# Who paid what. Split between people. Settled in the fewest transfers

URL: https://www.orla.finance/en/for/colivers
Markdown twin of that page. Append `.md` to any Orla page URL to get one.

Rua Augusta 14 is a flat shared by four people and a guest who stays over, with a weekend in Porto paid from a kitty.

#### Who paid every expense and how it splits

Marc paid the rent, Mira the electricity, Ana the groceries, Sofia the dinner Tom came to. Who is in each one, and by how much?

- Who paid what, split between members equally or by the shares you set; the balances are counted from the shares on these rows, not from memory.
- A guest without an account holds a share like anyone else; when they join by invite they claim their row, and every share on it comes with them.
- Everyone sees the group's money and nothing of anyone's own space.

#### Say it in the group chat, and the bot books it

Someone paid for the cleaning, someone else for the dinner, a taxi with a friend who is not on the list, a receipt photographed at the till. Can the group chat the flat already has do the bookkeeping, at the table?

- A sentence in the chat becomes a draft of split expenses, who paid, how much and for what; it is booked on a button press, never as it is read.
- A name nobody in the group answers to becomes a line with a button to add them as a guest, never a silent guess; amounts are re-parsed and refused when they are not money.
- One line with an amount opens an expense on you; every raised hand joins or leaves, and equal shares are recomputed over whoever is in.
- A file dropped in the room is filed for the whole flat and only on a press, so a meme never lands in the vault; whoever presses is the author of the filing.
- A question tagged to the bot is answered in the room with the flat's totals and nothing that names a person; the full answer goes to your private chat.
- A flatmate with an Orla account who is not in the space yet names the bot in the group and gets one button, Ask to join. An owner or admin accepts in the same chat, and Accept as guest folds the guest row with their name into them, expenses and debts included. A stranger without a linked account gets no button. This is being rolled out.
- When the room holds more people than the space, the owners are told and choose: answer only in private, or unlink the chat. The bot does not fall silent on its own. This is being rolled out.

#### The fewest transfers that clear everyone

Four people, twenty-nine expenses, one guest. Who owes whom, and how many transfers does it take to square the flat?

- What each person is up or down, and the shortest set of transfers that clears every balance, recomputed on each new expense you add.
- A settlement is marked when the money moves, and can be undone if marked by mistake.
- The people who owe you across every event you split money in, on one page.

#### A kitty for the weekend away

Everyone chipped in a hundred and fifty for Porto, Marc booked the Airbnb and the train from the pot. Who owes whom for that? Nobody.

- Money everyone chipped in, spent by one person: a kitty expense creates no debt, because the money was everyone's before it was spent.
- The pot shows what came in, what went out, what is left, and who has not chipped in yet.
- A treasurer holds the pot and can hand it to someone else.

#### Friends join by link, or hold a share without an account

Tom stays over most weekends and has no account. Can he be in the dinner and the beers, and what happens when he finally signs up?

- Members join by invite or by a link that lives seven days; a guest is added by name and takes shares like anyone else, chip-ins included.
- When a guest joins, their row is merged into their account, with every share they held.
- Group spaces are free, for as many people as the flat or the trip has.

#### Every trip and every flat, and where you stand across them

The flat is one book and the Algarve week in June is another. How do you stand with Mira across both, and who owes you overall?

- Every event you have split money in, and how you stand with each person across all of them.
- The transfers that would clear everything, counted from each event's settle-up plan; money sitting in a kitty is not a person and is not counted.
- Spent together across every event, converted to your currency at today's rate.

#### Four flatmates and a guest

- Owner: Opened the group, holds the kitty, and adds the guest by name.
- Member: Adds what they paid, sees the group's money and nothing of anyone's own.
- Guest: Holds shares and chips in without an account, and claims the row when they join.

#### Ask it who owes whom, and settle up at once

The flat's expenses land from the group chat; the composer settles the month in the fewest transfers.

- The kitty: What went into it, what it paid for, and who has not chipped in yet.
- Where you stand across trips: Your balance in each event, the flat and the Porto weekend, and one figure across all of them.

#### Expenses come in from the group chat

Expenses are added at the table or in the group chat, and a photographed receipt comes back as its own lines.

#### The flat sees only the flat's money

- Nothing of yours: Everyone sees the group's money and nothing of anyone's own space; a personal space stays invisible to the whole flat, always.
- Guests: A guest holds shares and chips in without an account; when they join, their row is merged into them.
- Fewest transfers: The settle-up is the shortest set of transfers that clears every balance, recomputed on each expense.
- The receipt stays: A photographed receipt stays attached to the expense, so the argument is settled by the photo.

#### Questions

##### Does everyone in the flat need an account?

No. A guest is added by name, holds shares and chips in like anyone else. When they join by invite, their row is merged into their account with every share they held.

##### Can we add an expense from the group chat?

Yes. In Telegram or WhatsApp, a message like "I paid 32 for the taxi, me, Sofia and Ana were in it" becomes a draft with the split; a name the bot does not recognise becomes a question, never a silent guess, and nothing is written until you confirm.

##### What happens when someone pays their share?

The person marks the transfer settled, or the payment lands by link and closes the debt itself. A repayment marked by mistake can be undone.

#### Read next

- If you are the one letting the place out: https://www.orla.finance/en/for/property
- Shared spaces, roles and who sees what: https://www.orla.finance/en/product/people
- Pay links, transfers and settling up: https://www.orla.finance/en/product/money