diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 index 5e3ba5088..32f74a7d6 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 @@ -5,9 +5,7 @@ .SH NAME .PP -hledger-ui is a terminal interface (TUI) for the hledger accounting -tool. -This manual is for hledger-ui 1.28.99. +hledger-ui - robust, friendly plain text accounting (TUI version) .SH SYNOPSIS .PP \f[V]hledger-ui [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]\f[R] @@ -17,6 +15,9 @@ This manual is for hledger-ui 1.28.99. \f[V]hledger ui -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]\f[R] .SH DESCRIPTION .PP +This manual is for hledger\[aq]s terminal interface, version 1.28.99. +See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. +.PP hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a simple, editable file format. @@ -323,8 +324,8 @@ current transaction when invoked from the register and transaction screens, and at the error location (if possible) when invoked from the error screen. .PP -\f[V]B\f[R] toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their transaction -price\[aq]s commodity (like toggling the \f[V]-B/--cost\f[R] flag). +\f[V]B\f[R] toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their cost\[aq]s +commodity (like toggling the \f[V]-B/--cost\f[R] flag). .PP \f[V]V\f[R] toggles value mode, showing amounts\[aq] current market value in their default valuation commodity (like toggling the @@ -623,9 +624,6 @@ timedot, or CSV format specified with \f[V]-f\f[R], or perhaps \f[V]C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal\f[R]). .SH BUGS .PP -The need to precede options with \f[V]--\f[R] when invoked from hledger -is awkward. -.PP \f[V]-f-\f[R] doesn\[aq]t work (hledger-ui can\[aq]t read from stdin). .PP \f[V]-V\f[R] affects only the accounts screen. @@ -650,15 +648,17 @@ step. .SH "REPORTING BUGS" Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org -(or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list) +(or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list) .SH AUTHORS -Simon Michael and contributors +Simon Michael and contributors. +.br +See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html .SH COPYRIGHT +Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors. -Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Simon Michael. -.br +.SH LICENSE Released under GNU GPL v3 or later. .SH SEE ALSO diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info index 9340049cf..03f6832ae 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info @@ -11,12 +11,14 @@ File: hledger-ui.info, Node: Top, Next: OPTIONS, Up: (dir) hledger-ui(1) ************* -hledger-ui is a terminal interface (TUI) for the hledger accounting -tool. This manual is for hledger-ui 1.28.99. +hledger-ui - robust, friendly plain text accounting (TUI version) 'hledger-ui [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]' 'hledger ui -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]' + This manual is for hledger's terminal interface, version 1.28.99. +See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. + hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a simple, editable file format. hledger is inspired by and largely @@ -336,8 +338,8 @@ cursor will be positioned at the current transaction when invoked from the register and transaction screens, and at the error location (if possible) when invoked from the error screen. - 'B' toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their transaction price's -commodity (like toggling the '-B/--cost' flag). + 'B' toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their cost's commodity +(like toggling the '-B/--cost' flag). 'V' toggles value mode, showing amounts' current market value in their default valuation commodity (like toggling the '-V/--market' @@ -673,10 +675,7 @@ File: hledger-ui.info, Node: BUGS, Prev: FILES, Up: Top 8 BUGS ****** -The need to precede options with '--' when invoked from hledger is -awkward. - - '-f-' doesn't work (hledger-ui can't read from stdin). +'-f-' doesn't work (hledger-ui can't read from stdin). '-V' affects only the accounts screen. @@ -698,40 +697,40 @@ program is restarted.  Tag Table: Node: Top221 -Node: OPTIONS1657 -Ref: #options1755 -Node: MOUSE6839 -Ref: #mouse6934 -Node: KEYS7171 -Ref: #keys7264 -Node: SCREENS11339 -Ref: #screens11437 -Node: Menu12123 -Ref: #menu12215 -Node: All accounts12292 -Ref: #all-accounts12431 -Node: Balance sheet accounts12682 -Ref: #balance-sheet-accounts12862 -Node: Income statement accounts13050 -Ref: #income-statement-accounts13232 -Node: Register15652 -Ref: #register15789 -Node: Transaction17773 -Ref: #transaction17896 -Node: Error18766 -Ref: #error18860 -Node: TIPS19104 -Ref: #tips19203 -Node: Watch mode19245 -Ref: #watch-mode19352 -Node: Debug output20808 -Ref: #debug-output20919 -Node: ENVIRONMENT21131 -Ref: #environment21242 -Node: FILES22627 -Ref: #files22726 -Node: BUGS22939 -Ref: #bugs23016 +Node: OPTIONS1745 +Ref: #options1843 +Node: MOUSE6927 +Ref: #mouse7022 +Node: KEYS7259 +Ref: #keys7352 +Node: SCREENS11414 +Ref: #screens11512 +Node: Menu12198 +Ref: #menu12290 +Node: All accounts12367 +Ref: #all-accounts12506 +Node: Balance sheet accounts12757 +Ref: #balance-sheet-accounts12937 +Node: Income statement accounts13125 +Ref: #income-statement-accounts13307 +Node: Register15727 +Ref: #register15864 +Node: Transaction17848 +Ref: #transaction17971 +Node: Error18841 +Ref: #error18935 +Node: TIPS19179 +Ref: #tips19278 +Node: Watch mode19320 +Ref: #watch-mode19427 +Node: Debug output20883 +Ref: #debug-output20994 +Node: ENVIRONMENT21206 +Ref: #environment21317 +Node: FILES22702 +Ref: #files22801 +Node: BUGS23014 +Ref: #bugs23091  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt index b32bbd6a2..703475698 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt @@ -4,14 +4,16 @@ HLEDGER-UI(1) hledger User Manuals HLEDGER-UI(1) NAME - hledger-ui is a terminal interface (TUI) for the hledger accounting - tool. This manual is for hledger-ui 1.28.99. + hledger-ui - robust, friendly plain text accounting (TUI version) SYNOPSIS hledger-ui [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS] hledger ui -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS] DESCRIPTION + This manual is for hledger's terminal interface, version 1.28.99. See + also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. + hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a simple, editable file format. hledger is inspired by and largely @@ -295,8 +297,8 @@ KEYS register and transaction screens, and at the error location (if possi- ble) when invoked from the error screen. - B toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their transaction price's com- - modity (like toggling the -B/--cost flag). + B toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their cost's commodity (like + toggling the -B/--cost flag). V toggles value mode, showing amounts' current market value in their default valuation commodity (like toggling the -V/--market flag). @@ -543,21 +545,18 @@ FILES C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal). BUGS - The need to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger is awk- - ward. - -f- doesn't work (hledger-ui can't read from stdin). -V affects only the accounts screen. When you press g, the current and all previous screens are regenerated, - which may cause a noticeable pause with large files. Also there is no + which may cause a noticeable pause with large files. Also there is no visual indication that this is in progress. - --watch is not yet fully robust. It works well for normal usage, but - many file changes in a short time (eg saving the file thousands of - times with an editor macro) can cause problems at least on OSX. Symp- - toms include: unresponsive UI, periodic resetting of the cursor posi- + --watch is not yet fully robust. It works well for normal usage, but + many file changes in a short time (eg saving the file thousands of + times with an editor macro) can cause problems at least on OSX. Symp- + toms include: unresponsive UI, periodic resetting of the cursor posi- tion, momentary display of parse errors, high CPU usage eventually sub- siding, and possibly a small but persistent build-up of CPU usage until the program is restarted. @@ -568,16 +567,20 @@ BUGS REPORTING BUGS - Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel - or hledger mail list) + Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger chat or + hledger mail list) AUTHORS - Simon Michael and contributors + Simon Michael and contributors. + See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html COPYRIGHT - Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Simon Michael. + Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors. + + +LICENSE Released under GNU GPL v3 or later. diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 index e46aa9c7b..3b1d415eb 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 @@ -5,24 +5,27 @@ .SH NAME .PP -hledger-web is a web interface (WUI) for the hledger accounting tool. -This manual is for hledger-web 1.28.99. +hledger-web - robust, friendly plain text accounting (Web version) .SH SYNOPSIS .PP -\f[V]hledger-web [OPTIONS] # run temporarily & browse\f[R] +\f[V]hledger-web [OPTIONS] # run temporarily & browse\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD -\f[V]hledger-web --serve [OPTIONS] # run without stopping\f[R] +\f[V]hledger-web --serve [OPTIONS] # run without stopping\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD -\f[V]hledger-web --serve-api [OPTIONS] # run JSON server only\f[R] +\f[V]hledger-web --serve-api [OPTIONS] # run JSON server only\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD +\f[V]hledger web -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]\f[R] # start from hledger .SH DESCRIPTION .PP +This manual is for hledger\[aq]s web interface, version 1.28.99. +See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. +.PP hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a simple, editable file format. @@ -457,7 +460,7 @@ $ curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5000/transactions | python -m json.tool Most of the JSON corresponds to hledger\[aq]s data types; for details of what the fields mean, see the Hledger.Data.Json haddock docs and click on the various data types, eg Transaction. -And for a higher level understanding, see the journal manual. +And for a higher level understanding, see the journal docs. .PP In some cases there is outer JSON corresponding to a \[dq]Report\[dq] type. @@ -664,9 +667,6 @@ timedot, or CSV format specified with \f[V]-f\f[R], or perhaps \f[V]C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal\f[R]). .SH BUGS .PP -The need to precede options with \f[V]--\f[R] when invoked from hledger -is awkward. -.PP \f[V]-f-\f[R] doesn\[aq]t work (hledger-web can\[aq]t read from stdin). .PP Query arguments and some hledger options are ignored. @@ -678,15 +678,17 @@ Does not work well on small screens. .SH "REPORTING BUGS" Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org -(or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list) +(or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list) .SH AUTHORS -Simon Michael and contributors +Simon Michael and contributors. +.br +See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html .SH COPYRIGHT +Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors. -Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Simon Michael. -.br +.SH LICENSE Released under GNU GPL v3 or later. .SH SEE ALSO diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.info b/hledger-web/hledger-web.info index 9ceb26be0..9e365b795 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.info +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.info @@ -11,12 +11,15 @@ File: hledger-web.info, Node: Top, Next: OPTIONS, Up: (dir) hledger-web(1) ************** -hledger-web is a web interface (WUI) for the hledger accounting tool. -This manual is for hledger-web 1.28.99. +hledger-web - robust, friendly plain text accounting (Web version) 'hledger-web [OPTIONS] # run temporarily & browse' 'hledger-web --serve [OPTIONS] # run without stopping' 'hledger-web --serve-api [OPTIONS] # run JSON server only' +'hledger web -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]' # start from hledger + + This manual is for hledger's web interface, version 1.28.99. See +also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a @@ -450,7 +453,7 @@ $ curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5000/transactions | python -m json.tool Most of the JSON corresponds to hledger's data types; for details of what the fields mean, see the Hledger.Data.Json haddock docs and click on the various data types, eg Transaction. And for a higher level -understanding, see the journal manual. +understanding, see the journal docs. In some cases there is outer JSON corresponding to a "Report" type. To understand that, go to the Hledger.Web.Handler.MiscR haddock and look @@ -648,10 +651,7 @@ File: hledger-web.info, Node: BUGS, Prev: FILES, Up: Top 9 BUGS ****** -The need to precede options with '--' when invoked from hledger is -awkward. - - '-f-' doesn't work (hledger-web can't read from stdin). +'-f-' doesn't work (hledger-web can't read from stdin). Query arguments and some hledger options are ignored. @@ -662,26 +662,26 @@ awkward.  Tag Table: Node: Top223 -Node: OPTIONS2436 -Ref: #options2541 -Node: PERMISSIONS9940 -Ref: #permissions10079 -Node: EDITING UPLOADING DOWNLOADING11291 -Ref: #editing-uploading-downloading11472 -Node: RELOADING12306 -Ref: #reloading12440 -Node: JSON API12873 -Ref: #json-api12988 -Node: DEBUG OUTPUT18478 -Ref: #debug-output18603 -Node: Debug output18630 -Ref: #debug-output-118731 -Node: ENVIRONMENT19148 -Ref: #environment19268 -Node: FILES20579 -Ref: #files20679 -Node: BUGS20892 -Ref: #bugs20970 +Node: OPTIONS2585 +Ref: #options2690 +Node: PERMISSIONS10089 +Ref: #permissions10228 +Node: EDITING UPLOADING DOWNLOADING11440 +Ref: #editing-uploading-downloading11621 +Node: RELOADING12455 +Ref: #reloading12589 +Node: JSON API13022 +Ref: #json-api13137 +Node: DEBUG OUTPUT18625 +Ref: #debug-output18750 +Node: Debug output18777 +Ref: #debug-output-118878 +Node: ENVIRONMENT19295 +Ref: #environment19415 +Node: FILES20726 +Ref: #files20826 +Node: BUGS21039 +Ref: #bugs21117  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt index adb0bce84..cbd301ab3 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt @@ -4,15 +4,18 @@ HLEDGER-WEB(1) hledger User Manuals HLEDGER-WEB(1) NAME - hledger-web is a web interface (WUI) for the hledger accounting tool. - This manual is for hledger-web 1.28.99. + hledger-web - robust, friendly plain text accounting (Web version) SYNOPSIS - hledger-web [OPTIONS] # run temporarily & browse - hledger-web --serve [OPTIONS] # run without stopping - hledger-web --serve-api [OPTIONS] # run JSON server only + hledger-web [OPTIONS] # run temporarily & browse + hledger-web --serve [OPTIONS] # run without stopping + hledger-web --serve-api [OPTIONS] # run JSON server only + hledger web -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS] # start from hledger DESCRIPTION + This manual is for hledger's web interface, version 1.28.99. See also + the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. + hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a simple, editable file format. hledger is inspired by and largely @@ -401,7 +404,7 @@ JSON API Most of the JSON corresponds to hledger's data types; for details of what the fields mean, see the Hledger.Data.Json haddock docs and click on the various data types, eg Transaction. And for a higher level - understanding, see the journal manual. + understanding, see the journal docs. In some cases there is outer JSON corresponding to a "Report" type. To understand that, go to the Hledger.Web.Handler.MiscR haddock and look @@ -570,9 +573,6 @@ FILES C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal). BUGS - The need to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger is awk- - ward. - -f- doesn't work (hledger-web can't read from stdin). Query arguments and some hledger options are ignored. @@ -584,16 +584,20 @@ BUGS REPORTING BUGS - Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel - or hledger mail list) + Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger chat or + hledger mail list) AUTHORS - Simon Michael and contributors + Simon Michael and contributors. + See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html COPYRIGHT - Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Simon Michael. + Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors. + + +LICENSE Released under GNU GPL v3 or later. diff --git a/hledger/hledger.1 b/hledger/hledger.1 index 2dcc56e11..43cbfb76e 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.1 +++ b/hledger/hledger.1 @@ -6,18 +6,31 @@ .SH NAME .PP -This is the command-line interface (CLI) for the hledger accounting -tool. -Here we also describe hledger\[aq]s concepts and file formats. -This manual is for hledger 1.28.99. +hledger - robust, friendly plain text accounting (CLI version) .SH SYNOPSIS .PP \f[V]hledger\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +\f[V]hledger [-f FILE] COMMAND [OPTS] [ARGS]\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +\f[V]hledger [-f FILE] ADDONCMD -- [OPTS] [ARGS]\f[R] +.SH INTRODUCTION .PP -\f[V]hledger [-f FILE] COMMAND [OPTIONS] [ARGS]\f[R] -.PP -\f[V]hledger [-f FILE] ADDONCMD -- [OPTIONS] [ARGS]\f[R] -.SH DESCRIPTION +This manual is for hledger\[aq]s command line interface, version +1.28.99. +It also describes the concepts and file formats common to all hledger +programs. +You can read it on hledger.org, or as an info manual or man page on your +system. +It is detailed and not entirely linear, so you should feel free to skip +ahead / skim when needed. +You don\[aq]t need to know everything in here to use hledger +productively, but when you have a question about functionality, this doc +should answer it. .PP hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a @@ -64,7 +77,8 @@ follow the prompts. Then try some commands like \f[V]hledger print\f[R] or \f[V]hledger balance\f[R]. Run \f[V]hledger\f[R] with no arguments for a list of commands. -.SH OPTIONS +.SH PART 1: USER INTERFACE +.SH Options .SS General options .PP To see general usage help, including general options which are supported @@ -503,7 +517,7 @@ Eg to search for amounts with the dollar sign in hledger-web, write On the command line, some metacharacters like \f[V]$\f[R] have a special meaning to the shell and so must be escaped at least once more. See Special characters. -.SH ENVIRONMENT +.SH Environment .PP \f[B]LEDGER_FILE\f[R] The journal file path when not specified with \f[V]-f\f[R]. @@ -563,7 +577,7 @@ Default: the full terminal width. \f[B]NO_COLOR\f[R] If this variable exists with any value, hledger will not use ANSI color codes in terminal output. This is overriden by the --color/--colour option. -.SH INPUT +.SH Input .PP hledger reads transactions from one or more data files. The default data file is \f[V]$HOME/.hledger.journal\f[R] (or on @@ -641,7 +655,7 @@ T}@T{ T} .TE .PP -These formats are described in their own sections, below. +These formats are described in more detail below. .PP hledger detects the format automatically based on the file extensions shown above. @@ -710,9 +724,71 @@ Are all commodity conversions declared explicitly ? .PP You can use the check command to run individual checks -- the ones listed above and some more. -.SH OUTPUT +.SH Commands .PP -Some of this section may refer to things explained further below. +hledger provides a number of built-in subcommands (described below). +Most of these read your data without changing it, and display a report. +A few assist with data entry and management. +.PP +Run \f[V]hledger\f[R] with no arguments to list the commands available, +and \f[V]hledger CMD\f[R] to run a command. +CMD can be the full command name, or its standard abbreviation shown in +the commands list, or any unambiguous prefix of the name. +Eg: \f[V]hledger bal\f[R]. +.SS Add-on commands +.PP +Add-on commands are extra subcommands provided by programs or scripts in +your PATH +.IP \[bu] 2 +whose name starts with \f[V]hledger-\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +whose name ends with a recognised file extension: +\f[V].bat\f[R],\f[V].com\f[R],\f[V].exe\f[R], +\f[V].hs\f[R],\f[V].lhs\f[R],\f[V].pl\f[R],\f[V].py\f[R],\f[V].rb\f[R],\f[V].rkt\f[R],\f[V].sh\f[R] +or none +.IP \[bu] 2 +and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. +.PP +Addons can be written in any language, but haskell scripts or programs +have a big advantage: they can use hledger\[aq]s library code, for +command-line options, parsing and reporting. +.PP +Several add-on commands are installed by the hledger-install script. +See https://hledger.org/scripts.html for more details. +.PP +Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a double +dash (\f[V]--\f[R]) preceding them. +Eg you must write: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger web -- --serve +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +and not: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger web --serve +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +(because the \f[V]--serve\f[R] flag belongs to \f[V]hledger-web\f[R], +not \f[V]hledger\f[R]). +.PP +The \f[V]-h/--help\f[R] and \f[V]--version\f[R] flags don\[aq]t require +\f[V]--\f[R]. +.PP +If you have any trouble with this, remember you can always run the +add-on program directly, eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger-web --serve +\f[R] +.fi +.SH Output .SS Output destination .PP hledger commands send their output to the terminal by default. @@ -736,28 +812,10 @@ $ hledger print -o foo.txt $ hledger print -o - # write to stdout (the default) \f[R] .fi -.SS Output styling -.PP -hledger commands can produce colour output when the terminal supports -it. -This is controlled by the \f[V]--color/--colour\f[R] option: - if the -\f[V]--color/--colour\f[R] option is given a value of \f[V]yes\f[R] or -\f[V]always\f[R] (or \f[V]no\f[R] or \f[V]never\f[R]), colour will (or -will not) be used; - otherwise, if the \f[V]NO_COLOR\f[R] environment -variable is set, colour will not be used; - otherwise, colour will be -used if the output (terminal or file) supports it. -.PP -hledger commands can also use unicode box-drawing characters to produce -prettier tables and output. -This is controlled by the \f[V]--pretty\f[R] option: - if the -\f[V]--pretty\f[R] option is given a value of \f[V]yes\f[R] or -\f[V]always\f[R] (or \f[V]no\f[R] or \f[V]never\f[R]), unicode -characters will (or will not) be used; - otherwise, unicode characters -will not be used. .SS Output format .PP -Some commands offer additional output formats, other than the usual -plain text terminal output. +Some commands offer other kinds of output, not just text on the +terminal. Here are those commands and the formats currently supported: .PP .TS @@ -905,6 +963,8 @@ the file extension, if needed: $ hledger balancesheet -o foo.txt -O csv # write CSV to foo.txt \f[R] .fi +.PP +Some notes about the various output formats: .SS CSV output .IP \[bu] 2 In CSV output, digit group marks (such as thousands separators) are @@ -915,9 +975,9 @@ HTML output can be styled by an optional \f[V]hledger.css\f[R] file in the same directory. .SS JSON output .IP \[bu] 2 -Not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. +This is not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. .IP \[bu] 2 -Our JSON is rather large and verbose, as it is quite a faithful +Our JSON is rather large and verbose, since it is a faithful representation of hledger\[aq]s internal data types. To understand the JSON, read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in @@ -936,7 +996,7 @@ otherwise, please let us know. (Cf #1195) .SS SQL output .IP \[bu] 2 -Not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. +This is not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. .IP \[bu] 2 SQL output is expected to work with sqlite, MySQL and PostgreSQL .IP \[bu] 2 @@ -948,14 +1008,15 @@ probably want to either clear tables of existing data (via completely as otherwise your postings will be duped. .SS Commodity styles .PP -The display style of a commodity/currency is inferred according to the -rules described in Commodity display style. -The inferred display style can be overridden by an optional -\f[V]-c/--commodity-style\f[R] option (Exceptions: as is the case for -inferred styles, price amounts, and all amounts displayed by the -\f[V]print\f[R] command, will be displayed with all of their decimal -digits visible, regardless of the specified precision). -For example, the following will override the display style for dollars. +When displaying amounts, hledger infers a standard display style for +each commodity/currency, as described below in Commodity display style. +.PP +If needed, this can be overridden by a \f[V]-c/--commodity-style\f[R] +option (except for cost amounts and amounts displayed by the +\f[V]print\f[R] command, which are always displayed with all decimal +digits). +For example, the following will force dollar amounts to be displayed as +shown: .IP .nf \f[C] @@ -963,13 +1024,36 @@ $ hledger print -c \[aq]$1.000,0\[aq] \f[R] .fi .PP -The format specification of the style is identical to the commodity -display style specification for the commodity directive. -The command line option can be supplied repeatedly to override the -display style for multiple commodity/currency symbols. +This option can repeated to set the display style for multiple +commodities/currencies. +Its argument is as described in the commodity directive. +.SS Colour +.PP +In terminal output, some commands can produce colour when the terminal +supports it: +.IP \[bu] 2 +if the \f[V]--color/--colour\f[R] option is given a value of +\f[V]yes\f[R] or \f[V]always\f[R] (or \f[V]no\f[R] or \f[V]never\f[R]), +colour will (or will not) be used; +.IP \[bu] 2 +otherwise, if the \f[V]NO_COLOR\f[R] environment variable is set, colour +will not be used; +.IP \[bu] 2 +otherwise, colour will be used if the output (terminal or file) supports +it. +.SS Box-drawing +.PP +In terminal output, you can enable unicode box-drawing characters to +render prettier tables: +.IP \[bu] 2 +if the \f[V]--pretty\f[R] option is given a value of \f[V]yes\f[R] or +\f[V]always\f[R] (or \f[V]no\f[R] or \f[V]never\f[R]), unicode +characters will (or will not) be used; +.IP \[bu] 2 +otherwise, unicode characters will not be used. .SS Debug output .PP -We aim for hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect and +We intend hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect and develop. You can add \f[V]--debug[=N]\f[R] to any hledger command line to see additional debug output. @@ -983,11 +1067,4439 @@ It will be interleaved with normal output, which can help reveal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug output in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log +\f[R] +.fi +.SH Limitations +.PP +The need to precede add-on command options with \f[V]--\f[R] when +invoked from hledger is awkward. +.PP +When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system locale +must be configured (or there will be an unhelpful error). +Eg on POSIX, set LANG to something other than C. +.PP +In a Microsoft Windows CMD window, non-ascii characters and colours are +not supported. +.PP +On Windows, non-ascii characters may not display correctly when running +a hledger built in CMD in MSYS/CYGWIN, or vice-versa. +.PP +In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in hledger +add. +.PP +Not all of Ledger\[aq]s journal file syntax is supported. +See hledger and Ledger > Differences > journal format. +.PP +On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than Ledger. +.SH Troubleshooting +.PP +Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and +remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug +tracker): +.PP +\f[B]Successfully installed, but \[dq]No command \[aq]hledger\[aq] +found\[dq]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD -\f[V]hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log\f[R]. -.SH TIME PERIODS +stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should +be added to your PATH environment variable. +Eg on unix-like systems, that is \[ti]/.local/bin and \[ti]/.cabal/bin +respectively. +.PP +\f[B]I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default +file\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +\f[V]LEDGER_FILE\f[R] should be a real environment variable, not just a +shell variable. +The command \f[V]env | grep LEDGER_FILE\f[R] should show it. +You may need to use \f[V]export\f[R]. +Here\[aq]s an explanation. +.PP +\f[B]Getting errors like \[dq]Illegal byte sequence\[dq] or \[dq]Invalid +or incomplete multibyte or wide character\[dq] or +\[dq]commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argument (invalid +character)\[dq]\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) +need to have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, +otherwise they will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter +non-ascii characters. +.PP +To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which +supports UTF-8. +The locale you choose must be installed on your system. +.PP +Here\[aq]s an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ file my.journal +my.journal: UTF-8 Unicode text # the file is UTF8-encoded +$ echo $LANG +C # LANG is set to the default locale, which does not support UTF8 +$ locale -a # which locales are installed ? +C +en_US.utf8 # here\[aq]s a UTF8-aware one we can use +POSIX +$ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +If available, \f[V]C.UTF-8\f[R] will also work. +If your preferred locale isn\[aq]t listed by \f[V]locale -a\f[R], you +might need to install it. +Eg on Ubuntu/Debian: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ apt-get install language-pack-fr +$ locale -a +C +en_US.utf8 +fr_BE.utf8 +fr_CA.utf8 +fr_CH.utf8 +fr_FR.utf8 +fr_LU.utf8 +POSIX +$ LANG=fr_FR.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Here\[aq]s how you could set it permanently, if you use a bash shell: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ echo \[dq]export LANG=en_US.utf8\[dq] >>\[ti]/.bash_profile +$ bash --login +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. +Note the difference on MacOS (\f[V]UTF-8\f[R], not \f[V]utf8\f[R]). +Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow variant spellings, but others (eg +macos) require it to be exact: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf +en_US.UTF-8 +$ LANG=en_US.UTF-8 hledger -f my.journal print +\f[R] +.fi +.SH PART 2: DATA FORMATS +.PP +.SH Journal +.PP +hledger\[aq]s default file format, representing a General Journal. +.PP +hledger\[aq]s usual data source is a plain text file containing journal +entries in hledger journal format. +This file represents a standard accounting general journal. +I use file names ending in \f[V].journal\f[R], but that\[aq]s not +required. +The journal file contains a number of transaction entries, each +describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more +named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans. +.PP +hledger\[aq]s journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of +ledger\[aq]s journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger +journal files as well. +It\[aq]s safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on the +same journal file, eg to validate the results you\[aq]re getting. +.PP +You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use +the add or web or import commands to create and update it. +.PP +Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track +changes with a version control system such as git. +Editor addons such as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger +for Vim, and hledger-vscode for Visual Studio Code, make this easier, +adding colour, formatting, tab completion, and useful commands. +See Editor configuration at hledger.org for the full list. +.PP +Here\[aq]s a description of each part of the file format (and +hledger\[aq]s data model). +.PP +A hledger journal file can contain three kinds of thing: file comments, +transactions, and/or directives (counting periodic transaction rules and +auto posting rules as directives). +.SS File comments +.PP +Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (\f[V];\f[R]), a hash +(\f[V]#\f[R]) or a star (\f[V]*\f[R]) are file-level comments, and will +be ignored. +They are not attached to anything (even if right next to a transaction). +.PP +(Star comments allow emacs users to view and fold/unfold long journals +in org mode, but nowadays regular comments and ledger mode + orgstruct +mode may work better). +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# a file comment +; another file comment +* also a file comment, useful in org/orgstruct mode +comment +A multiline file comment, continuing until an +\[dq]end comment\[dq] directive or the end of the current file. +end comment +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Transactions +.PP +Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. +They represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of +commodities between two or more named accounts. +.PP +Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a simple +date in column 0. +This can be followed by any of the following optional fields, separated +by spaces: +.IP \[bu] 2 +a status character (empty, \f[V]!\f[R], or \f[V]*\f[R]) +.IP \[bu] 2 +a code (any short number or text, enclosed in parentheses) +.IP \[bu] 2 +a description (any remaining text until end of line or a semicolon) +.IP \[bu] 2 +a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of line, +and any following indented lines beginning with a semicolon) +.IP \[bu] 2 +0 or more indented \f[I]posting\f[R] lines, describing what was +transferred and the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also +allowed, but not blank lines or non-indented lines). +.PP +Here\[aq]s a simple journal file containing one transaction: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2008/01/01 income + assets:bank:checking $1 + income:salary $-1 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Dates +.SS Simple dates +.PP +Dates in the journal file use \f[I]simple dates\f[R] format: +\f[V]YYYY-MM-DD\f[R] or \f[V]YYYY/MM/DD\f[R] or \f[V]YYYY.MM.DD\f[R], +with leading zeros optional. +The year may be omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the +context: the current transaction, the default year set with a default +year directive, or the current date when the command is run. +Some examples: \f[V]2010-01-31\f[R], \f[V]2010/01/31\f[R], +\f[V]2010.1.31\f[R], \f[V]1/31\f[R]. +.PP +(The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart +dates documented in the hledger manual.) +.SS Secondary dates +.PP +Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the +date you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank. +When you want to model this, for more accurate daily balances, you can +specify individual posting dates. +.PP +Or, you can use the older \f[I]secondary date\f[R] feature (Ledger calls +it auxiliary date or effective date). +Note: we support this for compatibility, but I usually recommend +avoiding this feature; posting dates are almost always clearer and +simpler. +.PP +A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals +sign. +If the year is omitted, the primary date\[aq]s year is assumed. +When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but +with the \f[V]--date2\f[R] flag (or \f[V]--aux-date\f[R] or +\f[V]--effective\f[R]), the secondary (right) date will be used instead. +.PP +The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it\[aq]s best to follow +a consistent rule. +Eg \[dq]primary = the bank\[aq]s clearing date, secondary = date the +transaction was initiated, if different\[dq], as shown here: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket + expenses:cinema $10 + assets:checking +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger register checking +2010-02-23 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger register checking --date2 +2010-02-19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Posting dates +.PP +You can give individual postings a different date from their parent +transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below) +like \f[V]date:DATE\f[R]. +This is probably the best way to control posting dates precisely. +Eg in this example the expense should appear in May reports, and the +deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for easy bank +reconciliation: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2015/5/30 + expenses:food $10 ; food purchased on saturday 5/30 + assets:checking ; bank cleared it on monday, date:6/1 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f t.j register food +2015-05-30 expenses:food $10 $10 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f t.j register checking +2015-06-01 assets:checking $-10 $-10 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use +the year of the transaction\[aq]s date. +You can set the secondary date similarly, with \f[V]date2:DATE2\f[R]. +The \f[V]date:\f[R] or \f[V]date2:\f[R] tags must have a valid simple +date value if they are present, eg a \f[V]date:\f[R] tag with no value +is not allowed. +.PP +Ledger\[aq]s earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also +supported: \f[V][DATE]\f[R], \f[V][DATE=DATE2]\f[R] or +\f[V][=DATE2]\f[R]. +hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed sequence of the +\f[V]0123456789/-.=\f[R] characters in this way. +With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 +infers its year from DATE. +.SS Status +.PP +Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a +status mark, which is a single character before the transaction +description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, +indicating one of three statuses: +.PP +.TS +tab(@); +l l. +T{ +mark \ +T}@T{ +status +T} +_ +T{ +\ +T}@T{ +unmarked +T} +T{ +\f[V]!\f[R] +T}@T{ +pending +T} +T{ +\f[V]*\f[R] +T}@T{ +cleared +T} +.TE +.PP +When reporting, you can filter by status with the +\f[V]-U/--unmarked\f[R], \f[V]-P/--pending\f[R], and +\f[V]-C/--cleared\f[R] flags; or the \f[V]status:\f[R], +\f[V]status:!\f[R], and \f[V]status:*\f[R] queries; or the U, P, C keys +in hledger-ui. +.PP +Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the \[dq]unmarked\[dq] +state is called \[dq]uncleared\[dq]. +As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to unmarked for clarity. +.PP +To replicate Ledger and old hledger\[aq]s behaviour of also matching +pending, combine -U and -P. +.PP +Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with +real-world accounts. +Some editor modes provide highlighting and shortcuts for working with +status. +Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can toggle transaction status with C-c C-e, +or posting status with C-c C-c. +.PP +What \[dq]uncleared\[dq], \[dq]pending\[dq], and \[dq]cleared\[dq] +actually mean is up to you. +Here\[aq]s one suggestion: +.PP +.TS +tab(@); +lw(9.7n) lw(60.3n). +T{ +status +T}@T{ +meaning +T} +_ +T{ +uncleared +T}@T{ +recorded but not yet reconciled; needs review +T} +T{ +pending +T}@T{ +tentatively reconciled (if needed, eg during a big reconciliation) +T} +T{ +cleared +T}@T{ +complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered correct +T} +.TE +.PP +With this scheme, you would use \f[V]-PC\f[R] to see the current balance +at your bank, \f[V]-U\f[R] to see things which will probably hit your +bank soon (like uncashed checks), and no flags to see the most +up-to-date state of your finances. +.SS Code +.PP +After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally +write a transaction \[dq]code\[dq], enclosed in parentheses. +This is a good place to record a check number, or some other important +transaction id or reference number. +.SS Description +.PP +A transaction\[aq]s description is the rest of the line following the +date and status mark (or until a comment begins). +Sometimes called the \[dq]narration\[dq] in traditional bookkeeping, it +can be used for whatever you wish, or left blank. +Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike comments. +.SS Payee and note +.PP +You can optionally include a \f[V]|\f[R] (pipe) character in +descriptions to subdivide the description into separate fields for +payee/payer name on the left (up to the first \f[V]|\f[R]) and an +additional note field on the right (after the first \f[V]|\f[R]). +This may be worthwhile if you need to do more precise querying and +pivoting by payee or by note. +.SS Transaction comments +.PP +Text following \f[V];\f[R], after a transaction description, and/or on +indented lines immediately below it, form comments for that transaction. +They are reproduced by \f[V]print\f[R] but otherwise ignored, except +they may contain tags, which are not ignored. +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2012-01-01 something ; a transaction comment + ; a second line of transaction comment + expenses 1 + assets +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Postings +.PP +A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount +from, an account. +Each posting line begins with at least one space or tab (2 or 4 spaces +is common), followed by: +.IP \[bu] 2 +(optional) a status character (empty, \f[V]!\f[R], or \f[V]*\f[R]), +followed by a space +.IP \[bu] 2 +(required) an account name (any text, optionally containing \f[B]single +spaces\f[R], until end of line or a double space) +.IP \[bu] 2 +(optional) \f[B]two or more spaces\f[R] or tabs followed by an amount. +.PP +Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are +being removed. +.PP +The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero. +As a convenience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so +as to balance the transaction. +.PP +Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name and +amount. +This makes it easy to write account names containing spaces. +But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the amount, +the amount will be considered part of the account name. +.SS Virtual postings +.PP +A posting with parentheses around the account name is called a +\f[I]virtual posting\f[R] or \f[I]unbalanced posting\f[R], which means +it is exempt from the usual rule that a transaction\[aq]s postings must +balance add up to zero. +.PP +This is not part of double entry bookkeeping, so you might choose to +avoid this feature. +Or you can use it sparingly for certain special cases where it can be +convenient. +Eg, you could set opening balances without using a balancing equity +account: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2022-01-01 opening balances + (assets:checking) $1000 + (assets:savings) $2000 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +A posting with brackets around the account name is called a +\f[I]balanced virtual posting\f[R]. +The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to zero +(separately from other postings). +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2022-01-01 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else + assets:cash $-10 ; <- these balance each other + expenses:food $7 ; <- + expenses:food $3 ; <- + [assets:checking:budget:food] $-10 ; <- and these balance each other + [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- + (something:else) $5 ; <- this is not required to balance +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Postings whose account names are neither parenthesised nor bracketed are +called \f[I]real postings\f[R]. +You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the +\f[V]-R/--real\f[R] flag or a \f[V]real:1\f[R] query. +.SS Account names +.PP +Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, +from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. +They can be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally +five top-level accounts: \f[V]assets\f[R], \f[V]liabilities\f[R], +\f[V]revenue\f[R], \f[V]expenses\f[R], and \f[V]equity\f[R]. +.PP +Account names may contain single spaces, eg: +\f[V]assets:accounts receivable\f[R]. +Because of this, they must always be followed by \f[B]two or more +spaces\f[R] (or newline). +.PP +Account names can be aliased. +.SS Amounts +.PP +After the account name, there is usually an amount. +(Important: between account name and amount, there must be \f[B]two or +more spaces\f[R].) +.PP +hledger\[aq]s amount format is flexible, supporting several +international formats. +Here are some examples. +Amounts have a number (the \[dq]quantity\[dq]): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +\&..and usually a currency symbol or commodity name (more on this +below), to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a +separating space: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$1 +4000 AAPL +3 \[dq]green apples\[dq] +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Amounts can be preceded by a minus sign (or a plus sign, though plus is +the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side +commodity symbol: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +-$1 +$-1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when +parsing (but they won\[aq]t be displayed in output): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] ++ $1 +$- 1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Scientific E notation is allowed: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +1E-6 +EUR 1E3 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Decimal marks, digit group marks +.PP +A \f[I]decimal mark\f[R] can be written as a period or a comma: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +1.23 +1,23456780000009 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups +of digits can optionally be separated by a \f[I]digit group mark\f[R] - +a space, comma, or period (different from the decimal mark): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] + $1,000,000.00 + EUR 2.000.000,00 +INR 9,99,99,999.00 + 1 000 000.9455 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Note, a number containing a single digit group mark and no decimal mark +is ambiguous. +Are these digit group marks or decimal marks ? +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +1,000 +1.000 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +If you don\[aq]t tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the +above are decimal marks, parsing both numbers as 1. +.PP +To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially +if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we +recommend explicitly declaring the decimal mark character in each +journal file, using a directive at the top of the file. +The \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] directive is best, otherwise +\f[V]commodity\f[R] directives will also work. +These are described below. +.SS Commodity +.PP +Amounts in hledger have both a \[dq]quantity\[dq], which is a signed +decimal number, and a \[dq]commodity\[dq], which is a currency symbol, +stock ticker, or any word or phrase describing something you are +tracking. +.PP +If the commodity name contains non-letters (spaces, numbers, or +punctuation), you must always write it inside double quotes +(\f[V]\[dq]green apples\[dq]\f[R], \f[V]\[dq]ABC123\[dq]\f[R]). +.PP +If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with +name \f[V]\[dq]\[dq]\f[R]; we call that the \[dq]no-symbol +commodity\[dq]. +.PP +Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more +powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of +the time. +A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: +\f[V]1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 TSLA\f[R]. +In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in hledger\[aq]s +output; you can\[aq]t write them directly in the journal file. +.PP +(If you are writing scripts or working with hledger\[aq]s internals, +these are the \f[V]Amount\f[R] and \f[V]MixedAmount\f[R] types.) +.SS Directives influencing number parsing and display +.PP +You can add \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] and \f[V]commodity\f[R] directives to +the journal, to declare and control these things more explicitly and +precisely. +These are described below, but here\[aq]s a quick example: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# the decimal mark character used by all amounts in this file (all commodities) +decimal-mark . + +# display styles for the $, EUR, INR and no-symbol commodities: +commodity $1,000.00 +commodity EUR 1.000,00 +commodity INR 9,99,99,999.00 +commodity 1 000 000.9455 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +.SS Commodity display style +.PP +For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display +style to use in most reports. +(Exceptions: price amounts, and all amounts displayed by the +\f[V]print\f[R] command, are displayed with all of their decimal digits +visible.) +.PP +A commodity\[aq]s display style is inferred as follows. +.PP +First, if a default commodity is declared with \f[V]D\f[R], this +commodity and its style is applied to any no-symbol amounts in the +journal. +.PP +Then each commodity\[aq]s style is inferred from one of the following, +in order of preference: +.IP \[bu] 2 +The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol +commodity), if any. +.IP \[bu] 2 +The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal\[aq]s transactions. +(Posting amounts only; prices and periodic or auto rules are ignored, +currently.) +.IP \[bu] 2 +The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: \f[V]$1000.00\f[R]. +(Symbol on the left, period decimal mark, two decimal places.) +.PP +A style is inferred from journal amounts as follows: +.IP \[bu] 2 +Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first +amount +.IP \[bu] 2 +Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group +sizes), if any +.IP \[bu] 2 +Use the maximum number of decimal places of all. +.PP +Cost amounts don\[aq]t affect the commodity display style directly, but +occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a posting\[aq]s amount +is inferred using a cost). +If you find this causing problems, use a commodity directive to fix the +display style. +.PP +To summarise: each commodity\[aq]s amounts will be normalised to (a) the +style declared by a \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive, or (b) the style of +the first posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group +style and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. +So if your reports are showing amounts in a way you don\[aq]t like, eg +with too many decimal places, use a commodity directive. +Some examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# declare euro, dollar, bitcoin and no-symbol commodities and set their +# input number formats and output display styles: +commodity EUR 1.000, +commodity $1000.00 +commodity 1000.00000000 BTC +commodity 1 000. +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command +line option. +.SS Rounding +.PP +Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal +places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by the +commodity display style. +Note, hledger uses banker\[aq]s rounding: it rounds to the nearest even +number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal places is \[dq]0\[dq]). +.SS Costs +.PP +After a posting amount, you can note its cost (when buying) or selling +price (when selling) in another commodity, by writing either +\f[V]\[at] UNITPRICE\f[R] or \f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALPRICE\f[R] after it. +This indicates a conversion transaction, where one commodity is +exchanged for another. +.PP +(You might also see this called \[dq]transaction price\[dq] in hledger +docs, discussions, or code; that term was directionally neutral and +reminded that it is a price specific to a transaction, but we now just +call it \[dq]cost\[dq], with the understanding that the transaction +could be a purchase or a sale.) +.PP +Costs are usually written explicitly with \f[V]\[at]\f[R] or +\f[V]\[at]\[at]\f[R], but can also be inferred automatically for simple +multi-commodity transactions. +Note, if costs are inferred, the order of postings is significant; the +first posting will have a cost attached, in the commodity of the second. +.PP +As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign +currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or +implicitly: +.IP "1." 3 +Write the price per unit, as \f[V]\[at] UNITPRICE\f[R] after the amount: +.RS 4 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2009/1/1 + assets:euros \[Eu]100 \[at] $1.35 ; one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each + assets:dollars ; balancing amount is -$135.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP "2." 3 +Write the total price, as \f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALPRICE\f[R] after the +amount: +.RS 4 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2009/1/1 + assets:euros \[Eu]100 \[at]\[at] $135 ; one hundred euros purchased at $135 for the lot + assets:dollars +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP "3." 3 +Specify amounts for all postings, using exactly two commodities, and let +hledger infer the price that balances the transaction. +Note the effect of posting order: the price is added to first posting, +making it \f[V]\[Eu]100 \[at]\[at] $135\f[R], as in example 2: +.RS 4 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2009/1/1 + assets:euros \[Eu]100 ; one hundred euros purchased + assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.PP +Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the +\f[V]-B/--cost\f[R] flag; this is discussed more in the \[u02DC]COST +REPORTING section. +.SS Other cost/lot notations +.PP +A slight digression for Ledger and Beancount users. +Ledger has a number of cost/lot-related notations: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]\[at] UNITCOST\f[R] and \f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALCOST\f[R] +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +expresses a conversion rate, as in hledger +.IP \[bu] 2 +when buying, also creates a lot than can be selected at selling time +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V](\[at]) UNITCOST\f[R] and \f[V](\[at]\[at]) TOTALCOST\f[R] (virtual +cost) +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +like the above, but also means \[dq]this cost was exceptional, don\[aq]t +use it when inferring market prices\[dq]. +.RE +.PP +Currently, hledger treats the above like \f[V]\[at]\f[R] and +\f[V]\[at]\[at]\f[R]; the parentheses are ignored. +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]{=FIXEDUNITCOST}\f[R] and \f[V]{{=FIXEDTOTALCOST}}\f[R] (fixed +price) +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +when buying, means \[dq]this cost is also the fixed price, don\[aq]t let +it fluctuate in value reports\[dq] +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]{UNITCOST}\f[R] and \f[V]{{TOTALCOST}}\f[R] (lot price) +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +can be used identically to \f[V]\[at] UNITCOST\f[R] and +\f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALCOST\f[R], also creates a lot +.IP \[bu] 2 +when selling, combined with \f[V]\[at] ...