If you track fixed assets in your accounting—laptops, cameras, machinery, or even office furniture—your books need to reflect their declining value. This involves two key concepts: depreciation (the expense) and its running total, accumulated depreciation. This guide explains both in plain language and then shows you exactly how to model them in Beancount with copy-pasteable examples, including powerful automation options.

What is accumulated depreciation?​

Accumulated depreciation is the total amount of depreciation that has been recorded against an asset since the day it was put into service. Think of it as a running tally. It’s not a new kind of expense—it's just the to-date sum of all past depreciation charges for that asset.

In financial statements, you’ll see accumulated depreciation paired with the asset’s original price. This allows anyone reading your books to see both the historical cost (what you paid for it) and the net book value (what it's currently worth on your books).

A crucial detail is that accumulated depreciation is a contra-asset account. This might sound complex, but it's a simple idea:

• It's an "asset" account, so it lives in the Assets section of your chart of accounts.
• However, it carries a credit balance (a negative value in Beancount's asset accounts), which reduces the value of the related fixed asset.

Where does it appear on the balance sheet?​

Accumulated depreciation typically appears on the balance sheet directly underneath the fixed asset it relates to. For example:

Many financial statements simplify this by showing a single line item like “Property, plant & equipment, net”. This single number represents the total historical cost of all assets minus their total accumulated depreciation, giving you the final net book value.

How do you calculate depreciation?​

There are several methods for calculating depreciation. The one you choose determines how much expense you record each period, which in turn adds to the accumulated depreciation total. Two common families of methods are:

• Straight-Line (SL): This is the simplest and most common method for bookkeeping purposes. You expense an equal amount of the asset's value in each period of its useful life. For example, a $3,000 laptop with a 36-month (3-year) useful life would be depreciated at$83.33 per month.
• Tax Methods (e.g., MACRS in the U.S.): For tax purposes, governments often define specific accelerated schedules. In the U.S., the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) allows you to take larger depreciation deductions in the earlier years of an asset's life. Beancount can easily handle these schedules—you just need to calculate the amounts according to the official tables (like those in IRS Publication 946) and generate the corresponding journal entries.

Formula (Straight-Line)

Periodic Depreciation = $\\frac{\\text{Cost} - \\text{Salvage Value}}{\\text{Useful Life}}$

Accumulated Depreciation (at date t) = $\\sum (\\text{Periodic Depreciation up to } t)$

Salvage value is the estimated residual value of an asset at the end of its useful life. For simplicity, it's often assumed to be zero.

The Beancount Way: Model Cost and Accumulated Depreciation​

To properly track fixed assets in Beancount while preserving their original cost, you’ll use a pair of asset accounts for each category, plus an expense account.

• Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost (to hold the historical cost)
• Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep (the contra-asset, which will be credited over time)
• Expenses:Depreciation:Computers (to record the periodic expense)

This structure mirrors standard accounting practice and is the recommended approach for managing fixed-asset depreciation in Beancount.

Option A: Manual Straight-Line Entries​

This is the most direct method. You control every entry, which is great for understanding the mechanics.

1. Open the necessary accounts

2025-01-01 open Assets:Bank:Checking
2025-01-01 open Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost
2025-01-01 open Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep
2025-01-01 open Expenses:Depreciation:Computers

2. Record the purchase (at historical cost)

When you buy the asset, you debit the Cost account.

2025-01-20 * "Purchase MacBook Pro"
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost      3000.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking               -3000.00 USD

3. Record monthly depreciation

Each month, you'll record the depreciation expense. For a $3,000 asset over 36 months, the monthly depreciation is$3000 \div 36 = $83.33$.

The transaction involves debiting the expense account and crediting the contra-asset account.

2025-02-28 * "Monthly depreciation - MacBook Pro (SL 36mo)"
  Expenses:Depreciation:Computers           83.33 USD
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep      -83.33 USD  ; This is the credit to the contra-asset

You would repeat this entry every month for 36 months. The balance in Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep will grow more negative over time, reducing the asset's net book value.

Quick Check: You can easily check the net book value in Fava's Balance Sheet or by running a quick query:

bean-query myledger.bean "SELECT account, SUM(position) WHERE account ~ 'Assets:Equipment:Computers:(Cost|AccumDep)' GROUP BY account"

The sum of the balances of these two accounts is your net book value.

Option B: Automate with Fava’s amortize Plugin​

If you use Fava (the popular web interface for Beancount) and your depreciation is a fixed amount each month, you can automate it.

First, enable the plugin at the top of your Beancount file:

plugin "fava.plugins.amortize_over"

Next, create a single transaction that defines the entire depreciation schedule.

; 1. Record the initial purchase as usual
2025-01-20 * "Purchase MacBook Pro"
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost      3000.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking               -3000.00 USD

; 2. Set up the depreciation schedule
2025-01-20 * "Depreciation schedule - MacBook Pro"
  amortize_months: 36
  Expenses:Depreciation:Computers       3000.00 USD
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep  -3000.00 USD

The plugin will see this transaction and automatically generate virtual postings for $83.33 each month for 36 months. These entries don't get written to your .bean file but appear in all reports. This is perfect for straight-line depreciation but won't work for irregular schedules like MACRS.

Option C: Generate Periodic Entries with a Third-Party Plugin​

If you prefer to have real, non-virtual transactions written into your files but still want automation, a periodic entry generator is a great choice. One of the most popular is beancount-periodic by Dallas Lu. This plugin can be configured to create dated postings on your behalf, giving you the control of manual entries with the convenience of automation.

Viewing Results: Cost, Accumulated Depreciation, and Net Book Value​

No matter which method you choose, your Balance Sheet will show both the Cost and AccumDep accounts under your Assets. The sum of these two is your net book value. This presentation—showing the gross cost less the accumulated depreciation—is exactly what accountants and financial analysts expect to see. It provides full transparency into the age and value of your assets.

Disposing of an Asset (Sell, Scrap, or Retire)​

When an asset reaches the end of its life, you either sell it, scrap it, or retire it. To remove it from your books, you must:

1. Remove its historical cost.
2. Remove its associated accumulated depreciation.
3. Record any cash received.
4. Record any resulting gain or loss (the difference between cash received and the net book value).

Example: Selling an Asset for a Gain

Let's say you sell the MacBook Pro on June 15, 2027.

• Original Cost: $3,000
• Accumulated Depreciation at time of sale: -$2,500
• Net Book Value: $3,000 -$2,500 = $500
• You sell it for: $800
• Gain on Sale: $800 (proceeds) -$500 (net book value) = $300

Here is the Beancount transaction to record the disposal:

2027-06-15 * "Sell MacBook Pro"
  Assets:Bank:Checking                     800.00 USD  ; Cash received
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep     2500.00 USD  ; Debit to zero out the contra-asset
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost        -3000.00 USD  ; Credit to remove the original cost
  Income:Gains:AssetDisposals             -300.00 USD  ; Credit to record the gain

If the proceeds had been only $400 (a loss of$100), you would post the difference to an Expenses:Losses:AssetDisposals account with a positive amount (a debit).

FAQ (Fast)​

• Is accumulated depreciation an asset or a liability? Neither. It’s a contra-asset. It's located in the assets section of your balance sheet but has a credit balance, which reduces the total asset value.

• Do I ever post directly to the Cost account after purchase? Generally, no. The purpose of the contra-asset account is to preserve the original historical cost. All reductions in value due to depreciation should be posted to ...:AccumDep.

• Can I use Beancount for MACRS (tax) schedules? Yes. You'll need to calculate the depreciation amounts for each period using the tables in IRS Publication 946. Then, you can record those amounts using manual entries or a periodic plugin. The Fava amortize plugin is not suitable for this, as MACRS amounts are not equal each month.

• What about Section 179 expensing? Section 179 allows you to expense the full cost of qualifying property in the year you place it in service, instead of depreciating it over time. This is an election you make for tax purposes. In Beancount, this would simply be a debit to an expense account instead of a fixed asset account at the time of purchase.

Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)​

• Posting depreciation directly against the Cost account.
  • Fix: Always credit the ...:AccumDep contra-asset account. This preserves the historical cost, which is important for financial reporting.
• Forgetting to remove Accumulated Depreciation on disposal.
  • Fix: When you sell or scrap an asset, your journal entry must include a debit to ...:AccumDep to clear its balance for that asset.
• Mixing up bookkeeping and tax depreciation schedules.
  • Fix: Your internal management books often use straight-line for simplicity, while your tax filings may require MACRS. Keep these purposes separate and document your policy.
• Expecting the Fava amortize plugin to handle non-equal schedules.
  • Fix: Remember that this plugin is designed only for equal monthly splits. For any other pattern, use manual postings or a more flexible periodic plugin.

