The bill arrives, somebody says "shall we just split it?" and the person who had a starter and tap water goes quiet. Every table has been there. There are three fair ways to do it, and the right one depends on the table, not on the maths.

Even

Divide the total by the number of people. It is the fastest way and it is right when everyone ate and drank roughly the same. If the gap between the cheapest and the dearest order is under a fiver, split evenly and move on.

By item

Each person pays for what they ordered, and shared plates are divided between the people who ate them. Use it when one person skipped the wine or when somebody joined for dessert. In Florin you tap a line on the bill and then tap the faces it belongs to.

By share

One person covers more on purpose: the birthday guest pays nothing, or a couple counts as two. Set the shares once and the app does the rest.

What about the service charge?

Share it in the same proportions as the food. Someone who had a £9 salad should not carry a sixth of the tip on a £111 bill.

• Decide the method before you order, not when the bill lands
• One person pays the restaurant; everyone else pays that person
• Send the requests at the table, while everybody still remembers

The fairest split is the one nobody has to think about on the walk home.

The two-minute rule

If working out the split takes longer than two minutes, the method is wrong for the table. Go even, round to the nearest pound and let the person who paid keep the pennies.