Backhouse pulls in every shift and every tip, applies the wage rules your state actually enforces, and pays your team on Friday. One calm pay run, every two weeks.
Independent restaurants and small groups run payroll on Backhouse
Built for the back of house
General payroll tools treat a restaurant like an office with a kitchen. Backhouse starts from the schedule and the tip pool, so the numbers you review are already right.
Card tips, cash tips and service charges land in the right pool by shift and role. Points-based or hours-based splits, with every dollar traceable to a check.
Clock-ins flow in from Toast, Square, 7shifts and Homebase. Split shifts, spread of hours and meal break rules are applied per state, and anything unusual is flagged for you.
Tip credits, minimum wage floors, Form 8027 and new-hire reporting are calculated and filed on schedule. Every rule is cited, so you know why a number is what it is.
A pay run in four steps
Most operators approve a pay run from their phone between lunch and dinner service. Backhouse does the collection, the math and the filing; you do the reviewing.
Hours, breaks and card tips arrive from your point of sale and scheduling tools. Cash tips are declared by staff in the app.
Overtime, tip credits, split shifts and state wage floors are calculated. Anything that looks off gets a flag with a plain explanation.
One screen with every person, every hour and every dollar. Fix a shift inline, then approve. Managers can be limited to their own location.
Direct deposit lands on pay day, taxes are withheld and filed, and staff see a pay stub that separates wages from tips.
We used to spend Sunday night with a spreadsheet, a calculator and the tip jar. Now the pool is split before I sit down, and the state filings are simply done. I trust the number on the screen.
Pricing per location
No setup fee. Year-end forms are included. Switching mid-year is fine: we bring across year-to-date wages and tips from your previous provider so employees get one correct W-2.
Security and trust
Payroll is money and personal data at the same time. We treat both the way a bank would, and we publish the facts so you do not have to take our word for it.
Every record, from a clock-in to a bank account number, is encrypted with keys rotated on a schedule. Staff never see one another's pay.
An outside firm reviews our controls annually and the report is available to customers under a standard agreement. The current report covers 2025.
Money you fund for a pay run sits in a segregated account at a federally insured partner bank until it is paid out. It is never used to run Backhouse.
If a filing we made is late or wrong, we pay the penalty and the interest. Since 2021 that has happened zero times, and we intend to keep it there.
Owners see everything, managers see their own location, staff see their own stubs. Every change to a pay run is logged with who made it and when.
Bring last period's timesheets and tip report. We will build the run with you on the call, and you keep the numbers whether you sign up or not.