Household costs return every month, but they do not all follow the same rule. Rent may reflect room size, electricity may be equal and groceries may only involve two flatmates. Decide those rules separately before calculating a final balance.
Agree on a rule for each kind of cost
Write down rent shares before the first payment. A bigger room or private bathroom may justify a higher share. You can split utilities equally or choose another agreed rule. Whoever makes the bank transfer does not automatically bear the entire cost.
Keep personal purchases out of the shared ledger. If two flatmates buy something together, do not assign a share to the third. If a receipt mixes shared and personal items, enter the relevant costs separately. Automatic line-by-line splitting of a photographed receipt is still on the way.
Separate what someone owes from what they paid
The person who pays a bill advances money; their share is what they truly owe. The difference becomes the balance. Tacca supports several payers on one expense and equal, exact, percentage or weighted shares.
Record a bill when it arrives, with its period and amount. If someone moves in or out halfway through a month, agree how to handle those days before entering a share. Correct arithmetic cannot repair a missing agreement.
Advance and share are two different numbers
Utilities · € 90
- First personAdvanced€ 0Share€ 30Difference −€ 30
- Second personAdvanced€ 90Share€ 30Difference +€ 60
- Third personAdvanced€ 0Share€ 30Difference −€ 30
Whoever pays advances money; their share is what they truly owe.
Close the month with a checkable balance
Review expenses one by one. Everyone should be able to see the total, their own share, who paid and why a repayment is due. Avoid settling from memory: one forgotten bill changes every balance.
Use your existing banking or payment app to settle. Tacca can open it with the amount, but does not move money. The recipient confirms the repayment. Offline entries continue on the phone; make sure they sync before reinstalling the app.
Deposits, one-off purchases and people who move out
A deposit is not a shared expense: it gets returned, so record it separately and give it back to the person who paid it, not to whoever occupies the room today. The same goes for a one-off purchase such as an appliance: agree beforehand whether it belongs to everyone and what happens when someone leaves.
When a flatmate moves out, settle their balance before they leave the group. Putting it off means asking for money from someone who no longer lives with you.
The deposit goes back to whoever paid it
- Whoever paid it
- Whoever has the room today
It is not a shared expense: record it separately, because it gets returned.
When someone moves out, settle first
- Their balance is settledfirst
- They leave the groupthen
- Repayment from someone who no longer lives with youif put off
Putting it off means asking for money from someone who no longer lives with you.
Rent and utilities with unequal shares
- Rent€ 1,200paid by First person
- Utilities€ 90paid by Second person
1Who paid
- First person€ 1,200Rent € 1,200
- Second person€ 90Utilities € 90
- Third personPaid nothing
Three flatmates agree on 3, 2 and 1 shares of €1,200 rent: they owe €600, €400 and €200 respectively.
2The shares
- First person3 shares€ 630Rent € 600Utilities € 30
- Second person2 shares€ 430Rent € 400Utilities € 30
- Third person1 share€ 230Rent € 200Utilities € 30
Utilities cost €90 and are split equally, €30 each. Their combined shares are now €630, €430 and €230.
3Who pays whom
- First personIs owed€ 570
- Second personPays€ 340
- Third personPays€ 230
- Second personFirst person€ 340
- Third personFirst person€ 230
€ 340 + € 230 = € 570The payments add up to exactly what is owed
The first person advanced the €1,200 rent; the second advanced the €90 utilities. The first is owed €570, while the second owes €340 and the third €230. Those two payments add up to €570.
This is why “who paid” and “who owes” are different questions. Both must remain visible.
Tacca records advances, calculates balances and explains each amount. It is not in the app stores yet; you can leave an email below for a one-time launch notice.