The Only Tip Management Platform with Built-In Compliance
Vincent Pasili
Verified
ProTip - Automated Tip Distribution & Payroll Compliance Platform
Overview
ProTip is a comprehensive full-stack web application designed specifically for restaurants and hospitality businesses to modernize their tip management and employee operations. The platform transforms traditional spreadsheet-based tip tracking into a real-time analytics dashboard with automated calculations, multi-model tip distribution, and jurisdiction-aware payroll compliance. Built for both business owners and employees, ProTip provides complete transparency in tip distribution while automating the complex regulatory math that restaurants currently do by hand — with penny-exact precision that matches the Excel spreadsheets it replaces.
Key Features
🏢 For Business Owners
Three Tip Distribution Models: Pooling (weighted hours), sharing (tip-out percentages), and hybrid (multi-pool with priority-ordered routing between revenue centers) — configurable per business
Automated Payroll Compliance: NY Department of Labor-compliant overtime with blended rate calculations, spread-of-hours detection for 10+ hour workdays, and automatic minimum wage make-up
Interactive Shift Calendar: Visual calendar interface for daily shift logging with clock-in/out times, role assignments, break tracking, and real-time tip calculations as data is entered
Tip Sheet Approval Workflow: State machine workflow (Draft → Submitted → Approved/Rejected) with optimistic concurrency control preventing two managers from overwriting each other's edits
Guided Business Onboarding: Three-step wizard with address autocomplete to auto-detect jurisdiction-specific labor rules, role configuration with point values, and wage rate setup
Revenue Center Management: Organize operations by different areas (bar, dining room, private events, takeout) with independent tip distribution rules per center
Payroll Export: Weekly payroll summaries with overtime, spread pay, minimum wage make-up, and processing fee deductions — exportable as Excel and PDF
CSV Bulk Import: Import employees, roles, and shift data from existing spreadsheets with intelligent duplicate detection
👤 For Employees
Personal Workspace Portal: Dedicated dashboard showing every shift, every tip breakdown, and every calculation with full transparency into how compensation was computed
Multi-Workspace Support: Employees who work at multiple restaurants switch between independent workspaces in a dropdown, each with its own permissions, wage rates, and role assignments
Private Tip Journal: Personal tracking tool to compare actual received tips against employer records
Real-Time Notifications: Email alerts for shift assignments, approval decisions, permission changes, and workspace invitations via Brevo transactional email
Mobile-Responsive Design: Card-based layouts optimized for phones where employees actually check their tips during breaks
💰 Tip Calculation Engine
Weighted Hour Distribution: Fair tip allocation based on hours worked multiplied by role points (0–2 range), with higher-point roles earning proportionally more per hour
Excel-Compatible Precision: Round-half-up rounding applied at every aggregation boundary (shift, daily, weekly, payroll) to match exactly how managers calculate in spreadsheets
Processing Fee Management: Automatic credit card fee deduction with configurable percentages, applied after adjustments and rounded independently before distribution
Custom Tip Fields: Support for additional income sources (online tips, delivery, service charges) with configurable processing fee application per field
Miscellaneous Adjustments: Manual adjustment support applied before fee calculation, matching the order of operations managers expect from Excel
📊 Payroll & Compliance
NY DOL Overtime Calculation: Four-step overtime formula for tipped employees using blended weighted rates, tip credit derivation, minimum overtime rate thresholds, and premium-above-regular-rate calculation
Spread of Hours Detection: Automatic detection of workdays spanning 10+ hours (earliest clock-in to latest clock-out), handling overnight shifts that cross midnight and multiple shifts in one day
Regional Minimum Wage Resolution: Hierarchical jurisdiction codes with temporal validity ranges — NYC, Long Island, and Westchester rates resolve automatically based on business address
Minimum Wage Make-Up: Automatic compliance check ensuring tipped employees' total compensation (wages + tips + overtime) meets minimum wage, with spread pay correctly excluded from the check but included in total earnings
Historical Rate Resolution: Temporal data pattern tracking pay rate changes by employee, role, and effective date range — payroll always uses the rate in effect on the specific shift date, not the current rate
