What is SquareUsUp?

It’s a full-featured, easy-to-use spreadsheet that lets a group of people – a travel group, a lunch group, a sports group, club members, family members, roommates, etc. – track their shared expenses and know at all times what they owe or are owed within the group. This knowledge frees everyone from continually having to make monetary transactions to square up debts, allowing debt settlement to be done less frequently and when it’s convenient.

The video below explains it all. The first two-and-a-half minutes compares SquareUsUp with other expense-sharing solutions. Stick around for the next 16 minutes to master its use.

How is SquareUsUp different from other group expense-sharing spreadsheets?

Group expense-sharing spreadsheets tend to be written primarily to demonstrate a technique for implementing a solution rather than to create a polished app with a clean user interface and a comprehensive set of features. SquareUsUp was written to fall into the latter category, while requiring no knowledge of Excel to use.

What specifically can a SquareUsUp spreadsheet do?

It was designed to handle just about any group expense-sharing situation imaginable – and also to be so simple it can be learned in minutes. No other expense-sharing spreadsheet does all this:

• Allows sharing of expenses that don’t involve all group members

• Allows sharing of expenses unequally among group members

• Allows the payer to assume no share of an expense

• Allows recording of unshared expenses

• Allows recording of payments made between group members

• Supports ongoing changes to group membership

• Eliminates roundoff discrepancies

• Provides fully error-checked data entry and editing

• Displays a bar graph depiction of group members’ indebtedness

• Provides fill-in forms as an alternative to direct spreadsheet entry

• Summarizes charges, payments, and balances for each group member

• Produces a personal transaction report for each group member

• Provides guidance for squaring up everyone in the group

What does SquareUsUp cost?

Nothing. Nada. Zero. It’s totally free. SquareUsUp was developed by a software engineer who plays tennis in a group that was unsatisfied with every expense-sharing solution they found. The solutions from the big players in this field were gross overkill, while the homegrown spreadsheets were all awkward to use and just didn’t have all required functionality. The spreadsheet created for the group was so much better than everything out there, they decided not to keep it to themselves. So here it is. All we ask in return is for you to help spread the word about SquareUsUp by providing your feedback on the Reviews page. Thanks!

How do I get started?

First, make sure you have genuine Microsoft Excel installed on your computer – preferably running on Microsoft Windows. Then just download the SquareUsUp template file per the instructions on the Downloads page, open the file in Excel, create a new project, and start using your project. Everything you need to know about using a SquareUsUp spreadsheet can be found right here on this website.