One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household
https://lalitm.com/post/one-number-i-trust/
#HackerNews #PlainTextAccounting #MultiCurrencyHousehold #FinancialManagement #PersonalFinance #TrustInNumbers
Alan Zimmerman
boosted
This was a lot of work, so I'm putting it out there in case someone else finds it useful:
new docs describing #OpenCollective's #csv, and #hledger rules for converting it.
https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv/other/opencollective
This was a lot of work, so I'm putting it out there in case someone else finds it useful:
new docs describing #OpenCollective's #csv, and #hledger rules for converting it.
https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv/other/opencollective
Today's #FreeSoftwareAdvent is Kimai, a time tracking tool, which I use to keep records of all the legal work that I do, as well as time spent on committees etc.
It has flexible reporting options - which I use for generating timesheets each month - and there is an integrated invoicing tool (which I do not use).
A great tool for #freelance work tracking.
Today's #FreeSoftwareAdvent entry: ledger(1) & hledger(1)
I primarily use ledger use for my #plaintextaccounting purposes¹ but try to mostly keep my data-files in a form that hledger can process them too.
Getting started involved a crash-course in accounting terms, but the use of positive/negative numbers (rather than "debits" and "credits" which always bugged me; though both have ways of specifying that output should be in credit/debit format) eased the transition.
While it started a little tedious, a few helper-scripts and shell-functions simplified adding new common entries and gave me lazy access to common reports.
I still struggle a little bit with closing the books (I though I'd figured it out, and documented it², but had some hiccups so I'll need to revisit my documentation in January)
But it's been incredibly helpful to see and track our household net worth, spot trends, keep tabs on gift-card balances that would otherwise get forgotten, track invoices sent to clients, and it simplifies balancing the checkbook monthly.
⸻
¹ http://plaintextaccounting.org/
² https://blog.thechases.com/posts/closing-out-the-books-in-ledger/
I love a good time-tracking tool.
I use/repurpose ledger(1)¹ which I also use for my #plaintextaccounting purposes. It also provides a time-keeping notation² which means I'm tracking my time in exactly the same way as my money.
I have some shell-functions to facilitate stop/start/resume, reporting hours, and converting them to billing info.
I also appreciate that the underlying data-files are all just plain-text that I can edit in any editor and track in git. ☺
Stefano Marinelli
and 1 other
boosted
Today's #FreeSoftwareAdvent entry: ledger(1) & hledger(1)
I primarily use ledger use for my #plaintextaccounting purposes¹ but try to mostly keep my data-files in a form that hledger can process them too.
Getting started involved a crash-course in accounting terms, but the use of positive/negative numbers (rather than "debits" and "credits" which always bugged me; though both have ways of specifying that output should be in credit/debit format) eased the transition.
While it started a little tedious, a few helper-scripts and shell-functions simplified adding new common entries and gave me lazy access to common reports.
I still struggle a little bit with closing the books (I though I'd figured it out, and documented it², but had some hiccups so I'll need to revisit my documentation in January)
But it's been incredibly helpful to see and track our household net worth, spot trends, keep tabs on gift-card balances that would otherwise get forgotten, track invoices sent to clients, and it simplifies balancing the checkbook monthly.
⸻
¹ http://plaintextaccounting.org/
² https://blog.thechases.com/posts/closing-out-the-books-in-ledger/
Alan Zimmerman
boosted
hledger-1.50.4 fixes 1.50's journal include directive,
so that it no longer ignores paths containing dot files/directories,
and it no longer shows symbolic links dereferenced.
- https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/releases/1.50.4
- https://hledger.org/relnotes.html#2025-12-04-hledger-1504
- https://hledger.org/install
#hledger is free, robust, friendly, multicurrency, double-entry,
#plaintextaccounting software for unix, mac, windows, and the web,
written in #haskell for reliability.
hledger-1.50.4 fixes 1.50's journal include directive,
so that it no longer ignores paths containing dot files/directories,
and it no longer shows symbolic links dereferenced.
- https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/releases/1.50.4
- https://hledger.org/relnotes.html#2025-12-04-hledger-1504
- https://hledger.org/install
#hledger is free, robust, friendly, multicurrency, double-entry,
#plaintextaccounting software for unix, mac, windows, and the web,
written in #haskell for reliability.
Today's #FreeSoftwareAdvent entry: ledger(1) & hledger(1)
I primarily use ledger use for my #plaintextaccounting purposes¹ but try to mostly keep my data-files in a form that hledger can process them too.
