#plaintextaccounting
It’s just text.
• Manual typing is worst case scenario.
• No special editor required.
• Give it to your accountant!
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Developer-friendly
• Simple format to parse and construct
• Versionable with meaningful diffs and audits
• Standard developer tools for everything.
• Syntax highlighting, continuous integration, etc
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Ledger format
• Timestamp
• Payee
• Accounts with positive numbers for credit
• Accounts with negative numbers for debit
• Optional: comments
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ledger -f examples.ledger balance
9547.97 Assets:Cash
9550.47 Bank
6436.35 Checking
3114.12 Savings
-2.5 Wallet
-3318.84 Equity:OpeningBalances
744 Expenses
9 Restaurants:Coffee
735 Taxes
700 Federal
500 EIT
200 FICA
35 State:EIT
-6735 Income:SpacelySprockets
-238.13 Liabilities:CreditCards:Costco
--------------------
0
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#plaintextaccounting
balance and register
alone aren’t that useful
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Expenses minus Income
Positive means that expenses are higher than income.
Cashflow
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ledger -f examples.ledger balance ^Income ^Expenses
744 Expenses
9 Restaurants:Coffee
735 Taxes
700 Federal
500 EIT
200 FICA
35 State:EIT
-6735 Income:SpacelySprockets
--------------------
-5991
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Assets minus Liabilities
Net worth
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As of 2014,
~50% of Americans have
zero net worth
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https://www.marketplace.org/2014/04/21/wealth-poverty/about-half-america-has-zero-net-wealth
#plaintextaccounting
Other transaction features
• Virtual transactions - ledger within an account
• Stock lot pricing - designate basis or lot date
• Command directives - default accounts, etc.
• Balance assertions - declare a balance at a date
• Asset allocation - see bond/equity allocation
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Other features
• Budgeting
• Forecasting
• Timekeeping
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i 2017/06/23 09:15:00 CodeAndSupply:Talks [Plain Text Accounting]
o 2017/06/23 10:00:00
i 2017/07/09 20:15:00 CodeAndSupply:Talks [Plain Text Accounting]
o 2017/07/10 00:06:48
i 2017/07/11 22:00:00 CodeAndSupply:Email [Uptime Sponsorship]
o 2017/07/11 22:15:00
i 2017/07/11 22:15:00 CodeAndSupply:Talks [Plain Text Accounting]
o 2017/07/12 00:06:00
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ledger -f timekeeping.ledger bal
6.71h CodeAndSupply
15.0m Email [Uptime Sponsorship]
6.46h Talks [Plain Text Accounting]
--------------------
6.71h
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Treemap of my 2017 Expenses in Fava, the web UI for Beancount
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Takeaways
• Accounting informs us of how much we have.
• Bookkeeping is the practice of tracking
transactions.
• Double-entry accounting requires balanced
transactions.
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Takeaways
• There are many tools.
• ledger is the most well-known plain text
accounting tool.
• There is a whole ecosystem and community around
it.
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Takeaways
• Text lends itself to easier management.
• Manual entry may seem tedious but it enables
intimate knowledge of one’s finances.
• Use the tools you know to manage your finances.
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#plaintextaccounting
Is ledger the best?
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#plaintextaccounting
Use the best tool for
you
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