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.
You enter, for each place: who was there, the items from the receipt, how each item was shared, the discount, service charge, tax and tip as the receipt shows them, and who paid. If you type the receipt's total, the calculator compares it with what it worked out and says when the two differ, which usually means a missed item or a tax set the wrong way.
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.
Service charge already on the receipt
How service is paid for differs from place to place, and it decides whether a tip belongs on top. We list only places where a government or national tourism body says it:
| Where | What the source says | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | Tips are not usually given for service at bars, cafes, restaurants, taxis or hotels (Japan National Tourism Organization). | Tip none; tax included in prices. |
| France | Where a price includes service, the menu must say "prix service compris" (service-public.fr). | Service is already in the item prices, so no service charge line. Any tip on top is the group's choice. |
| United Kingdom | Tips and service charges, including ones added automatically to the bill, are covered by the law on passing tips to workers (GOV.UK code of practice). | If the receipt shows a service charge, enter it as service and decide whether to add a tip. |
Checked on November 9, 2026. For anywhere else, go by the receipt: a service charge printed on it is already part of what the group pays. Enter it the way the receipt shows it, as a percentage or an amount, and set the tip to none or to only what the group adds on top.
When only some people drank
Drinks are where an even split most often feels wrong. Give each bottle or round only to the people who had it, by name or by count (three of four beers), and keep the extras split by what each person had, so the tip on the wine stays with the people who drank it.
A friend who orders only for themselves can be set to "pays only for their own items", which leaves them out of every shared dish at once.
Rules it applies
- 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.
Each person's share is rounded once, for the whole bill; the methodology page shows who carries a leftover cent, how the transfers are chosen and what is kept when you share. Whether tax is added or already in the price starts out based on the currency you pick, and can be changed for every place.
How to read the result
In the "By item" tab the result is a table with a row for each person and a column for each place. Each amount is what that person owes for that place, with their share of discount, service, tax and tip already in it; the Total column is their share of the whole night, and the bottom row adds up to each bill. Under the table, Transfers lists who sends how much to whom so that everyone who paid is paid back. In the "Even split" tab it shows the one amount each person pays and says who pays the leftover cent.
Common questions
Should the tip be calculated before or after tax?
Groups differ, so agree it before the bill comes; the choice moves the tip by the tax rate. 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.
What if the service charge is already on the receipt?
Enter the service charge as a percentage or the amount printed on the receipt, and set the tip to none unless the group wants to leave more on top. A £80.00 dinner with 12.5% service and VAT already in the menu prices comes to £90.00.
How do you split the bill when only some people drank?
Give the drinks only to the people who had them, and leave the tip split by what each person had. Four friends share $120.00 of food and three of them share $60.00 of wine: with a 20% tip before tax, the three pay $60.00 each and the friend who did not drink pays $36.00. Split per head, that friend would pay $39.00.
What it does not do
- It works in one currency per night. A meal paid abroad during a trip, or a dinner where one friend paid in euros and another in dollars, belongs in the trip settle-up, which converts each receipt at the rate of the day it was paid. The guide on which exchange rate to use explains why that day and not the day you settle.
- It does not look up tax rates or tipping customs. Enter the rate or the amount from the receipt.
- It does not decide what is fair. It shows the working for the split you choose; the guide on splitting evenly or by what each ordered weighs the three ways against each other.