Drivers four, five and six. The money that entered the bar in the last lesson is now divided, and the division is where most of the surprises live. A bartender who knows the room's takings and not its tip-out structure knows half a number.
Driver 4: tip-out structure
At the end of a shift you pay out a share to the people who supported you — typically the barback, often food runners, hosts and bussers, sometimes the kitchen or a sommelier. Each recipient is usually a separate percentage. Add them up; people quote you one and forget the rest.
The critical question is what the percentage is calculated on, because there are two structures and they behave completely differently.
A percentage of your sales. You tip out a fixed share of everything you rang, regardless of what you were tipped. On a strong night this is straightforward. On a night where a large tab tips badly — a party that ran up serious sales and left little — you still owe the same tip-out on those sales. The obligation is fixed to sales while your income is not, so a bad tipping night costs you a larger share of what you actually took home.