278 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
278 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
<!-- CSS: http://getskeleton.com -->
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<!-- markdown: http://pandoc.org/README.html -->
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<div class="row" style="padding-top: 15%">
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<h1 style="text-align:center; margin-bottom:5%;">Plain Text Accounting</h1>
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<div class="four columns">
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### accounting
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**[accounting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting)** is tracking the flow of valuable commodities, such as money or time.
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It clarifies activity, priorities, obligations, opportunities.
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It can **[reduce stress](http://podcastle.org/2009/10/09/pc-miniature-38-accounting-for-dragons)** and even be enjoyable.
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**[double-entry bookkeeping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping_system)** is a process for doing this reliably.
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For every movement of value (a **[transaction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_transaction)**), both the source and destination are recorded.
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Simple arithmetic invariants help prevent errors.
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In traditional double-entry bookkeeping, value at any point in time is tracked in various **[accounts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Account_(accountancy))**, classified as
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**[asset](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset)** (owned),
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**[liability](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liability_(financial_accounting))** (owed)
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or **[equity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(finance))** (invested).
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Two more classifications track changes during some period:
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**[revenues](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue)** (inflows)
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and **[expenses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expense)** (outflows).
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Transactions consist of
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**[debits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debits_and_credits)** (increases to asset or expense accounts, or decreases to liability or equity accounts) or
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**[credits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debits_and_credits)** (decreases to asset or expense accounts, or increases to liability or equity accounts).
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</div>
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<div class="four columns">
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### … with text
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**[Ledger](#ledger-likes)** and the other **[Ledger-likes](#ledger-likes)** inspired by it
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are minimalist software tools for efficient double-entry accounting.
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This site introduces them and their way of doing things.
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Accounting data is valuable;
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we want to know that it will be accessible for ever - even without software.
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We want to know when it changes, and revision-control it.
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We want to search and manipulate it efficiently.
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So, we store it as human-readable **[plain](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#The-Most-Basic-Entry) [text](http://hledger.org/manual.html#journal)**.
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We simplify debits and credits by using
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**[signed numbers](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Stating-where-money-goes)** instead -
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positive for inflows to an account, negative for outflows from an account.
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We define arbitrary
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**[account](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Structuring-your-Accounts)
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[hierarchy](http://hledger.org/manual.html#account-names)**
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to suit our needs.
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This scales smoothly from simple to complex scenarios, and from high-level overview to fine detail.
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Ledger-likes are, at least in part,
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**[command-line](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Basic-Usage) [tools](http://hledger.org/manual.html#usage)**.
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This makes them efficient to use and very
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**[scriptable](#related-tools)** and flexible.
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Ledger-likes also, at their core, tend towards
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**[functional operation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(mathematics))**:
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they read the input data without changing it, and output a report.
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This simple model makes them easy to understand and rely on.
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</div>
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<div class="three columns">
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### questions ?
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**do I really have to use only text ?**\
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No! Not entirely. Just a bit. Decreasingly. **[GUIs](#ui-console)** are appearing.
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**who is this for ?**\
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Techies, power users, and do-it-yourself-ers willing to use a
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**[text editor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editor)**, for now.
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If you need a rich GUI and lots of structure, you may prefer a traditional GUI tool.
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**what are the alternatives ?**\
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FOSS tools like GNUCash, Grisbi, KMyMoney,
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proprietary tools like Quicken/Quickbooks, You Need A Budget,
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online tools like Xero, FreeAgent,
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spreadsheets,
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paper accounting.
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(There are **[many](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_accounting_software)**).
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**why is this better than QuickBooks ?**\
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Your data remains accessible.
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No yearly fees.
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Free software you can fix and port.
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Cross platform.
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Scriptable.
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Efficient.
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**how do I communicate with my accountant ?**\
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Clean up text reports by hand,
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print them as PDF,
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export CSV reports to a spreadsheet..
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**what if my accountant only uses QuickBooks ?**\
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You'll need a new accountant,
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or a duplicate set of books in QuickBooks,
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or to pioneer *ledger -> QuickBooks exporting.