\f[R], specifies an investment +lot by its cost basis; does not check if that lot is present +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +and related: \f[V][YYYY/MM/DD]\f[R] (lot date) +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +when buying, attaches this acquisition date to the lot +.IP \[bu] 2 +when selling, selects a lot by its acquisition date +.RE +.PP +Currently, hledger accepts any or all of the above in any order after +the posting amount, but ignores them. +(To select lots, we use subaccounts instead.) +.IP \[bu] 2 +also: \f[V](SOME TEXT)\f[R] (lot note) +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +when buying, attaches this note to the lot +.IP \[bu] 2 +when selling, selects a lot by its note +.RE +.PP +Currently, hledger rejects lot notes. +.PP +For Beancount users, the notation and behaviour is different: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]\[at] UNITCOST\f[R] and \f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALCOST\f[R] +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +expresses a cost without creating a lot, as in hledger +.IP \[bu] 2 +when buying (augmenting) or selling (reducing) a lot, combined with +\f[V]{...}\f[R]: documents the cost/selling price (not used for +transaction balancing) +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]{UNITCOST}\f[R] and \f[V]{{TOTALCOST}}\f[R] +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +when buying (augmenting), expresses the cost for transaction balancing, +and also creates a lot with this cost basis attached +.IP \[bu] 2 +when selling (reducing), +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +selects a lot by its cost basis +.IP \[bu] 2 +raises an error if that lot is not present or can not be selected +unambiguously (depending on booking method configured) +.IP \[bu] 2 +expresses the selling price for transaction balancing +.RE +.RE +.PP +Currently, hledger accepts the +\f[V]{UNITCOST}\f[R]/\f[V]{{TOTALCOST}}\f[R] notation but ignores it. +.IP \[bu] 2 +variations: \f[V]{}\f[R], \f[V]{YYYY-MM-DD}\f[R], +\f[V]{\[dq]LABEL\[dq]}\f[R], \f[V]{UNITCOST, \[dq]LABEL\[dq]}\f[R], +\f[V]{UNITCOST, YYYY-MM-DD, \[dq]LABEL\[dq]}\f[R] etc. +.PP +Currently, hledger rejects these. +.SS Balance assertions +.PP +hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. +These look like, for example, \f[V]= EXPECTEDBALANCE\f[R] following a +posting\[aq]s amount. +Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a and b after +each posting: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2013/1/1 + a $1 =$1 + b =$-1 + +2013/1/2 + a $1 =$2 + b $-1 =$-2 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance assertions +and report an error if any of them fail. +Balance assertions can protect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting +reconciled balances while cleaning up old entries. +You can disable them temporarily with the +\f[V]-I/--ignore-assertions\f[R] flag, which can be useful for +troubleshooting or for reading Ledger files. +(Note: this flag currently does not disable balance assignments, +described below). +.SS Assertions and ordering +.PP +hledger sorts an account\[aq]s postings and assertions first by date and +then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. +Note this is different from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse +order. +(Also, Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated +postings to the same account within a transaction.) +.PP +So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder +differently-dated transactions within the journal. +But if you reorder same-dated transactions or postings, assertions might +break and require updating. +This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise control over the +order of postings and assertions within a day, so you can assert +intra-day balances. +.SS Assertions and multiple included files +.PP +Multiple files included with the \f[V]include\f[R] directive are +processed as if concatenated into one file, preserving their order and +the posting order within each file. +It means that balance assertions in later files will see balance from +earlier files. +.PP +And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split +across multiple files, and you want to assert the account\[aq]s balance +on that day, you\[aq]ll need to put the assertion in the right file - +the last one in the sequence, probably. +.SS Assertions and multiple -f files +.PP +Unlike \f[V]include\f[R], when multiple files are specified on the +command line with multiple \f[V]-f/--file\f[R] options, balance +assertions will not see balance from earlier files. +This can be useful when you do not want problems in earlier files to +disrupt valid assertions in later files. +.PP +If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use +\f[V]include\f[R], or concatenate the files temporarily. +.SS Assertions and commodities +.PP +The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in +fact the assertion checks only this commodity\[aq]s balance within the +(possibly multi-commodity) account balance. +This is how assertions work in Ledger also. +We could call this a \[dq]partial\[dq] balance assertion. +.PP +To assert the balance of more than one commodity in an account, you can +write multiple postings, each asserting one commodity\[aq]s balance. +.PP +You can make a stronger \[dq]total\[dq] balance assertion by writing a +double equals sign (\f[V]== EXPECTEDBALANCE\f[R]). +This asserts that there are no other commodities in the account besides +the asserted one (or at least, that their balance is 0). +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2013/1/1 + a $1 + a 1\[Eu] + b $-1 + c -1\[Eu] + +2013/1/2 ; These assertions succeed + a 0 = $1 + a 0 = 1\[Eu] + b 0 == $-1 + c 0 == -1\[Eu] + +2013/1/3 ; This assertion fails as \[aq]a\[aq] also contains 1\[Eu] + a 0 == $1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +It\[aq]s not yet possible to make a complete assertion about a balance +that has multiple commodities. +One workaround is to isolate each commodity into its own subaccount: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2013/1/1 + a:usd $1 + a:euro 1\[Eu] + b + +2013/1/2 + a 0 == 0 + a:usd 0 == $1 + a:euro 0 == 1\[Eu] +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Assertions and prices +.PP +Balance assertions ignore costs, and should normally be written without +one: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2019/1/1 + (a) $1 \[at] \[Eu]1 = $1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, +even though they don\[aq]t affect whether the assertion passes or fails. +This is for backward compatibility (hledger\[aq]s close command used to +generate balance assertions with prices), and because balance +\f[I]assignments\f[R] do use them (see below). +.SS Assertions and subaccounts +.PP +The balance assertions above (\f[V]=\f[R] and \f[V]==\f[R]) do not count +the balance from subaccounts; they check the account\[aq]s exclusive +balance only. +You can assert the balance including subaccounts by writing \f[V]=*\f[R] +or \f[V]==*\f[R], eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2019/1/1 + equity:opening balances + checking:a 5 + checking:b 5 + checking 1 ==* 11 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Assertions and virtual postings +.PP +Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they +are not affected by the \f[V]--real/-R\f[R] flag or \f[V]real:\f[R] +query. +.SS Assertions and auto postings +.PP +Balance assertions \f[I]are\f[R] affected by the \f[V]--auto\f[R] flag, +which generates auto postings, which can alter account balances. +Because auto postings are optional in hledger, accounts affected by them +effectively have two balances. +But balance assertions can only test one or the other of these. +So to avoid making fragile assertions, either: +.IP \[bu] 2 +assert the balance calculated with \f[V]--auto\f[R], and always use +\f[V]--auto\f[R] with that file +.IP \[bu] 2 +or assert the balance calculated without \f[V]--auto\f[R], and never use +\f[V]--auto\f[R] with that file +.IP \[bu] 2 +or avoid balance assertions on accounts affected by auto postings (or +avoid auto postings entirely). +.SS Assertions and precision +.PP +Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are not +always what is shown by reports. +Eg a commodity directive may limit the display precision, but this will +not affect balance assertions. +Balance assertion failure messages show exact amounts. +.SS Balance assignments +.PP +Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported. +These are like balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the +left side of the equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so +as to satisfy the assertion. +This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when setting opening +balances: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +; starting a new journal, set asset account balances +2016/1/1 opening balances + assets:checking = $409.32 + assets:savings = $735.24 + assets:cash = $42 + equity:opening balances +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +or when adjusting a balance to reality: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +; no cash left; update balance, record any untracked spending as a generic expense +2016/1/15 + assets:cash = $0 + expenses:misc +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +The calculated amount depends on the account\[aq]s balance in the +commodity at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings +of the commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or +assignment). +Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a little less +explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger or do +the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it. +.SS Balance assignments and prices +.PP +A cost in a balance assignment will cause the calculated amount to have +that price attached: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2019/1/1 + (a) = $1 \[at] \[Eu]2 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger print --explicit +2019-01-01 + (a) $1 \[at] \[Eu]2 = $1 \[at] \[Eu]2 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Posting comments +.PP +Text following \f[V];\f[R], at the end of a posting line, and/or on +indented lines immediately below it, form comments for that posting. +They are reproduced by \f[V]print\f[R] but otherwise ignored, except +they may contain tags or bracketed posting dates, which are not ignored. +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2012-01-01 + expenses 1 ; a comment for posting 1 + assets + ; a comment for posting 2 + ; a second comment line for posting 2 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Tags +.PP +Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, +postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. +.PP +They are written as a word (optionally hyphenated) immediately followed +by a full colon, in a transaction or posting or account directive\[aq]s +comment. +(This is an exception to the usual rule that things in comments are +ignored.) +Eg, here four different tags are recorded: one on the checking account, +two on the transaction, and one on the expenses posting: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets:checking ; accounttag: + +2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag-1: + ; transactiontag-2: + assets:checking $-1 + expenses:food $1 ; postingtag: +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Postings also inherit tags from their transaction and their account. +And transactions also acquire tags from their postings (and +postings\[aq] accounts). +So in the example above, the expenses posting effectively has all four +tags (by inheriting from account and transaction), and the transaction +also has all four tags (by acquiring from the expenses posting). +.PP +You can list tag names with \f[V]hledger tags [NAMEREGEX]\f[R], or match +by tag name with a \f[V]tag:NAMEREGEX\f[R] query. +.SS Tag values +.PP +Tags can have a value, which is any text after the colon up until a +comma or end of line (with surrounding whitespace removed). +Note this means that hledger tag values can not contain commas. +Eg in the following posting, the three tags\[aq] values are \[dq]value +1\[dq], \[dq]value 2\[dq], and \[dq]\[dq] (empty) respectively: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] + expenses:food $10 ; foo, tag1: value 1 , tag2:value 2, bar tag3: , baz +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Note that tags are multi-valued. +When a tag name is seen again with a new value, the new value is added, +rather than overriding the previous value. +Currently this is true for all same-tag situations, ie: +.IP \[bu] 2 +Same tag on multiple transactions +.IP \[bu] 2 +Posting inheriting the same tag from its transaction or account +.IP \[bu] 2 +Transaction acquiring the same tag from one or more of its postings +.PP +You can list a tag\[aq]s values with +\f[V]hledger tags TAGNAME --values\f[R], or match by tag value with a +\f[V]tag:NAMEREGEX=VALUEREGEX\f[R] query. +.SS Directives +.PP +A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, +that influences how the journal is processed, how things are displayed, +and so on. +hledger\[aq]s directives are based on (a subset of) Ledger\[aq]s, but +there are many differences, and also some differences between hledger +versions. +Here are some more definitions: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[I]subdirective\f[R] - Some directives support subdirectives, written +indented below the parent directive. +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[I]decimal mark\f[R] - The character to interpret as a decimal mark +(period or comma) when parsing amounts of a commodity. +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[I]display style\f[R] - How to display amounts of a commodity in +output: symbol side and spacing, digit groups, decimal mark, and number +of decimal places. +.PP +Directives are not required when starting out with hledger, but you will +probably add some as your needs grow. +Here is an overview of directives by purpose: +.PP +.TS +tab(@); +lw(30.6n) lw(22.0n) lw(17.4n). +T{ +purpose +T}@T{ +directives +T}@T{ +command line options with similar effect +T} +_ +T{ +\f[B]READING/GENERATING DATA:\f[R] +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +Declare a commodity\[aq]s or file\[aq]s decimal mark to help parse +amounts accurately +T}@T{ +\f[V]commodity\f[R], \f[V]D\f[R], \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +Apply changes to the data while parsing +T}@T{ +\f[V]alias\f[R], \f[V]apply account\f[R], \f[V]comment\f[R], +\f[V]D\f[R], \f[V]Y\f[R] +T}@T{ +\f[V]--alias\f[R] +T} +T{ +Inline extra data files +T}@T{ +\f[V]include\f[R] +T}@T{ +multiple \f[V]-f/--file\f[R]\[aq]s +T} +T{ +Generate extra transactions or budget goals +T}@T{ +\f[V]\[ti]\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +Generate extra postings +T}@T{ +\f[V]=\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[B]CHECKING FOR ERRORS:\f[R] +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +Define valid entities to allow stricter error checking +T}@T{ +\f[V]account\f[R], \f[V]commodity\f[R], \f[V]payee\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[B]DISPLAYING REPORTS:\f[R] +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +Declare accounts\[aq] display order and accounting type +T}@T{ +\f[V]account\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +Declare commodity display styles +T}@T{ +\f[V]commodity\f[R], \f[V]D\f[R] +T}@T{ +\f[V]-c/--commodity-style\f[R] +T} +T{ +Declare market prices +T}@T{ +\f[V]P\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +.TE +.PP +And here are all the directives and their precise effects: +.PP +.TS +tab(@); +lw(4.9n) lw(61.0n) lw(4.1n). +T{ +directive +T}@T{ +effects +T}@T{ +ends at file end? +T} +_ +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]account\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; and its +display order and type, for reports. +Subdirectives: any text, ignored. +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]alias\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of current file +or \f[V]end aliases\f[R]. +T}@T{ +Y +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]apply account\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in following +entries until end of current file or \f[V]end apply account\f[R]. +T}@T{ +Y +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]comment\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file or +\f[V]end comment\f[R]. +T}@T{ +Y +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]commodity\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Declares a commodity, for checking all entries in all files; the decimal +mark for parsing amounts of this commodity, for following entries until +end of current file; and its display style, for reports. +Takes precedence over \f[V]D\f[R]. +Subdirectives: \f[V]format\f[R] (alternate syntax). +T}@T{ +N, Y +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]D\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts, and its decimal +mark for parsing amounts of this commodity in following entries until +end of current file; and its display style, for reports. +T}@T{ +Y +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]decimal-mark\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all commodities in +following entries until next \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] or end of current +file. +Included files can override. +Takes precedence over \f[V]commodity\f[R] and \f[V]D\f[R]. +T}@T{ +Y +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]include\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they were +written inline. +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]payee\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Declares a payee name, for checking all entries in all files. +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]P\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Declares a market price for a commodity on some date, for valuation +reports. +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]Y\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +Declares a year for yearless dates, for following entries until end of +current file. +T}@T{ +Y +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]\[ti]\f[B]\f[R] (tilde) +T}@T{ +Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future transactions +with \f[V]--forecast\f[R] and budget goals with +\f[V]balance --budget\f[R]. +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]=\f[B]\f[R] (equals) +T}@T{ +Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings on matched +transactions with \f[V]--auto\f[R], in current, parent, and child files +(but not sibling files, see #1212). +T}@T{ +partly +T} +.TE +.SS Directives and multiple files +.PP +If you use multiple \f[V]-f\f[R]/\f[V]--file\f[R] options, or the +\f[V]include\f[R] directive, hledger will process multiple input files. +But directives which affect input typically have effect only until the +end of the file in which they occur (and on any included files in that +region). +.PP +This may seem inconvenient, but it\[aq]s intentional; it makes reports +stable and deterministic, independent of the order of input. +Otherwise you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f +options in a different order, or if you moved includes around while +cleaning up your files. +.PP +It can be surprising though; for example, it means that \f[V]alias\f[R] +directives do not affect parent or sibling files (see below). +.SS Including files +.PP +You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include +directive, like this: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +include FILEPATH +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot +files can be included (not CSV files, currently). +.PP +If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the +current file\[aq]s folder. +.PP +A tilde means home directory, eg: \f[V]include \[ti]/main.journal\f[R]. +.PP +The path may contain glob patterns to match multiple files, eg: +\f[V]include *.journal\f[R]. +.PP +There is limited support for recursive wildcards: \f[V]**/\f[R] (the +slash is required) matches 0 or more subdirectories. +It\[aq]s not super convenient since you have to avoid include cycles and +including directories, but this can be done, eg: +\f[V]include */**/*.journal\f[R]. +.PP +The path may also be prefixed to force a specific file format, +overriding the file extension (as described in hledger.1 -> Input +files): \f[V]include timedot:\[ti]/notes/2020*.md\f[R]. +.SS Default year +.PP +You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which +don\[aq]t specify a year. +This is a line beginning with \f[V]Y\f[R] followed by the year. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 + +12/15 ; equivalent to 2009/12/15 + expenses 1 + assets + +Y2010 ; change default year to 2010 + +2009/1/30 ; specifies the year, not affected + expenses 1 + assets + +1/31 ; equivalent to 2010/1/31 + expenses 1 + assets +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Decimal mark +.PP +You can use a \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] directive - usually one per file, +at the top of the file - to declare which character represents a decimal +mark when parsing amounts in this file. +It can look like +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +decimal-mark . +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +or +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +decimal-mark , +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we +recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg +thousands separators). +.SS Commodities +.PP +You can use \f[V]commodity\f[R] directives to declare your commodities. +In fact the \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive performs several functions at +once: +.IP "1." 3 +It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. +This can optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. +(Cf Commodity error checking) +.IP "2." 3 +It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to expect +when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international number formats +in your data. +Without this, hledger will parse both \f[V]1,000\f[R] and +\f[V]1.000\f[R] as 1. +(Cf Amounts) +.IP "3." 3 +It declares how to render the commodity\[aq]s amounts when displaying +output - the decimal mark, any digit group marks, the number of decimal +places, symbol placement and so on. +(Cf Commodity display style) +.PP +You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives +sooner or later, so we recommend using them, for robust and predictable +parsing and display. +.PP +Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since for +function 2, they affect only following amounts, cf #793). +.PP +A commodity directive is just the word \f[V]commodity\f[R] followed by a +sample amount, like this: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +;commodity SAMPLEAMOUNT + +commodity $1000.00 +commodity 1,000.0000 AAAA ; optional same-line comment +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the \f[V]format\f[R] +subdirective, as in Ledger. +Note in this case the commodity symbol appears twice; it must be the +same in both places: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +;commodity SYMBOL +; format SAMPLEAMOUNT + +; display indian rupees with currency name on the left, +; thousands, lakhs and crores comma-separated, +; period as decimal point, and two decimal places. +commodity INR + format INR 1,00,00,000.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or +punctuation, it must be enclosed in double quotes (cf Commodity). +.PP +The amount\[aq]s quantity does not matter; only the format is +significant. +It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed +by 0 or more decimal digits. +.PP +A few more examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# number formats for $, EUR, INR and the no-symbol commodity: +commodity $1,000.00 +commodity EUR 1.000,00 +commodity INR 9,99,99,999.0 +commodity 1 000 000. +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Note hledger normally uses banker\[aq]s rounding, so 0.5 displayed with +zero decimal digits is \[dq]0\[dq]. +(More at Commodity display style.) +.PP +Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display +style can still be overridden by supplying a command line option. +.SS Commodity error checking +.PP +In strict mode, enabled with the \f[V]-s\f[R]/\f[V]--strict\f[R] flag, +hledger will report an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not +been declared by a \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive. +This works similarly to account error checking, see the notes there for +more details. +.PP +Note, this disallows amounts without a commodity symbol, because +currently it\[aq]s not possible (?) +to declare the \[dq]no-symbol\[dq] commodity with a directive. +This is one exception for convenience: zero amounts are always allowed +to have no commodity symbol. +.SS Default commodity +.PP +The \f[V]D\f[R] directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any +subsequent commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing +the journal. +This effect lasts until the next \f[V]D\f[R] directive, or the end of +the journal. +.PP +For compatibility/historical reasons, \f[V]D\f[R] also acts like a +\f[V]commodity\f[R] directive (setting the commodity\[aq]s decimal mark +for parsing and display style for output). +.PP +The syntax is \f[V]D AMOUNT\f[R]. +As with \f[V]commodity\f[R], the amount must include a decimal mark +(either period or comma). +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +; commodity-less amounts should be treated as dollars +; (and displayed with the dollar sign on the left, thousands separators and two decimal places) +D $1,000.00 + +1/1 + a 5 ; <- commodity-less amount, parsed as $5 and displayed as $5.00 + b +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +If both \f[V]commodity\f[R] and \f[V]D\f[R] directives are found for a +commodity, \f[V]commodity\f[R] takes precedence for setting decimal mark +and display style. +.PP +If you are using \f[V]D\f[R] and also checking commodities, you will +need to add a \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive similar to the \f[V]D\f[R]. +(The \f[V]hledger check commodities\f[R] command expects +\f[V]commodity\f[R] directives, and ignores \f[V]D\f[R]). +.SS Accounts +.PP +\f[V]account\f[R] directives can be used to declare accounts (ie, the +places that amounts are transferred from and to). +Though not required, these declarations can provide several benefits: +.IP \[bu] 2 +They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a +reference. +.IP \[bu] 2 +In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by +transactions, which helps detect typos. +.IP \[bu] 2 +They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alphabetic +sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). +.IP \[bu] 2 +They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, +hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) +.IP \[bu] 2 +They can store additional account information as comments, or as tags +which can be used to filter or pivot reports. +.IP \[bu] 2 +They can help hledger know your accounts\[aq] types (asset, liability, +equity, revenue, expense), affecting reports like balancesheet and +incomestatement. +.PP +They are written as the word \f[V]account\f[R] followed by a +hledger-style account name, eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets:bank:checking +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Account comments +.PP +Text following \f[B]two or more spaces\f[R] and \f[V];\f[R] at the end +of an account directive line, and/or following \f[V];\f[R] on indented +lines immediately below it, form comments for that account. +They are ignored except they may contain tags, which are not ignored. +.PP +The two-space requirement for same-line account comments is because +\f[V];\f[R] is allowed in account names. +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon + ; next-line comment + ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Account subdirectives +.PP +Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently +ignored: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets:bank:checking + format subdirective is ignored +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Account error checking +.PP +By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence when +a posting references them. +This is convenient, but it means hledger can\[aq]t warn you when you +mis-spell an account name in the journal. +Usually you\[aq]ll find that error later, as an extra account in balance +reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. +.PP +In strict mode, enabled with the \f[V]-s\f[R]/\f[V]--strict\f[R] flag, +hledger will report an error if any transaction uses an account name +that has not been declared by an account directive. +Some notes: +.IP \[bu] 2 +The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct +account name capitalisation. +.IP \[bu] 2 +The account directive\[aq]s scope is \[dq]whole file and below\[dq] (see +directives). +This means it affects all of the current file, and any files it +includes, but not parent or sibling files. +The position of account directives within the file does not matter, +though it\[aq]s usual to put them at the top. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Accounts can only be declared in \f[V]journal\f[R] files, but will +affect included files of all types. +.IP \[bu] 2 +It\[aq]s currently not possible to declare \[dq]all possible +subaccounts\[dq] with a wildcard; every account posted to must be +declared. +.SS Account display order +.PP +The order in which account directives are written influences the order +in which accounts appear in reports, hledger-ui, hledger-web etc. +By default accounts appear in alphabetical order, but if you add these +account directives to the journal file: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets +account liabilities +account equity +account revenues +account expenses +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +those accounts will be displayed in declaration order: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger accounts -1 +assets +liabilities +equity +revenues +expenses +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Any undeclared accounts are displayed last, in alphabetical order. +.PP +Sorting is done at each level of the account tree, within each group of +sibling accounts under the same parent. +And currently, this directive: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account other:zoo +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +would influence the position of \f[V]zoo\f[R] among +\f[V]other\f[R]\[aq]s subaccounts, but not the position of +\f[V]other\f[R] among the top-level accounts. +This means: +.IP \[bu] 2 +you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg \f[V]account other\f[R] +above) that you don\[aq]t intend to post to, just to customize their +display order +.IP \[bu] 2 +sibling accounts stay together (you couldn\[aq]t display \f[V]x:y\f[R] +in between \f[V]a:b\f[R] and \f[V]a:c\f[R]). +.SS Account types +.PP +hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, +expenses and so on. +This enables easy reports like balancesheet and incomestatement, and +filtering by account type with the \f[V]type:\f[R] query. +.PP +As a convenience, hledger will detect these account types automatically +if you are using common english-language top-level account names +(described below). +But generally we recommend you declare types explicitly, by adding a +\f[V]type:\f[R] tag to your top-level account directives. +Subaccounts will inherit the type of their parent. +The tag\[aq]s value should be one of the five main account types: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]A\f[R] or \f[V]Asset\f[R] (things you own) +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]L\f[R] or \f[V]Liability\f[R] (things you owe) +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]E\f[R] or \f[V]Equity\f[R] (investment/ownership; balanced +counterpart of assets & liabilities) +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]R\f[R] or \f[V]Revenue\f[R] (what you received money from, AKA +income; technically part of Equity) +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]X\f[R] or \f[V]Expense\f[R] (what you spend money on; technically +part of Equity) +.PP +or, it can be (these are used less often): +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]C\f[R] or \f[V]Cash\f[R] (a subtype of Asset, indicating liquid +assets for the cashflow report) +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]V\f[R] or \f[V]Conversion\f[R] (a subtype of Equity, for +conversions (see COST REPORTING).) +.PP +Here is a typical set of account type declarations: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets ; type: A +account liabilities ; type: L +account equity ; type: E +account revenues ; type: R +account expenses ; type: X + +account assets:bank ; type: C +account assets:cash ; type: C + +account equity:conversion ; type: V +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Here are some tips for working with account types. +.IP \[bu] 2 +The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. +These are just a convenience that sometimes help new users get going; if +they don\[aq]t work for you, just ignore them and declare your account +types. +See also Regular expressions. +Note the Cash regexp changed in hledger 1.24.99.2. +.RS 2 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +If account\[aq]s name contains this (CI) regular expression: | its type is: +--------------------------------------------------------------------|------------- +\[ha]assets?(:.+)?:(cash|bank|che(ck|que?)(ing)?|savings?|current)(:|$) | Cash +\[ha]assets?(:|$) | Asset +\[ha](debts?|liabilit(y|ies))(:|$) | Liability +\[ha]equity:(trad(e|ing)|conversion)s?(:|$) | Conversion +\[ha]equity(:|$) | Equity +\[ha](income|revenue)s?(:|$) | Revenue +\[ha]expenses?(:|$) | Expense +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +If you declare any account types, it\[aq]s a good idea to declare an +account for all of the account types, because a mixture of declared and +name-inferred types can disrupt certain reports. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. +See Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. +.IP \[bu] 2 +As mentioned above, subaccounts will inherit a type from their parent +account. +More precisely, an account\[aq]s type is decided by the first of these +that exists: +.RS 2 +.IP "1." 3 +A \f[V]type:\f[R] declaration for this account. +.IP "2." 3 +A \f[V]type:\f[R] declaration in the parent accounts above it, +preferring the nearest. +.IP "3." 3 +An account type inferred from this account\[aq]s name. +.IP "4." 3 +An account type inferred from a parent account\[aq]s name, preferring +the nearest parent. +.IP "5." 3 +Otherwise, it will have no type. +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +For troubleshooting, you can list accounts and their types with: +.RS 2 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES] +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.SS Account aliases +.PP +You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or +parts of them, before generating reports. +This can be useful for: +.IP \[bu] 2 +expanding shorthand account names to their full form, allowing easier +data entry and a less verbose journal +.IP \[bu] 2 +adapting old journals to your current chart of accounts +.IP \[bu] 2 +experimenting with new account organisations, like a new hierarchy +.IP \[bu] 2 +combining two accounts into one, eg to see their sum or difference on +one line +.IP \[bu] 2 +customising reports +.PP +Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. +They do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or +hledger-web. +.PP +Account aliases are very powerful. +They are generally easy to use correctly, but you can also generate +invalid account names with them; more on this below. +.PP +See also Rewrite account names. +.SS Basic aliases +.PP +To set an account alias, use the \f[V]alias\f[R] directive in your +journal file. +This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its +included files (but note: not sibling or parent files). +The spaces around the = are optional: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +alias OLD = NEW +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Or, you can use the \f[V]--alias \[aq]OLD=NEW\[aq]\f[R] option on the +command line. +This affects all entries. +It\[aq]s useful for trying out aliases interactively. +.PP +OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. +hledger will replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new +one. +Subaccounts are also affected. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +alias checking = assets:bank:wells fargo:checking +; rewrites \[dq]checking\[dq] to \[dq]assets:bank:wells fargo:checking\[dq], or \[dq]checking:a\[dq] to \[dq]assets:bank:wells fargo:checking:a\[dq] +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Regex aliases +.PP +There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, +indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. +(This is the only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a +regular expression.) +.PP +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +alias /REGEX/ = REPLACEMENT +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +or: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger --alias \[aq]/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT\[aq] ... +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by +REPLACEMENT. +REGEX is case-insensitive as usual. +.PP +If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg +\f[V]/\[rs]/=:\f[R]. +.PP +If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced by +the usual backslash and number in REPLACEMENT: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +alias /\[ha](.+):bank:([\[ha]:]+):(.*)/ = \[rs]1:\[rs]2 \[rs]3 +; rewrites \[dq]assets:bank:wells fargo:checking\[dq] to \[dq]assets:wells fargo checking\[dq] +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on command line, to end of +option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace. +.SS Combining aliases +.PP +You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives +and/or command line options. +.PP +Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, +then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. +Each alias sees the effect of previously applied aliases. +.PP +In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be +applied and in which order. +For (each account name in) each journal entry, we apply: +.IP "1." 3 +\f[V]alias\f[R] directives preceding the journal entry, most recently +parsed first (ie, reading upward from the journal entry, bottom to top) +.IP "2." 3 +\f[V]--alias\f[R] options, in the order they appeared on the command +line (left to right). +.PP +In other words, for (an account name in) a given journal entry: +.IP \[bu] 2 +the nearest alias declaration before/above the entry is applied first +.IP \[bu] 2 +the next alias before/above that will be be applied next, and so on +.IP \[bu] 2 +aliases defined after/below the entry do not affect it. +.PP +This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps +provide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way +independent of which files are being read and in which order. +.PP +In case of trouble, adding \f[V]--debug=6\f[R] to the command line will +show which aliases are being applied when. +.SS Aliases and multiple files +.PP +As explained at Directives and multiple files, \f[V]alias\f[R] +directives do not affect parent or sibling files. +Eg in this command, +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +hledger -f a.aliases -f b.journal +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. +Including the aliases doesn\[aq]t work either: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +include a.aliases + +2020-01-01 ; not affected by a.aliases + foo 1 + bar +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +This means that account aliases should usually be declared at the start +of your top-most file, like this: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +alias foo=Foo +alias bar=Bar + +2020-01-01 ; affected by aliases above + foo 1 + bar + +include c.journal ; also affected +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]end aliases\f[R] +.PP +You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases (seen in the +journal so far, or defined on the command line) with this directive: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +end aliases +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Aliases can generate bad account names +.PP +Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, which +could cause confusing reports or invalid \f[V]print\f[R] output. +For example, you could erase all account names: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2021-01-01 + a:aa 1 + b +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger print --alias \[aq]/.*/=\[aq] +2021-01-01 + 1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +The above \f[V]print\f[R] output is not a valid journal. +Or you could insert an illegal double space, causing \f[V]print\f[R] +output that would give a different journal when reparsed: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2021-01-01 + old 1 + other +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger print --alias old=\[dq]new USD\[dq] | hledger -f- print +2021-01-01 + new USD 1 + other +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Aliases and account types +.PP +If an account with a type declaration (see Declaring accounts > Account +types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in +effect. +.PP +However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming +parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent +child accounts from inheriting the account type of their parents. +.PP +Secondly, if an account\[aq]s type is being inferred from its name, +renaming it by an alias could prevent or alter that. +.PP +If you are using account aliases and the \f[V]type:\f[R] query is not +matching accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts +command, eg something like: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger accounts --alias assets=bassetts type:a +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Default parent account +.PP +You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all accounts +within a section of the journal. +Use the \f[V]apply account\f[R] and \f[V]end apply account\f[R] +directives like so: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +apply account home + +2010/1/1 + food $10 + cash + +end apply account +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +which is equivalent to: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2010/01/01 + home:food $10 + home:cash $-10 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +If \f[V]end apply account\f[R] is omitted, the effect lasts to the end +of the file. +Included files are also affected, eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +apply account business +include biz.journal +end apply account +apply account personal +include personal.journal +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy \f[V]account\f[R] and \f[V]end\f[R] +spellings were also supported. +.PP +A default parent account also affects account directives. +It does not affect account names being entered via hledger add or +hledger-web. +If account aliases are present, they are applied after the default +parent account. +.SS Payees +.PP +The \f[V]payee\f[R] directive can be used to declare a limited set of +payees which may appear in transaction descriptions. +The \[dq]payees\[dq] check will report an error if any transaction +refers to a payee that has not been declared. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +payee Whole Foods +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Market prices +.PP +The \f[V]P\f[R] directive declares a market price, which is a conversion +rate between two commodities on a certain date. +These are often obtained from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, +or the foreign exchange market. +.PP +The format is: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity +being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) +of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. +Examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: +P 2009-01-01 \[Eu] $1.35 + +# and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: +P 2010-01-01 \[Eu] $1.40 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +The \f[V]-V\f[R], \f[V]-X\f[R] and \f[V]--value\f[R] flags use these +market prices to show amount values in another commodity. +See Valuation. +.PP +.SS Auto postings +.PP +\[dq]Automated postings\[dq] or \[dq]auto postings\[dq] are extra +postings which get added automatically to transactions which match +certain queries, defined by \[dq]auto posting rules\[dq], when you use +the \f[V]--auto\f[R] flag. +.PP +An auto posting rule looks a bit like a transaction: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] += QUERY + ACCOUNT AMOUNT + ... + ACCOUNT [AMOUNT] +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: \f[V]=\f[R] suggests +matching), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and +each \[dq]posting\[dq] line describes a posting to be generated, and the +posting amounts can be: +.IP \[bu] 2 +a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg \f[V]$2\f[R]. +This will be used as-is. +.IP \[bu] 2 +a number, eg \f[V]2\f[R]. +The commodity symbol (if any) from the matched posting will be added to +this. +.IP \[bu] 2 +a numeric multiplier, eg \f[V]*2\f[R] (a star followed by a number N). +The matched posting\[aq]s amount (and total price, if any) will be +multiplied by N. +.IP \[bu] 2 +a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg \f[V]*$2\f[R] (a star, number +N, and symbol S). +The matched posting\[aq]s amount will be multiplied by N, and its +commodity symbol will be replaced with S. +.PP +Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double +quotes, as on the command line. +Eg, note the quotes around the second query term below: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] += expenses:groceries \[aq]expenses:dining out\[aq] + (budget:funds:dining out) *-1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Some examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +; every time I buy food, schedule a dollar donation += expenses:food + (liabilities:charity) $-1 + +; when I buy a gift, also deduct that amount from a budget envelope subaccount += expenses:gifts + assets:checking:gifts *-1 + assets:checking *1 + +2017/12/1 + expenses:food $10 + assets:checking + +2017/12/14 + expenses:gifts $20 + assets:checking +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger print --auto +2017-12-01 + expenses:food $10 + assets:checking + (liabilities:charity) $-1 + +2017-12-14 + expenses:gifts $20 + assets:checking + assets:checking:gifts -$20 + assets:checking $20 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Auto postings and multiple files +.PP +An auto posting rule can affect any transaction in the current file, or +in any parent file or child file. +Note, currently it will not affect sibling files (when multiple +\f[V]-f\f[R]/\f[V]--file\f[R] are used - see #1212). +.SS Auto postings and dates +.PP +A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking +precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also be +used in the generated posting. +.SS Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions +.PP +Currently, auto postings are added: +.IP \[bu] 2 +after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for +balancedness, +.IP \[bu] 2 +but before balance assertions are checked. +.PP +Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and +after auto postings are added. +This changed in hledger 1.12+; see #893 for background. +.PP +This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a +missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to +infer amounts. +.SS Auto posting tags +.PP +Automated postings will have some extra tags: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]generated-posting:= QUERY\f[R] - shows this was generated by an +auto posting rule, and the query +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]_generated-posting:= QUERY\f[R] - a hidden tag, which does not +appear in hledger\[aq]s output. +This can be used to match postings generated \[dq]just now\[dq], rather +than generated in the past and saved to the journal. +.PP +Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will +have these tags added: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]modified:\f[R] - this transaction was modified +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]_modified:\f[R] - a hidden tag not appearing in the comment; this +transaction was modified \[dq]just now\[dq]. +.SS Periodic transactions +.PP +Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. +They allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions (visible +only in reports) to help with forecasting or budgeting. +.PP +Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, +read this whole section, or at least these tips: +.IP "1." 3 +Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - read +about this below. +.IP "2." 3 +For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with +\f[V]hledger print --forecast tag:generated\f[R] or +\f[V]hledger register --forecast tag:generated\f[R]. +.IP "3." 3 +Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-forecasted +transaction\[aq]s date. +.IP "4." 3 +Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. +See below for the exact start/end rules. +.IP "5." 3 +period expressions can be tricky. +Their documentation needs improvement, but is worth studying. +.IP "6." 3 +Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a +natural boundary of that interval. +Eg in \f[V]weekly from DATE\f[R], DATE must be a monday. +\f[V]\[ti] weekly from 2019/10/1\f[R] (a tuesday) will give an error. +.IP "7." 3 +Other period expressions with an interval are automatically expanded to +cover a whole number of that interval. +(This is done to improve reports, but it also affects periodic +transactions. +Yes, it\[aq]s a bit inconsistent with the above.) +Eg: \f[V]\[ti] every 10th day of month from 2020/01\f[R], which is +equivalent to \f[V]\[ti] every 10th day of month from 2020/01/01\f[R], +will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. +.SS Periodic rule syntax +.PP +A periodic transaction rule looks like a normal journal entry, with the +date replaced by a tilde (\f[V]\[ti]\f[R]) followed by a period +expression (mnemonic: \f[V]\[ti]\f[R] looks like a recurring sine +wave.): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +\[ti] monthly + expenses:rent $2000 + assets:bank:checking +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start +date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. +Eg \f[V]monthly from 2018/1/1\f[R] is valid, but +\f[V]monthly from 2018/1/15\f[R] is not. +.SS Periodic rules and relative dates +.PP +Partial or relative dates (like \f[V]12/31\f[R], \f[V]25\f[R], +\f[V]tomorrow\f[R], \f[V]last week\f[R], \f[V]next quarter\f[R]) are +usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the results will change +as time passes. +If used, they will be interpreted relative to, in order of preference: +.IP "1." 3 +the first day of the default year specified by a recent \f[V]Y\f[R] +directive +.IP "2." 3 +or the date specified with \f[V]--today\f[R] +.IP "3." 3 +or the date on which you are running the report. +.PP +They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period +dates. +.SS Two spaces between period expression and description! +.PP +If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, these +must be separated by \f[B]two or more spaces\f[R]. +This helps hledger know where the period expression ends, so that +descriptions can not accidentally alter their meaning, as in this +example: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +; 2 or more spaces needed here, so the period is not understood as \[dq]every 2 months in 2020\[dq] +; || +; vv +\[ti] every 2 months in 2020, we will review + assets:bank:checking $1500 + income:acme inc +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +So, +.IP \[bu] 2 +Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transaction +description, if any. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Don\[aq]t accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period +expression. +.SH CSV +.PP +hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, +semicolon, or tab) containing dated records, automatically converting +each record into a transaction. +.PP +(To learn about \f[I]writing\f[R] CSV, see CSV output.) +.PP +Note, for best error messages when reading CSV/TSV/SSV files, make sure +they have a corresponding \f[V].csv\f[R], \f[V].tsv\f[R] or +\f[V].ssv\f[R] file extension or use a hledger file prefix (see File +Extension below). +.PP +Each CSV file must be described by a corresponding \f[I]rules file\f[R]. +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +This contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields layout, +date format etc.), how to construct hledger transactions from it, and +how to categorise transactions based on description or other attributes. +.PP +By default hledger looks for a rules file named like the CSV file with +an extra \f[V].rules\f[R] extension, in the same directory. +Eg when asked to read \f[V]foo/FILE.csv\f[R], hledger looks for +\f[V]foo/FILE.csv.rules\f[R]. +You can specify a different rules file with the \f[V]--rules-file\f[R] +option. +If no rules file is found, hledger will create a sample rules file, +which you\[aq]ll need to adjust. +.PP +There\[aq]s an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. +.SS Examples +.PP +Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. +See also the full collection at: +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv +.SS Basic +.PP +At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, and +often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines there +are. +Here\[aq]s a simple CSV file and a rules file for it: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +Date, Description, Id, Amount +12/11/2019, Foo, 123, 10.23 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# basic.csv.rules +skip 1 +fields date, description, _, amount +date-format %d/%m/%Y +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger print -f basic.csv +2019-11-12 Foo + expenses:unknown 10.23 + income:unknown -10.23 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Default account names are chosen, since we didn\[aq]t set them. +.SS Bank of Ireland +.PP +Here\[aq]s a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a +balance field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not +necessary but provides extra error checking: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +Date,Details,Debit,Credit,Balance +07/12/2012,LODGMENT 529898,,10.0,131.21 +07/12/2012,PAYMENT,5,,126 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# bankofireland-checking.csv.rules + +# skip the header line +skip + +# name the csv fields, and assign some of them as journal entry fields +fields date, description, amount-out, amount-in, balance + +# We generate balance assertions by assigning to \[dq]balance\[dq] +# above, but you may sometimes need to remove these because: +# +# - the CSV balance differs from the true balance, +# by up to 0.0000000000005 in my experience +# +# - it is sometimes calculated based on non-chronological ordering, +# eg when multiple transactions clear on the same day + +# date is in UK/Ireland format +date-format %d/%m/%Y + +# set the currency +currency EUR + +# set the base account for all txns +account1 assets:bank:boi:checking +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f bankofireland-checking.csv print +2012-12-07 LODGMENT 529898 + assets:bank:boi:checking EUR10.0 = EUR131.2 + income:unknown EUR-10.0 + +2012-12-07 PAYMENT + assets:bank:boi:checking EUR-5.0 = EUR126.0 + expenses:unknown EUR5.0 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +The balance assertions don\[aq]t raise an error above, because we\[aq]re +reading directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are +imported into a journal file. +.SS Amazon +.PP +Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to +generate a third posting if there\[aq]s a fee. +(In practice you\[aq]d probably get this data from your bank instead, +but it\[aq]s an example.) +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +\[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]To/From\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Amount\[dq],\[dq]Fees\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq] +\[dq]Jul 29, 2012\[dq],\[dq]Payment\[dq],\[dq]To\[dq],\[dq]Foo.\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]$20.00\[dq],\[dq]$0.00\[dq],\[dq]16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL\[dq] +\[dq]Jul 30, 2012\[dq],\[dq]Payment\[dq],\[dq]To\[dq],\[dq]Adapteva, Inc.\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]$25.00\[dq],\[dq]$1.00\[dq],\[dq]17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL\[dq] +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# amazon-orders.csv.rules + +# skip one header line +skip 1 + +# name the csv fields, and assign the transaction\[aq]s date, amount and code. +# Avoided the \[dq]status\[dq] and \[dq]amount\[dq] hledger field names to prevent confusion. +fields date, _, toorfrom, name, amzstatus, amzamount, fees, code + +# how to parse the date +date-format %b %-d, %Y + +# combine two fields to make the description +description %toorfrom %name + +# save the status as a tag +comment status:%amzstatus + +# set the base account for all transactions +account1 assets:amazon +# leave amount1 blank so it can balance the other(s). +# I\[aq]m assuming amzamount excludes the fees, don\[aq]t remember + +# set a generic account2 +account2 expenses:misc +amount2 %amzamount +# and maybe refine it further: +#include categorisation.rules + +# add a third posting for fees, but only if they are non-zero. +if %fees [1-9] + account3 expenses:fees + amount3 %fees +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f amazon-orders.csv print +2012-07-29 (16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Foo. ; status:Completed + assets:amazon + expenses:misc $20.00 + +2012-07-30 (17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Adapteva, Inc. ; status:Completed + assets:amazon + expenses:misc $25.00 + expenses:fees $1.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Paypal +.PP +Here\[aq]s a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with +some Paypal-specific rules, and a second rules file included: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +\[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Time\[dq],\[dq]TimeZone\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Currency\[dq],\[dq]Gross\[dq],\[dq]Fee\[dq],\[dq]Net\[dq],\[dq]From Email Address\[dq],\[dq]To Email Address\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq],\[dq]Item Title\[dq],\[dq]Item ID\[dq],\[dq]Reference Txn ID\[dq],\[dq]Receipt ID\[dq],\[dq]Balance\[dq],\[dq]Note\[dq] +\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:46:20\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Calm Radio\[dq],\[dq]Subscription Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-6.99\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]-6.99\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]memberships\[at]calmradio.com\[dq],\[dq]60P57143A8206782E\[dq],\[dq]MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]I-R8YLY094FJYR\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]-6.99\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] +\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:46:20\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]Bank Deposit to PP Account \[dq],\[dq]Pending\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]6.99\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]6.99\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]0TU1544T080463733\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]60P57143A8206782E\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] +\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]08:57:01\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Patreon\[dq],\[dq]PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-7.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]-7.00\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]support\[at]patreon.com\[dq],\[dq]2722394R5F586712G\[dq],\[dq]Patreon* Membership\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]B-0PG93074E7M86381M\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]-7.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] +\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]08:57:01\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]Bank Deposit to PP Account \[dq],\[dq]Pending\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]7.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]7.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]71854087RG994194F\[dq],\[dq]Patreon* Membership\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]2722394R5F586712G\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] +\[dq]10/19/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:02:12\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.\[dq],\[dq]Subscription Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-2.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]-2.00\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]tle\[at]wikimedia.org\[dq],\[dq]K9U43044RY432050M\[dq],\[dq]Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]I-R5C3YUS3285L\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]-2.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] +\[dq]10/19/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:02:12\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]Bank Deposit to PP Account \[dq],\[dq]Pending\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]2.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]2.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]3XJ107139A851061F\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]K9U43044RY432050M\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] +\[dq]10/22/2019\[dq],\[dq]05:07:06\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Noble Benefactor\[dq],\[dq]Subscription Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]10.00\[dq],\[dq]-0.59\[dq],\[dq]9.41\[dq],\[dq]noble\[at]bene.fac.tor\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]6L8L1662YP1334033\[dq],\[dq]Joyful Systems\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]I-KC9VBGY2GWDB\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]9.41\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# paypal-custom.csv.rules + +# Tips: +# Export from Activity -> Statements -> Custom -> Activity download +# Suggested transaction type: \[dq]Balance affecting\[dq] +# Paypal\[aq]s default fields in 2018 were: +# \[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Time\[dq],\[dq]TimeZone\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Currency\[dq],\[dq]Gross\[dq],\[dq]Fee\[dq],\[dq]Net\[dq],\[dq]From Email Address\[dq],\[dq]To Email Address\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq],\[dq]Shipping Address\[dq],\[dq]Address Status\[dq],\[dq]Item Title\[dq],\[dq]Item ID\[dq],\[dq]Shipping and Handling Amount\[dq],\[dq]Insurance Amount\[dq],\[dq]Sales Tax\[dq],\[dq]Option 1 Name\[dq],\[dq]Option 1 Value\[dq],\[dq]Option 2 Name\[dq],\[dq]Option 2 Value\[dq],\[dq]Reference Txn ID\[dq],\[dq]Invoice Number\[dq],\[dq]Custom Number\[dq],\[dq]Quantity\[dq],\[dq]Receipt ID\[dq],\[dq]Balance\[dq],\[dq]Address Line 1\[dq],\[dq]Address Line 2/District/Neighborhood\[dq],\[dq]Town/City\[dq],\[dq]State/Province/Region/County/Territory/Prefecture/Republic\[dq],\[dq]Zip/Postal Code\[dq],\[dq]Country\[dq],\[dq]Contact Phone Number\[dq],\[dq]Subject\[dq],\[dq]Note\[dq],\[dq]Country Code\[dq],\[dq]Balance Impact\[dq] +# This rules file assumes the following more detailed fields, configured in \[dq]Customize report fields\[dq]: +# \[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Time\[dq],\[dq]TimeZone\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Currency\[dq],\[dq]Gross\[dq],\[dq]Fee\[dq],\[dq]Net\[dq],\[dq]From Email Address\[dq],\[dq]To Email Address\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq],\[dq]Item Title\[dq],\[dq]Item ID\[dq],\[dq]Reference Txn ID\[dq],\[dq]Receipt ID\[dq],\[dq]Balance\[dq],\[dq]Note\[dq] + +fields date, time, timezone, description_, type, status_, currency, grossamount, feeamount, netamount, fromemail, toemail, code, itemtitle, itemid, referencetxnid, receiptid, balance, note + +skip 1 + +date-format %-m/%-d/%Y + +# ignore some paypal events +if +In Progress +Temporary Hold +Update to + skip + +# add more fields to the description +description %description_ %itemtitle + +# save some other fields as tags +comment itemid:%itemid, fromemail:%fromemail, toemail:%toemail, time:%time, type:%type, status:%status_ + +# convert to short currency symbols +if %currency USD + currency $ +if %currency EUR + currency E +if %currency GBP + currency P + +# generate postings + +# the first posting will be the money leaving/entering my paypal account +# (negative means leaving my account, in all amount fields) +account1 assets:online:paypal +amount1 %netamount + +# the second posting will be money sent to/received from other party +# (account2 is set below) +amount2 -%grossamount + +# if there\[aq]s a fee, add a third posting for the money taken by paypal. +if %feeamount [1-9] + account3 expenses:banking:paypal + amount3 -%feeamount + comment3 business: + +# choose an account for the second posting + +# override the default account names: +# if the amount is positive, it\[aq]s income (a debit) +if %grossamount \[ha][\[ha]-] + account2 income:unknown +# if negative, it\[aq]s an expense (a credit) +if %grossamount \[ha]- + account2 expenses:unknown + +# apply common rules for setting account2 & other tweaks +include common.rules + +# apply some overrides specific to this csv + +# Transfers from/to bank. These are usually marked Pending, +# which can be disregarded in this case. +if +Bank Account +Bank Deposit to PP Account + description %type for %referencetxnid %itemtitle + account2 assets:bank:wf:pchecking + account1 assets:online:paypal + +# Currency conversions +if Currency Conversion + account2 equity:currency conversion +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# common.rules + +if +darcs +noble benefactor + account2 revenues:foss donations:darcshub + comment2 business: + +if +Calm Radio + account2 expenses:online:apps + +if +electronic frontier foundation +Patreon +wikimedia +Advent of Code + account2 expenses:dues + +if Google + account2 expenses:online:apps + description google | music +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f paypal-custom.csv print +2019-10-01 (60P57143A8206782E) Calm Radio MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month ; itemid:, fromemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, toemail:memberships\[at]calmradio.com, time:03:46:20, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $-6.99 = $-6.99 + expenses:online:apps $6.99 + +2019-10-01 (0TU1544T080463733) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 60P57143A8206782E ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:03:46:20, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending + assets:online:paypal $6.99 = $0.00 + assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-6.99 + +2019-10-01 (2722394R5F586712G) Patreon Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, toemail:support\[at]patreon.com, time:08:57:01, type:PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $-7.00 = $-7.00 + expenses:dues $7.00 + +2019-10-01 (71854087RG994194F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 2722394R5F586712G Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:08:57:01, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending + assets:online:paypal $7.00 = $0.00 + assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-7.00 + +2019-10-19 (K9U43044RY432050M) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation ; itemid:, fromemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, toemail:tle\[at]wikimedia.org, time:03:02:12, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $-2.00 = $-2.00 + expenses:dues $2.00 + expenses:banking:paypal ; business: + +2019-10-19 (3XJ107139A851061F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for K9U43044RY432050M ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:03:02:12, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending + assets:online:paypal $2.00 = $0.00 + assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-2.00 + +2019-10-22 (6L8L1662YP1334033) Noble Benefactor Joyful Systems ; itemid:, fromemail:noble\[at]bene.fac.tor, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:05:07:06, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $9.41 = $9.41 + revenues:foss donations:darcshub $-10.00 ; business: + expenses:banking:paypal $0.59 ; business: +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +.SS CSV rules +.PP +The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order. +Blank lines and lines beginning with \f[V]#\f[R] or \f[V];\f[R] or +\f[V]*\f[R] are ignored. +.PP +.TS +tab(@); +lw(24.9n) lw(45.1n). +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]separator\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +a custom field separator +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]skip\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +skip one or more header lines or matched CSV records +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]date-format\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +how to parse dates in CSV records +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]timezone\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +declare the time zone of ambiguous CSV date-times +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]decimal-mark\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if ambiguous +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]newest-first\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +improve txn order when there are multiple records, newest first, all +with the same date +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]intra-day-reversed\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +improve txn order when each day\[aq]s txns are reverse of the overall +date order +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]balance-type\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +choose which type of balance assignments to use +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]fields\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +name CSV fields, assign them to hledger fields +T} +T{ +\f[B]Field assignment\f[R] +T}@T{ +assign a value to one hledger field, with interpolation +T} +T{ +\f[B]Field names\f[R] +T}@T{ +hledger field names, used in the fields list and field assignments +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]if\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]if\f[B] table\f[R] +T}@T{ +apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns, alternate syntax +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]end\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +skip the remaining CSV records +T} +T{ +\f[B]\f[VB]include\f[B]\f[R] +T}@T{ +inline another CSV rules file +T} +.TE +.SS \f[V]separator\f[R] +.PP +You can use the \f[V]separator\f[R] rule to read other kinds of +character-separated data. +The argument is any single separator character, or the words +\f[V]tab\f[R] or \f[V]space\f[R] (case insensitive). +Eg, for comma-separated values (CSV): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +separator , +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +or for semicolon-separated values (SSV): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +separator ; +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +or for tab-separated values (TSV): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +separator TAB +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +If the input file has a \f[V].csv\f[R], \f[V].ssv\f[R] or \f[V].tsv\f[R] +file extension (or a \f[V]csv:\f[R], \f[V]ssv:\f[R], \f[V]tsv:\f[R] +prefix), the appropriate separator will be inferred automatically, and +you won\[aq]t need this rule. +.SS \f[V]skip\f[R] +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +skip N +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +The word \[dq]skip\[dq] followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) +tells hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV +data. +(Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) +You\[aq]ll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. +.PP +It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks (described +below) to ignore certain CSV records. +.SS \f[V]date-format\f[R] +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +date-format DATEFMT +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +This is a helper for the \f[V]date\f[R] (and \f[V]date2\f[R]) fields. +If your CSV dates are not formatted like \f[V]YYYY-MM-DD\f[R], +\f[V]YYYY/MM/DD\f[R] or \f[V]YYYY.MM.DD\f[R], you\[aq]ll need to add a +date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style date parsing +pattern - see +https://hackage.haskell.org/package/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. +The pattern must parse the CSV date value completely. +Some examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# MM/DD/YY +date-format %m/%d/%y +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# D/M/YYYY +# The - makes leading zeros optional. +date-format %-d/%-m/%Y +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# YYYY-Mmm-DD +date-format %Y-%h-%d +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# M/D/YYYY HH:MM AM some other junk +# Note the time and junk must be fully parsed, though only the date is used. +date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p some other junk +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]timezone\f[R] +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +timezone TIMEZONE +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone other +than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you can +use this rule to declare the CSV\[aq]s native time zone, which helps +prevent off-by-one dates. +.PP +When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don\[aq]t +need this rule; instead, use \f[V]%Z\f[R] in \f[V]date-format\f[R] (or +\f[V]%z\f[R], \f[V]%EZ\f[R], \f[V]%Ez\f[R]; see the formatTime link +above). +.PP +In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware conversion, +localising the CSV date-times to your current system time zone. +If you prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for +reproducibility, you can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with +the TZ environment variable, eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +\f[V]timezone\f[R] currently does not understand timezone names, except +\[dq]UTC\[dq], \[dq]GMT\[dq], \[dq]EST\[dq], \[dq]EDT\[dq], +\[dq]CST\[dq], \[dq]CDT\[dq], \[dq]MST\[dq], \[dq]MDT\[dq], +\[dq]PST\[dq], or \[dq]PDT\[dq]. +For others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. +.SS \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +decimal-mark . +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +or: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +decimal-mark , +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark +when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). +However if any numbers in the CSV contain digit group marks, such as +thousand-separating commas, you should declare the decimal mark +explicitly with this rule, to avoid misparsed numbers. +.SS \f[V]newest-first\f[R] +.PP +hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered +chronologically, including intra-day transactions. +Usually it can auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. +But if it encounters CSV where all records are on the same date, it +assumes that the records are oldest first. +If in fact the CSV\[aq]s records are normally newest first, like: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2022-10-01, txn 3... +2022-10-01, txn 2... +2022-10-01, txn 1... +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +you can add the \f[V]newest-first\f[R] rule to help hledger generate the +transactions in correct order. +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# same-day CSV records are newest first +newest-first +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]intra-day-reversed\f[R] +.PP +CSV records for each day are sometimes ordered in reverse compared to +the overall date order. +Eg, here dates are newest first, but the transactions on each date are +oldest first: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2022-10-02, txn 3... +2022-10-02, txn 4... +2022-10-01, txn 1... +2022-10-01, txn 2... +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +In this situation, add the \f[V]intra-day-reversed\f[R] rule, and +hledger will compensate, improving the order of transactions. +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# transactions within each day are reversed with respect to the overall date order +intra-day-reversed +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]fields\f[R] +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +A fields list (the word \[dq]fields\[dq] followed by comma-separated +field names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger +fields. +(The other way is field assignments, see below.) +A fields list does does two things: +.IP "1." 3 +It names the CSV fields. +This is optional, but can be convenient later for interpolating them. +.IP "2." 3 +Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the CSV +value is assigned to that part of the hledger transaction. +.PP +Here\[aq]s an example that says \[dq]use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as +the transaction\[aq]s date, description and amount; name the last two +fields for later reference; and ignore the others\[dq]: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Tips: +.IP \[bu] 2 +The fields list always use commas, even if your CSV data uses another +separator character. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Currently there must be least two items in the list (at least one +comma). +.IP \[bu] 2 +Field names may not contain spaces. +Spaces before/after field names are optional. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Field names may contain \f[V]_\f[R] (underscore) or \f[V]-\f[R] +(hyphen). +.IP \[bu] 2 +If the CSV contains column headings, it\[aq]s a good idea to use these, +suitably modified, as the basis for your field names (eg lower-cased, +with underscores instead of spaces). +.IP \[bu] 2 +If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don\[aq]t +want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by +appending an underscore. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Fields you don\[aq]t care about can be given a dummy name (eg: +\f[V]_\f[R] ), or no name. +.SS Field assignment +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +HLEDGERFIELDNAME FIELDVALUE +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to +hledger fields. +They can be used instead of or in addition to a fields list (see above). +.PP +To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the +standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, +followed by a text value on the same line. +This text value may interpolate CSV fields, referenced by their 1-based +position in the CSV record (\f[V]%N\f[R]), or by the name they were +given in the fields list (\f[V]%CSVFIELDNAME\f[R]). +.PP +Some examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# set the amount to the 4th CSV field, with \[dq] USD\[dq] appended +amount %4 USD + +# combine three fields to make a comment, containing note: and date: tags +comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Tips: +.IP \[bu] 2 +Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like +\f[V]\[dq] 1 \[dq]\f[R] becomes \f[V]1\f[R] when interpolated) (#1051). +.IP \[bu] 2 +Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can\[aq]t interpolate a +hledger field. +(See Referencing other fields below). +.SS Field names +.PP +Here are the standard hledger field (and pseudo-field) names, which you +can use in a fields list or in field assignments. +For more about the transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions. +.SS date field +.PP +Assigning to \f[V]date\f[R] sets the transaction date. +.SS date2 field +.PP +\f[V]date2\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s secondary date, if any. +.SS status field +.PP +\f[V]status\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s status, if any. +.SS code field +.PP +\f[V]code\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s code, if any. +.SS description field +.PP +\f[V]description\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s description, if any. +.SS comment field +.PP +\f[V]comment\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s comment, if any. +.PP +\f[V]commentN\f[R], where N is a number, sets the Nth posting\[aq]s +comment. +.PP +You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \f[V]\[rs]n\f[R] +in the code. +A comment starting with \f[V]\[rs]n\f[R] will begin on a new line. +.PP +Comments can contain tags, as usual. +.SS account field +.PP +Assigning to \f[V]accountN\f[R], where N is 1 to 99, sets the account +name of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. +.PP +Most often there are two postings, so you\[aq]ll want to set +\f[V]account1\f[R] and \f[V]account2\f[R]. +Typically \f[V]account1\f[R] is associated with the CSV file, and is set +once with a top-level assignment, while \f[V]account2\f[R] is set based +on each transaction\[aq]s description, and in conditional blocks. +.PP +If a posting\[aq]s account name is left unset but its amount is set (see +below), a default account name will be chosen (like +\[dq]expenses:unknown\[dq] or \[dq]income:unknown\[dq]). +.SS amount field +.PP +\f[V]amountN\f[R] sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that +posting to be generated. +By assigning to \f[V]amount1\f[R], \f[V]amount2\f[R], ... +etc. +you can generate up to 99 postings. +.PP +\f[V]amountN-in\f[R] and \f[V]amountN-out\f[R] can be used instead, if +the CSV uses separate fields for debits and credits (inflows and +outflows). +hledger assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will +automatically negate the \[dq]-out\[dq] value. +If they are signed, see \[dq]Setting amounts\[dq] below. +.PP +\f[V]amount\f[R], or \f[V]amount-in\f[R] and \f[V]amount-out\f[R] are a +legacy mode, to keep pre-hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for +occasional convenience). +They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both +posting 1\[aq]s and posting 2\[aq]s amount. +Posting 2\[aq]s amount will be negated, and also converted to cost if +there\[aq]s a cost price. +.PP +If you have an existing rules file using the unnumbered form, you might +want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without +having to update and retest all the old rules. +To facilitate this, posting 1 ignores +\f[V]amount\f[R]/\f[V]amount-in\f[R]/\f[V]amount-out\f[R] if any of +\f[V]amount1\f[R]/\f[V]amount1-in\f[R]/\f[V]amount1-out\f[R] are +assigned, and posting 2 ignores them if any of +\f[V]amount2\f[R]/\f[V]amount2-in\f[R]/\f[V]amount2-out\f[R] are +assigned, avoiding conflicts. +.SS currency field +.PP +\f[V]currency\f[R] sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all +postings\[aq] amounts. +You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency symbol, eg if +it is in a separate column. +.PP +\f[V]currencyN\f[R] prepends a currency symbol to just the Nth +posting\[aq]s amount. +.SS balance field +.PP +\f[V]balanceN\f[R] sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting +amount is left empty, a balance assignment) on posting N. +.PP +\f[V]balance\f[R] is a compatibility spelling for hledger <1.17; it is +equivalent to \f[V]balance1\f[R]. +.PP +You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the +\f[V]balance-type\f[R] rule (see below). +.PP +See Tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. +.SS \f[V]if\f[R] +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +if MATCHER + RULE + +if +MATCHER +MATCHER +MATCHER + RULE + RULE +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Conditional blocks (\[dq]if blocks\[dq]) are a block of rules that are +applied only to CSV records which match certain patterns. +They are often used for customising account names based on transaction +descriptions. +.SS Matching the whole record +.PP +Each MATCHER can be a record matcher, which looks like this: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +REGEX +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression that tries to match +anywhere within the CSV record. +It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular expression) that also supports GNU +word boundaries (\f[V]\[rs]b\f[R], \f[V]\[rs]B\f[R], \f[V]\[rs]<\f[R], +\f[V]\[rs]>\f[R]), and nothing else. +If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: +https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions +.PP +Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, +but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclosing +whitespace) removed, and always comma-separated (which means that a +field containing a comma will appear like two fields). +Eg, if the original record is +\f[V]2020-01-01; \[dq]Acme, Inc.\[dq]; 1,000\f[R], the REGEX will +actually see \f[V]2020-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000\f[R]). +.SS Matching individual fields +.PP +Or, MATCHER can be a field matcher, like this: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +%CSVFIELD REGEX +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. +CSVFIELD is a percent sign followed by the field\[aq]s name or column +number, like \f[V]%date\f[R] or \f[V]%1\f[R]. +.SS Combining matchers +.PP +A single matcher can be written on the same line as the \[dq]if\[dq]; or +multiple matchers can be written on the following lines, non-indented. +Multiple matchers are OR\[aq]d (any one of them can match), unless one +begins with an \f[V]&\f[R] symbol, in which case it is AND\[aq]ed with +the previous matcher. +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +if +MATCHER +& MATCHER + RULE +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Rules applied on successful match +.PP +After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all +indented by at least one space. +Three kinds of rule are allowed in conditional blocks: +.IP \[bu] 2 +field assignments (to set a hledger field) +.IP \[bu] 2 +skip (to skip the matched CSV record) +.IP \[bu] 2 +end (to skip all remaining CSV records). +.PP +Examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# if the CSV record contains \[dq]groceries\[dq], set account2 to \[dq]expenses:groceries\[dq] +if groceries + account2 expenses:groceries +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# if the CSV record contains any of these patterns, set account2 and comment as shown +if +monthly service fee +atm transaction fee +banking thru software + account2 expenses:business:banking + comment XXX deductible ? check it +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]if\f[R] table +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +if,CSVFIELDNAME1,CSVFIELDNAME2,...,CSVFIELDNAMEn +MATCHER1,VALUE11,VALUE12,...,VALUE1n +MATCHER2,VALUE21,VALUE22,...,VALUE2n +MATCHER3,VALUE31,VALUE32,...,VALUE3n + +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Conditional tables (\[dq]if tables\[dq]) are a different syntax to +specify field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which +match certain patterns. +.PP +MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. +When MATCHER matches, values from that row would be assigned to the CSV +fields named on the \f[V]if\f[R] line, in the same order. +.PP +Therefore \f[V]if\f[R] table is exactly equivalent to a sequence of of +\f[V]if\f[R] blocks: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +if MATCHER1 + CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE11 + CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE12 + ... + CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE1n + +if MATCHER2 + CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE21 + CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE22 + ... + CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE2n + +if MATCHER3 + CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE31 + CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE32 + ... + CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE3n +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) +values for all the listed fields. +.PP +Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the +table and, like with \f[V]if\f[R] blocks, later rules (in the same or +another table) or \f[V]if\f[R] blocks could override the effect of any +rule. +.PP +Instead of \[aq],\[aq] you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric +characters as a separator. +First character after \f[V]if\f[R] is taken to be the separator for the +rest of the table. +It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that separator does not +occur inside MATCHERs and values - there is no way to escape separator. +.PP +Example: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +if,account2,comment +atm transaction fee,expenses:business:banking,deductible? check it +%description groceries,expenses:groceries, +2020/01/12.*Plumbing LLC,expenses:house:upkeep,emergency plumbing call-out +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]end\f[R] +.PP +This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop +reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command +execution. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# ignore everything following the first empty record +if ,,,, + end +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]include\f[R] +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +include RULESFILE +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. +\f[V]RULESFILE\f[R] is an absolute file path or a path relative to the +current file\[aq]s directory. +This can be useful for sharing common rules between several rules files, +eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# someaccount.csv.rules + +## someaccount-specific rules +fields date,description,amount +account1 assets:someaccount +account2 expenses:misc + +## common rules +include categorisation.rules +\f[R] +.fi +.SS \f[V]balance-type\f[R] +.PP +Balance assertions generated by assigning to balanceN are of the simple +\f[V]=\f[R] type by default, which is a single-commodity, +subaccount-excluding assertion. +You may find the subaccount-including variants more useful, eg if you +have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help with +budgeting. +You can select a different type of assertion with the +\f[V]balance-type\f[R] rule: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# balance assertions will consider all commodities and all subaccounts +balance-type ==* +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Here are the balance assertion types for quick reference: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] += single commodity, exclude subaccounts +=* single commodity, include subaccounts +== multi commodity, exclude subaccounts +==* multi commodity, include subaccounts +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Tips +.SS Rapid feedback +.PP +It\[aq]s a good idea to get rapid feedback while +creating/troubleshooting CSV rules. +Here\[aq]s a good way, using entr from eradman.com/entrproject: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ ls foo.csv* | entr bash -c \[aq]echo ----; hledger -f foo.csv print desc:SOMEDESC\[aq] +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions of +interest. +\[dq]bash -c\[dq] is used to run multiple commands, so we can echo a +separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to read the +output. +.SS Valid CSV +.PP +hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. +When CSV values are enclosed in quotes, note: +.IP \[bu] 2 +they must be double quotes (not single quotes) +.IP \[bu] 2 +spaces outside the quotes are not allowed +.SS File Extension +.PP +To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, +CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a \f[V].csv\f[R], +\f[V].ssv\f[R] or \f[V].tsv\f[R] filename extension. +Or, the file path should be prefixed with \f[V]csv:\f[R], \f[V]ssv:\f[R] +or \f[V]tsv:\f[R]. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f foo.ssv print +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +or: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ cat foo | hledger -f ssv:- foo +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. +See also: Input files in the hledger manual. +.SS Reading multiple CSV files +.PP +If you use multiple \f[V]-f\f[R] options to read multiple CSV files at +once, hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each +CSV file. +But if you use the \f[V]--rules-file\f[R] option, that rules file will +be used for all the CSV files. +.SS Valid transactions +.PP +After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the +generated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing +them, applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. +Any errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying +the problem entry. +.PP +There is one exception: balance assertions, if you have generated them, +will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV +data is part of the main journal. +If you do need to check balance assertions generated from CSV right +away, pipe into another hledger: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Deduplicating, importing +.PP +When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank +transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing some +of the same records. +.PP +The import command will (a) detect the new transactions, and (b) append +just those transactions to your main journal. +It is idempotent, so you don\[aq]t have to remember how many times you +ran it or with which version of the CSV. +(It keeps state in a hidden \f[V].latest.FILE.csv\f[R] file.) +This is the easiest way to import CSV data. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# download the latest CSV files, then run this command. +# Note, no -f flags needed here. +$ hledger import *.csv [--dry] +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +This method works for most CSV files. +(Where records have a stable chronological order, and new records appear +only at the new end.) +.PP +A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, +exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data. +See: +.IP \[bu] 2 +https://hledger.org/cookbook.html#setups-and-workflows +.IP \[bu] 2 +https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion +.SS Setting amounts +.PP +Some tips on using the amount-setting rules discussed above. +.PP +Here are the ways to set a posting\[aq]s amount: +.IP "1." 3 +\f[B]If the CSV has a single amount field:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Assign (via a fields list or a field assignment) to \f[V]amountN\f[R]. +This sets the Nth posting\[aq]s amount. +N is usually 1 or 2 but can go up to 99. +.IP "2." 3 +\f[B]If the CSV has separate amount fields for debit & credit (in & +out):\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +.RS 4 +.IP "a." 3 +\f[B]If both fields are unsigned:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Assign to \f[V]amountN-in\f[R] and \f[V]amountN-out\f[R]. +This sets posting N\[aq]s amount to whichever of these has a non-zero +value, and negates the \[dq]-out\[dq] value. +.IP "b." 3 +\f[B]If either field is signed (can contain a minus sign):\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). +Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already negative, we +must undo that by negating once more (but only if the field is +non-empty): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date, description, amount1-in, amount1-out +if %amount1-out [1-9] + amount1-out -%amount1-out +\f[R] +.fi +.IP "c." 3 +\f[B]If both fields, or neither field, can contain a non-zero +value:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non-zero +value. +Eg, the \f[V]amountN-in\f[R]/\f[V]amountN-out\f[R] rules would reject +value pairs like these: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +\[dq]\[dq], \[dq]\[dq] +\[dq]0\[dq], \[dq]0\[dq] +\[dq]1\[dq], \[dq]none\[dq] +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +So, use smarter conditional rules to set the amount from the appropriate +field. +Eg, these rules would make it use only the value containing non-zero +digits, handling the above: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date, description, in, out +if %in [1-9] + amount1 %in +if %out [1-9] + amount1 %out +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP "3." 3 +\f[B]If you want posting 2\[aq]s amount converted to cost:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Assign to \f[V]amount\f[R] (or to \f[V]amount-in\f[R] and +\f[V]amount-out\f[R]). +(This is the legacy numberless syntax, which sets amount1 and amount2 +and converts amount2 to cost.) +.IP "4." 3 +\f[B]If the CSV has the balance instead of the transaction amount:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Assign to \f[V]balanceN\f[R], which sets posting N\[aq]s amount +indirectly via a balance assignment. +(Old syntax: \f[V]balance\f[R], equivalent to \f[V]balance1\f[R].) +.RS 4 +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]If hledger guesses the wrong default account name:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess the +wrong default account name. +So, set the account name explicitly, eg: +.RS 2 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date, description, balance1 +account1 assets:checking +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.RE +.SS Amount signs +.PP +There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing and +sign-flipping: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]If an amount value begins with a plus sign:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +that will be removed: \f[V]+AMT\f[R] becomes \f[V]AMT\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]If an amount value is parenthesised:\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +it will be de-parenthesised and sign-flipped: \f[V](AMT)\f[R] becomes +\f[V]-AMT\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, +or a minus sign and parentheses):\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +they cancel out and will be removed: \f[V]--AMT\f[R] or \f[V]-(AMT)\f[R] +becomes \f[V]AMT\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of +parentheses):\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +that is removed, making it an empty value. +\f[V]\[dq]+\[dq]\f[R] or \f[V]\[dq]-\[dq]\f[R] or \f[V]\[dq]()\[dq]\f[R] +becomes \f[V]\[dq]\[dq]\f[R]. +.SS Setting currency/commodity +.PP +If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV\[aq]s amount +field(s): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2020-01-01,foo,$123.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +you don\[aq]t have to do anything special for the commodity symbol, it +will be assigned as part of the amount. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date,description,amount +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2020-01-01 foo + expenses:unknown $123.00 + income:unknown $-123.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +If the currency is provided as a separate CSV field: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2020-01-01,foo,USD,123.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +You can assign that to the \f[V]currency\f[R] pseudo-field, which has +the special effect of prepending itself to every amount in the +transaction (on the left, with no separating space): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date,description,currency,amount +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2020-01-01 foo + expenses:unknown USD123.00 + income:unknown USD-123.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, +with more control. +Eg to put the symbol on the right, and separated by a space: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date,description,cur,amt +amount %amt %cur +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2020-01-01 foo + expenses:unknown 123.00 USD + income:unknown -123.00 USD +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Note we used a temporary field name (\f[V]cur\f[R]) that is not +\f[V]currency\f[R] - that would trigger the prepending effect, which we +don\[aq]t want here. +.SS Amount decimal places +.PP +Like amounts in a journal file, the amounts generated by CSV rules like +\f[V]amount1\f[R] influence commodity display styles, such as the number +of decimal places displayed in reports. +.PP +The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display +style (because we don\[aq]t yet reliably know their commodity). +.SS Referencing other fields +.PP +In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger +fields. +In the example below, there\[aq]s both a CSV field and a hledger field +named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the hledger +field: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# Name the third CSV field \[dq]amount1\[dq] +fields date,description,amount1 + +# Set hledger\[aq]s amount1 to the CSV amount1 field followed by USD +amount1 %amount1 USD + +# Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above) +comment %amount1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Here, since there\[aq]s no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a +literal \[dq]amount1\[dq]: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +fields date,description,csvamount +amount1 %csvamount USD +# Can\[aq]t interpolate amount1 here +comment %amount1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, +only the last one takes effect. +Here, comment\[aq]s value will be be B, or C if \[dq]something\[dq] is +matched, but never A: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +comment A +comment B +if something + comment C +\f[R] +.fi +.SS How CSV rules are evaluated +.PP +Here\[aq]s how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need +to). +First, +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]include\f[R] - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth +first. +(At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further +includes, recursively, before proceeding.) +.PP +Then \[dq]global\[dq] rules are evaluated, top to bottom. +If a rule is repeated, the last one wins: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]skip\f[R] (at top level) +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]date-format\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]newest-first\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]fields\f[R] - names the CSV fields, optionally sets up initial +assignments to hledger fields +.PP +Then for each CSV record in turn: +.IP \[bu] 2 +test all \f[V]if\f[R] blocks. +If any of them contain a \f[V]end\f[R] rule, skip all remaining CSV +records. +Otherwise if any of them contain a \f[V]skip\f[R] rule, skip that many +CSV records. +If there are multiple matched \f[V]skip\f[R] rules, the first one wins. +.IP \[bu] 2 +collect all field assignments at top level and in matched \f[V]if\f[R] +blocks. +When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last one. +.IP \[bu] 2 +compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was +assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a +default +.IP \[bu] 2 +generate a synthetic hledger transaction from these values. +.PP +This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can +use to parse input files. +When all files have been read successfully, the transactions are passed +as input to whichever hledger command the user specified. +.PP +.SH Timeclock +.PP +The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. +.PP +hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. +As with Ledger, these are (a subset of) timeclock.el\[aq]s format, +containing clock-in and clock-out entries as in the example below. +The date is a simple date. +The time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. +Seconds and timezone are optional. +The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored (currently +the time is always interpreted as a local time). +Lines beginning with \f[V]#\f[R] or \f[V];\f[R] or \f[V]*\f[R], and +blank lines, are ignored. +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +i 2015/03/30 09:00:00 some:account name optional description after two spaces +o 2015/03/30 09:20:00 +i 2015/03/31 22:21:45 another account +o 2015/04/01 02:00:34 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting +some number of hours to an account. +Or if the session spans more than one day, it is split into several +transactions, one for each day. +For the above time log, \f[V]hledger print\f[R] generates these journal +entries: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f t.timeclock print +2015-03-30 * optional description after two spaces + (some:account name) 0.33h + +2015-03-31 * 22:21-23:59 + (another account) 1.64h + +2015-04-01 * 00:00-02:00 + (another account) 2.01h +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Here is a sample.timeclock to download and some queries to try: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f sample.timeclock balance # current time balances +$ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p 2009/3 # sessions in march 2009 +$ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p weekly --depth 1 --empty # time summary by week +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +To generate time logs, ie to clock in and clock out, you could: +.IP \[bu] 2 +use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock-x.el +and perhaps the extras in ledgerutils.el +.IP \[bu] 2 +at the command line, use these bash aliases: +\f[V]shell alias ti=\[dq]echo i \[ga]date \[aq]+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S\[aq]\[ga] \[rs]$* >>$TIMELOG\[dq] alias to=\[dq]echo o \[ga]date \[aq]+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S\[aq]\[ga] >>$TIMELOG\[dq]\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +or use the old \f[V]ti\f[R] and \f[V]to\f[R] scripts in the ledger 2.x +repository. +These rely on a \[dq]timeclock\[dq] executable which I think is just the +ledger 2 executable renamed. +.PP +.SH Timedot +.PP +\f[V]timedot\f[R] format is hledger\[aq]s human-friendly time logging +format. +Compared to \f[V]timeclock\f[R] format, it is +.IP \[bu] 2 +convenient for quick, approximate, and retroactive time logging +.IP \[bu] 2 +readable: you can see at a glance where time was spent. +.PP +A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like +this: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2021-08-04 +hom:errands .... .... +fos:hledger:timedot .. ; docs +per:admin:finance +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each dot +representing a quarter-hour spent: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f a.timedot print # .timedot file extension activates the timedot reader +2021-08-04 * + (hom:errands) 2.00 + +2021-08-04 * + (fos:hledger:timedot) 0.50 + +2021-08-04 * + (per:admin:finance) 0 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +A day entry begins with a date line: +.IP \[bu] 2 +a non-indented \f[B]simple date\f[R] (Y-M-D, Y/M/D, or Y.M.D). +.PP +Optionally this can be followed on the same line by +.IP \[bu] 2 +a common \f[B]transaction description\f[R] for this day +.IP \[bu] 2 +a common \f[B]transaction comment\f[R] for this day, after a semicolon +(\f[V];\f[R]). +.PP +After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time +transaction lines, consisting of: +.IP \[bu] 2 +an \f[B]account name\f[R] - any word or phrase, usually a hledger-style +account name. +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]two or more spaces\f[R] - a field separator, required if there is +an amount (as in journal format). +.IP \[bu] 2 +a \f[B]timedot amount\f[R] - dots representing quarter hours, or a +number representing hours. +.IP \[bu] 2 +an optional \f[B]comment\f[R] beginning with semicolon. +This is ignored. +.PP +In more detail, timedot amounts can be: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]dots\f[R]: zero or more period characters, each representing one +quarter-hour. +Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. +Eg: \f[V].... ..