Restaurant Revitalization Fund: Before You Apply, Read This

By now, you’re probably well aware that the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 has been passed. The Act created a $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) — which most are viewing as a huge win for the hospitality industry.

Of course, like any piece of legislation, the RRF comes with a lot of fine print. So we partnered with CohnReznick to answer your top questions, clear up misconceptions, and help you prepare.

Not sure if you qualify? Or what you’re entitled to? Or how is this different from the PPP? We cover it all in our Q&A below. Read on!

(Please keep in mind: this does not take the place of legal or accounting advice!)

Restaurant Revitalization Fund:

The highlights

$28.6 billion in funding for restaurant relief signed into law on March 11, 2021
Administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
Eligible entities can receive a tax-free grant of up to $10 million total, with a cap of $5 million per location
The amount of the grant must not exceed the “pandemic-related” revenue loss

We interviewed Stephanie O’Rourk, CPA and partner at CohnReznick, to get the lowdown on the RRF. Stephanie leads the firm’s National Hospitality Emerging Concepts and Operational and Financial Consulting Divisions.

A lot of restaurants are pretty familiar with the PPP at this point. How is the RRF different?

There are some similarities between the PPP and the RRF, especially when it comes to tax treatment and permissible utilization of funds.

But the biggest differential between the two— and this is considered a huge win for the industry — is that while the PPP is distributing loans, the RRF is distributing tax-free grants. That means you have nothing to pay back, you won’t owe any taxes on the amount you receive, and (another bonus), as long as you follow the RRF guidelines, everything you use the grant funds for is tax deductible.

Other things to note with the RRF:

A longer covered period to utilize the funds
No specified percentages as it pertains to how much of the funds need to be utilized for eligible payroll expenses
No complex loan forgiveness process to deal with, which means there’s more flexibility for restaurant operators to utilize the funds in a manner that makes the most business sense for their day-to-day operations and individual situations.

Can you give us a quick rundown of who actually qualifies for a grant?

Restaurants, food stands, food trucks, food carts, caterers, saloon, inns, taverns, bars, lounges, brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms, licensed facilities or premises of a beverage alcohol producer where the public may taste, sample, or purchase products, or other similar places of businesses in which the public or patrons assemble for the primary purpose of being served food or drink; including an entity located in an airport terminal or that is a Tribally-owned business.

Who doesn’t qualify?

If you are a group of affiliated entities with more than 20 locations, you aren’t eligible for this grant. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing business under the same or multiple names.
State and government operated entities
Publicly traded entitites
Any entities with pending or approved grants under the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant

How do you define a group of affiliated entities?

The Act defines an affiliated business as a business in which: “an eligible entity has an equity or right to profit distributions of not less than 50%,” or “an eligible entity has the contractual authority to control the direction of the business.”

How do franchisees fit into this?

Franchisees of chain restaurants are eligible, but the “not more than 20-location” rule still applies for affiliated groups.

Let’s say you own 5 Applebee’s locations, 7 Jimmy John’s locations, and 9 Denny’s locations. The SBA is looking at all of those combined, so you would exceed the 20-location rule and none of your affiliated restaurants would be eligible for the grant.

How do I determine how much I’m entitled to?

The legislation states that the amount of the grant must not exceed the “pandemic-related” revenue loss. For businesses in operation for all of 2019, the pandemic-related revenue loss is calculated by subtracting your 2020 gross receipts from your 2019 gross receipts.

But we’re seeing a lot of misinformation out there, largely because of the PPP. The new legislation also states that the pandemic-related revenue loss amount you’re entitled to will be reduced by any PPP loans that you received (both 1st and 2nd draw amounts) — until further guidance is released by the SBA operators should assume the total amount received regardless of whether you have repaid a portion or all of your loan. As an example:

Let’s say you did the math and determined that your pandemic-related revenue loss was $30 million.
At some point, you received a PPP loan for $10 million.
And as of December 27, 2020, you’ve returned $5 million of that PPP loan.

