How to Split $100 5 Ways: $20.00 for Each Person

A fair split of one restaurant bill, tax and tip included

Equal shares are fair only when the plates cost the same. Four people, a $172.80 check with $12.80 of tax and a 20% tip make $51.20 each, yet the person who ordered a $28 salad then pays $15.36 toward someone else's steak. This split bill calculator divides a check three ways: equally, by what each person ordered, or in proportion to income. Tax and tip follow each person's food, and the cents are assigned so the shares add up to the exact total.

The problem: one receipt, several different dinners

The check arrives as a single number. Somebody had two cocktails, somebody skipped dessert, a plate of fries went around the table, and the tax and tip sit on top of all of it. Dividing by the number of people is quick but quietly moves money from light eaters to heavy ones. Adding up each person's items by hand works until you reach the tax line, the tip and the shared plates, and then the totals no longer match the card slip by a few dollars.

The fix: three methods and an exact total

Tax and tip follow the food. In the by-item method each person's share of the tax and of the tip is in proportion to what they ordered, so a $52 dinner carries $4.16 of the tax and a $28 one carries $2.24.

Shared plates are handled, not ignored. Whatever part of the bill nobody listed, such as an appetizer for the table, is split equally. If the orders add up to more than the bill, for example after a coupon, every order is scaled down in proportion.

No missing cents. Shares are allocated to the cent so they always add up to the bill plus tip. When $100 splits three ways, one person pays $33.34 and two pay $33.33, and the result says who.

Six entries between the receipt and the shares

Bill total - the amount at the bottom of the check, tax included, before any tip.
Sales tax - optional, the tax line from the receipt. With it, the tip is worked out on the amount before tax and the tax is shared like the food.
People - a whole number from 2 to 30.
How to split - equally, by what each person ordered, or by income.
Amounts per person - for the last two methods only. Orders go in before tax, one per person, separated by commas: 52, 38.50, 41.50, 28. Incomes or weights the same way: 6000, 4000 or 2, 1, 1 for a couple and two singles. Use a dot for cents and no thousands separators.
Tip rate - optional, decimals allowed. Then read the range of shares, the per-person table and the column that compares each share with an equal split.

Which split suits the table

The method is a social choice as much as a math one. The table pairs common situations with the method that tends to settle them, and the reason it works.

Situation	Method	Why
Similar plates, shared drinks	Equal	The differences are a few dollars and nobody has to read the receipt
One person ordered far more or far less	By item	In the first check below the gap is $15.36 in both directions
Individual mains plus plates for the table	By item, shared plates left out of the list	The unlisted part is split equally automatically
A coupon or a discount on the check	By item, menu prices as listed	Each order is scaled down by the same share
A couple or housemates with different incomes	By income	Each pays the same share of what they earn
Two couples and a single	By income with weights 2, 2, 1	Each couple pays for two seats

Five checks split by the calculator

Four dinners, nothing shared. Bill $172.80 with $12.80 tax, orders 52, 38.50, 41.50, 28, tip 20% before tax ($32.00).
Result: $66.56, $49.28, $53.12 and $35.84. Against the equal $51.20, the first person pays $15.36 more and the last $15.36 less.

The same check with $30 of plates for the table. Orders 45, 30, 35, 20 add up to $130, so $30 of the $160 before tax is unlisted and split $7.50 each.
Result: $67.20, $48.00, $54.40 and $35.20.

Menu prices above the bill. Orders 60, 45, 50, 30 add up to $185 against $160 before tax, for example after a discount.
Result: each order is scaled by the same factor, and the first person pays $66.42 instead of the $76.80 the menu price would suggest.

A couple splitting by income. Bill $240, no tax line, tip 18% ($43.20), monthly incomes 6000 and 4000.
Result: $169.92 and $113.28, a 60/40 split of $283.20. An equal split would be $141.60 each.

Three ways, no tip. Bill $100, split equally.
Result: $33.34 for person 1 and $33.33 for persons 2 and 3, which adds up to $100.00.

Even shares of common totals

For the quick case, here is what each person pays when a total that already includes tax and tip is split evenly. Where the cents do not divide, the first people pay one cent more, shown as a range.

Total	2 people	3 people	4 people	5 people	6 people
$120	$60.00	$40.00	$30.00	$24.00	$20.00
$150	$75.00	$50.00	$37.50	$30.00	$25.00
$200	$100.00	$66.66-66.67	$50.00	$40.00	$33.33-33.34
$250	$125.00	$83.33-83.34	$62.50	$50.00	$41.66-41.67
$300	$150.00	$100.00	$75.00	$60.00	$50.00

What diners usually ask

How do you split tax and tip proportionally?

Work out each person's share of the food, then give them the same share of the tax and of the tip. A person who ordered $52 of a $160 pre-tax bill has 32.5% of the food, so they also take 32.5% of the $12.80 tax ($4.16) and of the $32.00 tip ($10.40).

Should orders be entered with or without tax?

Without, at the menu prices. The calculator adds each person's part of the tax line itself. If you leave the tax field empty, it compares the orders with the full bill instead.

What happens if the orders do not add up to the bill?

If they add up to less, the rest is treated as shared and split equally, and the result says how much that was. If they add up to more, every order is scaled down by the same factor. Either way the shares still total the bill plus tip.

Is splitting by income only for couples?

No. The method takes any weights, so it also works for housemates sharing a grocery bill, or for a group where two couples and one single person count seats as 2, 2 and 1.

Why is the tip worked out before tax?

Etiquette guides such as the Emily Post Institute give the restaurant tip as a percentage of the amount before tax. On the example check, 20% of the $160 before tax is $32.00, against $34.56 on the full $172.80. Leave the tax field empty to tip on the full bill.

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How do you split $100 5 ways, down to the cent?

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