Tips are a big part of your staff's pay, and a confusing tip screen can cost your servers real money. Clover POS makes tipping easy to set up, but the settings are spread across a couple of menus — here's exactly where to find them and how to configure them for a restaurant workflow.
Step 1: Turn on the tip prompt
On your Clover device, open the Setup app and tap Tips. Switch on Ask for tip, then choose whether it applies to just this device or all your devices, and hit Save.
If you run both a counter terminal and a tableside device, set tipping on both — the setting is per device unless you apply it everywhere. When a guest pays by card, the tip screen will appear before the transaction is authorized, so guests get the prompt every time.
You can also do this from a browser: log in to the Clover web dashboard, go to Account & Setup, and select Tips. It's the same "Ask for tip" toggle.
Step 2: Customize the tip suggestion percentages
Default tip buttons matter — most guests tap one of the suggested percentages instead of typing a custom amount. On the device (Setup > Tips > Tip suggestions) or in the dashboard under Tip buttons, you can set up to four default tip options as percentages.
For a Canadian restaurant, 15%, 18%, 20%, and 25% is a solid starting lineup. Tick the checkbox on each option you want to show; untick the ones you don't. If you leave all of them unchecked, guests only get an "Other" button where they enter a custom tip — useful for some counter-service setups, but most restaurants do better with preset options.
Step 3: Choose where guests enter tips
Clover lets you pick the tip entry location — where the tip screen actually shows up. Options include the tablet screen of your customer-facing display or a handheld device.
For full-service restaurants, the customer-facing screen works best: the guest taps the device at the table and enters their own tip without reading it aloud to your server. For quick-service counters, the same screen doubles as the checkout prompt.
Step 4: Train staff on the flow
The mechanics are simple, but make sure your team knows the sequence: take the order, present the bill, let the guest pay by card on the customer-facing device, and confirm the tip prompt appeared. If tips are enabled in the dashboard, the prompt shows up automatically — staff don't have to do anything extra, but they should glance to confirm the guest completed it.
A note on receipts and records
If a guest asks for a paper receipt to add a tip later, that works too — the tip prompt setting doesn't prevent staff-entered adjustments. And when you're done for the day, tip totals show up in your Clover reports, so reconciling staff tip payouts at close is straightforward.
Quick recap
1. Setup app → Tips (or dashboard Account & Setup → Tips): turn on Ask for tip. 2. Tip suggestions: set up to four percentage options (e.g., 15/18/20/25). 3. Tip entry location: pick the customer-facing screen for table service. 4. Train staff to confirm the tip prompt appears on every card payment.
Five minutes in the settings menu, and every card-paying guest gets a clear, professional tip prompt — which adds up to real earnings for your team over a month.
Running a restaurant in Edmonton, Calgary, or the GTA and setting up Clover POS? Sevenflow offers a free consultation, professional Clover setup and staff training, and Clover hardware rental — so your tip prompts, menus, and payment flow are configured right from day one. Reach out at sevenflow.ca to get started.