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Ledger, a command-line accounting system

ledger-cli.org

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Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#21

Post by peteretep »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #10
peteretep wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over a spreadsheet is an easy sell - dual-entry accounting is an absolute revelation. Over the many good GUI dual-entry accounting programs, I'm not so sure.

Well something like quickbooks its much more transparent and Ledger isn't constantly trying to upsell you some service :-) Agreed on the spreadsheet, its balance checking is really the key feature here that spreadsheets don't do. The simplicity of simple text files means you don't have to worry about your files not being readable by a future you. Which is not the case of every 'gui' dual-entry accounting system to da…

    > Seriously, pick any system you could have used in
    > 2000 and figure out if you can read its files now
Back then I used Gnucash. It's simple XML, and I wrote some Perl to pull a report on it recently. MoneyDance, which I use now, seems to have some kind of binary format, but will export XML, CSV, etc etc...

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#22

Post by aidenn0 »

Havoc wrote: post #7

WHY? There are a bunch of legit accounting packages out there. No need to re-invent the wheel or (in this case) clean the parade ground with a toothbrush. Off the shelf SME accounting package or if you really need it a proper ERP. Anything else is likely to end in tears. Unless its for your one man show...in which case go wild with the CLI / Excel custom rolled solutions & sundry DIYs. Source: Accountant

Comparing ledger to cleaning the parade ground with a toothbrush is misunderstanding the feature set. Similar to comparing it to Excel custom rolled solutions. This is a true double-entry accounting system that happens to have a CLI.

It definitely does not have the feature set of a proper ERP, but it can effectively be used in place of an SME accounting package.

Out of curiosity, what makes an accounting package "legit" in your eyes?

[edit] I see that 3 other comments asked a variation on the "legit" question. At least in my case this is not intended as an attack, but rather actual curiosity about what a professional SME accounting package can do that ledger can't; as far as open-source accounting packages go, ledger has a reputation for being able to produce reports that others can't.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#23

Post by peteretep »

jegutman wrote: post #5
peteretep wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over a spreadsheet is an easy sell - dual-entry accounting is an absolute revelation. Over the many good GUI dual-entry accounting programs, I'm not so sure.

Well, you might want a computer to do all of the work and that's easier via a command line app (for most programmers) than doing it all in VBA including parsing a bunch of files and generating the entries. As for the GUI, still needs to be built on top of something, why not this. This actually looks really cool and I'm interested in checking it out. I've often thought about how cool it would be to have double entry a…

    > you might want a computer to do all of the work
What is "all the work" here? MoneyDance (which I've used for a few years now) imports directly from Amex, my checking account, and three different credit card accounts... It generally classifies correctly, but then I want to manually review each transaction classification manually as some snacks or electronics are business expenditures, some are not... My accounts are generally pretty complicated, but I'm yet to find a use-case that MoneyDance (or GnuCash, back in the day) can't support...

I'm a programmer, and I love programming, but not everything needs my time and attention to program. I also (no longer) run my own mail server, just because I can.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#24

Post by dragonwriter »

nodesocket wrote: post #6

I like the idea of using ledger-cli for automation, but honestly, this needs a web-ui.

I'd like to be able to access a ledger over the web, but really maintaining the ledger in a text editor, putting it in version control, etc., are, I find, a pretty efficient workflow, better than a more typical web UI for this particular use.

A "web UI" that consisted largely of a browser-hosted text editor with, perhaps, some ledger-specific affordances, some facilities for pre-defined reports plus a way to create new reports with customer ledger commands, and a decent history interface (possibly backed by a traditional VCS) would be nice, though.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#25

Post by sasvari »

as a side note: both ledger [0] and hledger [1] support time tracking/keeping. of all the various tools I tried to use for personal stuff it has been the most convenient one for me (it helps that I also use it for accounting) and I'm using it consequently from day 1 on! you can apply the same reporting/balancing to your time keeping as you do to your accounting.

[0] http://www.ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Time-Keeping

[1] http://hledger.org/manual.html#timelog

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#26

Post by izolate »

cpayne wrote: post #2

(Coming from a Windows background) I often wonder what the appeal is to something like this. (Seriously!) Why would you use something like this over say a spreadsheet? Is it really much easier than opening a browser and running Google Docs???

I often see this sort of comment come from Windows folk. It's very hard to justify a reason. You're either bit by the CLI bug, or you aren't.

To those who don't "get" the CLI madness, I can see why you're drawn to the Windows ecosystem.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#28

Post by lancewiggs »

It's got a high hack and giggle factor, but obviously horrible usability for anyone off the command line - which includes your accountant/tax advisor.

Here in New Zealand essentially every start-up uses Xero - a SaaS accounting system that works extremely well and now has over 600k paying customers. It means one set of data, permanently in the cloud, and a host of integrations to other players.

Founders open up access at different levels - we can give read-only to directors and some investors, advisor-level access to accountants and bookkeepers and so forth.

Frankly it's part of the NZ advantage right now (120000 or so of those customers are here) - we seem to be spawning a large series of smart, low cost B2SMB SaaS businesses, who are not just following Xero's own path, but also using the tool to improve the way they do business.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#29

Post by leni536 »

jegutman wrote: post #5
peteretep wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over a spreadsheet is an easy sell - dual-entry accounting is an absolute revelation. Over the many good GUI dual-entry accounting programs, I'm not so sure.

Well, you might want a computer to do all of the work and that's easier via a command line app (for most programmers) than doing it all in VBA including parsing a bunch of files and generating the entries. As for the GUI, still needs to be built on top of something, why not this. This actually looks really cool and I'm interested in checking it out. I've often thought about how cool it would be to have double entry a…

> I've often thought about how cool it would be to have double entry accounting for every day life. I have a hard time imagining something that is less cool than accounting. It's certainly a good idea though.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#30

Post by clord »

Been using ledger for 9 years as well (hledger lately.) Never have a hitch. The only complaint I have is that I can't (easily) keep AR in sync with online invoicing software. minor though. Would love to have some git-style integration with my bank and other accounts. `ledger pull savings` or `ledger pull invoices`
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