What this calculator does
It splits one bill, or a whole night of bills, between the people who were there. Each item goes to the people who had it, as finely as you like. Then discount, service charge, tax and tip are added the way the place charges them, and everyone's share is rounded once so the parts add up to the bill exactly. Several places in one night are added up and turned into a short list of who sends what to whom. Nothing is sent anywhere: the calculation runs in this browser, and the night stays on this device so you can finish it the next day.
Tax: added at the end, or already in the price
In the US and Canada sales tax is usually added at the end of the bill. In most other countries, including the UK, the euro area, Japan and Korea, menu prices already include tax, so nothing is added. The calculator guesses from the currency and you can change it per place: no tax, included in prices, a percentage, or a fixed amount from the receipt.
Tip before or after tax
By what each person had, or per head
Tax, service, tip and discounts are shared in proportion to what each person had, unless you choose to split them evenly per person.
Rules it applies
- One rounding. Each person's exact share is found first and the bill is rounded once. Leftover cents go to the largest fractions, so an even split stays even.
- Order of the extras. Discount first, then service charge on the discounted bill, then tax on that, then the tip on the bill before or after tax.
- People who were there. Shared dishes and per-head extras are split only between the people present at that place.
- No guessing. If a count does not match (three of four beers), amounts do not add up, or nobody paid part of the bill, the calculator says so instead of producing a number.
Common questions
Should the tip be calculated before or after tax?
In the US the usual habit is to tip on the bill before tax, because tax is not part of the service. On a $100.00 dinner with 8.875% tax, a 20% tip is $20.00 before tax and $21.78 after it. The calculator does either; pick the one your group agrees on.
How do you split a bill when people ordered different things?
Give each item to the people who had it: one person, a few people evenly, portions (three slices of eight), a count (three of four beers) or an exact amount with the rest shared. Tax, service and tip then follow what each person had, so the person who ordered a salad does not pay the steak's tip.
How is a shared appetizer split?
By default everyone at the table shares it evenly. Anyone who set "pays only for their own items" is left out of shared dishes, and you can pick exactly who had it or give uneven portions.
How do you split a bar tab across several bars in one night?
Add each place as its own bill with its own tax, tip, people present and payer. The calculator adds up what each person owes and what each paid across every place, then reduces it to one short list of transfers for the night.
How do you treat someone to dinner when the rest split the bill?
Mark that person as treated. Their food, and their part of tax, service and tip, is shared evenly by the others who were at that place; the treated person pays nothing.
Who pays the leftover cent?
Each person's exact share is worked out first and rounded once, for the whole bill. Leftover cents go one at a time to the largest fractions, so the parts always add up to the bill and an even split stays even.
Different currencies in one trip?
This page works in one currency per night. For a trip paid in several currencies, each at the rate of the day it was paid, use the trip settle-up. The rules for both are on the methodology page.