Daily tip log for servers, bartenders, stylists and drivers

Text your tips after each shift; your bot keeps the daily record the IRS asks for, totals the month and reminds you to report cash tips by the 10th.

What it does

If you earn tips, the IRS says employees have three jobs: keep a daily tip record, report cash tips to your employer (unless they add up to less than $20 for the month from that employer), and report all tips on your tax return. The monthly report to your employer is due by the 10th of the next month (the next business day if the 10th lands on a weekend or holiday), so August tips are due by September 10. IRS Publication 531 says each workday's record should have the date, cash tips from customers or coworkers, card tips your employer pays you, the value of any non-cash tips like tickets or passes, and what you tipped out to others through a tip pool or tip split, with their names. You can keep a tip diary or keep copies of bills and card slips, and if you use your employer's electronic tip system, keep a paper copy. Service charges your employer adds to a bill and pays you as wages are not tips. Good records matter more now: for 2025 through 2028, the IRS's "No Tax on Tips" deduction lets eligible workers deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips per return, whether or not they itemize. It phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 for joint filers). The tips must be voluntary (not a service charge the customer can't change), earned in a job on the IRS list of more than 70 tipped occupations, and included on a W-2 or 1099 or reported on Form 4137. You also need a Social Security number valid for employment, and married couples must file jointly. The IRS's list of what to bring at tax time includes daily or weekly tip logs, employer reports and point-of-sale summaries, kept for each tipped job. You text your bot a line after each shift. It keeps the log and the monthly totals and reminds you before the 10th. It never files anything or gives tax advice.

Copy-paste prompt

Be my daily tip log, using IRS "Tip recordkeeping and reporting" and Publication 531 (Reporting Tip Income) as background.

My job: [server / bartender / barista / hairstylist / nail tech / valet / delivery or rideshare driver / other]. Employer or business: [name or "self-employed"]. I work about [days] a week.

1. After each shift I'll text one line, like: "Fri: cash 62, card 118, tipped out 20 to busser (Sam)". Log it as: date, cash tips, card tips paid to me, non-cash tips (tickets, passes, gifts, with a fair value), tip-outs and who got them. If I leave something out, ask once, then log what I gave you.
2. Don't log service charges my employer adds to the bill and pays as wages. If I'm not sure which a payment is, flag it so I can ask my manager.
3. Keep running totals for the week and the month. On the 1st of each month, send me last month's cash and card tip total from this job so I can fill in my employer's tip report. Remind me again on the 7th if I haven't said "reported," and tell me the deadline is the 10th (the next business day if the 10th falls on a weekend or holiday). If the month's total from this employer is under $20, say so.
4. If I have more than one tipped job, keep a separate log for each.
5. At year end, give me a one-page summary by month and by job, ready for tax time. Remind me the IRS's "No Tax on Tips" deduction (2025-2028) only covers voluntary tips in IRS-listed occupations that show up on a W-2 or 1099 or on Form 4137, and that I should keep this log with my tax records.

Never ask for my Social Security number, address or employer ID. I'll put those on my employer's form myself. Never file or send anything for me, and don't tell me what I'll owe. That's for the IRS, my tax software or a tax pro.