\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +a \f[B]number\f[R], representing hours. +Eg: \f[V]1.5\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +a \f[B]number immediately followed by a unit symbol\f[R] \f[V]s\f[R], +\f[V]m\f[R], \f[V]h\f[R], \f[V]d\f[R], \f[V]w\f[R], \f[V]mo\f[R], or +\f[V]y\f[R], representing seconds, minutes, hours, days weeks, months or +years. +Eg \f[V]1.5h\f[R] or \f[V]90m\f[R]. +The following equivalencies are assumed: +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +\f[V]60s\f[R] = \f[V]1m\f[R], \f[V]60m\f[R] = \f[V]1h\f[R], +\f[V]24h\f[R] = \f[V]1d\f[R], \f[V]7d\f[R] = \f[V]1w\f[R], \f[V]30d\f[R] += \f[V]1mo\f[R], \f[V]365d\f[R] = \f[V]1y\f[R]. +(This unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, +which is always in hours.) +.PP +There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in +the same file as your notes, todo lists, etc.: +.IP \[bu] 2 +Blank lines and lines beginning with \f[V]#\f[R] or \f[V];\f[R] are +ignored. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Before the first date line, lines beginning with \f[V]*\f[R] are +ignored. +From the first date line onward, a sequence of \f[V]*\f[R]\[aq]s +followed by a space at beginning of lines (ie, the headline prefix used +by Emacs Org mode) is ignored. +This means the time log can be kept under an Org headline, and date +lines or time transaction lines can be Org headlines. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as +transactions with zero amount. +(Most hledger reports hide these by default; add -E to see them.) +.PP +More examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +# on this day, 6h was spent on client work, 1.5h on haskell FOSS work, etc. +2016/2/1 +inc:client1 .... .... .... .... .... .... +fos:haskell .... .. +biz:research . + +2016/2/2 +inc:client1 .... .... +biz:research . +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2016/2/3 +inc:client1 4 +fos:hledger 3 +biz:research 1 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +* Time log +** 2020-01-01 +*** adm:time . +*** adm:finance . +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +* 2020 Work Diary +** Q1 +*** 2020-02-29 +**** DONE +0700 yoga +**** UNPLANNED +**** BEGUN +hom:chores + cleaning ... + water plants + outdoor - one full watering can + indoor - light watering +**** TODO +adm:planning: trip +*** LATER +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Reporting: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f a.timedot print date:2016/2/2 +2016-02-02 * + (inc:client1) 2.00 + +2016-02-02 * + (biz:research) 0.25 +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f a.timedot bal --daily --tree +Balance changes in 2016-02-01-2016-02-03: + + || 2016-02-01d 2016-02-02d 2016-02-03d +============++======================================== + biz || 0.25 0.25 1.00 + research || 0.25 0.25 1.00 + fos || 1.50 0 3.00 + haskell || 1.50 0 0 + hledger || 0 0 3.00 + inc || 6.00 2.00 4.00 + client1 || 6.00 2.00 4.00 +------------++---------------------------------------- + || 7.75 2.25 8.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Using period instead of colon as account name separator: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2016/2/4 +fos.hledger.timedot 4 +fos.ledger .. +\f[R] +.fi +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f a.timedot --alias /\[rs]\[rs]./=: bal --tree + 4.50 fos + 4.00 hledger:timedot + 0.50 ledger +-------------------- + 4.50 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +A sample.timedot file. +.SH PART 3: REPORTING CONCEPTS +.SH Time periods +.PP +.SS Report start & end date +.PP +By default, most hledger reports will show the full span of time +represented by the journal data. +The report start date will be the earliest transaction or posting date, +and the report end date will be the latest transaction, posting, or +market price date. +.PP +Often you will want to see a shorter time span, such as the current +month. +You can specify a start and/or end date using \f[V]-b/--begin\f[R], +\f[V]-e/--end\f[R], \f[V]-p/--period\f[R] or a \f[V]date:\f[R] query +(described below). +All of these accept the smart date syntax (below). +.PP +Some notes: +.IP \[bu] 2 +End dates are exclusive, as in Ledger, so you should write the date +\f[I]after\f[R] the last day you want to see in the report. +.IP \[bu] 2 +As noted in reporting options: among start/end dates specified with +\f[I]options\f[R], the last (i.e. +right-most) option takes precedence. +.IP \[bu] 2 +The effective report start and end dates are the intersection of the +start/end dates from options and that from \f[V]date:\f[R] queries. +That is, \f[V]date:2019-01 date:2019 -p\[aq]2000 to 2030\[aq]\f[R] +yields January 2019, the smallest common time span. +.IP \[bu] 2 +A report interval (see below) will adjust start/end dates, when needed, +so that they fall on subperiod boundaries. +.PP +Examples: +.PP +.TS +tab(@); +lw(12.4n) lw(57.6n). +T{ +\f[V]-b 2016/3/17\f[R] +T}@T{ +begin on St.\ Patrick\[cq]s day 2016 +T} +T{ +\f[V]-e 12/1\f[R] +T}@T{ +end at the start of december 1st of the current year (11/30 will be the +last date included) +T} +T{ +\f[V]-b thismonth\f[R] +T}@T{ +all transactions on or after the 1st of the current month +T} +T{ +\f[V]-p thismonth\f[R] +T}@T{ +all transactions in the current month +T} +T{ +\f[V]date:2016/3/17..\f[R] +T}@T{ +the above written as queries instead (\f[V]..\f[R] can also be replaced +with \f[V]-\f[R]) +T} +T{ +\f[V]date:..12/1\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[V]date:thismonth..\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +\f[V]date:thismonth\f[R] +T}@T{ +T} +.TE .SS Smart dates .PP hledger\[aq]s user interfaces accept a flexible \[dq]smart date\[dq] @@ -1102,84 +5614,6 @@ Note \[dq]today\[aq]s date\[dq] can be overridden with the recreating old reports. (Except for periodic transaction rules; those are not affected by \f[V]--today\f[R].) -.PP -.SS Report start & end date -.PP -By default, most hledger reports will show the full span of time -represented by the journal data. -The report start date will be the earliest transaction or posting date, -and the report end date will be the latest transaction, posting, or -market price date. -.PP -Often you will want to see a shorter time span, such as the current -month. -You can specify a start and/or end date using \f[V]-b/--begin\f[R], -\f[V]-e/--end\f[R], \f[V]-p/--period\f[R] or a \f[V]date:\f[R] query -(described below). -All of these accept the smart date syntax. -.PP -Some notes: -.IP \[bu] 2 -End dates are exclusive, as in Ledger, so you should write the date -\f[I]after\f[R] the last day you want to see in the report. -.IP \[bu] 2 -As noted in reporting options: among start/end dates specified with -\f[I]options\f[R], the last (i.e. -right-most) option takes precedence. -.IP \[bu] 2 -The effective report start and end dates are the intersection of the -start/end dates from options and that from \f[V]date:\f[R] queries. -That is, \f[V]date:2019-01 date:2019 -p\[aq]2000 to 2030\[aq]\f[R] -yields January 2019, the smallest common time span. -.IP \[bu] 2 -A report interval (see below) will adjust start/end dates, when needed, -so that they fall on subperiod boundaries. -.PP -Examples: -.PP -.TS -tab(@); -lw(12.4n) lw(57.6n). -T{ -\f[V]-b 2016/3/17\f[R] -T}@T{ -begin on St.\ Patrick\[cq]s day 2016 -T} -T{ -\f[V]-e 12/1\f[R] -T}@T{ -end at the start of december 1st of the current year (11/30 will be the -last date included) -T} -T{ -\f[V]-b thismonth\f[R] -T}@T{ -all transactions on or after the 1st of the current month -T} -T{ -\f[V]-p thismonth\f[R] -T}@T{ -all transactions in the current month -T} -T{ -\f[V]date:2016/3/17..\f[R] -T}@T{ -the above written as queries instead (\f[V]..\f[R] can also be replaced -with \f[V]-\f[R]) -T} -T{ -\f[V]date:..12/1\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[V]date:thismonth..\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[V]date:thismonth\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -.TE .SS Report intervals .PP A report interval can be specified so that commands like register, @@ -1586,15 +6020,15 @@ T}@T{ dates will be Sat, Sun; periods will be Sat, Sun-Fri T} .TE -.SH DEPTH +.SH Depth .PP With the \f[V]--depth NUM\f[R] option (short form: \f[V]-NUM\f[R]), -commands like account, balance and register will show only the uppermost -accounts in the account tree, down to level NUM. +reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, hiding deeper +subaccounts. Use this when you want a summary with less detail. This flag has the same effect as a \f[V]depth:\f[R] query argument: \f[V]depth:2\f[R], \f[V]--depth=2\f[R] or \f[V]-2\f[R] are equivalent. -.SH QUERIES +.SH Queries .PP One of hledger\[aq]s strengths is being able to quickly report on a precise subset of your data. @@ -1858,7 +6292,176 @@ not the old one, and \f[V]amt:\f[R] matches the new quantity, and not the old one. Note: this changed in hledger 1.22, previously it was the reverse, see the discussion at #1625. -.SH COST +.SH Pivoting +.PP +Normally, hledger groups and sums amounts within each account. +The \f[V]--pivot FIELD\f[R] option substitutes some other transaction +field for account names, causing amounts to be grouped and summed by +that field\[aq]s value instead. +FIELD can be any of the transaction fields \f[V]status\f[R], +\f[V]code\f[R], \f[V]description\f[R], \f[V]payee\f[R], \f[V]note\f[R], +or a tag name. +Values containing \f[V]colon:separated:parts\f[R] will form a hierarchy, +as account names do. +.PP +Some examples: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2016/02/16 Member Fee Payment + assets:bank account 2 EUR + income:member fees -2 EUR ; member: John Doe +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Normal balance report showing account names: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger balance + 2 EUR assets:bank account + -2 EUR income:member fees +-------------------- + 0 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Pivoted balance report, using member: tag values instead: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger balance --pivot member + 2 EUR + -2 EUR John Doe +-------------------- + 0 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +One way to show only amounts with a member: value (using a query): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger balance --pivot member tag:member=. + -2 EUR John Doe +-------------------- + -2 EUR +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted \[dq]account +name\[dq]): +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. + -2 EUR John Doe +-------------------- + -2 EUR +\f[R] +.fi +.SH Generating data +.PP +Two features for generating transient data (visible only at report time) +are built in to hledger\[aq]s journal format: +.IP \[bu] 2 +Auto posting rules can generate extra postings on certain transactions. +They are activated by the \f[V]--auto\f[R] flag. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Periodic transaction rules can generate repeating transactions, usually +dated in the future, to help with forecasting or budgeting. +They are activated by the \f[V]--forecast\f[R] or +\f[V]balance --budget\f[R] options, described next. +.SH Forecasting +.PP +The \f[V]--forecast\f[R] flag activates any periodic transaction rules +in the journal. +These will generate temporary additional transactions, usually recurring +and in the future, which will appear in all reports. +\f[V]hledger print --forecast\f[R] is a good way to see them. +.PP +This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps +experimenting with different scenarios. +.PP +It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe +recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of +\f[V]print --forecast\f[R] into the journal. +.PP +The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like +\f[V]generated-transaction:\[ti] PERIODICEXPR\f[R], indicating which +periodic rule generated them. +There is also a similar, hidden tag, named +\f[V]_generated-transaction:\f[R], which you can use to reliably match +transactions generated \[dq]just now\[dq] (rather than \f[V]print\f[R]ed +in the past). +.PP +The forecast transactions are generated within a \f[I]forecast +period\f[R], which is independent of the report period. +(Forecast period sets the bounds for generated transactions, report +period controls which transactions are reported.) +The forecast period begins on: +.IP \[bu] 2 +the start date provided within \f[V]--forecast\f[R]\[aq]s argument, if +any +.IP \[bu] 2 +otherwise, the later of +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +the report start date, if specified (with +\f[V]-b\f[R]/\f[V]-p\f[R]/\f[V]date:\f[R]) +.IP \[bu] 2 +the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if any +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +otherwise today. +.PP +It ends on: +.IP \[bu] 2 +the end date provided within \f[V]--forecast\f[R]\[aq]s argument, if any +.IP \[bu] 2 +otherwise, the report end date, if specified (with +\f[V]-e\f[R]/\f[V]-p\f[R]/\f[V]date:\f[R]) +.IP \[bu] 2 +otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. +.PP +Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic +transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start until +after the last ordinary transaction. +This is usually convenient, but you can get around it in two ways: +.IP \[bu] 2 +If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them +periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: +\f[V]\[ti] YYYY-MM-DD\f[R]) rather than ordinary transactions. +That way they won\[aq]t suppress other periodic transactions. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Or give \f[V]--forecast\f[R] a period expression argument. +A forecast period specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, +and need not be in the future. +Some things to note: +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +You must use \f[V]=\f[R] between flag and argument; a space won\[aq]t +work. +.IP \[bu] 2 +The period expression can specify the forecast period\[aq]s start date, +end date, or both. +See also Report start & end date. +.IP \[bu] 2 +The period expression should not specify a report interval. +(Each periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) +.RE +.PP +Some examples: \f[V]--forecast=202001-202004\f[R], +\f[V]--forecast=jan-\f[R], \f[V]--forecast=2021\f[R]. +.SH Budgeting +.PP +With the balance command\[aq]s \f[V]--budget\f[R] report, each periodic +transaction rule generates recurring budget goals in specified accounts, +and goals and actual performance can be compared. +See the balance command\[aq]s doc below. +.PP +See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. +.SH Cost reporting .PP This section is about recording the cost of things, in transactions where one commodity is exchanged for another. @@ -1879,16 +6482,13 @@ Cost - how much of one commodity was paid to acquire the other. And more generally, in hledger docs: the amount exchanged in the \[dq]secondary\[dq] commodity (usually your base currency), whether in a purchase or a sale, and whether expressed per unit or in total. -Or, the \[at]/\[at]\[at] notation used to represent this. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Transaction price - another name for the cost expressed with -hledger\[aq]s cost notation. +Also, the \[dq]\[at]/\[at]\[at] PRICE\[dq] notation used to represent +this. .SS -B: Convert to cost .PP -As discussed a little further on in Transaction prices, when recording a -transaction you can also record the amount\[aq]s cost in another -commodity, by adding \f[V]\[at] UNITPRICE\f[R] or -\f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALPRICE\f[R]. +As discussed in JOURNAL > Costs, when recording a transaction you can +also record the amount\[aq]s cost in another commodity, by adding +\f[V]\[at] UNITPRICE\f[R] or \f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALPRICE\f[R]. .PP Then you can see a report with amounts converted to cost, by adding the \f[V]-B/--cost\f[R] flag. @@ -1916,9 +6516,8 @@ $ hledger bal -N -B .PP Notes: .PP --B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price is -inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last -amount. +-B is sensitive to the order of postings when a cost is inferred: the +inferred price will be in the commodity of the last amount. So if example 3\[aq]s postings are reversed, while the transaction is equivalent, -B shows something different: .IP @@ -1996,11 +6595,9 @@ The conversion account names can be changed with the conversion account type declaration. .PP --infer-equity is useful when when transactions have been recorded using -PTA cost notation, to help preserve the accounting equation and balance +cost notation, to help preserve the accounting equation and balance reports\[aq] zero total, or to produce more conventional journal entries for sharing with non-PTA-users. -.PP -\f[I]Experimental\f[R] .SS Inferring cost from equity postings .PP The reverse operation is possible using \f[V]--infer-costs\f[R], which @@ -2045,50 +6642,34 @@ $ hledger print --infer-costs -B .PP Notes: .PP -Postings will be recognised as equity conversion postings if they are 1. -to account(s) declared with type \f[V]V\f[R] (\f[V]Conversion\f[R]; or -if no such accounts are declared, accounts named -\f[V]equity:conversion\f[R], \f[V]equity:trade\f[R], -\f[V]equity:trading\f[R], or subaccounts of these) 2. -adjacent 3. -and exactly matching the amounts of two non-conversion postings. +For \f[V]--infer-costs\f[R] to work, an exchange must consist of four +postings: +.IP "1." 3 +two non-equity postings +.IP "2." 3 +two equity postings, next to one another +.IP "3." 3 +the equity accounts must be declared, with account type +\f[V]V\f[R]/\f[V]Conversion\f[R] (or if they are not declared, they must +be named \f[V]equity:conversion\f[R], \f[V]equity:trade\f[R], +\f[V]equity:trading\f[R] or subaccounts of these) +.IP "4." 3 +the equity postings\[aq] amounts must exactly match the non-equity +postings\[aq] amounts .PP -The total cost is appended to the first matching posting in the -transaction. -If you need to assign it to a different posting, or if you have several -different sets of conversion postings in one transaction, you may need -to write the costs explicitly yourself. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 - equity:conversion \[Eu]-100 - equity:conversion $135 - assets:euros \[Eu]100 \[at]\[at] $135 -\f[R] -.fi +Multiple such exchanges can coexist within a single transaction, should +you need that. .PP -or: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-235 - assets:euros \[Eu]100 \[at] $1.35 ; 100 euros bought for $1.35 each - equity:conversion \[Eu]-100 - equity:conversion $135 - assets:pounds \[Po]80 \[at]\[at] $100 ; 80 pounds bought for $100 total - equity:conversion \[Po]-80 - equity:conversion $100 -\f[R] -.fi +When inferring cost, the order of postings matters: the cost is added to +the first of the non-equity postings involved in the exchange, in the +commodity of the last non-equity posting involved in the exchange. +If you don\[aq]t want to write your postings in the required order, the +alternative is not to infer cost; instead, use explicit cost notation, +omitting the equity postings, inferring them later with --infer-equity +if needed. .PP ---infer-equity and --infer-costs can be used together, eg if you have a -mixture of both notations. -.PP -\f[I]Experimental\f[R] +--infer-equity and --infer-costs can be used together, if you have a +mixture of both notations in your journal. .SS When to infer cost/equity .PP Inferring equity postings or costs is still fairly new, so not enabled @@ -2258,7 +6839,7 @@ If you use PTA cost notation, and you want to see a balanced balance sheet or print correct journal entries, use \f[V]--infer-equity\f[R]. .IP \[bu] 2 Conversion to cost is performed before valuation (described next). -.SH VALUATION +.SH Valuation .PP Instead of reporting amounts in their original commodity, hledger can convert them to cost/sale amount (using the conversion rate recorded in @@ -2291,7 +6872,7 @@ the journal\[aq]s end date. .PP For multiperiod reports, each column/period is valued on the last day of the period, by default. -.SS Market prices +.SS Finding market price .PP To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, in @@ -2300,7 +6881,7 @@ this order of preference : A \f[I]declared market price\f[R] or \f[I]inferred market price\f[R]: A\[aq]s latest market price in B on or before the valuation date as declared by a P directive, or (with the \f[V]--infer-market-prices\f[R] -flag) inferred from transaction prices. +flag) inferred from costs. .IP "2." 3 A \f[I]reverse market price\f[R]: the inverse of a declared or inferred market price from B to A. @@ -2327,14 +6908,13 @@ Normally, market value in hledger is fully controlled by, and requires, P directives in your journal. Since adding and updating those can be a chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market value, why not use the recorded -transaction prices as additional market prices (as Ledger does) ? -We could produce value reports without needing P directives at all. -.PP +costs as additional market prices (as Ledger does) ? Adding the \f[V]--infer-market-prices\f[R] flag to \f[V]-V\f[R], \f[V]-X\f[R] or \f[V]--value\f[R] enables this. +.PP So for example, \f[V]hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices\f[R] will get market prices both from P directives and from transactions. -(And if both occur on the same day, the P directive takes precedence). +If both occur on the same day, the P directive takes precedence. .PP There is a downside: value reports can sometimes be affected in confusing/undesired ways by your journal entries. @@ -2351,13 +6931,12 @@ two commodities, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings matters. \f[V]hledger print -x\f[R] can be useful for troubleshooting.) .IP \[bu] 2 -but not, currently, from \[dq]more correct\[dq] multicommodity -transactions (no \f[V]\[at]\f[R], multiple commodities, balanced). +multicommodity transactions with equity postings, if cost is inferred +with \f[V]--infer-costs\f[R]. .PP -There is another limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity -is not specified, prices inferred with \f[V]--infer-market-prices\f[R] -do not help select a default valuation commodity, as \f[V]P\f[R] prices -would. +There is a limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity is not +specified, prices inferred with \f[V]--infer-market-prices\f[R] do not +help select a default valuation commodity, as \f[V]P\f[R] prices would. So conversion might not happen because no valuation commodity was detected (\f[V]--debug=2\f[R] will show this). To be safe, specify the valuation commmodity, eg: @@ -2367,6 +6946,56 @@ To be safe, specify the valuation commmodity, eg: .IP \[bu] 2 \f[V]--value=then,EUR --infer-market-prices\f[R], not \f[V]--value=then --infer-market-prices\f[R] +.PP +Signed costs and market prices can be confusing. +For reference, here is the current behaviour, since hledger 1.25. +(If you think it should work differently, see #1870.) +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +2022-01-01 Positive Unit prices + a A 1 + b B -1 \[at] A 1 + +2022-01-01 Positive Total prices + a A 1 + b B -1 \[at]\[at] A 1 + + +2022-01-02 Negative unit prices + a A 1 + b B 1 \[at] A -1 + +2022-01-02 Negative total prices + a A 1 + b B 1 \[at]\[at] A -1 + + +2022-01-03 Double Negative unit prices + a A -1 + b B -1 \[at] A -1 + +2022-01-03 Double Negative total prices + a A -1 + b B -1 \[at]\[at] A -1 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +All of the transactions above are considered balanced (and on each day, +the two transactions are considered equivalent). +Here are the market prices inferred for B: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f- --infer-market-prices prices +P 2022-01-01 B A 1 +P 2022-01-01 B A 1.0 +P 2022-01-02 B A -1 +P 2022-01-02 B A -1.0 +P 2022-01-03 B A -1 +P 2022-01-03 B A -1.0 +\f[R] +.fi .SS Valuation commodity .PP \f[B]When you specify a valuation commodity (\f[VB]-X COMM\f[B] or @@ -2403,7 +7032,7 @@ If you have P directives, they determine which commodities \f[V]-V\f[R] will convert, and to what. .IP \[bu] 2 If you have no P directives, and use the \f[V]--infer-market-prices\f[R] -flag, transaction prices determine it. +flag, costs determine it. .PP Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not converted. .SS Simple valuation examples @@ -3009,90 +7638,7 @@ otherwise the latest transaction date in the journal, otherwise today. \f[I]report interval\f[R] a flag (-D/-W/-M/-Q/-Y) or period expression that activates the report\[aq]s multi-period mode (whether showing one or many subperiods). -.SH PIVOTING -.PP -Normally hledger sums amounts, and organizes them in a hierarchy, based -on account name. -The \f[V]--pivot FIELD\f[R] option causes it to sum and organize -hierarchy based on the value of some other field instead. -FIELD can be: \f[V]status\f[R], \f[V]code\f[R], \f[V]description\f[R], -\f[V]payee\f[R], \f[V]note\f[R], or the full name (case insensitive) of -any tag. -As with account names, values containing \f[V]colon:separated:parts\f[R] -will be displayed hierarchically in reports. -.PP -\f[V]--pivot\f[R] is a general option affecting all reports; you can -think of hledger transforming the journal before any other processing, -replacing every posting\[aq]s account name with the value of the -specified field on that posting, inheriting it from the transaction or -using a blank value if it\[aq]s not present. -.PP -An example: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2016/02/16 Member Fee Payment - assets:bank account 2 EUR - income:member fees -2 EUR ; member: John Doe -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Normal balance report showing account names: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger balance - 2 EUR assets:bank account - -2 EUR income:member fees --------------------- - 0 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Pivoted balance report, using member: tag values instead: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger balance --pivot member - 2 EUR - -2 EUR John Doe --------------------- - 0 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -One way to show only amounts with a member: value (using a query, -described below): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger balance --pivot member tag:member=. - -2 EUR John Doe --------------------- - -2 EUR -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted \[dq]account -name\[dq]): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. - -2 EUR John Doe --------------------- - -2 EUR -\f[R] -.fi -.SH COMMANDS -.PP -hledger provides a number of commands for producing reports and managing -your data. -Run \f[V]hledger\f[R] with no arguments to list the commands available, -and \f[V]hledger CMD\f[R] to run a command. -CMD can be the full command name, or its standard abbreviation shown in -the commands list, or any unambiguous prefix of the name. -Eg: \f[V]hledger bal\f[R]. +.SH PART 4: COMMANDS .PP Here are the built-in commands, with the most often-used in bold: .PP @@ -3170,13 +7716,10 @@ tags - show tag names test - run self tests .PP .PP -\f[B]Add-on commands:\f[R] -.PP -Programs or scripts named \f[V]hledger-SOMETHING\f[R] in your PATH are -add-on commands; these appear in the commands list with a \f[V]+\f[R] -mark. -The following add-on commands can be installed, eg by the -hledger-install script: +And here are some typical add-on commands installed by the +hledger-install script. +If installed, these will also appear in hledger\[aq]s commands list, +with a \f[V]+\f[R] mark: .IP \[bu] 2 \f[B]ui\f[R] - hledger\[aq]s official curses-style TUI .IP \[bu] 2 @@ -3189,7 +7732,7 @@ interest - generates interest transactions stockquotes - downloads market prices. \f[I](Alpha quality, needs your help.)\f[R] .PP -Next, the detailed command docs, in alphabetical order. +Next, each command is described in detail, in alphabetical order. .SS accounts .PP accounts @@ -3558,8 +8101,12 @@ normally be shown. With no arguments, \f[V]balance\f[R] shows a list of all accounts and their change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and outflows - during the entire period of the journal. -For real-world accounts, this should also match their end balance at the -end of the journal period (more on this below). +(\[dq]Simple\[dq] here means just one column of numbers, covering a +single period. +You can also have multi-period reports, described later.) +.PP +For real-world accounts, these numbers will normally be their end +balance at the end of the journal period; more on this below. .PP Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then alphabetically by account name. @@ -3603,6 +8150,80 @@ $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal -E .PP The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless \f[V]-N\f[R]/\f[V]--no-total\f[R] is used. +.SS Balance report line format +.PP +For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you +can use \f[V]--format FMT\f[R] to customise the format and content of +each line. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format \[dq]%20(account) %12(total)\[dq] + assets $-1 + bank:saving $1 + cash $-2 + expenses $2 + food $1 + supplies $1 + income $-2 + gifts $-1 + salary $-1 + liabilities:debts $1 +--------------------------------- + 0 +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +The FMT format string specifies the formatting applied to each +account/balance pair. +It may contain any suitable text, with data fields interpolated like so: +.PP +\f[V]%[MIN][.MAX](FIELDNAME)\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +MIN pads with spaces to at least this width (optional) +.IP \[bu] 2 +MAX truncates at this width (optional) +.IP \[bu] 2 +FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: +.RS 2 +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]depth_spacer\f[R] - a number of spaces equal to the account\[aq]s +depth, or if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]account\f[R] - the account\[aq]s name +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]total\f[R] - the account\[aq]s balance/posted total, right +justified +.RE +.PP +Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how +multi-commodity amounts are rendered: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]%_\f[R] - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]%\[ha]\f[R] - render on multiple lines, top-aligned +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]%,\f[R] - render on one line, comma-separated +.PP +There are some quirks. +Eg in one-line mode, \f[V]%(depth_spacer)\f[R] has no effect, instead +\f[V]%(account)\f[R] has indentation built in. +Experimentation may be needed to get pleasing results. +.PP +Some example formats: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]%(total)\f[R] - the account\[aq]s total +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]%-20.20(account)\f[R] - the account\[aq]s name, left justified, +padded to 20 characters and clipped at 20 characters +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]%,%-50(account) %25(total)\f[R] - account name padded to 50 +characters, total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities +rendered on one line +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]%20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account)\f[R] - the default format +for the single-column balance report .SS Filtered balance report .PP You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from @@ -3698,6 +8319,63 @@ $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal expenses --drop 1 \f[R] .fi .PP +.SS Showing declared accounts +.PP +With \f[V]--declared\f[R], accounts which have been declared with an +account directive will be included in the balance report, even if they +have no transactions. +(Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need +\f[V]-E/--empty\f[R] to see them.) +.PP +More precisely, \f[I]leaf\f[R] declared accounts (with no subaccounts) +will be included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. +.PP +The idea of this is to be able to see a useful \[dq]complete\[dq] +balance report, even when you don\[aq]t have transactions in all of your +declared accounts yet. +.SS Sorting by amount +.PP +With \f[V]-S/--sort-amount\f[R], accounts with the largest (most +positive) balances are shown first. +Eg: \f[V]hledger bal expenses -MAS\f[R] shows your biggest averaged +monthly expenses first. +When more than one commodity is present, they will be sorted by the +alphabetically earliest commodity first, and then by subsequent +commodities (if an amount is missing a commodity, it is treated as 0). +.PP +Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so +\f[V]-S\f[R] shows these in reverse order. +To work around this, you can add \f[V]--invert\f[R] to flip the signs. +(Or, use one of the higher-level reports, which flip the sign +automatically. +Eg: \f[V]hledger incomestatement -MAS\f[R]). +.PP +.SS Percentages +.PP +With \f[V]-%/--percent\f[R], balance reports show each account\[aq]s +value expressed as a percentage of the (column) total. +.PP +Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a +column have mixed signs. +In this case, make a separate report for each sign, eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger bal -% amt:\[ga]>0\[ga] +$ hledger bal -% amt:\[ga]<0\[ga] +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert +them to one commodity with \f[V]-B\f[R], \f[V]-V\f[R], \f[V]-X\f[R] or +\f[V]--value\f[R], or make a separate report for each commodity: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger bal -% cur:\[rs]\[rs]$ +$ hledger bal -% cur:\[Eu] +\f[R] +.fi .SS Multi-period balance report .PP With a report interval (set by the \f[V]-D/--daily\f[R], @@ -3769,304 +8447,6 @@ Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata .IP \[bu] 2 Output as HTML and view with a browser: \f[V]hledger bal -D -o a.html && open a.html\f[R] -.SS Showing declared accounts -.PP -With \f[V]--declared\f[R], accounts which have been declared with an -account directive will be included in the balance report, even if they -have no transactions. -(Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need -\f[V]-E/--empty\f[R] to see them.) -.PP -More precisely, \f[I]leaf\f[R] declared accounts (with no subaccounts) -will be included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. -.PP -The idea of this is to be able to see a useful \[dq]complete\[dq] -balance report, even when you don\[aq]t have transactions in all of your -declared accounts yet. -.SS Data layout -.PP -The \f[V]--layout\f[R] option affects how multi-commodity amounts are -displayed, and some other things, influencing the overall layout of the -report data: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]--layout=wide[,WIDTH]\f[R]: commodities are shown on a single line, -possibly elided to the specified width -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]--layout=tall\f[R]: each commodity is shown on a separate line -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]--layout=bare\f[R]: amounts are shown as bare numbers, with -commodity symbols in a separate column -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]--layout=tidy\f[R]: data is normalised to tidy form, with one row -per data value. -We currently support this with CSV output only. -In tidy mode, totals and row averages are disabled -(\f[V]-N/--no-total\f[R] is implied and \f[V]-T/--row-total\f[R] and -\f[V]-A/--average\f[R] will be ignored). -.PP -These \f[V]--layout\f[R] modes are supported with some but not all of -the output formats: -.PP -.TS -tab(@); -l l l l l l. -T{ -- -T}@T{ -txt -T}@T{ -csv -T}@T{ -html -T}@T{ -json -T}@T{ -sql -T} -_ -T{ -wide -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -tall -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -bare -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -tidy -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -Y -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T} -.TE -.PP -Examples: -.IP \[bu] 2 -Wide layout. -With many commodities, reports can be very wide: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide -Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || 2012 2013 2014 Total -==================++==================================================================================================================================================================================================================== - Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT -------------------++-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -Limited wide layout. -A width limit reduces the width, but some commodities will be hidden: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide,32 -Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || 2012 2013 2014 Total -==================++=========================================================================================================================== - Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -------------------++--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -Tall layout. -Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in each column), and -account names are repeated: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=tall -Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || 2012 2013 2014 Total -==================++================================================== - Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD - Assets:US:ETrade || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT - Assets:US:ETrade || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD - Assets:US:ETrade || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA - Assets:US:ETrade || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT -------------------++-------------------------------------------------- - || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD - || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT - || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD - || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA - || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -Bare layout. -Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commodity gets its own -report row, account names are repeated: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=bare -Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || Commodity 2012 2013 2014 Total -==================++============================================= - Assets:US:ETrade || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 - Assets:US:ETrade || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 - Assets:US:ETrade || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 - Assets:US:ETrade || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 - Assets:US:ETrade || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 -------------------++--------------------------------------------- - || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 - || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 - || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 - || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 - || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -Bare layout also affects CSV output, which is useful for producing data -that is easier to consume, eg when making charts: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -O csv --layout=bare -\[dq]account\[dq],\[dq]commodity\[dq],\[dq]balance\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]70.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]17.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]5120.50\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]36.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]294.00\[dq] -\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]70.00\[dq] -\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]17.00\[dq] -\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]5120.50\[dq] -\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]36.00\[dq] -\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]294.00\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -Tidy layout produces normalised \[dq]tidy data\[dq], where every -variable is a column and each row represents a single data point (see -https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy-data.html). -This kind of data is the easiest to process with other software: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -Y -O csv --layout=tidy -\[dq]account\[dq],\[dq]period\[dq],\[dq]start_date\[dq],\[dq]end_date\[dq],\[dq]commodity\[dq],\[dq]value\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]0\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]10.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]337.18\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]12.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]106.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]70.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]18.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-98.12\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]10.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]18.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]0\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]-11.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]4881.44\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]14.00\[dq] -\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]170.00\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.SS Sorting by amount -.PP -With \f[V]-S/--sort-amount\f[R], accounts with the largest (most -positive) balances are shown first. -Eg: \f[V]hledger bal expenses -MAS\f[R] shows your biggest averaged -monthly expenses first. -When more than one commodity is present, they will be sorted by the -alphabetically earliest commodity first, and then by subsequent -commodities (if an amount is missing a commodity, it is treated as 0). -.PP -Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -\f[V]-S\f[R] shows these in reverse order. -To work around this, you can add \f[V]--invert\f[R] to flip the signs. -(Or, use one of the higher-level reports, which flip the sign -automatically. -Eg: \f[V]hledger incomestatement -MAS\f[R]). -.PP -.SS Percentages -.PP -With \f[V]-%/--percent\f[R], balance reports show each account\[aq]s -value expressed as a percentage of the (column) total: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal expenses -Q -% -Balance changes in 2008: - - || 2008Q1 2008Q2 2008Q3 2008Q4 -===================++================================= - expenses:food || 0 50.0 % 0 0 - expenses:supplies || 0 50.0 % 0 0 --------------------++--------------------------------- - || 0 100.0 % 0 0 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a -column have mixed signs. -In this case, make a separate report for each sign, eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger bal -% amt:\[ga]>0\[ga] -$ hledger bal -% amt:\[ga]<0\[ga] -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert -them to one commodity with \f[V]-B\f[R], \f[V]-V\f[R], \f[V]-X\f[R] or -\f[V]--value\f[R], or make a separate report for each commodity: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger bal -% cur:\[rs]\[rs]$ -$ hledger bal -% cur:\[Eu] -\f[R] -.fi .SS Balance change, end balance .PP It\[aq]s important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in @@ -4106,22 +8486,28 @@ specifying a report start date, or by using the postings.) .SS Balance report types .PP -For more flexible reporting, there are three important option groups: +The balance command is quite flexible; here is the full detail on how to +control what it reports. +There are three important option groups: .PP \f[V]hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] ...\f[R] .PP -The first two are the most important: calculation type selects the basic -calculation to perform for each table cell, while accumulation type says -which postings should be included in each cell\[aq]s calculation. +The first two are the most important: +.IP \[bu] 2 +calculation type selects the basic calculation to perform for each table +cell +.IP \[bu] 2 +accumulation type says which postings should be included in each +cell\[aq]s calculation +.PP Typically one or both of these are selected by default, so you don\[aq]t need to write them explicitly. -A valuation type can be added if you want to convert the basic report to -value or cost. +Then +.IP \[bu] 2 +a valuation type can be added if you want to convert the basic report to +value or cost +.SS Calculation type .PP -\f[B]Calculation type:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD The basic calculation to perform for each table cell. It is one of: .IP \[bu] 2 @@ -4135,11 +8521,8 @@ fluctuations) .IP \[bu] 2 \f[V]--gain\f[R] : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current valued balance minus each amount\[aq]s original cost) +.SS Accumulation type .PP -\f[B]Accumulation type:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD Which postings should be included in each cell\[aq]s calculation. It is one of: .IP \[bu] 2 @@ -4158,11 +8541,8 @@ period. Typically used to see historical end balances of assets/liabilities/equity. (\f[B]default for balancesheet, balancesheetequity, cashflow\f[R]) +.SS Valuation type .PP -\f[B]Valuation type:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD Which kind of valuation, valuation date(s) and optionally a target valuation commodity to use. It is one of: @@ -4184,6 +8564,7 @@ cost .PP or one of their aliases: \f[V]--cost/-B\f[R], \f[V]--market/-V\f[R] or \f[V]--exchange/-X\f[R]. +.SS Combining balance report types .PP Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. @@ -4202,9 +8583,9 @@ valuation show: .PP .TS tab(@); -lw(8.2n) lw(16.3n) lw(16.8n) lw(15.1n) lw(13.6n). +lw(7.9n) lw(16.4n) lw(16.9n) lw(15.1n) lw(13.7n). T{ -Valuation: >Accumulation: v +Valuation:> Accumulation:v T}@T{ no valuation T}@T{ @@ -4249,64 +8630,6 @@ T}@T{ DATE-value of change from journal start to period end T} .TE -.SS Useful balance reports -.PP -Some frequently used \f[V]balance\f[R] options/reports are: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal -M revenues expenses\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show revenues/expenses in each month. -Also available as the \f[V]incomestatement\f[R] command. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal -M -H assets liabilities\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. -Also available as the \f[V]balancesheet\f[R] command. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal -M -H assets liabilities equity\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. -Also available as the \f[V]balancesheetequity\f[R] command. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal -M assets not:receivable\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show changes to liquid assets in each month. -Also available as the \f[V]cashflow\f[R] command. -.PP -Also: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal -M expenses -2 -SA\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average -amount. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal -M --budget expenses\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show monthly expenses and budget goals. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal -M --valuechange investments\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show monthly change in market value of investment assets. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]bal investments --valuechange -D date:lastweek amt:\[aq]>1000\[aq] -STA [--invert]\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Show top gainers [or losers] last week .SS Budget report .PP The \f[V]--budget\f[R] report type activates extra columns showing any @@ -4625,80 +8948,299 @@ regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed), and then select from multiple budgets defined in your journal. -.SS Customising single-period balance reports +.SS Data layout .PP -For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you -can use \f[V]--format FMT\f[R] to customise the format and content of -each line. -Eg: +The \f[V]--layout\f[R] option affects how balance reports show commodity +symbols and multi-commodity amounts, which can improve readability. +It can also normalise the data for easy consumption by other programs. +It has four possible values: +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]--layout=wide[,WIDTH]\f[R]: commodities are shown on a single line, +possibly elided to the specified width +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]--layout=tall\f[R]: each commodity is shown on a separate line +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]--layout=bare\f[R]: amounts are shown as bare numbers, with +commodity symbols in a separate column +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]--layout=tidy\f[R]: data is normalised to easily-consumed +\[dq]tidy\[dq] form, with one row per data value (works only with CSV +output) +.PP +These \f[V]--layout\f[R] modes are supported with some but not all of +the output formats: +.PP +.TS +tab(@); +l l l l l l. +T{ +- +T}@T{ +txt +T}@T{ +csv +T}@T{ +html +T}@T{ +json +T}@T{ +sql +T} +_ +T{ +wide +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +tall +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +bare +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T} +T{ +tidy +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +Y +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T}@T{ +T} +.TE +.PP +Examples: +.IP \[bu] 2 +Wide layout. +With many commodities, reports can be very wide: +.RS 2 .IP .nf \f[C] -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format \[dq]%20(account) %12(total)\[dq] - assets $-1 - bank:saving $1 - cash $-2 - expenses $2 - food $1 - supplies $1 - income $-2 - gifts $-1 - salary $-1 - liabilities:debts $1 ---------------------------------- - 0 +$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide +Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || 2012 2013 2014 Total +==================++==================================================================================================================================================================================================================== + Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT +------------------++-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +Limited wide layout. +A width limit reduces the width, but some commodities will be hidden: +.RS 2 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide,32 +Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || 2012 2013 2014 Total +==================++=========================================================================================================================== + Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. +------------------++--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +Tall layout. +Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in each column), and +account names are repeated: +.RS 2 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=tall +Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || 2012 2013 2014 Total +==================++================================================== + Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD + Assets:US:ETrade || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT + Assets:US:ETrade || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD + Assets:US:ETrade || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA + Assets:US:ETrade || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT +------------------++-------------------------------------------------- + || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD + || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT + || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD + || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA + || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +Bare layout. +Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commodity gets its own +report row, account names are repeated: +.RS 2 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=bare +Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || Commodity 2012 2013 2014 Total +==================++============================================= + Assets:US:ETrade || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 + Assets:US:ETrade || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 + Assets:US:ETrade || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 + Assets:US:ETrade || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 + Assets:US:ETrade || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 +------------------++--------------------------------------------- + || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 + || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 + || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 + || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 + || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +Bare layout also affects CSV output, which is useful for producing data +that is easier to consume, eg when making charts: +.RS 2 +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -O csv --layout=bare +\[dq]account\[dq],\[dq]commodity\[dq],\[dq]balance\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]70.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]17.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]5120.50\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]36.