The SBA is saying your pandemic-related revenue loss is going to be $20 million — not $30 million, and not $25 million, making you eligible for a potential $10 million for an affiliated restaurant group, and $5 million if you operate one physical location.

We could receive more specific guidance around this in the coming weeks. But for now, the Bill states the total amount of PPP loans received must be subtracted.

With that in mind, how should restaurants be handling their PPP loans?

Restaurants have until March 31, 2021, to draw or re-apply for the PPP. Businesses that were previously approved for a PPP loan but decided to return a portion or the full amount of their PPP loan proceeds should consider whether to re-apply for their originally approved maximum loan amount.

What if a restaurant opened in mid-2019, or at some point in 2020? How do they calculate their loss?

For entities not open for the entirety of 2019, average monthly receipts multiplied by 12 may be used for both 2019 and 2020.
If the entity opened during the period beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, and ending on the day before the date of enactment, the grant is calculated by taking the entity’s eligible payroll costs incurred by the entity and subtracting any gross receipts received.
For an entity that is not yet open at the date of application, the grant is the amount of eligible payroll costs incurred

It’s worth noting that SBA reserves the right to implement an alternate formula for any of the above-mentioned scenarios.

What can I use the grant for?

It’s pretty well defined and very similar to the PPP. Payroll costs, principle and interest payments on mortgage obligations, rent, utilities, maintenance expenses (including construction to accommodate outdoor seating as well as walls, floors , deck surfaces and FF&E), supplies (including PPE and cleaning supplies), normal food and beverage inventory expenses, paid sick leave and any other expenses the SBA determines to be essential to maintaining an eligible entity..

You cannot use the funds for business expansion purposes as this is not deemed a permissible usage of the funds. And you’ll need to be prepared to make the same good faith certification that PPP borrowers made — i.e., current economic conditions makes necessary the grant request to support the ongoing operations of the eligible entity.

Transparency is key. We expect the SBA will reserve the right to audit businesses to ensure the grant was properly used, so excellent record keeping is important.

If a recipient of the grant does not use all grant funds or permanently ceases operations on or before the last day of the Covered Period (defined as beginning Feb. 12, 2020, and ending Dec. 31, 2021, or an alternative date to be determined by the SBA that is not later than two years after the date of enactment) any remaining funds must be returned to the Treasury.

What’s the timeline like, and who gets priority? (Translation: When will I see the money?)

The SBA has 60 days from the date of enactment to formulate the rules and regulations of the program, and then applications open up.

When that happens, you’ve probably heard that the first $5 billion has been earmarked for businesses with not more than $500,000 of 2019 gross receipts. Further, for the first 21 days, all grants will be prioritized for small businesses owned and controlled by women, veterans, or other socially and economically disadvantaged groups.

Beyond that, one can not automatically assume it will be based on a first come first served basis; it’s possible that the SBA could issue additional guidance. If the current PPP round is any indication, there’s going to be a heavy focus on helping out Main Street America — those operators who really don’t have access to capital or other financial resources. Average PPP loan sizes in this last go around are hovering under $70,000, so it will be interesting to see if they prioritize the smaller grants here too, before getting to those larger ones.

So, it seems like restaurants are in a holding pattern. Is there anything they can do to prepare while they wait for applications to open up?

It’s definitely a good idea to have everything locked and loaded. There are a few things you might consider doing:

Gather the right financial information. For example, financial statements and tax returns for 2019 and/or 2020. If you’re a smaller operator and you don’t have sophisticated recordkeeping, you may be able to show documentation like bank statements and deposits, which were allowed on the second draw PPP loans.
Get a DUNS number. The Shuttered Venues Operator program required applicants to have an active registration in the U.S. government’s System for Award Management (SAM). To do that, you’ll need a DUNS number. You can learn more about the process here: [link]

What’s the general consensus about the RRF? Do we think it will truly move the needle in terms of recovery for the industry?

