diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Balancing.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Balancing.hs
index 3262e8c2e..6c59b4724 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Balancing.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Balancing.hs
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ module Hledger.Data.Balancing
 , isTransactionBalanced
 , balanceTransaction
 , balanceTransactionHelper
-, annotateErrorWithTransaction
   -- * journal balancing
 , journalBalanceTransactions
 , journalCheckBalanceAssertions
@@ -36,7 +35,7 @@ import Data.Foldable (asum)
 import Data.Function ((&))
 import qualified Data.HashTable.Class as H (toList)
 import qualified Data.HashTable.ST.Cuckoo as H
-import Data.List (intercalate, partition, sortOn)
+import Data.List (partition, sortOn)
 import Data.List.Extra (nubSort)
 import Data.Maybe (fromJust, fromMaybe, isJust, isNothing, mapMaybe)
 import qualified Data.Set as S
@@ -163,15 +162,21 @@ balanceTransactionHelper bopts t = do
 -- | Generate a transaction balancing error message, given the transaction
 -- and one or more suberror messages.
 transactionBalanceError :: Transaction -> [String] -> String
-transactionBalanceError t errs =
-  annotateErrorWithTransaction t $
-  intercalate "\n" $ "could not balance this transaction:" : errs
-
-annotateErrorWithTransaction :: Transaction -> String -> String
-annotateErrorWithTransaction t s =
-  unlines [ sourcePosPairPretty $ tsourcepos t, s
-          , T.unpack . T.stripEnd $ showTransaction t
-          ]
+transactionBalanceError t errs = printf (unlines
+  [ "unbalanced transaction: %s:",
+    "%s",
+    "\n%s"
+  ])
+  (sourcePosPairPretty $ tsourcepos t)
+  (textChomp ex)
+  (chomp $ unlines errs)
+  where
+    (_f,_l,_mcols,ex) = makeTransactionErrorExcerpt t finderrcols
+      where
+        finderrcols _ = Nothing
+        -- finderrcols t = Just (1, Just w)
+        --   where
+        --     w = maximumDef 1 $ map T.length $ T.lines $ showTransaction t
 
 -- | Infer up to one missing amount for this transactions's real postings, and
 -- likewise for its balanced virtual postings, if needed; or return an error
diff --git a/hledger/test/csv.test b/hledger/test/csv.test
index 6368db666..05f688c44 100644
--- a/hledger/test/csv.test
+++ b/hledger/test/csv.test
@@ -1039,7 +1039,7 @@ account1 assets:bank:checking
 fields date, description, account2, amount
 
 $  ./csvtest.sh
->2 /could not balance this transaction/
+>2 /unbalanced transaction/
 >=1
 
 ## . 
diff --git a/hledger/test/errors/README.md b/hledger/test/errors/README.md
index c1dda4835..07155b2be 100644
--- a/hledger/test/errors/README.md
+++ b/hledger/test/errors/README.md
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ Here is the current status
 |--------------------------|------------|------|-----------|---------|----------|-----------------|
 | accounts                 | ✓          | ✓    | ✓         | ✓✓      |          |                 |
 | assertions               | ✓          | ✓    | ✓         | ✓✓      |          |                 |
-| balanced                 |            | ✓    | -         | ✓       |          |                 |
-| balancednoautoconversion |            | ✓    | -         | ✓       |          |                 |
+| balanced                 | ✓          | ✓    | -         | ✓       |          |                 |
+| balancednoautoconversion | ✓          | ✓    | -         | ✓       |          |                 |
 | commodities              | ✓          | ✓    | ✓(approx) | ✓✓      |          |                 |
 | ordereddates             | ✓          | ✓    | ✓         | ✓✓      |          |                 |
 | parseable                | ✓          | ✓    | ✓         | ✓✓      |          |                 |
diff --git a/hledger/test/errors/balanced.test b/hledger/test/errors/balanced.test
index 0ac26e501..73f0c87b2 100644
--- a/hledger/test/errors/balanced.test
+++ b/hledger/test/errors/balanced.test
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-$$$ hledger check -f balanced.j
->>>2 /hledger: Error: .*balanced.j:3-4
-could not balance this transaction:
+$ hledger check -f balanced.j
+>2 /hledger: Error: unbalanced transaction: .*balanced.j:3-4:
+3 | 2022-01-01
+  |     a               1
+
 real postings' sum should be 0 but is: 1
-2022-01-01
-    a               1
 
 /
->>>= 1
\ No newline at end of file
+>= 1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/test/errors/balancednoautoconversion.test b/hledger/test/errors/balancednoautoconversion.test
index 69ad32145..94de0f47e 100644
--- a/hledger/test/errors/balancednoautoconversion.test
+++ b/hledger/test/errors/balancednoautoconversion.test
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-$$$ hledger check balancednoautoconversion -f balancednoautoconversion.j
->>>2 /hledger: Error: .*balancednoautoconversion.j:6-8
-could not balance this transaction:
+$ hledger check balancednoautoconversion -f balancednoautoconversion.j
+>2 /hledger: Error: unbalanced transaction: .*balancednoautoconversion.j:6-8:
+6 | 2022-01-01
+  |     a             1 A
+  |     b            -1 B
+
 real postings' sum should be 0 but is:  1 A
 -1 B
-2022-01-01
-    a             1 A
-    b            -1 B
 
 /
->>>= 1
\ No newline at end of file
+>= 1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hledger/test/journal/auto-postings.test b/hledger/test/journal/auto-postings.test
index 8631e0fa6..2ff2860b0 100644
--- a/hledger/test/journal/auto-postings.test
+++ b/hledger/test/journal/auto-postings.test
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ $ hledger -f- register --auto
 
 # 16. No, transaction must be balanced both with and without auto postings.
 $ hledger -f- print -x --auto
->2 /could not balance/
+>2 /unbalanced/
 >=1
 
 # 17. Commodity display styles are applied to auto posting amounts.
diff --git a/hledger/test/journal/parse-errors.test b/hledger/test/journal/parse-errors.test
index 57ad081bd..47b58101e 100644
--- a/hledger/test/journal/parse-errors.test
+++ b/hledger/test/journal/parse-errors.test
@@ -123,12 +123,12 @@ $ hledger -f- print
   b  1B
 $ hledger -f- print
 >2
-hledger: Error: -:1-3
-could not balance this transaction:
+hledger: Error: unbalanced transaction: -:1-3:
+1 | 2020-01-01
+  |     a              1A
+  |     b              1B
+
 real postings all have the same sign
-2020-01-01
-    a              1A
-    b              1B
 
 >=1