Tipping Guide for Otter POS

The Otter POS Tipping feature allows you to seamlessly include the ability for customers to add gratuity to their orders. Offering multiple avenues for customers to add tips improves staff satisfaction, increases tip revenue, and provides an elevated customer experience tailored to traditional dining environments.

Follow this guide to learn how to enable tips, customize tip percentages, display the tip screen on the POS terminal, and add tips from receipts to your POS.

Available Tipping Methods

Tip on receipt (after payment)
POS tip display (before payment)
Cash tipping

Tipping methods vary based on the POS interface version.
Learn more here: Otter POS - Redesigned for Your Convenience

Enabling Tips on Otter POS

When using Otter POS v2, you have access to POS settings in the Otter Dashboard that will allow you to enable tipping before and after the payment has been processed for an order, cash tipping, and configure the terminal tip display.

Otter POS v1 vs. Otter POS v2
If you're using the Otter POS v1 interface, tips still need to be entered before the payment is processed. Cash tipping, tips on receipts, and terminal tip display settings are not available on Otter POS v1.

If you have not been updated to Otter POS v2 yet, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or Otter Support to be updated to the new POS experience.

Learn how to configure Otter POS Tips in the Otter Dashboard using the walkthrough below.

Step 1

Go to your Otter Dashboard.
Step 2

Select [Apps] and click on [POS] from the dropdown options.
Step 3

Decide where you would like to enable the tip on receipt feature (Brand, Location, or Organization level). Select the desired level using the left-hand menu tab.
This tip setting can be applied at the Organization level, Location level, or Brand level.
Step 4

Select the [Terminals] settings tab on the left-hand menu.
Step 5

Depending on the level at which you are applying the settings, you may also have to toggle on [Enable overrides] to edit additional setting toggles.
Step 6

To enable cash tipping, scroll down to the "Tipping" section and toggle on [Cash Tipping].
Step 7

To enable tips on receipt, toggle on the [Display tip options after payment] setting and the [After Payment] setting.

For tips on customer receipts, orders can have the tips entered up to 24 hours after the transaction. When the [Display tip options after payment] setting is enabled, to allow time for tip entry, payments will be delayed by one additional business day.
Step 8

To customize the tip options customers and cashiers have the ability to select from on the POS, you can enable the settings under the "Tip configuration" section.

Toggle on the [Collect tips] setting and adjust the percentages under [Tip amounts].

If this is disabled, your POS terminal will default to 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%.
Step 9

After all your preferred settings are toggled on, select [Save] in the top right corner to update your POS settings.
Step 10

Cash tipping and/or tips on receipts can now be used on your Otter POS!

Tip Maximums
Stripe limits the maximum tip amount to 50% of the pre-authorized amount or $50 USD (whichever is greater).

Adding a Tip Received After Payment

If a tip is not selected during checkout, a tip line and signature line will be printed on the receipt to be filled out by the customer. This will mark the order as "Tip Pending" in Otter POS.

When a customer adds a tip to the receipt, the tip amount will need to be added to the order in Otter POS. Learn how to complete this by following the steps below.

Step 1

Go to the POS orders list view and select the order you would like to add a tip to. The order will have a "Tip Pending" status indicating a tip has not been added yet.
Step 2

Select the [3 vertical dots] button to open the order options.
Step 3

Select [Add Tip].
Step 4

There are two ways to add a tip to an order: [Enter grand total] with the tip included or just [Enter tip amount].

Select the tab based on the way you prefer to add the tip and then enter the tip amount using the keypad.
Step 5

Once the grand total or tip amount has been entered, review the details and select [Confirm] to add the tip to the order.
Step 6

The tip amount will now display in the order's "Transaction details."

End of Day Reports
The post-payment tipping will not appear on the End of Day reports if an amount is not entered prior to the report being printed.

Adjusting Tip Display Settings

Within the Otter Settings, you have the ability to customize your POS terminal to display a tip screen for your customers.

Available tip display options:

Don't display
Display on all screens
Display on cashier-facing screen
Display on customer-facing screen

Step 1

Navigate to the Otter home screen.
Step 2

Tap on the person icon and select [Settings].
Step 3

Select the [Orders] settings tab.
Step 4

Scroll down and adjust the [Display tip options on] setting to your preference.