Group Holiday Kitty and Settlement Calculator

Who this is for

A shared kitty, and a fair way to close it. Money put into the pot goes in one table and spending comes out of another, whether it was paid from the kitty or by one of you. At the end, each person's share is set against what they paid, and the settlement table records who pays whom.

Friends, families and couples travelling together who pool money for meals, fuel and shared costs and want to go home with everyone square.

What this helps you track

• Every contribution to the kitty, by person and date
• Every shared cost, who paid it and how many it was split between
• What is left in the kitty at any point
• Each person's fair share against what they actually put in
• Who pays whom, and how much, to settle up

How to use it

1. Write the trip, the currency and the number of people in the group at the top.
2. Record each payment into the kitty with the date, the person and the amount.
3. Record each shared cost with who paid it, whether it came out of the kitty, and how many people it was split between.
4. At the end, give each person a line in the balances table: what they put in, what they paid directly, and their fair share, which is the total of the per-head amounts for the costs they shared.
5. The per-head amounts, kitty balance and net figures are worked out in the browser and the workbook. Those with a minus net pay those with a plus net; record each payment and tick it when 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

What does the net figure mean?

It is what a person put in, plus what they paid directly, minus their fair share. A plus figure means the group owes them; a minus figure means they owe the group. Across everyone the nets add up to whatever is left in the kitty.

What if not everyone shared a cost?

Enter how many people it was split between, and the per-head column shows each person's part. When you total each person's fair share, add only the lines they were part of.

How do we decide who pays whom?

Match the largest minus balance with the largest plus balance, record a payment for the smaller of the two, and repeat. It usually settles a group in fewer payments than everyone paying everyone.

What happens to money left in the kitty?

It belongs to the people with a plus net. Hand it back to them first, then settle whatever remains between people.