26 posts tagged with "finance"

Example Account Name​

Assets:US:BofA:Checking

Account Types​

Assets          +
Liabilities     -
Income          -
Expenses        +
Equity          -

Commodities​

CNY, EUR, CAD, AUD
GOOG, AAPL, RBF1005
HOME_MAYST, AIRMILES
HOURS

Directives​

General syntax

YYYY-MM-DD <Directive> <Parameters...>

Opening & Closing Accounts​

2001-05-29 open Expenses:Restaurant
2001-05-29 open Assets:Checking     USD,EUR  ; Currency constraints

2015-04-23 close Assets:Checking

Declaring Commodities (Optional)​

1998-07-22 commodity AAPL
  name: "Apple Computer Inc."

Prices​

2015-04-30 price AAPL   125.15 CNY
2015-05-30 price AAPL   130.28 CNY

Notes​

2013-03-20 note Assets:Checking "Called to ask about rebate"

Documents​

2013-03-20 document Assets:Checking "path/to/statement.pdf"

Transactions​

2015-05-30 * "Some narration about this transaction"
  Liabilities:CreditCard   -101.23 CNY
  Expenses:Restaurant       101.23 CNY

2015-05-30 ! "Cable Co" "Phone Bill" #tag ˆlink
  id: "TW378743437"               ; Meta-data
  Expenses:Home:Phone  87.45 CNY
  Assets:Checking                 ; You may leave one amount out

Postings​

  ...    123.45 USD                             Simple
  ...        10 GOOG {502.12 USD}               With per-unit cost
  ...        10 GOOG {{5021.20 USD}}            With total cost
  ...        10 GOOG {502.12 # 9.95 USD}        With both costs
  ...   1000.00 USD   @ 1.10 CAD                With per-unit price
  ...        10 GOOG {502.12 USD} @ 1.10 CAD    With cost & price
  ...        10 GOOG {502.12 USD, 2014-05-12}   With date
  ! ...   123.45 USD ...                        With flag

Balance Assertions and Padding​

; Asserts the amount for only the given currency:
2015-06-01 balance Liabilities:CreditCard  -634.30 CNY

; Automatic insertion of transaction to fulfill the following assertion:
2015-06-01pad Assets:Checking Equity:Opening-Balances

Events​

2015-06-01 event "location" "New York, USA"
2015-06-30 event "address" "123 May Street"

Options​

option "title" "My Personal Ledger"

Other​

pushtag #trip-to-peru
...
poptag  #trip-to-peru
; Comments begin with a semi-colon

Discover the Magic of Plain Text Accounting with Beancount

Introduction​

Welcome to a world where accounting is no longer a daunting task. Today, we introduce you to Beancount, a powerful, flexible, and intuitive plain text accounting tool. Beancount empowers you to take control of your finances by providing a transparent and straightforward approach to managing your money.

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the basics of Beancount, explain its core concepts, and walk you through its simple yet powerful features. By the end of this blog, you'll have a solid understanding of Beancount and be ready to start using it to organize and analyze your financial life.

What is Beancount?​

Beancount is an open-source, plain text accounting system created by Martin Blais. Inspired by John Wiegley's Ledger system, Beancount aims to provide a robust and reliable method to manage personal and small business finances using plain text files. With Beancount, you can track your income, expenses, investments, and much more with ease.

Why Beancount?​

Plain text accounting offers several advantages over traditional spreadsheet-based or software-based accounting systems:

• Transparency: Beancount files are human-readable, making it easy to understand and audit your financial data.
• Flexibility: Beancount can be easily customized to fit your specific needs, and you can use your favorite text editor and version control system to manage your financial data.
• Portability: Your financial data can be accessed on any device, and it's easy to transfer between systems or share with others.
• Future-proof: Plain text files are universally compatible, ensuring that your financial data will remain accessible, even as technology evolves.

Beancount's Core Concepts​

To use Beancount effectively, it's crucial to understand its core concepts:

• Transactions: Financial events, such as income, expenses, or transfers between accounts, are recorded as transactions.
• Accounts: Transactions involve one or more accounts, such as assets, liabilities, income, or expenses.
• Double-entry bookkeeping: Beancount enforces double-entry bookkeeping, ensuring that every transaction has balanced debits and credits.
• Directives: Beancount uses a set of directives to define transactions, account openings, and other financial events.

Getting Started with Beancount​

To start using Beancount, follow these simple steps:

• Install Beancount: Install Beancount on your system using the provided installation instructions for your operating system.
• Create your Beancount file: Create a new plain text file with the .beancount extension (e.g., my_finances.beancount).
• Define your accounts: Use the "open" directive to define the accounts you'll use in your transactions.
• Record transactions: Use the "txn" directive to record your financial transactions.

