In short: To split the bill, add the tax and tip to the subtotal and divide the total by the number of people, or give each person their own items plus their share of the tax and tip. A 126.40 restaurant bill for four with 8 percent tax and a 20 percent tip comes to 161.79, or 40.45 each.
How to split the bill evenly
- Enter the subtotal, the food and drink before tax and tip, and how many people are paying.
- Add the tax as a percentage or as the amount on the receipt, and the tip the same way. The tip is worked out on the pre-tax subtotal unless you switch it to the total after tax.
- Read what each person pays. The total is divided into whole cents, so the shares add up exactly; when they cannot all be equal, the first people pay one cent more.
For example, a subtotal of 126.40 with 8 percent tax (10.11) and a 20 percent tip (25.28) totals 161.79. Split evenly four ways that is 40.45 per person, with 1 of the four paying 40.44 because the cents do not divide equally. The calculator shows the subtotal, tax, tip and total beside the per person figure, so you can check it against the receipt.
Splitting the bill by what each person ordered
An even split is unfair when one person had a salad and water and another had a steak and two cocktails. Switch to By what each person ordered, list the names, and add each item with its amount and the people who shared it. Each person then pays for their own items and an equal part of any shared items, and the tax and tip are shared in proportion to what each person ordered: whoever ordered 40 percent of the food pays 40 percent of the tax and 40 percent of the tip.
Say Ana, Ben and Cy eat out. Ana's main is 24.00, Ben's is 18.50, Cy's is 31.50, and they share a 12.00 starter. The subtotal is 86.00; with sales tax at 8.875 percent (7.63) and an 18 percent tip on the subtotal (15.48) the bill is 109.11. Ana ordered 28.00 including a third of the starter, so she pays 28.00 plus 2.48 tax and 5.04 tip: 35.52. Ben pays 28.55 and Cy, who ordered the most, pays 45.04. The three shares add up to 109.11, the bill to the cent. Press Try an example in the tool to see this one laid out.
Tip before or after tax, and rounding
Whether to tip on the subtotal or on the total after tax is a matter of custom, not law. Tipping on the pre-tax amount is the usual guidance and the calculator's default; tipping on the after-tax total gives a little more. On a 100.00 subtotal with 8.875 percent tax, an 18 percent tip is 18.00 before tax and 19.60 after, a difference of 1.60. If the receipt already shows a service charge or an automatic gratuity for a large table, enter it as a tip amount rather than adding a percentage on top.
Rounding is where most hand calculations go wrong. The calculator works in whole cents throughout: the tax and tip are each rounded to the nearest cent once, then shared out by the largest remainder method, which hands the leftover cents to the people whose exact share was closest to the next cent up. The result is that every column, ordered, tax, tip and pays, adds up to its total exactly, which a percentage split in a spreadsheet rarely does without a correction row. If you prefer round numbers, use the amounts as a guide and round each share up to the nearest dollar; the surplus goes to the server.
Splitting other costs
This tool handles one bill. For a trip, a shared flat or any situation where several people paid for different things over several days, the group expense splitter works out who pays whom to settle everyone with the fewest payments, and the guide to splitting expenses with friends explains the method with a worked example. Everything you type stays in your browser; a share link puts the bill in the part of the address after the #, which is never sent to a server, so you can send the split to the table from your phone.
Questions people ask
How does the bill split calculator work out each person's share?
It adds the tax and the tip to the subtotal to get the total, then gives each person their share in whole cents. Split evenly, everyone pays the same, give or take a cent. Split by what each person ordered, each person pays for their own items, their part of any shared items, and a share of the tax and tip in proportion to what they ordered.
Should the tip be worked out before or after tax?
Both are common. Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is the usual advice and is the calculator's default; tipping on the total after tax gives the server a little more. On a 100.00 bill with 8.875 percent tax, an 18 percent tip is 18.00 before tax and 19.60 after. Choose either in the tip setting and the shares follow.
What happens when the total does not divide evenly?
Money is counted in whole cents, so 100.00 split three ways becomes 33.34, 33.33 and 33.33. The extra cents go to the first people in the list, and the shares always add up to the exact total, so nobody is left covering a rounding gap.
How are shared items like a starter or a bottle of wine split?
Tick everyone who shared the item and its cost is divided equally between them, with any odd cent going to the first of them. Each person's share of the tax and tip then follows what they ordered, shared items included, so the people who shared the wine also pay the tax and tip on it.
Can I enter the tax and tip as amounts instead of percentages?
Yes. Switch either one from a percentage to an amount and type the figure from the receipt. The calculator still shares it out in proportion to what each person ordered, and shows the percentage it works out to.
What is the difference between this and the group expense splitter?
This page splits one bill at the table, with tax and tip. The group expense splitter is for a trip or a shared home where several people paid for different things over time, and works out who pays whom to settle up with the fewest payments.
Are the amounts and names sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser. A share link carries the bill in the part after the # in the address, which browsers never send to a server, so only the people you give the link to can see it.