BookLive lets you track client tips as a separate payment category — so gratuity doesn’t affect your performance balance — and then distribute those tips directly to your musicians via Stripe. This article walks you through recording a tip payment, viewing the tip total, and paying out collected tips to your roster.
Before You Begin #
- To collect tips, you just need a performance with a client and at least one payment recorded. No Stripe account is required to log a tip manually.
- To pay out tips to musicians via Stripe transfer, each musician must have a Stripe account connected through BookLive. Musicians without Stripe will be skipped automatically during payout.
Step 1: Record a Tip Payment #
Tips are recorded the same way as any other payment — on the Payments tab inside a performance — with one difference: you check the This is a tip payment box.
- Log in at https://booklive.com/login.
- Open the performance where you received a tip.
- Click the Payments tab.
- In the incoming payments section, click Add Payment (or the + button).
- Enter the payment amount, method (cash, check, or online), and date.
- Check the box labeled This is a tip payment.
- Click Save.
Marking a payment as a tip tells BookLive not to apply it toward the performance balance. The amount owed by your client stays the same — the tip is tracked separately.
Step 2: View Collected Tips #
Once a tip is recorded, BookLive makes it easy to see at a glance:
- Each tip payment in the payment list is labeled with an orange TIP badge.
- At the top of the Payments tab, an orange line shows the total: Tips collected: $X.XX. This line only appears when at least one tip has been recorded.
Step 3: Pay Out Tips to Musicians #
When you’re ready to distribute the tips to the musicians who performed, use the Pay Out Tips button on the Musicians tab. This transfers funds directly to each musician’s connected Stripe account.
- Inside the same performance, click the Musicians tab.
- Click the Pay Out Tips button near the top of the page.
- The Pay Out Tips dialog opens and shows three figures:
- Tips Received — the total tips recorded on this performance.
- Already Paid Out — any tips previously distributed.
- Available Tips — the remaining amount ready to distribute.
- In the Amount to Distribute field, enter the amount you want to pay out. It defaults to the full available tip balance. You can enter a smaller amount if you prefer to distribute in installments.
- Below the amount field, BookLive lists all musicians on the performance. Musicians with Stripe accounts connected show their calculated split. Musicians without Stripe show a No Stripe Account warning and will be skipped.
- Review the split amounts, then click Confirm Payout.
BookLive divides the payout evenly among all eligible musicians (those with Stripe). Any remainder from rounding is applied to the first musician in the list. Transfers are processed immediately through Stripe.
Tips & Notes #
- Tips don’t reduce the client balance. Recording a tip payment won’t change what the client owes — it’s tracked as a separate line item outside the performance total.
- Payout amount cannot exceed available tips. If you enter an amount larger than the available tip balance, BookLive will display a validation error before allowing you to confirm.
- Musicians must have Stripe accounts to receive tip transfers. If a musician on the performance doesn’t have Stripe connected, they’ll be skipped during payout. You can still pay them manually outside BookLive and record it as a musician payment.
- Partial payouts are supported. You can distribute a portion of the tips now and pay out the rest later. BookLive tracks what’s already been paid so you always know the remaining available balance.
- Payout history is not shown in the modal, but tips already paid out are subtracted from the available balance automatically.
