Tip Calculator – Work Out the Tip and Split the Bill Fairly
When the bill arrives, the questions are always the same. How much is 18%? Do we tip on the tax? What does each of us pay? This tip calculator answers all of them. It works out the tip and the total, and splits the bill to the cent. It can round to a whole number, handle a service charge that is already on the bill, share tax and tip fairly when people ordered different things, and tell you how much you can order on a fixed budget.
The basic tip formula
The tip is the bill multiplied by the tip percentage: tip = bill × tip % ÷ 100, and total = bill + tip. For a bill of 84.20 at 18%, that is 84.20 × 0.18 = 15.156, which rounds to 15.16, for a total of 99.36. Split four ways, each person pays 24.84. The calculator does all of its maths in whole cents, so floating-point errors never creep in.
Tipping on the pre-tax or after-tax amount
In the US and Canada, sales tax is added to the bill, and etiquette guides usually suggest tipping on the pre-tax amount, because tax isn't part of the service. On a 92.63 bill that includes 7.63 tax, a 20% tip on the pre-tax 85.00 is 17.00. The same 20% on the full bill would be 18.53, which is 1.53 more. Open Bill details to enter the tax as an amount or a rate. Where menu prices already include VAT or GST, as in the UK, most of Europe, India and Australia, leave the tax empty.
How rounding changes the real percentage
Rounding the total up to a round number is convenient, but it changes the tip. Rounding 99.36 up to 100.00 adds 0.64, which turns an 18% tip into an effective tip of 18.76%. Rounding to the nearest whole number can also go down: 54.17 becomes 54.00, and a 15% tip becomes 14.65%. The calculator always shows the effective percentage, and it never rounds a total below the bill.
Why splitting to the cent needs a remainder rule
Some totals can't be divided evenly. 115.00 shared by three is 38.333…, and nobody can pay a third of a cent. The fair answer is that one person pays 38.34 and two pay 38.33, which adds up to exactly 115.00. The people tiles mark who carries the extra cent. If you would rather everyone paid the same, choose Round each person's share. Everyone pays 39.00, and the extra 2.00 goes to the tip.
Fair itemized splitting
An even split is unfair when one person had a salad and another had the steak. The Itemized Split tab adds up each person's own items plus their share of anything shared, such as a starter for the table or a bottle of wine for two. Tax, service charge and tip are then shared in proportion to what each person ordered. Leftover cents go to whoever has the largest fraction, so the per-person totals always add up exactly to the receipt.
Service charges vs tips
A service charge is added by the restaurant, often 10–12.5% or an automatic gratuity for large parties. It usually does the job of the tip. If you tip on top, the calculator warns you and shows the combined figure. A 12.50 service charge plus a 10% tip on a 100.00 meal is 22.50% in total.
Tipping around the world
Customs vary a lot. In the United States, 15–20% is commonly cited for table service. In Japan and South Korea, tipping generally isn't customary, and in much of Europe service is already included and rounding up is enough. Pick a country to see its typical range on the tip scale, or open the tipping guide below the calculator. It is general guidance rather than a rule, so when in doubt, ask.
What this calculator doesn't do
It uses one tip percentage for the whole table, and it doesn't cover tip pooling between staff or tax reporting of tip income. To compare prices in another currency, use the currency converter.