How to split bills and move tabs between tables

To split bills, choose the method that matches how the table ordered: by item when guests ordered for themselves, in equal shares when they shared, or by a custom amount when one guest wants to pay a set sum. To move a tab between tables, transfer the open order to the new table, or move only the items that are going, so the kitchen does not see them twice and stock is not deducted twice. Either way, the POS should keep one order history, so receipts, payments and reports still agree at the end of the night.

What are the ways to split a restaurant bill?

Depending on the POS, each share may be paid a different way, with one guest on a card, another with a phone wallet and a third in cash. Check which combinations your system accepts before you promise them to a table.

How to split a bill without slowing the table down

• Ask whether the table wants separate bills when you take the first order
• Assign items to seat numbers as you order, so it is clear later who had what
• Apply discounts and the service charge before splitting, so each share carries its portion
• Let each payer add their own tip to their payment
• Offer each payer a receipt, or a copy showing their share

Service charge and tips need care when a bill is split. A discretionary service charge should be clear to every payer, and tips taken across several payments still have to reach staff under your tipping policy. Our guides to service charge and to tronc schemes explain the rules.

How do you move a tab to another table?

Tabs move for ordinary reasons. A party has drinks at the bar before dinner, or a couple asks to move inside when it starts to rain. There are two kinds of move.

Moving the whole tab changes the table the open order belongs to, and everything on it goes too, including items already with the kitchen. Transferring items moves only part of the order, for example when one guest from a table of six leaves to join friends at another table and takes their drinks with them.

In both cases, move the items. Voiding them and ringing them in again on the new table can send duplicate tickets to the kitchen and deduct stock twice, and it leaves voids in the record that a manager will later have to explain.

Decide what happens to pricing. If the bar runs a happy hour that the restaurant does not, moved drinks should keep the price they were ordered at, which is the fair default.

Merging tabs and settling several orders at once

The reverse happens too. Two groups who arrived separately want one bill, or one booking runs up orders at the bar, the table and a private room. Merging one open tab into another gives the table a single bill. Where the orders need to stay separate, for example because they belong to different outlets, settle them together in one payment and keep each order's receipt.

Common mistakes when splitting bills and moving tabs

• Re-ringing items on a new tab instead of transferring them
• Moving items after part of the bill has been paid, which makes the payment hard to trace
• Splitting before discounts or service charge are applied, so the last payer carries all of it
• Closing the wrong tab after a move because two tabs have similar names
• Leaving the old table showing as occupied after the party has moved

Most of these come down to habits and permissions. Decide who can move, merge and void items, and show new staff how to move a tab before their first busy shift. A floor plan that matches the room also helps, because staff can see where a party has gone; our guide to restaurant floor plan design covers that side.

How Tiquo handles split bills and tab moves

In Tiquo, staff can split a bill by item, in equal shares or by a custom amount, and the Tiquo App and Tiquo PDQ also offer a percentage split. Each share is processed in turn as a card payment, so a table can pay across several cards, and staff check the remaining balance before each one. In Restaurant Mode on supported iPad, iPhone and S700/S710 devices, staff can assign items to numbered seats as they order, which shows who had what, although Tiquo's split options work by item, equal shares, amount or percentage rather than by seat.

Staff can move an entire open tab to another table, including a table in another service area within the same organisation, and the order keeps its original pricing and payment account. To move part of an order, staff transfer selected saved products to another open tab. Their kitchen state is retained and stock is not deducted again. Item transfers are restricted when the source tab already contains a payment.

Staff can also merge one open tab into another in the same sublocation. Both tabs must be unpaid, with no deposit, store credit or loyalty redemption on them, and prices, VAT and kitchen progress move with the products before Tiquo closes the source tab.

When a booking has several unpaid orders, staff can settle one or settle them together with a combined card payment. Tiquo keeps the underlying orders, allocates the payment to their connected accounts and produces separate receipts. On supported apps, the live floor plan offers table actions for opening orders, moving a tab and settling a booking's unpaid orders.

Optional name-only ordering, enabled per service area, lets the team identify a tab by name without creating a customer profile. It does not replace a required table or customer association where your service area asks for one.