2 posts tagged with "financial management"

In today's blog post, we will be breaking down a Beancount ledger for businesses, which will help you understand the intricacies of this plain text double-entry accounting system.

Let's start with the code first:

1970-01-01 open Assets:Bank:Mercury
1970-01-01 open Assets:Crypto

1970-01-01 open Equity:Bank:Chase

1970-01-01 open Income:Stripe
1970-01-01 open Income:Crypto:ETH

1970-01-01 open Expenses:COGS
1970-01-01 open Expenses:COGS:Contabo
1970-01-01 open Expenses:COGS:AmazonWebServices

1970-01-01 open Expenses:BusinessExpenses
1970-01-01 open Expenses:BusinessExpenses:ChatGPT

2023-05-14 * "CONTABO.COM" "Mercury Checking ••1234"
  Expenses:COGS:Contabo                               17.49 USD
  Assets:Bank:Mercury                                -17.49 USD

2023-05-11 * "Amazon Web Services" "Mercury Checking ••1234"
  Expenses:COGS:AmazonWebServices                  14490.33 USD
  Assets:Bank:Mercury                             -14490.33 USD

2023-03-01 * "STRIPE" "Mercury Checking ••1234"
  Income:Stripe                                   -21230.75 USD
  Assets:Bank:Mercury                              21230.75 USD

2023-05-18 * "customer_182734" "0x5190E84918FD67706A9DFDb337d5744dF4EE5f3f"
  Assets:Crypto                                         -19 ETH {1,856.20 USD}
  Income:Crypto:ETH                                      19 ETH @@ 35267.8 USD

Understanding the Code​

1. Opening Accounts: The code starts by opening a series of accounts on 1970-01-01. These include a mix of asset accounts (Assets:Bank:Mercury and Assets:Crypto), an equity account (Equity:Bank:Chase), income accounts (Income:Stripe and Income:Crypto:ETH), and expense accounts (Expenses:COGS, Expenses:COGS:AmazonWebServices, Expenses:BusinessExpenses, and Expenses:BusinessExpenses:ChatGPT).

2. Transactions: It then progresses to record a series of transactions between 2023-03-01 and 2023-05-18.

   • The transaction on 2023-05-14 represents a payment of $17.49 to CONTABO.COM from Mercury Checking ••1234. This is recorded as an expense (Expenses:COGS:Contabo) and a corresponding deduction from the Assets:Bank:Mercury account.

   • Similarly, the transaction on 2023-05-11 represents a payment of $14490.33 to Amazon Web Services from the same bank account. This is logged under Expenses:COGS:AmazonWebServices.

   • The transaction on 2023-03-01 shows income from STRIPE being deposited into Mercury Checking ••1234, totaling $21230.75. This is recorded as income (Income:Stripe) and an addition to the bank account (Assets:Bank:Mercury).

   • The last transaction on 2023-05-18 represents a crypto transaction involving 19 ETH from a customer. This is tracked under Assets:Crypto and Income:Crypto:ETH. The {1,856.20 USD} shows the price of ETH at the time of transaction, while the @@ 35267.8 USD specifies the total value of the 19 ETH transaction.

In all transactions, the principle of double-entry accounting is maintained, ensuring that the equation Assets = Liabilities + Equity always holds true.

Final Thoughts​

This Beancount ledger provides a straightforward yet robust system for tracking financial transactions. As seen in the final transaction, Beancount is flexible enough to account for non-traditional assets like cryptocurrency, which is a testament to its utility in our increasingly digital financial landscape.

We hope this breakdown helps you better understand the structure and capabilities of Beancount, whether you're a seasoned accountant or a beginner trying to keep track of your personal finances. Stay tuned for our next blog post, where we'll delve further into advanced Beancount operations.

Many of our customers have been asking us how to add multiple files to one ledger since February. They need the file structure to archive or categorize transactions. So, finally, after a couple of months of work, we are glad to announce the feature is released for free.

Here is how to use it:

File > create a new file​

Go to the file editor tab on the left navigation sidebar. And then, follow the "File" dropdown and click "Create a new file".

Name your new file​

Give your file a valid filename and save it. All filenames must be ended with ".bean".

Include the file​

Here is a crucial step, you have to include the newly-created file in main.bean.

For example, if you added stock.bean, then specify include "stock.bean" in main.bean.

Refresh and navigate to file​

Refresh the page, and you will see the file appears in the "File" dropdown.

Rename or delete the file​

When navigated to the file, you could rename or delete it in the "Edit" dropdown.

Having troubles?​

Ask questions in https://t.me/beancount.