Heartland Payment Systems Introduces Tip Manager to Assist Restaurateurs with Tip Distribution and Management

Service will also ensure compliance with IRS regulations and wage and hour laws

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Heartland Payment Systems^® (NYSE: HPY), one of the nation's largest payments processors, launches Heartland Tip Manager, a new service that offers restaurateurs a way to streamline tip distribution management. Tip Manager also integrates payroll data, credit card sales and credit card tip data from point-of-sale (POS) system.

“Heartland understands that tip reporting can often be challenging for many restaurants. As the processor of one out of every seven restaurant credit and debit card transactions in the US, Heartland understands that restaurants need cost-effective products and services that streamline cash flow and increase profitability. We have developed Heartland Tip Manager to help address one of the toughest issues in the industry,” said Mark Strippy, Heartland’s executive director of payroll services.

Developed with input from industry operators and a leader in restaurant software, Tip Manager also helps ensure compliance with IRS tip and reporting requirements and company tip policies. It also gives restaurant owners the ability to produce specific reports to assist with tip compliance in the event of an IRS audit or investigation.

“One of the most noteworthy features of Tip Manager is that managers will be able to manage tips on a per-shift basis,” added Strippy. “This function will allow for easier tip tracking and will create an environment of much greater control for the restaurant operator.” This new service from Heartland, creates significant efficiencies for the operator by reducing the amount of manual data entry required to track, report and ultimately process payroll, with our integration between the POS/Tip Manager and Heartland’s Plus One Payroll.

Additionally, Tip Manager provides restaurant operators the ability to create tip pool policies that will automate the calculation, distribution and taxation of tips that are shared among indirect tipped employees. Accurate accounting of the amount of tips received by indirect employees will provide the operator with the ability to properly report those cash tips, thereby increasing their wage claims which can result in an increased Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) Tip Credit. Mid-sized restaurants can receive up to $25,000 in FICA Tip Credits.

The Tip Manager software functions in conjunction with Heartland’s PlusOne^{SMIRS endorsed programs for tracking tips — ATIP (Attributed Tip Income Program) and TRAC (Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment) — and supports compliance requirements of those programs.}

Heartland Tip Manager offers significant business benefits including:

• Direct integration to several POS systems to pull gross receipts and tip information to Tip Manager.
• Ability for management to override and approve tip distribution prior to sending to payroll.
• Ability to access and create more than one tip distribution policy so each shift can potentially have a different policy created to fulfill the needs of the restaurant.
• Flexible tip distribution policies available based on gross receipts, and cash and credit card tips.
• Compliance with IRS tip reporting mandates and wage and hour laws.
• The ability to have multiple direct employees share tips from the same ticket/large group/event.
• Augmented ticket-level POS sales/tip data providing additional reporting required to complete the annual IRS 8027 form.
• Greater 8027 form accuracy leading to a lower estimated tip percentage.
• Improved cash flow from the elimination of “negative deposits.”
• Improved profitability from FICA tax tip credits and cash benefits from the ATIP program.
• Improved operational efficiencies such as the elimination of management handling cash tips indirectly and dealing with disputes between direct and indirect tipped employees.

Heartland, in partnership with the National Restaurant Association, Council of State Restaurant Associations and 44 state restaurant associations, empowers restaurateurs across America to improve their businesses with a full course of business solutions, including an exclusively endorsed suite of payroll services, tip management, card processing, gift marketing and check management services.

For more information about Heartland Tip Manager, please visit HeartlandPaymentSystems.com/Payroll or call 866.941.1HPS (1477).

About Heartland Payment Systems

Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. (NYSE: HPY), the fifth largest payments processor in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, gift marketing and loyalty programs, payroll, check management and related business solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide. A FORTUNE 1000 company, Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. The company is also a leader in the development of end-to-end encryption technology designed to protect cardholder data, rendering it useless to cybercriminals. For more information, please visit HeartlandPaymentSystems.com, MerchantBillOfRights.org, CostOfABurger.com and E3secure.com.

for Heartland Payment Systems
Vault CommunicationsLeanne Scott Brown, 610-455-2742
LBrown@VaultCommunications.com

Source: Heartland Payment Systems, Inc.