how to track group expenses in whatsapp

last updated 2026-08-30 · for trips, roommates, couples and any group that spends together

every group that spends money together already has a whatsapp group. the only question is where the numbers live. the three usual answers:

• a spreadsheet. free and flexible, but someone has to be the treasurer, and the sheet is always three days behind the chat.
• a split app. works, once every single person installs it, signs up, and remembers to open it. the group chat still gets the "did you add that to the app?" messages.
• a bot in the chat itself. the expenses are already being typed into the group - "i got the taxi", "dinner was 600" - so the tracker reads along right there. that's teresa.

step 1 - add teresa to the group

save the number, add it to the group like any contact. whatsapp doesn't tell bots when they're added, so it stays silent until someone writes the next message - then it introduces itself once and asks the one question that matters: split, or plain shared ledger? splitting means it tracks who paid what and who owes who; "no split" means one pot, totals by person and category, nobody owes anyone.

step 2 - text expenses like you'd text anyone

no commands, no format, any language. money mentioned in passing gets logged and the message gets a 💸 reaction - that reaction is the whole receipt. splits you didn't state are never assumed:

receipts ride along: send the photo or the pdf and it's attached to the expense with a 📎.

step 3 - ask when you care

teresa only speaks when @mentioned (or when a tab closes or a budget crosses a line). balances any time:

step 4 - close the tab, settle, done

a trip is a tab: "@teresa new tab lisbon" opens one, and when it's over, closing it posts the final balances and the fewest transfers that settle them. the tab freezes - the posted numbers stay true forever. record payments as they happen ("paid ann back") and the balance updates.

budgets, the page, the exports

give any tab a budget ("budget 20,000") and the group hears from teresa exactly twice: at 80% and at 100%. every group gets a live web page - list, totals, balances, receipts - behind a private link, no login, with csv, xlsx and pdf downloads. see the live example of a closed trip tab.

more detail: groups, tabs, splitting and settling. switching from another app? the honest comparison. quick answers: faq.