About the restaurant group
Riot Hospitality Group is a national, premier hospitality management company known for managing and co-creating unique concept brands.
Location
11 locations in Arizona, Tennessee, and Illinois. In 2021, RHG will be adding a 12th location in Colorado.
Restaurant type
Bar/nightlife
Service type
Full service
“Cash every night: That’s how we always did it. With Kickfin, there’s time savings, there’s more visibility, and our people are all about it. Kickfin is the better option.”
Taylor Bell
Chief People Officer, Riot Hospitality
Meet Taylor.
As Riot Hospitality’s Chief People Officer, Taylor’s job is — well, all about people.
Taylor is a human resources professional and employment attorney with a lot of experience under his belt. He takes an informed and intentional approach to people ops at Riot Hospitality, one of the fastest-growing hospitality companies in the U.S.
Taylor knows that tipping out employees has always been a headache across the entire restaurant industry, and for Riot Hospitality’s locations, it was no different.
“Cash every night. That’s how most places do it, and that’s how we always did it,” Taylor said.
Like many operators, Taylor’s team settled for the status quo, despite the headaches that cash presented. Until, of course, he found out about Kickfin.
Letting employees make the call
Taylor immediately saw the benefits Kickfin would deliver.
“There were a lot of issues with cash, and Kickfin was much more attractive. Our staff wouldn’t be leaving the venue with tons of money in their pockets — a huge liability — and we knew it would make payroll easier because we wouldn’t have to manually track the tips each person receives every day.”
But like any great Chief People Officer, Taylor wanted to know how the employees felt about it.
“Before we decided to go with Kickfin, we asked our team for their thoughts. They were immediately excited about Kickfin because it was clear it would save them a ton of time,” Taylor said.
Taylor said some employees were hesitant at first. But it didn’t take them long to get on board. They appreciated the perks of having money in their bank accounts instantly, versus in their pockets, where it was a liability — and far too easy to spend.
The biggest Kickfin advantages, according to Taylor:
- Cashless payouts: “Hardly anyone takes cash anywhere these days. Kickfin saves managers and employees a trip to the bank.”
Better tracking: “It’s so much easier for employees to see what they’ve gotten paid out, and it’s better for our reporting and payroll.” - Time savings: “The cost of Kickfin is offset by the time-savings of our staff — easily.”
- Support: “Any time we’ve had a question, it gets addressed in a matter of hours.”
“As things are ramping up post-Covid, it’s a relief not to worry about how much cash we’ve got on site. If another group were considering Kickfin, I’d tell them to go for it.”
Taylor Bell
Chief People Officer, Riot Hospitality
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- Product and Company News, Technology and Software
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.
- Industry Trends, Restaurant Management
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.
- Industry Trends, Restaurant Management
We’ve been talking about “No Tax on Tips” for months, and now it’s a reality. But what exactly does that mean for restaurant operators and their tipped employees?
Signed into law on July 4, 2025, as part of the broader “One Big Beautiful Bill” tax package, the new policy eliminates federal income tax on tipped earnings (up to a cap…along with some other caveats…) for qualifying workers.
While No Tax on Tips garnered widespread support from hospitality employees and employers alike, there’s still a lot of confusion about how it works, who qualifies, and what it means for your restaurant team.
Our FAQ breaks it all down: the fine print, the benefits, the limits—and how you can make sure your team is positioned to take full advantage.
What does “No Tax on Tips” actually mean for my team?
The No Tax on Tips Act has created a new federal income tax deduction — up to $25,000 of “qualified tips” per year for employees in traditionally tipped occupations.
- Tipped employees can deduct up to $25,000 in tips from their federal taxable income. (For added context, based on Kickfin customer data, the average tipped employee earns $125 per shift and works 15 shifts per month. That totals $22,500 in annual tip earnings.)
- The deduction starts to phase out at $150,000 in annual income.
- The deduction is currently restricted to those who earn $160,000 or less in 2025, but that’s expected to change in coming years to account for inflation.
- These earnings are assessed based on employees’ income as of December 31, 2024.
Two other important items to note:
- Deduction, not exclusion: This is a deduction, not an exclusion. That means all tips still need to be reported; the deduction will be claimed when your employees file their taxes. The deduction is on top of the standard deduction ($16,000 for individuals, $32,000 for married couples filing jointly).
- Other taxes still apply: This bill is all about federal income taxes, so Social Security and Medicare taxes still apply. Also, keep in mind that this is a federal tax deduction. States will individually decide whether or not to align with the change.
Which types of tips are eligible?
The bill applies to cash tips—but it’s technically a little broader than that. According to the Senate Finance Committee, “cash tips” includes:
- Physical cash tips
- Credit card tips
- Tips shared through pooled or tip-sharing arrangements
Other types of charges and fees that restaurant customers pay are not eligible for the dedication.
