289 lines
19 KiB
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289 lines
19 KiB
HTML
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<title>Plain Text Accounting, a guide to Ledger and friends</title>
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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%;">
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Plain Text Accounting
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</h1>
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<div class="three columns">
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<h3 id="accounting">accounting</h3>
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<p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting">accounting</a></strong> is tracking the flow of valuable commodities, such as money or time. It clarifies activity, priorities, obligations, opportunities. It can <strong><a href="http://podcastle.org/2009/10/09/pc-miniature-38-accounting-for-dragons">reduce stress</a></strong> and even be enjoyable.</p>
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<p><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping_system">double-entry bookkeeping</a></strong> is a process for doing this reliably. For every movement of value (a <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_transaction">transaction</a></strong>), both the source and destination are recorded. Simple arithmetic invariants help prevent errors.</p>
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<p>In traditional double-entry bookkeeping, value at any point in time is tracked in various <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Account_(accountancy)">accounts</a></strong>, classified as <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset">asset</a></strong> (owned), <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liability_(financial_accounting)">liability</a></strong> (owed) or <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(finance)">equity</a></strong> (invested). Two more classifications track changes during some period: <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue">revenues</a></strong> (inflows) and <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expense">expenses</a></strong> (outflows).</p>
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<p>Transactions consist of <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debits_and_credits">debits</a></strong> (increases to asset or expense accounts, or decreases to liability or equity accounts) or <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debits_and_credits">credits</a></strong> (decreases to asset or expense accounts, or increases to liability or equity accounts).</p>
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</div>
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<div class="four columns">
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<h3 id="with-text">… with text</h3>
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<p><strong><a href="#ledger-likes">Ledger</a></strong> and the other <strong><a href="#ledger-likes">Ledger-likes</a></strong> inspired by it are minimalist software tools for efficient double-entry-style accounting. <!-- **[double-entry-style](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10512418)** accounting. --> This site introduces them and their way of doing things.</p>
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<p>Accounting data is valuable; we want to know that it will be accessible for ever - even without software. We want to know when it changes, and revision-control it. We want to search and manipulate it efficiently. So, we store it as human-readable <strong><a href="http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#The-Most-Basic-Entry">plain</a> <a href="http://hledger.org/manual.html#journal">text</a></strong>.</p>
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<p>We simplify debits and credits by using <strong><a href="http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Stating-where-money-goes">signed numbers</a></strong> instead - positive for inflows to an account, negative for outflows from an account.</p>
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<p>We define arbitrary <strong><a href="http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Structuring-your-Accounts">account</a> <a href="http://hledger.org/manual.html#account-names">hierarchy</a></strong> to suit our needs. This scales smoothly from simple to complex scenarios, and from high-level overview to fine detail.</p>
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<p>Ledger-likes are, at least in part, <strong><a href="http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Basic-Usage">command-line</a> <a href="http://hledger.org/manual.html#usage">tools</a></strong>. This makes them efficient to use and very <strong><a href="#related-tools">scriptable</a></strong> and flexible.</p>
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<p>Ledger-likes also, at their core, tend towards <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(mathematics)">functional operation</a></strong>: they read the input data without changing it, and output a report. This simple model makes them easy to understand and rely on.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="four columns">
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<h3 id="questions">questions ?</h3>
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<p><strong>is there no graphical user interface ? Must I use the command line ?</strong><br />
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Not entirely! A bit. Decreasingly. "Plain Text Accounting" is a broad description, referring mainly to the data format. <strong><a href="#ui-console">GUIs</a></strong> are appearing.</p>
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<p><strong>who is this for ?</strong><br />
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Techies, power users, and do-it-yourself-ers, for now. If you need a rich GUI providing lots of structure, you may prefer to use something else.</p>
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<p><strong>who is using it, and how ?</strong><br />
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See <strong><a href="https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Who's-using-ledger%3F">Who's using Ledger?</a></strong> for some stories.</p>
