How to split a restaurant bill: 4 fair methods

Which method should you use to split a restaurant bill?

Use an equal split when everyone ordered about the same, by item when orders differ a lot, and a mix when you shared dishes. The way to see the difference is to run one check through all four methods. The table further down shows what each person pays under each.

What is the check in the example?

Say five friends, Ana, Ben, Cal, Dee and Eli, get a check for $184.00. Tax and tip add $36.80 to $147.20 of food and drink, which is 25 percent on top. Here is who had what:

• Shared by all five: nachos at $14.00 and a dessert at $10.00, $24.00 together.
• Entrees: Ana $21.00, Ben $17.00, Cal $19.00, Dee $23.00, Eli $18.00.
• Drinks: Dee $14.60 and Eli $10.60. Ana, Ben and Cal did not drink.

How do the four methods work?

1. Split it equally

Divide the total by the number of people. $184.00 divided by 5 is $36.80 each, and nobody needs a calculator. It is fair when the orders were close. It breaks when a few people ordered more, because the rest pay for it. Here Dee and Eli had $25.20 of drinks, and the three people who skipped them end up paying $21.15 more together than their own orders came to.

2. Split by item

Everyone pays for what they ordered, with shared dishes divided among the people who shared them, and tax and tip following each person’s order. The nachos and dessert come to $24.00 divided by 5, which is $4.80 each. Each person’s food and drink plus that $4.80 is multiplied by 1.25 to carry the tax and tip. Ben’s is $17.00 + $4.80 = $21.80, and $21.80 × 1.25 is $27.25.

It is the fairest method when plates vary. It breaks when nobody wants to do the arithmetic, so someone has to hold the receipt and do it once.

3. Share the dishes equally, take your own plate

This is the mixed method in the table. Split the shared dishes and the tax and tip equally, and add each person’s own food and drink. Here that is $4.80 for the shared dishes and $7.36 for tax and tip ($36.80 divided by 5), so $12.16 on top of your own order. Ben pays $17.00 + $12.16, which is $29.16.

It needs less arithmetic than the by-item method, because tax and tip are not scaled per person. It moves a few dollars from the people who ordered the most to the people who ordered the least, which the table shows.

4. One person pays and the others reimburse

One person puts the whole $184.00 on a card and collects from the other four, using whichever of the three methods the table chose. Under the by-item amounts, Cal pays $184.00 and collects $154.25: Ana $32.25, Ben $27.25, Dee $53.00 and Eli $41.75.

This method does not change anyone’s total. It changes who handles the money and who waits to be repaid, so agree on a day for repayment when the check is paid.

What does each person pay under each method?

The equal split ranges from $36.80 for everyone, while the by-item split runs from $27.25 to $53.00.

Person	Equal	By item	Mixed
Ana	$36.80	$32.25	$33.16
Ben	$36.80	$27.25	$29.16
Cal	$36.80	$29.75	$31.16
Dee	$36.80	$53.00	$49.76
Eli	$36.80	$41.75	$40.76
Total	$184.00	$184.00	$184.00

Dee moves from $36.80 to $53.00, a difference of $16.20, and Ben moves from $36.80 to $27.25. The mixed method lands within $3.24 of the by-item amount for everyone, which is why it works as a shortcut. The split by item calculator runs the by-item column for any check you type in.

How do you choose in 20 seconds?

Two questions settle it before anyone orders: whether some people will have drinks, a pricey entree or an extra course that others will not, and whether you are sharing dishes.

• No to both: split equally.
• Shared dishes and similar orders: use the mixed method.
• Big differences: go by item. In the example, the drinks were $25.20 of the $147.20 before tax and tip, which is 17 percent, and an equal split has Dee paying $16.20 less than a by-item split does.

Then say it out loud before the server arrives. “Let’s split by what we order, and share the nachos.” “Equal is fine for me, we all got about the same.” “I’ll put it on my card and send everyone their amount tonight.” One sentence at the start prevents ten minutes at the end.

Should you ask for separate checks or use one check and a collector?

Separate checks put the arithmetic on the restaurant, and they work best when each person orders their own plate and shared dishes are few. One check and a collector works for any table, but one person fronts the money. If you want separate checks, ask when you sit down rather than when the check is due.

How do you record the split in EvenOut?

Add the check as one expense and pick who paid. EvenOut lets you choose the split for each expense:

• Equal split: choose “Equally”. EvenOut shows each person’s share, such as “$36.80 each · 5 people”.
• Mixed split: choose “By item” and add each dish as a line with chips for who had it. A shared dish splits evenly among the chosen people. The items must add up to the expense total, so enter tax and tip as an item for everyone, which splits it equally.
• By-item amounts you already worked out: choose “Exact amounts” and type each person’s total. The pill reads “All assigned” when they add up to the check.

“By item” is free and entered by hand, and it does not show each person’s total while you build it, so it helps to work out the numbers first. When someone pays you back, “Settle up” records it. EvenOut records the payment and does not move money.

What should you do next?

Pick the method before the next check arrives. For a bigger table, how to split the bill with a large group goes through it, and what to say when people disagree about the check covers the awkward case. If one person’s order is far from the rest, splitting a bill unevenly goes through the math for it.