Copy-Paste Template​

Here is a complete template you can adapt for your own ledger.

option "title" "My Business Ledger"
plugin "fava.plugins.amortize_over"  ; Remove if not using Fava automation

; --- Accounts ---
2025-01-01 open Assets:Bank:Checking
2025-01-01 open Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost
2025-01-01 open Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep
2025-01-01 open Expenses:Depreciation:Computers
2025-01-01 open Income:Gains:AssetDisposals
2025-01-01 open Expenses:Losses:AssetDisposals

; --- Purchase at historical cost ---
2025-01-20 * "Purchase MacBook Pro"
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost      3000.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking               -3000.00 USD

; --- Choose ONE depreciation approach ---

; (A) Manual monthly posting
2025-02-28 * "Monthly depreciation - MacBook Pro (SL 36mo)"
  Expenses:Depreciation:Computers           83.33 USD
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep      -83.33 USD

; (B) Fava automation (for 36 equal monthly splits)
2025-01-20 * "Depreciation schedule - MacBook Pro"
  amortize_months: 36
  Expenses:Depreciation:Computers       3000.00 USD
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep  -3000.00 USD

; --- Sale example (edit numbers for your actual sale) ---
2027-06-15 * "Sell MacBook Pro"
  Assets:Bank:Checking                     800.00 USD
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:AccumDep     2500.00 USD
  Assets:Equipment:Computers:Cost        -3000.00 USD
  Income:Gains:AssetDisposals             -300.00 USD

TL;DR​

• Keep asset Cost and AccumDep in separate accounts to preserve historical cost.
• Record depreciation with a debit to Expenses:Depreciation:... and a credit to Assets:...:AccumDep.
• Automate equal monthly depreciation with the Fava amortize plugin or generate dated entries with a periodic plugin.
• When disposing of an asset, you must remove both its Cost and its AccumDep from the books and record the resulting gain or loss.

Sources & Further Reading​

• Beancount.io "Amortization" Guide (Contra-asset approach, Fava plugin, examples).
• Investopedia on Depreciation vs. Accumulated Depreciation (Credit balance rationale).
• IRS Publication 946 (Official rules for MACRS and U.S. tax depreciation).
• beancount-periodic Plugin (Tool for generating periodic transactions).

Accounts payable (AP) is the money your business owes to its suppliers for goods or services you’ve already received but haven't paid for yet. In the world of accounting, AP is classified as a current liability on your balance sheet—an amount typically due within the next year, and often within 30 to 60 days.

This concept is central to accrual accounting, where you record the expense and the corresponding liability the moment a bill arrives, not when you actually send the cash. This guide will show you how to manage the entire AP workflow cleanly and efficiently using the plain-text accounting tool, Beancount.

Quick Summary​

Before we dive into the details, let's cover the essentials:

• Accounts Payable (AP) represents your short-term debts to vendors. You'll find it under the Liabilities section of your balance sheet.
• Accrual vs. Cash: AP is a concept that exists only if you keep your books on an accrual basis. Beancount fully supports accrual workflows, and its web interface, Fava, will display your liabilities correctly.
• AP vs. AR: It's simple: Payables are what you owe, while Receivables (AR) are what others owe you.

Where AP Lives in Beancount (and Fava)​

To start tracking AP, you first need to declare an account for it in your ledger. A standard convention is:

Liabilities:AccountsPayable

You can optionally create subaccounts for major vendors (e.g., Liabilities:AccountsPayable:ForestPaintSupply).

In Fava, this account will appear on your Balance Sheet under Liabilities. You can click on it to drill down and see a list of all open and paid items, giving you a clear view of your obligations. You can even see this in action in Fava's public example ledger, which includes a Liabilities:AccountsPayable account.

Beancount Building Blocks You’ll Use​

A robust AP workflow in Beancount relies on a few core features:

1. Accounts: You'll primarily use your Liabilities:AccountsPayable account, a cash account like Assets:Bank:Checking, and your various expense accounts (e.g., Expenses:Supplies).
2. Metadata: You can attach key-value data to any transaction. For AP, you'll use metadata like invoice:, due:, terms:, and document:. Fava even recognizes the document: key and will automatically create a clickable link to the attached file if you configure a documents folder.
3. Tags & Links: Use #tags (like #ap) for easy filtering and ^links (like ^INV-10455) to programmatically tie a bill and its subsequent payment together. This creates a clear, auditable trail.
4. Queries (BQL): Beancount's SQL-like query language (BQL) allows you to run powerful reports, like listing all open payables sorted by due date, directly from the command line with bean-query or on Fava's "Query" page.

Core AP Workflow in Beancount​

Managing AP in your ledger involves two or three key steps: recording the bill, paying it, and sometimes handling partial payments or discounts.

1) Record the Vendor Bill (This Creates the Liability)​

First, you book the expense and create the payable when the invoice arrives.

; Optionally set your documents folder in your main Beancount file:
option "documents" "documents"

2025-08-05 * "Forest Paint Supply" "Paint order INV-10455" ^INV-10455 #ap
  invoice: "INV-10455"
  due: "2025-09-04"
  terms: "2/10, n/30"
  document: "invoices/2025-08-05-forest-paint-INV-10455.pdf"
  Expenses:Supplies:Paint         500.00 USD
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable    -500.00 USD

This single entry accomplishes two critical things:

1. It immediately recognizes the $500 expense in the correct period (August).
2. It creates a corresponding $500 liability, showing that you owe money to Forest Paint Supply.

The ^INV-10455 link is a unique identifier that lets you attach the same link to the payment later, keeping the bill and payment transactions logically connected.

2) Pay the Bill (This Clears the Liability)​

When you pay the invoice, you create a transaction that moves money from your bank account to clear the liability.

a) Standard Payment (No Discount):

2025-09-01 * "Forest Paint Supply" "Payment INV-10455" ^INV-10455
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable     500.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking           -500.00 USD

This entry reduces your AP balance by $500 and your checking account balance by the same amount. The liability is now cleared.

b) Early-Payment Discount (e.g., "2/10, n/30"):

If the terms are "2/10, n/30", you can take a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days. For our $500 invoice, that's a$10 discount. Here are two acceptable ways to record it—just pick one method and be consistent.

; Option 1: Record the discount as other income (a contra-expense effect)
2025-08-12 * "Forest Paint Supply" "Early payment discount INV-10455" ^INV-10455
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable     500.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking           -490.00 USD
  Income:Discounts:Payables       -10.00 USD

; Option 2: Reduce the original expense directly
2025-08-12 * "Forest Paint Supply" "Early payment discount INV-10455" ^INV-10455
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable     500.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking           -490.00 USD
  Expenses:Supplies:Paint         -10.00 USD

In both cases, you clear the full $500 liability, reduce your bank balance by the$490 you actually paid, and account for the $10 benefit.

3) Handling Partial Payments​

Beancount's linking feature makes tracking partial payments simple and clean.

; Invoice for $1,200
2025-08-10 * "Acme Parts" "INV-9001" ^INV-9001
  invoice: "INV-9001"
  due: "2025-09-09"
  Expenses:Parts                 1200.00 USD
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable   -1200.00 USD

; First payment of $400
2025-08-20 * "Acme Parts" "Payment INV-9001 (1/3)" ^INV-9001
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable     400.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking           -400.00 USD

; Final payment of $800
2025-09-05 * "Acme Parts" "Payment INV-9001 (final)" ^INV-9001
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable     800.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking           -800.00 USD

By using the ^INV-9001 link on all three transactions, you can easily filter your journal to see the complete history of this specific bill and its associated payments.

Helpful Queries (BQL)​

You can run these queries in Fava’s “Query” tab or from the command line with bean-query.

Tip: The any_meta() function is incredibly useful for pulling metadata fields like invoice: and document: into your query results.

Open AP by Vendor (Balance View):

This query sums up the current outstanding balance you owe to each supplier.

SELECT payee, COST(SUM(position)) AS amount
WHERE account ~ "^Liabilities:AccountsPayable"
GROUP BY payee
ORDER BY payee;

Open AP by Invoice + Due Date:

Get a tidy list of every open bill, sorted by its due date, to help you prioritize payments.

SELECT payee,
       any_meta('invoice') AS invoice,
       any_meta('due')     AS due,
       COST(SUM(position)) AS amount
WHERE account ~ "^Liabilities:AccountsPayable"
GROUP BY payee, invoice, due
ORDER BY due, payee;

List Bills with Attached PDFs:

This query finds all your bills and shows the path to the linked document.

