Free Online Shared Expense Splitter
Split shared expenses and calculate the minimum settlements.
People
0 peopleExpenses
Balances
| Person | Paid | Share | Balance |
|---|
Settle up
The settle-up list uses a greedy algorithm, which produces a short set of transfers but not necessarily the mathematically fewest possible. All data stays in this page.
About the Shared Expense Splitter
Splitting a group bill is rarely as simple as dividing by the number of people. One person pays for groceries, another covers the taxi, a third joins only for dinner, and someone pays a different amount because their share was larger. This tool tracks the whole picture. Add the people in the group, record each expense with who paid and who shared it, then choose equal or custom shares. The result is a set of personal balances and a short list of transfers that settles everyone up.
Equal shares divide an expense evenly among the selected participants. Custom shares let you enter a specific amount for each person, which is useful for a couple with different incomes, a shared house with unequal rooms, or a trip where one person joined for part of the time. An expense can include any subset of the group, so people who were not involved do not pay for it. The balances table shows what each person paid, what they owe, and the difference. Positive balances are owed money; negative balances mean the person owes the group.
How the settlement works
The tool calculates each person's net balance and then pairs the largest debtor with the largest creditor, transferring the smaller of the two amounts. It repeats until everyone is close to zero. This greedy method is easy to follow and generally produces fewer transfers than paying every balance separately, but it is not guaranteed to find the absolute minimum number of payments. In small groups the difference is usually a transfer or two, and the simplicity is often worth more than the theoretical optimum.
Amounts are rounded to cents for display. The underlying arithmetic uses JavaScript floating point numbers, so a final balance can occasionally show a fraction of a cent. The settlement list absorbs small remainders within one cent. For accounting records, reconcile against your bank or receipt totals rather than relying solely on the summary. The tool runs entirely in your browser, stores nothing on a server, and does not handle payments, currency conversion, or tax. Confirm custom shares add up to the expense total, and treat the output as a practical plan rather than a formal financial statement.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an equal and a custom split?
Equal divides the amount among the selected participants. Custom lets you assign a specific amount to each participant. In both cases, only the people ticked on that expense are included.
Why does a custom expense warn me?
Custom shares should add up to the expense total. If they do not, the balances will not match what was actually spent. Adjust the amounts or switch to an equal split.
Are the suggested transfers the absolute minimum?
Not always. The greedy method is fast and produces a short list, but finding the true minimum number of transfers is a harder optimization problem. For most households the practical difference is negligible.