A shared expenses splitter that settles up in the fewest payments
After a group trip, someone ends up with a pile of receipts and a messy group chat about who paid for the boat. With this prompt your todo.is agent keeps the running list, splits each cost the way you agreed and works out the fewest transfers to settle. Only you need todo.is; everyone else just gets the summary.
The prompt
- Be our shared expenses splitter for [WHAT IT'S FOR]. People: [PEOPLE]. Default split: [HOW TO SPLIT]. I'll send you expenses as messages or receipt photos, like "Ana paid 84.50 groceries" or "dinner 132, everyone except Tom". Log each one in an Excel sheet (date, what, who paid, amount, currency, who shares it, each person's share) and convert any foreign currency to [MAIN CURRENCY] using the rate on that day, noting the source. Keep a running balance per person. When I say "settle up", send me the totals, each person's balance, and the fewest payments needed to clear everything, as a short message I can paste into our group chat plus the final Excel and a PDF summary. Also send me the current balances every [CHECK-IN SCHEDULE].
What to change
- [WHAT IT'S FOR]: E.g. "our 5-day ski trip", "the shared flat on Elm Street" or "household costs with my partner".
- [PEOPLE]: Names of everyone sharing, e.g. "Ana, Ben, Chloe, Tom".
- [HOW TO SPLIT]: E.g. "equally", "by income 60/40", "rent by room size, bills equally" or "Tom doesn't drink, so no alcohol for him".
- [MAIN CURRENCY]: The currency you'll settle in, e.g. "EUR".
- [CHECK-IN SCHEDULE]: E.g. "evening at 21:00 during the trip", "Sunday" or "never, only when I ask".
Example result
- Ski trip settle-up, 4 people
- EUR · 23 expenses · 4 paid in CHF, converted at each day's rate (source in the file)
- Totals
- • Trip total: €1,846.40
- • Shared equally except: wine and beer (Tom out), ski lessons (Ana and Chloe only)
- Who paid and who owes
- • Ana paid €712.00 · her share €488.10 · is owed €223.90
- • Ben paid €540.00 · his share €461.60 · is owed €78.40
- • Chloe paid €320.40 · her share €488.10 · owes €167.70
- • Tom paid €274.00 · his share €408.60 · owes €134.60
- Fewest payments to settle
- • Chloe pays Ana €167.70
- • Tom pays Ana €56.20
- • Tom pays Ben €78.40
- That's 3 payments instead of up to 6 if everyone paid everyone.
- Message for the group chat
- Ski trip is settled! Total €1,846.40. Chloe → Ana €167.70, Tom → Ana €56.20, Tom → Ben €78.40. Full list of every receipt is in the spreadsheet if you want to check.
- In the Excel file
- • Expenses tab: every item with a photo reference, payer and who shared it
- • Balances tab: running balance after each expense
- • Unclear items flagged: "Parking 18 CHF, no payer named" (you confirmed Ben)
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and fill in the people, the default split and your currency.
- Send it to your agent on WhatsApp or Telegram so you can add expenses on the go.
- Snap receipts or type quick messages like "Ben paid 60 taxi" as you spend.
- Say "settle up" at the end. You get the balances, the payments to make and a message for the group.
Tips for a better result
- Agree the rules before you spend: equal, by income, or itemized for things like alcohol and private rooms.
- Log each expense the same day. Memory gets fuzzy fast, and receipts get lost.
- For mixed currencies, settle in one currency and use the rate from the day of each expense.
- For flatmates, make it recurring: ask your agent to add rent and bills every month on the same day.
shared expenses splitter: FAQ
- How do you split expenses fairly in a group? Agree on a rule first: equal split for shared costs, and itemized splits for things only some people use. Then track who paid what and settle the difference at the end.
- Does everyone need todo.is? No. Only you send expenses to your agent. Everyone else just gets the summary and the payments to make.
- Can it send or request the money for us? No. It works out who owes whom, and each person pays with the bank or payment app they already use.
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