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Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

handson.money

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Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#61

Post by vitalikpie »

bregma wrote: post #49
abdullahkhalids wrote: post #15

I would like to use finance tracking products like GNUCash. But I don't have the patience to download the csv for half a dozen accounts every month (Products like plaid are a no go from a basic security perspective). I am in Canada, and there seems to be no hope that I will have API access to my bank accounts anytime soon. Also, did I mention how much it annoys me that the transaction description differs between the…

Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically…

I was contemplating between hledger and GnuCash for a while and then choose GnuCash because it has pretty good UX for transactions entry.

The missing piece for me was a mobile app. So trying closing this gap with HandsOnMoney.

But I'll be honest - I'm putting off the statement import as much as I can until my financial anxiety kicks in.

Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#62

Post by vitalikpie »

fractallyte wrote: post #32
vitalikpie wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

huh, sorry I'm really bad at writing - this is one of my first attempts

You're not bad at writing. You have your own style. Keep it up! This was an interesting article.

Thanks :)

Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#63

Post by vitalikpie »

internet_points wrote: post #46
vitalikpie wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, sorry. It's kind of intentional. Did not want to give it a boring name like "Storing fractions vs decimals".

Don't be. Keep writing! Boring people gonna be boring. I for one found it a fun article with a great title, and I also liked your other https://handson.money/blog/2026-05-20-ai-coding/

Thanks. After all I'm a human too. I'm prone to AI psychosis.

Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#64

Post by abdullahkhalids »

bregma wrote: post #49
abdullahkhalids wrote: post #15

I would like to use finance tracking products like GNUCash. But I don't have the patience to download the csv for half a dozen accounts every month (Products like plaid are a no go from a basic security perspective). I am in Canada, and there seems to be no hope that I will have API access to my bank accounts anytime soon. Also, did I mention how much it annoys me that the transaction description differs between the…

Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically…

The openbanking thing has been going on for 4-5 years now, with no end in sight. The banks simply do not want to enable a system which allows third party apps to step into the space, and they are too large and lobby a lot. I don't expect anything to happen for a while still.

Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#65

Post by cett »

Reminds me a bit of how in the UK the guinea coin ceased to circulate decades ago but it's still used for bidding on racehorse auctions.

1 guinea = 1.05 pounds

You purchase the horse in guineas, seller gets paid in pounds, auctioneer keeps the missing 5% as commission.

Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#66

Post by neilv »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #15

I would like to use finance tracking products like GNUCash. But I don't have the patience to download the csv for half a dozen accounts every month (Products like plaid are a no go from a basic security perspective). I am in Canada, and there seems to be no hope that I will have API access to my bank accounts anytime soon. Also, did I mention how much it annoys me that the transaction description differs between the…

Import-only is the lazy way. :) If you want, GnuCash also has features to support manually entering each transaction as it occurs.

Then GnuCash has features to match up financial institutions data exports against your transaction splits, see the discrepancies, and then reconcile against their PDF statements.

It's a way of life, but you always know what money you have, where. Although that sounds like something for wealthy people, I'd say it's actually more important the less money you have.

Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#67

Post by aitchnyu »

vitalikpie wrote: post #19
6LLvveMx2koXfwn wrote: post #16

I wonder if Hackernews ranking algorithm has been updated to exclude comments toing and froing about whether or not the article is LLM generated!

haha, true. Thing is - I'm not a English speaker. But I chat a lot with Claude/ChatGPT - i feel like I'm picking the style from them unintentionally.

I was cutting edge, a few people assumed I was a Markhov chain.

Re: Spanish traders set the standard for GnuCash database design

#70

Post by stronglikedan »

pbreit wrote: post #68

Storing money as an integer is OK but I've never liked APIs that required financial amounts to be integers. Amounts always eventually need to be displayed to a human as a decimal.

displaying as a decimal is nondestructive, whereas doing math with a decimal is asking for trouble
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