Reverse Tip Calculator
Enter the total you paid and the tip percentage to see the bill before the tip, and what the tip actually came to.
Separating the tip from the total
A tip is added to the bill, so the amount you paid is more than 100% of it. At 18% you paid 118% of the bill — divide by 1.18 to recover it.
A card statement shows $94.40, and you tipped 18%.
- Bill = 94.40 ÷ 1.18 = $80.00
- Tip = 94.40 − 80.00 = $14.40
Why you might need this
Expensing a meal. Most policies reimburse the bill and cap the gratuity separately, so the two have to be split apart from what arrives as a single card charge.
Checking a charge. If a statement looks higher than you remember, reversing the tip tells you whether the bill or the gratuity was the surprise. Restaurants occasionally apply a service charge and leave the tip line open as well, which is how people tip twice without noticing.
Splitting after the fact. When one person pays and everyone settles later, the fair split is on the bill, with the tip apportioned by share rather than divided flat.
When the tip is already included
Outside the US, a gratuity is often built into the bill rather than added at the end. Many European restaurants include service by law or convention, and a card terminal that still prompts for a tip is asking for a second one on top.
Reversing an included charge is the same arithmetic, but the number you divide by has to match what was actually applied. If the bill states "service 12.5% included", the printed total is 112.5% of the food and drink, so divide by 1.125. If it says "service not included", the total is the bill and nothing needs reversing.
Large groups are where this catches people out. An automatic gratuity for parties of six or more is frequently applied without comment, and the per-head figure people calculate from the total then quietly includes it twice once everyone adds their own.
Service charge versus tip
A discretionary service charge appears on the bill before the total, and is typically 12.5% in the UK. A tip is added after. When both are present the total is the bill × 1.125 × 1.20, so reversing means dividing by the product — 1.35 — and not by 1.325. Adding the two percentages together is the same error as adding stacked discounts, and it goes the wrong way: you will overstate the bill and understate what you tipped.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find the bill before the tip?
Divide the total you paid by 1 plus the tip rate. A $69 total that included a 15% tip was 69 ÷ 1.15 = $60 before the tip.
How do I work out the tip amount from the total?
Find the pre-tip bill first, then subtract it. On a $69 total at 15%, the bill was $60 and the tip was $9.
Should I tip on the pre-tax or post-tax amount?
Convention in the US is to tip on the pre-tax subtotal, though many people tip on the total for simplicity. At a 20% tip the difference amounts to a few percent of the tip itself.
How do I split a bill that already includes a tip?
Reverse the tip to get the true bill, split that, then re-apply each share of the tip. Splitting the gross total works too, but only if everyone is tipping at the same rate.