The fastest way to split a bill is to type what happened while everyone is still at the table: dinner 96 with max, anna and leo, Read, check, Add. No form, no dropdowns, no "I'll add it later".
That only works if the app reads the sentence the way you meant it — and shows you what it understood before it saves anything. This guide collects twenty sentences HiBill reads, what the review shows for each, and what happens when a sentence is missing something.
How it works, in one line
Type the sentence into the field at the top of the dashboard, a person's page or a group's page — any words, any order, no syntax to learn. Press Read (or Enter): AI reads the amount, the currency, who paid, who shares it, what it was for and the day, and a review appears under the field. The chips say who paid, how much, for what, between whom and when; the rows below them say what saving will do to your balances.
If a chip is wrong, tap it and change it. When it all looks right, press Add (or Enter again) — nothing is saved before that, and the Transaction saved toast offers Undo. Why a sentence beats a form in the first place is the subject of how to log a shared expense in one sentence, and the whole AI flow is walked through in how to split expenses with AI.
New to it? The field starts out with a short card — type it, press Read, check and add — and three sentences to try.
Amounts
taxi 15— you paid €15.00 for a taxi, between just you: a cost of your own, nobody owes anything.coffee 4.50 yesterday— €4.50, dated yesterday.twenty bucks coffee— the amount can be written in words: USD 20.00.groceries 1 500 lei— MDL 1,500.00.120+45 dinner with anna— the review adds it up: €165.00, and Anna owes you €82.50.
People, and who owes what
dinner 84 with Max Keller and Anna Lopes yesterday— between 3 people: Max and Anna owe you €28.00 each.pizza 45 with max and anna— "with" means you share it equally with everyone named: each of them owes you €15.00.lunch 30 for anna— you paid and none of it was yours: Anna owes you all €30.00.anna paid 40 for the museum, with me— someone else paid: between you and Anna, so you owe Anna €20.00.hotel 320 in lisbon trip— name a group and the review picks it up; the cost is shared between its members.dinner 30 with sofia— Sofia isn't one of your people yet, so the review asks who she is (more below).
You don't need to pick names from a list. Names are matched to your contacts as written — anna finds Anna Lopes. If you like, typing three letters shows the people it fits, and Tab or ↑/↓ and Enter turns one into a pill; @ opens the full list of people and groups.
The day
rent 1200 last friday with leo— dated last Friday; Leo owes you €600.00.tickets 60 on september 12— dated Sep 12.
With no day in the sentence, the date chip says today out loud, so a missing date is never a silent one.
Other currencies and languages
lunch 500 lei with max— MDL 500.00, and Max owes you MDL 250.00.cena 60 con anna— any language works: €60.00 shared with Anna, who owes you €30.00.
A currency word several countries share — $, lei, kr — follows your own currency when it is one of them, and otherwise reads as USD, MDL or SEK. If it picked the wrong one, tap the currency chip and search the list.
Each balance stays in its own currency. HiBill doesn't convert a lei debt into euros behind your back — more on that in working with multiple currencies.
Money handed over
gave 15 to anna— a payment, not a shared cost: you gave €15.00 to Anna Lopes. With nothing said about what for, the title stays empty.gave max 50 for tickets— you gave €50.00 to Max Keller, for tickets.Max gave me 20 for the taxi— money coming the other way: Max Keller gave €20.00 to you.
A dinner for four, start to finish
Friday night, €96 on your card, three friends:
dinner 96 with max, anna and leo
The review says the dinner is between 4 people and 3 people owe €24.00 each — three separate balances, not one €72 debt. Press Add. Saturday morning Max sends his share, and you type max gave me 24 for dinner, Read, Add. Max is settled; Anna and Leo still owe their €24.
When a sentence is missing something
coffee with anna has no amount. AI never invents one: the amount chip reads How much? and opens its calculator, and Add waits until it is filled. The calculator does math, so 120+45, or 300/3 for a third of a bill, works there too.
dinner 30 with sofia names someone who isn't in your people yet. The review asks Who is "Sofia"? and opens Pick or add Sofia, already searching for the name: pick the right contact or add her as a new person. Add waits until every name is settled.
Changed the sentence after reading it? The review dims and the button becomes Read it again. Each Read uses one AI sentence read from your monthly allowance — 50 a month on Free — or two when a marked receipt's items are divided between people. Fixes for the usual misreads are in fixing a misread sentence.
Skip typing the amount: read the receipt
For a long receipt, type only the people — groceries with anna — attach the photo with the paperclip (Attach a photo or file) or paste or drop it into the field, and tap Bill on its chip. Press Read: the receipt gives the total, the currency, the date and the line items, and your sentence supplies the people and the title.
The review says where the numbers came from — Amount and date read from the photo — and, as always, nothing is saved until you press Add.
The cheat sheet
Type | The review shows |
|---|---|
| You paid €15.00 for a taxi, just you |
| €4.50, dated yesterday |
| USD 20.00 |
| MDL 1,500.00 |
| €165.00; Anna owes you €82.50 |
| Between 3 people; Max and Anna owe you €28.00 each |
| Each of them owes you €15.00 |
| Anna owes you all €30.00 |
| Anna paid; you owe Anna €20.00 |
| Shared in the Lisbon trip group |
| Who is "Sofia"? — pick or add her |
| 3 people owe €24.00 each |
| Dated last Friday; Leo owes you €600.00 |
| Dated Sep 12 |
| MDL 500.00; Max owes you MDL 250.00 |
| €60.00; Anna owes you €30.00 |
| You gave €15.00 to Anna Lopes |
| You gave €50.00 to Max Keller |
| Max Keller gave €20.00 to you |
| How much? — Add waits for the amount |
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to split a bill with friends?
Record it the moment it happens, in one line. A sentence like pizza 45 with max and anna holds everything a form would ask for — the amount, the people, the split and the day — and takes a few seconds to type, read and check.
Do I need to type @ before names?
No. Names are matched to your people as you wrote them, and the review shows who was picked. Suggestions and @ are there if you want to pick someone from the list, or add someone new.
Does HiBill use AI to read my sentence?
Yes — every time you press Read. Each Read uses one AI sentence read from your monthly allowance (two when a marked receipt's items are divided between people), and you see the result in the review before anything is saved. AI never invents a person or a price: a missing amount or an unknown name is left for you to fill in.
What if the split isn't equal?
A sentence covers the everyday case: one payer, an equal split, or money handed over. For uneven shares or items, tap the split chip in the review and pick by amount, by percentage or by items; for several payers, tap who paid and pick Split between multiple payers. See choosing a split method.
Which languages does it understand?
Any. Write the sentence in the language you think in — cena 60 con anna reads the same as dinner 60 with anna.
More on the sentence field is in adding a transaction by typing a sentence.
Continue reading
How HiBill Works: A Quiet Ledger for the Money Between Friends — where each sentence ends up: people, balances, groups and settling up.
How to split a restaurant bill by item without tapping through a list — one sentence plus a receipt, and every line lands on whoever had it.
How to Fix a Shared Expense After You've Already Saved It — what to do when a saved sentence turns out to be wrong.