Calculate the original bill, tip amount, and tip percentage from a total after tip, or add a tip to see the final bill for restaurant checks.

Reverse Tip Calculator

Choose the starting values you have.
Reverse total
Find tip %
Add tip
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Reverse Tip Formulas

The calculator uses one of three formulas based on the mode you select.

Reverse total (tip % known):

Original = Total / (1 + TipPercent/100)

Reverse total (tip $ known):

Original = Total - TipAmount

Find tip %:

TipPercent = (Total - Original) / Original * 100

Add tip:

Total = Original * (1 + TipPercent/100)
  • Total — amount charged after tip
  • Original — bill before tip
  • TipAmount — dollar value of the tip
  • TipPercent — tip as a percent of the original bill

Tip percent is calculated against the pre-tip bill. If your receipt totals include sales tax, the original returned by the calculator will include tax too. Subtract tax first if you want the tip rate against the subtotal only.

Common Tip Rates and Quick Reverse Lookups

Use these tables to sanity check what the calculator returns.

Service Typical Tip
Sit-down restaurant15% – 20%
Bartender$1 – $2 per drink or 15% – 20%
Food delivery10% – 20%, $5 minimum
Taxi or rideshare10% – 20%
Hair stylist or barber15% – 20%
Hotel housekeeping$2 – $5 per night
Counter pickup0% – 10%
Total After Tip Original at 15% Original at 18% Original at 20%
$25.00$21.74$21.19$20.83
$50.00$43.48$42.37$41.67
$75.00$65.22$63.56$62.50
$100.00$86.96$84.75$83.33
$150.00$130.43$127.12$125.00
$200.00$173.91$169.49$166.67

Worked Example and FAQ

Example. Your card was charged $48.00 and you remember tipping 20%. The original bill was $48.00 / 1.20 = $40.00. The tip was $8.00.

Why doesn't 20% off the total give the same answer? Because the tip was calculated on the smaller pre-tip bill, not on the total. Dividing by 1.20 reverses the math correctly. Subtracting 20% of the total overstates the original.

Should I reverse out tax first? If you want the tip rate based on the subtotal, yes. Subtract the tax from the total before entering it. If you want the tip rate against the full charge, leave tax in.

What if the tip was a flat dollar amount? Switch the "Tip entered as" dropdown to "Dollar amount." The calculator subtracts the tip directly and computes the implied percentage.

Can I use this for split bills? Yes. Run the reverse calculation on the full total first, then divide the original bill by the number of people.