Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#131

Post by lawn » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

hypersoar wrote: post #120

lawn wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just been switching to beancount from ynab. Apart from minor annoyances it's so much more powerful. If you're up for some programming and customization it's hard to beat (your choice between beancount/ledger/hledger matters less).

Are you trying to import YNAB's budgeting philosphy into Beancount? If so, how? I've considered the same transition but was unsure how to handle having budgetary categories dissociated from physical accounts.

Actually, not really. I found out I never used the budgeting functionality other than to keep track of my previous spending.

I haven't found an existing tool to budget in beancount so you'd have to write it yourself. Other people have successfully used Ledger's virtual postings (which doesn't exist in beancount) for budgeting though[0]. It might be a way forward for you?

[0]: https://emacs.cafe/ledger/emacs/ynab/budgeting/2018/06/12/el...

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#132

Post by dariusj18 » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 6:19 PM UTC

Do any of the apps mentioned in this thread have Business scenario planning/forcasting.

ex. I have my current and future expenses in the system, I want to see what will happen to my cashflow given an extra $25 a month expenses for 6 months but also between $20 and $50 a month in revenue. I'd like to see some sort of best case/worst case report and maybe show the current "scenario" at the top with a toggle button to switch between scenarios or current projection.

Cool factor would be to lock in a scenario and later report on projected balances with and without scenario. ex. If I hadn't made that decision where would I be at.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#133

Post by nunodonato » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

dariusj18 wrote: post #132

Do any of the apps mentioned in this thread have Business scenario planning/forcasting. ex. I have my current and future expenses in the system, I want to see what will happen to my cashflow given an extra $25 a month expenses for 6 months but also between $20 and $50 a month in revenue. I'd like to see some sort of best case/worst case report and maybe show the current "scenario" at the top with a toggle button to s…

exactly! this is the kind of thing I'm looking for. Years ago I did an app for the blackberry playbook that played with this idea. You dont micromanage stuff, just insert the averages, and then play with estimates, future scenarios, and see how the charts change.

this is more or less what I'd like to have, but with a little bit more of micro-management to be able to track income and plan work accordingly

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#134

Post by nunodonato » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 6:27 PM UTC

wishinghand wrote: post #129

Just a note about your posting format- don't use the `pre` tag or backticks to quote long lines of text. They'll overflow and it's essentially impossible to read on mobile.

I didn't, but I copy&pasted from a different post and apparently there were blank spaces in some lines... sorry :(

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#135

Post by mitul_45 » Sat, Mar 23, 2019, 6:43 PM UTC

war1025 wrote: post #116

mitul_45 wrote: post #66

Not a freelancer, but I wanted to track my everyday finances since long. I tried lot of different tools but in the end ended up using simple Google sheet with some formulas. The only issue with this approach is – adding expenses is pain. When I am shopping for something, opening Google Sheet (on phone) and adding an expense/income is too cumbersome. So I built a UI for it – https://github.com/mitul45/expense-manager…

I use ledger myself, but the issue I always run into is my wife is much less likely to keep track of what she buys and let me know so I can record it. Where that gets especially tricky is when she goes someplace and leaves a tip. Resolving tips is a real pain in the butt, especially since it comes through in the checking account at the original price and is then later processed at the tip-included price. Matching tho…

I also had a similar issue, but then it became like a habit – every night I would check my accounts and add day's expenses (it's difficult if you have a lot of cash transactions). For the tip, wouldn't you round off to nearest full digit? You can just add that as an expense.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#136

Post by war1025 » Sat, Mar 23, 2019, 11:15 PM UTC

mitul_45 wrote: post #135

war1025 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use ledger myself, but the issue I always run into is my wife is much less likely to keep track of what she buys and let me know so I can record it. Where that gets especially tricky is when she goes someplace and leaves a tip. Resolving tips is a real pain in the butt, especially since it comes through in the checking account at the original price and is then later processed at the tip-included price. Matching tho…

I also had a similar issue, but then it became like a habit – every night I would check my accounts and add day's expenses (it's difficult if you have a lot of cash transactions). For the tip, wouldn't you round off to nearest full digit? You can just add that as an expense.

I used to reconcile our purchases against our online checking account every night, but the issue with tips happened when I would do that but then a few weeks later I would go through and actually balance everything out and suddenly I'd be off by a dollar and change and have to go on a deep dive to find out where I went wrong.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#137

Post by danap » Sun, Mar 24, 2019, 8:37 PM UTC

I have been tracking my expenses in one form or another for my entire life. How long well before we had computers and I used columnar paper spreadsheets. Its always been a pain, Excel, whatever when you need data at the end of the year.

Now I use a database with my own application that handles table entries just like a spread sheet, has analysis, and charting, import/export of data.

Need income tracking, project time tracking whatever add a table(s).

It will read whatever schema you define and works with MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite and others. If you want something a little extra then it supports plugins. Make your own. Videos, docs, and plugin tutorial see website. Its free open source.

My Expenses:

http://ajqvue.com https://github.com/danap/ajqvue http://dandymadeproductions.com/temp/GeneralExpenses.html

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#138

Post by LikeAnElephant » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

rexpop wrote: post #122

LikeAnElephant wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't second this enough. YNAB was really difficult to "get" at first, but it has removed nearly all the stress I used to feel about money.

How many hours a week do you spend in YNAB?

AFTER the learning curve, I spend less than 5 mins per day in it. On payday I spend maybe 10-15 mins.

There is a learning curve though; you have to think of money differently and that's a process. However, YNAB has no-joke changed my life. I don't stress about money. I know where it is. It's the best thing I've ever done for myself and my future.

I spend my money daily, it makes sense I should spend some time PLANNING my money daily. Can't recommend it enough.