SELECT date, payee, any_meta('invoice') AS invoice, any_meta('document') AS file
WHERE account ~ "^Liabilities:AccountsPayable"
ORDER BY date DESC;

Where to See AP in Fava​

• Balance Sheet: Navigate to Balance Sheet → Liabilities → AccountsPayable to see the total balance and drill down into the transaction details.
• Journal: Filter the journal by account:Liabilities:AccountsPayable or a specific link like ^INV-xxxx to see a bill's complete lifecycle.
• Documents Sidebar: If you use the document: metadata and set the option "documents" directive, you'll see a list of linked documents in the sidebar.

AP Aging, Turnover, and Cash-Flow Awareness​

• Aging Schedule: This report groups your open invoices by how long they’ve been outstanding (e.g., 1–30 days, 31–60 days, 60+ days). In Beancount, the most practical approach is to run the "Open AP by Invoice + Due Date" query above, export the results as a CSV, and bucket them in a spreadsheet or a small Python script.
• AP Turnover Ratio: This is a quick health check on how fast you pay your vendors. The formula is Total Supplier Purchases ÷ Average AP. A related metric, Days Payable Outstanding (DPO), is roughly 365 ÷ Turnover Ratio.
• If You Can’t Pay on Time: AP is meant for short-term debt. If a vendor agrees to formal, longer-term repayment, you should reclassify the debt out of AP and into a note payable.

2025-10-01 * "Helix Industries" "Convert overdue AP to 12-month note" ^INV-1110
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable    2000.00 USD
  Liabilities:NotesPayable      -2000.00 USD

Best Practices for AP in a Plain-Text Ledger​

• Go Paperless: Store invoice PDFs in your documents folder and link them with the document: metadata key.
• Use Links Consistently: Put the unique invoice number in a ^link on both the bill and all associated payment entries.
• Keep Metadata Tidy: Consistently using invoice:, due:, and terms: improves search, queries, and financial reviews.
• Accrual All the Way: If you want useful AP reporting, commit to keeping your books on an accrual basis. Beancount and Fava handle this beautifully.

Copy-Paste Starter: Vendor Bill + Payment​

; ---- Bill ----
2025-08-05 * "Forest Paint Supply" "Paint order INV-10455" ^INV-10455 #ap
  invoice: "INV-10455"
  due: "2025-09-04"
  document: "invoices/2025-08-05-forest-paint-INV-10455.pdf"
  Expenses:Supplies:Paint         500.00 USD
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable    -500.00 USD

; ---- Payment (no discount) ----
2025-09-01 * "Forest Paint Supply" "Payment INV-10455" ^INV-10455
  Liabilities:AccountsPayable     500.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking           -500.00 USD

This guide is for educational purposes and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice.

References & Further Reading:​

• Beancount documentation on core account types, tags/links, and its query language
• Fava/Beancount notes on accrual accounting and linking documents
• Using any_meta() for querying metadata fields

If your ledger lives in plain text, you already value clarity, control, and reproducibility. Outsourcing your accounting doesn’t have to compromise any of that. On the contrary, when done right, it transforms your Beancount setup into a reliable, documented workflow run by specialists—while you retain full ownership of the data, the repository, and the rules.

This is a practical guide for Beancount users on what to outsource, what to keep in-house, how to structure deliverables, and how to evaluate providers. It’s about delegating the mechanical work without ever giving up control.

Who This Is For​

This guide is for you if you fit one of these profiles:

• Solo founders, indie hackers, and consultants who use Beancount and want to reclaim time spent on the mechanical parts of accounting to focus on building your product or serving clients.
• Finance-savvy engineers who demand tight controls, versioned history, and full auditability but don't want to spend their weekends importing bank statements and reconciling accounts themselves.
• Organizations migrating from an all-in-one vendor who are now prioritizing data custody and reproducibility. Recent, abrupt shutdowns of accounting platforms like Bench have underscored a critical lesson: exit plans and open formats are not optional. (TechCrunch, KSV Advisory Report)

Beancount, Briefly​

For the uninitiated, the Beancount ecosystem is built on a few core components that make it powerful for this kind of workflow:

• Beancount: At its heart, it's a double-entry accounting language specified in plain text. You write human-readable ledger files, commit them to a Git repository, and use a compiler to validate them and generate financial reports. (GitHub)
• Fava: This is the elegant web interface for Beancount. Fava reads your ledger file and gives you interactive balance sheets, income statements, trends, filters, and a powerful SQL-like query language to inspect your data. (Fava Demo)
• beangulp: The modern framework for automating data ingestion. Evolved from Beancount's original importer, beangulp provides the tools to write robust importers that can parse CSV, OFX, QFX, and even PDF statements, turning raw bank data into structured Beancount entries. (GitHub)

A successful outsourcing relationship should preserve and enhance these strengths: version control, a human-readable history, strict validation, and the composability of your tools.

What to Outsource vs. What to Keep​

The key to effective delegation is a clear division of labor. Here’s how to draw the line between tactical execution and strategic ownership.

Great Candidates to Outsource​

These tasks are typically repetitive, rule-based, and time-consuming—perfect for a specialist.

• Statement Collection & Importing: Downloading monthly statements, normalizing various file formats (CSV, OFX, PDF), and running your beangulp importers. This includes maintaining the importer rules as financial institutions inevitably change their statement formats.
• Categorization Assistance: Building heuristics and declarative rules to categorize transactions. They can optionally use tools like smart_importer to predict postings based on historical data, but the final review always remains with a human.
• Reconciliation & Integrity Checks: The meticulous work of posting balance assertions to match your statements, investigating discrepancies, and ensuring the ledger remains error-free.
• Attachments & Document Hygiene: Fetching invoices and receipts, linking them to transactions with metadata, and archiving the source documents in a tidy, reproducible directory tree.
• Month-End Close & Reporting: Preparing the standard suite of reports (P&L, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows) and providing Fava views or exports for your management updates.
• AR/AP Ops & Payroll Prep: Preparing bills for payment, generating invoices, chasing collections, and staging payroll files for your final review and approval.
• Tax Package Prep: At the end of the year, producing a clean trial balance, supporting schedules, and all the necessary files for your CPA or tax advisor.

Keep In-House (You Own the Intent and Risk)​

These responsibilities are strategic and define the financial backbone of your business. They belong to you.

• Chart of Accounts Design: The structure and naming conventions of your accounts reflect how you think about your business. This is your financial map.
• Core Accounting Policies: Decisions on entity structure, revenue recognition, and capitalization policies have long-term financial and legal implications.
• Final Approvals: You must retain the final say on all cash movements, including payments, payroll runs, and significant journal entries.
• Strategic Finance: Forecasting, budgeting, and defining what "good" looks like for your business are fundamental owner responsibilities.

The Beancount-Native Outsourcing Workflow​

Here’s what a structured, Git-based collaboration looks like in practice.

1) Repository Layout (Example)​

Your repository is the single source of truth. A well-organized structure makes the process transparent and maintainable.

/ledger
  main.beancount        # Main ledger file, includes others
  accounts/             # Chart of Accounts definition
  includes/             # Monthly or yearly transaction files
  prices/               # Price directives for commodities/stocks
  metadata/             # Custom metadata declarations
  plugins/              # Custom Beancount plugins
  documents/            # Bank statements, receipts, invoices
/importers              # beangulp importers + rules
  config.yaml
  bank_x.py
  card_y.py
/scripts
  import.sh             # Orchestration script for importers
  close_month.py        # Month-end validation and reporting script
/reports
  monthly/
  year_end/
/ops
  runbook.md            # How to run the system
  checklist.md          # Procedural checklists (e.g., month-end)
  controls.md           # Documentation of financial controls

2) The Weekly Cycle​

Routine work should follow a predictable rhythm, culminating in a clear deliverable for your review.

1. Ingest: Your provider pulls statements and runs the beangulp importers to stage new transactions.
2. Categorize: They apply categorization rules and, if used, smart_importer suggestions. This is followed by a human review to correct any ambiguities.
3. Reconcile: They add balance assertions to match statement totals and investigate any differences. The use of pad directives should be rare and always require a clear explanation.
4. Document: Relevant documents (receipts, invoices) are attached to transactions.
5. Commit & Propose: The changes are committed with descriptive messages and a pull request is opened for your review, allowing you to see the exact diff of what changed in your books.

3) The Month-End Close (Minimum Viable)​

Closing the books is a critical checkpoint to ensure accuracy and produce reliable reports.

