CASE STUDY: Three Kings Tattoo

Since January 2024, Three Kings Tattoo has been seamlessly splitting payments with its artists—and they’d never go back.

Owner Amanda Rodriguez needed a simple, efficient way to split customer payments while keeping artists' earnings separate from her business account. Before SplitSum, she built a custom platform to solve this problem. Seeing its success, she set out to create a solution for others—leading to the birth of SplitSum.

Learn more about how Three Kings Tattoo uses SplitSum below.

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Payment splitting

Splitting payments with the Artists

The main function of SplitSum is the Automatic Payment Splitting.

Three Kings Tattoo, like many tattoo shops, operates on a percentage-based system where artists owe the shop a cut of each tattoo. For Amanda, keeping the artist's percentage out of the business account was a must. With SplitSum, she simply adds each artist as a Contractor and sets their split percentage. Whenever a customer pays by card, SplitSum automatically distributes the funds—ensuring the shop gets its share while the artist gets theirs (plus any tips). This not only keeps the artists' earnings separate from the business account—eliminating unnecessary tax liabilities—but also removes the burden of manually calculating and managing their payments.

The Difference

Before SplitSum, Three Kings accepted 100% of payments, leaving Amanda to manually calculate and send each artist their share. This was time-consuming, prone to miscalculations, and a constant headache. Now, everything is handled instantly and accurately by SplitSum—saving time, reducing errors, and allowing Amanda to focus on running the shop.


In this video, Amanda explains how and why SplitSum was created and how it has transformed her business.

Appointment Bookings

Utilising Payment Links for Bookings

Deposits collected via Secure Payment Links

Collecting despoits for appointments is standard practice in the industry. With SplitSum, we can either accept deposits in-store via a card reader or remotely through asecure payment link. Since many artists now consult with clients online through email, payment links provide a seamless way to collect deposits without requiring customers to visit the shop—saving them time and hassle.

The Difference

Three Kings has tried every method for collecting deposits. PayPal was too risky, and other payment platforms required deposits to flow through the shop’s account, creating extra work to manually track and distribute payments. With SplitSum’s secure payment links, the shop gains complete flexibility while eliminating the administrative burden of managing deposits.


In this video, Amanda shows you how payment links work and what the client will see when paying.

Shop Merchandise

Selling Shop Merchandise is a breeze

Set Up Custom Split Percentages for Items and Services

Three Kings Tattoo sells a mix of artist-designed merchandise and general shop items like aftercare products. Since artist-designed merch requires a different revenue split than tattoos, Amanda uses SplitSum’s Inventory feature to customize how payments are divided. She can set up each item, determine if it should be split, choose who receives a share, and even track stock levels. This flexibility allows her to sell anything with the exact split she needs—without extra work.

The Difference

Like payment links, this feature eliminates the administrative burden of processing payments through the business account and manually paying out artists. It ensures that the artists' earnings go directly to them—even when they’re not present for the sale—keeping finances clean and efficient.


In this video, Amanda shows you how to set up inventory items and specify splits and accept payments on these items.

Receptionists

Front of House Staff access

Receptionists Can Take Payments Without Full Access

With SplitSum’s Cashier Accounts, Three Kings can grant receptionists access to accept payments on behalf of both the business and the artists—without giving them control over account settings. Receptionists cannot modify configurations, card readers, or percentage splits; only Amanda has the authority to make these changes. She can also manage permissions, including whether receptionists can issue refunds.

The Difference

This setup gives Amanda complete control and peace of mind, ensuring that payment settings remain untouched while allowing transactions to be processed smoothly. It also means she doesn’t have to be present for every payment, and since all transactions are recorded in the system, there’s no room for discrepancies or misreporting.


In this video, Amanda shows you how to set up cashier accounts and manage their permissions.

Artist Access

Tattoo Artists have their own accounts

Contractor accounts for Tattoo Artists

At Three Kings, each artist has their own Contractor account on SplitSum. When they log in, they can view their current balances, track payments that have been split with them, and access their Stripe Express Dashboard (where they can adjust their payout scheduled and bank account details). Amanda has also enabled permissions allowing artists to create their own Payment Links, so they can collect deposits for appointments—while ensuring payments are automatically split.

The Difference

Artists love the ability to generate payment links on demand, allowing them to secure deposits and lock in appointments instantly. They also appreciate being able to log in anytime and see exactly how much they’ve earned in real time.


In this video, Amanda shows you how to set up contractor accounts and manage their permissions.

BBPOS WisePOS E

The Takeaway

Want the same setup for your shop?

Three Kings Tattoo uses the WisePOS E card reader device. This device requires a WiFi connection and payments can be initiated to it through a web browser either on a desktop, tablet or phone. There is a one time cost for this reader of £179 but this reader gives you the most versatility without extra frills. It allows for easy tip collection and is overall user friendly. Learn more about Card readers in SplitSum below.

Card Readers

Ready to Get Started?

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