Or simply sign up at https://beancount.io. Here are some plain text accounting examples -

Example 1: Basic Transaction

2023-04-01 open Assets:Checking
2023-04-01 open Expenses:Groceries

2023-04-10 txn "Grocery Store" "Buying groceries"
  Assets:Checking         -50.00 USD
  Expenses:Groceries       50.00 USD

In this example, we open two accounts, Assets:Checking and Expenses:Groceries. On April 10, 2023, we record a transaction for buying groceries worth $50. The transaction reduces the balance of Assets:Checking by$50 (debit) and increases the balance of Expenses:Groceries by $50 (credit).

Example 2: Income and Expense Transaction

2023-04-01 open Assets:Checking
2023-04-01 open Income:Salary
2023-04-01 open Expenses:Rent

2023-04-05 txn "Employer" "Salary payment"
  Assets:Checking       2000.00 USD
  Income:Salary        -2000.00 USD

2023-04-06 txn "Landlord" "Monthly rent payment"
  Assets:Checking       -1000.00 USD
  Expenses:Rent          1000.00 USD

In this example, we open three accounts: Assets:Checking, Income:Salary, and Expenses:Rent. On April 5, 2023, we record a salary payment transaction of $2000. The transaction increases the balance of Assets:Checking by$2000 (credit) and decreases the balance of Income:Salary by $2000 (debit). On April 6, 2023, we record a rent payment transaction of$1000. The transaction reduces the balance of Assets:Checking by $1000 (debit) and increases the balance of Expenses:Rent by$1000 (credit).

Example 3: Transfer Between Accounts

2023-04-01 open Assets:Checking
2023-04-01 open Assets:Savings

2023-04-15 txn "Bank" "Transfer from Checking to Savings"
  Assets:Checking       -500.00 USD
  Assets:Savings         500.00 USD

In this example, we open two accounts: Assets:Checking and Assets:Savings. On April 15, 2023, we record a transaction to transfer $500 from the checking account to the savings account. The transaction reduces the balance of Assets:Checking by$500 (debit) and increases the balance of Assets:Savings by $500 (credit).

These examples illustrate the basic concepts of Beancount's double-entry bookkeeping system. By properly recording transactions, users can maintain accurate records of their financial activities and generate reports to gain insights into their financial situation.

Generating Reports and Analyzing Data​

Beancount comes with a set of powerful tools for generating financial reports, including balance sheets, income statements, and more. You can also use Fava, a web-based user interface for Beancount, to visualize and interact with your financial data. https://beancount.io is built upon Fava with MIT license.

Conclusion​

Embrace the power and simplicity of plain text accounting with Beancount. By understanding its core concepts and following the steps outlined in this guide, you'll be well on your way to managing your personal or small business finances with ease and precision. As you grow more comfortable with Beancount, you can explore advanced features and customizations to tailor the system to your unique needs.

Whether you're looking to track your spending, plan for the future, or gain insights into your financial habits, Beancount offers the flexibility and transparency needed to achieve your goals. With its user-friendly approach, Beancount has the potential to revolutionize the way you manage your finances and empower you to take control of your financial future.

Now that you have a solid foundation in Beancount, it's time to embark on your plain text accounting journey. Say goodbye to cumbersome spreadsheets and convoluted software, and welcome the world of Beancount. Happy accounting!

Beancount, the double-entry accounting system beloved by developers and finance nerds alike, is powerful in its simplicity. But for those who want more control and faster navigation inside Fava, Beancount’s web interface, custom sidebar links and SQL queries can take your workflow to the next level.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to:

• Add quick-access links to Fava’s sidebar
• Use SQL queries for advanced filtering and analysis
• Customize your workflow for monthly reviews or anomaly detection

Why Customize Fava?​

Fava is already a beautiful interface for viewing your Beancount ledger, but as your journal grows, so does the need for better shortcuts and smarter queries.

Pain points this solves:​

• Navigating through time ranges repeatedly
• Filtering transactions across nested accounts
• Spotting negative balances or anomalies faster

✨ Custom Sidebar Links​

Let’s start with improving your daily workflow with simple sidebar shortcuts. These links appear in Fava’s left sidebar and can take you directly to filtered views like this month’s transactions or last month’s income.

Add these lines to your Beancount file:

2021-01-01 custom "fava-sidebar-link" "Current Month" "/jump?time=month"
2021-01-01 custom "fava-sidebar-link" "Last Month" "/jump?time=month-1"
2021-01-01 custom "fava-sidebar-link" "Clear All" "/jump?account=&time=&filter="

What They Do:​

• Current Month: Opens the transaction view filtered to the current month.
• Last Month: Instantly jumps to the previous month—great for end-of-month reviews.
• Clear All: Resets filters, showing all entries again.

These shortcuts eliminate manual time input and make your Fava experience feel more fluid and personalized.