Configurable Payroll Periods: Weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly payroll cycles with configurable week start day
🔒 Authentication & Security
Flexible Login: Support for both username and email authentication with automatic format detection
Zero-Downtime Password Migration: Dual hash support (bcrypt for new, scrypt for legacy) enabling live migration without forcing password resets
Secure Invitation Flow: Temporary password system with TEMP_ prefix detection, forced password reset on first login, and session regeneration to prevent fixation attacks
Session-Based Security: Passport.js with PostgreSQL-backed session store, HTTP-only cookies, and 30-day TTL
Role-Based Access Control: Three-tier permission hierarchy (Portal Access → EDITOR → MANAGER) with cascading revocation — revoking EDITOR automatically revokes MANAGER
Multi-Tenant Data Isolation: Every database query (40+ methods) filters by company identifier with no unscoped API endpoints
Technology Stack
Frontend
React 18 with TypeScript for type-safe component development
Vite for fast development server with hot module replacement and optimized production builds
Wouter for lightweight client-side routing across 50+ routes with minimal bundle impact
TanStack Query for server state management with five-minute stale time, eliminating need for Redux or Zustand
TailwindCSS for utility-first responsive design system
Framer Motion for smooth animations and page transitions
React Hook Form with Zod validation — same schemas used on server for guaranteed client-server sync
Recharts for data visualization (bar, line, and pie charts for tip analytics and performance trends)
date-fns for date manipulation across time zones and payroll period calculations
Backend
Node.js with Express.js REST API organized into 18 domain-specific route modules
TypeScript end-to-end with shared types between client and server via monorepo architecture
Passport.js for session-based authentication with PostgreSQL store via connect-pg-simple
bcrypt.js for secure password hashing with dual format support (bcrypt + legacy scrypt)
Multer for file upload handling (CSV imports, tip sheet attachments)
Brevo (Sendinblue) for transactional email delivery (invitations, shift notifications, password resets)
Database & ORM
PostgreSQL with Neon serverless hosting for robust multi-tenant data persistence
Drizzle ORM for type-safe database operations with SQL-like query builder providing fine control over complex aggregation queries
Drizzle Kit for schema migrations and database push operations
Zod for runtime validation with schemas derived directly from database column definitions via createInsertSchema
30+ tables with composite primary keys, unique constraints enforcing business rules, JSON columns for flexible configuration, and compound indexes optimized for temporal queries
External Services & APIs
Google Places API for address autocomplete during business onboarding and automatic jurisdiction detection
Brevo for email delivery — invitation emails, shift completion summaries, approval notifications, and password resets
Neon for serverless PostgreSQL with automatic backups and connection pooling
Development & Deployment
Replit for cloud-based development environment with automatic deployment
esbuild for production backend bundling
PostCSS with Autoprefixer for CSS processing
Automatic HTTPS with Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificates
CI/CD with automatic deployments on git push
Architecture Highlights
Database Design
Multi-tenant architecture with strict company ID isolation across all 30+ tables
Many-to-many employee-company relationships via junction table with composite primary keys, enabling employees to work at multiple restaurants with independent permissions, wages, and roles per workspace
Temporal data pattern for rate history — pay rate changes tracked with effective date ranges and compound indexes for efficient historical lookups
Regulatory jurisdictions table with hierarchical codes and temporal validity for automatic minimum wage resolution
Soft delete pattern with isActive flags preserving historical data for payroll auditability
Shift approval state machine (Draft → Submitted → Approved/Rejected) with version field for optimistic concurrency control and active editor tracking for conflict prevention
Calculation Architecture
Shared formula module between client and server ensuring identical calculations in browser previews and final server computation
Four-level aggregation hierarchy: shift → daily → weekly → payroll period, with rounding applied at each boundary to match Excel behavior
Policy-driven calculation engine — company settings (break deduction, processing fee application, spread of hours, overtime) toggle calculation paths without code changes
