For a trip with several currencies, preserve each expense’s original amount, choose a common currency for comparing balances, and make the conversion convention clear. Never add EUR 100 and USD 55 as if they were 155 units of the same money.
The bookkeeping rule and the amount a bank actually charges can differ. Your group needs to agree which amounts it is sharing and how it will handle conversion fees.
Choose a base currency and rate convention
A base currency gives the group one unit for reading balances. It does not mean everyone must make payments in that currency. Agree separately how a repayment in another currency will be calculated.
For a manual ledger, save the rate and date alongside the original amount. If you’re using an app, understand its current conversion behavior rather than assuming rates are frozen, live, or identical to your bank’s rate. If a final balance changes after a conversion update, review it together before transferring money.
Work through one example
Use an illustrative rate of EUR 1 = USD 1.10. This is a teaching assumption, not a current exchange-rate quote. Alex and Bea share both expenses equally.
| Expense | Payer | Original amount | USD equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | Alex | EUR 100 | USD 110 |
| Meal | Bea | USD 55 | USD 55 |
| Total | — | — | USD 165 |
Each person’s share is USD 82.50. Alex paid the equivalent of USD 110, so should receive USD 27.50. Bea paid USD 55, so owes USD 27.50. Under this agreement, Bea pays Alex USD 27.50.
If Bea instead repays in euros, agree a conversion rate for that repayment. Do not silently use a different rate and assume the two totals still reconcile.
Decide what to do with fees
Suppose Alex also pays a USD 3 card fee. There are two separate questions: did the fee occur, and did the group agree to share it?
If both people share the fee, group spending rises to USD 168, each share becomes USD 84, and Alex’s paid amount becomes USD 113. Bea then owes Alex USD 29. If the fee remains personal, use the original USD 27.50 settlement. Do not include the fee once in the converted charge and again as a separate line.
Keep a ledger you can reconcile
For each expense, record the original currency and amount, payer, participants, base equivalent, and any separately agreed fee. Keep a note of the conversion assumption if working manually. When allocating fractions, round consistently in the currency you’re settling and assign any remainder explicitly.
For refunds, record the actual returned amount and currency. A refund processed later may not match the original base equivalent; identify any difference instead of assuming the original charge was entirely reversed.
Use multi-currency groups carefully
Splitra supports expenses and refunds in different currencies within a group and presents balances in the group’s base currency. Keep the original receipt context and review the resulting amounts before final repayment. Offline access does not mean a fresh exchange-rate update is available without a connection.
This guide’s fixed rate illustrates the calculation; it is not a promise that the app applies that same fixed-rate policy. Check the displayed amounts when editing old entries or settling after a long trip.
For allocation and payer tracking, follow the trip expense guide. For the final repayment calculation, see who owes whom.