Hospitality: Split Bill with Sales Tax

In a North America hospitality environment, the Split Bill feature lets a cashier divide a table's transaction across multiple guests. The NA localization ensures that sales tax is calculated correctly on each split portion, rather than being redistributed unevenly across guests.

How It Works

When a bill is split, the NA localization intercepts the standard split bill calculations and replaces them with tax-aware versions:

  • All running totals are tracked using net amounts (pre-tax prices) during the split operation.
  • Tax is recalculated for each guest's portion after items are moved, not redistributed from the original total.
  • This ensures each guest's subtotal and tax amount are accurate, regardless of how many ways the bill is split.

Without this, a naive split could distribute tax unevenly, for example, giving one guest a tax amount based on the full table total.

Split Bill Workflow

  1. At the POS, open the hospitality transaction for the table.
  2. Select Split Bill from the POS menu.
  3. Move items to guest seats as required (by item, by guest, or by even split).
  4. As items are moved, the system recalculates:
    • Each guest's subtotal (net amount before tax).
    • Each guest's tax amount (based on their items' Tax Group Code and the store's Tax Area Code).
    • Each guest's total (subtotal + tax).
  5. Each guest pays their own total independently.

Even Split

When using Split All Even (dividing the total equally across guests):

  • The unit price of each item is kept at its original price; it is not modified during the split.
  • The NA localization ensures amounts are divided using net (pre-tax) values before tax is reapplied per guest.

Unsplitting

If a cashier unsplits a previously split line:

  • The line's net amount is returned to the main bill.
  • Tax is recalculated on the combined amount.
  • No tax amounts from the split are carried over incorrectly.

Deal Lines and Split Bills

If a deal (promotion) is applied to a transaction that is then split:

  • When an item is moved between guests, the NA localization validates the deal pricing.
  • All lines affected by the deal are recalculated to ensure the deal discount is applied correctly after the split.

Prerequisites

  • Sales tax must be configured for the store (Tax Area Code and Tax Liable set on the Store Card).
  • Items must have a Tax Group Code set.
  • The POS Function Profile must be configured for hospitality (split bill feature enabled).
  • The store must be set up for hospitality operations in LS Central.

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