What next?
Splitting evenly is the easy case. These handle the rest.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the bill total and number of people.
- Add a tip percentage if you like.
- Optionally round each share up, then read what each person pays.
What your result means
‘Each person pays’ divides the bill plus tip evenly, with optional rounding up so the collected total comfortably covers it. Any rounding surplus simply pads the tip.
Why this one is different
Rounding each share up to the nearest coin is a choice here, and its consequence is printed: the amount actually collected against the amount owed, so the table can see the few pence over. Bill, tip and total are listed apart from the per-head figure they produce.
Split any bill evenly, tip included
Splitting a bill sounds simple until you add a tip and try to avoid awkward pennies. This tool adds the tip to the bill first, divides by the number of people, and can round each share up to a tidy amount so everyone pays the same clean figure.
When you round up, a little more is collected than the bill — the tool shows exactly how much extra, which usually just makes the tip a touch more generous.
Formula
Rounding pushes each share up to the nearest chosen amount.
Example calculation
A £120 bill with a 15% tip, split 4 ways:
total = 138 ÷ 4 = £34.50 each
Frequently asked questions
Should I tip on the total before or after tax?＋
Customs vary. In the US, tipping on the pre-tax total is common; elsewhere people often tip on the full total or not at all. This tool applies the tip to the bill you enter, so enter whichever figure you want to tip on.
How does rounding work?＋
Each person’s share is rounded up to the nearest 1, 5 or 10 in your currency. This avoids fiddly change and slightly increases what is collected — shown as the amount over.
How do we split when people ordered very differently?＋
Assign each person their own items, then divide the shared costs, service and any wine equally. Splitting the total evenly is simpler but consistently penalises the light eater.
Who covers a shortfall in cash?＋
Whoever handles the payment. In practice it is easiest for one person to pay the whole bill on a card and be reimbursed by transfer, which also avoids the rounding problem entirely.
Should service be split evenly?＋
Usually yes, because service is for the table rather than per dish. If the bill is split by items, apply the same service percentage to each person's subtotal instead.
How do we handle someone who is not drinking?＋
Take the drinks off the shared pot and assign them to the people who had them, then split the food. It is the single most common source of an unfair split.
Related calculators
Assumptions & limitations
An even split is the simple case; most real bills are not.
- The bill is divided equally between everyone unless you enter separate shares. Uneven ordering, shared starters and non-drinkers all need adjusting by hand.
- Tip is calculated on the pre-tip total as entered. Some restaurants calculate service on the food subtotal only, excluding drinks.
- A service charge already added to the bill is not detected — check the bill before adding a tip on top of one.
- Per-person amounts are rounded to the nearest penny, so the sum of the shares can differ from the total by a penny or two.
Sources & references
Service charge and tipping conventions in the UK are described by:
- Department for Business & Trade — code of practice on tips, gratuities and service charges
- Citizens Advice — tips and service charges: your rights under the Tipping Act
Even split, itemised, or something in between
An even split is fastest and fair when everyone ordered similarly. It stops being fair when one person had a starter and three drinks and another had a salad and tap water — and the usual compromise is to itemise the obvious outliers and split the remainder evenly. Service charge and shared dishes follow the same logic: apply them proportionally to what each person spent rather than per head, otherwise the light eater subsidises the tip on someone else's wine.
Rounding, and the penny that goes missing
A bill rarely divides exactly. Splitting £87.40 three ways gives £29.1333 each, and rounding every share to £29.13 leaves a penny short. The convention that avoids awkwardness is to round each share up to the nearest sensible unit and let the small surplus fall into the tip, or to have one person absorb the remainder. Whichever you use, decide it before the calculation rather than after, and check that the shares add back to the total — a split that does not reconcile is a split someone will query.