How to split a group trip, step by step
Four friends spend a weekend in Lisbon. Different people pay for different things, and not everyone joins every activity. Here is exactly how the costs get divided, and how 14 separate repayments shrink to just 3 transfers.
Record every expense
Ava, Ben, Chloe and Dan log each cost as it happens: what it was, how much, who paid, and who it was for. The trip comes to $1,002.00 in total.
Notice the surf lesson: Ava skipped it, so its $150.00 is split only between the three people who went. Splitting by who actually took part is what keeps the result fair.
- Apartment, 2 nightsPaid by Ava · split equally between all 4$480.00$120.00 each
- Group dinnerPaid by Ben · split equally between all 4$240.00$60.00 each
- Surf lessonPaid by Ben · split between Ben, Chloe, Dan$150.00$50.00 each
- GroceriesPaid by Chloe · split equally between all 4$96.00$24.00 each
- Airport taxiPaid by Dan · split equally between all 4$36.00$9.00 each
Work out each person's share
Each person's fair share is the sum of their portion of every expense they were part of. Ava's share is $213.00 because she wasn't in the surf lesson; everyone else's is $263.00.
Subtract the share from what each person paid to get their balance. A positive balance means the group owes you; a negative one means you owe the group. The balances always add up to zero.
| Person | Paid | Fair share | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ava | $480.00 | $213.00 | +$267.00 |
| Ben | $390.00 | $263.00 | +$127.00 |
| Chloe | $96.00 | $263.00 | −$167.00 |
| Dan | $36.00 | $263.00 | −$227.00 |
Simplify who pays whom
Paying back every expense one by one would take 14 transfers. Instead, only the balances matter: Dan owes $227.00 and Chloe owes $167.00, while Ava is owed $267.00 and Ben $127.00.
The simplification repeatedly matches the person who owes the most with the person owed the most, settles as much as possible between them, and moves on. Here that leaves 3 payments, and once they're made everyone is at exactly zero.
BalanceSplit does all of this automatically on the Balances tab as you add expenses.
- DanAva$227.00
- ChloeBen$127.00
- ChloeAva$40.00
No spreadsheets. No IOUs. Just settled.
Create your first ledger in under a minute and split expenses the easy way.
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