Accepting Tips & Gratuities

Second shooters, assistants, and even lead photographers sometimes receive tips from happy clients. creavio makes it easy to accept gratuities directly on your invoices — no awkward cash exchanges or Venmo requests needed.

Enabling Tips

Go to Money → Settings → Tips and toggle on Accept Tips. Once enabled, every invoice displays a tip option at checkout. Clients see a simple prompt after reviewing the invoice total: "Would you like to add a tip?"

Tip Options

You can configure how the tip appears:

Suggested amounts — show preset percentages like 10%, 15%, and 20%
Custom amount — let clients enter any dollar amount
Both — show presets with a custom option for flexibility

Most photographers use the "Both" setting. Suggested percentages make it easy for clients who want to tip but aren't sure how much, while the custom field accommodates those who have a specific amount in mind.

How Tips Are Processed

Tips are charged along with the invoice payment in a single transaction. The tip amount appears as a separate line item in your payment records so you can distinguish between service revenue and gratuities. This matters for bookkeeping and tax reporting.

Tax Considerations

Tips are income and should be reported on your taxes. creavio tracks tips separately in your financial reports so you can easily see your total gratuity income for the year. Consult your accountant about how tips are taxed in your jurisdiction — in most cases they're treated as ordinary income.

Tipping After Payment

What if a client wants to tip after they've already paid? You can send a standalone tip request — a mini invoice with no line items, just a tip field. Navigate to the client's profile, click Request Tip, and creavio sends them a payment link.

Tips are processed through your connected payment provider (Stripe). Standard processing fees apply to the tip amount. Tipping is available on all paid plans.