Compliance layering with correct inclusion/exclusion rules: spread pay excluded from minimum wage check but included in total compensation
Authentication System
Hybrid password verification supporting three formats simultaneously: bcrypt (new), scrypt (legacy), and temporary invitation passwords
Organic migration strategy — new passwords always use bcrypt while legacy hashes continue working indefinitely
Session regeneration on temporary password login to prevent session fixation attacks from invitation links
Dual-lookup login accepting both username and email by detecting @ character in input
Multi-Tenant Security
Company ID filtering enforced at the database query layer across 40+ storage methods
Workspace context header validation for employees accessing multiple companies
Cascading permission hierarchy preventing orphaned permission states
Invitation system with automatic account deduplication — existing users get company associations, not duplicate accounts
Inspiration & Similar Platforms
This project draws inspiration from leading platforms in the restaurant management and payroll space:
Square for Restaurants — Clean POS interface and employee management with data-forward design language
Toast POS — Comprehensive restaurant management workflows and the industry standard for full-service restaurants
7shifts — Restaurant-specific scheduling and labor management with a vertical focus that validated building domain-specific over general-purpose
Gusto — Payroll processing and employee self-service portals that inspired ProTip's employee workspace transparency
When I Work — Shift scheduling and time tracking with calendar-driven UX that influenced ProTip's shift management interface
Homebase — Small business team management combining scheduling, time tracking, and payroll
TipHaus — Tip pooling and distribution automation specifically for the restaurant industry
Kickfin — Digital tip distribution with instant cashless payouts to employee bank accounts
Design Approach
Design Tools & Resources
Figma — Primary design tool for mockups and prototyping multi-step workflows
Tailwind UI — Professional component patterns and layout structures for rapid iteration
Lucide Icons — Comprehensive icon set with clean line style matching the professional aesthetic
Recharts — Data visualization library for analytics dashboard charts
Design Principles
Mobile-First: Every interface optimized for phones where restaurant staff actually check their tips during breaks
Progressive Disclosure: Complex features (payroll settings, hybrid tip models) revealed gradually to avoid overwhelming new users
Data-Dense Tables: Excel-like table layouts for power users who need quick data access, inspired by the spreadsheets the platform replaces
Smart Defaults: Pre-configured templates for common restaurant roles (server, bartender, busser, food runner) so setup isn't overwhelming
No Stock Photos: Cleaner professional interface focused on data and functionality
Contextual Help: Inline tooltips and help text rather than separate documentation pages
Project Structure
Learning Outcomes
This project demonstrates proficiency in:
Full-stack TypeScript development with shared types across client and server
Complex business logic implementation (weighted tip distribution, regulatory payroll compliance)
Multi-tenant SaaS architecture with strict data isolation
Temporal data patterns for historical rate tracking and regulatory jurisdiction management
State machine design with optimistic concurrency control
Zero-downtime database migration strategies (dual password hash formats)
Excel-compatible precision engineering (round-half-up at aggregation boundaries)
Domain-driven development requiring regulatory research (DOL opinion letters, labor law compliance)
Role-based access control with cascading permission hierarchies
Responsive design with mobile-first approach for real-world usage patterns
Future Enhancements
Comprehensive automated test suite proportional to calculation engine complexity
Expansion of jurisdiction-specific compliance rules beyond New York
Native mobile applications for the employee portal with push notifications
Integration with accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero) for seamless payroll export
AI-powered shift recommendations based on historical staffing and tip data
Advanced analytics dashboard with predictive modeling for tip trends
Multi-language support for international restaurant operations
ProTip — Automated tip distribution and payroll compliance for restaurants, replacing spreadsheets with real-time precision.
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Posted Feb 24, 2026
Pro Tip Beta - Save $600+ annually with the only tip management platform featuring built-in compliance, spread of hours calculations, and unlimited customizati…
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Timeline
Jul 31, 2025 - Jan 14, 2026
