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Ledger, a command-line accounting system

ledger-cli.org

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Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#161

Post by Havoc »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #96
Havoc wrote: post #31

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,…

To add to dragonwriter's answers: > Can you export/import to other packages? Ledger only reads data you stored in text files . You can't really get much more flexible than that. Give me another package's installation and a weekend, and I'll throw you a compatibility layer. Can you say the same about those other packages?

>I'll throw you a compatibility layer.

Cool. Now do the same in a commercial context without a HN hacker on standby? Say with a mediocre skill unmotivated IT department. Sane management takes one look at it and rather pays the 100 USD for a commercial package than dealing with their mediocre IT implementing some ledger/VCS/HN special edition. Thats 100 USD very well spent...

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#162

Post by Havoc »

inopinatus wrote: post #72
Havoc wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>not intended as an attack 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 abo…

I have actual accounting experience so by your first point I am qualified to comment. I doubt CLI snobbery is a factor; that would be infantile. I suspect others downvoted you for taking the default position that the status quo is the best prospect - hardly a hacker's point of view and certainly not in keeping with the startup community. Had Rod Drury agreed with you, he might never have started Xero. My finding is t…

>I suspect others downvoted you for taking the default position that the status quo is the best prospect

In my line of work I get to see a variety of approaches to accounting. This is not a game where the bleeding edge wins. In fact those do a lot of bleeding and zero winning.

>Comparing it to an ERP platform is a non sequitur.

Oh come one dude. I specifically said people should get a proper ERP if its need in my opening post. At no point did I compare this to an ERP. So please...chill with the latin, especially the false kind.

As for your other points. You list the "trading platform" as an example of this being successful. Sure. You could use this to effectively run a kitchen pantry too. Its still no good as a commercially accounting package for day to day use though.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#163

Post by roel_v »

avodonosov wrote: post #160
roel_v wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After every entry, your total system balances to 0. Of course you have to enter all your entries, and not use the 'auto balancing' and unit conversion things that ledger recommends because they don't make sense. If you use ledger just as a, well, ledger, you can do what you want, of course after specifying exchange rates, just like you'd do in a real accounting system.

You don't understand. I mean I want to enter facts as they are, included real currencies used in transactions. But when I review balance, net worth I want them presented a single currency I choose.

No, you don't understand. What you're asking doesn't make sense, but I'll admit it's not obvious when you've never done 'real' double entry accounting. What you need to enter are the 'real facts', it's only at balance time that you can make a 'net worth' in one currency, depending on a given exchange rate.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#164

Post by roel_v »

avodonosov wrote: post #159
roel_v wrote: post #128

I'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…

Do you know any better tools?

No, which is why I still use it for small subbudgets that only I neex to work on :) And look, it's a fine tool for that, but you still need real accounting experience to use it according to gaap. The way the manual describes, and how many convenience functions are structured, isn't.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#165

Post by roel_v »

merb wrote: post #146
roel_v wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Double accounting for personal budgets is too much overhead, which is why ledger is a nice middle ground. I doubt many ppl reading this use double accounting for their personal finances - by the time you need that, you'll have someone else do it for you, and they won't be dicking around with ledger...

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#166

Post by robotmachine »

themiurgo wrote: post #138
robotmachine wrote: post #36

I have been using Ledger for a long time and it has really been a wonderful tool. The reports are great. I even made a little Python script so I can easily make entries from terminal on my phone!

Would you elaborate how that works? I'd love to make entries from my phone.

Sorry, I am not used to commenting here and didn't realise it wouldn't notify me.

I use Prompt by Panic http://www.panic.com/prompt/ on my iPhone to do SSH sessions. Since it was hard for me to type in entries to my Ledger data file I put together a script with Python that could have stored merchants and just sort of make the process easier.

I can type in `ql -m sd -t 50` and it will add a full entry for the grocery store that I frequent. The project on Github is here: https://github.com/robotmachine/QuickLedger

To clarify, it is just a command line tool that I made with mobile SSH in mind-- not a mobile app. Hope that helps.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#167

Post by themiurgo »

robotmachine wrote: post #166
themiurgo wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you elaborate how that works? I'd love to make entries from my phone.

Sorry, I am not used to commenting here and didn't realise it wouldn't notify me. I use Prompt by Panic http://www.panic.com/prompt/ on my iPhone to do SSH sessions. Since it was hard for me to type in entries to my Ledger data file I put together a script with Python that could have stored merchants and just sort of make the process easier. I can type in `ql -m sd -t 50` and it will add a full entry for the grocery…

Thanks a lot, looks cool! At the moment I'm using Nebulous Notes to write to a "mobile" ledger, then I merge that to the main ledger. This has the advantage I can add entries also offline. I'd love to move something more automated though and your project might definitely help. :)

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#168

Post by robotmachine »

themiurgo wrote: post #167
robotmachine wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I am not used to commenting here and didn't realise it wouldn't notify me. I use Prompt by Panic http://www.panic.com/prompt/ on my iPhone to do SSH sessions. Since it was hard for me to type in entries to my Ledger data file I put together a script with Python that could have stored merchants and just sort of make the process easier. I can type in `ql -m sd -t 50` and it will add a full entry for the grocery…

Thanks a lot, looks cool! At the moment I'm using Nebulous Notes to write to a "mobile" ledger, then I merge that to the main ledger. This has the advantage I can add entries also offline. I'd love to move something more automated though and your project might definitely help. :)

To my knowledge I am the sole user of my QuickLedger project -- so I'd be very interested to hear how it works for another's use case. Any feedback would be great! If you fork I'd like to know so I can see what someone does with it.

Re: Ledger, a command-line accounting system

#169

Post by themiurgo »

robotmachine wrote: post #168
themiurgo wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks a lot, looks cool! At the moment I'm using Nebulous Notes to write to a "mobile" ledger, then I merge that to the main ledger. This has the advantage I can add entries also offline. I'd love to move something more automated though and your project might definitely help. :)

To my knowledge I am the sole user of my QuickLedger project -- so I'd be very interested to hear how it works for another's use case. Any feedback would be great! If you fork I'd like to know so I can see what someone does with it.

Sure, will do! In the meanwhile, I randomly discovered the awesome Pythonista (http://omz-software.com/pythonista/).

Pythonista would make possible to run QuickLedger on the mobile, and it could be expanded to automatically update the main ledger, hosted on another machine or on some Dropbox-like container.

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