What is a tip in a POS?
A tip in a POS is the gratuity a customer adds to a sale, entered at the till or on the card terminal and recorded separately from sales.
A tip is money the customer chooses to give on top of the bill. It is not revenue in the usual sense: it belongs to the staff, and in most places it should be kept apart from sales and tax. That is why a POS records tips on their own line, not as part of the item total.
Tips reach the POS in two ways. The cashier can type the tip at the till, which is common for cash tips or for a tip written on a signed slip. Or the card terminal asks the customer, often with preset percentages, and sends the tip back to the POS with the approved payment. Either way the receipt should show the tip and the new total.
A tip is different from a service charge. A service charge is set by the business, added automatically (for example 18% on large parties) and is generally treated as part of the sale. A tip is voluntary. The tax treatment of each can differ by country and province or state, so check with your accountant before you set up an automatic charge.
In SeroPOS a tip can be typed on the payment screen, in Adjust Order, on each split, and as a delivery tip in QSR Mode. When the terminal prompts for a tip (Global Payments or Moneris, for example), the tip comes back and prints as Tip / Gratuity. The app has no percentage presets or automatic gratuity of its own; presets are set on the terminal. Tips show on the DSR, including tips by order type, and Types of Service can carry a packing or service charge.
A dinner bill is $80.00 plus $10.40 HST (13%), so $90.40. The guest taps their card and picks 18% on the terminal, which most terminals calculate on the pre-tax amount: a $14.40 tip, for $104.80 in total. The POS records $80.00 in sales, $10.40 in tax and $14.40 in tips, and the Z report adds the $14.40 to that night's tip total.