Trip Expense Tracking

Manage shared expenses and settle up fairly at the end of your golf trip. No more spreadsheets or awkward money conversations.

How Expense Tracking Works

1. Trip Captain sets up the trip and invites participants
2. Anyone can add shared expenses as they occur
3. System calculates who owes what in real-time
4. End of trip generates optimal settlement plan
5. Participants settle up with minimal transactions

Adding Shared Expenses

Quick Add Expense

1. Navigate to your trip dashboard
2. Click Expenses in the sidebar
3. Click Add Expense
4. Fill in the expense details

Expense Details

Expense Categories

Organize expenses with built-in categories:

Splitting Expenses

Split Evenly

By default, expenses split equally among all trip participants. This works for most shared costs like:

• Rental house for the group
• Group dinner tabs
• Golf cart rentals

Custom Split

For expenses that don’t apply to everyone:

1. Toggle Custom Split when adding the expense
2. Select which participants to include
3. Enter custom amounts per person (optional)

Common custom split scenarios:

• Only golfers share greens fees (non-golfers excluded)
• Some people shared a hotel room
• Individual items on a group bill
• Someone who arrived late and missed earlier expenses

Viewing Balances

Balance Summary

The balance summary shows the financial status of each participant:

Reading Your Balance

Navigate to Expenses > Balances to see:

• Your Net Balance: Overall how much you owe or are owed
• Individual Balances: What you owe to or are owed by each person
• Total Trip Cost: Sum of all expenses
• Per Person Average: Typical share amount

Balance Example

For a trip with $3,000 in total expenses split among 4 people:

Generating Settlements

Why Use Smart Settlements?

Instead of everyone paying everyone else individually, the settlement optimizer calculates the minimum number of payments needed.

Without optimization:

• Steve pays Mike $150
• Steve pays Dave $100
• Tom pays Mike $400
• Tom pays Dave $100
• Tom pays Steve $50
• (5+ transactions)

With optimization:

• Steve pays Mike $250
• Tom pays Mike $500
• Tom pays Dave $50
• (3 transactions)

Generate Settlement Plan

1. Navigate to Expenses > Settlements
2. Click Generate Settlement Plan
3. Review the proposed payments
4. Share the plan with your group

Unified Payout Calculator (Recommended)

Use the Unified Payout Calculator in the Settlements area when you want one plan that combines:

• Shared expenses
• Tournament payouts
• Side games (skins, Nassau, and other configured game winnings)

The calculator shows the minimum number of payments needed after combining all trip financial activity into one net position per player.
If needed, use Sync To Settlements to persist those optimized transactions into the settlement list for tracking and completion.

Use Settlement View in the dashboard to switch between:

• Persisted Plan: current tracked settlements with payment status.
• Minimum Transactions: preview of the mathematically smallest payment count.
• Organizer Routed: preview where everyone pays/gets paid through one organizer.

Organizer Settlement Mode (Optional)

If your group prefers one person to collect and distribute money, use Organizer Settlement Mode:

• Choose an organizer player.
• Preview how many payments are needed when everyone routes through that organizer.
• Compare this with minimum-transaction mode and pick whichever is easiest for your group.
• Use Sync Organizer Plan if you want to persist that organizer-routed plan into Settlements.

Settlement Details

Each settlement shows:

• From: Person who needs to pay
• To: Person who receives payment
• Amount: Exact payment amount
• Status: Pending, Completed, or Disputed

Marking Settlements Complete

When a payment is made:

1. Find the settlement in the list
2. Click Mark Complete
3. Optionally add payment method note (Venmo, cash, etc.)
4. Settlement moves to completed status

Best practices:

• Mark settlements complete as soon as payment is sent
• Use consistent payment methods for easy tracking
• Keep receipts or screenshots for larger amounts

Tracking Wagers & Side Bets

What Are Wagers?

Track informal bets between players during your trip:

• Nassau bets
• Skins games
• “Closest to pin” side bets
• Any friendly wagers

Adding a Wager

1. Navigate to Expenses > Wagers
2. Click Add Wager
3. Enter the wager details

Settling Wagers

When a wager has a winner:

1. Find the wager in the list
2. Click Settle Wager
3. Select the winner
4. Confirm the settlement

Important: Settled wagers automatically factor into the final trip settlement. The winner’s balance increases, and the loser’s decreases accordingly.

Wager Examples

End-of-Trip Settlement Workflow

Before Leaving

Follow this checklist to settle up before everyone heads home:

Step 1: Verify All Expenses

1. Review the expense list
2. Confirm all shared costs are recorded
3. Check that paid-by assignments are correct
4. Verify custom splits where applicable

Step 2: Settle Outstanding Wagers

1. Review the wager list
2. Settle any unresolved bets
3. Confirm winners for each wager
4. Wager amounts will be included in settlements

Step 3: Generate Final Settlements

1. Click Generate Settlement Plan
2. Review the optimized payment plan
3. Share with all participants

Step 4: Complete Payments

1. Make payments per the settlement plan
2. Mark each payment as complete when done
3. Keep records of payment confirmations

Remote Settlement

If your group settles up after the trip:

1. Share the trip link with participants
2. Everyone can review expenses remotely
3. Generate settlement plan when ready
4. Use Venmo, Zelle, or other payment apps
5. Mark settlements complete as payments are received

Managing Expenses

Editing an Expense

Need to fix an expense entry?

1. Find the expense in the list
2. Click the Edit icon
3. Update the relevant fields
4. Save changes

Note: Editing an expense automatically recalculates all balances.

Deleting an Expense

To remove an expense:

1. Find the expense in the list
2. Click the Delete icon
3. Confirm deletion

Caution: Deleting expenses affects balance calculations. Only delete entries made in error.

Expense History

View the complete expense timeline:

• All expenses in chronological order
• Filter by category or participant
• Export for your records

Best Practices

During the Trip

• Add expenses immediately: Don’t wait until the end to enter costs
• Take photos of receipts: Useful for disputes or tax purposes
• Use consistent descriptions: Makes reviewing easier
• Communicate with your group: Share large expenses before adding

For Trip Captains

• Set expectations early: Explain how expense tracking works
• Encourage participation: Anyone should feel comfortable adding expenses
• Review regularly: Check entries daily to catch errors early
• Generate preview settlements: Show the group mid-trip balances

Settling Up

• Verify before generating: Ensure all expenses and wagers are recorded
• Use digital payments: Easier to track than cash
• Mark complete promptly: Keeps the status accurate
• Keep the trip open: In case you need to add forgotten expenses

Troubleshooting

Balance Doesn’t Look Right

Check:

1. All expenses have the correct “Paid By” assignment
2. Custom splits are configured correctly
3. No duplicate expense entries
4. All participants are included in the trip

Settlement Not Generating

Check:

1. At least one person has a positive balance
2. At least one person has a negative balance
3. All wagers are settled (or excluded)
4. Trip has more than one participant

Expense Won’t Save

Check:

1. Amount is a valid number
2. Description is not empty
3. A payer is selected
4. You have permission to add expenses

Someone Left Early

If a participant leaves mid-trip:

1. Continue adding expenses normally
2. Use custom splits to exclude them from later costs
3. Generate their settlement before departure
4. Complete their payments separately