How to start a mess with Messtro

On the welcome screen, tap Create a mess, fill in four details, then tap Create mess.

• Mess name: at least 3 characters, such as your building or area.
• Starting month: the month your accounts open. Usually the current month; choose next month if you're starting mid-month and want a clean start.
• Country and Preferred currency: the currency fills in from the country, and you can change it.

Tip: You become the mess manager. You can hand the role to someone else later from More.

Tell Messtro which meals your mess serves and how many meals each one counts as. The default is breakfast, lunch and dinner, each counting as 1.

• Make a light breakfast count as 0.5, or a heavier lunch as 2, whatever your mess agrees on.
• This only sets the default step when you record meals. The food cost is always split by the meals actually recorded.
• Tap Save meal system to continue. This is the one wizard step you can’t skip.

Tip: Not sure yet? Keep the default. You can change it any time under More → Mess Configuration.

Tap Add member for each person in the mess. Enter their Full name and Email (required); Phone is optional.

• When that person later signs in with the same email and joins, they're let in straight away, with no approval needed, and everything you recorded for them stays theirs.
• Don't have someone's email yet? Leave them out; they can join with the invite code and you approve them.
• Tap Skip if you'd rather invite everyone later.

Tip: Adding members now lets you record their meals and deposits from day one, even before they install the app.

Add the shared bills your mess pays: rent, internet, electricity, gas, the cook's salary. Tap Add bill and set:

• Bill name and How often it's due: Monthly, Every 3 months, Yearly or One-off.
• Amount type: Fixed amount for the same figure every month (rent, internet), or Varies each month for metered bills like electricity.
• Who shares this bill? (everyone, or only specific members) and How do they split it? (evenly, or custom amounts).

Tip: Setting up a bill charges nobody. Members are charged only when you record a payment for it, in the month it's paid.

Your mess's 6-character invite code sits next to the mess name at the top of Home. Tap it to share the code and an invite link over Messenger, WhatsApp or SMS.

• Opening the link takes a member to the app, or to Google Play if they don't have it yet.
• Or they open Messtro, tap Join a mess and type the code.
• Any member can share the code. Who actually gets in is still up to you.

Open Meals, or tap Add entry → Record meals, and tap in each member's meals for the day. Guests and half-meals count too.

• Record daily. It keeps the month's meal count and meal rate accurate.
• Meals someone will miss can be cancelled in advance with Cancel meals, so they aren't charged and the cook knows.
• Use Guest meals when a member brings a guest; those meals are charged to that member.

Tip: The meal rate is simple: total bazar ÷ total meals this month. Each member pays for their meals at that rate.

Every grocery run goes in as bazar, so it counts toward the meal rate. Tap Add entry → Add bazar, enter the total (and the items, if you like) and who paid.

• If a member paid from their own pocket, choose them as the payer. They're credited back and still pay only their share.
• When a member hands you cash for the fund, tap Add entry → Deposit. Only the manager records deposits.
• Everything lands in the Ledger with a running balance.

At month end, go to More → Close month. You'll see a preview of every member's final balance before anything is locked.

• Closing saves a permanent record under More → Monthly summaries.
• Whatever each member is owed or owes carries into the new month as a Brought forward line, so nobody settles up by hand.
• The next month opens straight away. Spotted a mistake? You can reopen the last closed month from More.
• Only the mess's main manager can close or reopen a month.