Who owes who, in the fewest payments

A worked example

Four friends, four shared expenses, twelve individual debts between them. Settling those one by one would be twelve transfers. Netted out, it is three:

How the netting works

If you owe Ada and Ada owes Ben, the middle cancels: you pay Ben directly and Ada is out of it. MuCash does that across the whole group at once, then matches the largest creditor to the largest debtor until nothing is left. The result is the shortest list of payments that leaves everybody square, and it is exact to the cent — the odd penny is allocated, never dropped.

Questions

Does everyone need the app?

No. Add them as a name and split with them straight away. This is the single biggest reason a shared tab dies — waiting on four people to sign up. If they join properly later, nothing already recorded is lost.

Can we split unevenly?

Three ways: equal, by shares (a double share for whoever ate for two), or exact amounts per person. All of them to the cent.

How do I ask for the money without it being awkward?

One tap sends a ready-made WhatsApp message with the amount already in it. Nobody has to compose that sentence.