Split evenly if everyone ordered about the same. Split by item if orders differ. Either way, divide tax and tip in proportion to what each person ordered, not equally. Scanning the receipt and letting friends claim their items makes the itemized method as quick as the even one.
Method 1: split evenly
Divide the total by the number of people. It is the fastest method and works when everyone ordered similar amounts. It gets unfair quickly when one person had two cocktails and another had water.
Method 2: split by item
Each person pays for what they ordered. It is the fairest method and the one that takes longest by hand. Shared plates are split between the people who shared them.
| Ana: Margherita | $15.00 |
| Ben: Carbonara | $16.00 |
| Chloe: Tiramisu + wine | $32.00 |
| You: Garlic bread | $7.00 |
| Friends owe you | $63.00 |
Method 3: split by drink (or by course)
A middle path: share food evenly and pay for drinks individually. Useful when the food was shared and the drinks were not.
Tax and tip: share them proportionally
Tax and tip should scale with each person's subtotal. If you ordered 10% of the food, you cover about 10% of the tax and tip. Splitting them equally makes the person who ordered the least subsidise everyone else.
- Add each person's items to get their subtotal.
- Divide that subtotal by the bill subtotal to get their share.
- Apply that share to tax and tip, then add it to their subtotal.
Doing it without the maths: the whole flow in Slyce
- Scan the receipt. Photograph it and the items are read for you. Fix anything that was read wrong.
- Assign the items. At the table, use live mode so everyone taps their own items, and two or three people can finish it for the whole group. If people have already left, send a claim link and let them tap what they had. Tax and tip are allocated per person.
- Everyone pays their own share. Each person sees exactly what they owe, opens the payer's own payment details (PayPal, Revolut, Venmo, bank transfer and more) and pays in that app. Then they tap Mark as paid. Slyce does not move the money itself. See how Slyce Pay works.
Want the full walkthrough with screens? Read splitting a restaurant bill with Slyce.
A quick etiquette note
Agree on the method before the bill arrives, not after. If one person has a very different order, suggest itemizing before the table rounds up to an even split.
Frequently asked questions
How do you split a bill with tax and tip?
Work out each person's subtotal, then share tax and tip in proportion to it. Splitting them equally is only fair if everyone ordered about the same.
How do you split shared appetizers?
Divide the price between the people who shared it. In Slyce you tap the item and select everyone who had a bite.