the tool looks great, thanks for the tip.
To whomever is using it, do you also capture VAT in ledger? VAT reporting is something I would also need.
Ledger, a command-line accounting system
141–150 of 169 posts
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
After currency exchange transactions it doesn't balance.
It can be done, but it is tricky, especially if you have to report capital gains as FIFO. The documentation is in ledger is misleading/wrong (or was the last time I looked). I have been meaning to write a blog post on this topic for ages (a year???). Warning: This may be wrong. I just grabbed it randomly out of a test file I was using to try this out and I don't have time to verify it. However, I think it will put yo…
BTW, will it balance if I want report not in GBP or CND, but in some other currency I use?
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
It can be done, but it is tricky, especially if you have to report capital gains as FIFO. The documentation is in ledger is misleading/wrong (or was the last time I looked). I have been meaning to write a blog post on this topic for ages (a year???). Warning: This may be wrong. I just grabbed it randomly out of a test file I was using to try this out and I don't have time to verify it. However, I think it will put yo…
BTW, will it balance if I want report not in GBP or CND, but in some other currency I use?
Yes it will. The trick is that the currency you use for capital gains always has to be the same. Also, my colleague mentioned that you might be trying to do this without recording the capital gains. You have to have a capital gains account, or else it will not balance. You can report in any currency you want with the -X flag.
I'm busy for the moment, but I will send you email tomorrow with some better information. I'm GMT+9 so depending on where you are, probably while you are sleeping ;-) It will get me off my butt to write a blog post about it.
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#144I used ledger-cli, but as I constantly deal with several currencies, I can't rely on it. Unfortunately, none of the open source accounting system I know support multi-currency accounting well.
What about front accounting? It's been a bit since I used it, but I think it handles multi currency somewhat decently.
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#145I've been using Ledger for almost nine years, both for my personal accounts and now my business accounts. I wrote some introductory articles about it, and further articles about how I use it day-to-day: https://www.petekeen.net/finance
Have you ever thought about using a natural language interface with ledger? For example, the Mac/iOS calendar app Fantastical lets you create an event by typing or dictating a sentence like "lunch with mike at 2 on Tuesday at Wendy's", and the app will parse the input to create an event with the right parameters.
I ask after reading your vacation write-up. Seems like the input side could have been a lot easier if you had a speech or text NLP interface to ledger. "$10 entertainment expense paid from MasterCard today," for example. That could be the holy grail for people who are not inclined to keep a detailed ledger, or for situations where input is difficult. (Theoretically you could email/iMessage/SMS/slack that string and have it picked up by your ledger file.)
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, it isn't? My understanding of double entry is that asset moves across accounts are recorded in both accounts, so if I were to, say, pay a credit card bill, I show a debit from my checking account and a credit to my card account. Is this incorrect?
You'd do the same in cash accounting. Otherwise you're recording wrong values, as compared to the actual account statements. Double entry means balancing active and passive sides for all activities, asset and debt. When you buy a laptop with a credit card, you add (for example - the details depend on legal requirements, how much detail you want to capture etc) an entry with 1000 on the passive side, in the cc account…
that's in fact the way I learned it and ynab doesn't look like it.
however I didn't seen many people who use double accounting for their personal budget?
maybe i didn't seen enough people yet, since it looks like that a lot of hn'er using double accounting...
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#147I've used ledger for years, but it's not a 'real' double entry system, despite what the manual says. It's more halfway between cash and double entry. The 'auto balancing' for example, which is sold as its big feature, doesn't make sense from a double accounting perspective - the whole point is to not have it be 'auto'. Other basic things are missing - the difference balance and profit/loss accounts, for example. It's…
you don't need the auto balancing.
You could definitly write: 2015/10/12 Exxon Expenses:Auto:Gas $10.00 Liabilities:MasterCard $-5.00 Liabilities:Visa $-5.00
It's still valid. However it would fail if you put a 5 and 4 here if your expense is 10.
I'm still not sure how it decides between active and passive (since Expenses and Liabilities could also be other words like the german ones: "Ausgaben", "Verpflichtungen" and the program works with them, too but It can't know if its active or passive. so I don't know what would happen if I make a transaction on two aktivas, like Bank to Cash or Bank to Fund)
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Experts prefer plain-text formats and command-line tools Sure. Expert computer users prefer Lynx for web-browsing, expert Windows and Apple developers prefer vim and gcc, expert fiction writers prefer using emacs, and professional accountants use command-line accountancy tools...
None of Lynx, vim, or emacs are "command-line tools."
Indeed. They are more like GUI faked by the command line.
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#149I've used ledger for years, but it's not a 'real' double entry system, despite what the manual says. It's more halfway between cash and double entry. The 'auto balancing' for example, which is sold as its big feature, doesn't make sense from a double accounting perspective - the whole point is to not have it be 'auto'. Other basic things are missing - the difference balance and profit/loss accounts, for example. It's…
you don't need the auto balancing. You could definitly write: 2015/10/12 Exxon Expenses:Auto:Gas $10.00 Liabilities:MasterCard $-5.00 Liabilities:Visa $-5.00 It's still valid. However it would fail if you put a 5 and 4 here if your expense is 10. I'm still not sure how it decides between active and passive (since Expenses and Liabilities could also be other words like the german ones: "Ausgaben", "Verpflichtungen" an…
Ledger doesn't differentiate between active and passive, it just makes sure the transaction balances.
Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system
#150Heard about it and never really used it, should I start with ledger or hledger these days? any suggestions?
90% of the features overlap. Depending on your particular needs, one or the other may be preferred, e.g. multiple currencies. I use hledger for the Haskell street cred. ;) edit: http://hledger.org/faq.html
Thanks. Looks like ledger does multiple currencies but hledger did not mention that in its features list. Will probably start with ledger then.