How do you split a bill when not everyone took part?
A bill is shared by the people who took part in it, not by everyone who lives in the flat. Five live there, three ate: three share the dinner.
By HisaabFlow
When not everyone took part, split the bill among the people who did, and leave everyone else out of it. Five flatmates live in a flat and three of them order dinner for Rs 3,000. The dinner is shared by three, so each share is Rs 1,000. The other two owe nothing, because they had none of it.
It sounds obvious on the night. It stops being obvious at the end of the month, when nobody remembers who was at which dinner.
Why not split everything by everyone in the flat?
Splitting everything by everyone in the flat is simpler, and it charges people for things they never had. The two flatmates who were out that night would each pay a share of a dinner they did not eat.
One dinner is small. A month of them is not. A split by who took part lets each person see what they are paying for.
Who owes whom when the payer was one of the three?
When the payer was one of the three, the other two each owe the payer one share. Say Sana paid the Rs 3,000 and ate with you and Bilal. Her own share is Rs 1,000, so she is owed Rs 2,000: Rs 1,000 from you and Rs 1,000 from Bilal.
That case, and the mistake people make reading it, is in If one flatmate paid for three, who owes whom?
What if the person who paid did not take part?
When the person who paid did not take part, they are owed the whole bill. Say Sana paid the Rs 3,000 for three flatmates and did not eat. None of it is her share. Each of the three owes her Rs 1,000, and she is owed Rs 3,000.
Paying and taking part are two separate facts. Who paid decides who is owed. Who took part decides who owes.
Which bills does everyone share?
Everyone shares the bills that everyone uses, and rent is the plain example. Those are split among all five. The rule does not change: the bill is shared by the people who took part, and for rent that is everybody.
So a flat has two kinds of bill in the same month, and the only way to keep them apart is to note who was in at the time the bill is written down. Left to the end of the month, it is a guess.
HisaabFlow, the money app you text, keeps shared bills in a Room: add what you paid, tag who was in, and everyone sees who owes whom. It is not open yet. See how Rooms work, or leave your email for early access and try the Guru today, before it opens.