Mess Ledger
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How Mess Ledger features work

Last updated · 38 questions

One question per feature: what each part of Mess Ledger does, who can use it, and what it does not do. Everything here describes the app as it works in October 2026.

How do I set a standing meal plan in Mess Ledger?

Open the meals page and set your standing daily plan: how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners you normally eat. Mess Ledger then fills every day you do not record yourself with that plan, so you only touch the calendar when a day is different. For example, a plan of 0 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner counts 2 meals on each ordinary day without anyone typing it in.

What happens to earlier days when I change my meal plan in the middle of the month?

Nothing; plans in Mess Ledger are versioned, so a change only applies from the date it starts. If you eat 2 meals a day on your old plan and switch to 3 on the 15th, days 1 to 14 stay at 2 and the new plan counts from the 15th onward. The earlier versions stay on record, so the month still adds up the way it was eaten.

Does a meal I record for a day override my standing plan?

Yes, a day you actually record always beats the plan. If your plan says 2 meals but on Friday you record 3 because you ate breakfast too, Friday counts 3 and every other unrecorded day still follows the plan. The plan only fills days that have no entry of their own.

How do I mark myself away for two weeks in Mess Ledger?

Use the away span on the meals page: pick the first and last day you will be gone, and Mess Ledger writes zero meals for every day in that range in one action. It is meant for the fortnight someone spends at home during Eid or exams. If the mess has a meal cutoff, the span starts on the first day that is still open for you.

Why should I mark an away span instead of just leaving the days empty?

Because an empty day is not a zero when you have a standing meal plan: the plan fills it in and you would be charged for meals you never ate. An away span writes real zeros, which beat the plan just like any recorded day. If you have no plan at all, blank days already count nothing, but marking the span still makes your absence clear to the manager.

What meal cutoff options can a manager choose in Mess Ledger?

There are four: off, the evening before at a set time (for example 10 PM), on the day by a set time (for example 10 AM), or the end of the day. The manager picks one in Settings, and the screen spells out what it means for tomorrow. After the cutoff passes, that day is locked for members so the cook’s count does not change behind the manager’s back.

Can a manager still change my meals after the cutoff has passed?

Yes; the cutoff only stops members, not managers. A member who opens a locked day sees it read-only with a note such as “Locked at 10:00 PM yesterday — ask a manager”. A manager can still correct that day, and the change is written to the activity log so everyone can see who made it.

Why does Mess Ledger show future days as a forecast instead of billing them?

Only days that have already passed are billed; days still to come show as a forecast from your meal plan. That way the month’s running meal rate reflects meals actually eaten, while you can still see roughly how many meals the month is heading for. Once a future day passes, it becomes a billed day like any other.

How do I put up a weekly menu in Mess Ledger?

A manager opens the weekly menu and fills in seven days by breakfast, lunch and dinner, then saves the whole week at once; emptying a field clears that meal. Every member can read it, and today’s row is highlighted. When today has something planned, a “Today’s menu” card also appears on the dashboard, so nobody has to ask what is cooking.

How does the bazar duty rota work in Mess Ledger?

A manager sets three things: a start date, how many days each turn lasts, and the order of members. Mess Ledger works out from those whose turn it is today and shows the next fortnight, so everyone knows their days in advance. The rota is readable by every member, and today’s shopper also appears above the shared bazar list.

Can everyone in the mess add items to a shared bazar list?

Yes; any member can add what has run out, such as oil, onions or rice, to the shared bazar list. Whoever goes shopping ticks items as they buy them, and bought items stay struck through for the week with an undo in case of a wrong tap. The person who added an item, or a manager, can remove it.

What does “Record this bazar” do in Mess Ledger?

It turns the items you ticked on the shared bazar list into a bazar entry without retyping them. The bazar form opens itemised, with today’s ticked items already written in and the prices left blank for you to fill from the receipt. This button is on the web version of Mess Ledger.

Can I record a bazar trip item by item with quantity and price?

Yes; a bazar trip can be recorded as one lump sum or itemised, with each line carrying the item, quantity, unit and price. For example, 5 kg rice at ৳350, 2 litres oil at ৳380 and 1 kg onion at ৳70 make a ৳800 trip. Itemising takes a minute longer but lets members see exactly what the money bought.

How many receipt photos can I attach to a bazar entry?

Up to three per bazar trip. You can pick them on the form before recording, or add and remove them on the trip’s card afterwards if you are allowed to change that entry. Every member of the mess can open the photos full size, which settles most “was it really that much?” arguments.

I bought bazar with my own money; how do I get credited in Mess Ledger?

Record the trip as own-cash bazar, and once a manager approves it, the amount is credited to you as money paid in. So if you spent ৳600 of your own cash, your balance improves by ৳600 after approval. A bazar a manager records counts straight away; only a member’s own claim waits for sign-off.

Why doesn’t my own-cash bazar show in my balance yet?

Because it is still pending: an own-cash bazar a member records counts for nothing until a manager approves it. It sits in the ledger marked as waiting, so nobody can quietly add a bill and lower what they owe. Ask a manager to approve it; the moment they do, it enters both the bazar total and your balance.

How do I make rent and wifi repeat every month in Mess Ledger?

Create a recurring charge template for each, such as rent ৳24,000 and wifi ৳1,200, with the split you want. At the start of each month a manager presses one button to apply the templates to that month, and the charges appear with their shares already worked out. Templates save retyping the same bills every month.

What if I press “apply recurring charges” twice by mistake?

Nothing extra happens; applying the templates twice to the same month never bills anyone twice. Mess Ledger recognises that the month already has those charges, so pressing the button again is safe. If you need an extra one-off charge that month, add it as a normal cost instead.

