An organiser’s arithmetic notebook
Equal contributions & allocation worksheet
Everything below is hypothetical. Change the sample numbers to explore a draft budget, not to create an entry or reserve a prize. The default example is twelve people contributing £5 each: £60 in total, with no costs deducted.
Formula: count × equal contribution = total; total − proposed costs = available balance. Allocation A, B and C apply to that balance. These labels are budget lines, not awarded positions. A displayed cost allowance does not mean that deduction is permitted in your context.
For a second fictional example, eight people at £2.50 give £20. With £2 proposed costs, the balance is £18; a 50/30/20 split gives £9, £5.40 and £3.60. Decide any rounding policy before an activity, with suitable review, rather than changing a distribution afterwards.
A numerical check is only one part of a review
Try changing the third allocation from 20 to 19. The worksheet rejects that draft because the percentages leave part of the balance unassigned. Restore 20, then enter a cost greater than the total: that also produces an error. Correct the inputs before downloading; an earlier valid result must not survive as if it described the new figures.
Small balances expose rounding assumptions particularly clearly. Three hypothetical contributions of £0.01 create £0.03. At 50/30/20, rounding each line down gives £0.01, £0.00 and £0.00, leaving £0.02 unallocated. A visible remainder is more useful than a total that appears balanced only because software quietly changed one amount.
For your own notes, distinguish a draft count from a confirmed audience, an assumed cost from an evidenced expense, and an intended allocation from a payment. The download is a snapshot of entered figures, not a receipt, ticket, invitation or statement that funds exist. Keep it labelled hypothetical when sharing it for review.
There is deliberately no random button, team list or participant import. Those would change the task from examining assumptions to administering an activity. This resource stops at planning arithmetic and unresolved questions, leaving any real-world mechanism outside the website.
Sweepstake