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<p><strong>what are the alternatives ?</strong><br />
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FOSS tools like GNUCash, Grisbi, KMyMoney. Proprietary tools like Quicken/Quickbooks, You Need A Budget. Online tools like Xero, FreeAgent. (There are <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_accounting_software">many</a></strong>). Spreadsheets. Paper accounting. A bookkeeper.</p>
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<p><strong>why is this better than QuickBooks ?</strong><br />
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Your data remains accessible. No yearly fees. Free software you can fix and port. Cross platform. Scriptable. Efficient.</p>
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<p><strong>how do I communicate with my accountant ?</strong><br />
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Clean up text reports by hand, print them as PDF, export CSV reports to a spreadsheet..</p>
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<p><strong>what if my accountant only uses QuickBooks ?</strong><br />
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You'll need a new accountant, or a duplicate set of books in QuickBooks, or to pioneer *ledger -> QuickBooks exporting.</p>
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<p><strong>can I use this to do my taxes ?</strong><br />
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You can use this to track and report the data needed for tax reporting. Fill out and submit tax forms with another tool, or by hand.</p>
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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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<h3 id="ledger-likes">Ledger-likes</h3>
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<!-- http://pandoc.org/README.html#tables -->
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<table>
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<tbody>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td align="left"></td>
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<td align="right">Code, committers</td>
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<td align="left">Mail list</td>
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<td align="right">IRC, size</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td align="left"><a href="http://ledger-cli.org">Ledger</a></td>
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<td align="right"><a href="https://github.com/ledger/ledger">C++</a> 101 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/ledger)) --></td>
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<td align="left"><a href="http://list.ledger-cli.org/">ledger-cli</a> <!-- ([gmane](http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.finance.ledger.general)) --></td>
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<td align="right"><a href="http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=ledger&randomnick=1">#ledger</a> 70</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td align="left"><a href="http://hledger.org">hledger</a></td>
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<td align="right"><a href="http://code.hledger.org">Haskell</a> 30 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/hledger)) --></td>
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<td align="left"><a href="http://list.hledger.org/">hledger</a> <!-- ([gmane](http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.finance.ledger.hledger)) --></td>
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<td align="right"><a href="http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=hledger&randomnick=1">#hledger</a> 20</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td align="left"><a href="http://furius.ca/beancount">Beancount</a></td>
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<td align="right"><a href="http://bitbucket.org/blais/beancount/">Python</a> 8 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/beancount)) --></td>
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<td align="left"><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/beancount">beancount</a> <!-- ([gmane](http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.finance.beancount)) --></td>
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<td align="right"><a href="http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=beancount&randomnick=1">#beancount</a> 1</td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td align="left">Abandon</td>
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<td align="right"><a href="https://github.com/hrj/abandon">Scala</a> 5 <!-- ([openhub](https://www.openhub.net/p/abandon)) --></td>
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<td align="left"></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td align="left">Ledger in Go</td>
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<td align="right"><a href="https://github.com/howeyc/ledger">Go</a> 2</td>
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<td align="left"></td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<table>
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<thead>
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<tr class="header">
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<th align="left">Inactive:</th>
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<th align="left"></th>
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</tr>
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</thead>
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<tbody>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td align="left">cl-ledger</td>
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<td align="left"><a href="https://github.com/ledger/cl-ledger">Common Lisp</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td align="left">ledger.pl</td>
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<td align="left"><a href="https://github.com/dimonf/ledger.pl">Perl</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td align="left"><a href="http://massysett.github.io/penny/">Penny</a></td>
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<td align="left"><a href="https://github.com/massysett/penny">Haskell</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td align="left"><a href="http://hackage.haskell.org/package/UMM">UMM</a></td>
