Tip Calculator
Enter the bill, choose a tip percentage and say how many people are paying. The calculator shows the tip, the new total, and what each person owes.
Quick tip amounts:
How the numbers are worked out
The maths is deliberately plain. The tip is a straight percentage of whatever you type into the bill field, the total is the bill plus that tip, and the split divides both figures by the number of people.
total = bill + tip
tip per person = tip ÷ number of people
total per person = total ÷ number of people
Two details are worth knowing. First, every figure is rounded to the nearest cent on its own, at the end, from the unrounded value. Second, nothing is rounded up to a whole unit of currency and no leftover cent is assigned to anyone. That means the displayed per-person amount multiplied by the number of people will sometimes miss the total by a cent or two, and somebody at the table has to absorb the difference.
A worked example
A bill of 84.50 with an 18 percent tip, split three ways:
total = 84.50 + 15.21 = 99.71
tip per person = 15.21 ÷ 3 = 5.07
total per person = 99.71 ÷ 3 = 33.2366... which displays as 33.24
Three people paying 33.24 hand over 99.72, one cent more than the 99.71 total. That is the rounding remainder, and it is the reason a real table usually just rounds the per-person figure to a convenient note or coin.
The per-person rows only appear once the number of people is greater than one. A bill or tip percentage below zero, or a headcount below one, produces the message "Values must be positive" instead of a result, and a blank headcount counts as zero, so it triggers the same message. A bill of zero is accepted and gives a tip of zero. The tip percentage itself is not capped, so a 100 percent tip or more is allowed if that is what you mean.
Tipping customs around the world
These are customs, not rules, and they move. They also vary by city, by type of venue, and by whether you are at a counter or a table. Treat the table as a starting point and follow what people around you are doing.
| Where | Typical restaurant tip | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 15 to 20 percent | Closer to 20 percent in large cities. In most states tipped staff can be paid a sub-minimum base wage, so tips are wages rather than a bonus. Bars often get one to two dollars a drink. |
| Canada | 15 to 20 percent | Broadly follows US practice. Card terminals usually prompt with preset percentages. |
| United Kingdom and Ireland | 10 to 15 percent | Many restaurants already add a discretionary service charge, commonly 12.5 percent. It is optional and can be removed on request. Ordering at a pub bar is normally not tipped. |
| South Africa | 10 to 15 percent | Larger tables often have a service charge added automatically, so check the bill. Car guards who watch your car in a parking area customarily get a few rand, and petrol attendants are usually tipped too. |
| France, Italy, Spain, Germany | 0 to 10 percent | Service is generally included in the prices or added as a line on the bill. Rounding up, or leaving 5 to 10 percent for genuinely good service, is common and appreciated rather than expected. An Italian coperto is a cover charge, not a tip. |
| Japan | Not customary | Tipping is not part of the culture and cash left on a table is likely to be returned to you. Some hotels and restaurants add a service charge instead. Where a gratuity is given at all, it is presented in an envelope. |
| Australia and New Zealand | 0 to 10 percent | Staff are on full award wages. Rounding up or 10 percent marks exceptional service. |
Tip on the pre-tax or the post-tax amount?
This question only really exists where sales tax is added at the register, which mainly means the United States and Canada. The traditional convention there is to tip on the pre-tax subtotal, but payment terminals almost always calculate their suggested percentages from the post-tax total, which quietly raises the tip.
20 percent of the subtotal = 20.00
20 percent of the taxed bill = 21.70
A difference of 1.70 on a 100 dollar meal is small, and neither choice is wrong. In the United Kingdom, the European Union and South Africa the point is moot, because VAT is already inside the listed prices and there is no visible pre-tax figure to tip on.
This calculator has no tax field on purpose. Whatever you type into the bill box is what the percentage is applied to, so type the subtotal if you want to tip pre-tax and the full amount if you want to tip post-tax.
When a service charge is already on the bill
Scan the itemised bill for a line reading service charge, gratuity, servizio or optional service. If one is there, the tip has effectively been made for you and no further amount is expected. Groups of roughly six or more often trigger an automatic service charge even in places that do not otherwise add one.
The trap is double tipping. If you enter a total that already contains a 12.5 percent service charge and then add another 18 percent, you are tipping on top of the tip. Two safe ways to handle it:
- Enter only the food and drink subtotal, before the service charge, and set the tip percentage to the extra amount you want to add. If a 10 percent service charge is already applied and you want to reach 15 percent in total, enter 5.
- Or enter the full bill including the service charge, set the tip percentage to zero, and use the calculator purely to split the total evenly.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I actually tip?
Use the country table above. As a rough default, 18 to 20 percent for table service in the United States, 10 to 15 percent in the United Kingdom and South Africa if no service charge has been added, and rounding up in much of continental Europe.
Why does each share not add up to the total?
Each figure is rounded to the nearest cent separately, and the calculator does not hand the leftover cent to anyone. Multiply the per-person total by the headcount and you may land a cent or two either side of the bill. In practice one person covers the gap, or everyone rounds up.
Can I use a percentage that is not one of the buttons?
Yes. The quick buttons are 10, 15, 18, 20 and 25 percent, and typing any number into the tip field, including decimals, replaces the preset.
Should I tip on delivery and takeaway?
Practice varies more here than in restaurants. In the United States, 10 to 15 percent of the order, or a small fixed minimum on a cheap order, is common for delivery, with more for bad weather or a long trip. Counter takeaway that you collect yourself is usually not tipped, or gets loose change.
Is the rounding ever off by a cent?
Rarely, yes. The rounding uses standard binary floating point arithmetic, so an exact half cent that cannot be represented precisely can round down instead of up. It affects the last cent only, never the practical answer, but it is worth knowing if you are reconciling figures to the penny.