Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about how Tab Tender works.

In short: Tab Tender splits restaurant and bar tabs by who ordered what. Scan the receipt, tap each item to a person, and share a payment summary with Venmo, Cash App, and Zelle links. It's free, and the people you split with don't need an account or the app.

What is Tab Tender?

Tab Tender is a mobile-first web app that splits bar and restaurant tabs fairly. Snap a photo of the receipt or add items by hand, mark who had what, and we handle tax and tip math, pre-payments, and pay links for you.

Do I need an account?

No — anyone can start a guest tab and share the link. A free account lets you save tabs, scan receipt photos, import digital receipts (Toast, Square, SkyTab), claim your spot on a shared tab, add friends and saved groups, and store your payment handles so people can pay you back faster.

Can I just take a photo of the receipt?

Yes — signed-in users can upload a photo (or PDF) of an itemized receipt and we read the items, tax, and tip automatically so you can start assigning right away. The photo stays attached to the tab as proof for everyone on it. Always give the parsed items a quick once-over before sharing.

Can I split an Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub order?

Yes — screenshot the order summary in the delivery app (the screen listing each item, tax, fees, and tip) and upload it like any receipt photo. The items come in ready to assign, so everyone pays for their own order plus their proportional share of the fees and tip. Group delivery orders with roommates or coworkers are one of the most common uses.

How does importing a receipt link work?

If the restaurant texted or emailed you a digital receipt link, paste it into the import box when starting a tab and we pull every line item, tax, tip, and surcharge automatically. Toast (toasttab.com/receipts/...) and Square (squareup.com/r/...) links are read directly; SkyTab receipts come as a PDF, which we download and scan for you. The original link is kept as proof.

Can I split items unevenly?

Yes. Switch any line item to an uneven split and choose between units (e.g. 6 of 10 beers to Alice) or percent (75/25). You can save partial allocations and the total still adds up.

What about tax, tip, and service?

Tax, tip, and service are distributed proportionally based on each person's share of the subtotal — so people who ate more pay more tax and tip, automatically.

How do people pay me back?

Add your Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle handle in your profile — or PayPal, Wise, or Revolut if you're outside the US — and pick one per tab. Each person on the share page gets a tap-to-pay link (or tap-to-copy for Zelle) for exactly what they owe, and you can send a friendly reminder to anyone who's claimed their spot.

Someone already paid, but then the tab changed — now what?

Tab Tender remembers what each person paid at the moment they settled. If the tab changes afterwards — an item gets assigned to them, a price is corrected, a discount is added — we compare their new share to what they paid and show the difference everywhere their balance appears (the share page, My tabs, and Balances). You'll see "owes $X more" if their share went up, or "owed $X back" if they overpaid, so nobody's quietly short or out of pocket.

Can I add friends and save my regular crew?

Yes. Add friends by username or verified phone number, then add them to a tab in a tap — they're auto-claimed and notified. Save a group (a 'party') to load the whole roster at once, including when scanning or importing a receipt.

Can I split in another currency?

Yes. New tabs use your default currency (from your country, or an explicit choice in your profile), and you can change the currency on any individual tab — handy when you're travelling.

What are pre-payments?

If someone paid you in advance, mark their pre-payment one of two ways: subtract it from their share (and if they overpaid, the extra shows as a refund the group owes them back), or spread the overpayment across everyone else's portion to lower the whole table's bill.

Can the group cover someone — like the birthday person?

Yes. Mark anyone as 'covered by the group' and their whole share is lifted off them and spread across everyone else — they keep their assigned items (so you can see what they had) but pay $0, and get a little crown next to their name. It's perfect for a birthday, a guest of honour, or anyone the table wants to treat, and the bill still balances to the full total. If instead just one person wants to chip in a little extra to lower everyone else's share, use 'cover extra for the group' on their line.

Can I make a tab for a friend?

Yes. When you start a tab, pick an accepted friend as who gets paid back — their payment handle and name show on the share page, they receive the payment updates, and they can edit the tab, while you stay the creator. Handy when you fronted a bill for someone else's group or you're organizing on a friend's behalf.

How do shared tabs work?

Every tab has a share link. For the first 7 days anyone can open it to see who owes what and tap to pay; after that only the owner and signed-in people who claimed a spot can view it. Signed-in viewers can claim themselves and (if the owner enabled it) suggest who had unassigned items.

What if I share a tab before assigning every item?

That's fine — and often the point. When some items still aren't matched to a person, the share message changes from a list of totals to a request for help, and the link drops people straight onto the "help assign these items" screen instead of the payment summary. Anyone signed in can suggest who had each open item; you review and accept before it changes a share — and the share page refreshes itself while it's open, so everyone suggesting at the same time sees each other's suggestions appear live. Paying is held back until everything's assigned, so no one pays a number that's about to move.

How do trips work?

Group several tabs under a trip — a weekend away, a conference, a group holiday — and Tab Tender keeps a running roster of everyone involved, pulled straight from the tabs' members. Each person shows what they've paid, what's left, and their status, even across tabs that different people hosted. The "settle up — fewest transfers" view nets all of it down to the smallest set of "A pays B" payments. While the trip's open the numbers can still move; close it out in trip settings to lock them in as the final settle-up.

Can I share a whole trip to settle up at the end?

Yes. Just like a tab, a trip has its own share link. Anyone you send it to sees every tab in the trip and the netted "who owes whom"; people signed in get their own balance, a pre-filled pay link for exactly what they owe (already simplified across all the tabs), and — once you've closed the trip — a single "Mark my trip settled" button that checks off every tab they're on at once, so nobody has to mark each one by hand. When you share, everyone on the trip is notified of their running balance.

How do you handle phone numbers?

Adding a phone number is optional and is only saved after you confirm a one-time code we text you, so people can find you reliably and numbers can't be claimed by someone else.

Is my data private?

Share pages aren't indexed by search engines and go private after 7 days. Uploaded receipt photos are deleted after 30 days. We don't sell your data and don't store credit card numbers — a receipt-link import only captures the card brand (e.g. Visa). See the Privacy page for more.

Is Tab Tender free?

Yes, fully free for personal use today. We may add lightweight ads or optional premium features down the road.

Can everyone scan a QR code to join the bill?

Yes. Open a tab and tap “Show QR” on the editor or share page, then hold up your phone — everyone at the table scans it with their camera to open their own share and a tap-to-pay link. No app to download and no account needed for the people scanning. You can reopen the QR anytime so latecomers can still join.

Can I track who owes who over time, like for roommates?

Yes. Every shared tab updates a running per-friend balance, so you can let small amounts net out and square up occasionally instead of settling every time. For an ongoing group — roommates or a regular crew — make a household (an ongoing version of a trip) and all your shared costs roll into one running total you can settle whenever. Balances are kept separate per currency.

How do I download or delete my data?

From your profile you can download a copy of your data (a JSON export of your account, tabs, friends, groups, and trips) and delete your account at any time — both are instant, no email required. Deleting removes your profile, sign-in, friends, and personal details, deletes any receipt photos you uploaded, and unlinks your activity. Prefer to make a request by email, or acting for someone else? Contact us and we'll respond within 30 days, in line with GDPR and CCPA.