This is a long-awaited program and has been requested by many groups that advocate for the industry, including the National Restaurant Association, the Independent Restaurant Coalition, and various State Restaurant Associations.

Again, the fact that it’s a grant, not a loan, is a tremendous win — and being that the grant is not deemed to be taxable income to the recipients and permissible expenses are tax deductible makes this program that much sweeter for the industry.

Do I think it’s going to go fast? Yes, I do. While $28.6 billion appears to be a lot of money, there are numerous businesses that continue to be in economic distress and are hungry for a program such as this one. Hopefully this fund will give these businesses the support they need to make it through the next 6, 9, 12 months — until our country gets back to some semblance of a new normal.

About CohnReznick

As a leading advisory, assurance, and tax firm, CohnReznick helps forward-thinking organizations achieve their vision by optimizing performance, maximizing value, and managing risk. Clients benefit from the right team with the right capabilities; proven processes customized to their individual needs; and leaders with vital industry knowledge and relationships.

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Kickfin Named to Deloitte Technology Fast 500 List for Second Consecutive Year

Kickfin is proud to announce that we have once again been named to the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies in North America, now in its 31st year.

Kickfin is the only company on the list purpose-built for restaurants and bars to automate tip management — marking another major milestone for our team, our partners and the thousands of restaurant operators who trust us to modernize their tip-pooling and payout workflows.

Why it matters

When it comes to tipping out employees, cash is no longer king — and needs are changing fast. Hospitality workers demand (and deserve!) faster, cashless payouts; burned-out managers need more hours in their day; and now more than ever, operators care about visibility, compliance, and employee satisfaction.

Kickfin delivers on all of those fronts by:

Freeing managers up from bank runs and the back office, so they can focus on everything that can’t be automated.
Ensuring employees walk out the door with their earnings already in their existing bank account, no waiting, no detours.
Helping operators stay compliant, track everything, and uncover new efficiencies.

What sets Kickfin apart

There’s a reason Kickfin is the best-in-class tip management solution.

Broader POS integrations: We’ve expanded our direct integrations with leading POS brands, including Toast, Square, SkyTab, Genius POS, Union, and more — so managers can pool and pay out tips in a matter of clicks.
Enhanced tip-pool logic and flexibility: Our platform automates even the complex tip pool policies, with more tip pooling and automated reconciliation features than any other solution, while keeping the end-user experience simple and intuitive.
Instant, cashless payouts: With fewer cash drawer runs and real time bank deposits, teams experience faster shift-close, fewer errors and improved satisfaction.
Built-in compliance and reporting: As tip-pooling regulations continue to evolve, Kickfin empowers customers with robust features like digital paper trails and payroll integrations to ensure accuracy and compliance from end to end.
Customer success focus: Our fully U.S.-based Customer Success team is partners with customers to make onboarding fast and easy, no matter how tricky your tip policy may be, so you get ROI right away.

A big thank you

We’re honored to be recognized by Deloitte, and even more excited about what comes next. For restaurant operators, managers and employees alike, the future of tip management is here, and we’re thrilled to be your partner.

Ready to see what automated tip pooling and instant payouts look like in action? Book a demo today!

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New Kickfin Feature Alert: Blended Payouts Are Here!

Brand new feature, coming in hot!

As part of our latest product release, Kickfin now offers Blended Payouts for even easier, fully automated tip management and reconciliation.

Why Blended Payouts Matter

Now more than ever, restaurant guests use credit cards or digital payment methods instead of cash. For many operators, that means there isn’t enough cash on hand at the end of a shift to pay out tips. But employees still want to receive their payouts immediately after clock-out.

As our customers know, Kickfin solves for those cash shortages by automating and digitizing the payout process — giving you the power to send instant, cashless payouts directly to your employees’ bank of choice, 24/7/365.

