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Is it possible to attach a receipt (say scanned PDFs) to a Ledger entry? I am interested in ledger, would like it to be the accounting system for my side business, a bit more bookkeeping feature such as the receipt attachment would be great for tax filing purpose. Edit: I know that Ledger uses plain text for each entry. Though I kind of wonder how do you guys keep those receipts.
Is it possible to attach a receipt (say scanned PDFs) to a Ledger entry? I am interested in ledger, would like it to be the accounting system for my side business, a bit more bookkeeping feature such as the receipt attachment would be great for tax filing purpose. Edit: I know that Ledger uses plain text for each entry. Though I kind of wonder how do you guys keep those receipts.
I do this by putting the PDFs in the same git repo as my ledger file, and then adding a filename to the entry as metadata: 2015/11/04 * (12345) Walgreens ; receipt: /receipts/12345.pdf Expenses:Medical:RX $10.00 Liabilities:Credit Card It isn't an attachment, strictly speaking, but you can get at it with scripts and such.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There are a bunch of legit accounting packages out there. How are they more "legit" than ledger? > No need to re-invent the wheel or (in this case) clean the parade ground with a toothbrush. Ledger's been around for a while. Using it is no more "reinventing the wheel" than using any other accounting package.
>How are they more "legit" than ledger? Is it widely used? Can you get staff with a couple years experience using ledger? Will accounting staff be productive using the interface? Does it cope well with multiple simultaneous users? Is it compatible with other software? Can you get local support? Can you export/import to other packages? Are the fringe case glitches known? All these things matter with finance software,…
Nobody's twisting your arm to switch. If it provides utility greater than what you perceive to be its disadvantages, use it. If not, don't.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
MoneyDance doesn't appear to be a double entry system. The nice thing about double entry bookkeeping, is it allows some pretty complicated cash-flow tracking - so setting up your accounts for a small business or consultancy is a bit easier.
> MoneyDance doesn't appear to be a double entry system
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 "leg…
Don't worry. I knew I'd catch grief. I know HN is strong on CLI love and thin on actual accounting experience. ;)
>This is a true double-entry accounting system that happens to have a CLI.
Double entry has existed in paper format since before the dawn of time. Its not particularly revolutionary (CLI or not) in fact its bare minimum for sanity. Hence my comment that this is barely a step above Excel.
>actual curiosity about what a professional SME accounting package
Copy paste from other questions:
Is it widely used? Can you get staff with a couple years experience using ledger? Will accounting staff be productive using the interface? Does it cope well with multiple simultaneous users? Is it compatible with other software? Can you get local support? Can you export/import to other packages? Are the fringe case glitches known?
All these things matter with finance software, even for fairly small operations.
>as far as open-source accounting packages go
To be honest I wouldn't go for an open source one (as much as I like FOSS etc). Accounting software is really an area where you want to follow the herd (unlike usual HN mindset). Straying from the herd has terrible risk/reward. e.g. Yes you might save $100 on the software by using FOSS, but when the auditors show they take twice as long to deal with the unfamiliar stuff and charge you an extra $2000. Or worse they find a glitch that is new. In the IT world you file a ticket for that. In the accounting world you end up with a massive bill to get outside help to salvage the accounting records. Followed by another massive bill from the auditors attempting to audit said salvaged records. But yeah...you totally saved that $100 on the initial purchase. (Exaggeration obviously, but you get my point).
>it can effectively be used in place of an SME accounting package.
I'd not attempt it, as per above. Seen way to many horror shows.
If you want to keep PDF, JPG, etc. receipts with it, just put them in the same directory and note them in a comment. Additionally, use a VCS that does binaries well. Git does not.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
MoneyDance doesn't appear to be a double entry system. The nice thing about double entry bookkeeping, is it allows some pretty complicated cash-flow tracking - so setting up your accounts for a small business or consultancy is a bit easier.
How is double entry beneficial once all transactions are documented digitally? Could you give a somewhat concrete example? (Contrived or otherwise)?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>How are they more "legit" than ledger? Is it widely used? Can you get staff with a couple years experience using ledger? Will accounting staff be productive using the interface? Does it cope well with multiple simultaneous users? Is it compatible with other software? Can you get local support? Can you export/import to other packages? Are the fringe case glitches known? All these things matter with finance software,…
> Is it widely used? Seems to be fairly popular. > Can you get staff with a couple years experience using ledger? It mostly (from the anecdotes I've seen) seems to be used by people who don't have dedicated accounting staff. > Will accounting staff be productive using the interface? See previous answer; the "accounting staff" using it are usually programmers, either independent business persons keeping their own book…
Hence my comment in the initial post that its fine for one man shows. Those can carve their records on stone tablets if they like. Their tax accounting might charge them double for having to deal with the results but thats their problem.
>In quality software, known glitches are fixed.
Except when you're deal with companies using accounting software. There you frequently see outdated software. At least the commercial packages come with forced updates. Which are a god-send because you sure as hell don't want accounting staff trying to do IT updates...much like ahem you don't want IT staff attempts accounting stuff...like here.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Off the shelf SME accounting package Isn't that what this is? For those of us who haven't used this, what makes it less "legit" than competing options?
Copy and paste answer (got the same question 4x): Is it widely used? Can you get staff with a couple years experience using ledger? Will accounting staff be productive using the interface? Does it cope well with multiple simultaneous users? Is it compatible with other software? Can you get local support? Can you export/import to other packages? Are the fringe case glitches known? All these things matter with finance…
> Does it cope well with multiple simultaneous users?
If you know of any other software that copes better with simultaneous users than git/modern dvcs+text files I'd be very surprised?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>How are they more "legit" than ledger? Is it widely used? Can you get staff with a couple years experience using ledger? Will accounting staff be productive using the interface? Does it cope well with multiple simultaneous users? Is it compatible with other software? Can you get local support? Can you export/import to other packages? Are the fringe case glitches known? All these things matter with finance software,…
This same line of reasoning can be used to argue against going against the grain of anything . Nobody's twisting your arm to switch. If it provides utility greater than what you perceive to be its disadvantages, use it. If not, don't.
Actually I'm an auditor. Meaning 1) I've see a lot of accounting packages and 2) I need to deal with whatever is in place.
On a good day thats a standard package. On a bad day its IT people attempting to play accountants which works about as well as heart surgeons flying jetliners. Nothing against heart surgeons...they just have no business flying jetliners.
Sad part is that I can program too, so I can usually see why the programmer did something & it makes sense from an IT mindset. :/
>can be used to argue against going against the grain of anything.
Accounting software is particularly conservative. Straying from the herd has terrible risk/reward.