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**can I use this to do my taxes ?**\
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You can use this to track and report the data needed for tax reporting.
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Fill out and submit tax forms with another tool, or by hand.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="row">
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<div class="seven columns">
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### Ledger-likes
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<!-- http://pandoc.org/README.html#tables -->
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|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------:|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------:
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| | Code, committers | Mail list | IRC, size
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| [Ledger](http://ledger-cli.org) | [C++](https://github.com/ledger/ledger) 101 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/ledger)) --> | [ledger-cli](http://list.ledger-cli.org/) <!-- ([gmane](http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.finance.ledger.general)) --> | [#ledger](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=ledger&randomnick=1) 70
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| [hledger](http://hledger.org) | [Haskell](http://code.hledger.org) 30 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/hledger)) --> | [hledger](http://list.hledger.org/) <!-- ([gmane](http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.finance.ledger.hledger)) --> | [#hledger](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=hledger&randomnick=1) 20
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| [Beancount](http://furius.ca/beancount) | [Python](http://bitbucket.org/blais/beancount/) 8 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/beancount)) --> | [beancount](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/beancount) <!-- ([gmane](http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.finance.beancount)) --> | [#beancount](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=beancount&randomnick=1) 1
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| Abandon | [Scala](https://github.com/hrj/abandon) 5 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/abandon)) --> | |
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| Ledger in Go | [Go](https://github.com/howeyc/ledger) 2 | |
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| Inactive: | |
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|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------
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| cl-ledger | [Common Lisp](https://github.com/ledger/cl-ledger)
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| ledger.pl | [Perl](https://github.com/dimonf/ledger.pl)
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| [Penny](http://massysett.github.io/penny/) | [Haskell](https://github.com/massysett/penny)
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| [UMM](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/UMM) | Haskell
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<!-- [compare](https://www.openhub.net/p/_compare?project_0=Ledger&project_1=hledger&project_2=beancount) -->
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### related tools
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- [hledger-diff](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-diff) report differing transactions between two journals
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- [hledger-interest](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-interest) generate *ledger interest transactions
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- [hledger-irr](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-irr) calculate an account's internal rate of return over time
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##### data import
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- [icsvledger](https://launchpad.net/csv2ledger) CSV to journal converter
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- [ledger-autosync](https://gitlab.com/egh/ledger-autosync) convert OFX to journal, deduplication, bank download
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- [reckon](https://github.com/cantino/reckon) smart interactive/non-interactive CSV to journal converter
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##### editing
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- [ledger-mode](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger-mode.html) for Emacs
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- [vim-ledger](https://github.com/ledger/vim-ledger) for VIM
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- [language-ledger](https://atom.io/packages/language-ledger) for Atom
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- [ledger](https://atom.io/packages/ledger) for Atom
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- [sublime-ledger-syntax](https://github.com/moeffju/sublime-ledger-syntax) for Sublime Text/TextMate
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- [Ledger.tmbundle](https://github.com/lifepillar/Ledger.tmbundle) for TextMate
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##### time tracking
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- [org2tc](https://github.com/jwiegley/org2tc) org to timeclock converter
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- [taskwarrior](http://taskwarrior.org) todo list manager, some *ledger integration for time reporting
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- [tim](https://github.com/MatthiasKauer/tim) time tracking tool using hledger for reports
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##### UI, console
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- [hledger-iadd](https://github.com/hpdeifel/hledger-iadd) curses UI for data entry
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- [hledger-ui](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-ui) curses UI for browsing
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##### UI, GUI
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- [ledgerhelpers](https://github.com/Rudd-O/ledgerhelpers) GUI tools and python library front end for Ledger
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##### UI, web
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- [fava](https://github.com/aumayr/beancount-web) web UI for browsing beancount data
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- [hledger-api](https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/hledger-api) JSON API for *ledger data, can also serve static files
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- [hledger-web](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-web) web UI for browsing, data entry
