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Split the bill by what each person had
Two people didn’t have wine, one had dessert, and somebody settled the whole bill at the end. Enter the lines of the bill and who shared each one: every share appears, and the repayments with it.
The principle: you don’t divide the bill, you divide each line. The mains between everyone, the bottle between those who drank it, the dessert between those who had one. Each person’s share is the sum of their lines — and since one person settled the bill, the others simply repay them their share.
The calculator
Free, no account, nothing to install. Nothing is sent anywhere: it all runs in your browser.
The method, line by line
- Take the lines of the bill, grouping what belongs together: the mains, the bottle, the desserts, the coffees. Four lines are almost always enough — there is no need to go dish by dish.
- For each line, note who shared it. That is the only information the receipt doesn’t have.
- Divide each line by the number of people concerned.
- Add up, per person. The shares come to exactly the bill total: that is the check.
Service and tax, when listed separately, are split like the rest: in proportion to what each person had.
A worked example
Four people, a $123 bill settled by Emma.
| Line | Amount | Shared between | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mains | $72 | everyone | $18 |
| Bottle of wine | $27 | Emma, Josh, Sofia | $9 |
| Desserts | $16 | Josh, Tom | $8 |
| Coffees | $8 | everyone | $2 |
What each person owes, next to an even four-way split:
| Person | What they had | Equal split |
|---|---|---|
| Emma (paid) | $29 | $30.75 |
| Josh | $37 | $30.75 |
| Sofia | $29 | $30.75 |
| Tom | $28 | $30.75 |
The repayments to Emma:
- Josh owes $37 to Emma
- Sofia owes $29 to Emma
- Tom owes $28 to Emma
The gap looks small — a few dollars — and that is normal: on a bill where everyone eats, only the drinks and desserts create a difference. The gap becomes real when part of the table doesn’t drink alcohol, and that is where an even split turns into a small repeated unfairness, worked through in splitting groceries when some people don’t drink.
How far to go into the detail
Itemising has a cost: the attention of eight people waiting. A simple rule: separate a line when it changes someone’s share by more than two or three dollars. Below that, share it.
- Always separate: alcohol, children’s meals, the $38 dish when everyone else is at $16, whatever one person ordered for themselves at the end of the meal.
- Share without discussion: water, bread, coffees, the starters in the middle of the table, the tip.
- Settle in advance: how to handle the “for two” dishes that three people picked at. By the time you reconstruct who ate what, the restaurant has closed.
And the question that always comes up: the person who settles the bill isn’t doing anyone a favour, they are lending money. Paying them back the same evening, by instant transfer, beats promising to “work it out later” — that is precisely the phrase after which nobody ever does.
Is the arithmetic reliable?
Yes, and it can be checked. This page runs the same code as the WeSplit app, injected as-is: dividing each line between its participants, handing out the leftover cent, and reducing the number of transfers.
That code is compared automatically against the app’s logic on 400 randomly generated scenarios, and the smallest divergence fails the build. That is what guarantees the shares add up to exactly the bill.
Frequently asked questions
How do you split a restaurant bill by what each person ordered?
Divide each line of the bill by the number of people who shared it, then add up each person’s lines. Shared mains go between everyone, the bottle between those who drank it, the desserts between those who had one.
How do you handle service and the tip?
In proportion to what each person had: someone who accounts for 30% of the bill takes 30% of the service. That is what the calculator does if you add the service as a line shared between everyone.
What if two people settled the bill?
This calculator assumes a single payer. For several, record each expense with its own payer: that is what the app does, and the general calculator does it from totals too.
Do I really have to itemise every dish?
No, and it backfires. Four lines are almost always enough: the mains, the alcohol, the desserts, the rest. Separate a line when it changes someone’s share by more than two or three dollars.
What happens when I tap “keep this in WeSplit”?
The link carries the result — the names, the lines and who had what — to the group creation screen, which shows what it is about to create before creating it, and asks which of those names is yours. Nothing is sent before that tap: the link is built in your browser. If you don’t have an account yet, the calculation waits until you’ve signed up.
Are the amounts I type stored?
No. Nothing is sent, nothing is saved. Close the tab and it is all gone.
For the bills after this one
In WeSplit, an expense can be split by items: each line with the people it concerns, and the balances update themselves. Free, no ads.
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