Only in your browser’s address bar. Nothing is sent to Malvavisco. Bookmark the page after filling it in and the same split opens next time.
