Payments Explained
Activity costs, shared costs, allocation methods, partial payments, and credits.
Buxmate calculates who owes what and lets you record what guests have paid. It does not charge cards or hold money.
Two types of costs
Activity costs (automatic)
When an activity has a cost and guests RSVP Going, Buxmate creates a payment item automatically:
| Cost type | Example | Split |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed per attending guest | $50 entry each | $50 × each Going guest |
| Total split by attending guests | $400 boat hire | $400 ÷ number of Going guests |
Guests marked Maybe or Can't make it are not charged for that activity.
If a guest changes their RSVP, their share recalculates. Partial payments already recorded are kept.
Shared costs (manual)
Event-wide expenses you add on the Payments page — group gifts, transport, supplies, etc.
You choose how to split:
- All active guests (equal split)
- All active guests excluding guest of honour
- Guests going to linked activity (equal split among Going on that activity)
- Optional: Also exclude guest of honour
Per-guest view
Each guest has allocations across payment items. For each line they see:
- Your share — amount owed for that item
- Paid — what you have recorded
- Still owing or Credit — remainder
Statuses: Pending · Partial · Paid · Owed to guest (overpaid) · Waived
Recording payments (organiser)
On a payment item's detail page, for each guest:
- Record payment — enter amount received (supports partial payments)
- Mark paid in full — one-click for the full balance
- Refund amount — when a guest has overpaid (credit)
- Clear payments — reset to unpaid
- Allocation override — manually change someone's share (with reason)
Payment details for guests
Separately from splits, you add payment details (bank BSB, PayID, etc.) on the Payments page. Guests see this under How to pay on their hub.
Recalculate
If RSVPs change and allocations look off, click Recalculate payments on the Payments page. Paid amounts are preserved; shares update to match current Going lists.
Needs review
After RSVP changes, some allocations may flag needs review. Check the Payments page banner and individual splits.
See Payments (organiser guide) for step-by-step instructions.