Settling up a shared gift

One person goes to the shop, everybody chips in — and two weeks later nobody can remember who has already transferred their share. With CostDivider the sum is written down once: everyone sees their own amount, you see at a glance who is still outstanding, and at the end the app suggests who should pay whom. Setting it up takes ten minutes — including for a dozen colleagues, none of whom needs to create an account.

In short

1. Create a group, for example "Anna's leaving present".
2. Set your own share — as the creator you start on a fixed amount of 0.
3. Add everybody. Anyone who would rather not register gets a personal link.
4. Record the gift as an expense, with yourself as the payer.
5. Record each incoming transfer as a deposit to you.
6. Lock the group at the end.

Step 1: The group

A group is a pot of costs that belong together — here, this one gift and nothing else. Call it "Anna's leaving present" rather than "Presents": whoever collects for somebody else next year will not want to drag last year's amounts along.

First things first: whoever creates a group automatically becomes a member of it — on a fixed share of 0. Leave that as it is and you pay nothing while everybody else carries the lot. Open your own membership and change it before you add anyone.

Step 2: Adding people, with or without an account

Nobody wants twelve registrations for one present, and nobody needs them: you can add somebody by name alone. They get a personal link that shows them their own amount — no account, no password.

It works the same way with an e-mail address, and anyone who does register later keeps their profile along with every group they are already in.

If an address is on file, CostDivider sends the invitation by e-mail.

The one person not to add: the recipient. That sounds obvious and still goes wrong — usually through the group's share link, which shows every name, amount and balance to anybody holding it. For a surprise, that link is the wrong tool.

Step 3: Dividing it up

CostDivider knows two ways to set a share. For a gift, either can be the right one.

Everybody pays the same fraction of the real price

Give everybody the same percentage. The number itself does not matter: CostDivider turns equal percentages into equal shares whether they all read 20, 100 or 7. If the gift then costs 118.40 instead of the planned 120, everyone still pays exactly their fifth.

This is the normal case and the most comfortable one: nothing to recalculate when the price turns out different from the plan.

Everybody puts in a fixed amount

Give each person a fixed amount, say 20. That fits when you agreed a sum in advance and the difference to the real price does not matter.

One thing so the message does not surprise you: if the fixed amounts together do not match what was actually spent, CostDivider says so. That is not an error, it is the observation that 5 × 20 is 100 while the gift cost 118.40. Who covers the difference is your decision, not the app's.

Mixed: one person gives more

Both can be combined in the same group. Fixed amounts are taken off first, and the percentage members divide whatever is left.

In practice: the closest friend puts in a fixed 40, everybody else gets the same percentage and shares the remainder. Nobody has to do the arithmetic.

Step 4: Recording the gift

One expense: amount, date, a short description, and who paid. If two of you were in the shop and both paid something, that is two expenses — each with the right payer.

The group then shows, for each person: what they owe, what they have already carried, and the difference.

Step 5: Who has already paid

When a transfer arrives, record it as a deposit with yourself as the recipient. A payment from one member to another is a shift, not new money: it credits the payer and debits you by the same amount. After five deposits everybody sits at zero and you can see at a glance who is still missing — without a round-robin e-mail.

CostDivider also suggests by itself who should pay whom, using as few transfers as possible. If you have entered an IBAN in your profile, only the person the suggestion asks to pay you sees your QR code for scanning with a banking app. For everybody else it is not there.

CostDivider does not take in any money and does not initiate a payment. It displays a detail you entered yourself — the transfer happens in your banking app, and you tick it off here.

Step 6: Closing it

Once everything is in, lock the group. No further expenses can be added and the standing is final. Deposits stay possible — for the straggler who transfers a week later.

Four moves worth making

• Set your own share. As the creator you sit on a fixed amount of 0 until you change it — change it once, and your own contribution counts.
• Put every expense against the right payer. If a colleague bought the card and you bought the gift, record both separately. She then gets her outlay back without having to ask for it — which is exactly what the payer field is for.
• Use the share link deliberately. It shows anybody holding the address the group's full standing. Handy for the group, unsuitable for a surprise — so do not send it to the person the gift is for.
• One group is enough. A single gift needs no more than that, and everything stays in one place.

Worth knowing

• The money moves through your own accounts. CostDivider does the arithmetic, shows everyone their amount and records who has paid. The transfer happens in your banking app — you tick the deposit off here in one click, and the standing is right again for everybody.
• Reminding people is up to you. The app sends no automatic chasers. It mostly does not need to: the outstanding amount is visible to everyone, which saves the asking more often than you would think.
• Shares belong to the membership, not to the individual expense. If only three people chipped in for the card, create a second group with those three. It takes twenty seconds and keeps both settlements cleanly apart.

Common questions

Does everybody need an account?

No. Whoever adds people needs one. Everybody else reaches their figures through their personal link.

What if the gift costs more than planned?

With percentage shares everything adjusts by itself. With fixed amounts CostDivider points out the difference and leaves the decision to you.

Can I add somebody later?

Yes, as long as the group is not locked. Their share then applies to the group's whole cost, not only from today onward — which for a single gift is exactly right.

Can everybody see what the others pay?

Yes. Inside the group the amounts are open; that is the point of settling up together. Only the payment detail in your profile is restricted — it is shown solely to whoever the suggestion asks to pay you.

Example figures. Green means the group owes that person money; red means they owe the group.

Next

• Settling up a shared holiday
• Settling up the flatshare
• Settling up utility costs for a house or flat
• Settling up a shared move-in budget
• Splitting the running costs when part of your home is used for a business
• Collecting money for one bill, with everybody who joins sharing it