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]294.00\[dq] +\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]70.00\[dq] +\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]17.00\[dq] +\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]5120.50\[dq] +\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]36.00\[dq] +\[dq]total\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]294.00\[dq] +\f[R] +.fi +.RE +.IP \[bu] 2 +Tidy layout produces normalised \[dq]tidy data\[dq], where every +variable has its own column and each row represents a single data point. +See +https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy-data.html +for more. +.RS 2 +.PP +This kind of output is the easiest to process with other software. +Here\[aq]s how it looks: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -Y -O csv --layout=tidy +\[dq]account\[dq],\[dq]period\[dq],\[dq]start_date\[dq],\[dq]end_date\[dq],\[dq]commodity\[dq],\[dq]value\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]0\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]10.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]337.18\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]12.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2012\[dq],\[dq]2012-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2012-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]106.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]70.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]18.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-98.12\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]10.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2013\[dq],\[dq]2013-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2013-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]18.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]GLD\[dq],\[dq]0\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]ITOT\[dq],\[dq]-11.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]4881.44\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VEA\[dq],\[dq]14.00\[dq] +\[dq]Assets:US:ETrade\[dq],\[dq]2014\[dq],\[dq]2014-01-01\[dq],\[dq]2014-12-31\[dq],\[dq]VHT\[dq],\[dq]170.00\[dq] \f[R] .fi .PP -The FMT format string (plus a newline) specifies the formatting applied -to each account/balance pair. -It may contain any suitable text, with data fields interpolated like so: +Currently tidy layout is supported only with CSV output. .PP -\f[V]%[MIN][.MAX](FIELDNAME)\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -MIN pads with spaces to at least this width (optional) -.IP \[bu] 2 -MAX truncates at this width (optional) -.IP \[bu] 2 -FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: -.RS 2 -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]depth_spacer\f[R] - a number of spaces equal to the account\[aq]s -depth, or if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]account\f[R] - the account\[aq]s name -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]total\f[R] - the account\[aq]s balance/posted total, right -justified +In tidy mode, row totals, row averages and column totals are not shown +(\f[V]-T/--row-total\f[R] and \f[V]-A/--average\f[R] flags are disabled +and \f[V]-N/--no-total\f[R] is enabled). .RE +.SS Useful balance reports .PP -Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how -multi-commodity amounts are rendered: +Some frequently used \f[V]balance\f[R] options/reports are: .IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]%_\f[R] - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) +\f[V]bal -M revenues expenses\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show revenues/expenses in each month. +Also available as the \f[V]incomestatement\f[R] command. .IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]%\[ha]\f[R] - render on multiple lines, top-aligned +\f[V]bal -M -H assets liabilities\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. +Also available as the \f[V]balancesheet\f[R] command. .IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]%,\f[R] - render on one line, comma-separated +\f[V]bal -M -H assets liabilities equity\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. +Also available as the \f[V]balancesheetequity\f[R] command. +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[V]bal -M assets not:receivable\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show changes to liquid assets in each month. +Also available as the \f[V]cashflow\f[R] command. .PP -There are some quirks. -Eg in one-line mode, \f[V]%(depth_spacer)\f[R] has no effect, instead -\f[V]%(account)\f[R] has indentation built in. -Experimentation may be needed to get pleasing results. -.PP -Some example formats: +Also: .IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]%(total)\f[R] - the account\[aq]s total +\f[V]bal -M expenses -2 -SA\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average +amount. .IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]%-20.20(account)\f[R] - the account\[aq]s name, left justified, -padded to 20 characters and clipped at 20 characters +\f[V]bal -M --budget expenses\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show monthly expenses and budget goals. .IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]%,%-50(account) %25(total)\f[R] - account name padded to 50 -characters, total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities -rendered on one line +\f[V]bal -M --valuechange investments\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show monthly change in market value of investment assets. .IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]%20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account)\f[R] - the default format -for the single-column balance report +\f[V]bal investments --valuechange -D date:lastweek amt:\[aq]>1000\[aq] -STA [--invert]\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Show top gainers [or losers] last week .SS balancesheet .PP balancesheet, bs @@ -4908,8 +9450,7 @@ parsed .IP \[bu] 2 \f[B]balancedwithautoconversion\f[R] - all transactions are balanced, inferring missing amounts where necessary, and possibly converting -commodities using transaction prices or automatically-inferred -transaction prices +commodities using costs or automatically-inferred costs .IP \[bu] 2 \f[B]assertions\f[R] - all balance assertions in the journal are passing. @@ -4928,7 +9469,7 @@ declared \f[B]commodities\f[R] - all commodity symbols used have been declared .IP \[bu] 2 \f[B]balancednoautoconversion\f[R] - transactions are balanced, possibly -using explicit transaction prices but not inferred ones +using explicit costs but not inferred ones .SS Other checks .PP These checks can be run only by giving their names as arguments to @@ -5019,10 +9560,10 @@ a separate equity posting for each commodity (as in the print command). .PP With \f[V]--interleaved\f[R], each equity posting is shown next to the posting it balances (good for troubleshooting). -.SS close and prices +.SS close and costs .PP -Transaction prices are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening -transactions, by default. +Costs are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening transactions, by +default. With \f[V]--show-costs\f[R], they are preserved; there will be a separate equity posting for each cost in each commodity. This means \f[V]balance -B\f[R] reports will look the same after the @@ -5288,17 +9829,21 @@ Examples: .IP .nf \f[C] -1/1 (123) - (a) 1 +2022/1/1 (123) Supermarket + Food $5.00 + Checking -1/1 () - (a) 1 +2022/1/2 (124) Post Office + Postage $8.32 + Checking -1/1 - (a) 1 +2022/1/3 Supermarket + Food $11.23 + Checking -1/1 (126) - (a) 1 +2022/1/4 (126) Post Office + Postage $3.21 + Checking \f[R] .fi .IP @@ -5317,7 +9862,6 @@ $ hledger codes -E 123 124 - 126 \f[R] .fi @@ -5661,11 +10205,10 @@ prices .PD Print market price directives from the journal. With --infer-market-prices, generate additional market prices from -transaction prices. +costs. With --infer-reverse-prices, also generate market prices by inverting -transaction prices. -Prices (and postings providing transaction prices) can be filtered by a -query. +known prices. +Prices can be filtered by a query. Price amounts are displayed with their full precision. .SS print .PP @@ -5746,12 +10289,12 @@ Normally, the journal entry\[aq]s explicit or implicit amount style is preserved. For example, when an amount is omitted in the journal, it will not appear in the output. -Similarly, when a transaction price is implied but not written, it will -not appear in the output. +Similarly, when a cost is implied but not written, it will not appear in +the output. You can use the \f[V]-x\f[R]/\f[V]--explicit\f[R] flag to make all -amounts and transaction prices explicit, which can be useful for -troubleshooting or for making your journal more readable and robust -against data entry errors. +amounts and costs explicit, which can be useful for troubleshooting or +for making your journal more readable and robust against data entry +errors. \f[V]-x\f[R] is also implied by using any of \f[V]-B\f[R],\f[V]-V\f[R],\f[V]-X\f[R],\f[V]--value\f[R]. .PP @@ -5760,8 +10303,8 @@ multi-commodity amount (these can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an implicit amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, keeping the output parseable. .PP -With \f[V]-B\f[R]/\f[V]--cost\f[R], amounts with transaction prices are -converted to cost using that price. +With \f[V]-B\f[R]/\f[V]--cost\f[R], amounts with costs are converted to +cost using that price. This can be used for troubleshooting. .PP With \f[V]-m DESC\f[R]/\f[V]--match=DESC\f[R], print does a fuzzy search @@ -6496,4268 +11039,8 @@ $ hledger test -- -pData.Amount --color=never .PP For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options (\f[V]-- --help\f[R] currently doesn\[aq]t show them). -.SS Add-on commands .PP -Add-on commands are programs or scripts in your PATH -.IP \[bu] 2 -whose name starts with \f[V]hledger-\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -whose name ends with a recognised file extension: -\f[V].bat\f[R],\f[V].com\f[R],\f[V].exe\f[R], -\f[V].hs\f[R],\f[V].lhs\f[R],\f[V].pl\f[R],\f[V].py\f[R],\f[V].rb\f[R],\f[V].rkt\f[R],\f[V].sh\f[R] -or none -.IP \[bu] 2 -and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. -.PP -Add-ons are a relatively easy way to add local features or experiment -with new ideas. -They can be written in any language, but haskell scripts have a big -advantage: they can use the same hledger library functions that built-in -commands use for command-line options, parsing and reporting. -Some experimental/example add-on scripts can be found in the hledger -repo\[aq]s bin/ directory. -.PP -Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a double -dash (\f[V]--\f[R]) preceding them. -Eg you must write: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger web -- --serve -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -and not: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger web --serve -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -(because the \f[V]--serve\f[R] flag belongs to \f[V]hledger-web\f[R], -not \f[V]hledger\f[R]). -.PP -The \f[V]-h/--help\f[R] and \f[V]--version\f[R] flags don\[aq]t require -\f[V]--\f[R]. -.PP -If you have any trouble with this, remember you can always run the -add-on program directly, eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger-web --serve -\f[R] -.fi -.SH JOURNAL FORMAT -.PP -hledger\[aq]s default file format, representing a General Journal. -.PP -hledger\[aq]s usual data source is a plain text file containing journal -entries in hledger journal format. -This file represents a standard accounting general journal. -I use file names ending in \f[V].journal\f[R], but that\[aq]s not -required. -The journal file contains a number of transaction entries, each -describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more -named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans. -.PP -hledger\[aq]s journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of -ledger\[aq]s journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger -journal files as well. -It\[aq]s safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on the -same journal file, eg to validate the results you\[aq]re getting. -.PP -You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use -the add or web or import commands to create and update it. -.PP -Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track -changes with a version control system such as git. -Editor addons such as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger -for Vim, and hledger-vscode for Visual Studio Code, make this easier, -adding colour, formatting, tab completion, and useful commands. -See Editor configuration at hledger.org for the full list. -.PP -Here\[aq]s a description of each part of the file format (and -hledger\[aq]s data model). -These are mostly in the order you\[aq]ll use them, but in some cases -related concepts have been grouped together for easy reference, or -linked before they are introduced, so feel free to skip over anything -that looks unnecessary right now. -.SS Transactions -.PP -Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. -They represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of -commodities between two or more named accounts. -.PP -Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a simple -date in column 0. -This can be followed by any of the following optional fields, separated -by spaces: -.IP \[bu] 2 -a status character (empty, \f[V]!\f[R], or \f[V]*\f[R]) -.IP \[bu] 2 -a code (any short number or text, enclosed in parentheses) -.IP \[bu] 2 -a description (any remaining text until end of line or a semicolon) -.IP \[bu] 2 -a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of line, -and any following indented lines beginning with a semicolon) -.IP \[bu] 2 -0 or more indented \f[I]posting\f[R] lines, describing what was -transferred and the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also -allowed, but not blank lines or non-indented lines). -.PP -Here\[aq]s a simple journal file containing one transaction: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2008/01/01 income - assets:bank:checking $1 - income:salary $-1 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Dates -.SS Simple dates -.PP -Dates in the journal file use \f[I]simple dates\f[R] format: -\f[V]YYYY-MM-DD\f[R] or \f[V]YYYY/MM/DD\f[R] or \f[V]YYYY.MM.DD\f[R], -with leading zeros optional. -The year may be omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the -context: the current transaction, the default year set with a default -year directive, or the current date when the command is run. -Some examples: \f[V]2010-01-31\f[R], \f[V]2010/01/31\f[R], -\f[V]2010.1.31\f[R], \f[V]1/31\f[R]. -.PP -(The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart -dates documented in the hledger manual.) -.SS Secondary dates -.PP -Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the -date you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank. -When you want to model this, for more accurate daily balances, you can -specify individual posting dates. -.PP -Or, you can use the older \f[I]secondary date\f[R] feature (Ledger calls -it auxiliary date or effective date). -Note: we support this for compatibility, but I usually recommend -avoiding this feature; posting dates are almost always clearer and -simpler. -.PP -A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals -sign. -If the year is omitted, the primary date\[aq]s year is assumed. -When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but -with the \f[V]--date2\f[R] flag (or \f[V]--aux-date\f[R] or -\f[V]--effective\f[R]), the secondary (right) date will be used instead. -.PP -The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it\[aq]s best to follow -a consistent rule. -Eg \[dq]primary = the bank\[aq]s clearing date, secondary = date the -transaction was initiated, if different\[dq], as shown here: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket - expenses:cinema $10 - assets:checking -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger register checking -2010-02-23 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger register checking --date2 -2010-02-19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Posting dates -.PP -You can give individual postings a different date from their parent -transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below) -like \f[V]date:DATE\f[R]. -This is probably the best way to control posting dates precisely. -Eg in this example the expense should appear in May reports, and the -deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for easy bank -reconciliation: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2015/5/30 - expenses:food $10 ; food purchased on saturday 5/30 - assets:checking ; bank cleared it on monday, date:6/1 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f t.j register food -2015-05-30 expenses:food $10 $10 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f t.j register checking -2015-06-01 assets:checking $-10 $-10 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use -the year of the transaction\[aq]s date. -You can set the secondary date similarly, with \f[V]date2:DATE2\f[R]. -The \f[V]date:\f[R] or \f[V]date2:\f[R] tags must have a valid simple -date value if they are present, eg a \f[V]date:\f[R] tag with no value -is not allowed. -.PP -Ledger\[aq]s earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also -supported: \f[V][DATE]\f[R], \f[V][DATE=DATE2]\f[R] or -\f[V][=DATE2]\f[R]. -hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed sequence of the -\f[V]0123456789/-.=\f[R] characters in this way. -With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 -infers its year from DATE. -.SS Status -.PP -Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a -status mark, which is a single character before the transaction -description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, -indicating one of three statuses: -.PP -.TS -tab(@); -l l. -T{ -mark \ -T}@T{ -status -T} -_ -T{ -\ -T}@T{ -unmarked -T} -T{ -\f[V]!\f[R] -T}@T{ -pending -T} -T{ -\f[V]*\f[R] -T}@T{ -cleared -T} -.TE -.PP -When reporting, you can filter by status with the -\f[V]-U/--unmarked\f[R], \f[V]-P/--pending\f[R], and -\f[V]-C/--cleared\f[R] flags; or the \f[V]status:\f[R], -\f[V]status:!\f[R], and \f[V]status:*\f[R] queries; or the U, P, C keys -in hledger-ui. -.PP -Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the \[dq]unmarked\[dq] -state is called \[dq]uncleared\[dq]. -As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to unmarked for clarity. -.PP -To replicate Ledger and old hledger\[aq]s behaviour of also matching -pending, combine -U and -P. -.PP -Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with -real-world accounts. -Some editor modes provide highlighting and shortcuts for working with -status. -Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can toggle transaction status with C-c C-e, -or posting status with C-c C-c. -.PP -What \[dq]uncleared\[dq], \[dq]pending\[dq], and \[dq]cleared\[dq] -actually mean is up to you. -Here\[aq]s one suggestion: -.PP -.TS -tab(@); -lw(9.7n) lw(60.3n). -T{ -status -T}@T{ -meaning -T} -_ -T{ -uncleared -T}@T{ -recorded but not yet reconciled; needs review -T} -T{ -pending -T}@T{ -tentatively reconciled (if needed, eg during a big reconciliation) -T} -T{ -cleared -T}@T{ -complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered correct -T} -.TE -.PP -With this scheme, you would use \f[V]-PC\f[R] to see the current balance -at your bank, \f[V]-U\f[R] to see things which will probably hit your -bank soon (like uncashed checks), and no flags to see the most -up-to-date state of your finances. -.SS Code -.PP -After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally -write a transaction \[dq]code\[dq], enclosed in parentheses. -This is a good place to record a check number, or some other important -transaction id or reference number. -.SS Description -.PP -A transaction\[aq]s description is the rest of the line following the -date and status mark (or until a comment begins). -Sometimes called the \[dq]narration\[dq] in traditional bookkeeping, it -can be used for whatever you wish, or left blank. -Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike comments. -.SS Payee and note -.PP -You can optionally include a \f[V]|\f[R] (pipe) character in -descriptions to subdivide the description into separate fields for -payee/payer name on the left (up to the first \f[V]|\f[R]) and an -additional note field on the right (after the first \f[V]|\f[R]). -This may be worthwhile if you need to do more precise querying and -pivoting by payee or by note. -.SS Comments -.PP -Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (\f[V];\f[R]) or hash -(\f[V]#\f[R]) or star (\f[V]*\f[R]) are comments, and will be ignored. -(Star comments cause org-mode nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users -to fold and navigate their journals with org-mode or orgstruct-mode.) -.PP -You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the -description and/or indented on the following lines (before the -postings). -Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by writing -them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines. -Transaction and posting comments must begin with a semicolon -(\f[V];\f[R]). -.PP -Some examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# a file comment -; another file comment -* also a file comment, useful in org/orgstruct mode - -comment -A multiline file comment, which continues -until a line containing just \[dq]end comment\[dq] -(or end of file). -end comment - -2012/5/14 something ; a transaction comment - ; the transaction comment, continued - posting1 1 ; a comment for posting 1 - posting2 - ; a comment for posting 2 - ; another comment line for posting 2 -; a file comment (because not indented) -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -You can also comment larger regions of a file using \f[V]comment\f[R] -and \f[V]end comment\f[R] directives. -.SS Tags -.PP -Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, -postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. -.PP -They are written as a (optionally hyphenated) word immediately followed -by a full colon within a transaction or posting or account -directive\[aq]s comment: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets:checking ; accounttag: - -2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transaction-tag: - ; another-transaction-tag: - assets:checking $-1 - expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag: -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Tags are inherited, as follows: -.IP \[bu] 2 -Tags on a transaction affect the transaction and all of its postings -.IP \[bu] 2 -Tags on an account affect all postings to that account. -.PP -So in the example above, - the \f[V]assets:checking\f[R] account has one -tag (\f[V]accounttag\f[R]) - the transaction has two tags -(\f[V]transaction-tag\f[R], \f[V]another-transaction-tag\f[R]) - the -\f[V]assets:checking\f[R] posting has three tags -(\f[V]transaction-tag\f[R], \f[V]another-transaction-tag\f[R], -\f[V]accounttag\f[R]) - the \f[V]expenses:food\f[R] posting has three -tags (\f[V]transaction-tag\f[R], \f[V]another-transaction-tag\f[R], -\f[V]posting-tag\f[R]). -.PP -Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, until the next -comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace stripped. -So here \f[V]a-posting-tag\f[R]\[aq]s value is \[dq]the tag value\[dq], -\f[V]tag2\f[R]\[aq]s value is \[dq]foo\[dq], and \f[V]tag3\f[R]\[aq]s -value is \[dq]\[dq] (the empty string): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] - expenses:food $10 - ; some text, a-posting-tag:the tag value, tag2: foo , tag3: , other text -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -A hledger tag value may not contain a comma. -.SS Postings -.PP -A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount -from, an account. -Each posting line begins with at least one space or tab (2 or 4 spaces -is common), followed by: -.IP \[bu] 2 -(optional) a status character (empty, \f[V]!\f[R], or \f[V]*\f[R]), -followed by a space -.IP \[bu] 2 -(required) an account name (any text, optionally containing \f[B]single -spaces\f[R], until end of line or a double space) -.IP \[bu] 2 -(optional) \f[B]two or more spaces\f[R] or tabs followed by an amount. -.PP -Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are -being removed. -.PP -The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero. -As a convenience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so -as to balance the transaction. -.PP -Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name and -amount. -This makes it easy to write account names containing spaces. -But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the amount, -the amount will be considered part of the account name. -.SS Virtual postings -.PP -A posting with a parenthesised account name is called a \f[I]virtual -posting\f[R] or \f[I]unbalanced posting\f[R], which means it is exempt -from the usual rule that a transaction\[aq]s postings must balance add -up to zero. -.PP -This is not part of double entry accounting, so you might choose to -avoid this feature. -Or you can use it sparingly for certain special cases where it can be -convenient. -Eg, you could set opening balances without using a balancing equity -account: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -1/1 opening balances - (assets:checking) $1000 - (assets:savings) $2000 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -A posting with a bracketed account name is called a \f[I]balanced -virtual posting\f[R]. -The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to zero -(separately from other postings). -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -1/1 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else - assets:cash $-10 ; <- these balance - expenses:food $7 ; <- - expenses:food $3 ; <- - [assets:checking:budget:food] $-10 ; <- and these balance - [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- - (something:else) $5 ; <- not required to balance -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Ordinary non-parenthesised, non-bracketed postings are called \f[I]real -postings\f[R]. -You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the -\f[V]-R/--real\f[R] flag or \f[V]real:1\f[R] query. -.SS Account names -.PP -Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, -from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. -They can be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally -five top-level accounts: \f[V]assets\f[R], \f[V]liabilities\f[R], -\f[V]revenue\f[R], \f[V]expenses\f[R], and \f[V]equity\f[R]. -.PP -Account names may contain single spaces, eg: -\f[V]assets:accounts receivable\f[R]. -Because of this, they must always be followed by \f[B]two or more -spaces\f[R] (or newline). -.PP -Account names can be aliased. -.SS Amounts -.PP -After the account name, there is usually an amount. -(Important: between account name and amount, there must be \f[B]two or -more spaces\f[R].) -.PP -hledger\[aq]s amount format is flexible, supporting several -international formats. -Here are some examples. -Amounts have a number (the \[dq]quantity\[dq]): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -\&..and usually a currency symbol or commodity name (more on this -below), to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a -separating space: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$1 -4000 AAPL -3 \[dq]green apples\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Amounts can be preceded by a minus sign (or a plus sign, though plus is -the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side -commodity symbol: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] --$1 -$-1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when -parsing (but they won\[aq]t be displayed in output): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -+ $1 -$- 1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Scientific E notation is allowed: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -1E-6 -EUR 1E3 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Decimal marks, digit group marks -.PP -A \f[I]decimal mark\f[R] can be written as a period or a comma: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -1.23 -1,23456780000009 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups -of digits can optionally be separated by a \f[I]digit group mark\f[R] - -a space, comma, or period (different from the decimal mark): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] - $1,000,000.00 - EUR 2.000.000,00 -INR 9,99,99,999.00 - 1 000 000.9455 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Note, a number containing a single digit group mark and no decimal mark -is ambiguous. -Are these digit group marks or decimal marks ? -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -1,000 -1.000 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -If you don\[aq]t tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the -above are decimal marks, parsing both numbers as 1. -.PP -To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially -if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we -recommend explicitly declaring the decimal mark character in each -journal file, using a directive at the top of the file. -The \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] directive is best, otherwise -\f[V]commodity\f[R] directives will also work. -These are described detail below. -.SS Commodity -.PP -Amounts in hledger have both a \[dq]quantity\[dq], which is a signed -decimal number, and a \[dq]commodity\[dq], which is a currency symbol, -stock ticker, or any word or phrase describing something you are -tracking. -.PP -If the commodity name contains non-letters (spaces, numbers, or -punctuation), you must always write it inside double quotes -(\f[V]\[dq]green apples\[dq]\f[R], \f[V]\[dq]ABC123\[dq]\f[R]). -.PP -If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with -name \f[V]\[dq]\[dq]\f[R]; we call that the \[dq]no-symbol -commodity\[dq]. -.PP -Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more -powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of -the time. -A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: -\f[V]1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 TSLA\f[R]. -In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in hledger\[aq]s -output; you can\[aq]t write them directly in the journal file. -.PP -(If you are writing scripts or working with hledger\[aq]s internals, -these are the \f[V]Amount\f[R] and \f[V]MixedAmount\f[R] types.) -.SS Directives influencing number parsing and display -.PP -You can add \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] and \f[V]commodity\f[R] directives to -the journal, to declare and control these things more explicitly and -precisely. -These are described below, in JOURNAL FORMAT -> Declaring commodities. -Here\[aq]s a quick example: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# the decimal mark character used by all amounts in this file (all commodities) -decimal-mark . - -# display styles for the $, EUR, INR and no-symbol commodities: -commodity $1,000.00 -commodity EUR 1.000,00 -commodity INR 9,99,99,999.00 -commodity 1 000 000.9455 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -.SS Commodity display style -.PP -For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display -style to use in most reports. -(Exceptions: price amounts, and all amounts displayed by the -\f[V]print\f[R] command, are displayed with all of their decimal digits -visible.) -.PP -A commodity\[aq]s display style is inferred as follows. -.PP -First, if a default commodity is declared with \f[V]D\f[R], this -commodity and its style is applied to any no-symbol amounts in the -journal. -.PP -Then each commodity\[aq]s style is inferred from one of the following, -in order of preference: -.IP \[bu] 2 -The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol -commodity), if any. -.IP \[bu] 2 -The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal\[aq]s transactions. -(Posting amounts only; prices and periodic or auto rules are ignored, -currently.) -.IP \[bu] 2 -The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: \f[V]$1000.00\f[R]. -(Symbol on the left, period decimal mark, two decimal places.) -.PP -A style is inferred from journal amounts as follows: -.IP \[bu] 2 -Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first -amount -.IP \[bu] 2 -Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group -sizes), if any -.IP \[bu] 2 -Use the maximum number of decimal places of all. -.PP -Transaction price amounts don\[aq]t affect the commodity display style -directly, but occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a -posting\[aq]s amount is inferred using a transaction price). -If you find this causing problems, use a commodity directive to fix the -display style. -.PP -To summarise: each commodity\[aq]s amounts will be normalised to (a) the -style declared by a \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive, or (b) the style of -the first posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group -style and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. -So if your reports are showing amounts in a way you don\[aq]t like, eg -with too many decimal places, use a commodity directive. -Some examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# declare euro, dollar, bitcoin and no-symbol commodities and set their -# input number formats and output display styles: -commodity EUR 1.000, -commodity $1000.00 -commodity 1000.00000000 BTC -commodity 1 000. -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command -line option. -.SS Rounding -.PP -Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal -places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by the -commodity display style. -Note, hledger uses banker\[aq]s rounding: it rounds to the nearest even -number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal places is \[dq]0\[dq]). -(Guaranteed since hledger 1.17.1; in older versions this could vary if -hledger was built with Decimal < 0.5.1.) -.SS Transaction prices -.PP -(AKA Costs) -.PP -After a posting amount, you can note its cost or selling price in -another commodity, by writing either \f[V]\[at] UNITPRICE\f[R] or -\f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALPRICE\f[R] after it. -This indicates a conversion transaction, where one commodity is -exchanged for another. -.PP -hledger docs have historically called this a \[dq]transaction price\[dq] -because it is specific to one transaction, unlike market prices which -are not. -\[dq]Cost\[dq] is shorter and might be preferable; just remember this -feature can represent either a buyer\[aq]s cost, or a seller\[aq]s -price. -.PP -Costs are usually written explicitly with \f[V]\[at]\f[R] or -\f[V]\[at]\[at]\f[R], but can also be inferred automatically for simple -multi-commodity transactions. -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign -currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or -implicitly: -.IP "1." 3 -Write the price per unit, as \f[V]\[at] UNITPRICE\f[R] after the amount: -.RS 4 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2009/1/1 - assets:euros \[Eu]100 \[at] $1.35 ; one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each - assets:dollars ; balancing amount is -$135.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP "2." 3 -Write the total price, as \f[V]\[at]\[at] TOTALPRICE\f[R] after the -amount: -.RS 4 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2009/1/1 - assets:euros \[Eu]100 \[at]\[at] $135 ; one hundred euros purchased at $135 for the lot - assets:dollars -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP "3." 3 -Specify amounts for all postings, using exactly two commodities, and let -hledger infer the price that balances the transaction: -.RS 4 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2009/1/1 - assets:euros \[Eu]100 ; one hundred euros purchased - assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP "4." 3 -Like 1, but the \f[V]\[at]\f[R] is parenthesised, i.e. -\f[V](\[at])\f[R]; this is for compatibility with Ledger journals -(Virtual posting costs), and is equivalent to 1 in hledger. -.IP "5." 3 -Like 2, but as in 4 the \f[V]\[at]\[at]\f[R] is parenthesised, i.e. -\f[V](\[at]\[at])\f[R]; in hledger, this is equivalent to 2. -.PP -Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the -\f[V]-B/--cost\f[R] flag; this is discussed more in the COST section. -.SS Lot prices, lot dates -.PP -Ledger allows another kind of price, lot price (four variants: -\f[V]{UNITPRICE}\f[R], \f[V]{{TOTALPRICE}}\f[R], -\f[V]{=FIXEDUNITPRICE}\f[R], \f[V]{{=FIXEDTOTALPRICE}}\f[R]), and/or a -lot date (\f[V][DATE]\f[R]) to be specified. -These are normally used to select a lot when selling investments. -hledger will parse these, for compatibility with Ledger journals, but -currently ignores them. -A transaction price, lot price and/or lot date may appear in any order, -after the posting amount and before the balance assertion if any. -.SS Balance assertions -.PP -hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. -These look like, for example, \f[V]= EXPECTEDBALANCE\f[R] following a -posting\[aq]s amount. -Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a and b after -each posting: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2013/1/1 - a $1 =$1 - b =$-1 - -2013/1/2 - a $1 =$2 - b $-1 =$-2 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance assertions -and report an error if any of them fail. -Balance assertions can protect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting -reconciled balances while cleaning up old entries. -You can disable them temporarily with the -\f[V]-I/--ignore-assertions\f[R] flag, which can be useful for -troubleshooting or for reading Ledger files. -(Note: this flag currently does not disable balance assignments, below). -.SS Assertions and ordering -.PP -hledger sorts an account\[aq]s postings and assertions first by date and -then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. -Note this is different from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse -order. -(Also, Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated -postings to the same account within a transaction.) -.PP -So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder -differently-dated transactions within the journal. -But if you reorder same-dated transactions or postings, assertions might -break and require updating. -This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise control over the -order of postings and assertions within a day, so you can assert -intra-day balances. -.SS Assertions and multiple included files -.PP -Multiple files included with the \f[V]include\f[R] directive are -processed as if concatenated into one file, preserving their order and -the posting order within each file. -It means that balance assertions in later files will see balance from -earlier files. -.PP -And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split -across multiple files, and you want to assert the account\[aq]s balance -on that day, you\[aq]ll need to put the assertion in the right file - -the last one in the sequence, probably. -.SS Assertions and multiple -f files -.PP -Unlike \f[V]include\f[R], when multiple files are specified on the -command line with multiple \f[V]-f/--file\f[R] options, balance -assertions will not see balance from earlier files. -This can be useful when you do not want problems in earlier files to -disrupt valid assertions in later files. -.PP -If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use -\f[V]include\f[R], or concatenate the files temporarily. -.SS Assertions and commodities -.PP -The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in -fact the assertion checks only this commodity\[aq]s balance within the -(possibly multi-commodity) account balance. -This is how assertions work in Ledger also. -We could call this a \[dq]partial\[dq] balance assertion. -.PP -To assert the balance of more than one commodity in an account, you can -write multiple postings, each asserting one commodity\[aq]s balance. -.PP -You can make a stronger \[dq]total\[dq] balance assertion by writing a -double equals sign (\f[V]== EXPECTEDBALANCE\f[R]). -This asserts that there are no other commodities in the account besides -the asserted one (or at least, that their balance is 0). -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2013/1/1 - a $1 - a 1\[Eu] - b $-1 - c -1\[Eu] - -2013/1/2 ; These assertions succeed - a 0 = $1 - a 0 = 1\[Eu] - b 0 == $-1 - c 0 == -1\[Eu] - -2013/1/3 ; This assertion fails as \[aq]a\[aq] also contains 1\[Eu] - a 0 == $1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -It\[aq]s not yet possible to make a complete assertion about a balance -that has multiple commodities. -One workaround is to isolate each commodity into its own subaccount: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2013/1/1 - a:usd $1 - a:euro 1\[Eu] - b - -2013/1/2 - a 0 == 0 - a:usd 0 == $1 - a:euro 0 == 1\[Eu] -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Assertions and prices -.PP -Balance assertions ignore transaction prices, and should normally be -written without one: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2019/1/1 - (a) $1 \[at] \[Eu]1 = $1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, -even though they don\[aq]t affect whether the assertion passes or fails. -This is for backward compatibility (hledger\[aq]s close command used to -generate balance assertions with prices), and because balance -\f[I]assignments\f[R] do use them (see below). -.SS Assertions and subaccounts -.PP -The balance assertions above (\f[V]=\f[R] and \f[V]==\f[R]) do not count -the balance from subaccounts; they check the account\[aq]s exclusive -balance only. -You can assert the balance including subaccounts by writing \f[V]=*\f[R] -or \f[V]==*\f[R], eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2019/1/1 - equity:opening balances - checking:a 5 - checking:b 5 - checking 1 ==* 11 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Assertions and virtual postings -.PP -Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they -are not affected by the \f[V]--real/-R\f[R] flag or \f[V]real:\f[R] -query. -.SS Assertions and auto postings -.PP -Balance assertions \f[I]are\f[R] affected by the \f[V]--auto\f[R] flag, -which generates auto postings, which can alter account balances. -Because auto postings are optional in hledger, accounts affected by them -effectively have two balances. -But balance assertions can only test one or the other of these. -So to avoid making fragile assertions, either: -.IP \[bu] 2 -assert the balance calculated with \f[V]--auto\f[R], and always use -\f[V]--auto\f[R] with that file -.IP \[bu] 2 -or assert the balance calculated without \f[V]--auto\f[R], and never use -\f[V]--auto\f[R] with that file -.IP \[bu] 2 -or avoid balance assertions on accounts affected by auto postings (or -avoid auto postings entirely). -.SS Assertions and precision -.PP -Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are not -always what is shown by reports. -Eg a commodity directive may limit the display precision, but this will -not affect balance assertions. -Balance assertion failure messages show exact amounts. -.SS Balance assignments -.PP -Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported. -These are like balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the -left side of the equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so -as to satisfy the assertion. -This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when setting opening -balances: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -; starting a new journal, set asset account balances -2016/1/1 opening balances - assets:checking = $409.32 - assets:savings = $735.24 - assets:cash = $42 - equity:opening balances -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -or when adjusting a balance to reality: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -; no cash left; update balance, record any untracked spending as a generic expense -2016/1/15 - assets:cash = $0 - expenses:misc -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -The calculated amount depends on the account\[aq]s balance in the -commodity at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings -of the commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or -assignment). -Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a little less -explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger or do -the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it. -.SS Balance assignments and prices -.PP -A transaction price in a balance assignment will cause the calculated -amount to have that price attached: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2019/1/1 - (a) = $1 \[at] \[Eu]2 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger print --explicit -2019-01-01 - (a) $1 \[at] \[Eu]2 = $1 \[at] \[Eu]2 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Directives -.PP -A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, -that influences how the journal is processed, how things are displayed, -and so on. -hledger\[aq]s directives are based on (a subset of) Ledger\[aq]s, but -there are many differences, and also some differences between hledger -versions. -Here are some more definitions: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[I]subdirective\f[R] - Some directives support subdirectives, written -indented below the parent directive. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[I]decimal mark\f[R] - The character to interpret as a decimal mark -(period or comma) when parsing amounts of a commodity. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[I]display style\f[R] - How to display amounts of a commodity in -output: symbol side and spacing, digit groups, decimal mark, and number -of decimal places. -.PP -Directives are not required when starting out with hledger, but you will -probably add some as your needs grow. -Here is an overview of directives by purpose: -.PP -.TS -tab(@); -lw(30.6n) lw(22.0n) lw(17.4n). -T{ -purpose -T}@T{ -directives -T}@T{ -command line options with similar effect -T} -_ -T{ -\f[B]READING/GENERATING DATA:\f[R] -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -Declare a commodity\[aq]s or file\[aq]s decimal mark to help parse -amounts accurately -T}@T{ -\f[V]commodity\f[R], \f[V]D\f[R], \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -Apply changes to the data while parsing -T}@T{ -\f[V]alias\f[R], \f[V]apply account\f[R], \f[V]comment\f[R], -\f[V]D\f[R], \f[V]Y\f[R] -T}@T{ -\f[V]--alias\f[R] -T} -T{ -Inline extra data files -T}@T{ -\f[V]include\f[R] -T}@T{ -multiple \f[V]-f/--file\f[R]\[aq]s -T} -T{ -Generate extra transactions or budget goals -T}@T{ -\f[V]\[ti]\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -Generate extra postings -T}@T{ -\f[V]=\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[B]CHECKING FOR ERRORS:\f[R] -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -Define valid entities to allow stricter error checking -T}@T{ -\f[V]account\f[R], \f[V]commodity\f[R], \f[V]payee\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[B]DISPLAYING REPORTS:\f[R] -T}@T{ -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -Declare accounts\[aq] display order and accounting type -T}@T{ -\f[V]account\f[R] -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -Declare commodity display styles -T}@T{ -\f[V]commodity\f[R], \f[V]D\f[R] -T}@T{ -\f[V]-c/--commodity-style\f[R] -T} -.TE -.PP -And here are all the directives and their precise effects: -.PP -.TS -tab(@); -lw(4.9n) lw(61.1n) lw(4.0n). -T{ -directive -T}@T{ -effects -T}@T{ -ends at file end? -T} -_ -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]account\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; and its -display order and type, for reports. -Subdirectives: any text, ignored. -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]alias\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of current file -or \f[V]end aliases\f[R]. -T}@T{ -Y -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]apply account\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in following -entries until end of current file or \f[V]end apply account\f[R]. -T}@T{ -Y -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]comment\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file or -\f[V]end comment\f[R]. -T}@T{ -Y -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]commodity\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Declares a commodity, for checking all entries in all files; the decimal -mark for parsing amounts of this commodity, for following entries until -end of current file; and its display style, for reports. -Takes precedence over \f[V]D\f[R]. -Subdirectives: \f[V]format\f[R] (alternate syntax). -T}@T{ -N, Y -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]D\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts, and its decimal -mark for parsing amounts of this commodity in following entries until -end of current file; and its display style, for reports. -T}@T{ -Y -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]decimal-mark\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all commodities in -following entries until next \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] or end of current -file. -Included files can override. -Takes precedence over \f[V]commodity\f[R] and \f[V]D\f[R]. -T}@T{ -Y -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]include\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they were -written inline. -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]payee\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Declares a payee name, for checking all entries in all files. -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]P\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Declares a market price for a commodity on some date, for valuation -reports. -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]Y\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -Declares a year for yearless dates, for following entries until end of -current file. -T}@T{ -Y -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]\[ti]\f[B]\f[R] (tilde) -T}@T{ -Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future transactions -with \f[V]--forecast\f[R] and budget goals with -\f[V]balance --budget\f[R]. -T}@T{ -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]=\f[B]\f[R] (equals) -T}@T{ -Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings on matched -transactions with \f[V]--auto\f[R], in current, parent, and child files -(but not sibling files, see #1212). -T}@T{ -partly -T} -.TE -.SS Directives and multiple files -.PP -If you use multiple \f[V]-f\f[R]/\f[V]--file\f[R] options, or the -\f[V]include\f[R] directive, hledger will process multiple input files. -But directives which affect input typically have effect only until the -end of the file in which they occur (and on any included files in that -region). -.PP -This may seem inconvenient, but it\[aq]s intentional; it makes reports -stable and deterministic, independent of the order of input. -Otherwise you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f -options in a different order, or if you moved includes around while -cleaning up your files. -.PP -It can be surprising though; for example, it means that \f[V]alias\f[R] -directives do not affect parent or sibling files (see below). -.SS Comment blocks -.PP -A line containing just \f[V]comment\f[R] starts a commented region of -the file, and a line containing just \f[V]end comment\f[R] (or the end -of the current file) ends it. -See also comments. -.SS Including other files -.PP -You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include -directive, like this: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -include FILEPATH -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot -files can be included (not CSV files, currently). -.PP -If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the -current file\[aq]s folder. -.PP -A tilde means home directory, eg: \f[V]include \[ti]/main.journal\f[R]. -.PP -The path may contain glob patterns to match multiple files, eg: -\f[V]include *.journal\f[R]. -.PP -There is limited support for recursive wildcards: \f[V]**/\f[R] (the -slash is required) matches 0 or more subdirectories. -It\[aq]s not super convenient since you have to avoid include cycles and -including directories, but this can be done, eg: -\f[V]include */**/*.journal\f[R]. -.PP -The path may also be prefixed to force a specific file format, -overriding the file extension (as described in hledger.1 -> Input -files): \f[V]include timedot:\[ti]/notes/2020*.md\f[R]. -.SS Default year -.PP -You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which -don\[aq]t specify a year. -This is a line beginning with \f[V]Y\f[R] followed by the year. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 - -12/15 ; equivalent to 2009/12/15 - expenses 1 - assets - -Y2010 ; change default year to 2010 - -2009/1/30 ; specifies the year, not affected - expenses 1 - assets - -1/31 ; equivalent to 2010/1/31 - expenses 1 - assets -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Declaring payees -.PP -The \f[V]payee\f[R] directive can be used to declare a limited set of -payees which may appear in transaction descriptions. -The \[dq]payees\[dq] check will report an error if any transaction -refers to a payee that has not been declared. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -payee Whole Foods -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Declaring the decimal mark -.PP -You can use a \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] directive - usually one per file, -at the top of the file - to declare which character represents a decimal -mark when parsing amounts in this file. -It can look like -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -decimal-mark . -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -or -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -decimal-mark , -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we -recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg -thousands separators). -.SS Declaring commodities -.PP -You can use \f[V]commodity\f[R] directives to declare your commodities. -In fact the \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive performs several functions at -once: -.IP "1." 3 -It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. -This can optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. -(Cf Commodity error checking) -.IP "2." 