• Update price directives for any foreign currency or market-based securities.
• Review outstanding items: accounts receivable, accounts payable, accruals, prepaid expenses, and loans.
• Validate that all balance assertions pass and there are no other failing checks.
• Tag the commit with the closing period (e.g., 2025-08-close) and export the standard reports.
• Publish a Fava snapshot or provide a secure URL for the period.

4) The Year-End Package​

The culmination of the year's work is a tidy, auditable package for your tax preparer. This includes a final trial balance, supporting schedules for key accounts (like fixed assets or inventory), and a reproducible script to regenerate every artifact directly from the Git repository.

Security & Access (Non-Negotiables)​

A professional workflow prioritizes security and your ownership of the data.

• Data Custody First: You own the private Git repository. Your provider should work from a fork and submit pull requests. They should never host the only copy of your ledger.
• Bank Access: Provide read-only access whenever possible. If you must use an aggregator service, create isolated credentials and have a clear process for revoking them.
• Secrets & Encryption: Use tools like GPG or age to encrypt sensitive documents at rest. Enforce multi-factor authentication on all services. Operate on the principle of least privilege.
• Fava Access: You should self-host Fava or run it locally (fava ledger.beancount) and share access for review sessions via a secure tunnel or VPN. Avoid exposing it directly to the public internet.
• Exit Plan: Insist on a "pull the cord" playbook. This should include escrow or guaranteed handoff of all scripts, configurations, and documentation. As recent events show, vendors can disappear overnight; your financial records must not be stranded with them.

What “Good” Deliverables Look Like (Every Month)​

At the end of each month, you should receive two things: a technical artifact and a business summary.

1. A Clean Pull Request Containing:

• All imported and reviewed transactions for the period.
• A diff of any new or modified importer rules.
• Commit messages that summarize key assumptions or manual adjustments.
• A 100% green status on all balance assertions, with a log showing each account has been reconciled.
• Links in the Beancount file to all attached documents, plus a report of any missing documents.
• Updated price directives for investments or foreign currencies.

2. A Management Pack Containing:

• Standard reports: P&L, Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flows.
• Key metrics like cash runway and budget vs. actual variance highlights.
• Direct links to pre-filtered Fava views for deeper, interactive analysis.

Provider Types (And When They Fit)​

Not all providers are the same. Match the provider to your stage and complexity.

• Beancount-Savvy Bookkeeper: Perfect for handling the core workflow: steady importing, categorization, reconciliations, and preparing month-end report packs.
• Boutique Accounting Firm: A good fit if you need additional services like managing AR/AP, payroll coordination, multi-entity consolidation, or tax preparation support.
• Fractional Controller/CFO: The right choice when you need strategic oversight. They help design accounting policies, build financial forecasts, prepare board-ready reporting, and design internal controls.

Engagements are typically structured with a monthly retainer for routine work and an hourly rate for ad-hoc projects.

Interview Questions for Beancount Outsourcing​

When vetting a potential provider, ask specific, technical questions to gauge their expertise.

• Which beangulp importers have you personally built or maintained? Can you show me anonymized examples?
• Will you deliver reproducible scripts and a runbook, or just the final output files?
• How do you enforce data integrity in your process? (Look for answers involving balance assertions, review checklists, and maybe even CI/CD linting).
• Do you use smart_importer? If so, what is your process for reviewing and overriding its predictions?
• How do you propose we structure the Git workflow (e.g., branching strategy, PR templates, commit message conventions)?
• What is your exit plan? What does the data handback process look like to ensure there is zero lock-in?
• How do you run Fava in a secure way for client review sessions?

A Simple Statement of Work (SoW) You Can Copy-Paste​

Use this as a starting point for your engagement agreement.

Scope of Work

- Weekly transaction imports via beangulp; includes rules maintenance for all connected financial institutions.
- Human-reviewed transaction categorization. Use of smart_importer for suggestions is permitted, but entries will not be auto-committed without review.
- Weekly reconciliations against statements, enforced with `balance` assertions. Variance notes will be provided for any unreconciled differences greater than $X.
- Document collection for all significant transactions; attachment hygiene and a monthly missing-documents report.
- Month-end close process, including price updates, accruals checklist, and delivery of Fava report links.
- Year-end package preparation, including a trial balance and supporting schedules for CPA review.

Deliverables

- A monthly pull request tagged "<YYYY-MM>-close" with all checks passing.
- Updates to the `/ops` folder, including diffs for `runbook.md` and `controls.md`.
- Final reports archived in `/reports/monthly` with a summary changelog.

Access & Security

- All work will be performed in the client-owned private Git repository. Vendor access is granted via a dedicated user, and all changes will be submitted via pull requests.
- Credentials will be scoped to read-only access where possible. Multi-factor authentication is required on all shared services.
- Sensitive documents will be stored using client-provided encryption keys and will be purged from vendor systems upon termination.

SLA & Cadence

- A weekly PR with reconciled transactions will be submitted every <Day of Week>.
- The month-end closing PR will be submitted by business day <N> of the following month.
- Standard response time for inquiries is <X> business hours; critical issue response is <Y> hours.

Exit Clause

- Upon termination, the vendor will hand back the complete repository, all scripts, documentation, and a map of all credentials used within <Z> business days. A 2-hour turnover call is included.

Tips That Save Hours (And Future Pain)​

• Name accounts for reconciliation. Structure your account names to include the institution and the last four digits of the account number (e.g., Assets:Bank:Chase:Checking:1234). This makes debugging trivial.
• Assert balances at statement boundaries. Treat each bank statement as a verifiable checkpoint. A balance directive at the end of each statement period ensures errors are caught early and contained.
• Automate price updates. Use Beancount's tools to fetch market prices automatically and record them with price directives. This is essential for accurate investment and foreign exchange reporting.
• Keep rules declarative. Favor writing small, testable beangulp importers over building complex, ad-hoc scripts. Declarative rules are easier to maintain and debug.
• Review with Fava, approve in Git. Use Fava's powerful interface to explore the changes and understand their impact. But the final approval happens by reviewing the diff in a Git pull request. Never let your books become a "black box."

Frequently Used Tools in This Stack​

• Beancount: Core engine and language documentation. (Docs)
• beangulp: The standard for building importers. (GitHub)
• smart_importer: Machine learning-aided predictions for categorization. (GitHub)
• Fava: The indispensable web interface for visualizing your ledger. (Website)

The Bottom Line​

Outsourcing for Beancount users isn’t about “giving up control.” It is the opposite. It’s about codifying your financial processes so that a specialist can execute them reliably on your behalf. You keep the repository, the scripts, the assertions, and the fundamental ability to regenerate any report from scratch. You delegate the work, not the ownership.

Whether you’re running a side hustle from your laptop or scaling a fast-growing startup, you have a few reliable paths to keeping clean, accurate books. But which one is right for you? The best solution depends on your budget, your technical comfort, and how much control you want over your financial data.

Here’s a clear-eyed guide to the seven most common accounting options—what they’re good at, where they struggle, and when a modern solution like Beancount.io is the perfect fit.

1) Excel​

This is often the first stop on the accounting journey for its sheer simplicity and universal availability.

• Good for: Builders and DIY founders who love total control and already know their way around a spreadsheet.
• Pros: The barrier to entry is practically zero, and thousands of free templates are available online. Its flexibility allows you to build custom financial models and track unique workflows that off-the-shelf software can't handle.
• Cons: The biggest drawback is the immense manual workload. Every transaction must be entered and reconciled by hand, which is a massive time sink. Worse, it’s dangerously easy to introduce silent formula errors or typos with no guardrails to catch them. Collaboration and maintaining a clear audit trail are clunky without rigorous discipline.
• Best if… you want a quick, no-frills start for a very simple business and you are exceptionally meticulous.

2) Google Sheets​

The cloud-native cousin of Excel, Google Sheets offers the same core functionality with a collaborative twist.

• Good for: Teams that need simple, shared spreadsheets for tracking income and expenses.
• Pros: Built-in cloud backups and dead-simple sharing are the main advantages. You can work from any device with a web browser, making it accessible for teams on the go.
• Cons: It suffers from the same fundamental flaws as Excel: a heavy manual workload and a high risk of user error. You may also run into compatibility quirks with certain templates and add-ons designed for the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Best if… your team already runs on Google Workspace and you’re willing to accept the trade-offs of a manual system.

3) QuickBooks Online​

For decades, QuickBooks has been the default choice for small businesses looking for dedicated accounting software.

