Three ways to split
1. Pull the drinks out
Total the drinks from the itemized receipt as one expense and everything else as another. Food is shared by everyone, drinks only by the people who drank. The easiest split to explain when the receipt is itemized.
2. Weighted shares
Give drinkers 2 shares and non-drinkers 1 share, and split the whole bill in that ratio. Handy when the receipt is hard to separate.
3. Fixed amounts
Agree up front that non-drinkers pay a set amount, say $20, and the drinkers split the rest.
Which way for which situation
| Situation | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Itemized receipt | Pull the drinks out | The numbers speak for themselves |
| Shared plates and drinks mixed | Weighted shares | Items are hard to separate |
| Only one or two non-drinkers | Fixed amounts | Easy to agree with them first |
| Someone ate a lot more | Weighted shares | Works for food too |
Doing it in the app
In the Android app "Settle Up: Split the Bill" you choose the split method per expense.
Pull the drinks out: two expenses
Enter "Dinner food" shared by everyone and "Dinner drinks" shared only by the drinkers. Tick the people under "Who splits it?".
Weighted or exact
Switch the split method to Weighted to give each person a whole-number share, or to Exact to type each person’s amount. With Exact, the amounts you enter add up to the expense total.
Check the balances
The balances on the group screen show each person’s share. Share the result with the group.
FAQ
Can a share be 1.5?
Shares are whole numbers. For 1.5:1, enter 3:2, which is the same ratio.
The split is off by one.
When an amount doesn’t divide evenly, the remainder is added one unit at a time to some people. See remainders and rounding.
Settle Up: Split the Bill
No sign-up, no internet, and your records stay on your phone. Free on Android.