Tip calculator
Bill, tip percent, and how many people are paying. The math happens as you type.
Using the split without an argument at the table
The number that ends the dinner debate is "Each pays". It already includes the tip, so nobody needs to do a second round of math on their share. The quick buttons cover the realistic range: 15% for adequate service, 18% as the modern default, 20% for good service, 25% when someone dealt with your party of nine graciously. If you are between two feelings, the honest move is to type the exact percent rather than rounding your generosity up or down by tapping a button.
A practical habit worth adopting: decide the tip on the bill, then round the total to a clean number by nudging the percent a fraction. A $60 bill at 18% is $70.80; typing 18.7 gets you $71.22, but typing 20 gets you a flat $72. Servers vastly prefer the clean total, and the extra cost of rounding up is usually under a dollar. The calculator recomputes as you type, so you can watch the total land where you want it.
The per-person tip figure has a quiet second use: cash tips. Many people pay the bill on one card but leave the tip in cash, and "Tip per person" tells everyone at the table exactly what to throw in.
A worked example
Say the bill is $87.40, service was good, and four people are splitting evenly. Enter 87.40, tap the 20% button, set people to 4. The tip is 87.40 x 20 / 100 = $17.48. The total is $104.88. Each person pays 104.88 / 4 = $26.22, of which $4.37 is their share of the tip. If one person covers the whole check, the other three each owe them $26.22, and the math is already done before the card reader arrives.
How the numbers are produced
The tip is the bill times the percentage divided by 100, the total is bill plus tip, and both per-person figures are simple even divisions of those amounts by the head count. The people field only accepts whole numbers of at least one, and every output is formatted to the cent. There is no rounding trickery: the split is total divided by people, displayed to two decimals. That means a total that does not divide evenly, say $100.00 across three people, shows $33.33 each, which sums to $99.99. Someone at the table covers the odd cent, and civilization survives.
What it deliberately leaves out
This calculator splits evenly, full stop. It does not itemize, so if one person ordered the tomahawk steak and another had soup, split the items yourselves first and run each share through separately. It also takes the bill amount you give it without asking whether tax is included. Convention in the US is to tip on the pre-tax amount, and if you care about that distinction, enter the pre-tax subtotal from the receipt rather than the final line. And it knows nothing about service charges: some restaurants add an automatic gratuity for large parties, and tipping 20% on top of an included 18% is a $30 mistake on a big check. Read the receipt before you type.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I tip at a restaurant in the US?
15% to 20% of the pre-tax bill is standard for table service, with 18% to 20% typical for good service. Counter service is discretionary, often 0% to 10%.
Should I tip on the pre-tax or post-tax amount?
Convention is the pre-tax amount, though many people tip on the total for simplicity. On a typical 8% sales tax the difference on a $50 bill is under a dollar.
How does splitting the bill work here?
The total including tip is divided evenly by the number of people. For uneven splits (one person had the lobster), split the items first and tip on each share.