Split rent and bills with flatmates

A flat runs on the same six or seven bills every month, paid by whoever got to them first. Here is how to split them so nobody fronts the rent and waits weeks to get it back, with one month worked out line by line.

Set the rent up once

Rent, wifi, the cook and the maid cost the same every month, so nobody should have to type them in every month. In a Kitna Hua flat, turn on Repeats monthly when you add the rent, then pick the day it's due and the first month.

Early in the morning on that day, India time, the server adds it as an ordinary expense, split the way you set it up. It goes in even if every phone in the flat is switched off. A bill due on the 31st goes in on the last day of shorter months.

Bills that change every month

Electricity and gas are never the same twice. Set them up as monthly bills and leave the amount empty. On the day, whoever pays gets a reminder, and tapping it opens the expense with everything filled in except the amount.

Not everyone uses everything

If one flatmate eats out and never touches the cook's food, split the cook among the people who eat. If one room is bigger or has the balcony, split the rent by exact amounts or by shares instead of equally. Either way you set it once on the monthly bill, and every month after follows it.

Settle at the end of the month

On the evening of the last day of each month, everyone who isn't square gets one notification saying what they owe or are owed. Simplify debts shows the fewest payments that clear the flat, and the pay button opens your UPI app with the amount filled in.

Moving in and moving out

Someone leaving settles up first. The flat's owner then removes them, and they drop off every monthly bill from the next one. Someone new is added by the owner, who then edits each monthly bill that should include them, since bills don't add new people by themselves.

The total

For the four flatmates below, October comes to ₹77,100. Rohan, who skips the cook, pays ₹17,025 and the other three pay ₹20,025 each. Aditi paid the rent, so three UPI transfers to her settle the month.

Worked example

October in a Koramangala 3BHK

Expenses for October in a Koramangala 3BHK
ExpenseAmount
RentAditi paid, split across everyone₹54,000
ElectricityKunal paid, split across everyone₹3,200
WifiRohan paid, split across everyone₹1,000
CookSneha paid, split between Aditi, Kunal, Sneha₹9,000
MaidKunal paid, split across everyone₹4,000
GroceriesRohan paid, split across everyone₹4,800
Gas cylinderSneha paid, split across everyone₹1,100
Total₹77,100

Each person's share

  • Aditipaid ₹54,000, share ₹20,025
  • Kunalpaid ₹7,200, share ₹20,025
  • Snehapaid ₹10,100, share ₹20,025
  • Rohanpaid ₹5,800, share ₹17,025

Settle up

  1. Kunal pays Aditi₹12,825
  2. Rohan pays Aditi₹11,225
  3. Sneha pays Aditi₹9,925

Questions

How do you split rent when the rooms are different sizes?
Split the rent by exact amounts or by shares instead of equally. A room that is twice as big can take 2 shares to everyone else's 1. Set it up that way on the monthly bill and every month follows it.
Does the rent still go in if nobody opens the app?
Yes. Monthly bills are added on the server, never by a phone, so the rent is there with the right date the next time anyone's phone syncs.
How do I start using Kitna Hua for my flat?
Sign up on this site and create a flat. To join a flat someone else runs, open the invite or join link they sent you.

Settle the bill, not the argument

Sign up to run a trip or a flat of your own. Joining one? Open the link or QR code whoever runs it sent you.