• Good for: Small businesses that want a "classic" SMB software experience with a large ecosystem of integrations.
• Pros: Its signature feature is bank feeds, which automatically pull in transactions from your bank and credit card accounts, drastically reducing manual data entry. It provides a wide range of financial reports out of the box and is supported by a massive community of accountants and app developers.
• Cons: While transactions are imported automatically, the system still requires your weekly attention to categorize expenses and reconcile accounts correctly. The interface can have a steep learning curve, and the cost can grow with add-on features. Most importantly, it creates vendor lock-in, making it difficult to export your financial history if you ever decide to leave.
• Notes & Sources: As QuickBooks promotes, automated bank feeds are a core feature, but you’ll still be responsible for the review and categorization needed to keep your books accurate.

4) Xero​

A popular, modern alternative to QuickBooks, Xero offers similar capabilities with a focus on clean design and user experience.

• Good for: Business owners who prefer a more modern UI but need the same core capabilities as QuickBooks Online.
• Pros: Xero also has robust bank feeds and powerful reconciliation tools that make matching transactions straightforward. Its clean design is often praised by users, and a large number of accountants are fluent in the platform.
• Cons: The lower-priced tiers can have feature gaps (like limits on invoices or bills) that push you toward more expensive plans, and add-ons increase the total cost. And just like QBO, it faces the same "you still do the work" reality when it comes to the final categorization and review.
• Notes & Sources: According to Xero, its automated bank feeds connect to thousands of financial institutions worldwide to power its core reconciliation workflows.

5) Accountants (CPAs)​

Certified Public Accountants are highly trained financial experts who provide strategic advice, tax planning, and compliance services.

• Good for: Tax strategy, navigating complex financial situations, handling audits, and getting one-off advisory.
• Pros: A good CPA provides expert guidance on critical decisions like entity structure, tax optimization, and complex accounting treatments. Their oversight significantly reduces your risk on high-stakes financial matters.
• Cons: Hiring a CPA firm for day-to-day bookkeeping is prohibitively expensive for most small businesses. To be effective, they still need you to provide timely, organized financial records.
• What’s the difference from bookkeepers? In short, bookkeepers record and organize historical transactions, while accountants and CPAs interpret, report, and advise based on that data. (Investopedia, Intuit)

6) Traditional Bookkeepers​

A bookkeeper is a professional responsible for the weekly or monthly task of recording and reconciling your financial transactions.

• Good for: Business owners who want a dedicated person handling the weekly grind of bookkeeping.
• Pros: Human oversight greatly reduces common categorization errors that software alone can miss. At the end of each month, they produce a clean set of financial statements for you to review.
• Cons: This option is costlier than DIY software, with monthly retainers often starting in the hundreds of dollars. The turnaround time for reports and answers depends on your bookkeeper's availability and process.
• Reality Check: For many small businesses, the combination of a great bookkeeper for weekly tasks and periodic CPA support for tax and strategy is a durable and effective combo. (Pioneer Accounting Group)

7) Beancount.io (Plain-Text Accounting, Supercharged)​

This modern approach combines the control of spreadsheets with the automation of software and the precision of double-entry accounting.

• Good for: Developers, finance pros, and detail-oriented founders who demand precision, transparency, and automation without black boxes.
• What it is: Beancount.io is a platform built on the open-source Beancount methodology. Your entire financial ledger lives as human-readable plain text, which the platform transforms into real-time analysis, hosted Fava dashboards, and AI-assisted workflows.
• Why teams choose it:
  • Scriptable & Auditable: Version-control your books with Git. Every single change is reviewable in a diff, just like code.
  • Hosted Fava UI: Instantly generate income statements, balance sheets, and interactive charts directly from your text-based ledger. No manual report building.
  • AI Assistance: Speed up transaction categorization and anomaly detection while keeping humans in the loop for final approval.
  • True Portability: Your core data is a simple text file. You can export it anytime. There is zero vendor lock-in.
• Tradeoffs: There is a learning curve if you’ve never used double-entry accounting in a plain-text format. It's best suited for those who value absolute accuracy and control over the illusion of "push-button" convenience.

Prefer pure open source and self-hosting?​

You can always run the Beancount open-source engine on your own machine and use Fava as the web UI. It’s incredibly powerful and free, but you will be responsible for managing the setup, backups, and data integrations yourself. Beancount.io handles all of that for you.

Quick Comparison (At a Glance)​

How to Choose​

• Want maximum control, auditability, and developer-grade workflows? Choose Beancount.io. You get hosted Fava dashboards, AI assistance, and the freedom of plain-text portability.
• Want someone to “just handle it”? Hire a bookkeeper and keep a CPA on call for taxes and strategic questions.
• Comfortable in traditional SMB software ecosystems? QuickBooks or Xero are fine choices—just be sure to budget time each week to review and reconcile your transactions.
• Just testing the waters on a tight budget? Spreadsheets can work for a short time. Treat them as a stepping stone to a real system, not the final destination.

Why Plain-Text Accounting is Having a Moment​

Plain-text accounting (PTA) tools like Beancount are gaining traction because they emphasize reproducibility, version control, and transparency. These are values that resonate deeply with engineers, data scientists, and finance pros. If you believe your company's books should be as clear and reviewable as your code, you’re in the right place. (plaintextaccounting.org)

Ready to see your ledger come alive?​

Spin up a free Beancount.io workspace, import a small sample of last month’s transactions, and open the hosted Fava dashboard. You'll see your income statement and balance sheet appear instantly—then you can refine your categories with AI assistance.

几十年来，商业会计领域一直由 QuickBooks、Xero 和 FreshBooks 等一系列常见的封闭式、基于 GUI 的系统主导。它们设定了标准，提供易于使用的可视化工作流程，以满足非技术用户的需求。但对于开发人员、高级用户以及任何重视绝对透明度和控制力的人来说，一种截然不同的方法已经出现：Beancount.io。

本文将 Beancount.io 与传统会计软件进行了直接比较。我们将详细分析它们在理念、灵活性、成本和长期可维护性方面的核心差异，以帮助你确定哪个系统真正符合你的需求。

1. 理念和工作流程​

这两种方法最根本的区别在于其核心理念。

Beancount.io Beancount.io 建立在纯文本会计的理念之上。其核心是，每一笔财务交易都是一个简单文本文件中的条目。这种“会计即代码”的模型优先考虑人类可读、版本可控的记录。你的财务数据以一种永恒的、开放的格式存在，你完全拥有它——它永远不会被供应商锁定。此工作流程专为熟悉代码编辑器、Git 等版本控制系统和命令行工具的用户而设计。

传统软件 传统的会计平台是基于 GUI 和表单驱动的。你可以使用向导、下拉菜单和可视化表单输入数据。这种方法优先考虑即时性和可访问性，使非技术用户可以轻松上手，而无需陡峭的学习曲线。但是，你的数据存储在专有格式或云数据库中，如果你决定迁移到其他服务，通常需要复杂的导出和导入程序。

结论： 如果你优先考虑完全控制、数据所有权、透明度和自动化，那么 Beancount.io 无疑是赢家。如果你需要一个“点击即用”的界面和最小的学习曲线，那么传统软件会感觉更自然。

2. 灵活性与定制化​

软件如何适应你的特定需求？

Beancount.io 100% 可编写脚本是 Beancount.io 的超级能力。它与 Python 无缝集成，允许你连接到任何 API，自动从银行馈送中获取数据，根据复杂规则以编程方式标记交易，并生成根据你的确切规范定制的报告。你的扩展和定制能力几乎是无限的，不受任何供应商强加的限制。

传统软件 这些平台提供与 PayPal、Stripe 和各种工资单服务等常用工具的精选集成。虽然方便，但你是在供应商的围墙花园内操作。定制仅限于平台允许的内容，高级报告或自动化通常需要升级到更高级别的计划或购买第三方附加组件。你可以使用他们的 API，但你将始终受其生态系统规则和速率限制的约束。

结论： Beancount.io 为开发人员和技术用户提供了无与伦比的灵活性。传统工具更适合与流行商业应用程序的标准即插即用工作流程。

3. 协作与透明度​

你与他人合作和审核记录的方式大相径庭。

Beancount.io Beancount.io 上的协作是通过 Git 管理的。这使得对财务分类账的每次更改都完全透明且可审核。你可以看到谁在何时、为何以及如何进行了更改——就像代码审查工作流程一样。这非常适合已经采用 GitHub 或 GitLab 等工具的分布式团队。此外，没有隐藏的计算；报告中的每个数字都可以追溯到分类帐文件中确切的项目条目，从而确保完全可审核性。

