🏖️ How to split a beach house between friends

Split a beach house by treating the rent as one line divided by nights stayed, then putting food, drinks and the bond on their own lines. The rent is the big number and the one people argue about, so decide up front whether it is per person or per room, write that down, and let every smaller cost settle on top of it.

Updated 2026-08-23. Example figures are in Australian dollars and made up.

Example: Culburra Beach, a week in January$4,902.20 in

LineAmount

House, seven nightsSam paid, split by nights stayed

$3,360.00

Bond, refundableSam paid, split everyone

$500.00

Big shop, WooliesLeila paid, split everyone

$487.20

Fish and chips, TuesdayDev paid, split everyone

$136.00

Drinks for the weekOllie paid, split the four drinkers

$299.00

Kayak hireMia paid, split Chloe and Mia

$120.00

Settle up in 5 paymentsAmount

Dev pays Sam

$779.28

Chloe pays Sam

$620.53

Ollie pays Sam

$616.27

Mia pays Sam

$500.52

Leila pays Sam

$428.10

Person	Position
Sam	is owed $2,944.70
Leila	owes $428.10
Dev	owes $779.28
Chloe	owes $620.53
Ollie	owes $616.27
Mia	owes $500.52

6 people, 6 lines, 5 transfers to square up. Names and amounts are made up for the example.

What goes wrong

Two people came for four of the seven nights

Per-night shares fix this in one line: 7 shares for the full week, 4 for the short stay. Everyone can see the maths.

The bond comes back in March

Put the bond on the ledger so the person who fronted it is made whole now. When it is refunded, they keep it, because they already got reimbursed.

Someone does not drink

Put drinks on their own line split among the drinkers. Food stays on everyone.

Run it in Zeroed

Start a ledger, name it, add the people. Ten seconds, no accounts.
Send the link to the group chat. Everyone taps their name.
Add lines as they happen. Untick anyone a line is not for.
At the end, the settle-up plan shows the fewest transfers. Tap one to send the reminder.

Start a ledger Just split one bill

Questions

Should the person who booked the house pay more or less?

Neither. Booking is admin, not money. They put the whole rent on a line, split by nights, and the ledger pays them back.

Is it fairer to split a beach house by room or by person?

By person (or per night per person) is the norm between friends. By room only makes sense when couples take the big rooms and everyone agrees a couple pays a premium.

What about the cleaning fee?

It is part of the accommodation cost. Fold it into the house line.