How to split the restaurant bill with tip

Three ways to split the bill

Evenly. Add everything up, tip included, and divide by the number of people. It’s quick and works when everyone ordered more or less the same.

Everyone pays for their own. Each person pays for what they ordered, plus their share of the tip. It’s the fairest way when some people ordered a lot more than others, or when some drank alcohol and others didn’t.

A mix. What was ordered to share (the appetizer, the pizza, the pitcher) is split among the people who had it, and everyone pays for their own dishes. That’s what happens at most tables.

Step by step: split by what each person had

1. List the items on the receipt, with their prices.
2. Mark whose each item is. If it was for sharing, mark who shared it.
3. Add up each person’s items: their own plus their share of what was shared. That’s their subtotal.
4. Work out the tip on the total and split it in proportion to each person’s subtotal.
5. Check who paid the bill: everyone pays that person their subtotal plus their tip.

An example with numbers

Juan, Sara and Pedro go out to eat. Juan orders a burger, Sara a pasta and Pedro a salad. They get nachos for the three of them and a pitcher of lemonade just for Sara and Pedro. They leave a 20% tip and Sara pays with her card.

The nachos come to $4 per person, and the lemonade to $5 for each of the two who had it. So:

How to split the tip

The tip is a percentage of what was ordered, so the fair way is to split it the same way: whoever ordered more puts in more tip. If you split it evenly, the person who had a salad ends up paying part of the tip on the most expensive dish.

The simplest way to do it is to apply the same percentage to each person’s subtotal, as in the example: 20% of $20.00 is $4.00. If you only need the total, use the tip calculator.

How much should you leave? In the United States, 15% to 20% is customary at sit-down restaurants. In many Latin American countries, such as Colombia, the tip is voluntary and 10% is common. If the bill already includes service, you don’t need to add it again.

When the bill gets complicated

Someone is treating

If Juan treats Sara, what Sara had is added to Juan’s share. Nobody else changes: they still pay for their own.

Some people drink and others don’t

Mark the drinks as belonging to whoever had them, just like the lemonade in the example. That way, whoever didn’t drink doesn’t pay for the wine or its tip.

One person paid by card and the rest pay them back

This is the most common case. What matters is that everyone knows how much to send to whom. If there were several bills that night (dinner, then dessert somewhere else, paid by different people), it’s best to add it all up and simplify: fewer transfers, and nobody ends up owing someone who also owes them.

Someone has no cash and doesn’t have the app

It doesn’t matter: their share is the same. Just send them how much it is and who to pay.

Do it on your phone

You can do all this at the table with your phone’s calculator, but it’s slow. In Divall, a Food and drinks account does it for you: snap a photo of the receipt (or add each item with who paid for it), mark who had what and choose the tip. Divall splits it by what each person had, adds what their guests had to the share of whoever is treating, and tells you who pays whom. Add anyone without the app by name.

Frequently asked questions