Fixed amounts first, then divide what is left
Write one person per line as a name and an amount. Sam 0 means Sam pays nothing. Alex 20 means Alex pays $20 regardless. The calculator adds those up, subtracts them from the bill, and divides what remains among everybody who was not named. A comma, a colon or a dollar sign in the line is fine, and the name is optional, though it makes the copyable list useful.
The head count includes the people with fixed amounts. Six people with two fixed lines means the other four split the remainder, and the head count stays at six.
Rounding and the few cents left over
A $187 bill across six people is $31.1666 each. Nobody transfers that, so the default rounds each share up to the next dollar, making it $32 and collecting $192. The $5 difference is the price of a clean number and it has to go somewhere. The default sends it to whoever paid, who ends up slightly ahead. The alternative reduces the last person's share by the full difference so the collection matches the bill exactly, which is precise but makes one person's number visibly different from everyone else's.
Rounding to the exact cent removes the leftover almost entirely, at the cost of shares like $31.17. Shares always round up rather than down, so the group collects at most a few cents more than the bill and never less.
| $187 across 6 | Each | Collected | Left over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exact cent | $31.17 | $187.02 | $0.02 |
| Next 50 cents | $31.50 | $189.00 | $2.00 |
| Next dollar | $32.00 | $192.00 | $5.00 |
| Next $5 | $35.00 | $210.00 | $23.00 |
The $5 setting is reasonable for four people and absurd for twelve, since the leftover scales with the head count. For a large group, stay at a dollar or below.
When one split is not enough
Splitting by category, where the drinkers cover the bar tab and everyone splits the food, is two calculations rather than one. Run the food total across everyone, run the bar total across the drinkers, and add each person's two numbers. Trying to express that as a single set of fixed amounts works only if you already know the answer, which defeats the point.
The same applies to a bill where one person's order was substantially more expensive than everyone else's. Itemising is more accurate than any even split, and it is also slower and more socially expensive. Which of those costs more is not a question arithmetic answers.
Two cautions before you send the numbers
First, check that tax and tip are inside the total you typed. A restaurant bill split before the tip is added leaves the person who paid covering all of it, which is a common and quiet way to be twenty dollars down. Second, the names on this page never leave your browser and the copyable block is generated locally, but that block is plain text headed for a group chat, so use first names or initials rather than anything you would not want forwarded.
Questions people ask
How do I handle someone who is not paying?
Give them a fixed line of zero, such as "Sam 0", and leave the head count at the full number of people present. Their zero is subtracted from the bill, which changes nothing, and they are excluded from the group that divides the remainder. The list still shows them at $0.00, which is useful when you paste it into a chat and someone asks whether they were forgotten.
Why does the collected amount not equal the bill?
Because rounding each share up always collects a little more than the exact division. On a $187 bill across six people, rounding to the next dollar collects $192. The default treats that $5 as going to whoever paid the bill. Choosing the other rounding option cuts the last share by the whole difference so the collection matches the bill exactly, and choosing the exact-cent unit reduces the leftover to a couple of cents at most.
Can I split by what each person ordered?
Not directly, but you can express it with the fixed-amount lines: give every person a fixed amount equal to their own items plus their share of tax and tip, and set the head count to match. That means doing the arithmetic yourself and using the page as a reconciliation check, which is genuinely useful, because the reconciliation line tells you immediately whether your itemised numbers add up to the bill. If they come up short, something was missed.
Where do tax and tip fit in?
Type the final bill including both, and everything downstream is proportionally correct. If you enter the subtotal instead, the person who paid ends up covering the tax and tip alone. If you want the tip calculated first, run the tip calculator on this site, take the total it produces, and bring that figure here. The two pages use the same whole-cent arithmetic, so the numbers line up.