- Mandatory service charges
- Surcharges
- Automatic gratuities
Essentially, any earnings from compulsory charges are not considered tips. Even if a restaurant passes those funds on to employees, they’re not eligible for the deduction. Do employees have to report their tips to get the deduction?
Short answer: Yes. And aside from being legally required to fully report their tip earnings, it actually behooves them to do so.
It’s no secret that many tipped employees don’t fully report their tip earnings. There are a variety of reasons for this: general confusion about tip reporting, poor tracking, and of course, a desire to avoid taxes.
Credit card tips are automatically tracked in most POS systems, so those are typically accounted for. Cash tips, on the other hand, are often underreported.
Again, because this new bill is a deduction, not an exclusion, employees must report their tip earnings to qualify.
Not only will this (legally) allow employees to reduce their tax burden; reporting their full income can really come in handy with things like loan applications, unemployment benefits, and Social Security earnings.
Is this all good news for employees?
Again, for the most part in the hospitality and service industry, there’s a lot of support for this legislation.
It will put money back in the pockets of many tipped employees—which can make a meaningful difference, especially for those who live paycheck to paycheck.
But some in the industry have voiced concerns:
- Lowest-earning tipped workers won’t see much benefit. Many of the lowest-earning tipped workers wouldn’t benefit much, or at all.because they’re not paying a significant amount in federal taxes to begin with.
- Some workers excluded: Not all hospitality employees are tipped employees – if you’re not operating a tip pool for example, a lot of your BOH employees aren’t going to see any benefit here.
- Service/surcharges/auto-gratuity: Compulsory charges are not considered tips, so even if all of those funds are going to the employees, they will still be taxed. Again, that means BOH workers who aren’t tipped but who benefit from service charges won’t get a tax break.
What do restaurant operators need to do?
While there’s no major compliance burden on employers (yet), the smartest operators are thinking ahead—especially when it comes to digitizing tip management.
Here’s why that matters:
- Accurate reporting: Employees need clear, auditable records to claim the deduction
- Transparency: With platforms like Kickfin, employees can log in to view their full payment history—no guesswork required
- Tip pooling: If you want your BOH team to benefit, you’ll need to operate a formal, compliant tip pool.
- Efficiency: Automating tip pools (and ensuring accuracy), managing payouts, and syncing with payroll is easier than ever.
Is it time to hit the reset button?
If you’re already using a digital tip management platform like Kickfin, you’re a step ahead—your team will be well positioned to take full advantage if and when the law goes into effect.
If not: This new policy is a great reason to refresh your tip management approach, including digitizing your distribution process, re-evaluating your tip pool policy, and improving payment tracking for your team. And good news—Kickfin can help with all of that. Let’s talk.
- Restaurant Management
Have you ever wondered how your employees really feel about your tip pool?
While you can (and should!) source feedback from your own team, Reddit is always a great place to get brutally honest opinions on…well, just about anything.
So we did some digging in a few lively Subreddits (r/TalesFromYourServer and r/KitchenConfidential, among others) to understand how real workers feel about their own restaurant’s tip pooling policy.
Of course, no two tip policies are alike, but these Reddit tales may offer some helpful useful insights as you evaluate your own tip policy — and help you avoid common pitfalls.
Tip Pooling Tales from Reddit
Not surprisingly, there are strong feelings about tip pooling from servers and other restaurant employees on Reddit. The conversations often centered around these high-level themes:
- Does tip pooling really foster teamwork?
- Do top performers take the biggest hit?
- Can tip pooling help with income consistency?
- Is it fair to include back-of-house?
Read on for a deeper dive!
1. Tip pooling and teamwork
Many Redditors noted that tip pooling can help to create a collaborative, team-first culture where everyone wins.
Of course, that comes with some caveats from the Reddit crowd:
“I own a fine dining restaurant with tip pooling. … servers help each other out and care what’s going on in others sections … the servers REALLY care about training their coworkers right.”
“It’s the best system in the world if you work with a team where everybody is competent and pulls their weight.”
“We do tip pool… Less drama, more teamwork… efficient when you work with people that are hardworking and pull their own weight.”
“It forces a stronger team mentality…No system is perfect and the strongest servers definitely take a hit most days, but it’s the positive environment that makes up for it usually.”
“I think it helps encourage the senior staff to invest in the newbies. Obviously, if the newbies efforts or attitude aren’t cutting it, time to go.”
The takeaway: If you have the right people, then your tip pool becomes a motivator for your employees to have each other’s backs, to participate in training the newbies, and to be accountable to each other. As the last Redditor here noted, it also means you have to be willing to weed out your weakest links.
2. Does tip pooling penalize top performers?
On the flipside, some commenters highlight how employees — particularly top performers — feel the system redistributes their hard-earned earnings to less productive coworkers, which can erode motivation to upsell, promptly turn tables, or cultivate regulars.
“You lose the need to hustle…tip‑pools have taken away my ability to control how much money I walk with … which made me less willing to hustle.”
