SplitWithUs

Split a group trip when everyone treats the guest of honor

Treat a guest of honor on a trip paid in several currencies. Each treat is charged only to the friends who took part in it, each receipt is converted at the rate of the day it was paid, and the result shows an even split of the treats next to it.

Nobody being treated? Use the trip settle-up.

The calculator needs JavaScript. Everything below explains what it does and how it splits.

What happens to what you enter

The calculation runs in your browser. The trip you are working on stays in this tab until you close it, and your last settlement stays on this device so you can reopen it. Only "Share to the group chat" stores the settlement on our server, for 365 days. What is kept and what is counted, and the privacy policy.

How it works

What this calculator does

It settles a trip after it ends when the group is treating someone: a birthday, a bachelor or bachelorette weekend, a farewell. On step 1 you add the people, pick the guest of honor and choose which kinds of receipt the group treats them to. On step 2 you enter the receipts as on the trip settle-up: amount, currency, the day it was paid, who paid and who shared it. On a treated receipt the guest of honor's share is split by the other people who shared that receipt; on every other receipt the guest of honor pays a share like everyone else. The result is a short list of transfers, with every number traced back to its receipts.

One trip, entered and read

Example. Ana, Ben, Cara and Dev take Mia away for Mia's birthday. The group treats Mia to restaurants and activities. Lake house, $1,000.00, paid by Ana, all five: not a treat, so $200.00 each, Mia included. Dinner, $250.00, paid by Ben, all five: Mia is treated, so the four others pay $62.50 each. Boat tour, $300.00, paid by Cara, everyone but Dev: Ana, Ben and Cara pay $100.00 each and Dev pays nothing toward it. Parts of the trip: Ana, Ben and Cara $362.50, Dev $262.50, Mia $200.00, adding up to $1,550.00. Balances: Ana +$637.50, Ben −$112.50, Cara −$62.50, Dev −$262.50, Mia −$200.00.

The result has two columns per person. The first is their part under the rule above, and the transfers follow it. The second adds up everything the guest of honor was treated to and splits it evenly between everyone else: in the example Mia's treats come to $125.00, which is $31.25 each, so Ana, Ben and Cara would pay $356.25 and Dev $281.25, $18.75 more for a boat tour Dev skipped. Which of the two is fairer is the group's call; the guide on splitting a birthday or bachelorette trip sets out the case for each.

When the guest of honor pays part of a share

A guest of honor pays all of a receipt's share or none of it. When they want to put something toward a treat, enter it as two receipts.

Example. The $250.00 dinner above, but Mia insists on paying $20.00 of her share. Receipt one: $20.00, shared by Mia alone, switched so it reads "Mia pays a share". Mia pays $20.00. Receipt two: $230.00, shared by all five, treated. Ana, Ben, Cara and Dev pay $57.50 each instead of $62.50.

Leave a one-person receipt like that one treated and the calculator stops: a treated receipt shared only by guests has nobody to pay for it.

Friends who were not there for all of it

  • Skipped one activity. Untick them on that receipt. They pay nothing toward it, including the guest of honor's share.
  • Arrived late or left early. Untick them on the receipts from the days they were away. A receipt split by "Everyone" includes every person on the trip.
  • Chipped in for the gift but did not come. Add them, tick them only on the gift receipt, and switch every "Everyone" receipt to the people who were there. With many receipts it is simpler to leave them out and have them send their part of the gift to whoever bought it.

A trip abroad, with a friend who skipped one thing

Receipts can be in the currency they were paid in. Each one is converted into the group currency at the rate of the day it was paid, and only then is the treat split, so a treat paid in yen is shared in dollars by exactly the friends who took part in it.

Example. Mia's birthday in Tokyo, settled in US dollars. Say the rate is 150 yen to the dollar on both days. Hotel, $1,000.00, paid by Ana, all five: not a treat, so $200.00 each. Dinner, ¥60,000, paid by Ana, all five: $400.00, and Mia is treated, so the four others pay $100.00 each. Sake tasting, ¥24,000, paid by Ben; only Ben, Cara and Mia went: $160.00, so Ben and Cara pay $80.00 each and Ana and Dev nothing. Parts: Ben and Cara $380.00, Ana and Dev $300.00, Mia $200.00, adding up to $1,560.00. Transfers: Cara sends Ana $380.00, Dev sends Ana $300.00, Ben sends Ana $220.00 and Mia sends Ana $200.00.

With real receipts each day has its own rate, which the receipt screen shows; why the payment day and not the settling day is the one that counts is set out in the exchange-rate guide.

Rules it applies

  • Treated by kind. Each receipt has a kind (Hotel, Restaurant, Activity and so on). The group starts out treating Restaurant, Cafe, Activity, Museum, Shop and Grocery receipts; Hotel, Transport, eSIM and Other are shared by everyone. Change the kinds on step 1, or switch a single receipt on step 2.
  • Several guests. Guests of honor never pay toward each other's treats.
  • Everything else as on the trip settle-up. Receipts in 154 currencies, each converted at the reference rate of the day it was paid. Rates are based on the European Central Bank's reference rates wherever the ECB publishes one, and on an open daily market aggregate for other currencies. The methodology page lists the guest of honor rules with the cents, the rates and the transfers.

Common questions

Who pays the guest of honor's share of an activity some people skipped?

Only the people who did it. If four of five friends go on a $300.00 boat tour with the guest of honor, the three others pay $100.00 each and the friend who stayed behind pays nothing toward it. Splitting the guest's share between everyone instead would add $18.75 to that friend's part; the result shows both, side by side.

Can the guest of honor pay part of a treat?

Yes, as two receipts. For a $250.00 dinner where the guest of honor pays $20.00 of their share, enter $20.00 shared by the guest of honor alone and switched so it reads "pays a share", and $230.00 shared by all five and treated. The four others pay $57.50 each.

Can there be more than one guest of honor?

Yes. Pick as many as you need, for a joint birthday or two people getting married. On a receipt the group treats them to, none of the guests pays a share, and the others who shared it split the whole receipt.

What if the guest of honor paid for something?

It counts like anyone else's payment. If the guest of honor put the deposit for the house on their card, the others send them their part of it, and the final list of transfers nets that against everything else.

How do I include a friend who chipped in for the gift but did not come?

Add them as a person and tick them only on the gift receipt. Receipts split by "Everyone" include every person on the trip, so switch those to the people who were there. If that is too many receipts to change, leave the friend out and let them send their part of the gift to whoever bought it.

What it does not do

  • It settles a trip after it ends. It is not a shared tracker several people edit at once.
  • It does not decide what the group should treat. It shows the working for the rule you pick.

Every result is a reference estimate for the group to agree on; the disclaimer says what that covers. No guest of honor? Use the trip settle-up. One dinner? Split a restaurant or bar bill, where "Treat" does the same for one night.