How to split a restaurant bill without the awkward bit.

Three ways

Even, itemised or by share: which one?

Whatever you choose, service charge, tax and tip get split the same way as the food — in proportion to what each person pays, not a flat amount each.

Worked example

One dinner, split two ways.

Four friends — Rafa, Bea, Kenji and Noor — share a platter worth 600 and order their own mains: Rafa 900, Bea 1,100, Kenji 700, Noor 800. That is 4,100 before a 10% service charge of 410, so the bill comes to 4,510 (in whatever currency you are in).

By share

The drinkers-pay-for-drinks split.

Say the food came to 3,000 for four people and three of them shared a 900 bottle of wine. Food is 750 each. The wine is 300 each among the three who drank it. So the three wine drinkers pay 1,050, and the one who had water pays 750. Then add the service charge in proportion. It takes one more line of maths than an even split and saves a lot of quiet resentment.

Around the world

Service charge and tips, in a few countries.

Before adding a tip, read the bottom of the bill. Customs vary a lot, and a service charge already on the bill changes the maths.

• United States: tipping for table service is expected, and 15 to 20 percent of the bill is the range most etiquette guides give.
• United Kingdom: many restaurants add an optional service charge to the bill. A law passed in 2023 says tips and service charges must be passed on to workers.
• Japan: tipping is not expected in most restaurants, and offering one can cause confusion.
• Philippines: many restaurants add a service charge, and the law says it must go in full to the staff (managers excluded). Anything extra is a kindness, not an obligation.
• Everywhere else: look for “service included” on the menu or bill, and ask a local if you are unsure.

Customs

KKB, going Dutch and other customs.

Every language has a word for paying your own way. In English it is “going Dutch”. In the Philippines people say KKB, short for a Filipino phrase meaning “each pays their own” — announcing “KKB” before ordering means everyone covers their own food. Pooling money into one shared pot for the group is the other common approach, and it works well on food trips where one person pays at each stop.

Some families and friend groups take turns treating instead — you pay this time, I pay next time. That is fair too, as long as someone remembers whose turn it is.

Lines to use

Awkward moments, handled.

• Before ordering: “Shall we just split it evenly tonight, or each pay for ours?”
• When you ate light: “I only had the soup — is it okay if I put in for mine plus the shared plates?”
• When you did not drink: “I’ll skip the wine share, but I’m in for all the food.”
• When one person pays: “I’ll send you mine tonight — what’s the total with service?”
• When it is someone’s birthday: the rest split their share. Agree on it in the group chat before, not at the table.

After

Remember what the table came to.

To be straight about it: PlateDiary does not split bills. What it does is remember them. Add an optional price to any dish and a “What was the bill?” total to the night, or scan the receipt — it is read on your phone and the photo is deleted right after. Prices stay in the currency you paid in. Months later, when someone asks what that birthday dinner cost each, the bill and receipt scan has the answer, next to every dish and everyone who was there.