Can Mess Ledger split a cost by shares instead of equally?

Yes; give each member a number of shares and the cost is divided in that ratio. For example, a single-room member at 2 shares and two double-room members at 1 share each make 4 shares, so ৳12,000 rent becomes ৳6,000, ৳3,000 and ৳3,000. Uneven splits still add up to the paisa.

How do I charge a fine or an extra bill to just one person in Mess Ledger?

Use the custom amounts split and type exactly what each named member pays. For a ৳200 fine on one member, put ৳200 against that person and nothing against anyone else. The same works for an AC room’s sub-meter reading: enter the AC room’s amount for its occupant and split the rest of the bill as you choose.

Can I split a cost among only some members of the mess?

Yes; an equal split can be among all active members or just the members you choose. For example, if only 4 of 6 members use the wifi, a ৳1,200 bill split among those 4 charges each ৳300 and the other two nothing. Each member’s share then appears in their settlement line.

What happens when I close a month in Mess Ledger?

Closing a month locks it: nobody, managers included, can add, change or delete anything dated inside it. That keeps the settlement everyone agreed on from shifting later, for example after money has already changed hands. The closed month stays readable to every member.

Can a closed month be reopened to fix a mistake?

Yes; a manager can reopen a closed month, fix the entry, and close it again. Reopening is written to the activity log, so every member can see who reopened it and when. That makes a late correction possible without anyone being able to change an old month silently.

Can members see who changed what in Mess Ledger?

Yes; the activity log records who changed what and when, and every member can read it, not just managers. If a meal count, a bazar amount or a deposit changes, the log shows the person and the time. It also records managers’ corrections after a meal cutoff and any reopened month.

Does Mess Ledger send SMS, email or push notifications?

No; Mess Ledger has no SMS, email or push notifications. Inside the app it shows a count of changes you have not seen yet, so opening it tells you what is new since your last visit. For reminders, most messes post in their WhatsApp or Messenger group.

How do I share the month’s settlement in our WhatsApp group?

Export the month’s settlement as a PDF and send that file to the group. It shows the meal rate and each member’s line, so everyone can check what they owe or get back without logging in. Members who want more detail can still open their own statement in Mess Ledger.

Can I export Mess Ledger data to Excel or Google Sheets?

Yes; the settlement exports as a CSV file, which opens directly in Excel or Google Sheets. That is handy if someone wants to keep their own copy or do extra calculations. For sharing with the whole mess, the PDF export is usually easier to read on a phone.

How can a member see every line behind their balance?

Open the per-member statement from the settlement. It lists every line that makes up the balance: meals times the rate, each share of rent and bills, deposits, approved own-cash bazar and bills they paid. A reported payment still waiting for a manager shows on the statement, marked, but is left out of every total.

Where can I see how much each member owes overall, not just this month?

The all-time balances on the settlement page show where everyone stands across every month. That catches the member who was ৳300 short in one month and ৳200 short the next, ৳500 in total, even if each month looked small. Because Mess Ledger keeps every month as long as the mess exists, the totals go back to the start.

How do I make another member a manager in Mess Ledger?

Any manager can promote a member to manager, and demote a manager back to member. A mess can have several managers, which helps when the manager is away or the job is shared. The only limit is that the last manager cannot be demoted or removed, so a mess is never left without one.

What happens to a member’s entries when they are removed from the mess?

Their past entries stay, so closed months still add up exactly as they did. A manager can remove a member, and removing yourself is how you leave a mess. Once removed, the person stops being counted in new splits, but their meals, deposits and bazar in earlier months remain in the ledger.

How do I stop an old invite code from working?

A manager can regenerate the mess’s invite code, and the old one stops working at once. Do this if the code was shared somewhere it should not have been, then post the new code in your WhatsApp or Messenger group. People already in the mess are not affected.

How do I delete a mess in Mess Ledger?

A manager deletes a mess from its Settings page, but only once that manager is the only one left in it. So remove the other members first, or let them leave, and then the delete option is available. If you only want to leave a mess someone else runs, remove yourself instead.

Can I switch Mess Ledger to dark mode or change the font?

Yes; you can choose the theme (follow the system, light, dark, or glass), one of five background papers, and a sans, serif or mono font, each carrying Bangla as well as English. These choices are stored per browser, so your phone and laptop can look different. They change only the look, never the numbers.

Can Mess Ledger show numbers in Bangla digits?

Yes; Bangla is the default language and shows numbers in Bengali numerals, so ৳1,250 appears as ৳১,২৫০. You can switch to English at any time, and the choice is kept per browser along with your appearance settings. Each member picks their own language; it does not change anything for the rest of the mess.

Can I be in two messes at once in Mess Ledger?

Yes; one account can belong to several messes, and your role is set separately in each. You might be the manager of your own mess and an ordinary member of another, for example a family mess back home. Each mess keeps its own meals, bazar and settlement, and one mess can never see another’s data.

How does Mess Ledger decide which day is “today” for meals?

It uses the mess’s own timezone, which the mess sets along with the day its billing month turns over. “Today” is the mess’s day, not your phone’s, so a member travelling abroad still records against the same date the mess settles. The weekly menu and the cutoff follow that same clock.

Does Mess Ledger work offline without internet?

No; Mess Ledger needs an internet connection and has no offline mode. It runs in any browser on Android, iPhone or a laptop, and adding it to your home screen makes it open like an app, but each entry is saved to the server as you make it. If the connection drops, wait until you are back online to record.

Have this done for you every month

Mess Ledger keeps the daily meals and grocery runs, then works this out for everyone at month end.

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