🏠 Shared Mess System — Simple Guide

If you are not in an active mess, open the 🏠 Shared Mess page, type a name for your mess (e.g., Lakeview Bachelor Flat), and click ✨ Create Mess. You will automatically become the 👑 Mess Manager.

1. Ask your flatmate to register an account on EXPANCES.
2. As the Manager, scroll to the ⚙️ Mess Settings & Members section at the bottom of the Mess dashboard.
3. Enter their exact Username and click + Add Member.

No. Each user can belong to one active mess at a time to keep accounting clean. If you move flats, you can request to leave your current mess and join or create a new one.

The 👑 Mess Manager is responsible for overall flat accounting and has exclusive abilities to:

• Approve or Reject member-submitted expenses.
• Add expenses directly on behalf of any specific member (instantly approved).
• Add and remove members from the mess.
• Approve leave requests submitted by members.
• Transfer the Manager role to another active member.
• Rename or Archive the mess when a cycle ends.

1. In the ⚙️ Mess Settings section, locate the Transfer Manager Role panel.
2. Select the new manager from the dropdown list of active members.
3. Click 👑 Transfer Role and confirm.

The target user becomes the new Manager immediately, while you remain as an active member.

1. Open the 🏠 Shared Mess or your 📊 Personal Dashboard.
2. In the 🛒 Bazar or ⚡ Utilities & Other panel, pick a date, item name, and amount.
3. Click + Submit.

Your submission will be queued as ⏳ Pending until the Manager reviews and approves it.

When the Manager submits an expense, a "For Member" dropdown is visible. The Manager can pick who bought the item (e.g. Tanvir). The expense is attributed directly to Tanvir's account and approved immediately without extra approval steps.

When members submit expenses, an alert card titled 🔔 Pending Mess Expense Approvals appears at the top of the Manager's dashboard.

The Manager can click Approve (instantly includes it in monthly calculations) or Reject (dismisses the entry from shared mess totals).

The meal rate formula is simple and fully automated:

Each member's grocery cost = Their Meals × Meal Rate.

The Member Balance table shows separate breakdowns for complete transparency:

• Bazar Balance: Member's Bazar Spent minus their Shared Bazar Share (or Meals × Meal Rate). Positive means they paid more grocery money than their share; negative means they owe for food.
• Utility Balance: Member's Utility Spent minus their total utility due (Fixed Bill + Shared Excess). Utility spending up to a member's fixed bill covers their own rent; only extra money paid above the fixed bill is shared equally.
• Net Balance: Sum of Bazar Balance + Utility Balance.

Positive Net Balance (+ Green): The mess owes money to this member (Refund due).

Negative Net Balance (- Red): The member owes money to the mess (Due to pay).

In bachelor flats and messes, members frequently have different room or seat rents (for example, Master bedroom = ৳4,000, Second room = ৳3,000):

• Setting Fixed Bills: The Mess Manager can click the ✏️ edit button next to any member's Fixed Bill column in the Member Balances table to configure custom monthly amounts via a quick popup.
• Individual Rent: Spending up to each member's fixed bill covers their own personal rent obligation.
• Excess Sharing: Only if a member pays more utility than their fixed balance (e.g. paying an additional electricity or WiFi bill on behalf of the flat), that extra excess is counted as shared and divided equally among all members so everyone pays their equal part.

When a member pays their negative due balance or the manager refunds a positive balance, they can record a Settlement:

1. Click the 🤝 Settle button next to the member in the balance table.
2. Enter the payment amount, method (Cash, bKash, Nagad, Bank), and optional transaction note.
3. A pending settlement request is submitted to the recipient.
4. Once the recipient clicks ✓ Confirm, the settlement is officially applied. The member's net balance updates immediately to reflect the payment (bringing net balance to ৳0 or adjusted amount).

At the top of the Member Balances section, click the 📜 Settlement History button. A dedicated popup window opens instantly, showing a complete transparent ledger of all confirmed and pending settlements, including exact timestamps, payer, recipient, payment methods, and notes.

1. At the bottom of the Mess dashboard, click 🚪 Request to Leave Mess.
2. Optionally provide a reason and confirm.
3. The Manager will receive an approval request to ensure all financial dues are settled before releasing the member.

Click 📜 Mess History in the top navigation bar. You can view all archived cycles, previous months' breakdowns, member contributions, and final settlement summaries.