🔍 Custom SQL Queries​

For deeper insight, Fava’s SQL interface is incredibly powerful. Here’s a query that finds all negative balances in accounts that match a pattern—perfect for flagging unusual or problematic transactions.

SELECT account, units(sum(position)), sum(position)
WHERE number(units(position)) < 0
  AND account ~ '.*:BCM:.*'
  AND date >= DATE(2021,12,9)
  AND date < DATE(2022,1,9)

Breakdown:​

• account ~ '.*:BCM:.*': Filters accounts containing :BCM: in their name.
• number(units(position)) < 0: Flags negative balances (e.g. overspent budgets).
• Date filters narrow the result to a specific 1-month window.

Use cases:​

• Spot errors like duplicate expenses or incorrect postings
• Audit a specific vendor or category
• Quickly extract actionable insights for budgeting

🛠 Pro Tip: Combine Links + Queries​

While Fava doesn’t allow direct links to custom queries, you can create a monthly review habit by:

• Using the “Current Month” link to start your review
• Opening your saved queries tab in another pane
• Reviewing both simultaneously—filter first, then dig deep

This combo helps you catch anomalies before they spiral and ensure your ledger stays clean.

Final Thoughts​

Beancount is minimal by design, but small enhancements like these bring huge gains in efficiency. Whether you’re reviewing your budget, debugging strange balances, or simply saving clicks, custom links and SQL queries give you more power and less friction.

Bonus: If you're using Fava’s custom reports, you can even build full dashboards tailored to your personal finance rituals.

Ready to take control?

Start small: add the “Current Month” link. Then build your own queries. Your future self will thank you.

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to our newsletter or explore more Beancount recipes at Beancount.io.

There is a plugin for beancount to forecast future recurring transactions. How to apply it in beancount.io? Put the following content into your ledger file.

; import the plugin
plugin "fava.plugins.forecast"

; add a monthly HOA fee
2022-05-30 # "HOA fee [MONTHLY]"
  Expenses:Hoa                                      1024.00 USD
  Assets:Checking                                  -1024.00 USD

And then, you will see the forecast in Net Profit chart.

The tag [MONTHLY] above means it will recur forever. If you have more conditions to apply, try [MONTHLY UNTIL 2022-06-01], [MONTHLY REPEAT 5 TIMES], [YEARLY REPEAT 5 TIMES], or [WEEKLY SKIP 1 TIME REPEAT 5 TIMES].

Amortization spreads out payments to many installments over time. In beancount.io, you can use the plugin fava.plugins.amortize_over to achieve so.

Without amortization, if you want to insure your car for 6 months with costs of $600. You have to record this as a one-time expense for a particular date.

2017-06-01 open Assets:Bank:Checking
2017-06-01 open Assets:Prepaid-Expenses
2017-06-01 open Expenses:Insurance:Auto


2017-06-01 * "Pay car insurance"
    Assets:Bank:Checking       -600.00 USD
    Assets:Prepaid-Expenses

However, with amortization, you could allocate the expense over six months by putting plugin "fava.plugins.amortize_over" to the top of the file and using amortize_months: 6 for the transaction

plugin "fava.plugins.amortize_over"

2020-06-01 open Assets:Bank:Checking
2020-06-01 open Assets:Prepaid-Expenses
2020-06-01 open Expenses:Insurance:Auto

2020-06-01 * "Amortize car insurance over six months"
    amortize_months: 6
    Assets:Prepaid-Expenses       -600.00 USD
    Expenses:Insurance:Auto

And then in Journal, you will see the transaction is split into 6 postings.

2020-11-01 * Amortize car insurance over six months (6/6) am
2020-10-01 * Amortize car insurance over six months (5/6) am
2020-09-01 * Amortize car insurance over six months (4/6) am
2020-08-01 * Amortize car insurance over six months (3/6) am
2020-07-01 * Amortize car insurance over six months (2/6) am
2020-06-01 * Amortize car insurance over six months (1/6) am

We're excited to announce a major milestone in Beancount's evolution: the launch of our dedicated mobile apps for both iOS and Android platforms! This release directly addresses one of the most frequent requests from our community – the ability to manage your ledger efficiently on mobile devices.

Key Features​

• Quick Transaction Entry: Seamlessly add new transactions on the go
• Mobile Financial Reports: Access your financial insights anywhere, anytime
• Direct Ledger Editing: Full access to your ledger file through an optimized web view
• Cross-Platform Sync: Keep your financial data consistent across all your devices

Community-Driven Development​

This release marks just the beginning of our mobile journey. We're committed to evolving these apps based on your needs and feedback. Join our vibrant community on Telegram at https://t.me/beancount to discuss Beancount, share your experience, and help shape future features.

Our Vision​

At Beancount, our mission is to empower everyone to achieve better financial control and understanding. These mobile apps represent a significant step toward that goal, with many more exciting features and tools on our roadmap.