Gratuity based on pre-discounted total

[cpoldoian]

Hey all:

We are a bar that utilizes Square for our transactions. We have various percentage-based discounts (happy hour, industry, etc); however, we would like to list the gratuity choices as a percentage of the pre-discounted amount. For example, if the original bill is $100 and a 50% happy hour discount is applied: Square currently lists the 20% option as $10 (20% of 50) instead of $20. Does anyone know if it's possible to modify these final gratuity values to reflect the prediscounted total? Thank you!

[#2]

Hi there. 

Unfortunately both smart tips and tip percentages are calculated based on the total sale amount that you'll be charging your customer, not the price of the items or services rendered. 

I'll gladly pass this feedback over to our Product Team, and if we decide to make a change around this we'll be sure to announce it. 

There might be a work-around that one of your fellow Square Sellers currently use, so hopefully they can chime in and help out. 

[Helen]

@DosLuces This is currently a feauture request. I'm merging your post in to this thread so the Payments team can track this and see how important this is to you.

[lmtmarissa]

I’m looking back at this thread and seeing that this concern has been going on for quite some time without being addressed. I am definitely losing money because of this. How is it not possible to add a toggle in the settings for “tips” to let business owners choose if the tips listed are before or after discounts? I’ve never heard of tipping based on discounted total so i’d venture to guess that many if not all of our customers rely on the system to do the calculation yet it’s not! Square has been very customer friendly to me so far, but this is just not cool! Help your customers, square!

[Helen]

I'm very sorry for the trouble @lmtmarissa. I don't have an update on this request but I definitely understand how it's vital for your business. We'll share any news here as soon as it's available and you'll automatically be notified. I wish I had better news.

[Triphoss]

Square has made no movement on this, so we are working around it this way....  I run a bar/restaurant as well.

We print a copy of the receipt that includes the "pre-discount total" and highlight that (circle it)  Then on the square device what we did was set all the "recommended" tips tp 0% (they disappear.)

So now when you run the card the screen shows just the discounted total and two options "custom tip" and "No Tip"  (I have asked that Square give us the ability to change "no tip" to "Cash Tip" but that's not happening either) ..we then press the "custom tip" option prior to handing the device to the guest.  That way they get a keypad to enter the tip with no "suggestions."  And we have given them the "real" total on the printed slip to remind them that their tab would have been much larger.

The staff likes it and honestly (we are full service) I ran a three-month comparison and they are making MORE tips overall (not specifically Happy hour but all day every day)  now that the suggested % are gone and people have to do their own math.  Part of that is due to my hardcore beliefe that any automatically calculated tip can only be on F&B not on taxes and apparently most people just tip on the total...

[sawtoothCA]

this is the best work-around that I have seen! Thanks!

Square support team (both POS and  Payment teams) - SHAME ON YOU for not addressing this....its common practice, especially in the service industry.

Our guests 100% don't realize that they are not tipping on the full total for this, and it's a huge problem for us.

At the very least, offer it for the Square for Restaurants, as that is clearly where the biggest problem lies

[cassmasc]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: Correct tip % on suggested tips with discount applied

When a discount is applied the suggested percentage is not correct to the original total, for example:

   $400 sale

- $100 discount 

= $300 total

Suggested %20 tip = $60

Correct suggested tip on original total should be $80

Is there any way to correct this?

[Helen]

Hi @cassmasc. At this time tips are calculated on the total sale amount before any discounts are applied. There isn't a way to change this I'm afraid, but other sellers have shared their workarounds in this thread. 

I'll share your feedback with our Payments team, and if anything changes we'll post here to notify you.

[cassmasc]

Looks like this has been a known concern since 2017 if not longer. What the heck is the issue with accommodating this for the service industry? This thread has been non-stop "reporting this concern" with no progress whatsoever. 

Is there a reason this hasn't been prioritized?

[lmtmarissa]

Please stop telling us it will be brought to the team. The work arounds suggested do not work for all businesses and are not a feasible solution. There are no services that I know of that a tip would be calculated on a discounted total. Tips are always calculated on the pre-discounted price. This has got to be a fairly easy fix for the programmers. Please realize we are LOSING money because of this and honestly therefore so is Square! Stop telling us your sorry and to use work arounds  that we can’t use. Help us by fixing the problem!

[Sherrilynne]

Helen, your response is not correct. Currently the tip is based on the total AFTER the discounts are taken. We want it to reflect the tip based on the total BEFORE the discounts are taken. 

example: I charge $119 for a 90 minute massage. If my client prepays for their next massage, I give them a $25 discount. The 20% tip SHOULD BE $23.80, but based on the total after discount ($94) the tip shows as $18.80 basically costing me or my employees $5 in gratuity. The only work around I have found that works for me is to list the 20% as a tax and then process discounts as split payments. That is the only way it doesnt discount my gratuities. 

[lmtmarissa]

Hi- unfortunately, you are incorrect. Tips are calculated for AFTER the discount. We are all asking for the tip to be calculated on the actual total, NOT the discounted total. We are losing money as small businesses and it is very disheartening to see our pockets suffer for such a solvable issue. My brothers are both programmers and have said that this should not be a difficult thing to change. HELP US!

[breathenailspa]

My clients love the auto tip suggestions because it saves them from having to do math. However, when they receive a discount (through loyalty or other means) the automatic suggestions reflect percentages based on the discounted price. Some will recognize this and choose custom tip, but other don't. Is there a way to have the automatic suggestions always reflect the price before discount? 

[nika]

Hey @breathenailspa! Regrettably, this is considered a feature request at the moment. I'll moved your question over to this thread, though, so you can take a look at some workarounds that other sellers shared. Hopefully their insight helps in the mean time.

[breathenailspa]

@nika How has this not already been solved if this concern was brought up over 2 years ago? 

[Stanley]

Any progress on this request?

[Joe]

Hi there, @Stanley - still no timeline to share on this one just yet. We will update everyone here when there is a more concrete update to share.

Thanks for hanging in! 

[morgan1086]

Is there any movement on this👀? It's a pretty big frustration for many of us in the beauty and restaurant industry.  I'm sure for others in tipping businesses, as well.

[Joe]

Hi @morgan1086 - thanks for reaching out here and checking in on this feature. While I don't have a shareable timeline on this feature just yet, I can confirm that it is still outstanding in development. As soon as we do have some positive updates, we will be sure to bounce back here and let the thread know.

Thanks for your patience! 

[gweber1813]

This has been a problem that has been brought up many years and still nothing has come of it. I feel like this is big enough of a problem to search for another processor

[CopperMuse]

My staff is continually penalized for offering our discounts. The other day, the guest's total was $180, after the groupon was taken off, the total was $21. The guest hit the 20% button and therefore tipped 4 dollars on a $180 tab. It's absolutely unacceptable that there isn't an option to calculate tip/auto-gratuity on the total before discounts. The workarounds that people have been forced to find aren't up to customer service standards, they create awkward dialogue and put my servers in uncomfortable positions. This problem needs to be fixed. Please give us a timeline! @Helen @EJ_ @Joe @Chad @nika 

[morgan1086]

Agreed! It drives me nuts!