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<td align="left">Haskell</td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<!-- [compare](https://www.openhub.net/p/_compare?project_0=Ledger&project_1=hledger&project_2=beancount) -->
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<h3 id="related-tools">related tools</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-diff">hledger-diff</a> report differing transactions between two journals</li>
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<li><a href="http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-interest">hledger-interest</a> generate *ledger interest transactions</li>
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<li><a href="http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-irr">hledger-irr</a> calculate an account's internal rate of return over time</li>
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</ul>
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<h5 id="data-import">data import</h5>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://launchpad.net/csv2ledger">icsvledger</a> CSV to journal converter</li>
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<li><a href="https://gitlab.com/egh/ledger-autosync">ledger-autosync</a> convert OFX to journal, deduplication, bank download</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/cantino/reckon">reckon</a> smart interactive/non-interactive CSV to journal converter</li>
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</ul>
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<h5 id="editor-support">editor support</h5>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://bitbucket.org/blais/beancount/src/1e21b27c0b0ecf2bf2e1a2cd5c3da3b1befc8152/src/elisp/beancount.el?at=default&fileviewer=file-view-default">beancount-mode</a> for Emacs</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/narendraj9/dotfiles/tree/master/.emacs.d/packages/rest/hledger-mode">hledger-mode</a> for Emacs</li>
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<li><a href="http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger-mode.html">ledger-mode</a> for Emacs (also works for hledger, beancount etc.)</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/nathangrigg/vim-beancount">vim-beancount</a> for VIM</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/ledger/vim-ledger">vim-ledger</a> for VIM</li>
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<li><a href="https://atom.io/packages/language-ledger">language-ledger</a> for Atom</li>
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<li><a href="https://atom.io/packages/ledger">ledger</a> for Atom</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/moeffju/sublime-ledger-syntax">sublime-ledger-syntax</a> for Sublime Text/TextMate</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/lifepillar/Ledger.tmbundle">Ledger.tmbundle</a> for TextMate</li>
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</ul>
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<h5 id="time-tracking">time tracking</h5>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/jwiegley/org2tc">org2tc</a> org to timeclock converter</li>
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<li><a href="http://taskwarrior.org">taskwarrior</a> todo list manager, some *ledger integration for time reporting</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/MatthiasKauer/tim">tim</a> time tracking tool using hledger for reports</li>
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</ul>
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<h5 id="ui-console">UI, console</h5>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/hpdeifel/hledger-iadd">hledger-iadd</a> curses UI for data entry</li>
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<li><a href="http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-ui">hledger-ui</a> curses UI for browsing (<a href="https://asciinema.org/a/29665">demo</a>)</li>
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</ul>
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<h5 id="ui-gui">UI, GUI</h5>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/Rudd-O/ledgerhelpers">ledgerhelpers</a> GUI tools and python library front end for Ledger</li>
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</ul>
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<h5 id="ui-web">UI, web</h5>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/aumayr/beancount-web">fava</a> web UI for browsing beancount data</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/hledger-api">hledger-api</a> JSON API for *ledger data, can also serve static files</li>
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<li><a href="http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-web">hledger-web</a> web UI for browsing, data entry (<a href="http://demo.hledger.org">demo</a>)</li>
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<li><a href="https://apps.sandstorm.io/app/8x12h6p0x0nrzk73hfq6zh2jxtgyzzcty7qsatkg7jfg2mzw5n90">hledger-web on Sandstorm</a> free private web instances in a few clicks</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/Ikke/ledger-dashboard">ledger-dashboard</a> web UI for browsing, data entry</li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/slashdotdash/node-ledger-web">ledger-web</a> web UI for browsing</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="five columns u-pull-right">
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<h3 id="docs">docs</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://ledger-cli.org/docs.html">Ledger manuals</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki">Ledger wiki</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://hledger.org">hledger docs</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://furius.ca/beancount/doc/index">Beancount docs</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://hledger.org/more-docs.html#accounting">General accounting docs</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="online-books">online books</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/rolfschr/GSWL-book/releases/latest">Getting Started With Ledger</a> 2016</li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="presentations">presentations</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://blog.loadingdata.nl/accounting-for-geeks/">Ledger CLI Accounting for Geeks</a> 2014</li>