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- [hledger-web on Sandstorm](https://apps.sandstorm.io/app/8x12h6p0x0nrzk73hfq6zh2jxtgyzzcty7qsatkg7jfg2mzw5n90) free private web instances in a few clicks
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- [ledger-dashboard](https://github.com/Ikke/ledger-dashboard) web UI for browsing, data entry
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- [ledger-web](https://github.com/slashdotdash/node-ledger-web) web UI for browsing
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</div>
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<div class="five columns u-pull-right">
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### docs
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- [Ledger manuals](http://ledger-cli.org/docs.html)
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- [Ledger wiki](https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki)
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- [hledger docs](http://hledger.org)
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- [Beancount docs](http://furius.ca/beancount/doc/index)
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- [General accounting docs](http://hledger.org/more-docs.html#accounting)
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### online books
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- [Getting Started With Ledger](https://github.com/rolfschr/GSWL-book/releases/latest) 2016
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### videos
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- [FLOSS Weekly 375: hledger](https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/375) 2016
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- [FLOSS Weekly 150: Ledger](https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/150) 2011
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### presentations
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- [Ledger CLI Accounting for Geeks](http://blog.loadingdata.nl/accounting-for-geeks/) 2014
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- [Hacking Your Finances for Fun and Profit](http://matthewturland.com/slides/ledger-stats/) 2013
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- [Ledger and Text based Accounting](http://www.adamsinfoserv.com/AISTWiki/pub/AIS/Presentations/Ledger.pdf) 2009
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### articles
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- [The accounting quest: Ledger](http://lwn.net/Articles/501681/) 2012
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- [Fabrice Niessen on Ledger, hledger, beancount](http://www.mygooglest.com/fni/ledger.html) 2010
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- [Ledger, the bran muffin of accounting tools](http://archive09.linux.com/feature/58307) 2006
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### blog posts
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- [Matthew Turland: Ledger basics and habits](http://matthewturland.com/2014/03/29/ledger-basics-and-habits/) 2014
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- [Simon Michael: What is hledger ?](http://joyful.com/blog/2013-10-20-what-is-hledger.html) 2013
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- [Simon Michael: More on ledger](http://joyful.com/blog/2013-10-19-more-on-ledger.html) 2013
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- [Simon Michael: Introducing hledger!](http://joyful.com/blog/2013-10-18-introducing-hledger.html) 2013
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- [Joey Hess: hledger](http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/hledger) 2012
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- [Sascha Welter: Doing my own accounting](http://betabug.ch/blogs/ch-athens/1221) 2011
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- [Clint Adams: Accounting at SFLC](http://www.softwarefreedom.org/blog/2011/sep/07/accounting-at-sflc/) 2011
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- [Christine Spang: [h]ledger rocks my world](http://blog.spang.cc/posts/hledger_rocks_my_world/) 2010
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- [Roman Cheplyaka: hledger](http://ro-che.blogspot.com/2010/02/hledger.html) 2010
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### hacker news
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- [Hledger – Double-entry accounting from the Unix tools perspective (2012)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8806056) 2014
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- [Ledger, a powerful CLI accounting tool](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7707262) 2014
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- [Command Line Accounting With Ledger and Reckon](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5233255) 2013
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- [Ledger: Command-line double-entry accounting](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=872244) 2009
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### twitter
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- [\@LedgerTips](https://twitter.com/LedgerTips)
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- [#ledgercli](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ledgercli)
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### common tasks
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##### data entry
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##### reconciling
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##### reporting
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##### forecasting
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##### budgetting
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##### shared expenses
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##### tax reporting
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##### time tracking
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- [Timetracking and billing with (h)ledger](https://github.com/anarcat/ledger-timetracking) 2016
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##### non-profit accounting
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- [Non-Profit Accounting With Ledger CLI, A Tutorial](https://github.com/conservancy/npo-ledger-cli/blob/master/npo-ledger-cli-tutorial.md) 2013
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##### import and export
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="row" style="text-align:center;">
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<hr>
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Send updates via the
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[github repo](https://github.com/simonmichael/plaintextaccounting)
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or
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[etherpad](https://oasis.sandstorm.io/shared/UAYLwagGI0a2pIMg9Hhv74K04nbuxanXiS5ZtBV6NF-)
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</div>
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