Tips, service charges and several currencies: splitting them fairly
Most arguments are not about the dishes but about the «small things»: the tip, the service, the rate and the fee. Here are plain rules for each.
- Dinnerall three; by card6,000 ALL
- Service 10%in proportion600 ALL
- TipChris; in cash5 €
6,600 ALL × 0.0102 + 2% = 68.67 €; the tip — exactly 5 €
The bill is converted at the day’s rate with the bank’s fee; the euro tip counts as it was given.
The tip: from the table, or each for themselves
A tip left together is shared by everyone at the table in proportion to what each ordered. Someone who only had a coffee does not owe as much of it as someone who had dinner.
A tip each person left themselves is their own, and there is nothing to share. It only has to be written down who gave how much: that person has already paid part of the bill, and owes less.
Service charge, tax and discount
A service charge or a tax on top of the prices is a percentage of what was ordered, so it is shared in proportion. A discount on the whole bill works the same way, with a minus sign.
A discount on one dish belongs to whoever had that dish: it simply comes off the price of that line.
The bill in one currency, the debts in another
Debts are best counted in one currency — the one you settle in between yourselves. A bill in the local currency is converted at the rate of the day of the purchase.
tabhug fills in the official rate for the bill’s date by itself. Where a currency has no official rate, or you changed cash at a rate of your own, the rate can be typed in.
The bank’s fee is an expense too
When you pay by card in another currency, the bank takes a fee — usually one to three per cent. If it is left out, whoever paid quietly pays extra for everyone.
In tabhug the fee can be set for the room, for one person or for one bill. For cash it is zero.
A cash tip in another currency
Sometimes the bill is paid by card in the local currency and the tip is left in cash, in euros. That is ordinary in countries tourists go to.
In tabhug each tip giver’s amount has a currency to pick: the bill’s or the room’s. A tip in the room’s currency counts exactly as it was given, with no rate and no fee.