传统软件 协作是通过内置的用户角色和权限来处理的。你可以邀请你的会计师、簿记员或业务合作伙伴通过 Web 界面直接访问账簿。这对于遵循传统财务监督模式的企业非常有效。缺点是某些内部操作，例如税务计算或自动余额调整，可能是难以独立验证逻辑的不透明“黑匣子”。

结论： Beancount.io 非常适合重视粒度可审核性和代码风格协作的团队。传统系统对于实时共享 GUI 访问的会计师来说更友好。

4. 成本和所有权​

财务模型和数据所有权的概念截然不同。

Beancount.io 核心 Beancount 软件是开源且免费的。你只需为 Beancount.io 的增值服务付费，其中包括托管、智能自动化和高级功能。没有按席位许可费用，因此你可以扩展团队而不会产生额外费用。最重要的是，零供应商锁定。你的数据是你可以随时随地移动、编辑或存储的文本文件集合。

传统软件 这些服务采用订阅模式，通常按月或按年计费。定价通常根据功能分层，你可能会面临根据组织规模而定的每用户或每公司费用。这会产生依赖性；如果你停止付款，则可能会失去对数据和软件功能的访问权限。这种供应商锁定是一项重大的长期风险。

结论： 从长远来看，Beancount.io 的成本效益要高得多，尤其是对于重视数据主权的技术团队而言。传统软件提供可预测的订阅成本，但会造成长期依赖性。

5. 学习曲线和采用​

你能多快上手并运行？

Beancount.io 学习曲线无疑更陡峭。采用此系统需要熟悉基于文本的编辑、理解基本语法以及熟悉 Git 等工具。但是，最初的投资会有回报。一旦掌握，Beancount 就能实现令人难以置信的快速、可重复的工作流程，并提供对你的财务状况更深入、更基础的了解。

传统软件 这些平台专为非技术企业主设计，并提供最小的入门障碍。你可以在几分钟内启动并运行、发送发票和对费用进行分类。也就是说，学习更高级的功能，例如自定义报告构建或设置多实体会计，仍然需要大量时间投入。

结论： 如果你愿意花时间学习一个强大的系统，那么 Beancount.io 是正确的选择。对于需要立竿见影的非技术用户来说，传统软件更容易上手。

并排比较

何时选择 each

最终的决定取决于你团队的技能、优先级和工作流程。

如果你符合以下条件，请选择 Beancount.io：

• 是开发人员、数据分析师或技术倾向的高级用户。
• 最重视绝对透明度、控制力和长期数据可移植性。
• 想要完全自动化你的会计并将其深度集成到你的自定义工作流程中。
• 习惯于以与源代码相同的严谨性处理你的财务记录。

如果你符合以下条件，请选择传统会计软件：

• 想要一个快速入门、可视化的界面，无需任何技术设置。
• 需要提供即时的、会计师友好的访问，只需最少的培训。
• 更喜欢由供应商处理所有更新和合规性的托管解决方案。
• 你的集成需求可以通过流行的现成应用程序来满足。

最后的想法

Beancount.io 并不是想成为一个更好的 QuickBooks——它是一种根本不同的思维方式。它代表会计即代码。对于技术专业人员来说，这种转变提供了与 Git 版本控制为软件开发带来的同样的飞跃：完全透明、完美再现性和最终控制。

同时，传统会计软件继续在开箱即用的易用性和为非技术团队提供的现成集成方面胜出。正确的选择不在于哪个总体上“更好”，而在于哪个完美适合你的工作流程、你的优先级以及你对财务数据要求的控制程度。

你成立 S 型公司是为了保持业务精简和税务效率。 虽然“穿透”的概念听起来很简单，但实际情况涉及工资税、潜在的实体级收费以及各州之间至关重要的差异。

以下是 S 型公司在 2025 年的实际税务运作方式，以及如何在 Beancount 中保持清晰、防审计的记录。

哪些项目会被征税（以及在哪里）​

S 型公司结构的核心在于其处理利润的方式。它是一个三部分组成的系统：穿透收入、实体级税和工资税。

• 联邦层面的穿透： S 型公司通常对其普通业务利润不缴纳联邦所得税。 相反，该利润（以及其他税项，如抵免和扣除）通过附表 K-1 流向股东。 股东在其个人纳税申报表上报告此收入，无论他们是否实际从企业中提取现金。 至关重要的是，此 K-1 利润不 需缴纳自雇税。
• 但是……实体级税可能适用： “无公司税”规则并非绝对的。 在特定情况下，S 型公司可能需要直接缴税。 最常见的触发因素是内置收益 (BIG) 税（针对最近的 C 型公司转换）和超额净被动收入税。
• 工资税是真实存在的： 这是对股东-雇员最重要的规则。 如果你在自己的企业工作，你必须在获得任何税收优惠的分配_之前_ 作为 W-2 工资获得合理的报酬。 这些工资与任何其他雇员的工资一样，需缴纳 FICA（社会保障和医疗保险）和预扣所得税。

工资概览（2025 年）工资单​

对于任何股东-雇员，你都将运行工资单并提交标准工资税表，包括季度表格 941（用于预扣所得税和 FICA）和年度表格 940（用于联邦失业税或 FUTA）。

2025 年的关键税率如下：

• 社会保障 (OASDI)： 工资基数为 $176,100。 雇员和雇主的税率均为 6.2%，适用于不超过此上限的工资。
• 医疗保险： 没有工资上限。 雇员和雇主的税率均为 1.45%，适用于所有工资。
• 附加医疗保险税： 对于雇员一年内超过 $200,000 的工资，将预扣 0.9% 的税。 这部分没有雇主匹配。

你可能会看到的实体级税​

虽然不太常见，但你必须了解 S 型公司本身可能需要缴纳的税款。

• 内置收益 (BIG) 税： 如果你将企业从 C 型公司转换为 S 型公司，则你将面临 5 年的确认期。 如果你在此期间内出售公司在其 C 型公司时期持有的升值资产，则 S 型公司本身将需要对这些收益缴纳公司税率的税款。 这是在表格 1120-S 的附表 D 上计算的。
• 超额净被动收入税： 如果你的 S 型公司从之前的 C 型公司累积了收益和利润 (AE&P)，并且 其被动收入（如租金、特许权使用费和利息）超过其总收入的 25%，则适用此税。
• 这些税款的季度预估： 如果你预计 BIG 税、被动收入税和某些其他追缴税的总额为 $500 或以上，则 S 型公司必须进行季度预估付款。 2025 年的日历年到期日为 4 月 15 日、6 月 16 日、9 月 15 日和 12 月 15 日。

州和地方的陷阱 🗺️​

切勿假设联邦规则适用于州或城市层面。 税务处理方式差异很大。

• 加利福尼亚州： S 型公司每年必须缴纳 $800 的最低特许经营税，外加 1.5% 的净收入税。
• 纽约市： 纽约市不承认 S 型公司选举。 联邦 S 型公司通常需缴纳全额纽约市一般公司税。
• 可选穿透实体 (PTE) 税： 作为对联邦 $10,000 SALT 扣除上限的变通方法，许多州现在允许 S 型公司选择在实体层面缴纳州所得税。 这些规则复杂且不断变化——在进行 PTE 选举之前，请咨询你的注册会计师。

所有者支付的费用​

作为股东，你的个人税务情况与 S 型公司的业绩直接相关。

• 你 1040 表上的 K-1 收入： 你将在你的个人 1040 表上的附表 K-1 上报告穿透给你的收入、损失、扣除额和抵免额。
• 季度预估税： 由于你的 K-1 收入没有预扣税款，你可能需要使用表格 1040-ES 向 IRS 支付个人季度预估税款，以避免少缴税款的罚款。
• 合格商业收入 (QBI) 扣除额（第 199A 条）： 你的穿透收入可能有资格获得宝贵的合格商业收入 (QBI) 扣除额，最高可达你商业收入的 20%。 在较高的收入水平下，此扣除额可能会受到 S 型公司支付的 W-2 工资金额的限制——这使得你的“合理报酬”数字更加重要。

基本申报和表格​

至少，你的年度合规性将包括：

• 表格 1120-S： S 型公司所得税申报表。
• 附表 K-1： 针对每个股东。
• 工资表： 季度 941 表、年度 940 表以及雇员的 W-2/W-3 表。
• 表格 1099-NEC： 用于向大多数独立承包商支付 $600 或以上的款项。