The result: minimal cash handling and risk, better accuracy and tracking — and of course, fewer bank runs.

However, digitizing payouts often results in some leftover cash in the drawer. Over time, we’ve heard from customers who prefer to use up that cash to pay out tips, then distribute the remaining tip amounts via Kickfin.

With Blended Payouts, you can do just that — and still account for every penny paid out, quickly and accurately, within the Kickfin platform.

How Blended Payouts Work

As always, all Kickfin customers can still choose to split individual payment amounts between instant payouts and payroll. Once you enable the new Cash Payouts feature, you will now be able to account for any cash tip payments that were also distributed.

Note: This feature lives within Kickfin’s Tip Calculator, which means you must have an active POS integration to use it.

Once it’s enabled, you’ll see the new “Cash Payouts” button on the Payment Review screen.
After clicking the button, users will be able to enter the individual cash amounts that were distributed to employees.
Back on the Review screen, you’ll see instant payout, payroll, and cash payment amounts for each employee. All three payment methods will have their own line items and be accounted for under your Payment Details.

Watch here for a full walkthrough of the new feature.

Ready to enable Blended Payouts?

If you’re a current customer, in touch with our Customer Success team at support@kickfin.com to activate this new feature.

(Not a customer yet? Click here to see Kickfin in action and learn how you can automate tip pooling and payouts!)

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Kickfin Partners with Union POS to Automate Tip Distribution for High-Volume Bars and Restaurants

Kickfin is excited to share the latest addition to our integration marketplace. Read on for all the details around our partnership with Union POS. (If you’re a current Union POS customer and you’d like to learn more about how Kickfin automates tip pooling and payouts, schedule a live demo here.)

AUSTIN, Texas (August 13, 2025)—Kickfin, the leading tip management software, today announced the launch of its integration with Union, the purpose-built POS and engagement platform powering the nation’s busiest bars, nightclubs and restaurants.

Thousands of operators use Kickfin to eliminate tedious tip calculations and remove cash from the tip distribution process so managers can move faster, track everything, and ensure accuracy and compliance.

By activating the Kickfin-Union integration, we eliminated clunky spreadsheet formulas and fully automated our tip pooling process. After going live, we reduced our time to close out by an average of 30 minutes after every shift.

The Kickfin-Union integration gives Union’s customers the power to auto-calculate tip pools in a matter of clicks and send payouts directly to employees’ bank of choice—no cash or pay cards required.

“By integrating with Kickfin, we’re giving operators the power to choose best-in-class tools that work seamlessly with their Union POS and data,” said Alex Broeker, the CEO and founder of Union. “This direct integration brings automated tip management to our operators while unlocking new opportunities for operational efficiency, employee satisfaction and simplified compliance.”

KPG Hospitality, which operates experiential bars and unique concepts throughout Texas and Tennessee, was among the first operators to activate the Kickfin-Union POS integration.

“Our venues run at a very fast pace. When you consider the time it takes managers to manually calculate tip amounts every day, after every shift, across every location, it’s a lot of unnecessary admin hours,” said Troy Cramer, the managing partner at KPG. “By activating the Kickfin-Union integration, we eliminated clunky spreadsheet formulas and fully automated our tip pooling process. After going live, we reduced our time to close out by an average of 30 minutes after every shift.”Key Features of the Union + Kickfin Integration:

Automated Tip Pool Calculations: Calculate complex tip pools in seconds, saving managers hours of administrative work while ensuring accuracy and transparency.
Instant Cashless Payouts: Pay out tips directly to employees’ bank of choice instantly, eliminating the need for cash handling and bank runs.
Simplified Compliance: Maintain a digital record of every payout, making tip reporting and tax compliance straightforward.
Enhanced Tracking: Easily track tips by pay period with comprehensive reporting capabilities.
Streamlined Operations: Implement complex tip policies with just a few clicks through an extremely easy-to-use interface.

