# Tipping

Tipping is configured under **Settings → Payments**. It applies to card payments taken on a reader — customers choose a tip on the reader's own screen.

## Turning it on

1. Go to **Settings → Payments**.
2. Turn on **Enable tipping on card readers**.
3. Set your **tip presets** — three percentages, comma-separated.
4. Save.

## You must set exactly three presets

This is a hard requirement of the card reader, not a ForkLine preference. **Set exactly three percentages** — for example `15,18,20`.

**If you set a different number, the reader may simply not ask for a tip at all** — with no error message anywhere. If tipping seems switched on but customers are never prompted, count your presets first.

## Choosing percentages

Common sets are `15,18,20` for full service and `10,15,20` for counter service.

Two things worth knowing:

- **The first option anchors everything.** Most people pick the first or middle option. Setting the lowest at 20% reads as pushy in a counter-service setting and can generate complaints.
- **Percentages are calculated on the order total.** On very small tickets, a percentage tip is pennies — some counter shops prefer no tipping at all rather than prompting for 30¢.

Customers can always enter a custom amount or skip.

## One set of percentages, everywhere

**The same three presets apply to counter and dine-in.** The reader holds a single configuration, so it isn't possible to show different percentages per flow.

You can still turn tipping **on or off independently** for counter and dine-in — that part is per flow. It's only the percentages that are shared.

## Where the tip prompt appears

On the counter flow, the tip is the **first** thing the reader asks — before the receipt and rewards prompts. That ordering is deliberate: asking someone about receipts and loyalty before asking for money is the wrong way round.

The full counter sequence is tip → receipt → rewards. See [Using the Register](/register-pos).

## Auto-gratuity (dine-in)

For table service you can add a gratuity automatically to large parties:

1. Go to **Settings → Payments**.
2. Set **auto-gratuity party size** — the number of guests at which it applies.
3. Set **auto-gratuity percent**.

Six or eight guests at 18% or 20% is typical.

**Tell guests before they order.** Print it on the menu. An unexpected service charge on the bill is one of the most reliable ways to generate a complaint and a dispute — see [Refunds & Cancellations](/refunds).

## Tips and fees

Card processing applies to the **total charged, including the tip** — the card networks charge on the full amount. A $30 order with a $5 tip is processed as $35.

Tips arrive in your Stripe payouts along with everything else. Distributing them to staff is up to you and your local law. See [Payouts & Timelines](/payouts).

## Cash tips

ForkLine doesn't track cash tips. A cash tip goes straight in the jar and never touches the system.

## Troubleshooting

**The reader never asks for a tip.**

1. **Count your presets — you need exactly three.** This is the most common cause.
2. Confirm tipping is on for the flow you're testing (counter and dine-in are separate switches).
3. Confirm the reader is connected — see [Using the Register](/register-pos).

**Tips aren't in my payout.** They are — a tip isn't paid separately, it's part of the charge. See [Payouts & Timelines](/payouts).

## Where to go next

- [Using the Register](/register-pos) — the reader prompt sequence
- [Tables & Dine-In](/tables-and-dine-in) — auto-gratuity in context
- [Processing Fees Explained](/processing-fees)
- [Payouts & Timelines](/payouts)