Beancount：绘制图表，让你永远不会疑惑“钱花到哪里去了？”​

清晰的会计科目表对于跟踪这些移动的部分至关重要。

初学者账户​

Assets:Bank:Operating
Assets:PrepaidTax:Federal            ; 用于 S 型公司级别的预估付款
Expenses:Payroll:Wages
Expenses:Payroll:Employer:SocialSecurity
Expenses:Payroll:Employer:Medicare
Expenses:Payroll:Employer:FUTA
Expenses:Tax:Federal:S-Corp          ; 用于 BIG/被动收入税费用
Liabilities:Payroll:Withholding:{Federal,SocialSecurity,Medicare}
Equity:Distributions

交易示例​

运行工资单（公司方 + 预扣款）

2025-02-28 * "Payroll - February"
  Assets:Bank:Operating                        -10350.00 USD
  Expenses:Payroll:Wages                         12500.00 USD
  Expenses:Payroll:Employer:SocialSecurity         775.00 USD
  Expenses:Payroll:Employer:Medicare               181.25 USD
  Liabilities:Payroll:Withholding:Federal        -3000.00 USD
  Liabilities:Payroll:Withholding:SocialSecurity  -775.00 USD
  Liabilities:Payroll:Withholding:Medicare        -181.25 USD

所有者分配（非工资）

2025-03-10 * "Shareholder distribution"
  Assets:Bank:Operating                         -5000.00 USD
  Equity:Distributions                           5000.00 USD

公司级预估税（如果适用）

2025-04-15 * "1120-S entity-level estimate (BIG/passive tax)"
  Assets:Bank:Operating                         -1200.00 USD
  Assets:PrepaidTax:Federal                      1200.00 USD

标记关键申报日期

2026-03-15 note "已电子申报 2025 年 1120-S 表格；已向所有股东提供 K-1 表格。"

健全性检查 (bean-query)​

使用查询来确保你的记录是合理的。

年初至今工资与分配的比较（合理薪酬的现实检验）

SELECT account, SUM(position)
WHERE (account ~ "Expenses:Payroll:Wages" OR account ~ "Equity:Distributions")
  AND year = 2025
GROUP BY account;

我们是否记录了 K-1 交付？

SELECT date, narration WHERE narration ~ "K-1";

实用技巧（以免 IRS 打电话） ✅​

1. 记录“合理薪酬”。 保留一份简单的备忘录，其中包含你的工作职责、时间分配以及市场薪资数据的链接。 通过正式的 W-2 工资单支付此金额。
2. 清晰地分开工资和分配。 切勿将它们混淆。 你的 Beancount 账本应使这种区别显而易见。
3. 注意州规则。 注意最低税（如加州）或 S 型公司不认可（如纽约市）。
4. 重新审视预估。 如果你的收入在年中发生重大变化，请调整你的个人 1040-ES 和任何 S 型公司级别的预估付款。

本指南提供一般信息，并非税务建议。 每种业务情况都不同。 请始终咨询合格的注册会计师，以获取针对你具体情况的指导。

手工缝制的账本胜过杂乱无章的电子表格——尤其是在每一分钱都很重要的时候。

对于 Etsy 上的艺术家、制造商和策展人来说，热情驱动着业务。但随着商店的发展，财务清晰度变得与创意愿景同等重要。兼顾费用、跟踪材料成本和准备税务可能会让人不知所措，让你无法专注于工作。

如果你能以对待产品一样的细致和精准来管理商店的财务状况会怎样？本指南介绍了使用 Beancount 的纯文本会计工作流程，Beancount 是一款为准确性和控制力而设计的开源引擎。这种方法可以帮助你掌握数字，从而专注于你的工艺。

为什么 Etsy 簿记有所不同​

Etsy 商店具有独特的财务特征，其复杂性是通用会计软件通常无法捕捉到的。

• 无处不在的市场费用： 你的最终付款是在 Etsy 收取其份额后剩下的金额。上架费、交易费、支付处理费和广告费都会蚕食每一笔销售额。如果不单独跟踪它们，你就无法知道你的真实利润率。
• 平台控制的销售税： 对于卖家来说，这是一个巨大的胜利，Etsy 现在会在大多数州自动计算、收取和代缴销售税。但是，如果你在其他渠道销售或在某些州有实体店，由于“关联”规则，你可能仍然有自己的销售税义务。
• 灵活的付款节奏： 根据你的设置和账户历史记录，Etsy 可以每天、每周、每两周或每月存入你的资金。这种灵活性会使现金流感觉难以预测，尤其是在资金被保留或延迟的情况下。(Etsy 帮助)
• 更低的 1099-K 门槛： 逃税的日子已经过去了。用于报告你总销售额的 1099-K 表格的 IRS 报告门槛在 2024 年设定为 5,000 美元，并计划到 2026 年降至 600 美元。这意味着几乎每家商店都会收到 IRS 表格，并且你的账簿必须能够与其完全一致。(IRS)

七个快速步骤中的 Beancount 蓝图​

此纯文本蓝图将帮助你构建清晰、准确且无压力的簿记系统。

1. 预先分离渠道​

如果 Etsy 不是你唯一的销售渠道，请为每个渠道创建单独的收入和支出账户。在你的科目表顶层进行这种简单的分离可以保持你的分析清晰，并使税务时间更加轻松。

2025-07-22 open Income:Etsy               USD
2025-07-22 open Expenses:Etsy:ListingFee   USD
2025-07-22 open Assets:Etsy:Payout         USD

2. 分解每次付款​

切勿将 Etsy 存款记录为单行收入。相反，请从你的商店管理器下载每月的付款账户 CSV。使用此报告创建一个 Beancount 交易，将每次存款“分解”为其总销售额和各个费用组成部分。

; 来自 Etsy 付款账户 CSV 的每周付款
2025-07-15 * "Etsy 存款 #2025-28"
  Assets:Bank:Operating             1842.77 USD
  Income:Etsy:Sales               -2100.00 USD
  Expenses:Etsy:TransactionFee        136.50 USD  ; 6.5 %
  Expenses:Etsy:PaymentProcessing      66.00 USD  ; 3 % + 每笔订单 $0.25
  Expenses:Etsy:ListingFee             14.00 USD  ; $0.20 x 70 次续订
  Assets:Etsy:Reserve                -75.73 USD

3. 使用批次跟踪库存和销货成本​

对于实物商品的卖家，Beancount 的“批次”功能是跟踪销货成本 (COGS) 的游戏规则改变者。当你购买原材料时，你将它们记录为特定成本的库存。当你销售成品时，你可以将所用材料的确切成本记为支出。

; 批量购买库存材料
2025-07-01 * "批量购买纱线 | 供应商 XYZ"
  Assets:Inventory:ScarfBlue     500 ScarfBlue {@ 3.45 USD}
  Assets:Bank:Operating

; 记录商品售出时的销货成本
2025-07-20 * "售出蓝色围巾 | 订单 #1234"
  Expenses:COGS                  1 ScarfBlue {3.45 USD}
  Assets:Inventory:ScarfBlue

4. 尽早选择你的会计方法​

你有两个主要选择：

• 现金收付制： 简单易行。你在收到款项时记录收入，在付款时记录支出。这适用于小型、爱好规模的商店。
• 权责发生制： 提供更真实的盈利情况。你在进行销售时（而不是在收到付款时）记录收入，并在发生费用时记录费用。这更适合批量购买用品或销售定制商品的商店。

5. 自动导入​

通过自动化数据输入来节省时间。纯文本生态系统提供多种选择：

• 使用带有自定义规则的 bean-extract 来解析 Etsy CSV 文件。
• 配置银行 CSV 导入器以捕获通过信用卡支付的广告费用或运费标签。
• 对于高级用户，编写 Python 脚本以直接从 Etsy API 获取报告。

6. 每周对账​

每周留出几分钟时间来检查你的数字。使用 Beancount 的命令行工具快速验证你的余额，并在月底前发现任何问题，例如释放储备金、退款或费用调整。

# 检查你的 Etsy 持有账户的余额
bean-balance books.bean "Assets:Etsy:Payout" "2025-07-21"

# 生成上一期间的损益表
bean-report books.bean income_statement -e 2025-07-21

7. 附加源文档​

通过直接在你的交易元数据中链接到源文档来创建完全独立且可审计的记录。这非常适合供应商收据、运费标签 PDF 或采购订单。

2025-07-12 * "Etsy 订单 #4321 的运费标签"
  Expenses:ShippingLabel         4.25 USD
  Assets:Bank:Operating
  document: "docs/labels/2025-07-12-order4321.pdf"

