Settling up utility costs for a house or flat

Electricity, water, heating, refuse, insurance, property tax, chimney sweep — with several parties in one building these are divided by different keys, arrive at different times, and are fronted by one person. That structure is exactly what CostDivider models: one group per billing year, shares by floor area or by metered use, advance payments recorded as they come — and at the end of the year it says to the cent who owes what to whom. Set up once, the arrangement carries every year after that.

To avoid any misunderstanding up front: CostDivider does not produce a statutory service-charge statement. It works out who owes whom how much — it does not check whether a cost may lawfully be passed on, keeps no statutory deadline, and produces no document that would stand up to legal scrutiny. For a landlord it is an aid, not a substitute for the statement.

In short

1. One group per billing year, for example "Utilities 2026".
2. Set your own share — as the creator you start at 0.
3. Shares by floor area as percentages, consumption-based costs as fixed amounts.
4. Record bills as expenses, with the party that actually paid them.
5. Record advance payments as deposits to that party.
6. Lock at the end of the year — then the result stands.

One group per year

The reason is the same as in a flatshare, but matters even more here:

The settlement knows no periods of time. A share is always computed from the group's total, not from the moment of joining.

A group that runs on for years turns every change of tenant into an arithmetic error: somebody moving in in May would carry part of January's heating bill. A yearly cut is therefore not tidiness for its own sake, it is what keeps the figures right. As a by-product, the old group becomes exactly what you go looking for a year later: a closed, readable position.

Does somebody move out mid-year? Then you settle at that point, lock the group and start a new one — "Utilities 2026, from 08/2026". Two groups for one year are no problem; one group with the wrong division is.

The two keys you need

CostDivider knows two kinds of share, and they map precisely onto the two kinds of utility cost.

By floor area → percentage

Property tax, insurance, refuse, street cleaning, caretaker — everything distributed by floor area is a percentage. You can work directly in square metres: with 95, 78 and 62 m² you enter 95, 78 and 62. CostDivider balances the values so that together they cover the full cost — they do not have to be brought to 100.

By consumption → fixed amount

Electricity and water by meter, heating according to the billing service: these amounts are settled and have nothing to do with floor area. They belong to the respective party as a fixed amount.

And both together

Fixed amounts are taken off first; whatever is left is divided among the percentage members. One household therefore cannot have both at once in the same group — either a fixed amount or a percentage.

If you need both keys, and that is the normal case, the clean answer is two groups:

• "Utilities 2026 – floor area" with percentage shares: property tax, insurance, refuse, maintenance.
• "Utilities 2026 – consumption" with fixed amounts: electricity, water, heating.

That is one sentence more work at setup and saves every calculation afterwards.

Recording advance payments properly

The commonest arrangement: one party — the owner, the main tenant, whoever holds the contract — pays all the bills, and the others make monthly advance payments.

This is how you model it:

• Every bill is an expense, with the party that actually settled it as the payer.
• Every advance payment is a deposit with a recipient — namely the party that pays the bills.

Why with a recipient and not into the shared kitty: a payment from one member to another is a shift. It credits the payer and debits the recipient by the same amount, and the sums come out even in the end. Money paid into the shared kitty, by contrast, CostDivider cannot pay back out — it stays there at the end of the year as a remainder instead of turning into a balancing payment or a refund.

At the end of the year the balance then shows exactly what everybody asks about: who has paid too little in advance and owes the difference, and who gets something back.

Closing the year

Once the last bill is in: lock the group. Expenses are then fixed and the position is the result. Deposits stay possible — for the balancing payment that arrives in March of the following year.

CostDivider suggests who transfers how much to whom, using as few transfers as possible. Everybody involved sees the same list in the same order.

If an IBAN is stored in the profile, only the party the suggestion asks to pay gets a QR code to scan with a banking app, with the amount and the reference. CostDivider takes in no money and initiates no payment — it displays a detail its owner entered themselves.

For parties without an account

Anyone who only needs to see the figures needs no account: a personal link shows that party their own position — share, advance payments, balance. Handy for tenants who do not want to create another user account.

Not to be confused with the group's share link: that shows anybody holding it all names, expenses and balances. For a building with several tenant parties it is rarely what you want.

Five moves that keep the settlement clean

• One group per billing year. A share always applies to the entire cost of its group — with one group per year every move in and out fits by itself, without anybody paying retrospectively.
• Set your own share. The creator starts at 0, and that is almost always the owner who pays the bills. Change it once and your own participation is in place.
• Record advance payments straight to the recipient. They then land in the right party's balance and resolve completely at the end of the year.
• Keep consumption and floor area in separate groups. Per group a party has either a fixed amount or a percentage — two groups model both keys exactly.
• Enter as payer whoever actually paid — not whoever received the bill. That is what the settlement is built from.

Worth knowing

• The legal frame. CostDivider does not produce a statutory service-charge statement: no check of what may lawfully be passed on, no deadlines, no formal letter. It works out reliably who owes what to whom — the legal form comes from you or your managing agent.
• Meter readings are worked out elsewhere and the result entered as an amount. That keeps every reading method possible, including one no program could anticipate.
• Monthly advance payments are recorded by hand. The app does not create recurring entries by itself; in exchange you can see at any time who has really paid so far this year.
• What is stored are amounts, dates and descriptions, not receipt documents. The filing stays with you — the arithmetic stays here.
• Number of occupants and dwelling units do not exist as a key of their own, but map precisely onto percentages: three occupants against two are 3 and 2.

Common questions

Can we use several keys in one group?

Only to a point: fixed amounts and percentages can be mixed, but each party has exactly one of the two per group. For two genuine keys, use two groups.

How much work is it over a year?

Set up two groups, then one short entry per bill and one per advance payment. Collecting the advance payments quarterly rather than monthly brings it down to a few minutes a month.

What about an empty flat?

The share falling on an empty flat is carried by the owner. Model it as a membership of its own with the corresponding percentage — then the figure is visible instead of quietly spreading itself over the others.

Do all parties see everything?

Within the group, yes. Anyone who should see only their own position gets their personal link instead of a membership with access to the group view.

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

Next

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