“‘Lazy people…hold up the tables so they work less than others but make the same money.’”
“I was pulling $400‑$600 by myself and then … only saw $150‑200 of it which really sucks.”
“Personally not a fan of tip pooling. I typically have the highest tip percentage and I’d rather keep that for me.”
The takeaway: When the link between effort and reward is weakened, the drive to earn more through performance can dwindle. Again, as always, the goal is to have a team of top performers across the board — but in reality, you’ll always have a range of talent.
If you’re using a tip management system like Kickfin, you can track your employees’ tip payouts over time and see how payouts actually stack up across your team. You can always tweak your tip pooling policy to ensure your performers are getting rewarded for their extra-hard work. Or consider offering shift-based performance bonuses outside of the pool, based on things like guest feedback or upselling performance. This keeps the pool intact but allows standout employees to earn more.
3. The case for income consistency
When tips make up the majority of your take-home pay — as is the case for many restaurant workers — you may not know what to expect from one shift to the next. That can make managing finances hard, especially for workers who are living paycheck to paycheck.
Tipping is supposed to reward high quality service, so theoretically, tipped employees wield a fair amount of control over what they earn. And tip-pool detractors argue that tip pooling takes away that control.
But in reality, it’s not so black and white. For example, some sections are busier than others; the employee working the patio on a warm summer evening might be set up to earn more than the server working the back corner next to the restroom. The bartender working the night shift is going to earn more than his coworker who’s there for lunch.
And unfortunately, research shows that customer bias and discrimination can impact tip earnings.
As some Redditors pointed out, tip pooling can help reduce this income variability.
“Pooling tips offsets any issues with tables that don’t leave a tip…Overall, this system has increased the quality of service…”
The income might decrease a little bit on busier days but it does usually increase on slower days. And the income is more consistent.”
The takeaway: Of course, it’s not fair to always work the busiest section of the bar, only to split tips evenly with bartenders who work in a much more laid-back section. If you’re pooling tips to help with income variability, it’s wise to find additional ways to control for other variables. For example:
- Strategically rotate busy and slow sections among your different servers.
- When scheduling, make sure the same people aren’t always opening and closing — and as much as possible, rotate your employees through high- and low-volume shifts.
- Offer easy section or shift trades for employees.
4. Should Back-of-House Be Included in Tip Pools?
In addition to the general pooling benefits (collaboration, culture) — there are some valid reasons to include BOH in your tip pool:
- Guest experience: When tipping, guests take into consideration things like quality of food and speed of service — which BOH staff heavily contribute to.
- Guest expectations: Guests may assume that their tips are getting distributed to everyone — not just servers. (And taking it a step further: clearly communicating that to your guests could generate higher tip volumes.)
- Retention: With rising labor shortages, offering tip sharing can help attract and retain skilled BOH workers who might otherwise leave for better-paying jobs.
(Keep in mind: There are some legal restrictions when it comes to including BOH in your pool — e.g., if you’re taking the tip credit, you generally can’t include BOH. Find more details on tip pooling laws and compliance here.)
So what do real-life servers say about including BOH?
“Many places in new orleans had made the switch after quarantine. It’s a God send to the back of house, for most cooks it can be life changing. The FOH is a revolving door now though, why split tips with the kitchen when you can make 600 a night at the bar down the street.”
“I am not upset, I’m getting paid decent and I know how hard it is to smile and be nice all the time and interact with the dreaded public. They are welcome to the extra money and the headache.”
The takeaway: First and foremost, ensure you can legally include back-of-house workers in your tip pool. If you feel it’s right for your restaurant, a few ways to make it work well for everyone:
- Get buy-in from FOH and BOH: Clearly communicate how and why the structure works. Share real numbers and example breakdowns, and emphasize shared success — tips reflect everyone’s effort (not just what happens tableside).
- Start small: If FOH is resistant, make the tip-out percentage minimal and see how it goes before increasing
- Use a weighted distribution model: To fairly divide the tip pool, assign different weights or percentages to each role based on their contribution.
📝 Final Thoughts
Reddit feedback makes it clear…that there’s a lot of gray area when it comes to employee perspectives on tip pooling.
Ultimately, restaurant workers seem to agree that well-executed, shift-based pools under strong management can foster unity and a dependable livelihood.
But in mixed teams or mismanaged setups, performers lose motivation, and the culture quickly deteriorates — which ultimately affects morale and retention. And unfortunately, all of that can spill over into the guest experience.
If you’re pooling tips, one of the most important things you should do (aside from ensuring your tip pool is compliant!) is track everything. Having a digital paper trail not only ensures accuracy and prevents tip disputes — but it also gives you the hard data you need to truly evaluate your tip policy.
Has Reddit swayed your opinion on tip pools? Or made you rethink your current tip policy? With Kickfin’s tip pooling software, you can easily customize and automate your tip pooling policy — then track every payment, all in one place. Schedule a demo today!
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