“Our integration with Union, a leading POS system built specifically to support the busiest venues in the industry, makes perfect sense,” said Kickfin co-CEO Brian Hassan. “Together, we’re creating a solution that saves time, reduces errors, and delivers a better experience for both operators and their staff.”

Available immediately through both Union and Kickfin, venues can integrate their systems and begin leveraging these capabilities today. To learn how this partnership can transform your tip management operations, schedule a demo at GetUnion.com or kickfin.com/demo.

About Union
Union powers a first-of-its-kind venue operating system purpose-built for the nation’s busiest bars and restaurants. More than a point-of-sale, Union connects 1,500+ establishments with 5M+ consumers and leading brands through real-time consumption data. The platform drives operational efficiency, enables frictionless mobile ordering, and facilitates brand-patron interactions that enhance venue loyalty. With $2B+ in annual transactions, Union creates a virtuous cycle where venues improve customer experiences, brands gain direct consumer engagement, and patrons enjoy personalized rewarding hospitality—transforming high-volume operations into next-gen guest experiences. To learn more about Union, visit http://www.getunion.com

About Kickfin
Kickfin is a leading digital tip management platform that automates tip pool calculations and delivers cashless tip payments directly to employees’ bank accounts. Designed to eliminate the administrative burden of tip management, Kickfin helps restaurants, bars, and hospitality venues save time, reduce errors, and improve employee satisfaction. With features like instant payments, digital record-keeping, and simplified compliance, Kickfin is transforming the way venues handle tip distribution in today’s increasingly cashless economy.

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Kickfin vs. TipHaus: Which Tip Management Software is Best for You?

If you’re in the market for tip management software, you might find yourself comparing Kickfin and TipHaus.

Kickfin is the largest provider of instant tip payouts on the market and has processed more than $2 billion in employee payments for all kinds of restaurants, from “mom-and-pops” to national franchises — and everything in between.

Kickfin and TipHaus are both designed to digitize tip distribution for restaurants. However, there are some significant differences between the two platforms that you’ll want to consider before making a decision.

Kickfin and TipHaus: Compare at a Glance

Why Do Operators Choose Kickfin Over TipHaus?

Kickfin Offers Better Pricing

Kickfin’s direct-to-bank transaction fees are more competitive than the transaction fees TipHaus quotes their customers.

This is primarily due to the fact that Kickfin is the largest provider of instant payouts in the country (validated by Visa and MasterCard data), with more than $2 billion in employee payments and multiple payment processor relationships.

Employees Prefer Kickfin

Kickfin was built to make life easier not just for operators, but also for their employees.

No app downloads: Kickfin only requires a one-time, 30-second enrollment for employees. (No app downloads or extra phone storage needed!) Payment history and reporting data can be viewed as needed simply by logging into their browser.
No paycards required: Kickfin also doesn’t require pay cards, while TipHaus offers “HausMoney” as a primary payout option for employees. HausMoney is essentially a pay card that employees’ tips are loaded onto. Funds aren’t available to use until the following day. HausMoney may be free for operators, but many employees don’t want to be forced to use a pay card due to the hassles of transferring funds to their own bank accounts, as well as the transaction fees and wait times they may incur. They’d prefer their earnings streamed to their accounts instantly, after every shift—which is how most Kickfin customers choose to pay out their employees.

Zero Prefunding* With Instant Payouts

With Kickfin, customers can send instant, direct-to-bank payouts with zero prefunding required.* While TipHaus does offer zero prefund, employee payouts must be sent to a TipHaus paycard (HausMoney). In other words, if you want to use a zero prefund option with TipHaus, you won’t be able to offer instant, direct-to-bank payouts to your employees.

Option to Manually Input Tip Data

With TipHaus, a POS integration is required, and all tip payment data is generated by the software’s tip calculator.

Kickfin was designed for ultimate flexibility. While many customers use Kickfin’s POS integration to auto-calculate tip amounts, some restaurants don’t need automated tip calculations and prefer to use Kickfin unintegrated. That isn’t an option with TipHaus.

