Bill Split by Item
$
$
%
%
Grand Total$130.00
Subtotal$100.00
Tax$10.00
Tip$20.00
| Person | Items | Tax | Tip | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice | $60.00 | $6.00 | $12.00 | $78.00 |
| Bob | $40.00 | $4.00 | $8.00 | $52.00 |
When a group orders very different things, splitting the check evenly is unfair to the person who only had a salad. This itemized bill-split calculator lets each diner pay for exactly what they ordered, then divides the shared tax and tip in proportion to each person’s item total — so the big spenders cover the larger slice of the gratuity and everyone pays their genuine share.
Formula
fraction = items / subtotal; personTotal = items + tax × fraction + tip × fraction
- items
- Dollar total of one person’s ordered items
- subtotal
- Sum of every person’s items
- tax
- Total tax on the subtotal in dollars
- tip
- Total tip on the subtotal in dollars
- fraction
- A person’s share of the subtotal
How it works
- Add each person and enter the dollar total of the items they personally ordered; the calculator sums these into the bill subtotal.
- Enter a single tax percentage and tip percentage that apply to the whole table; these are charged on the combined subtotal.
- The shared tax and tip are apportioned to each person by their fraction of the subtotal, and each person’s final total is their items plus their tax and tip share.
Worked example
Alice ordered $60 of food and Bob $40, with 10% tax and a 20% tip on the $100 subtotal.
- Subtotal = $60 + $40 = $100; tax = $10.00; tip = $20.00.
- Alice’s fraction = 60 ÷ 100 = 60%, so she owes $6.00 tax + $12.00 tip on top of $60 = $78.00.
- Bob’s fraction = 40 ÷ 100 = 40%, so he owes $4.00 tax + $8.00 tip on top of $40 = $52.00.
Alice pays $78.00 and Bob pays $52.00, totaling the $130.00 grand total.
Frequently asked questions
- How is this different from an even split?
- An even split divides the whole check equally regardless of what each person ordered. This calculator charges each person for their own items and only shares the tax and tip, which is fairer when orders differ a lot.
- Why is the tip split by item total instead of evenly?
- Tax and tip scale with the cost of what was ordered, so apportioning them by each person’s share of the subtotal keeps the split proportional. Someone who ordered more pays a larger part of the gratuity.
- Do the per-person totals always add up to the grand total?
- They add up to within a cent or so. Because each person’s amount is rounded to the nearest cent individually, the rounded shares can differ from the exact grand total by a few cents.
- Can I enter tax and tip as dollar amounts instead of percentages?
- This tool takes tax and tip as percentages of the subtotal. To match a fixed dollar tip, divide it by the subtotal and multiply by 100 to get the equivalent percentage.