FairSplit

Inspiration

Splitting expenses among large groups—whether at restaurants, trips, or events—often leads to confusion, awkwardness, and errors. We wanted to create a seamless, transparent, and fair way for everyone to pay their share, inspired by real-life frustrations with group payments and the lack of flexible, user-friendly solutions.

What it does

FairSplit is a platform that allows users to quickly and accurately split bills among groups. Users can scan receipts, assign items to individuals, handle shared items, and settle up instantly via integrated payment options. FairSplit also tracks group expenses over time, making it easy to manage ongoing balances for friends, teams, or families.

How we built it

We developed FairSplit as a web application using React for the frontend and Node.js for the backend. We integrated OCR technology for receipt scanning and used a third-party payment API to enable instant settlements. The app’s logic handles item assignment, tax/tip allocation, and group management, ensuring fairness and transparency at every step.

Challenges we ran into

• Integrating reliable OCR for diverse receipt formats proved tricky.
• Ensuring accurate tax and tip distribution among group members required careful logic.
• Streamlining the user experience for large groups without overwhelming users was a constant design challenge.
• Managing real-time updates and payment confirmations across multiple devices added technical complexity.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Successfully implemented receipt scanning and item assignment with high accuracy.
• Achieved a smooth, intuitive user flow that testers praised for its clarity.
• Built a robust backend capable of handling group transactions and ongoing expense tracking.
• Received positive feedback from early users who found the app saved time and reduced stress.

What we learned

• User experience is critical—small UX improvements had a big impact on adoption and satisfaction.
• Real-world receipts are highly variable, so flexible OCR handling is essential.
• Integrating with payment providers requires careful attention to security and compliance.
• Building for groups means anticipating a wide range of edge cases and user behaviors.

What's next for FairSplit

• Expanding support for international currencies and payment methods.
• Adding features for recurring expenses and group budgeting.
• Launching a mobile app for even greater convenience.
• Partnering with restaurants and event organizers for direct integration.
• Enhancing analytics and reporting for group expense insights.

Built With

• azure
• ocr
• openai
• supabase
• typescript