Additionally, some Kickfin customers use Kickfin to auto-calculate tip pools, then manually upload other tip data on an as-needed basis. This comes in handy when you need to pay out “extra” staff, like entertainers, security guards, etc.

Easy, Accurate Distribution of Auto-Gratuities and Service Charges

Kickfin tracks Tips and Auto-gratuities separately. As a result, you can report those types of payments to payroll separately and handle them independently for tax purposes.

Why does that matter? In light of the 2025 “No Tax on Tips” legislation, tipped employees no longer have to pay federal income tax on the first $25,000 in tips earned each year. However, they do need to pay taxes on earnings from services fees, autogratuities and other compulsory charges that are not considered tips by the IRS.

(If 100% of your service charges does not go to your employees, Kickfin allows the “house account” to retain a portion of service charges, while the rest is distributed to your team.)

Enhanced Tip Calculation Functionality and Features

Kickfin’s Tip Calculator was designed to be both highly robust—so it can handle the most complex tip pooling policies—while also being incredibly simple and intuitive to use.

A few unique things about Kickfin’s Tip Calculator:

No data sync delays: Tip calculations are immediate and on-demand. With Tiphaus, a data sync process is required which can add extra time to your tip calculation process.
Built-in flexibility: Kickfin releases new Tip Calculator features on a regular basis based on feedback we regularly source from customers. For example, Kickfin now offers check splitting for both individual checks and groups of checks, making it easier to handle large parties and events.
Ease of use: Customers regularly shout out our sleek, high-quality user interface compared to other platforms. Notably, we’ve made it easy for managers to review all details before hitting “submit,” ensuring the accuracy of every payout.

Cash Tip Tracking and Payouts

Many operators choose Kickfin because they don’t have enough cash on hand to pay out credit card tips, and they want to reduce the amount of cash handling in their restaurant altogether.

However, we know cash will probably always be (a small) part of the equation. Kickfin makes it easy for you to handle that with some added functionality:

Tips left in cash: If a diner leaves a pile of cash at your table, it might not get recorded in your POS. However, Kickfin allows you to record it and distribute it through our platform.

Cash payouts: Many operators may want to distribute all of the cash left in their register at the end of a business day to avoid bank runs. Again, that’s easy to do with Kickfin.

Multiple Payment Processors for Guaranteed Deliverability

For many employees, especially those living paycheck to paycheck, it’s critical that they receive their tip earnings and that they’re instantly accessible/ready to use.

TipHaus uses only a single processor. Kickfin uses multiple payment processors to ensure deliverability of payouts should a processor experience a disruption or become insolvent.

Direct POS Integrations

All of Kickfin’s POS integrations are direct API integrations, while TipHaus has been known to utilize third-party software to integrate with some POS systems. The problem with third-party software is that it can be susceptible to more connectivity issues, creating problems with data reliability.

Top-Ranked Customer Support

Kickfin has an award-winning Customer Success team that is exclusively focused on helping our operators get the most value possible out of Kickfin.

Every member of our team is based in the U.S. We provide free, personalized training and onboarding for your whole team, and when questions or issues arise, we can be reached by phone, email, text or chat. We also have a robust library of support documentation and videos that provide step-by-step guidance for every aspect of the platform.

Credibility and Recognition

At the end of the day, Kickfin’s large and fast-growing customer base speaks for itself, as do their rave reviews of the platform.

For multiple years, Kickfin has been the only tip management software that is recognized on both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 lists. Kickfin has received recognition from peer software review sites like G2 and Capterra for consistently high customer rankings and reviews.

*Zero prefund is available to select customers after a credit review to confirm their fit with the zero prefund program.

Ready to take the next step?

See why thousands of restaurant pros use Kickfin to auto-calculate tip pools and pay out tips in real time, no cash or math required! Get a demo today.