#plainTextAccounting just got a whole lot more fun! I don't know about hledger, but did you know that Beancount allows symbols/emojis in file names?
Be aware that symbols must not be immediately preceded by a colon or they will flag as an error.
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#plaintextaccounting
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Continued thread
As much as I love plain text accounting, there are subtle things about it that make me want to write a program. That's a lot of how I do my book keeping for my publishing company and apparently how I'm handling Partner's babysitting.
The only difference is that this uses Deno instead of Node and I'm trying out hledger verses beancount. Mostly because I wanted to try out puffin which I don't exactly like. But, hledger is more popular than beancount so I might as well let them war in my head for a while before I decide on one or the other.
Replied in thread
@astrophoenix @ellane
I use a depth limit in my default queries.
So if under assets:bank:wf:checking I have assets:bank:wf:checking:tax:2024:us and assets:bank:wf:checking:tax:2025:us, I normally limit balance reports to depth 4 to hide those, eg by adding
[balance] -4
to ~/.hledger.conf. I also hide lot subaccounts this way. My chart of accounts is arranged so that this simple depth limit works for all, but if not I could set per-account depth limits.
For those who use #plaintextaccounting and hledger, I just saw a cool TUI for reviewing the files.
https://terminaltrove.com/puffin/
Sadly, I'm using beancount instead of hledger, but that might make it worth it to write a program to convert. :)
terminaltrove.compuffin - A beautiful terminal dashboard for hledger.A beautiful terminal dashboard for hledger. - Discover more CLI and TUI tools like puffin and much more on Terminal Trove.
Simple really is better, more times than not.
Yesterday I figured out how to track savings goals in Beancount (Fava) by creating a parallel BGT currency. It involves more data entry, but it does the calculation between what's already saved and my goal.
Nice, but unnecessary.
Today I scrapped all that (yay for backups!) and simply added the savings goal to the name of each account. Thanks for the tip on the forum, @simonmic
I love #PlainTextAccounting but this week learnt there's also plain text #screenplay writing with the Fountain syntax:
This syntax is already understood by FOSS writing tools such as Trelby:
The perfect combo to ensure that movie you're writing will still be readable by future civilizations.
fountain.ioFountain
hledger 1.42 is out, with new run and repl commands.
Thank you to contributors Dmitry Astapov, gesh, Thomas
Miedema, Joschua Kesper, and Lars Kellogg-Stedman !
- https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/releases/1.42
- https://hledger.org/relnotes.html#2025-03-07-hledger-142
- 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.
GitHubRelease 1.42 · simonmichael/hledgerRelease notes
run & repl commands, non-UTF8 CSV, same-line if matchers, more pivot targets, fixes.
hledger 1.42
Fixes
hledger's default options for the less pager no longer include --use-color, ...
The hledger project's first year-end report.
Joyful Systemshledger project 2024 report - Joyful SystemsDiscussion: mail list, forum, mastodon, chat. Published: 2025-02-17 Updated: 2025-02-18 Here's a first year-end report for the hledger project, for 2024. This one is brief, summarising product and …
https://joyful.com/Lot+tracking+in+PTA
Tracking investment lots is often necessary to calculate capital gains accurately and to comply with tax law. It's a tricky, increasingly widespread bookkeeping need. This page aims to be a useful guide to the topic, for PTA users and PTA developers.
#plaintextaccounting
#hledger
#ledgercli
#beancount
#bookkeeping
Joyful SystemsLot tracking in PTA - Joyful SystemsNotes about investment lot tracking in hledger and other plain text accounting apps. Last updated: 2025-02 Introduction Tracking investment lots is often necessary to calculate capital gains accurate…
After 7 months of #plainTextAccounting, insights are starting to flow. Honestly I have no idea how I'd have tracked all this without a) paying a ridiculous amount of $ every month, b) locking myself into an app that doesn't do what I need it to, and c) makes it hard to move somewhere else!
Admittedly the hardest thing about PTA wasn't learning how to use the command line. It was learning the principles of accounting, and how to apply them to my situation.
New notes on my #hledger workflow:
https://joyful.com/hledger+workflow+2025
Joyful Systemshledger workflow 2025 - Joyful SystemsFor more workflow docs, see https://hledger.org/workflows.html#more-advanced-workflows . I'm keeping this one here for easier editing; more updates may come. Last updated: 2025-02-01 I am in my 20th …
I've not used #beancount since v3 went stable, and I'm planning on getting my #PlainTextAccounting setup going again.
Is there anything I should know (or a pointer to somewhere I can find out) about any user-visible changes?
I used to have Fava as my main UI, with a few hand-cranked (and awful!) python plugins providing synthetic transaction enrichment (e.g. VAT; CT). Is that workflow still likely to be happy with v3? Might I have to get my hands dirty with python API changes? #ledger #pta
Awesome world/national #finance dashboards can be found at
Seen on Hacker News today, also discussed at https://forum.plaintextaccounting.org/t/470
www.usdebtclock.orgU.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time
Replied in thread
@jpmens meanwhile, you can get ledger/hledger/beancount for free 
Anybody know how to compute per-commodity totals in ledger/hledger? I'm trying to figure out total revenue per product. I posted some more details here in the Plain Text Accounting forum.
https://forum.plaintextaccounting.org/t/totals-by-commodity/466
#hledger #plaintextaccounting #askfedi
Plain Text Accounting forum · Totals by commodityWith current hledger, the simplest way is to add that information in the account name: 2024/09/08 Retail Revenue:Retail:Food:Honey -1 honey @ $10.00 Revenue:Retail:Food:Tomato -1 tomato @ $2.00 Revenue:Retail:Food:Lettuce -1 lettuce @ $2.00 Revenue:Retail:Misc -1 "canvas art" @ $10.00 Assets:Cash $24.00 2024/09/09 Retail Revenue:Retail:...
A good read for #hledger devs/contributors/sponsors:
(Or if you prefer the PTA forum: https://forum.plaintextaccounting.org/t/451)
When you use plain text accounting and you have to generate an income statement for the year:
hledger is --begin 2024-01-01 -end 2024-12-31
Really getting into plain text accounting with hledger. If you are like me and hate anything to do with accounting, but coding scratches an itch, this could be for you. I now have the same control over my financial transactions and reports as I have over my source code. #plaintextaccounting #Finance #hledger
Continued thread
Another super interesting chart for me is this one: accounting loss over time, i.e. things that slip through the radar.
I fill my #hledger journal very thoroughly with ~1500 txns/year that I sort and tag meticulously, including all things cash (this is where things get lost).
What you can see here is: No matter how hard I try, ~1€/day slips through my radar - a lost receipt, some coins change hand on a market, etc. I find the consistency of this very fascinating 
