Flatmate Expense Settle-Up Sheet

Who this is for

Shared shopping, recorded as it happens. Each purchase is logged with who paid and how many it was split between, then a balance per person shows who is owed and who owes, and the settle-up table records the payments that clear it.

Flatmates who take turns buying the cleaning products, loo roll, milk and takeaways, and want to square up at the end of a month or term without an argument.

What this helps you track

• Every shared purchase, who paid and how many it was split between
• Each person's share of every purchase
• What each flatmate paid out against what their shares came to
• Who owes whom, and how much, to settle the balance
• Which settle-up payments have been made

How to use it

1. Write the flat, the period and the names of up to six flatmates at the top.
2. Log each shared purchase with the date, what it was, who paid, the amount and how many people it is split between.
3. At the end of the period, add up for each person what they paid and what their shares came to, and enter both in the balance table.
4. Read the net figure: positive means the flat owes that person, negative means they owe the flat. The browser and Excel versions do the arithmetic.
5. Pair the people who owe with the people who are owed, enter each payment in the settle-up table and tick it when it has been made.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How do I work out each person's share figure?

Add the share column for every purchase that person was part of. If a purchase was split between three of you, only those three take a share of it. The browser and Excel versions show each line's share for you to add.

What does the net balance mean?

It is what the person paid minus what their shares came to. The nets across the whole flat should add up to zero; if they do not, a purchase or a share has been missed.

How do we keep the number of payments down?

Let the person who owes most pay the person who is owed most, as much as clears one of them, then repeat. Recording each payment in the settle-up table shows when everyone is square.

Is this the same as the bills split calculator?

No. The bills calculator handles regular household bills month by month. This sheet is for one-off shared purchases paid by different people at different times.