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<li><a href="http://matthewturland.com/slides/ledger-stats/">Hacking Your Finances for Fun and Profit</a> 2013</li>
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<li><a href="http://www.adamsinfoserv.com/AISTWiki/pub/AIS/Presentations/Ledger.pdf">Ledger and Text based Accounting</a> 2009</li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="videos">videos</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/375">FLOSS Weekly 375: hledger</a> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjl-wVJcYpE">youtube</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS2UcDV_lbs">3m overview</a>) 2016</li>
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<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGu1Bw2USQo">Evolution of ledger</a> 2015</li>
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<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEADGr9dqow">Evolution of hledger</a> 2015</li>
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<li><a href="https://twit.tv/shows/floss-weekly/episodes/150">FLOSS Weekly 150: Ledger</a> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDqrrH-gTt0">youtube</a>) 2011</li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="articles">articles</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://goykhman.ca/gene/blog/2012/2012-09-23-an-alternative-to-quickbooks.html">An Alternative to QuickBooks</a> 2012</li>
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<li><a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/501681/">The accounting quest: Ledger</a> 2012</li>
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<li><a href="http://www.mygooglest.com/fni/ledger.html">Fabrice Niessen on Ledger, hledger, beancount</a> 2010</li>
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<li><a href="http://archive09.linux.com/feature/58307">Ledger, the bran muffin of accounting tools</a> 2006</li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="blog-posts">blog posts</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://matthewturland.com/2014/03/29/ledger-basics-and-habits/">Matthew Turland: Ledger basics and habits</a> 2014</li>
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<li><a href="http://joyful.com/blog/2013-10-20-what-is-hledger.html">Simon Michael: What is hledger ?</a> 2013</li>
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<li><a href="http://joyful.com/blog/2013-10-19-more-on-ledger.html">Simon Michael: More on ledger</a> 2013</li>
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<li><a href="http://joyful.com/blog/2013-10-18-introducing-hledger.html">Simon Michael: Introducing hledger!</a> 2013</li>
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<li><a href="http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/hledger">Joey Hess: hledger</a> 2012</li>
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<li><a href="http://betabug.ch/blogs/ch-athens/1221">Sascha Welter: Doing my own accounting</a> 2011</li>
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<li><a href="http://www.softwarefreedom.org/blog/2011/sep/07/accounting-at-sflc/">Clint Adams: Accounting at SFLC</a> 2011</li>
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<li><a href="http://blog.spang.cc/posts/hledger_rocks_my_world/">Christine Spang: [h]ledger rocks my world</a> 2010</li>
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<li><a href="http://ro-che.blogspot.com/2010/02/hledger.html">Roman Cheplyaka: hledger</a> 2010</li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="hacker-news">hacker news</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10510394">Ledger, a command-line accounting system</a> 2015</li>
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<li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8806056">Hledger – Double-entry accounting from the Unix tools perspective (2012)</a> 2014</li>
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<li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7707262">Ledger, a powerful CLI accounting tool</a> 2014</li>
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<li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5233255">Command Line Accounting With Ledger and Reckon</a> 2013</li>
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<li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=872244">Ledger: Command-line double-entry accounting</a> 2009</li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="twitter">twitter</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://twitter.com/LedgerTips">@LedgerTips</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ledgercli">#ledgercli</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="common-tasks">common tasks</h3>
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<h5 id="data-entry">data entry</h5>
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<h5 id="reconciling">reconciling</h5>
|
||
<h5 id="reporting">reporting</h5>
|
||
<h5 id="forecasting">forecasting</h5>
|
||
<h5 id="budgetting">budgetting</h5>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="https://gist.github.com/simonmichael/a1addcb652da4e78b183">YNAB-ish envelope budgetting with hledger/ledger</a></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h5 id="shared-expenses">shared expenses</h5>
|
||
<h5 id="tax-reporting">tax reporting</h5>
|
||
<h5 id="time-tracking-1">time tracking</h5>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="https://github.com/anarcat/ledger-timetracking">Timetracking and billing with (h)ledger</a> 2016</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h5 id="non-profit-accounting">non-profit accounting</h5>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="https://github.com/conservancy/npo-ledger-cli/blob/master/npo-ledger-cli-tutorial.md">Non-Profit Accounting With Ledger CLI, A Tutorial</a> 2013</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h5 id="import-and-export">import and export</h5>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<div class="row" style="text-align:center;">
|
||
|
||
<hr>
|
||
<p>Send updates via the <a href="https://github.com/simonmichael/plaintextaccounting">github repo</a> or <a href="https://oasis.sandstorm.io/shared/UAYLwagGI0a2pIMg9Hhv74K04nbuxanXiS5ZtBV6NF-">etherpad</a></p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
|
||
<!-- End Document
|
||
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|
||
</body>
|
||
</html>
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