Group Expense Splitter (Settle Up)
Who paid, who owes — and the fewest payments to settle up.
Group
Members
Balances
Settle up
The share link carries the whole group inside the link itself (after the #), so it is never stored on a server. Anyone with the link can open a copy.
Entries
No entries yet. Add the first expense above.
Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
About the Group Expense Splitter (Settle Up)
Keep a running list of shared costs for a trip, a flat, a wedding or an office event. For each expense, enter who paid and who it was for, and split it equally, by shares (2 for a couple), by exact amounts, by percentage or by room size — which turns it into a rent split calculator for flatmates. The balances update as you go: who paid more than their share and who owes.
Settle up then lists the fewest payments that clear every balance, and Mark as paid records them. Amounts in other currencies are converted with the European Central Bank’s reference rate (or the rate from your card or bank), stored with the expense so the balances never shift. Groups are saved in this browser, and Copy share link puts the whole group inside the link itself, so friends can open a copy without anything being stored on a server.
How to use it
- Name the group, choose its currency and add the members.
- For each expense, type a description and the amount, pick who paid and choose how to split it. For another currency, pick it next to the amount and check the exchange rate.
- Watch Balances: green means a member gets money back, red means they owe.
- Follow Settle up. When someone pays, press Mark as paid (or record a Payment yourself) and their balance moves.
- Use Copy share link to send the group to the others, CSV for a spreadsheet, or Back up to keep a file.
Examples
Hotel ₹12,000 paid by Asha for all four · dinner ₹2,400 paid by Ravi for Asha, Ravi and Meera · cab ₹1,000 paid by Meera, Kabir 2 shares, others 1 · scuba US$100 paid by Kabir for Asha and Kabir at ₹88.50 per dollar
Meera pays Asha ₹3,000 · Ravi pays Kabir ₹1,025 · Ravi pays Asha ₹575 — three payments settle it all.
Rent ₹30,000 · rooms of 120, 100 and 80 sq ft · 60 sq ft of shared kitchen and hall
₹11,666.67 · ₹10,000.00 · ₹8,333.33
Each person pays for their room plus an equal third of the shared area: 140, 120 and 100 of 360 sq ft.
Balances: Asha +₹400, Ravi +₹300, Meera −₹300, Kabir −₹200, Zoya −₹200
Meera pays Ravi ₹300 · Kabir pays Asha ₹200 · Zoya pays Asha ₹200
Three payments. Paying the largest debt to the largest credit first would need four (Meera → Asha ₹300, then Kabir → Ravi ₹200, Zoya → Ravi ₹100 and Zoya → Asha ₹100).
Common uses
- Trips with friends or family, including spending abroad in another currency.
- Flatmates sharing rent by room size, electricity, internet and groceries.
- Weddings, parties and office events where several people paid for things.
- Checking who still owes what before everyone goes home.
How balances and settling up work
Each member’s balance is what they paid minus their share of every expense, adjusted for payments they made or received. The balances always add up to zero: what some are owed, others owe.
The fewest payments that clear the balances depend on how many separate groups of people have balances that cancel out: with n people who are not yet even, it takes n − g payments, where g is the largest number of such groups. The calculator searches for that best grouping exactly when up to 15 people have a balance (and uses a quick largest-debt-first plan for bigger groups), so a payment may go to someone the payer never shared a bill with — the total each person pays or receives is still exactly their balance.
Every split is worked out in whole paise (or cents) with the largest-remainder method, so shares always add up to the expense.
Splitting rent by room size
Choose Room size and type each flatmate’s room area — square feet, square metres or anything else, as long as all are in the same unit. A shared area such as the kitchen and hall is divided equally among them. Each person then pays
rent × (own room + shared area ÷ people) ÷ total area
so a bigger room costs more but everyone pays the same for the space they share. Use By shares instead if you want to weigh something else, such as an attached bathroom or a balcony.
Expenses in other currencies
Pick the currency next to the amount. For currencies that the European Central Bank publishes, the calculator fills in the ECB euro foreign exchange reference rate as a cross rate (for example rupees per US dollar), with its date; the ECB updates these rates around 16:00 CET on working days, and says they are "published for information purposes only" (ECB). Banks, cards and exchange counters usually charge more, so if you know the rate you actually paid — from your card statement — type it instead.
The rate is saved with the expense. Later rate changes do not alter the balances, and everyone who opens a share link sees the same numbers.
Where your group is stored
Groups are saved in this browser’s local storage on this device only; MySmartCoPilot has no account and no copy. Copy share link compresses the group into the part of the link after the #. Browsers do not send that part to the website when the link is opened, so the group travels only inside the link — whoever has the link can read it, so share it only with the group. Back up downloads every group as a file you can restore on another device.
Limitations
- Each expense has one payer. If two people paid for one thing, enter it as two expenses.
- Up to 50 members and 1,000 entries per group. Very long share links can be cut off by some messaging apps — send a backup file instead.
- Clearing the browser’s site data deletes the groups on this device. Keep a backup or a share link of anything important.
- Exchange rates are the ECB reference rates or the rates you type; the calculator does not know the rate your bank charged.
Privacy
Everything is worked out in your browser. Your groups are saved in this browser’s local storage and nowhere else; the tool’s only request is for the ECB exchange rates, which carries none of your data. A share link holds the group after the # in the link, which browsers do not send to websites.
Frequently asked questions
How do I split expenses on a group trip?
Add everyone as a member, then enter each expense with who paid and who it was for. The balances show who is ahead and who owes, and Settle up lists the payments that make everyone even.
How is rent split by room size?
Each flatmate pays the rent times their room area plus an equal part of the shared area, divided by the total area. For ₹30,000 with rooms of 120, 100 and 80 sq ft and 60 sq ft shared, that is ₹11,666.67, ₹10,000 and ₹8,333.33.
Why does someone pay a person they did not share a bill with?
To keep the number of payments as small as possible. If Ravi owes Asha and Asha owes Kabir, it is simpler for Ravi to pay Kabir directly. Everyone still pays or receives exactly their balance.
Which exchange rate is used for foreign expenses?
The ECB reference rate for the latest working day, filled in when you choose the currency — or any rate you type, such as the one on your card statement. The rate is stored with the expense and does not change later.
Can friends see and edit the same group?
They can open a copy with the share link and save it on their device. There is no shared online copy, so after changes, send a new link. That is also why nothing about your group is ever stored on a server.
What happens if I clear my browser data?
The groups saved in this browser are deleted. Use Back up to download them as a file, and Restore to load them again on this or another device.