How to split expenses with friends in Lipi

Create a split, add the people, enter the total and who paid, and Lipi works out who owes whom. Each split covers one shared bill, a dinner or a household bill each getting its own split, and when everyone has paid their share the split shows All clear.

How a split works

A split starts with one total, one payer who fronted the money, and a share for every member. Lipi tracks each member as Paid or Unpaid, with a progress line such as 1 of 2 settled, and the Breakdown view states each person's position in plain figures: what you owe, and what you are owed.

You find Splits under Sharing in the sidebar. The list shows each split by name, its members, and either an amount or a status such as All clear or Inactive. At the top of the list sit two controls, Scan to join for joining someone else's split, and New split for starting your own. Splits is free to use. The Splits link carries no Premium lock, and New split opens on a free account without a paywall.

Create a split

Open Splits, then choose New split. The dialog asks for a split name, a description of what the bill was for, the total, the currency, the date, and who paid. Paid by defaults to you, and the dialog notes that you can change this later, since the payer is simply who fronted the money.

A receipt photo can be added to the split, where it stays with the bill rather than becoming a separate upload, so the proof and the figures sit together.

Add people to a split

The New split dialog offers three ways to add someone, under three tabs. Email adds a person by their email address, Search picks someone you have split with before, and Name only adds a guest with no account, for a friend who does not use Lipi yet. Once a split exists, members can still be added from the Members view, using the same three options.

Inside a split, the Invite view gives a QR code with a 12-character code underneath it. The code expires, and a new code can be made any time, so an old invite stops working once it is replaced. To join a split, choose Scan to join from the Splits list and enter the 12-character code, since QR scanning is not available on the web and the code is the way in.

A name-only guest carries the note No account, which matters for reminders, because a guest has no account yet and there is no one to remind. Members with an account can be reminded from the split, and the Members view also offers Remind all.

Set the shares

Shares are set in the same New split dialog. Split equally divides the total across the members, and editing one share changes the others, since adjusting one share makes the rest recalculate. A member can be unticked, and unticked people keep a 0 share, which is how a person who owes nothing on this bill is handled.

There is no percentage mode in the split form. Shares are currency amounts, set either by splitting equally or by editing the individual amounts, so check them before creating the split. Changing the total, currency, shares, or payer is blocked while payments are claimed or paid.

What everyone sees

A split detail page shows the split among its members, a dated card for the bill, and a member list. Each member is marked Payer, Paid, or Unpaid, with their share amount beside their name, and the summary shows the total, who paid, and the settled progress, such as 1 of 2 settled at 50 percent.

Breakdown is the view to check when the question is who owes whom, since it lists each member with what they owe and what they are owed. For a two-person split, the payer who fronted the whole bill is owed the other person's share, and the other member owes that share. The member list also carries actions, including Make payer, which moves the payer role so everyone then owes their share to the new payer, Mark paid, Remind, Copy to my books, and Remove.

Copy to my books records a share coming back to you in your own accounts.

A worked example

Take a dinner bill of Rs. 2,500.00, paid by one person and split between two, so each share is Rs. 1,250.00. In Breakdown, the payer shows You owe Rs. 0.00 and You are owed Rs. 1,250.00, while the other member shows Owes Rs. 1,250.00 and Is owed Rs. 0.00. Once that Rs. 1,250.00 is marked paid, the split reads 2 of 2 settled and shows All clear.

The same shape holds for a larger group. On a Rs. 10,000.00 bill split four ways, each share is Rs. 2,500.00, and if the payer fronted the full amount, Breakdown shows the payer owed Rs. 7,500.00, the three unpaid shares together, with each unpaid member owing Rs. 2,500.00. The progress line reads 1 of 4 settled at 25 percent until the next share is paid.

Settle a split

Settling is recorded member by member. Mark paid on a member records that share as paid, and Mark all as paid records every outstanding share at once. Both sit on the split detail page, and Mark all as paid also appears in the More menu, alongside Edit split, Breakdown, Settle up, Copy link, and Leave split.

The activity feed records each change in plain wording, such as marked a payment as paid, so the history of who paid and when stays visible. A fully settled split shows the full count settled, and its list card reads All clear. Once a split is fully settled, Mark all as paid no longer appears, and only Copy link remains.

If someone leaves a split

Leaving a split is a bigger step than it first looks. The Leave split confirmation states that leaving deactivates the split for everyone, that the history stays, and that the group cannot be changed afterwards. An inactive split carries a banner saying the same, with one addition: settling still works.

That has a practical consequence. Do not leave a split to tidy up your own list, because it closes the group for everyone else too. If a member needs to be removed while the split is still active, use Remove on that member instead, and keep leaving for the point where the whole split is done with.

Mistakes to avoid

Check the shares first

A member left unticked keeps a 0 share, which is correct for someone who owes nothing, but it is easy to untick the wrong person and only notice when Breakdown shows them owing nothing.

Core figures lock once payments start

Changing the total, currency, shares, or payer is blocked while payments are claimed or paid, so a correction needs to happen before anyone's payment is recorded, or the split needs a different route.

Reminders do not reach a name-only guest

A guest has no account, so there is no one to remind, and the reminder control is disabled for them. If reminders matter, add the person by email instead.

One split covers one bill

A second shared bill needs its own split, with its own total, payer, and shares. Folding two bills into one split will distort the shares and the settled progress.

Frequently asked questions

How do I split a bill with friends in Lipi?

Open Splits under Sharing, choose New split, add the people by email, search, or name only, enter the total and who paid, set the shares with Split equally or by editing the amounts, and create the split. Breakdown then shows who owes whom.

How does settling work?

Mark a member paid when their share arrives, or use Mark all as paid when every outstanding share is in. The split's progress line moves with each payment, and a fully settled split shows All clear.

What happens if someone leaves a split?

Leaving deactivates the split for everyone. The history stays, and settling still works, but the group cannot be changed. Use Remove on a single member instead if only one person needs to come out.

Can I split a bill unequally?

Yes. Split equally is the starting point, and editing one share recalculates the rest. A member can also be unticked to keep a 0 share.

How do I join someone else's split?

Choose Scan to join from the Splits list and enter the 12-character invite code. The code sits under the QR code on the invite, it expires, and the split owner can replace it any time.

Is Splits free?

Yes. Splits carries no Premium lock, and New split opens on a free account without a paywall.

Is there a way to record a share in my own accounts?

Yes. Copy to my books on a member records that money coming back to you in your own accounts.

Try it with your next shared bill

The next time one person pays for the group, open Splits, create the split while the bill is still in front of you, and check Breakdown before anyone pays. That one check catches a wrong share early, when it is still easy to fix.

If the money you share is a loan rather than a bill, the guide to track a loan and its prepayments covers that workflow. The full list of guides sits on the guides hub.