了解你的 Etsy 费用（美国）​

要获得你的利润的真实情况，请在各自的费用账户中跟踪每种费用类型：

• 上架费： 每件商品 0.20 美元，每 4 个月或售出后自动续订。(Etsy)
• 交易费： 订单总金额（包括商品价格、运费和礼品包装）的 6.5%。(Etsy)
• 支付处理费： 因国家/地区而异，但对于美国，通常是通过 Etsy Payments 处理的每笔订单 3% + 0.25 美元。(Etsy 帮助)
• 订阅（Etsy Plus）： 可选的每月 10 美元，用于其他工具。

销售税和合规性提示​

• 虽然 Etsy 会为大多数美国州代缴销售税，但请注意，在其他平台上销售或拥有实体工作室可能会产生额外的税务义务（“关联”）。仔细跟踪你的销售额门槛。
• 一旦 1099-K 门槛适用于你的商店，请确保你在 Beancount 中的 Income:Etsy:Sales 总额与表格上的总金额精确到美分。(IRS)

常见陷阱（和修复方法）​

• 陷阱： 净存款会计。
  • 修复： 始终使用付款 CSV 将存款分解为总销售额、费用和储备金。
• 陷阱： 过时的库存成本。
  • 修复： 在购买供应品和材料时立即将其记录为库存。不要等到成品售出后再记录。
• 陷阱： 退款盲点。
  • 修复： 发出退款时，记录费用并冲销原始销货成本条目，将成本移回你的库存账户。
• 陷阱： 忽略储备金持有。
  • 修复： 开设一个 Assets:Etsy:Reserve 账户来跟踪 Etsy 持有的资金。这可以使你的现金流量表保持诚实。

快速入门清单​

• 在你的商店管理器中，设置月报表并下载你的第一个 CSV。
• 克隆 Beancount 入门存储库并草拟你商店的科目表。
• 决定使用现金制还是权责发生制会计，并坚持下去。
• 编写一个基本的导入器脚本或规则文件，并安排每周同步。
• 每周一核对你的付款、库存水平和银行余额。
• 每月生成一份损益表，并查看你的毛利率趋势。
• 使用 Git 和异地存储解决方案备份你的 .bean 文件。

准备好将簿记融入你的创意工作流程了吗？ 安装 Beancount，提交你的第一个条目，让纯文本的清晰度为你在工作台上腾出更多时间。祝你记账愉快！

一个纯文本模板、一个可重复的工作流程和一个简单的查询，即可解答“还有谁欠我钱？”

开票工作有时感觉像是一件苦差事，卡在你已完成的工作和你正在等待的付款之间。 但是，良好的开票流程是健康现金流的支柱。 它具有双重作用：清晰地告知你的客户他们欠款多少以及何时付款，并为你的会计系统提供其所需的可靠事实。

虽然专用的 SaaS 应用程序可以发送流畅的自动化 PDF 文件，但它们通常需要按月付费，并将你的数据锁定在专有孤岛中。 使用 Beancount 的轻量级纯文本方法提供了一个强大的替代方案。 你可以将每张发票转换为一组清晰的会计分录，从而获得版本控制、强大的元数据和即时查询的所有好处，而无需订阅。

最小可行发票（你永远不应该跳过的字段）​

在接触你的账本之前，你需要一张专业的发票。 格式可以很简单，但内容必须精确。 这些借鉴久经考验的小企业实践的字段是不可协商的。

• 卖方详细信息： 你的公司名称和实际地址。
• 客户详细信息： 你的客户的名称和（理想情况下）他们的地址。
• 发票编号： 一个唯一的、连续的 ID，永不重复使用。 INV-045 紧随 INV-044 之后。
• 开票日期和到期日期： 清楚地说明发票的开具日期和预期付款日期。
• 项目明细： 对服务或产品的清晰描述，以及数量、单价和项目总计。
• 小计、税金和总计： 显示计算过程，以便客户可以轻松理解。
• 可选注释： 用于感谢、汇款指示或客户提供的采购订单号。

为了帮助你入门，我们创建了一组可立即编辑的模板，其中包含所有这些字段。 电子表格版本甚至会为你预先计算总计。

Note: Invoice templates are coming soon! In the meantime, you can create your own using the fields listed above in Google Docs, Word, Sheets, Excel, or any other document format.

在你的账本中记录发票​

将发票 PDF 发送给客户后，你必须将其记录在 Beancount 中。 这是一个至关重要的步骤，它在收入产生时确认收入，而不仅仅是在收到付款时。 该过程涉及两个不同的交易。

1. 开具发票时：

你创建一个交易，将总金额从你的 Income 账户转移到 Assets:AccountsReceivable。 这会在你的账簿中创建一个数字借据。

; 2025‑07‑21 发票 #045  为 Acme Corp. 进行的网页设计冲刺
2025-07-21 * "Acme Corp" "INV-045 网页设计冲刺"
  Assets:AccountsReceivable          3500.00 USD  ; due:2025-08-04
  Income:Design:Web
  invoice_id: "INV-045"
  contact_email: "ap@acme.example"
  link: "docs/invoices/2025-07-21_Acme_INV-045.pdf"

在这里，你借记 AccountsReceivable 并贷记你的 Income 账户。 请注意丰富的元数据：到期日期、唯一的 invoice_id，甚至直接指向你发送的 PDF 的 link:。

2. 客户付款时：

当现金存入你的银行账户时，你记录第二个交易以“结清”借据。 这会将余额从 AccountsReceivable 转移到你的支票账户。

2025-08-01 * "Acme Corp" "INV-045 付款"
  Assets:Bank:Checking               3500.00 USD
  Assets:AccountsReceivable
  invoice_id: "INV-045"

Assets:AccountsReceivable 中 INV-045 的余额现在为零，你的账簿完全平衡。

附加 PDF： link: 元数据键与 Fava（Beancount 的 Web 界面）一起使用时尤其强大。 Fava 将直接在交易视图中呈现可点击的链接，因此只需点击一下即可访问源文档。 此工作流程早在 2016 年就在一项功能请求中设想 (GitHub)。

一个查询即可列出所有未结发票​

那么，还有谁欠你钱？ 使用此系统，你无需在电子邮件或电子表格中查找。 你只需要一个简单的查询。

将以下内容保存为名为 open-invoices.sql 的文件：

SELECT
  meta('invoice_id') AS id,
  payee,
  narration,
  date,
  number(balance) AS outstanding
WHERE
  account = "Assets:AccountsReceivable"
  AND balance != 0
ORDER BY
  date;

现在，从你的命令行运行它：

bean-query books.beancount open-invoices.sql

几秒钟内，你将获得一份清晰的、最新的所有未结发票的账龄报告，其中显示发票 ID、客户、开票日期和欠款金额。 无需额外的软件。

自动化繁琐的工作​

纯文本的优点在于可编写脚本。 你可以自动化此工作流程中繁琐的部分。

• 模板 + Pandoc = PDF： 以 Markdown 格式维护你的发票模板。 一个小型 Python 脚本可以填充变量（客户名称、项目明细、发票编号），命令行工具 Pandoc 可以立即将其转换为专业的 PDF。
• Git 预提交钩子： 如果你将账本存储在 Git 中，一个简单的预提交钩子可以在你保存工作之前运行检查。 它可以验证每个新的 invoice_id 是否唯一，交易过账是否平衡为零，以及 link: 元数据中引用的文件是否实际存在。
• Cron 作业： 设置计划任务（cron 作业）以每晚运行你的 open-invoices.sql 查询并通过电子邮件向你发送摘要。 你将每天开始工作时确切地知道谁需要友好的提醒。

现实的警告​

Beancount 是一个会计工具，而不是开票_服务_。 它不会自动向你的客户发送付款提醒或处理他们的信用卡付款。 工作流程是：你使用你选择的方法（例如上面的模板）创建并发送发票，然后在你的账本中记录会计分录。

对于大多数自由职业者和小商店来说，这个手动步骤对于一个完全拥有和控制的、防弹的、可审计的免费会计系统来说是一个很小的代价 (beancount.io)。

后续步骤​

准备好控制你的开票了吗？ 以下是开始的方法。

1. 下载模板并使用它创建你的下一个真实发票，确保使用连续的发票编号。
2. 将你发送的 PDF存储在专用文件夹中，例如 docs/invoices/，并在你的 Beancount 交易中使用 link: 元数据键来引用它们。
3. 保存 open-invoices.sql 查询并将其作为你每周财务审查的一部分运行。

纯文本会计并不意味着放弃完善或控制——它只是意味着数据库是可 grep 的。 使用简单的模板和上面的代码片段，你将更快地获得付款_并且_保持你的账簿整洁。