Getting started involved a crash-course in accounting terms, but the use of positive/negative numbers (rather than "debits" and "credits" which always bugged me; though both have ways of specifying that output should be in credit/debit format) eased the transition.
While it started a little tedious, a few helper-scripts and shell-functions simplified adding new common entries and gave me lazy access to common reports.
I still struggle a little bit with closing the books (I though I'd figured it out, and documented it², but had some hiccups so I'll need to revisit my documentation in January)
But it's been incredibly helpful to see and track our household net worth, spot trends, keep tabs on gift-card balances that would otherwise get forgotten, track invoices sent to clients, and it simplifies balancing the checkbook monthly.
⸻
¹ http://plaintextaccounting.org/
² https://blog.thechases.com/posts/closing-out-the-books-in-ledger/
Alan Zimmerman
boosted
Achievement unlocked: #hledger #plaintextaccounting app has reached the top 20 github-starred haskell projects!
Good work everyone! 🎉🚀🥳🍹
More #haskell apps:
https://joyful.com/Haskell#What+are+some+Haskell+apps+%3F
Achievement unlocked: #hledger #plaintextaccounting app has reached the top 20 github-starred haskell projects!
Good work everyone! 🎉🚀🥳🍹
More #haskell apps:
https://joyful.com/Haskell#What+are+some+Haskell+apps+%3F
Alan Zimmerman
boosted
I've found #plaintextaccounting with #hledger to be an absolutely _perfect_ match for MCP's. Attached are two neat examples.
The first, creating a visualization from the data within the journals.
The second, easily adding new entries from a receipt. Just drag the PDF in and... 🎉
Anthropic recently released the .mcpb format which makes these much easier to install. I added MCBP support in the latest release. If you give it a shot, let me know what you think!
2 media
I've found #plaintextaccounting with #hledger to be an absolutely _perfect_ match for MCP's. Attached are two neat examples.
The first, creating a visualization from the data within the journals.
The second, easily adding new entries from a receipt. Just drag the PDF in and... 🎉
Anthropic recently released the .mcpb format which makes these much easier to install. I added MCBP support in the latest release. If you give it a shot, let me know what you think!
2 media
Alan Zimmerman
boosted
#hledger 1.50.1 is out, with fixes and improvements for the 1.50 release.
Thank you to contributor Stephen Morgan.
- https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/releases/1.50.1
- https://hledger.org/relnotes.html#2025-09-16-hledger-1501
- https://hledger.org/install
#hledger 1.50.1 is out, with fixes and improvements for the 1.50 release.
Thank you to contributor Stephen Morgan.
- https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/releases/1.50.1
- https://hledger.org/relnotes.html#2025-09-16-hledger-1501
- https://hledger.org/install
Alan Zimmerman
boosted
#hledger 1.50 is out, with
better transaction balancing, include improvements,
csv data commands, import archiving, timeclock improvements,
and more!
better transaction balancing, include improvements,
csv data commands, import archiving, timeclock improvements,
and more!
Thank you to contributors Stephen Morgan, Jay Neubrand, Lukas Fleischer, and savanto.
- https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/releases/1.50
- https://hledger.org/relnotes.html#2025-09-03-hledger-150
- https://hledger.org/install
#hledger is free, robust, friendly, multicurrency, double-entry,
#plaintextaccounting software for unix, mac, windows, and the web,
written in #haskell for reliability.
#hledger 1.50 is out, with
better transaction balancing, include improvements,
csv data commands, import archiving, timeclock improvements,
and more!
better transaction balancing, include improvements,
csv data commands, import archiving, timeclock improvements,
and more!
Thank you to contributors Stephen Morgan, Jay Neubrand, Lukas Fleischer, and savanto.
- https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/releases/1.50
- https://hledger.org/relnotes.html#2025-09-03-hledger-150
- https://hledger.org/install
#hledger is free, robust, friendly, multicurrency, double-entry,
#plaintextaccounting software for unix, mac, windows, and the web,
written in #haskell for reliability.
Alan Zimmerman
boosted
#hledger master now includes the https://hledger.org/dev/hledger.html#import-archiving feature. I am using it to simplify CSV file management, any extra testing is welcome.
#hledger master now includes the https://hledger.org/dev/hledger.html#import-archiving feature. I am using it to simplify CSV file management, any extra testing is welcome.