Bill Splitter

Everyday & learning

Split a bill so the centavos add up, with service charge and VAT.

Bill total
₱2,200.00
Shares differ — see below
Subtotal
₱2,000.00
Service charge
₱200.00
Total
₱2,200.00
Who is paying
Who pays what
Person 1₱733.34
Items ₱666.67 · Service ₱66.67 · +1¢
Person 2₱733.34
Items ₱666.67 · Service ₱66.67 · +1¢
Person 3₱733.32
Items ₱666.66 · Service ₱66.66
The receipt
Subtotal₱2,000.00
Service charge₱200.00
VAT (already included)₱235.71
Total₱2,200.00
VAT is shown as part of the bill, not added to it. Displayed prices in the Philippines already include VAT, so the ₱235.71 here was extracted from the total rather than charged on top. Adding it instead would overstate the bill.
The service charge is computed on the items, not on the tax. That is the order a Philippine receipt uses, and it is the step people get wrong checking the maths by hand.
The bill does not divide exactly, so Person 1, Person 2 pay one centavo more. The shares add up to the bill exactly — rounding each one separately would leave the total short.

How to use

What it's for

Share a restaurant bill fairly — evenly, or by what each person ordered — with the service charge, VAT and tip divided the same way, down to the centavo.

Before you start

Have the receipt: the food total before service charge, or each dish and its price, plus the service charge and any tip.

  1. Choose how to split

    Pick Split evenly when everyone pays the same, or By what each ordered when people had different dishes.

  2. Name the people paying

    Under Who is paying, type each person's name — a blank box is called Person 1, Person 2 and so on. Press Add person for more, or × to remove someone.

  3. Enter the bill

    For an even split, type the food total in Bill before service charge. For a split by order, list each dish under What was ordered with its price, then tap the names of whoever shared it; Add item adds a row.

  4. Check the extras

    Set Service charge %, VAT % and Tip ₱ to match the receipt. Leave Menu prices already include VAT ticked for a normal restaurant, because menu prices already contain VAT. Untick it only if the bill adds VAT on top.

  5. Press Calculate

    Press Calculate. The answer already updates as you type; the button brings it into view.

Reading the result

  • Each person pays: on an even split that divides exactly, what each person pays. When it does not divide exactly, the top shows Bill total with Shares differ — see below.
  • Who pays what: each person's total, split into items, service charge and any VAT or tip added on top. +1¢ marks whoever covers a leftover centavo, so the shares add up exactly.
  • The receipt: the subtotal, service charge, VAT and total for the table. VAT (already included) means it was taken out of the prices, not added on.

If it goes wrong

  • The total looks too high: Menu prices already include VAT was unticked, so VAT was added on top of prices that already contain it. Tick it again.
  • A dish was split among everyone although one person ordered it: a dish with no names tapped reads Nobody picked — shared by everyone. Tap the name of whoever ordered it.
  • One person pays a centavo more: the bill does not divide exactly, so the leftover centavo goes to one share and a note says whose.

What this is

Two things go wrong when a bill is split, and both of them are money.

The first is the centavo. ₱1,000 across three people is ₱333.333… each. Round every share down and the total is ₱999.99 — a centavo short of money that genuinely exists, and somebody has to cover it. Round up and you have invented two. So every share is floored here and the leftover centavos go one each to the largest fractional parts. The shares always sum to the bill, and the page names who paid the extra centavo.

The second is VAT. In the Philippines, displayed prices already include it. Add 12% on top of a menu total and you have charged it twice. So it is not added here — it is backed out of the total so you can see it: ₱120 inside ₱1,120, not ₱134.40 on top.

And the service charge is computed on the food, not on the tax.

Questions

Should I add 12% VAT to the bill?

Usually not. Displayed prices in the Philippines are required to include VAT already, so adding 12% on top of a menu total charges it twice. This tool defaults to treating the prices as VAT-inclusive and backs the VAT out to show you what portion of the bill it is — ₱120 inside ₱1,120, not ₱134.40 on top. Turn the checkbox off only if you know the prices are quoted exclusive of VAT, which is normal for a corporate invoice and unusual on a restaurant menu.

Is the service charge calculated before or after VAT?

Before. The service charge is a percentage of the items; VAT then applies to the items and the service charge together. Doing it the other way round — charging service on a VAT-inclusive figure — inflates a ₱1,000 bill by about ₱12, and it is the step people get wrong when they check the receipt by hand.

Why does one person pay a centavo more?

Because some bills do not divide. ₱1,000 across three people is ₱333.333… each, and rounding every share down to ₱333.33 leaves ₱999.99 — a centavo short of money that genuinely exists, which somebody at the table has to cover. So the shares are allocated by largest remainder: everyone is rounded down and the leftover centavos go one each to the largest fractional parts. The shares always add up to the bill, and the page names who took the extra centavo rather than leaving an unexplained difference.

What happens to an item nobody is assigned to?

It is shared by everyone, which is what a plate in the middle of the table means. The alternative — refusing the row — would quietly drop its amount from the bill, and that is the one error nobody would notice until the total came up short.

Does the tip get VAT added to it?

No. The tip is added after everything else and is not taxed. A service charge is not a tip either — it is part of the bill, it is taxed, and how much of it reaches the staff is between the restaurant and its employees.

Is this what the restaurant is legally allowed to charge?

This reproduces the arithmetic on a receipt; it does not rule on it. Whether a service charge is properly imposed, and how it must be distributed to staff, is governed by the Labor Code and is outside what a calculator can tell you.

The maths

₱1,000 across three
Exact share₱333.3333…
Round each down₱999.99 ✗
Round each up₱1,000.02 ✗
Largest remainder₱1,000.00 ✓
Order: food → service charge → VAT on both → tip. When prices already include VAT it is extracted rather than added.

Keep going

Important

Runs entirely in your browser; nothing is transmitted. Philippine menu prices already include VAT, so VAT is shown as part of the bill by default rather than added to it. This reproduces the arithmetic on a receipt — whether a service charge is properly imposed is a matter for the Labor Code, not a calculator. Nothing you type here is sent to our servers — the calculation runs entirely in your browser.