3 -It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to expect -when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international number formats -in your data. -Without this, hledger will parse both \f[V]1,000\f[R] and -\f[V]1.000\f[R] as 1. -(Cf Amounts) -.IP "3." 3 -It declares how to render the commodity\[aq]s amounts when displaying -output - the decimal mark, any digit group marks, the number of decimal -places, symbol placement and so on. -(Cf Commodity display style) -.PP -You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives -sooner or later, so we recommend using them, for robust and predictable -parsing and display. -.PP -Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since for -function 2, they affect only following amounts, cf #793). -.PP -A commodity directive is just the word \f[V]commodity\f[R] followed by a -sample amount, like this: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -;commodity SAMPLEAMOUNT - -commodity $1000.00 -commodity 1,000.0000 AAAA ; optional same-line comment -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the \f[V]format\f[R] -subdirective, as in Ledger. -Note in this case the commodity symbol appears twice; it must be the -same in both places: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -;commodity SYMBOL -; format SAMPLEAMOUNT - -; display indian rupees with currency name on the left, -; thousands, lakhs and crores comma-separated, -; period as decimal point, and two decimal places. -commodity INR - format INR 1,00,00,000.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or -punctuation, it must be enclosed in double quotes (cf Commodity). -.PP -The amount\[aq]s quantity does not matter; only the format is -significant. -It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed -by 0 or more decimal digits. -.PP -A few more examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# number formats for $, EUR, INR and the no-symbol commodity: -commodity $1,000.00 -commodity EUR 1.000,00 -commodity INR 9,99,99,999.0 -commodity 1 000 000. -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Note hledger normally uses banker\[aq]s rounding, so 0.5 displayed with -zero decimal digits is \[dq]0\[dq]. -(More at Commodity display style.) -.PP -Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display -style can still be overridden by supplying a command line option. -.SS Commodity error checking -.PP -In strict mode, enabled with the \f[V]-s\f[R]/\f[V]--strict\f[R] flag, -hledger will report an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not -been declared by a \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive. -This works similarly to account error checking, see the notes there for -more details. -.PP -Note, this disallows amounts without a commodity symbol, because -currently it\[aq]s not possible (?) -to declare the \[dq]no-symbol\[dq] commodity with a directive. -This is one exception for convenience: zero amounts are always allowed -to have no commodity symbol. -.SS Default commodity -.PP -The \f[V]D\f[R] directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any -subsequent commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing -the journal. -This effect lasts until the next \f[V]D\f[R] directive, or the end of -the journal. -.PP -For compatibility/historical reasons, \f[V]D\f[R] also acts like a -\f[V]commodity\f[R] directive (setting the commodity\[aq]s decimal mark -for parsing and display style for output). -.PP -The syntax is \f[V]D AMOUNT\f[R]. -As with \f[V]commodity\f[R], the amount must include a decimal mark -(either period or comma). -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -; commodity-less amounts should be treated as dollars -; (and displayed with the dollar sign on the left, thousands separators and two decimal places) -D $1,000.00 - -1/1 - a 5 ; <- commodity-less amount, parsed as $5 and displayed as $5.00 - b -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -If both \f[V]commodity\f[R] and \f[V]D\f[R] directives are found for a -commodity, \f[V]commodity\f[R] takes precedence for setting decimal mark -and display style. -.PP -If you are using \f[V]D\f[R] and also checking commodities, you will -need to add a \f[V]commodity\f[R] directive similar to the \f[V]D\f[R]. -(The \f[V]hledger check commodities\f[R] command expects -\f[V]commodity\f[R] directives, and ignores \f[V]D\f[R]). -.SS Declaring market prices -.PP -The \f[V]P\f[R] directive declares a market price, which is an exchange -rate between two commodities on a certain date. -(In Ledger, they are called \[dq]historical prices\[dq].) -These are often obtained from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, -or the foreign exchange market. -.PP -The format is: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity -being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) -of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. -Examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: -P 2009-01-01 \[Eu] $1.35 - -# and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: -P 2010-01-01 \[Eu] $1.40 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -The \f[V]-V\f[R], \f[V]-X\f[R] and \f[V]--value\f[R] flags use these -market prices to show amount values in another commodity. -See Valuation. -.SS Declaring accounts -.PP -\f[V]account\f[R] directives can be used to declare accounts (ie, the -places that amounts are transferred from and to). -Though not required, these declarations can provide several benefits: -.IP \[bu] 2 -They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a -reference. -.IP \[bu] 2 -In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by -transactions, which helps detect typos. -.IP \[bu] 2 -They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alphabetic -sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). -.IP \[bu] 2 -They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, -hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) -.IP \[bu] 2 -They can store additional account information as comments, or as tags -which can be used to filter or pivot reports. -.IP \[bu] 2 -They can help hledger know your accounts\[aq] types (asset, liability, -equity, revenue, expense), affecting reports like balancesheet and -incomestatement. -.PP -They are written as the word \f[V]account\f[R] followed by a -hledger-style account name, eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets:bank:checking -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Account comments -.PP -Comments, beginning with a semicolon: -.IP \[bu] 2 -can be written on the same line, but only after \f[B]two or more -spaces\f[R] (because \f[V];\f[R] is allowed in account names) -.IP \[bu] 2 -and/or on the next lines, indented -.IP \[bu] 2 -and may contain tags, such as the \f[V]type:\f[R] tag. -.PP -For example: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon - ; next-line comment - ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Account subdirectives -.PP -Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently -ignored: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets:bank:checking - format subdirective is ignored -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Account error checking -.PP -By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence when -a posting references them. -This is convenient, but it means hledger can\[aq]t warn you when you -mis-spell an account name in the journal. -Usually you\[aq]ll find that error later, as an extra account in balance -reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. -.PP -In strict mode, enabled with the \f[V]-s\f[R]/\f[V]--strict\f[R] flag, -hledger will report an error if any transaction uses an account name -that has not been declared by an account directive. -Some notes: -.IP \[bu] 2 -The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct -account name capitalisation. -.IP \[bu] 2 -The account directive\[aq]s scope is \[dq]whole file and below\[dq] (see -directives). -This means it affects all of the current file, and any files it -includes, but not parent or sibling files. -The position of account directives within the file does not matter, -though it\[aq]s usual to put them at the top. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Accounts can only be declared in \f[V]journal\f[R] files, but will -affect included files of all types. -.IP \[bu] 2 -It\[aq]s currently not possible to declare \[dq]all possible -subaccounts\[dq] with a wildcard; every account posted to must be -declared. -.SS Account display order -.PP -The order in which account directives are written influences the order -in which accounts appear in reports, hledger-ui, hledger-web etc. -By default accounts appear in alphabetical order, but if you add these -account directives to the journal file: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets -account liabilities -account equity -account revenues -account expenses -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -those accounts will be displayed in declaration order: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger accounts -1 -assets -liabilities -equity -revenues -expenses -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Any undeclared accounts are displayed last, in alphabetical order. -.PP -Sorting is done at each level of the account tree, within each group of -sibling accounts under the same parent. -And currently, this directive: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account other:zoo -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -would influence the position of \f[V]zoo\f[R] among -\f[V]other\f[R]\[aq]s subaccounts, but not the position of -\f[V]other\f[R] among the top-level accounts. -This means: -.IP \[bu] 2 -you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg \f[V]account other\f[R] -above) that you don\[aq]t intend to post to, just to customize their -display order -.IP \[bu] 2 -sibling accounts stay together (you couldn\[aq]t display \f[V]x:y\f[R] -in between \f[V]a:b\f[R] and \f[V]a:c\f[R]). -.SS Account types -.PP -hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, -expenses and so on. -This enables easy reports like balancesheet and incomestatement, and -filtering by account type with the \f[V]type:\f[R] query. -.PP -As a convenience, hledger will detect these account types automatically -if you are using common english-language top-level account names -(described below). -But generally we recommend you declare types explicitly, by adding a -\f[V]type:\f[R] tag to your top-level account directives. -Subaccounts will inherit the type of their parent. -The tag\[aq]s value should be one of the five main account types: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]A\f[R] or \f[V]Asset\f[R] (things you own) -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]L\f[R] or \f[V]Liability\f[R] (things you owe) -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]E\f[R] or \f[V]Equity\f[R] (investment/ownership; balanced -counterpart of assets & liabilities) -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]R\f[R] or \f[V]Revenue\f[R] (what you received money from, AKA -income; technically part of Equity) -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]X\f[R] or \f[V]Expense\f[R] (what you spend money on; technically -part of Equity) -.PP -or, it can be (these are used less often): -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]C\f[R] or \f[V]Cash\f[R] (a subtype of Asset, indicating liquid -assets for the cashflow report) -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]V\f[R] or \f[V]Conversion\f[R] (a subtype of Equity, for -conversions (see COST).) -.PP -Here is a typical set of account type declarations: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets ; type: A -account liabilities ; type: L -account equity ; type: E -account revenues ; type: R -account expenses ; type: X - -account assets:bank ; type: C -account assets:cash ; type: C - -account equity:conversion ; type: V -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Here are some tips for working with account types. -.IP \[bu] 2 -The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. -These are just a convenience that sometimes help new users get going; if -they don\[aq]t work for you, just ignore them and declare your account -types. -See also Regular expressions. -Note the Cash regexp changed in hledger 1.24.99.2. -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -If account\[aq]s name contains this (CI) regular expression: | its type is: ---------------------------------------------------------------------|------------- -\[ha]assets?(:.+)?:(cash|bank|che(ck|que?)(ing)?|savings?|current)(:|$) | Cash -\[ha]assets?(:|$) | Asset -\[ha](debts?|liabilit(y|ies))(:|$) | Liability -\[ha]equity:(trad(e|ing)|conversion)s?(:|$) | Conversion -\[ha]equity(:|$) | Equity -\[ha](income|revenue)s?(:|$) | Revenue -\[ha]expenses?(:|$) | Expense -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -If you declare any account types, it\[aq]s a good idea to declare an -account for all of the account types, because a mixture of declared and -name-inferred types can disrupt certain reports. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. -See Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. -.IP \[bu] 2 -As mentioned above, subaccounts will inherit a type from their parent -account. -More precisely, an account\[aq]s type is decided by the first of these -that exists: -.RS 2 -.IP "1." 3 -A \f[V]type:\f[R] declaration for this account. -.IP "2." 3 -A \f[V]type:\f[R] declaration in the parent accounts above it, -preferring the nearest. -.IP "3." 3 -An account type inferred from this account\[aq]s name. -.IP "4." 3 -An account type inferred from a parent account\[aq]s name, preferring -the nearest parent. -.IP "5." 3 -Otherwise, it will have no type. -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -For troubleshooting, you can list accounts and their types with: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES] -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.SS Rewriting accounts -.PP -You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or -parts of them, before generating reports. -This can be useful for: -.IP \[bu] 2 -expanding shorthand account names to their full form, allowing easier -data entry and a less verbose journal -.IP \[bu] 2 -adapting old journals to your current chart of accounts -.IP \[bu] 2 -experimenting with new account organisations, like a new hierarchy -.IP \[bu] 2 -combining two accounts into one, eg to see their sum or difference on -one line -.IP \[bu] 2 -customising reports -.PP -Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. -They do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or -hledger-web. -.PP -Account aliases are very powerful. -They are generally easy to use correctly, but you can also generate -invalid account names with them; more on this below. -.PP -See also Rewrite account names. -.SS Basic aliases -.PP -To set an account alias, use the \f[V]alias\f[R] directive in your -journal file. -This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its -included files (but note: not sibling or parent files). -The spaces around the = are optional: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -alias OLD = NEW -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Or, you can use the \f[V]--alias \[aq]OLD=NEW\[aq]\f[R] option on the -command line. -This affects all entries. -It\[aq]s useful for trying out aliases interactively. -.PP -OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. -hledger will replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new -one. -Subaccounts are also affected. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -alias checking = assets:bank:wells fargo:checking -; rewrites \[dq]checking\[dq] to \[dq]assets:bank:wells fargo:checking\[dq], or \[dq]checking:a\[dq] to \[dq]assets:bank:wells fargo:checking:a\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Regex aliases -.PP -There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, -indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. -(This is the only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a -regular expression.) -.PP -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -alias /REGEX/ = REPLACEMENT -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -or: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger --alias \[aq]/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT\[aq] ... -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by -REPLACEMENT. -REGEX is case-insensitive as usual. -.PP -If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg -\f[V]/\[rs]/=:\f[R]. -.PP -If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced by -the usual backslash and number in REPLACEMENT: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -alias /\[ha](.+):bank:([\[ha]:]+):(.*)/ = \[rs]1:\[rs]2 \[rs]3 -; rewrites \[dq]assets:bank:wells fargo:checking\[dq] to \[dq]assets:wells fargo checking\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on command line, to end of -option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace. -.SS Combining aliases -.PP -You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives -and/or command line options. -.PP -Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, -then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. -Each alias sees the effect of previously applied aliases. -.PP -In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be -applied and in which order. -For (each account name in) each journal entry, we apply: -.IP "1." 3 -\f[V]alias\f[R] directives preceding the journal entry, most recently -parsed first (ie, reading upward from the journal entry, bottom to top) -.IP "2." 3 -\f[V]--alias\f[R] options, in the order they appeared on the command -line (left to right). -.PP -In other words, for (an account name in) a given journal entry: -.IP \[bu] 2 -the nearest alias declaration before/above the entry is applied first -.IP \[bu] 2 -the next alias before/above that will be be applied next, and so on -.IP \[bu] 2 -aliases defined after/below the entry do not affect it. -.PP -This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps -provide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way -independent of which files are being read and in which order. -.PP -In case of trouble, adding \f[V]--debug=6\f[R] to the command line will -show which aliases are being applied when. -.SS Aliases and multiple files -.PP -As explained at Directives and multiple files, \f[V]alias\f[R] -directives do not affect parent or sibling files. -Eg in this command, -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -hledger -f a.aliases -f b.journal -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. -Including the aliases doesn\[aq]t work either: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -include a.aliases - -2020-01-01 ; not affected by a.aliases - foo 1 - bar -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -This means that account aliases should usually be declared at the start -of your top-most file, like this: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -alias foo=Foo -alias bar=Bar - -2020-01-01 ; affected by aliases above - foo 1 - bar - -include c.journal ; also affected -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]end aliases\f[R] -.PP -You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases (seen in the -journal so far, or defined on the command line) with this directive: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -end aliases -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Aliases can generate bad account names -.PP -Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, which -could cause confusing reports or invalid \f[V]print\f[R] output. -For example, you could erase all account names: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2021-01-01 - a:aa 1 - b -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger print --alias \[aq]/.*/=\[aq] -2021-01-01 - 1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -The above \f[V]print\f[R] output is not a valid journal. -Or you could insert an illegal double space, causing \f[V]print\f[R] -output that would give a different journal when reparsed: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2021-01-01 - old 1 - other -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger print --alias old=\[dq]new USD\[dq] | hledger -f- print -2021-01-01 - new USD 1 - other -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Aliases and account types -.PP -If an account with a type declaration (see Declaring accounts > Account -types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in -effect. -.PP -However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming -parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent -child accounts from inheriting the account type of their parents. -.PP -Secondly, if an account\[aq]s type is being inferred from its name, -renaming it by an alias could prevent or alter that. -.PP -If you are using account aliases and the \f[V]type:\f[R] query is not -matching accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts -command, eg something like: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger accounts --alias assets=bassetts type:a -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Default parent account -.PP -You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all accounts -within a section of the journal. -Use the \f[V]apply account\f[R] and \f[V]end apply account\f[R] -directives like so: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -apply account home - -2010/1/1 - food $10 - cash - -end apply account -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -which is equivalent to: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2010/01/01 - home:food $10 - home:cash $-10 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -If \f[V]end apply account\f[R] is omitted, the effect lasts to the end -of the file. -Included files are also affected, eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -apply account business -include biz.journal -end apply account -apply account personal -include personal.journal -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy \f[V]account\f[R] and \f[V]end\f[R] -spellings were also supported. -.PP -A default parent account also affects account directives. -It does not affect account names being entered via hledger add or -hledger-web. -If account aliases are present, they are applied after the default -parent account. -.SS Periodic transactions -.PP -Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. -They allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions to help -with forecasting, so you don\[aq]t have to write out each one in the -journal, and it\[aq]s easy to try out different forecasts. -.PP -Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, -read this whole section - or at least these tips: -.IP "1." 3 -Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - read -about this below. -.IP "2." 3 -For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with -\f[V]hledger print --forecast tag:generated\f[R] or -\f[V]hledger register --forecast tag:generated\f[R]. -.IP "3." 3 -Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-forecasted -transaction\[aq]s date. -.IP "4." 3 -Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. -See below for the exact start/end rules. -.IP "5." 3 -period expressions can be tricky. -Their documentation needs improvement, but is worth studying. -.IP "6." 3 -Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a -natural boundary of that interval. -Eg in \f[V]weekly from DATE\f[R], DATE must be a monday. -\f[V]\[ti] weekly from 2019/10/1\f[R] (a tuesday) will give an error. -.IP "7." 3 -Other period expressions with an interval are automatically expanded to -cover a whole number of that interval. -(This is done to improve reports, but it also affects periodic -transactions. -Yes, it\[aq]s a bit inconsistent with the above.) -Eg: \f[V]\[ti] every 10th day of month from 2020/01\f[R], which is -equivalent to \f[V]\[ti] every 10th day of month from 2020/01/01\f[R], -will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. -.PP -Periodic transaction rules also have a second meaning: they are used to -define budget goals, shown in budget reports. -.SS Periodic rule syntax -.PP -A periodic transaction rule looks like a normal journal entry, with the -date replaced by a tilde (\f[V]\[ti]\f[R]) followed by a period -expression (mnemonic: \f[V]\[ti]\f[R] looks like a recurring sine -wave.): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -\[ti] monthly - expenses:rent $2000 - assets:bank:checking -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start -date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. -Eg \f[V]monthly from 2018/1/1\f[R] is valid, but -\f[V]monthly from 2018/1/15\f[R] is not. -.SS Periodic rules and relative dates -.PP -Partial or relative dates (like \f[V]12/31\f[R], \f[V]25\f[R], -\f[V]tomorrow\f[R], \f[V]last week\f[R], \f[V]next quarter\f[R]) are -usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the results will change -as time passes. -If used, they will be interpreted relative to, in order of preference: -.IP "1." 3 -the first day of the default year specified by a recent \f[V]Y\f[R] -directive -.IP "2." 3 -or the date specified with \f[V]--today\f[R] -.IP "3." 3 -or the date on which you are running the report. -.PP -They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period -dates. -.SS Two spaces between period expression and description! -.PP -If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, these -must be separated by \f[B]two or more spaces\f[R]. -This helps hledger know where the period expression ends, so that -descriptions can not accidentally alter their meaning, as in this -example: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -; 2 or more spaces needed here, so the period is not understood as \[dq]every 2 months in 2020\[dq] -; || -; vv -\[ti] every 2 months in 2020, we will review - assets:bank:checking $1500 - income:acme inc -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -So, -.IP \[bu] 2 -Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transaction -description, if any. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Don\[aq]t accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period -expression. -.SS Forecasting with periodic transactions -.PP -The \f[V]--forecast\f[R] flag activates any periodic transaction rules -in the journal. -These will generate temporary additional transactions, usually recurring -and in the future, which will appear in all reports. -\f[V]hledger print --forecast\f[R] is a good way to see them. -.PP -This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps -experimenting with different scenarios. -.PP -It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe -recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of -\f[V]print --forecast\f[R] into the journal. -.PP -The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like -\f[V]generated-transaction:\[ti] PERIODICEXPR\f[R], indicating which -periodic rule generated them. -There is also a similar, hidden tag, named -\f[V]_generated-transaction:\f[R], which you can use to reliably match -transactions generated \[dq]just now\[dq] (rather than \f[V]print\f[R]ed -in the past). -.PP -The forecast transactions are generated within a \f[I]forecast -period\f[R], which is independent of the report period. -(Forecast period sets the bounds for generated transactions, report -period controls which transactions are reported.) -The forecast period begins on: -.IP \[bu] 2 -the start date provided within \f[V]--forecast\f[R]\[aq]s argument, if -any -.IP \[bu] 2 -otherwise, the later of -.RS 2 -.IP \[bu] 2 -the report start date, if specified (with -\f[V]-b\f[R]/\f[V]-p\f[R]/\f[V]date:\f[R]) -.IP \[bu] 2 -the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if any -.RE -.IP \[bu] 2 -otherwise today. -.PP -It ends on: -.IP \[bu] 2 -the end date provided within \f[V]--forecast\f[R]\[aq]s argument, if any -.IP \[bu] 2 -otherwise, the report end date, if specified (with -\f[V]-e\f[R]/\f[V]-p\f[R]/\f[V]date:\f[R]) -.IP \[bu] 2 -otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. -.PP -Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic -transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start until -after the last ordinary transaction. -This is usually convenient, but you can get around it in two ways: -.IP \[bu] 2 -If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them -periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: -\f[V]\[ti] YYYY-MM-DD\f[R]) rather than ordinary transactions. -That way they won\[aq]t suppress other periodic transactions. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Or give \f[V]--forecast\f[R] a period expression argument. -A forecast period specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, -and need not be in the future. -Some things to note: -.RS 2 -.IP \[bu] 2 -You must use \f[V]=\f[R] between flag and argument; a space won\[aq]t -work. -.IP \[bu] 2 -The period expression can specify the forecast period\[aq]s start date, -end date, or both. -See also Report start & end date. -.IP \[bu] 2 -The period expression should not specify a report interval. -(Each periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) -.RE -.PP -Some examples: \f[V]--forecast=202001-202004\f[R], -\f[V]--forecast=jan-\f[R], \f[V]--forecast=2021\f[R]. -.SS Budgeting with periodic transactions -.PP -With the \f[V]--budget\f[R] flag, currently supported by the balance -command, each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals -for the specified accounts. -Eg the first example above declares a goal of spending $2000 on rent -(and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into checking) every month. -Goals and actual performance can then be compared in budget reports. -.PP -See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. -.PP -.SS Auto postings -.PP -\[dq]Automated postings\[dq] or \[dq]auto postings\[dq] are extra -postings which get added automatically to transactions which match -certain queries, defined by \[dq]auto posting rules\[dq], when you use -the \f[V]--auto\f[R] flag. -.PP -An auto posting rule looks a bit like a transaction: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -= QUERY - ACCOUNT AMOUNT - ... - ACCOUNT [AMOUNT] -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: \f[V]=\f[R] suggests -matching), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and -each \[dq]posting\[dq] line describes a posting to be generated, and the -posting amounts can be: -.IP \[bu] 2 -a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg \f[V]$2\f[R]. -This will be used as-is. -.IP \[bu] 2 -a number, eg \f[V]2\f[R]. -The commodity symbol (if any) from the matched posting will be added to -this. -.IP \[bu] 2 -a numeric multiplier, eg \f[V]*2\f[R] (a star followed by a number N). -The matched posting\[aq]s amount (and total price, if any) will be -multiplied by N. -.IP \[bu] 2 -a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg \f[V]*$2\f[R] (a star, number -N, and symbol S). -The matched posting\[aq]s amount will be multiplied by N, and its -commodity symbol will be replaced with S. -.PP -Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double -quotes, as on the command line. -Eg, note the quotes around the second query term below: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -= expenses:groceries \[aq]expenses:dining out\[aq] - (budget:funds:dining out) *-1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Some examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -; every time I buy food, schedule a dollar donation -= expenses:food - (liabilities:charity) $-1 - -; when I buy a gift, also deduct that amount from a budget envelope subaccount -= expenses:gifts - assets:checking:gifts *-1 - assets:checking *1 - -2017/12/1 - expenses:food $10 - assets:checking - -2017/12/14 - expenses:gifts $20 - assets:checking -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger print --auto -2017-12-01 - expenses:food $10 - assets:checking - (liabilities:charity) $-1 - -2017-12-14 - expenses:gifts $20 - assets:checking - assets:checking:gifts -$20 - assets:checking $20 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Auto postings and multiple files -.PP -An auto posting rule can affect any transaction in the current file, or -in any parent file or child file. -Note, currently it will not affect sibling files (when multiple -\f[V]-f\f[R]/\f[V]--file\f[R] are used - see #1212). -.SS Auto postings and dates -.PP -A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking -precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also be -used in the generated posting. -.SS Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions -.PP -Currently, auto postings are added: -.IP \[bu] 2 -after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for -balancedness, -.IP \[bu] 2 -but before balance assertions are checked. -.PP -Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and -after auto postings are added. -This changed in hledger 1.12+; see #893 for background. -.PP -This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a -missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to -infer amounts. -.SS Auto posting tags -.PP -Automated postings will have some extra tags: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]generated-posting:= QUERY\f[R] - shows this was generated by an -auto posting rule, and the query -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]_generated-posting:= QUERY\f[R] - a hidden tag, which does not -appear in hledger\[aq]s output. -This can be used to match postings generated \[dq]just now\[dq], rather -than generated in the past and saved to the journal. -.PP -Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will -have these tags added: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]modified:\f[R] - this transaction was modified -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]_modified:\f[R] - a hidden tag not appearing in the comment; this -transaction was modified \[dq]just now\[dq]. -.SH CSV FORMAT -.PP -How hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format. -.PP -hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, -semicolon, or tab) containing dated records as if they were journal -files, automatically converting each CSV record into a transaction. -.PP -(To learn about \f[I]writing\f[R] CSV, see CSV output.) -.PP -We describe each CSV file\[aq]s format with a corresponding \f[I]rules -file\f[R]. -By default this is named like the CSV file with a \f[V].rules\f[R] -extension added. -Eg when reading \f[V]FILE.csv\f[R], hledger also looks for -\f[V]FILE.csv.rules\f[R] in the same directory as \f[V]FILE.csv\f[R]. -You can specify a different rules file with the \f[V]--rules-file\f[R] -option. -If a rules file is not found, hledger will create a sample rules file, -which you\[aq]ll need to adjust. -.PP -This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields -layout, date format etc.), and how to construct hledger journal entries -(transactions) from it. -Often there will also be a list of conditional rules for categorising -transactions based on their descriptions. -Here\[aq]s an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully -below, after the examples: -.PP -.TS -tab(@); -lw(26.4n) lw(43.6n). -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]skip\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -skip one or more header lines or matched CSV records -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]fields\f[B] list\f[R] -T}@T{ -name CSV fields, assign them to hledger fields -T} -T{ -\f[B]field assignment\f[R] -T}@T{ -assign a value to one hledger field, with interpolation -T} -T{ -\f[B]Field names\f[R] -T}@T{ -hledger field names, used in the fields list and field assignments -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]separator\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -a custom field separator -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]if\f[B] block\f[R] -T}@T{ -apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]if\f[B] table\f[R] -T}@T{ -apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns, alternate syntax -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]end\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -skip the remaining CSV records -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]date-format\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -how to parse dates in CSV records -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]decimal-mark\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if ambiguous -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]newest-first\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -improve txn order when there are multiple records, newest first, all -with the same date -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]intra-day-reversed\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -improve txn order when each day\[aq]s txns are reverse of the overall -date order -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]include\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -inline another CSV rules file -T} -T{ -\f[B]\f[VB]balance-type\f[B]\f[R] -T}@T{ -choose which type of balance assignments to use -T} -.TE -.PP -Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a -\f[V].csv\f[R], \f[V].tsv\f[R] or \f[V].ssv\f[R] file extension or file -prefix - see File Extension below. -.PP -There\[aq]s an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. -.SS Examples -.PP -Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. -See also the full collection at: -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv -.SS Basic -.PP -At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, and -often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines there -are. -Here\[aq]s a simple CSV file and a rules file for it: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -Date, Description, Id, Amount -12/11/2019, Foo, 123, 10.23 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# basic.csv.rules -skip 1 -fields date, description, _, amount -date-format %d/%m/%Y -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger print -f basic.csv -2019-11-12 Foo - expenses:unknown 10.23 - income:unknown -10.23 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Default account names are chosen, since we didn\[aq]t set them. -.SS Bank of Ireland -.PP -Here\[aq]s a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a -balance field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not -necessary but provides extra error checking: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -Date,Details,Debit,Credit,Balance -07/12/2012,LODGMENT 529898,,10.0,131.21 -07/12/2012,PAYMENT,5,,126 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# bankofireland-checking.csv.rules - -# skip the header line -skip - -# name the csv fields, and assign some of them as journal entry fields -fields date, description, amount-out, amount-in, balance - -# We generate balance assertions by assigning to \[dq]balance\[dq] -# above, but you may sometimes need to remove these because: -# -# - the CSV balance differs from the true balance, -# by up to 0.0000000000005 in my experience -# -# - it is sometimes calculated based on non-chronological ordering, -# eg when multiple transactions clear on the same day - -# date is in UK/Ireland format -date-format %d/%m/%Y - -# set the currency -currency EUR - -# set the base account for all txns -account1 assets:bank:boi:checking -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f bankofireland-checking.csv print -2012-12-07 LODGMENT 529898 - assets:bank:boi:checking EUR10.0 = EUR131.2 - income:unknown EUR-10.0 - -2012-12-07 PAYMENT - assets:bank:boi:checking EUR-5.0 = EUR126.0 - expenses:unknown EUR5.0 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -The balance assertions don\[aq]t raise an error above, because we\[aq]re -reading directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are -imported into a journal file. -.SS Amazon -.PP -Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to -generate a third posting if there\[aq]s a fee. -(In practice you\[aq]d probably get this data from your bank instead, -but it\[aq]s an example.) -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -\[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]To/From\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Amount\[dq],\[dq]Fees\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq] -\[dq]Jul 29, 2012\[dq],\[dq]Payment\[dq],\[dq]To\[dq],\[dq]Foo.\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]$20.00\[dq],\[dq]$0.00\[dq],\[dq]16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL\[dq] -\[dq]Jul 30, 2012\[dq],\[dq]Payment\[dq],\[dq]To\[dq],\[dq]Adapteva, Inc.\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]$25.00\[dq],\[dq]$1.00\[dq],\[dq]17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# amazon-orders.csv.rules - -# skip one header line -skip 1 - -# name the csv fields, and assign the transaction\[aq]s date, amount and code. -# Avoided the \[dq]status\[dq] and \[dq]amount\[dq] hledger field names to prevent confusion. -fields date, _, toorfrom, name, amzstatus, amzamount, fees, code - -# how to parse the date -date-format %b %-d, %Y - -# combine two fields to make the description -description %toorfrom %name - -# save the status as a tag -comment status:%amzstatus - -# set the base account for all transactions -account1 assets:amazon -# leave amount1 blank so it can balance the other(s). -# I\[aq]m assuming amzamount excludes the fees, don\[aq]t remember - -# set a generic account2 -account2 expenses:misc -amount2 %amzamount -# and maybe refine it further: -#include categorisation.rules - -# add a third posting for fees, but only if they are non-zero. -if %fees [1-9] - account3 expenses:fees - amount3 %fees -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f amazon-orders.csv print -2012-07-29 (16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Foo. ; status:Completed - assets:amazon - expenses:misc $20.00 - -2012-07-30 (17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Adapteva, Inc. ; status:Completed - assets:amazon - expenses:misc $25.00 - expenses:fees $1.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Paypal -.PP -Here\[aq]s a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with -some Paypal-specific rules, and a second rules file included: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -\[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Time\[dq],\[dq]TimeZone\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Currency\[dq],\[dq]Gross\[dq],\[dq]Fee\[dq],\[dq]Net\[dq],\[dq]From Email Address\[dq],\[dq]To Email Address\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq],\[dq]Item Title\[dq],\[dq]Item ID\[dq],\[dq]Reference Txn ID\[dq],\[dq]Receipt ID\[dq],\[dq]Balance\[dq],\[dq]Note\[dq] -\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:46:20\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Calm Radio\[dq],\[dq]Subscription Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-6.99\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]-6.99\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]memberships\[at]calmradio.com\[dq],\[dq]60P57143A8206782E\[dq],\[dq]MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]I-R8YLY094FJYR\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]-6.99\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] -\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:46:20\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]Bank Deposit to PP Account \[dq],\[dq]Pending\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]6.99\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]6.99\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]0TU1544T080463733\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]60P57143A8206782E\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] -\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]08:57:01\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Patreon\[dq],\[dq]PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-7.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]-7.00\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]support\[at]patreon.com\[dq],\[dq]2722394R5F586712G\[dq],\[dq]Patreon* Membership\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]B-0PG93074E7M86381M\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]-7.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] -\[dq]10/01/2019\[dq],\[dq]08:57:01\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]Bank Deposit to PP Account \[dq],\[dq]Pending\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]7.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]7.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]71854087RG994194F\[dq],\[dq]Patreon* Membership\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]2722394R5F586712G\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] -\[dq]10/19/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:02:12\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.\[dq],\[dq]Subscription Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]-2.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]-2.00\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]tle\[at]wikimedia.org\[dq],\[dq]K9U43044RY432050M\[dq],\[dq]Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]I-R5C3YUS3285L\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]-2.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] -\[dq]10/19/2019\[dq],\[dq]03:02:12\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]Bank Deposit to PP Account \[dq],\[dq]Pending\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]2.00\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]2.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]3XJ107139A851061F\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]K9U43044RY432050M\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]0.00\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] -\[dq]10/22/2019\[dq],\[dq]05:07:06\[dq],\[dq]PDT\[dq],\[dq]Noble Benefactor\[dq],\[dq]Subscription Payment\[dq],\[dq]Completed\[dq],\[dq]USD\[dq],\[dq]10.00\[dq],\[dq]-0.59\[dq],\[dq]9.41\[dq],\[dq]noble\[at]bene.fac.tor\[dq],\[dq]simon\[at]joyful.com\[dq],\[dq]6L8L1662YP1334033\[dq],\[dq]Joyful Systems\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]I-KC9VBGY2GWDB\[dq],\[dq]\[dq],\[dq]9.41\[dq],\[dq]\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# paypal-custom.csv.rules - -# Tips: -# Export from Activity -> Statements -> Custom -> Activity download -# Suggested transaction type: \[dq]Balance affecting\[dq] -# Paypal\[aq]s default fields in 2018 were: -# \[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Time\[dq],\[dq]TimeZone\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Currency\[dq],\[dq]Gross\[dq],\[dq]Fee\[dq],\[dq]Net\[dq],\[dq]From Email Address\[dq],\[dq]To Email Address\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq],\[dq]Shipping Address\[dq],\[dq]Address Status\[dq],\[dq]Item Title\[dq],\[dq]Item ID\[dq],\[dq]Shipping and Handling Amount\[dq],\[dq]Insurance Amount\[dq],\[dq]Sales Tax\[dq],\[dq]Option 1 Name\[dq],\[dq]Option 1 Value\[dq],\[dq]Option 2 Name\[dq],\[dq]Option 2 Value\[dq],\[dq]Reference Txn ID\[dq],\[dq]Invoice Number\[dq],\[dq]Custom Number\[dq],\[dq]Quantity\[dq],\[dq]Receipt ID\[dq],\[dq]Balance\[dq],\[dq]Address Line 1\[dq],\[dq]Address Line 2/District/Neighborhood\[dq],\[dq]Town/City\[dq],\[dq]State/Province/Region/County/Territory/Prefecture/Republic\[dq],\[dq]Zip/Postal Code\[dq],\[dq]Country\[dq],\[dq]Contact Phone Number\[dq],\[dq]Subject\[dq],\[dq]Note\[dq],\[dq]Country Code\[dq],\[dq]Balance Impact\[dq] -# This rules file assumes the following more detailed fields, configured in \[dq]Customize report fields\[dq]: -# \[dq]Date\[dq],\[dq]Time\[dq],\[dq]TimeZone\[dq],\[dq]Name\[dq],\[dq]Type\[dq],\[dq]Status\[dq],\[dq]Currency\[dq],\[dq]Gross\[dq],\[dq]Fee\[dq],\[dq]Net\[dq],\[dq]From Email Address\[dq],\[dq]To Email Address\[dq],\[dq]Transaction ID\[dq],\[dq]Item Title\[dq],\[dq]Item ID\[dq],\[dq]Reference Txn ID\[dq],\[dq]Receipt ID\[dq],\[dq]Balance\[dq],\[dq]Note\[dq] - -fields date, time, timezone, description_, type, status_, currency, grossamount, feeamount, netamount, fromemail, toemail, code, itemtitle, itemid, referencetxnid, receiptid, balance, note - -skip 1 - -date-format %-m/%-d/%Y - -# ignore some paypal events -if -In Progress -Temporary Hold -Update to - skip - -# add more fields to the description -description %description_ %itemtitle - -# save some other fields as tags -comment itemid:%itemid, fromemail:%fromemail, toemail:%toemail, time:%time, type:%type, status:%status_ - -# convert to short currency symbols -if %currency USD - currency $ -if %currency EUR - currency E -if %currency GBP - currency P - -# generate postings - -# the first posting will be the money leaving/entering my paypal account -# (negative means leaving my account, in all amount fields) -account1 assets:online:paypal -amount1 %netamount - -# the second posting will be money sent to/received from other party -# (account2 is set below) -amount2 -%grossamount - -# if there\[aq]s a fee, add a third posting for the money taken by paypal. -if %feeamount [1-9] - account3 expenses:banking:paypal - amount3 -%feeamount - comment3 business: - -# choose an account for the second posting - -# override the default account names: -# if the amount is positive, it\[aq]s income (a debit) -if %grossamount \[ha][\[ha]-] - account2 income:unknown -# if negative, it\[aq]s an expense (a credit) -if %grossamount \[ha]- - account2 expenses:unknown - -# apply common rules for setting account2 & other tweaks -include common.rules - -# apply some overrides specific to this csv - -# Transfers from/to bank. These are usually marked Pending, -# which can be disregarded in this case. -if -Bank Account -Bank Deposit to PP Account - description %type for %referencetxnid %itemtitle - account2 assets:bank:wf:pchecking - account1 assets:online:paypal - -# Currency conversions -if Currency Conversion - account2 equity:currency conversion -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# common.rules - -if -darcs -noble benefactor - account2 revenues:foss donations:darcshub - comment2 business: - -if -Calm Radio - account2 expenses:online:apps - -if -electronic frontier foundation -Patreon -wikimedia -Advent of Code - account2 expenses:dues - -if Google - account2 expenses:online:apps - description google | music -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f paypal-custom.csv print -2019-10-01 (60P57143A8206782E) Calm Radio MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month ; itemid:, fromemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, toemail:memberships\[at]calmradio.com, time:03:46:20, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $-6.99 = $-6.99 - expenses:online:apps $6.99 - -2019-10-01 (0TU1544T080463733) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 60P57143A8206782E ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:03:46:20, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending - assets:online:paypal $6.99 = $0.00 - assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-6.99 - -2019-10-01 (2722394R5F586712G) Patreon Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, toemail:support\[at]patreon.com, time:08:57:01, type:PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $-7.00 = $-7.00 - expenses:dues $7.00 - -2019-10-01 (71854087RG994194F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 2722394R5F586712G Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:08:57:01, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending - assets:online:paypal $7.00 = $0.00 - assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-7.00 - -2019-10-19 (K9U43044RY432050M) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation ; itemid:, fromemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, toemail:tle\[at]wikimedia.org, time:03:02:12, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $-2.00 = $-2.00 - expenses:dues $2.00 - expenses:banking:paypal ; business: - -2019-10-19 (3XJ107139A851061F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for K9U43044RY432050M ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:03:02:12, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending - assets:online:paypal $2.00 = $0.00 - assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-2.00 - -2019-10-22 (6L8L1662YP1334033) Noble Benefactor Joyful Systems ; itemid:, fromemail:noble\[at]bene.fac.tor, toemail:simon\[at]joyful.com, time:05:07:06, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $9.41 = $9.41 - revenues:foss donations:darcshub $-10.00 ; business: - expenses:banking:paypal $0.59 ; business: -\f[R] -.fi -.SS CSV rules -.PP -The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order. -Blank lines and lines beginning with \f[V]#\f[R] or \f[V];\f[R] are -ignored. -.SS \f[V]skip\f[R] -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -skip N -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -The word \[dq]skip\[dq] followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) -tells hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV -data. -(Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) -You\[aq]ll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. -.PP -It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks to ignore -certain CSV records (described below). -.SS \f[V]fields\f[R] list -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -A fields list (the word \[dq]fields\[dq] followed by comma-separated -field names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger -fields. -(The other way is field assignments, see below.) -A fields list does does two things: -.IP "1." 3 -It names the CSV fields. -This is optional, but can be convenient later for interpolating them. -.IP "2." 3 -Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the CSV -value is assigned to that part of the hledger transaction. -.PP -Here\[aq]s an example that says \[dq]use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as -the transaction\[aq]s date, description and amount; name the last two -fields for later reference; and ignore the others\[dq]: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Tips: -.IP \[bu] 2 -The fields list always use commas, even if your CSV data uses another -separator character. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Currently there must be least two items in the list (at least one -comma). -.IP \[bu] 2 -Field names may not contain spaces. -Spaces before/after field names are optional. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Field names may contain \f[V]_\f[R] (underscore) or \f[V]-\f[R] -(hyphen). -.IP \[bu] 2 -If the CSV contains column headings, it\[aq]s a good idea to use these, -suitably modified, as the basis for your field names (eg lower-cased, -with underscores instead of spaces). -.IP \[bu] 2 -If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don\[aq]t -want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by -appending an underscore. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Fields you don\[aq]t care about can be given a dummy name (eg: -\f[V]_\f[R] ), or no name. -.SS field assignment -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -HLEDGERFIELDNAME FIELDVALUE -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to -hledger fields. -They can be used instead of or in addition to a fields list (see above). -.PP -To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the -standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, -followed by a text value on the same line. -This text value may interpolate CSV fields, referenced by their 1-based -position in the CSV record (\f[V]%N\f[R]), or by the name they were -given in the fields list (\f[V]%CSVFIELDNAME\f[R]). -.PP -Some examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# set the amount to the 4th CSV field, with \[dq] USD\[dq] appended -amount %4 USD - -# combine three fields to make a comment, containing note: and date: tags -comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Tips: -.IP \[bu] 2 -Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like -\f[V]\[dq] 1 \[dq]\f[R] becomes \f[V]1\f[R] when interpolated) (#1051). -.IP \[bu] 2 -Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can\[aq]t interpolate a -hledger field. -(See Referencing other fields below). -.SS Field names -.PP -Here are the standard hledger field (and pseudo-field) names, which you -can use in a fields list and in field assignments. -For more about the transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions. -.SS date field -.PP -Assigning to \f[V]date\f[R] sets the transaction date. -.SS date2 field -.PP -\f[V]date2\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s secondary date, if any. -.SS status field -.PP -\f[V]status\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s status, if any. -.SS code field -.PP -\f[V]code\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s code, if any. -.SS description field -.PP -\f[V]description\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s description, if any. -.SS comment field -.PP -\f[V]comment\f[R] sets the transaction\[aq]s comment, if any. -.PP -\f[V]commentN\f[R], where N is a number, sets the Nth posting\[aq]s -comment. -.PP -Tips: -.IP \[bu] 2 -You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \f[V]\[rs]n\f[R] -in the code. -A comment starting with \f[V]\[rs]n\f[R] will begin on a new line. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Comments can contain tags, as usual. -.SS account field -.PP -Assigning to \f[V]accountN\f[R], where N is 1 to 99, sets the account -name of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. -.PP -Most often there are two postings, so you\[aq]ll want to set -\f[V]account1\f[R] and \f[V]account2\f[R]. -Typically \f[V]account1\f[R] is associated with the CSV file, and is set -once with a top-level assignment, while \f[V]account2\f[R] is set based -on each transaction\[aq]s description, and in conditional blocks. -.PP -If a posting\[aq]s account name is left unset but its amount is set (see -below), a default account name will be chosen (like -\[dq]expenses:unknown\[dq] or \[dq]income:unknown\[dq]). -.SS amount field -.PP -\f[V]amountN\f[R] sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that -posting to be generated. -By assigning to \f[V]amount1\f[R], \f[V]amount2\f[R], ... -etc. -you can generate up to 99 postings. -.PP -\f[V]amountN-in\f[R] and \f[V]amountN-out\f[R] can be used instead, if -the CSV uses separate fields for debits and credits (inflows and -outflows). -hledger assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will -automatically negate the \[dq]-out\[dq] value. -If they are signed, see \[dq]Setting amounts\[dq] below. -.PP -\f[V]amount\f[R], or \f[V]amount-in\f[R] and \f[V]amount-out\f[R] are a -legacy mode, to keep pre-hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for -occasional convenience). -They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both -posting 1\[aq]s and posting 2\[aq]s amount. -Posting 2\[aq]s amount will be negated, and also converted to cost if -there\[aq]s a transaction price. -.PP -If you have an existing rules file using the unnumbered form, you might -want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without -having to update and retest all the old rules. -To facilitate this, posting 1 ignores -\f[V]amount\f[R]/\f[V]amount-in\f[R]/\f[V]amount-out\f[R] if any of -\f[V]amount1\f[R]/\f[V]amount1-in\f[R]/\f[V]amount1-out\f[R] are -assigned, and posting 2 ignores them if any of -\f[V]amount2\f[R]/\f[V]amount2-in\f[R]/\f[V]amount2-out\f[R] are -assigned, avoiding conflicts. -.SS currency field -.PP -\f[V]currency\f[R] sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all -postings\[aq] amounts. -You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency symbol, eg if -it is in a separate column. -.PP -\f[V]currencyN\f[R] prepends a currency symbol to just the Nth -posting\[aq]s amount. -.SS balance field -.PP -\f[V]balanceN\f[R] sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting -amount is left empty, a balance assignment) on posting N. -.PP -\f[V]balance\f[R] is a compatibility spelling for hledger <1.17; it is -equivalent to \f[V]balance1\f[R]. -.PP -You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the -\f[V]balance-type\f[R] rule (see below). -.PP -See Tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. -.SS \f[V]separator\f[R] -.PP -You can use the \f[V]separator\f[R] rule to read other kinds of -character-separated data. -The argument is any single separator character, or the words -\f[V]tab\f[R] or \f[V]space\f[R] (case insensitive). -Eg, for comma-separated values (CSV): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -separator , -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -or for semicolon-separated values (SSV): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -separator ; -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -or for tab-separated values (TSV): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -separator TAB -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -If the input file has a \f[V].csv\f[R], \f[V].ssv\f[R] or \f[V].tsv\f[R] -file extension (or a \f[V]csv:\f[R], \f[V]ssv:\f[R], \f[V]tsv:\f[R] -prefix), the appropriate separator will be inferred automatically, and -you won\[aq]t need this rule. -.SS \f[V]if\f[R] block -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -if MATCHER - RULE - -if -MATCHER -MATCHER -MATCHER - RULE - RULE -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Conditional blocks (\[dq]if blocks\[dq]) are a block of rules that are -applied only to CSV records which match certain patterns. -They are often used for customising account names based on transaction -descriptions. -.SS Matching the whole record -.PP -Each MATCHER can be a record matcher, which looks like this: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -REGEX -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression that tries to match -anywhere within the CSV record. -It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular expression) that also supports GNU -word boundaries (\f[V]\[rs]b\f[R], \f[V]\[rs]B\f[R], \f[V]\[rs]<\f[R], -\f[V]\[rs]>\f[R]), and nothing else. -If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: -https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions -.PP -Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, -but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclosing -whitespace) removed, and always comma-separated (which means that a -field containing a comma will appear like two fields). -Eg, if the original record is -\f[V]2020-01-01; \[dq]Acme, Inc.\[dq]; 1,000\f[R], the REGEX will -actually see \f[V]2020-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000\f[R]). -.SS Matching individual fields -.PP -Or, MATCHER can be a field matcher, like this: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -%CSVFIELD REGEX -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. -CSVFIELD is a percent sign followed by the field\[aq]s name or column -number, like \f[V]%date\f[R] or \f[V]%1\f[R]. -.SS Combining matchers -.PP -A single matcher can be written on the same line as the \[dq]if\[dq]; or -multiple matchers can be written on the following lines, non-indented. -Multiple matchers are OR\[aq]d (any one of them can match), unless one -begins with an \f[V]&\f[R] symbol, in which case it is AND\[aq]ed with -the previous matcher. -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -if -MATCHER -& MATCHER - RULE -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Rules applied on successful match -.PP -After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all -indented by at least one space. -Three kinds of rule are allowed in conditional blocks: -.IP \[bu] 2 -field assignments (to set a hledger field) -.IP \[bu] 2 -skip (to skip the matched CSV record) -.IP \[bu] 2 -end (to skip all remaining CSV records). -.PP -Examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# if the CSV record contains \[dq]groceries\[dq], set account2 to \[dq]expenses:groceries\[dq] -if groceries - account2 expenses:groceries -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# if the CSV record contains any of these patterns, set account2 and comment as shown -if -monthly service fee -atm transaction fee -banking thru software - account2 expenses:business:banking - comment XXX deductible ? check it -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]if\f[R] table -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -if,CSVFIELDNAME1,CSVFIELDNAME2,...,CSVFIELDNAMEn -MATCHER1,VALUE11,VALUE12,...,VALUE1n -MATCHER2,VALUE21,VALUE22,...,VALUE2n -MATCHER3,VALUE31,VALUE32,...,VALUE3n - -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Conditional tables (\[dq]if tables\[dq]) are a different syntax to -specify field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which -match certain patterns. -.PP -MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. -When MATCHER matches, values from that row would be assigned to the CSV -fields named on the \f[V]if\f[R] line, in the same order. -.PP -Therefore \f[V]if\f[R] table is exactly equivalent to a sequence of of -\f[V]if\f[R] blocks: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -if MATCHER1 - CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE11 - CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE12 - ... - CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE1n - -if MATCHER2 - CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE21 - CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE22 - ... - CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE2n - -if MATCHER3 - CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE31 - CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE32 - ... - CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE3n -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) -values for all the listed fields. -.PP -Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the -table and, like with \f[V]if\f[R] blocks, later rules (in the same or -another table) or \f[V]if\f[R] blocks could override the effect of any -rule. -.PP -Instead of \[aq],\[aq] you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric -characters as a separator. -First character after \f[V]if\f[R] is taken to be the separator for the -rest of the table. -It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that separator does not -occur inside MATCHERs and values - there is no way to escape separator. -.PP -Example: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -if,account2,comment -atm transaction fee,expenses:business:banking,deductible? check it -%description groceries,expenses:groceries, -2020/01/12.*Plumbing LLC,expenses:house:upkeep,emergency plumbing call-out -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]end\f[R] -.PP -This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop -reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command -execution. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# ignore everything following the first empty record -if ,,,, - end -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]date-format\f[R] -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -date-format DATEFMT -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -This is a helper for the \f[V]date\f[R] (and \f[V]date2\f[R]) fields. -If your CSV dates are not formatted like \f[V]YYYY-MM-DD\f[R], -\f[V]YYYY/MM/DD\f[R] or \f[V]YYYY.MM.DD\f[R], you\[aq]ll need to add a -date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style date parsing -pattern - see -https://hackage.haskell.org/package/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. -The pattern must parse the CSV date value completely. -Some examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# MM/DD/YY -date-format %m/%d/%y -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# D/M/YYYY -# The - makes leading zeros optional. -date-format %-d/%-m/%Y -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# YYYY-Mmm-DD -date-format %Y-%h-%d -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# M/D/YYYY HH:MM AM some other junk -# Note the time and junk must be fully parsed, though only the date is used. -date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p some other junk -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]timezone\f[R] -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -timezone TIMEZONE -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone other -than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you can -use this rule to declare the CSV\[aq]s native time zone, which helps -prevent off-by-one dates. -.PP -When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don\[aq]t -need this rule; instead, use \f[V]%Z\f[R] in \f[V]date-format\f[R] (or -\f[V]%z\f[R], \f[V]%EZ\f[R], \f[V]%Ez\f[R]; see the formatTime link -above). -.PP -In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware conversion, -localising the CSV date-times to your current system time zone. -If you prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for -reproducibility, you can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with -the TZ environment variable, eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -\f[V]timezone\f[R] currently does not understand timezone names, except -\[dq]UTC\[dq], \[dq]GMT\[dq], \[dq]EST\[dq], \[dq]EDT\[dq], -\[dq]CST\[dq], \[dq]CDT\[dq], \[dq]MST\[dq], \[dq]MDT\[dq], -\[dq]PST\[dq], or \[dq]PDT\[dq]. -For others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. -.SS \f[V]decimal-mark\f[R] -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -decimal-mark . -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -or: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -decimal-mark , -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark -when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). -However if any numbers in the CSV contain digit group marks, such as -thousand-separating commas, you should declare the decimal mark -explicitly with this rule, to avoid misparsed numbers. -.SS \f[V]newest-first\f[R] -.PP -hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered -chronologically, including intra-day transactions. -Usually it can auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. -But if it encounters CSV where all records are on the same date, it -assumes that the records are oldest first. -If in fact the CSV\[aq]s records are normally newest first, like: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2022-10-01, txn 3... -2022-10-01, txn 2... -2022-10-01, txn 1... -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -you can add the \f[V]newest-first\f[R] rule to help hledger generate the -transactions in correct order. -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# same-day CSV records are newest first -newest-first -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]intra-day-reversed\f[R] -.PP -CSV records for each day are sometimes ordered in reverse compared to -the overall date order. -Eg, here dates are newest first, but the transactions on each date are -oldest first: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2022-10-02, txn 3... -2022-10-02, txn 4... -2022-10-01, txn 1... -2022-10-01, txn 2... -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -In this situation, add the \f[V]intra-day-reversed\f[R] rule, and -hledger will compensate, improving the order of transactions. -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# transactions within each day are reversed with respect to the overall date order -intra-day-reversed -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]include\f[R] -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -include RULESFILE -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. -\f[V]RULESFILE\f[R] is an absolute file path or a path relative to the -current file\[aq]s directory. -This can be useful for sharing common rules between several rules files, -eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# someaccount.csv.rules - -## someaccount-specific rules -fields date,description,amount -account1 assets:someaccount -account2 expenses:misc - -## common rules -include categorisation.rules -\f[R] -.fi -.SS \f[V]balance-type\f[R] -.PP -Balance assertions generated by assigning to balanceN are of the simple -\f[V]=\f[R] type by default, which is a single-commodity, -subaccount-excluding assertion. -You may find the subaccount-including variants more useful, eg if you -have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help with -budgeting. -You can select a different type of assertion with the -\f[V]balance-type\f[R] rule: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# balance assertions will consider all commodities and all subaccounts -balance-type ==* -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Here are the balance assertion types for quick reference: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -= single commodity, exclude subaccounts -=* single commodity, include subaccounts -== multi commodity, exclude subaccounts -==* multi commodity, include subaccounts -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Tips -.SS Rapid feedback -.PP -It\[aq]s a good idea to get rapid feedback while -creating/troubleshooting CSV rules. -Here\[aq]s a good way, using entr from eradman.com/entrproject: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ ls foo.csv* | entr bash -c \[aq]echo ----; hledger -f foo.csv print desc:SOMEDESC\[aq] -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions of -interest. -\[dq]bash -c\[dq] is used to run multiple commands, so we can echo a -separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to read the -output. -.SS Valid CSV -.PP -hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. -When CSV values are enclosed in quotes, note: -.IP \[bu] 2 -they must be double quotes (not single quotes) -.IP \[bu] 2 -spaces outside the quotes are not allowed -.SS File Extension -.PP -To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, -CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a \f[V].csv\f[R], -\f[V].ssv\f[R] or \f[V].tsv\f[R] filename extension. -Or, the file path should be prefixed with \f[V]csv:\f[R], \f[V]ssv:\f[R] -or \f[V]tsv:\f[R]. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f foo.ssv print -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -or: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ cat foo | hledger -f ssv:- foo -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. -See also: Input files in the hledger manual. -.SS Reading multiple CSV files -.PP -If you use multiple \f[V]-f\f[R] options to read multiple CSV files at -once, hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each -CSV file. -But if you use the \f[V]--rules-file\f[R] option, that rules file will -be used for all the CSV files. -.SS Valid transactions -.PP -After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the -generated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing -them, applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. -Any errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying -the problem entry. -.PP -There is one exception: balance assertions, if you have generated them, -will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV -data is part of the main journal. -If you do need to check balance assertions generated from CSV right -away, pipe into another hledger: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print -\f[R] -.fi -.SS Deduplicating, importing -.PP -When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank -transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing some -of the same records. -.PP -The import command will (a) detect the new transactions, and (b) append -just those transactions to your main journal. -It is idempotent, so you don\[aq]t have to remember how many times you -ran it or with which version of the CSV. -(It keeps state in a hidden \f[V].latest.FILE.csv\f[R] file.) -This is the easiest way to import CSV data. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# download the latest CSV files, then run this command. -# Note, no -f flags needed here. -$ hledger import *.csv [--dry] -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -This method works for most CSV files. -(Where records have a stable chronological order, and new records appear -only at the new end.) -.PP -A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, -exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data. -See: -.IP \[bu] 2 -https://hledger.org/cookbook.html#setups-and-workflows -.IP \[bu] 2 -https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion -.SS Setting amounts -.PP -Some tips on using the amount-setting rules discussed above. -.PP -Here are the ways to set a posting\[aq]s amount: -.IP "1." 3 -\f[B]If the CSV has a single amount field:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Assign (via a fields list or a field assignment) to \f[V]amountN\f[R]. -This sets the Nth posting\[aq]s amount. -N is usually 1 or 2 but can go up to 99. -.IP "2." 3 -\f[B]If the CSV has separate amount fields for debit & credit (in & -out):\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -.RS 4 -.IP "a." 3 -\f[B]If both fields are unsigned:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Assign to \f[V]amountN-in\f[R] and \f[V]amountN-out\f[R]. -This sets posting N\[aq]s amount to whichever of these has a non-zero -value, and negates the \[dq]-out\[dq] value. -.IP "b." 3 -\f[B]If either field is signed (can contain a minus sign):\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). -Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already negative, we -must undo that by negating once more (but only if the field is -non-empty): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date, description, amount1-in, amount1-out -if %amount1-out [1-9] - amount1-out -%amount1-out -\f[R] -.fi -.IP "c." 3 -\f[B]If both fields, or neither field, can contain a non-zero -value:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non-zero -value. -Eg, the \f[V]amountN-in\f[R]/\f[V]amountN-out\f[R] rules would reject -value pairs like these: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -\[dq]\[dq], \[dq]\[dq] -\[dq]0\[dq], \[dq]0\[dq] -\[dq]1\[dq], \[dq]none\[dq] -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -So, use smarter conditional rules to set the amount from the appropriate -field. -Eg, these rules would make it use only the value containing non-zero -digits, handling the above: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date, description, in, out -if %in [1-9] - amount1 %in -if %out [1-9] - amount1 %out -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.IP "3." 3 -\f[B]If you want posting 2\[aq]s amount converted to cost:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Assign to \f[V]amount\f[R] (or to \f[V]amount-in\f[R] and -\f[V]amount-out\f[R]). -(This is the legacy numberless syntax, which sets amount1 and amount2 -and converts amount2 to cost.) -.IP "4." 3 -\f[B]If the CSV has the balance instead of the transaction amount:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Assign to \f[V]balanceN\f[R], which sets posting N\[aq]s amount -indirectly via a balance assignment. -(Old syntax: \f[V]balance\f[R], equivalent to \f[V]balance1\f[R].) -.RS 4 -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[B]If hledger guesses the wrong default account name:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess the -wrong default account name. -So, set the account name explicitly, eg: -.RS 2 -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date, description, balance1 -account1 assets:checking -\f[R] -.fi -.RE -.RE -.SS Amount signs -.PP -There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing and -sign-flipping: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[B]If an amount value begins with a plus sign:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -that will be removed: \f[V]+AMT\f[R] becomes \f[V]AMT\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[B]If an amount value is parenthesised:\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -it will be de-parenthesised and sign-flipped: \f[V](AMT)\f[R] becomes -\f[V]-AMT\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[B]If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, -or a minus sign and parentheses):\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -they cancel out and will be removed: \f[V]--AMT\f[R] or \f[V]-(AMT)\f[R] -becomes \f[V]AMT\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[B]If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of -parentheses):\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -that is removed, making it an empty value. -\f[V]\[dq]+\[dq]\f[R] or \f[V]\[dq]-\[dq]\f[R] or \f[V]\[dq]()\[dq]\f[R] -becomes \f[V]\[dq]\[dq]\f[R]. -.SS Setting currency/commodity -.PP -If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV\[aq]s amount -field(s): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2020-01-01,foo,$123.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -you don\[aq]t have to do anything special for the commodity symbol, it -will be assigned as part of the amount. -Eg: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date,description,amount -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2020-01-01 foo - expenses:unknown $123.00 - income:unknown $-123.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -If the currency is provided as a separate CSV field: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2020-01-01,foo,USD,123.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -You can assign that to the \f[V]currency\f[R] pseudo-field, which has -the special effect of prepending itself to every amount in the -transaction (on the left, with no separating space): -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date,description,currency,amount -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2020-01-01 foo - expenses:unknown USD123.00 - income:unknown USD-123.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, -with more control. -Eg to put the symbol on the right, and separated by a space: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date,description,cur,amt -amount %amt %cur -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2020-01-01 foo - expenses:unknown 123.00 USD - income:unknown -123.00 USD -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Note we used a temporary field name (\f[V]cur\f[R]) that is not -\f[V]currency\f[R] - that would trigger the prepending effect, which we -don\[aq]t want here. -.SS Amount decimal places -.PP -Like amounts in a journal file, the amounts generated by CSV rules like -\f[V]amount1\f[R] influence commodity display styles, such as the number -of decimal places displayed in reports. -.PP -The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display -style (because we don\[aq]t yet reliably know their commodity). -.SS Referencing other fields -.PP -In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger -fields. -In the example below, there\[aq]s both a CSV field and a hledger field -named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the hledger -field: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# Name the third CSV field \[dq]amount1\[dq] -fields date,description,amount1 - -# Set hledger\[aq]s amount1 to the CSV amount1 field followed by USD -amount1 %amount1 USD - -# Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above) -comment %amount1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Here, since there\[aq]s no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a -literal \[dq]amount1\[dq]: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -fields date,description,csvamount -amount1 %csvamount USD -# Can\[aq]t interpolate amount1 here -comment %amount1 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, -only the last one takes effect. -Here, comment\[aq]s value will be be B, or C if \[dq]something\[dq] is -matched, but never A: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -comment A -comment B -if something - comment C -\f[R] -.fi -.SS How CSV rules are evaluated -.PP -Here\[aq]s how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need -to). -First, -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]include\f[R] - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth -first. -(At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further -includes, recursively, before proceeding.) -.PP -Then \[dq]global\[dq] rules are evaluated, top to bottom. -If a rule is repeated, the last one wins: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]skip\f[R] (at top level) -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]date-format\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]newest-first\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[V]fields\f[R] - names the CSV fields, optionally sets up initial -assignments to hledger fields -.PP -Then for each CSV record in turn: -.IP \[bu] 2 -test all \f[V]if\f[R] blocks. -If any of them contain a \f[V]end\f[R] rule, skip all remaining CSV -records. -Otherwise if any of them contain a \f[V]skip\f[R] rule, skip that many -CSV records. -If there are multiple matched \f[V]skip\f[R] rules, the first one wins. -.IP \[bu] 2 -collect all field assignments at top level and in matched \f[V]if\f[R] -blocks. -When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last one. -.IP \[bu] 2 -compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was -assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a -default -.IP \[bu] 2 -generate a synthetic hledger transaction from these values. -.PP -This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can -use to parse input files. -When all files have been read successfully, the transactions are passed -as input to whichever hledger command the user specified. -.SH TIMECLOCK FORMAT -.PP -The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. -.PP -hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. -As with Ledger, these are (a subset of) timeclock.el\[aq]s format, -containing clock-in and clock-out entries as in the example below. -The date is a simple date. -The time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. -Seconds and timezone are optional. -The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored (currently -the time is always interpreted as a local time). -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -i 2015/03/30 09:00:00 some:account name optional description after two spaces -o 2015/03/30 09:20:00 -i 2015/03/31 22:21:45 another account -o 2015/04/01 02:00:34 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting -some number of hours to an account. -Or if the session spans more than one day, it is split into several -transactions, one for each day. -For the above time log, \f[V]hledger print\f[R] generates these journal -entries: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f t.timeclock print -2015-03-30 * optional description after two spaces - (some:account name) 0.33h - -2015-03-31 * 22:21-23:59 - (another account) 1.64h - -2015-04-01 * 00:00-02:00 - (another account) 2.01h -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Here is a sample.timeclock to download and some queries to try: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f sample.timeclock balance # current time balances -$ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p 2009/3 # sessions in march 2009 -$ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p weekly --depth 1 --empty # time summary by week -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -To generate time logs, ie to clock in and clock out, you could: -.IP \[bu] 2 -use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock-x.el -and perhaps the extras in ledgerutils.el -.IP \[bu] 2 -at the command line, use these bash aliases: -\f[V]shell alias ti=\[dq]echo i \[ga]date \[aq]+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S\[aq]\[ga] \[rs]$* >>$TIMELOG\[dq] alias to=\[dq]echo o \[ga]date \[aq]+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S\[aq]\[ga] >>$TIMELOG\[dq]\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -or use the old \f[V]ti\f[R] and \f[V]to\f[R] scripts in the ledger 2.x -repository. -These rely on a \[dq]timeclock\[dq] executable which I think is just the -ledger 2 executable renamed. -.SH TIMEDOT FORMAT -.PP -\f[V]timedot\f[R] format is hledger\[aq]s human-friendly time logging -format. -Compared to \f[V]timeclock\f[R] format, it is -.IP \[bu] 2 -convenient for quick, approximate, and retroactive time logging -.IP \[bu] 2 -readable: you can see at a glance where time was spent. -.PP -A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like -this: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2021-08-04 -hom:errands .... .... -fos:hledger:timedot .. ; docs -per:admin:finance -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each dot -representing a quarter-hour spent: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f a.timedot print # .timedot file extension activates the timedot reader -2021-08-04 * - (hom:errands) 2.00 - -2021-08-04 * - (fos:hledger:timedot) 0.50 - -2021-08-04 * - (per:admin:finance) 0 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -A day entry begins with a date line: -.IP \[bu] 2 -a non-indented \f[B]simple date\f[R] (Y-M-D, Y/M/D, or Y.M.D). -.PP -Optionally this can be followed on the same line by -.IP \[bu] 2 -a common \f[B]transaction description\f[R] for this day -.IP \[bu] 2 -a common \f[B]transaction comment\f[R] for this day, after a semicolon -(\f[V];\f[R]). -.PP -After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time -transaction lines, consisting of: -.IP \[bu] 2 -an \f[B]account name\f[R] - any word or phrase, usually a hledger-style -account name. -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[B]two or more spaces\f[R] - a field separator, required if there is -an amount (as in journal format). -.IP \[bu] 2 -a \f[B]timedot amount\f[R] - dots representing quarter hours, or a -number representing hours. -.IP \[bu] 2 -an optional \f[B]comment\f[R] beginning with semicolon. -This is ignored. -.PP -In more detail, timedot amounts can be: -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[B]dots\f[R]: zero or more period characters, each representing one -quarter-hour. -Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. -Eg: \f[V].... ..\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -a \f[B]number\f[R], representing hours. -Eg: \f[V]1.5\f[R] -.IP \[bu] 2 -a \f[B]number immediately followed by a unit symbol\f[R] \f[V]s\f[R], -\f[V]m\f[R], \f[V]h\f[R], \f[V]d\f[R], \f[V]w\f[R], \f[V]mo\f[R], or -\f[V]y\f[R], representing seconds, minutes, hours, days weeks, months or -years. -Eg \f[V]1.5h\f[R] or \f[V]90m\f[R]. -The following equivalencies are assumed: -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -\f[V]60s\f[R] = \f[V]1m\f[R], \f[V]60m\f[R] = \f[V]1h\f[R], -\f[V]24h\f[R] = \f[V]1d\f[R], \f[V]7d\f[R] = \f[V]1w\f[R], \f[V]30d\f[R] -= \f[V]1mo\f[R], \f[V]365d\f[R] = \f[V]1y\f[R]. -(This unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, -which is always in hours.) -.PP -There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in -the same file as your notes, todo lists, etc.: -.IP \[bu] 2 -Lines beginning with \f[V]#\f[R] or \f[V];\f[R], and blank lines, are -ignored. -.IP \[bu] 2 -Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as -transactions with zero amount. -(Most hledger reports hide these by default; add -E to see them.) -.IP \[bu] 2 -One or more stars (\f[V]*\f[R]) followed by a space, at the start of a -line, is ignored. -So date lines or time transaction lines can also be Org-mode headlines. -.IP \[bu] 2 -All Org-mode headlines before the first date line are ignored. -.PP -More examples: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -# on this day, 6h was spent on client work, 1.5h on haskell FOSS work, etc. -2016/2/1 -inc:client1 .... .... .... .... .... .... -fos:haskell .... .. -biz:research . - -2016/2/2 -inc:client1 .... .... -biz:research . -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2016/2/3 -inc:client1 4 -fos:hledger 3 -biz:research 1 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -* Time log -** 2020-01-01 -*** adm:time . -*** adm:finance . -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -* 2020 Work Diary -** Q1 -*** 2020-02-29 -**** DONE -0700 yoga -**** UNPLANNED -**** BEGUN -hom:chores - cleaning ... - water plants - outdoor - one full watering can - indoor - light watering -**** TODO -adm:planning: trip -*** LATER -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Reporting: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f a.timedot print date:2016/2/2 -2016-02-02 * - (inc:client1) 2.00 - -2016-02-02 * - (biz:research) 0.25 -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f a.timedot bal --daily --tree -Balance changes in 2016-02-01-2016-02-03: - - || 2016-02-01d 2016-02-02d 2016-02-03d -============++======================================== - biz || 0.25 0.25 1.00 - research || 0.25 0.25 1.00 - fos || 1.50 0 3.00 - haskell || 1.50 0 0 - hledger || 0 0 3.00 - inc || 6.00 2.00 4.00 - client1 || 6.00 2.00 4.00 -------------++---------------------------------------- - || 7.75 2.25 8.00 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Using period instead of colon as account name separator: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -2016/2/4 -fos.hledger.timedot 4 -fos.ledger .. -\f[R] -.fi -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger -f a.timedot --alias /\[rs]\[rs]./=: bal --tree - 4.50 fos - 4.00 hledger:timedot - 0.50 ledger --------------------- - 4.50 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -A sample.timedot file. -.SH COMMON TASKS +.SH PART 5: COMMON TASKS .PP Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. .SS Getting help @@ -10792,7 +11075,7 @@ https://hledger.org/support. .PP hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We strive to keep it simple and ergonomic, but you may run into one of -the confusing real world details described in OPTIONS, below. +the confusing real world details OPTIONS. If that happens, here are some tips that may help: .IP \[bu] 2 command-specific options must go after the command (it\[aq]s fine to put @@ -11222,142 +11505,21 @@ See the close command. .PP If using version control, don\[aq]t forget to \f[V]git add\f[R] the new file. -.SH LIMITATIONS -.PP -The need to precede add-on command options with \f[V]--\f[R] when -invoked from hledger is awkward. -.PP -When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system locale -must be configured (or there will be an unhelpful error). -Eg on POSIX, set LANG to something other than C. -.PP -In a Microsoft Windows CMD window, non-ascii characters and colours are -not supported. -.PP -On Windows, non-ascii characters may not display correctly when running -a hledger built in CMD in MSYS/CYGWIN, or vice-versa. -.PP -In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in hledger -add. -.PP -Not all of Ledger\[aq]s journal file syntax is supported. -See hledger and Ledger > Differences > journal format. -.PP -On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than Ledger. -.SH TROUBLESHOOTING -.PP -Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and -remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug -tracker): -.PP -\f[B]Successfully installed, but \[dq]No command \[aq]hledger\[aq] -found\[dq]\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should -be added to your PATH environment variable. -Eg on unix-like systems, that is \[ti]/.local/bin and \[ti]/.cabal/bin -respectively. -.PP -\f[B]I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default -file\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -\f[V]LEDGER_FILE\f[R] should be a real environment variable, not just a -shell variable. -The command \f[V]env | grep LEDGER_FILE\f[R] should show it. -You may need to use \f[V]export\f[R]. -Here\[aq]s an explanation. -.PP -\f[B]Getting errors like \[dq]Illegal byte sequence\[dq] or \[dq]Invalid -or incomplete multibyte or wide character\[dq] or -\[dq]commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argument (invalid -character)\[dq]\f[R] -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) -need to have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, -otherwise they will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter -non-ascii characters. -.PP -To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which -supports UTF-8. -The locale you choose must be installed on your system. -.PP -Here\[aq]s an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ file my.journal -my.journal: UTF-8 Unicode text # the file is UTF8-encoded -$ echo $LANG -C # LANG is set to the default locale, which does not support UTF8 -$ locale -a # which locales are installed ? -C -en_US.utf8 # here\[aq]s a UTF8-aware one we can use -POSIX -$ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -If available, \f[V]C.UTF-8\f[R] will also work. -If your preferred locale isn\[aq]t listed by \f[V]locale -a\f[R], you -might need to install it. -Eg on Ubuntu/Debian: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ apt-get install language-pack-fr -$ locale -a -C -en_US.utf8 -fr_BE.utf8 -fr_CA.utf8 -fr_CH.utf8 -fr_FR.utf8 -fr_LU.utf8 -POSIX -$ LANG=fr_FR.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Here\[aq]s how you could set it permanently, if you use a bash shell: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ echo \[dq]export LANG=en_US.utf8\[dq] >>\[ti]/.bash_profile -$ bash --login -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. -Note the difference on MacOS (\f[V]UTF-8\f[R], not \f[V]utf8\f[R]). -Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow variant spellings, but others (eg -macos) require it to be exact: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf -en_US.UTF-8 -$ LANG=en_US.UTF-8 hledger -f my.journal print -\f[R] -.fi .SH "REPORTING BUGS" Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org -(or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list) +(or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list) .SH AUTHORS -Simon Michael and contributors +Simon Michael and contributors. +.br +See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html .SH COPYRIGHT +Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors. -Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Simon Michael. -.br +.SH LICENSE Released under GNU GPL v3 or later. .SH SEE ALSO diff --git a/hledger/hledger.info b/hledger/hledger.info index d4ec9f313..0f05ad529 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.info +++ b/hledger/hledger.info @@ -6,20 +6,24 @@ START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY  -File: hledger.info, Node: Top, Next: OPTIONS, Up: (dir) +File: hledger.info, Node: Top, Next: PART 1 USER INTERFACE, Up: (dir) hledger(1) ********** -This is the command-line interface (CLI) for the hledger accounting -tool. Here we also describe hledger's concepts and file formats. This -manual is for hledger 1.28.99. +hledger - robust, friendly plain text accounting (CLI version) 'hledger' +'hledger [-f FILE] COMMAND [OPTS] [ARGS]' +'hledger [-f FILE] ADDONCMD -- [OPTS] [ARGS]' - 'hledger [-f FILE] COMMAND [OPTIONS] [ARGS]' - - 'hledger [-f FILE] ADDONCMD -- [OPTIONS] [ARGS]' + This manual is for hledger's command line interface, version 1.28.99. +It also describes the concepts and file formats common to all hledger +programs. You can read it on hledger.org, or as an info manual or man +page on your system. It is detailed and not entirely linear, so you +should feel free to skip ahead / skim when needed. You don't need to +know everything in here to use hledger productively, but when you have a +question about functionality, this doc should answer it. hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a @@ -60,29 +64,42 @@ try some commands like 'hledger print' or 'hledger balance'. Run * Menu: -* OPTIONS:: -* ENVIRONMENT:: -* INPUT:: -* OUTPUT:: -* TIME PERIODS:: -* DEPTH:: -* QUERIES:: -* COST:: -* VALUATION:: -* PIVOTING:: -* COMMANDS:: -* JOURNAL FORMAT:: -* CSV FORMAT:: -* TIMECLOCK FORMAT:: -* TIMEDOT FORMAT:: -* COMMON TASKS:: -* LIMITATIONS:: -* TROUBLESHOOTING:: +* PART 1 USER INTERFACE:: +* Options:: +* Environment:: +* Input:: +* Commands:: +* Output:: +* Limitations:: +* Troubleshooting:: +* PART 2 DATA FORMATS:: +* Journal:: +* CSV:: +* Timeclock:: +* Timedot:: +* PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS:: +* Time periods:: +* Depth:: +* Queries:: +* Pivoting:: +* Generating data:: +* Forecasting:: +* Budgeting:: +* Cost reporting:: +* Valuation:: +* PART 4 COMMANDS:: +* PART 5 COMMON TASKS::  -File: hledger.info, Node: OPTIONS, Next: ENVIRONMENT, Prev: Top, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: PART 1 USER INTERFACE, Next: Options, Prev: Top, Up: Top -1 OPTIONS +1 PART 1: USER INTERFACE +************************ + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Options, Next: Environment, Prev: PART 1 USER INTERFACE, Up: Top + +2 Options ********* * Menu: @@ -95,9 +112,9 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: OPTIONS, Next: ENVIRONMENT, Prev: Top, Up: Top * Regular expressions::  -File: hledger.info, Node: General options, Next: Command options, Up: OPTIONS +File: hledger.info, Node: General options, Next: Command options, Up: Options -1.1 General options +2.1 General options =================== To see general usage help, including general options which are supported @@ -257,9 +274,9 @@ the last one takes precedence. Some reporting options can also be written as query arguments.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Command options, Next: Command arguments, Prev: General options, Up: OPTIONS +File: hledger.info, Node: Command options, Next: Command arguments, Prev: General options, Up: Options -1.2 Command options +2.2 Command options =================== To see options for a particular command, including command-specific @@ -273,9 +290,9 @@ options after a double-hyphen, eg: 'hledger ui -- --watch'. Or, you can run the add-on executable directly: 'hledger-ui --watch'.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Command arguments, Next: Special characters, Prev: Command options, Up: OPTIONS +File: hledger.info, Node: Command arguments, Next: Special characters, Prev: Command options, Up: Options -1.3 Command arguments +2.3 Command arguments ===================== Most hledger commands accept arguments after the command name, which are @@ -313,9 +330,9 @@ than you would at the command prompt. Bad: See also: Save frequently used options.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Special characters, Next: Unicode characters, Prev: Command arguments, Up: OPTIONS +File: hledger.info, Node: Special characters, Next: Unicode characters, Prev: Command arguments, Up: Options -1.4 Special characters +2.4 Special characters ====================== * Menu: @@ -328,7 +345,7 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Special characters, Next: Unicode characters, Prev:  File: hledger.info, Node: Single escaping shell metacharacters, Next: Double escaping regular expression metacharacters, Up: Special characters -1.4.1 Single escaping (shell metacharacters) +2.4.1 Single escaping (shell metacharacters) -------------------------------------------- In shell command lines, characters significant to your shell - such as @@ -350,7 +367,7 @@ PowerShell treats both single and double quotes as quotes.  File: hledger.info, Node: Double escaping regular expression metacharacters, Next: Triple escaping for add-on commands, Prev: Single escaping shell metacharacters, Up: Special characters -1.4.2 Double escaping (regular expression metacharacters) +2.4.2 Double escaping (regular expression metacharacters) --------------------------------------------------------- Characters significant in regular expressions (described below) - such @@ -370,7 +387,7 @@ $ hledger balance cur:\\$  File: hledger.info, Node: Triple escaping for add-on commands, Next: Less escaping, Prev: Double escaping regular expression metacharacters, Up: Special characters -1.4.3 Triple escaping (for add-on commands) +2.4.3 Triple escaping (for add-on commands) ------------------------------------------- When you use hledger to run an external add-on command (described @@ -400,7 +417,7 @@ $ hledger-ui cur:\\$  File: hledger.info, Node: Less escaping, Prev: Triple escaping for add-on commands, Up: Special characters -1.4.4 Less escaping +2.4.4 Less escaping ------------------- Options and arguments are sometimes used in places other than the shell @@ -413,9 +430,9 @@ use one less level of escaping. Those places include: * GHCI's prompt (used by developers).  -File: hledger.info, Node: Unicode characters, Next: Regular expressions, Prev: Special characters, Up: OPTIONS +File: hledger.info, Node: Unicode characters, Next: Regular expressions, Prev: Special characters, Up: Options -1.5 Unicode characters +2.5 Unicode characters ====================== hledger is expected to handle non-ascii characters correctly: @@ -452,9 +469,9 @@ hledger is expected to handle non-ascii characters correctly: terminal, and vice versa. (See eg #961).  -File: hledger.info, Node: Regular expressions, Prev: Unicode characters, Up: OPTIONS +File: hledger.info, Node: Regular expressions, Prev: Unicode characters, Up: Options -1.6 Regular expressions +2.6 Regular expressions ======================= hledger uses regular expressions in a number of places: @@ -497,9 +514,9 @@ they support: See Special characters.  -File: hledger.info, Node: ENVIRONMENT, Next: INPUT, Prev: OPTIONS, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: Environment, Next: Input, Prev: Options, Up: Top -2 ENVIRONMENT +3 Environment ************* *LEDGER_FILE* The journal file path when not specified with '-f'. @@ -545,9 +562,9 @@ use ANSI color codes in terminal output. This is overriden by the -color/-colour option.  -File: hledger.info, Node: INPUT, Next: OUTPUT, Prev: ENVIRONMENT, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: Input, Next: Commands, Prev: Environment, Up: Top -3 INPUT +4 Input ******* hledger reads transactions from one or more data files. The default @@ -574,9 +591,9 @@ $ cat some.journal | hledger -f- * Strict mode::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Data formats, Next: Multiple files, Up: INPUT +File: hledger.info, Node: Data formats, Next: Multiple files, Up: Input -3.1 Data formats +4.1 Data formats ================ Usually the data file is in hledger's journal format, but it can be in @@ -594,7 +611,7 @@ Reader: Reads: Used for file 'csv' comma/semicolon/tab/other-separated '.csv' '.ssv' '.tsv' values, for data import - These formats are described in their own sections, below. + These formats are described in more detail below. hledger detects the format automatically based on the file extensions shown above. If it can't recognise the file extension, it assumes @@ -613,9 +630,9 @@ $ hledger -f csv:/some/csv-file.dat stats $ echo 'i 2009/13/1 08:00:00' | hledger print -ftimeclock:-  -File: hledger.info, Node: Multiple files, Next: Strict mode, Prev: Data formats, Up: INPUT +File: hledger.info, Node: Multiple files, Next: Strict mode, Prev: Data formats, Up: Input -3.2 Multiple files +4.2 Multiple files ================== You can specify multiple '-f' options, to read multiple files as one big @@ -632,9 +649,9 @@ journal. There are some limitations with this: a.journal b.journal | hledger -f- CMD'.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Strict mode, Prev: Multiple files, Up: INPUT +File: hledger.info, Node: Strict mode, Prev: Multiple files, Up: Input -3.3 Strict mode +4.3 Strict mode =============== hledger checks input files for valid data. By default, the most @@ -657,25 +674,83 @@ without a lot of declarations: listed above and some more.  -File: hledger.info, Node: OUTPUT, Next: TIME PERIODS, Prev: INPUT, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: Commands, Next: Output, Prev: Input, Up: Top -4 OUTPUT +5 Commands +********** + +hledger provides a number of built-in subcommands (described below). +Most of these read your data without changing it, and display a report. +A few assist with data entry and management. + + Run 'hledger' with no arguments to list the commands available, and +'hledger CMD' to run a command. CMD can be the full command name, or +its standard abbreviation shown in the commands list, or any unambiguous +prefix of the name. Eg: 'hledger bal'. + +* Menu: + +* Add-on commands:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Add-on commands, Up: Commands + +5.1 Add-on commands +=================== + +Add-on commands are extra subcommands provided by programs or scripts in +your PATH + + * whose name starts with 'hledger-' + * whose name ends with a recognised file extension: + '.bat','.com','.exe', '.hs','.lhs','.pl','.py','.rb','.rkt','.sh' + or none + * and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. + + Addons can be written in any language, but haskell scripts or +programs have a big advantage: they can use hledger's library code, for +command-line options, parsing and reporting. + + Several add-on commands are installed by the hledger-install script. +See https://hledger.org/scripts.html for more details. + + Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a +double dash ('--') preceding them. Eg you must write: + +$ hledger web -- --serve + + and not: + +$ hledger web --serve + + (because the '--serve' flag belongs to 'hledger-web', not 'hledger'). + + The '-h/--help' and '--version' flags don't require '--'. + + If you have any trouble with this, remember you can always run the +add-on program directly, eg: + +$ hledger-web --serve + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Output, Next: Limitations, Prev: Commands, Up: Top + +6 Output ******** -Some of this section may refer to things explained further below. - * Menu: * Output destination:: -* Output styling:: * Output format:: * Commodity styles:: +* Colour:: +* Box-drawing:: * Debug output::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Output destination, Next: Output styling, Up: OUTPUT +File: hledger.info, Node: Output destination, Next: Output format, Up: Output -4.1 Output destination +6.1 Output destination ====================== hledger commands send their output to the terminal by default. You can @@ -691,34 +766,13 @@ $ hledger print -o foo.txt $ hledger print -o - # write to stdout (the default)  -File: hledger.info, Node: Output styling, Next: Output format, Prev: Output destination, Up: OUTPUT +File: hledger.info, Node: Output format, Next: Commodity styles, Prev: Output destination, Up: Output -4.2 Output styling -================== - -hledger commands can produce colour output when the terminal supports -it. This is controlled by the '--color/--colour' option: - if the -'--color/--colour' option is given a value of 'yes' or 'always' (or 'no' -or 'never'), colour will (or will not) be used; - otherwise, if the -'NO_COLOR' environment variable is set, colour will not be used; - -otherwise, colour will be used if the output (terminal or file) supports -it. - - hledger commands can also use unicode box-drawing characters to -produce prettier tables and output. This is controlled by the -'--pretty' option: - if the '--pretty' option is given a value of 'yes' -or 'always' (or 'no' or 'never'), unicode characters will (or will not) -be used; - otherwise, unicode characters will not be used. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Output format, Next: Commodity styles, Prev: Output styling, Up: OUTPUT - -4.3 Output format +6.2 Output format ================= -Some commands offer additional output formats, other than the usual -plain text terminal output. Here are those commands and the formats -currently supported: +Some commands offer other kinds of output, not just text on the +terminal. Here are those commands and the formats currently supported: - txt csv html json sql ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- @@ -749,6 +803,8 @@ extension, if needed: $ hledger balancesheet -o foo.txt -O csv # write CSV to foo.txt + Some notes about the various output formats: + * Menu: * CSV output:: @@ -759,7 +815,7 @@ $ hledger balancesheet -o foo.txt -O csv # write CSV to foo.txt  File: hledger.info, Node: CSV output, Next: HTML output, Up: Output format -4.3.1 CSV output +6.2.1 CSV output ---------------- * In CSV output, digit group marks (such as thousands separators) are @@ -768,7 +824,7 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: CSV output, Next: HTML output, Up: Output format  File: hledger.info, Node: HTML output, Next: JSON output, Prev: CSV output, Up: Output format -4.3.2 HTML output +6.2.2 HTML output ----------------- * HTML output can be styled by an optional 'hledger.css' file in the @@ -777,12 +833,12 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: HTML output, Next: JSON output, Prev: CSV output,  File: hledger.info, Node: JSON output, Next: SQL output, Prev: HTML output, Up: Output format -4.3.3 JSON output +6.2.3 JSON output ----------------- - * Not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. + * This is not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. - * Our JSON is rather large and verbose, as it is quite a faithful + * Our JSON is rather large and verbose, since it is a faithful representation of hledger's internal data types. To understand the JSON, read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs. @@ -799,10 +855,10 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: JSON output, Next: SQL output, Prev: HTML output,  File: hledger.info, Node: SQL output, Prev: JSON output, Up: Output format -4.3.4 SQL output +6.2.4 SQL output ---------------- - * Not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. + * This is not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. * SQL output is expected to work with sqlite, MySQL and PostgreSQL @@ -814,33 +870,61 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: SQL output, Prev: JSON output, Up: Output format postings will be duped.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity styles, Next: Debug output, Prev: Output format, Up: OUTPUT +File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity styles, Next: Colour, Prev: Output format, Up: Output -4.4 Commodity styles +6.3 Commodity styles ==================== -The display style of a commodity/currency is inferred according to the -rules described in Commodity display style. The inferred display style -can be overridden by an optional '-c/--commodity-style' option -(Exceptions: as is the case for inferred styles, price amounts, and all -amounts displayed by the 'print' command, will be displayed with all of -their decimal digits visible, regardless of the specified precision). -For example, the following will override the display style for dollars. +When displaying amounts, hledger infers a standard display style for +each commodity/currency, as described below in Commodity display style. + + If needed, this can be overridden by a '-c/--commodity-style' option +(except for cost amounts and amounts displayed by the 'print' command, +which are always displayed with all decimal digits). For example, the +following will force dollar amounts to be displayed as shown: $ hledger print -c '$1.000,0' - The format specification of the style is identical to the commodity -display style specification for the commodity directive. The command -line option can be supplied repeatedly to override the display style for -multiple commodity/currency symbols. + This option can repeated to set the display style for multiple +commodities/currencies. Its argument is as described in the commodity +directive.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Debug output, Prev: Commodity styles, Up: OUTPUT +File: hledger.info, Node: Colour, Next: Box-drawing, Prev: Commodity styles, Up: Output -4.5 Debug output +6.4 Colour +========== + +In terminal output, some commands can produce colour when the terminal +supports it: + + * if the '--color/--colour' option is given a value of 'yes' or + 'always' (or 'no' or 'never'), colour will (or will not) be used; + * otherwise, if the 'NO_COLOR' environment variable is set, colour + will not be used; + * otherwise, colour will be used if the output (terminal or file) + supports it. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Box-drawing, Next: Debug output, Prev: Colour, Up: Output + +6.5 Box-drawing +=============== + +In terminal output, you can enable unicode box-drawing characters to +render prettier tables: + + * if the '--pretty' option is given a value of 'yes' or 'always' (or + 'no' or 'never'), unicode characters will (or will not) be used; + * otherwise, unicode characters will not be used. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Debug output, Prev: Box-drawing, Up: Output + +6.6 Debug output ================ -We aim for hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect and +We intend hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect and develop. You can add '--debug[=N]' to any hledger command line to see additional debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and increase until @@ -849,4636 +933,122 @@ by '-o/--output-file' (unless you redirect stderr to stdout, eg: '2>&1'). It will be interleaved with normal output, which can help reveal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug output in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: -'hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log'. - -File: hledger.info, Node: TIME PERIODS, Next: DEPTH, Prev: OUTPUT, Up: Top - -5 TIME PERIODS -************** - -* Menu: - -* Smart dates:: -* Report start & end date:: -* Report intervals:: -* Period expressions:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Smart dates, Next: Report start & end date, Up: TIME PERIODS - -5.1 Smart dates -=============== - -hledger's user interfaces accept a flexible "smart date" syntax. Smart -dates allow some english words, can be relative to today's date, and can -have less-significant date parts omitted (defaulting to 1). - - Examples: - -'2004/10/1', exact date, several separators allowed. Year -'2004-01-01', is 4+ digits, month is 1-12, day is 1-31 -'2004.9.1' -'2004' start of year -'2004/10' start of month -'10/1' month and day in current year -'21' day in current month -'october, oct' start of month in current year -'yesterday, today, -1, 0, 1 days from today -tomorrow' -'last/this/next -1, 0, 1 periods from the current period -day/week/month/quarter/year' -'in n n periods from the current period -days/weeks/months/quarters/years' -'n n periods from the current period -days/weeks/months/quarters/years -ahead' -'n -n periods from the current period -days/weeks/months/quarters/years -ago' -'20181201' 8 digit YYYYMMDD with valid year month and - day -'201812' 6 digit YYYYMM with valid year and month - - Counterexamples - malformed digit sequences might give surprising -results: - -'201813' 6 digits with an invalid month is parsed as start of - 6-digit year -'20181301' 8 digits with an invalid month is parsed as start of - 8-digit year -'20181232' 8 digits with an invalid day gives an error -'201801012' 9+ digits beginning with a valid YYYYMMDD gives an error - - Note "today's date" can be overridden with the '--today' option, in -case it's needed for testing or for recreating old reports. (Except for -periodic transaction rules; those are not affected by '--today'.) - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Report start & end date, Next: Report intervals, Prev: Smart dates, Up: TIME PERIODS - -5.2 Report start & end date -=========================== - -By default, most hledger reports will show the full span of time -represented by the journal data. The report start date will be the -earliest transaction or posting date, and the report end date will be -the latest transaction, posting, or market price date. - - Often you will want to see a shorter time span, such as the current -month. You can specify a start and/or end date using '-b/--begin', -'-e/--end', '-p/--period' or a 'date:' query (described below). All of -these accept the smart date syntax. - - Some notes: - - * End dates are exclusive, as in Ledger, so you should write the date - _after_ the last day you want to see in the report. - * As noted in reporting options: among start/end dates specified with - _options_, the last (i.e. right-most) option takes precedence. - * The effective report start and end dates are the intersection of - the start/end dates from options and that from 'date:' queries. - That is, 'date:2019-01 date:2019 -p'2000 to 2030'' yields January - 2019, the smallest common time span. - * A report interval (see below) will adjust start/end dates, when - needed, so that they fall on subperiod boundaries. - - Examples: - -'-b begin on St. Patrick's day 2016 -2016/3/17' -'-e 12/1' end at the start of december 1st of the current year - (11/30 will be the last date included) -'-b all transactions on or after the 1st of the current month -thismonth' -'-p all transactions in the current month -thismonth' -'date:2016/3/17..'the above written as queries instead ('..' can also be - replaced with '-') -'date:..12/1' -'date:thismonth..' -'date:thismonth' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Report intervals, Next: Period expressions, Prev: Report start & end date, Up: TIME PERIODS - -5.3 Report intervals -==================== - -A report interval can be specified so that commands like register, -balance and activity become multi-period, showing each subperiod as a -separate row or column. - - The following "standard" report intervals can be enabled by using -their corresponding flag: - - * '-D/--daily' - * '-W/--weekly' - * '-M/--monthly' - * '-Q/--quarterly' - * '-Y/--yearly' - - These standard intervals always start on natural interval boundaries: -eg '--weekly' starts on mondays, '--monthly' starts on the first of the -month, '--yearly' always starts on January 1st, etc. - - Certain more complex intervals, and more flexible boundary dates, can -be specified by '-p/--period'. These are described in period -expressions, below. - - Report intervals can only be specified by the flags above, and not by -query arguments, currently. - - Report intervals have another effect: multi-period reports are always -expanded to fill a whole number of subperiods. So if you use a report -interval (other than '--daily'), and you have specified a start or end -date, you may notice those dates being overridden (ie, the report starts -earlier than your requested start date, or ends later than your -requested end date). This is done to ensure "full" first and last -subperiods, so that all subperiods' numbers are comparable. - - To summarise: - - * In multiperiod reports, all subperiods are forced to be the same - length, to simplify reporting. - * Reports with the standard - '--weekly'/'--monthly'/'--quarterly'/'--yearly' intervals are - required to start on the first day of a week/month/quarter/year. - We'd like more flexibility here but it isn't supported yet. - * '--period' (below) can specify more complex intervals, starting on - any date. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Period expressions, Prev: Report intervals, Up: TIME PERIODS - -5.4 Period expressions -====================== - -The '-p/--period' option accepts period expressions, a shorthand way of -expressing a start date, end date, and/or report interval all at once. - - Here's a basic period expression specifying the first quarter of -2009. Note, hledger always treats start dates as inclusive and end -dates as exclusive: - -'-p "from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"' - - Keywords like "from" and "to" are optional, and so are the spaces, as -long as you don't run two dates together. "to" can also be written as -".." or "-". These are equivalent to the above: - -'-p "2009/1/1 2009/4/1"' -'-p2009/1/1to2009/4/1' -'-p2009/1/1..2009/4/1' - - Dates are smart dates, so if the current year is 2009, the above can -also be written as: - -'-p "1/1 4/1"' -'-p "january-apr"' -'-p "this year to 4/1"' - - If you specify only one date, the missing start or end date will be -the earliest or latest transaction in your journal: - -'-p "from 2009/1/1"' everything after january 1, 2009 -'-p "from 2009/1"' the same -'-p "from 2009"' the same -'-p "to 2009"' everything before january 1, 2009 - - A single date with no "from" or "to" defines both the start and end -date like so: - -'-p "2009"' the year 2009; equivalent to “2009/1/1 to 2010/1/1” -'-p "2009/1"' the month of jan; equivalent to “2009/1/1 to 2009/2/1” -'-p just that day; equivalent to “2009/1/1 to 2009/1/2” -"2009/1/1"' - - Or you can specify a single quarter like so: - -'-p "2009Q1"' first quarter of 2009, equivalent to “2009/1/1 to - 2009/4/1” -'-p "q4"' fourth quarter of the current year - -* Menu: - -* Period expressions with a report interval:: -* More complex report intervals:: -* Intervals with custom start date:: -* Periods or dates ?:: -* Events on multiple weekdays:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Period expressions with a report interval, Next: More complex report intervals, Up: Period expressions - -5.4.1 Period expressions with a report interval ------------------------------------------------ - -'-p/--period''s argument can also begin with, or entirely consist of, a -report interval. This should be separated from the start/end dates (if -any) by a space, or the word 'in'. The basic intervals (which can also -be written as command line flags) are 'daily', 'weekly', 'monthly', -'quarterly', and 'yearly'. Some examples: - -'-p "weekly from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"' -'-p "monthly in 2008"' -'-p "quarterly"' - - As mentioned above, the 'weekly', 'monthly', 'quarterly' and 'yearly' -intervals require a report start date that is the first day of a week, -month, quarter or year. And, report start/end dates will be expanded if -needed to span a whole number of intervals. - - For example: - -'-p "weekly from starts on 2008/12/29, closest preceding -2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"' Monday -'-p "monthly in starts on 2018/11/01 -2008/11/25"' -'-p "quarterly from starts on 2009/04/01, ends on 2009/06/30, -2009-05-05 to which are first and last days of Q2 2009 -2009-06-01"' -'-p "yearly from starts on 2009/01/01, first day of 2009 -2009-12-29"' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: More complex report intervals, Next: Intervals with custom start date, Prev: Period expressions with a report interval, Up: Period expressions - -5.4.2 More complex report intervals ------------------------------------ - -Some more complex kinds of interval are also supported in period -expressions: - - * 'biweekly' - * 'fortnightly' - * 'bimonthly' - * 'every day|week|month|quarter|year' - * 'every N days|weeks|months|quarters|years' - - These too will cause report start/end dates to be expanded, if -needed, to span a whole number of intervals. Examples: - -'-p "bimonthly from periods will have boundaries on 2008/01/01, -2008"' 2008/03/01, ... -'-p "every 2 weeks"' starts on closest preceding Monday -'-p "every 5 months from periods will have boundaries on 2009/03/01, -2009/03"' 2009/08/01, ... - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Intervals with custom start date, Next: Periods or dates ?, Prev: More complex report intervals, Up: Period expressions - -5.4.3 Intervals with custom start date --------------------------------------- - -All intervals mentioned above are required to start on their natural -calendar boundaries, but the following intervals can start on any date: - - Weekly on custom day: - - * 'every Nth day of week' ('th', 'nd', 'rd', or 'st' are all accepted - after the number) - * 'every WEEKDAYNAME' (full or three-letter english weekday name, - case insensitive) - - Monthly on custom day: - - * 'every Nth day [of month]' - * 'every Nth WEEKDAYNAME [of month]' - - Yearly on custom day: - - * 'every MM/DD [of year]' (month number and day of month number) - * 'every MONTHNAME DDth [of year]' (full or three-letter english - month name, case insensitive, and day of month number) - * 'every DDth MONTHNAME [of year]' (equivalent to the above) - - Examples: - -'-p "every 2nd day of periods will go from Tue to Tue -week"' -'-p "every Tue"' same -'-p "every 15th day"' period boundaries will be on 15th of each - month -'-p "every 2nd period boundaries will be on second Monday of -Monday"' each month -'-p "every 11/05"' yearly periods with boundaries on 5th of - November -'-p "every 5th same -November"' -'-p "every Nov 5th"' same - - Show historical balances at end of the 15th day of each month (N is -an end date, exclusive as always): - -$ hledger balance -H -p "every 16th day" - - Group postings from the start of wednesday to end of the following -tuesday (N is both (inclusive) start date and (exclusive) end date): - -$ hledger register checking -p "every 3rd day of week" - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Periods or dates ?, Next: Events on multiple weekdays, Prev: Intervals with custom start date, Up: Period expressions - -5.4.4 Periods or dates ? ------------------------- - -Report intervals like the above are most often used with '-p|--period', -to divide reports into multiple subperiods - each generated date marks a -subperiod boundary. Here, the periods between the dates are what's -important. - - But report intervals can also be used with '--forecast' to generate -future transactions, or with 'balance --budget' to generate budget -goal-setting transactions. For these, the dates themselves are what -matters. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Events on multiple weekdays, Prev: Periods or dates ?, Up: Period expressions - -5.4.5 Events on multiple weekdays ---------------------------------- - -The 'every WEEKDAYNAME' form has a special variant with multiple day -names, comma-separated. Eg: 'every mon,thu,sat'. Also, 'weekday' and -'weekendday' are shorthand for 'mon,tue,wed,thu,fri' and 'sat,sun' -respectively. - - This form is mainly intended for use with '--forecast', to generate -periodic transactions on arbitrary days of the week. It may be less -useful with '-p', since it divides each week into subperiods of unequal -length. (Because gaps between periods are not allowed; if you'd like to -change this, see #1632.) - - Examples: - -'-p "every dates will be Mon, Wed, Fri; periods will be -mon,wed,fri"' Mon-Tue, Wed-Thu, Fri-Sun -'-p "every dates will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri; periods will -weekday"' be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri-Sun -'-p "every dates will be Sat, Sun; periods will be Sat, Sun-Fri -weekendday"' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: DEPTH, Next: QUERIES, Prev: TIME PERIODS, Up: Top - -6 DEPTH -******* - -With the '--depth NUM' option (short form: '-NUM'), commands like -account, balance and register will show only the uppermost accounts in -the account tree, down to level NUM. Use this when you want a summary -with less detail. This flag has the same effect as a 'depth:' query -argument: 'depth:2', '--depth=2' or '-2' are equivalent. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: QUERIES, Next: COST, Prev: DEPTH, Up: Top - -7 QUERIES -********* - -One of hledger's strengths is being able to quickly report on a precise -subset of your data. Most hledger commands accept optional query -arguments to restrict their scope. The syntax is as follows: - - * Zero or more space-separated query terms. These are most often - account name substrings: - - 'utilities food:groceries' - - * Terms with spaces or other special characters should be enclosed in - quotes: - - '"personal care"' - - * Regular expressions are also supported: - - '"^expenses\b" "accounts (payable|receivable)"' - - * Add a query type prefix to match other parts of the data: - - 'date:202012- desc:amazon cur:USD amt:">100" status:' - - * Add a 'not:' prefix to negate a term: - - 'not:cur:USD' - -* Menu: - -* Query types:: -* Combining query terms:: -* Queries and command options:: -* Queries and account aliases:: -* Queries and valuation:: -* Querying with account aliases:: -* Querying with cost or value:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Query types, Next: Combining query terms, Up: QUERIES - -7.1 Query types -=============== - -Here are the types of query term available. Remember these can also be -prefixed with *'not:'* to convert them into a negative match. - - *'acct:REGEX', 'REGEX'* -Match account names containing this (case insensitive) regular -expression. This is the default query type when there is no prefix, and -regular expression syntax is typically not needed, so usually we just -write an account name substring, like 'expenses' or 'food'. - - *'amt:N, amt:N, amt:>=N'* -Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or -greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested -and will always match.) The comparison has two modes: if N is preceded -by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. -Otherwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. - - *'code:REGEX'* -Match by transaction code (eg check number). - - *'cur:REGEX'* -Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose -currency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (For a partial -match, use '.*REGEX.*'). Note, to match special characters which are -regex-significant, you need to escape them with '\'. And for characters -which are significant to your shell you may need one more level of -escaping. So eg to match the dollar sign: -'hledger print cur:\\$'. - - *'desc:REGEX'* -Match transaction descriptions. - - *'date:PERIODEXPR'* -Match dates (or with the '--date2' flag, secondary dates) within the -specified period. PERIODEXPR is a period expression with no report -interval. Examples: -'date:2016', 'date:thismonth', 'date:2/1-2/15', -'date:2021-07-27..nextquarter'. - - *'date2:PERIODEXPR'* -Match secondary dates within the specified period (independent of the -'--date2' flag). - - *'depth:N'* -Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this -depth. - - *'note:REGEX'* -Match transaction notes (the part of the description right of '|', or -the whole description if there's no '|'). - - *'payee:REGEX'* -Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left of -'|', or the whole description if there's no '|'). - - *'real:, real:0'* -Match real or virtual postings respectively. - - *'status:, status:!, status:*'* -Match unmarked, pending, or cleared transactions respectively. - - *'type:TYPECODES'* -Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). -'TYPECODES' is one or more of the single-letter account type codes -'ALERXCV', case insensitive. Note 'type:A' and 'type:E' will also match -their respective subtypes 'C' (Cash) and 'V' (Conversion). Certain -kinds of account alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts -> Aliases and account types. - - *'tag:REGEX[=REGEX]'* -Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. (To match only by -value, use 'tag:.=REGEX'.) - - When querying by tag, note that: - - * Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts - * Postings also inherit the tags of their account and their - transaction - * Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. - - (*'inacct:ACCTNAME'* -A special query term used automatically in hledger-web only: tells -hledger-web to show the transaction register for an account.) - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Combining query terms, Next: Queries and command options, Prev: Query types, Up: QUERIES - -7.2 Combining query terms -========================= - -When given multiple query terms, most commands select things which -match: - - * any of the description terms AND - * any of the account terms AND - * any of the status terms AND - * all the other terms. - - The print command is a little different, showing transactions which: - - * match any of the description terms AND - * have any postings matching any of the positive account terms AND - * have no postings matching any of the negative account terms AND - * match all the other terms. - - Although these fixed rules are enough for many needs, we do not -support full boolean expressions (#203), (and you should not write AND -or OR in your queries). This makes certain queries hard to express, but -here are some tricks that can help: - - 1. Use a doubled 'not:' prefix. Eg, to print only the food expenses - paid with cash: - - $ hledger print food not:not:cash - - 2. Or pre-filter the transactions with 'print', piping the result into - a second hledger command (with balance assertions disabled): - - $ hledger print cash | hledger -f- -I balance food - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Queries and command options, Next: Queries and account aliases, Prev: Combining query terms, Up: QUERIES - -7.3 Queries and command options -=============================== - -Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: 'depth:2' is -equivalent to '--depth 2', 'date:2020' is equivalent to '-p 2020', etc. -When you mix command options and query arguments, generally the -resulting query is their intersection. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Queries and account aliases, Next: Queries and valuation, Prev: Queries and command options, Up: QUERIES - -7.4 Queries and account aliases -=============================== - -When account names are rewritten with '--alias' or 'alias', 'acct:' will -match either the old or the new account name. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Queries and valuation, Next: Querying with account aliases, Prev: Queries and account aliases, Up: QUERIES - -7.5 Queries and valuation -========================= - -When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value -reports, 'cur:' and 'amt:' match the old commodity symbol and the old -amount quantity, not the new ones (except in hledger 1.22.0 where it's -reversed, see #1625). - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Querying with account aliases, Next: Querying with cost or value, Prev: Queries and valuation, Up: QUERIES - -7.6 Querying with account aliases -================================= - -When account names are rewritten with '--alias' or 'alias', note that -'acct:' will match either the old or the new account name. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Querying with cost or value, Prev: Querying with account aliases, Up: QUERIES - -7.7 Querying with cost or value -=============================== - -When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value -reports, note that 'cur:' matches the new commodity symbol, and not the -old one, and 'amt:' matches the new quantity, and not the old one. -Note: this changed in hledger 1.22, previously it was the reverse, see -the discussion at #1625. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: COST, Next: VALUATION, Prev: QUERIES, Up: Top - -8 COST -****** - -This section is about recording the cost of things, in transactions -where one commodity is exchanged for another. Eg an exchange of -currency, or a stock purchase or sale. First, a quick glossary: - - * Conversion - an exchange of one currency or commodity for another. - Eg a foreign currency exchange, or a purchase or sale of stock or - cryptocurrency. - - * Conversion transaction - a transaction involving one or more - conversions. - - * Conversion rate - the cost per unit of one commodity in the other, - ie the exchange rate. - - * Cost - how much of one commodity was paid to acquire the other. - And more generally, in hledger docs: the amount exchanged in the - "secondary" commodity (usually your base currency), whether in a - purchase or a sale, and whether expressed per unit or in total. - Or, the @/@@ notation used to represent this. - - * Transaction price - another name for the cost expressed with - hledger's cost notation. - -* Menu: - -* -B Convert to cost:: -* Equity conversion postings:: -* Inferring equity postings from cost:: -* Inferring cost from equity postings:: -* When to infer cost/equity:: -* How to record conversions:: -* Cost tips:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: -B Convert to cost, Next: Equity conversion postings, Up: COST - -8.1 -B: Convert to cost -======================= - -As discussed a little further on in Transaction prices, when recording a -transaction you can also record the amount's cost in another commodity, -by adding '@ UNITPRICE' or '@@ TOTALPRICE'. - - Then you can see a report with amounts converted to cost, by adding -the '-B/--cost' flag. (Mnemonic: "B" from "cost Basis", as in Ledger). -Eg: - -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 ; 135 dollars is exchanged for.. - assets:euros €100 @ $1.35 ; one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each - -$ hledger bal -N - $-135 assets:dollars - €100 assets:euros -$ hledger bal -N -B - $-135 assets:dollars - $135 assets:euros # <- the euros' cost - - Notes: - - -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price is -inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last -amount. So if example 3's postings are reversed, while the transaction -is equivalent, -B shows something different: - -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 ; 135 dollars sold - assets:euros €100 ; for 100 euros - -$ hledger bal -N -B - €-100 assets:dollars # <- the dollars' selling price - €100 assets:euros - - The @/@@ cost notation is convenient, but has some drawbacks: it does -not truly balance the transaction, so it disrupts the accounting -equation and tends to causes a non-zero total in balance reports. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Equity conversion postings, Next: Inferring equity postings from cost, Prev: -B Convert to cost, Up: COST - -8.2 Equity conversion postings -============================== - -By contrast, conventional double entry bookkeeping (DEB) uses a -different notation: an extra pair of equity postings to balance -conversion transactions. In this style, the above entry might be -written: - -2022-01-01 one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each - assets:dollars $-135 - equity:conversion $135 - equity:conversion €-100 - assets:euros €100 - - This style is more correct, but it's also more verbose and makes cost -reporting more difficult for PTA tools. - - Happily, current hledger can read either notation, or convert one to -the other when needed, so you can use the one you prefer. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Inferring equity postings from cost, Next: Inferring cost from equity postings, Prev: Equity conversion postings, Up: COST - -8.3 Inferring equity postings from cost -======================================= - -With '--infer-equity', hledger detects transactions written with PTA -cost notation and adds equity conversion postings to them (and -temporarily permits the coexistence of equity conversion postings and -cost notation, which normally would cause an unbalanced transaction -error). Eg: - -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars -$135 - assets:euros €100 @ $1.35 - -$ hledger print --infer-equity -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 - assets:euros €100 @ $1.35 - equity:conversion:$-€:€ €-100 ; generated-posting: - equity:conversion:$-€:$ $135.00 ; generated-posting: - - The conversion account names can be changed with the conversion -account type declaration. - - -infer-equity is useful when when transactions have been recorded -using PTA cost notation, to help preserve the accounting equation and -balance reports' zero total, or to produce more conventional journal -entries for sharing with non-PTA-users. - - _Experimental_ - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Inferring cost from equity postings, Next: When to infer cost/equity, Prev: Inferring equity postings from cost, Up: COST - -8.4 Inferring cost from equity postings -======================================= - -The reverse operation is possible using '--infer-costs', which detects -transactions written with equity conversion postings and adds PTA cost -notation to them (and temporarily permits the coexistence of equity -conversion postings and cost notation). Eg: - -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 - equity:conversion $135 - equity:conversion €-100 - assets:euros €100 - -$ hledger print --infer-costs -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 @@ €100 - equity:conversion $135 - equity:conversion €-100 - assets:euros €100 - - -infer-costs is useful when combined with -B/-cost, allowing cost -reporting even when transactions have been recorded using equity -postings: - -$ hledger print --infer-costs -B -2009-01-01 - assets:dollars €-100 - assets:euros €100 - - Notes: - - Postings will be recognised as equity conversion postings if they are -1. to account(s) declared with type 'V' ('Conversion'; or if no such -accounts are declared, accounts named 'equity:conversion', -'equity:trade', 'equity:trading', or subaccounts of these) 2. adjacent -3. and exactly matching the amounts of two non-conversion postings. - - The total cost is appended to the first matching posting in the -transaction. If you need to assign it to a different posting, or if you -have several different sets of conversion postings in one transaction, -you may need to write the costs explicitly yourself. Eg: - -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 - equity:conversion €-100 - equity:conversion $135 - assets:euros €100 @@ $135 - - or: - -2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-235 - assets:euros €100 @ $1.35 ; 100 euros bought for $1.35 each - equity:conversion €-100 - equity:conversion $135 - assets:pounds £80 @@ $100 ; 80 pounds bought for $100 total - equity:conversion £-80 - equity:conversion $100 - - -infer-equity and -infer-costs can be used together, eg if you have a -mixture of both notations. - - _Experimental_ - - -File: hledger.info, Node: When to infer cost/equity, Next: How to record conversions, Prev: Inferring cost from equity postings, Up: COST - -8.5 When to infer cost/equity -============================= - -Inferring equity postings or costs is still fairly new, so not enabled -by default. We're not sure yet if that should change. Here are two -suggestions to try, experience reports welcome: - - 1. When you use -B, always use -infer-costs as well. Eg: 'hledger bal - -B --infer-costs' - - 2. Always run hledger with both flags enabled. Eg: 'alias hl="hledger - --infer-equity --infer-costs"' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: How to record conversions, Next: Cost tips, Prev: When to infer cost/equity, Up: COST - -8.6 How to record conversions -============================= - -Essentially there are four ways to record a conversion transaction in -hledger. Here are all of them, with pros and cons. - -* Menu: - -* Conversion with implicit cost:: -* Conversion with explicit cost:: -* Conversion with equity postings:: -* Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with implicit cost, Next: Conversion with explicit cost, Up: How to record conversions - -8.6.1 Conversion with implicit cost ------------------------------------ - -Let's assume 100 EUR is converted to 120 USD. You can just record the -outflow (100 EUR) and inflow (120 USD) in the appropriate asset account: - -2021-01-01 - assets:cash -100 EUR - assets:cash 120 USD - - hledger will assume this transaction is balanced, inferring that the -conversion rate must be 1 EUR = 1.20 USD. You can see the inferred rate -by using 'hledger print -x'. - - Pro: - - * Concise, easy - - Con: - - * Less error checking - typos in amounts or commodity symbols may not - be detected - * Conversion rate is not clear - * Disturbs the accounting equation, unless you add the -infer-equity - flag - - You can prevent accidental implicit conversions due to a mistyped -commodity symbol, by using 'hledger check commodities'. - - You can prevent implicit conversions entirely, by using 'hledger -check balancednoautoconversion', or '-s/--strict'. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with explicit cost, Next: Conversion with equity postings, Prev: Conversion with implicit cost, Up: How to record conversions - -8.6.2 Conversion with explicit cost ------------------------------------ - -You can add the conversion rate using @ notation: - -2021-01-01 - assets:cash -100 EUR @ 1.20 USD - assets:cash 120 USD - - Now hledger will check that 100 * 1.20 = 120, and would report an -error otherwise. - - Pro: - - * Still concise - * Makes the conversion rate clear - * Provides more error checking - - Con: - - * Disturbs the accounting equation, unless you add the -infer-equity - flag - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with equity postings, Next: Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost, Prev: Conversion with explicit cost, Up: How to record conversions - -8.6.3 Conversion with equity postings -------------------------------------- - -In strict double entry bookkeeping, the above transaction is not -balanced in EUR or in USD, since some EUR disappears, and some USD -appears. This violates the accounting equation (A+L+E=0), and prevents -reports like 'balancesheetequity' from showing a zero total. - - The proper way to make it balance is to add a balancing posting for -each commodity, using an equity account: - -2021-01-01 - assets:cash -100 EUR - equity:conversion 100 EUR - equity:conversion -120 USD - assets:cash 120 USD - - Pro: - - * Preserves the accounting equation - * Keeps track of conversions and related gains/losses in one place - * Standard, works in any double entry accounting system - - Con: - - * More verbose - * Conversion rate is not obvious - * Cost reporting requires adding the -infer-costs flag - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost, Prev: Conversion with equity postings, Up: How to record conversions - -8.6.4 Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost -------------------------------------------------------- - -Here both equity postings and @ notation are used together. hledger -will usually complain about this redundancy, but when using the --infer-costs flag it is accepted. - -2021-01-01 - assets:cash -100 EUR @ 1.20 USD - equity:conversion 100 EUR - equity:conversion -120 USD - assets:cash 120 USD - - Pro: - - * Preserves the accounting equation - * Keeps track of conversions and related gains/losses in one place - * Makes the conversion rate clear - * Provides more error checking - - Con: - - * Most verbose - * Requires the -infer-costs flag - * Not compatible with ledger - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Cost tips, Prev: How to record conversions, Up: COST - -8.7 Cost tips -============= - - * Recording the conversion rate explicitly is good because it makes - that clear and helps detect errors. - * Recording equity postings is good because it is correct bookkeeping - and preserves the accounting equation. - * Combining these is possible by using the -infer-costs flag (which - requires well-ordered postings). - * When you want to see the cost (or sale proceeds) of things, use - '-B' (or '--cost'). If you use equity conversion postings - notation, use '-B --infer-costs'. - * If you use PTA cost notation, and you want to see a balanced - balance sheet or print correct journal entries, use - '--infer-equity'. - * Conversion to cost is performed before valuation (described next). - - -File: hledger.info, Node: VALUATION, Next: PIVOTING, Prev: COST, Up: Top - -9 VALUATION -*********** - -Instead of reporting amounts in their original commodity, hledger can -convert them to cost/sale amount (using the conversion rate recorded in -the transaction), and/or to market value (using some market price on a -certain date). This is controlled by the '--value=TYPE[,COMMODITY]' -option, which will be described below. We also provide the simpler '-V' -and '-X COMMODITY' options, and often one of these is all you need: - -* Menu: - -* -V Value:: -* -X Value in specified commodity:: -* Valuation date:: -* Market prices:: -* --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions:: -* Valuation commodity:: -* Simple valuation examples:: -* --value Flexible valuation:: -* More valuation examples:: -* Interaction of valuation and queries:: -* Effect of valuation on reports:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: -V Value, Next: -X Value in specified commodity, Up: VALUATION - -9.1 -V: Value -============= - -The '-V/--market' flag converts amounts to market value in their default -_valuation commodity_, using the market prices in effect on the -_valuation date(s)_, if any. More on these in a minute. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: -X Value in specified commodity, Next: Valuation date, Prev: -V Value, Up: VALUATION - -9.2 -X: Value in specified commodity -==================================== - -The '-X/--exchange=COMM' option is like '-V', except you tell it which -currency you want to convert to, and it tries to convert everything to -that. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Valuation date, Next: Market prices, Prev: -X Value in specified commodity, Up: VALUATION - -9.3 Valuation date -================== - -Since market prices can change from day to day, market value reports -have a valuation date (or more than one), which determines which market -prices will be used. - - For single period reports, if an explicit report end date is -specified, that will be used as the valuation date; otherwise the -valuation date is the journal's end date. - - For multiperiod reports, each column/period is valued on the last day -of the period, by default. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Market prices, Next: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions, Prev: Valuation date, Up: VALUATION - -9.4 Market prices -================= - -To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, -hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, in -this order of preference : - - 1. A _declared market price_ or _inferred market price_: A's latest - market price in B on or before the valuation date as declared by a - P directive, or (with the '--infer-market-prices' flag) inferred - from transaction prices. - - 2. A _reverse market price_: the inverse of a declared or inferred - market price from B to A. - - 3. A _forward chain of market prices_: a synthetic price formed by - combining the shortest chain of "forward" (only 1 above) market - prices, leading from A to B. - - 4. _Any chain of market prices_: a chain of any market prices, - including both forward and reverse prices (1 and 2 above), leading - from A to B. - - There is a limit to the length of these price chains; if hledger -reaches that length without finding a complete chain or exhausting all -possibilities, it will give up (with a "gave up" message visible in -'--debug=2' output). That limit is currently 1000. - - Amounts for which no suitable market price can be found, are not -converted. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions, Next: Valuation commodity, Prev: Market prices, Up: VALUATION - -9.5 -infer-market-prices: market prices from transactions -========================================================= - -Normally, market value in hledger is fully controlled by, and requires, -P directives in your journal. Since adding and updating those can be a -chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market -value, why not use the recorded transaction prices as additional market -prices (as Ledger does) ? We could produce value reports without -needing P directives at all. - - Adding the '--infer-market-prices' flag to '-V', '-X' or '--value' -enables this. So for example, 'hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices' -will get market prices both from P directives and from transactions. -(And if both occur on the same day, the P directive takes precedence). - - There is a downside: value reports can sometimes be affected in -confusing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to -you, read all of this Valuation section carefully, and try adding -'--debug' or '--debug=2' to troubleshoot. - - '--infer-market-prices' can infer market prices from: - - * multicommodity transactions with explicit prices ('@'/'@@') - - * multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no '@', two - commodities, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings - matters. 'hledger print -x' can be useful for troubleshooting.) - - * but not, currently, from "more correct" multicommodity transactions - (no '@', multiple commodities, balanced). - - There is another limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation -commodity is not specified, prices inferred with '--infer-market-prices' -do not help select a default valuation commodity, as 'P' prices would. -So conversion might not happen because no valuation commodity was -detected ('--debug=2' will show this). To be safe, specify the -valuation commmodity, eg: - - * '-X EUR --infer-market-prices', not '-V --infer-market-prices' - * '--value=then,EUR --infer-market-prices', not '--value=then - --infer-market-prices' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Valuation commodity, Next: Simple valuation examples, Prev: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions, Up: VALUATION - -9.6 Valuation commodity -======================= - -*When you specify a valuation commodity ('-X COMM' or '--value -TYPE,COMM'):* -hledger will convert all amounts to COMM, wherever it can find a -suitable market price (including by reversing or chaining prices). - - *When you leave the valuation commodity unspecified ('-V' or '--value -TYPE'):* -For each commodity A, hledger picks a default valuation commodity as -follows, in this order of preference: - - 1. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A - on or before valuation date. - - 2. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A - on any date. (Allows conversion to proceed when there are inferred - prices before the valuation date.) - - 3. If there are no P directives at all (any commodity or date) and the - '--infer-market-prices' flag is used: the price commodity from the - latest transaction-inferred price for A on or before valuation - date. - - This means: - - * If you have P directives, they determine which commodities '-V' - will convert, and to what. - - * If you have no P directives, and use the '--infer-market-prices' - flag, transaction prices determine it. - - Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not -converted. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Simple valuation examples, Next: --value Flexible valuation, Prev: Valuation commodity, Up: VALUATION - -9.7 Simple valuation examples -============================= - -Here are some quick examples of '-V': - -; one euro is worth this many dollars from nov 1 -P 2016/11/01 € $1.10 - -; purchase some euros on nov 3 -2016/11/3 - assets:euros €100 - assets:checking - -; the euro is worth fewer dollars by dec 21 -P 2016/12/21 € $1.03 - - How many euros do I have ? - -$ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros - €100 assets:euros - - What are they worth at end of nov 3 ? - -$ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V -e 2016/11/4 - $110.00 assets:euros - - What are they worth after 2016/12/21 ? (no report end date -specified, defaults to today) - -$ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V - $103.00 assets:euros - - -File: hledger.info, Node: --value Flexible valuation, Next: More valuation examples, Prev: Simple valuation examples, Up: VALUATION - -9.8 -value: Flexible valuation -============================== - -'-V' and '-X' are special cases of the more general '--value' option: - - --value=TYPE[,COMM] TYPE is then, end, now or YYYY-MM-DD. - COMM is an optional commodity symbol. - Shows amounts converted to: - - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using market prices at posting dates - - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using market prices at period end(s) - - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using current market prices - - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using market prices at some date - - The TYPE part selects cost or value and valuation date: - -'--value=then' - - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity, - using market prices on each posting's date. -'--value=end' - - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity, - using market prices on the last day of the report period (or if - unspecified, the journal's end date); or in multiperiod reports, - market prices on the last day of each subperiod. -'--value=now' - - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity - using current market prices (as of when report is generated). -'--value=YYYY-MM-DD' - - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity - using market prices on this date. - - To select a different valuation commodity, add the optional ',COMM' -part: a comma, then the target commodity's symbol. Eg: -*'--value=now,EUR'*. hledger will do its best to convert amounts to -this commodity, deducing market prices as described above. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: More valuation examples, Next: Interaction of valuation and queries, Prev: --value Flexible valuation, Up: VALUATION - -9.9 More valuation examples -=========================== - -Here are some examples showing the effect of '--value', as seen with -'print': - -P 2000-01-01 A 1 B -P 2000-02-01 A 2 B -P 2000-03-01 A 3 B -P 2000-04-01 A 4 B - -2000-01-01 - (a) 1 A @ 5 B - -2000-02-01 - (a) 1 A @ 6 B - -2000-03-01 - (a) 1 A @ 7 B - - Show the cost of each posting: - -$ hledger -f- print --cost -2000-01-01 - (a) 5 B - -2000-02-01 - (a) 6 B - -2000-03-01 - (a) 7 B - - Show the value as of the last day of the report period (2000-02-29): - -$ hledger -f- print --value=end date:2000/01-2000/03 -2000-01-01 - (a) 2 B - -2000-02-01 - (a) 2 B - - With no report period specified, that shows the value as of the last -day of the journal (2000-03-01): - -$ hledger -f- print --value=end -2000-01-01 - (a) 3 B - -2000-02-01 - (a) 3 B - -2000-03-01 - (a) 3 B - - Show the current value (the 2000-04-01 price is still in effect -today): - -$ hledger -f- print --value=now -2000-01-01 - (a) 4 B - -2000-02-01 - (a) 4 B - -2000-03-01 - (a) 4 B - - Show the value on 2000/01/15: - -$ hledger -f- print --value=2000-01-15 -2000-01-01 - (a) 1 B - -2000-02-01 - (a) 1 B - -2000-03-01 - (a) 1 B - - You may need to explicitly set a commodity's display style, when -reverse prices are used. Eg this output might be surprising: - -P 2000-01-01 A 2B - -2000-01-01 - a 1B - b - -$ hledger print -x -X A -2000-01-01 - a 0 - b 0 - - Explanation: because there's no amount or commodity directive -specifying a display style for A, 0.5A gets the default style, which -shows no decimal digits. Because the displayed amount looks like zero, -the commodity symbol and minus sign are not displayed either. Adding a -commodity directive sets a more useful display style for A: - -P 2000-01-01 A 2B -commodity 0.00A - -2000-01-01 - a 1B - b - -$ hledger print -X A -2000-01-01 - a 0.50A - b -0.50A - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Interaction of valuation and queries, Next: Effect of valuation on reports, Prev: More valuation examples, Up: VALUATION - -9.10 Interaction of valuation and queries -========================================= - -When matching postings based on queries in the presence of valuation, -the following happens. - - 1. The query is separated into two parts: - 1. the currency ('cur:') or amount ('amt:'). - 2. all other parts. - - 2. The postings are matched to the currency and amount queries based - on pre-valued amounts. - 3. Valuation is applied to the postings. - 4. The postings are matched to the other parts of the query based on - post-valued amounts. - - See: 1625 - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Effect of valuation on reports, Prev: Interaction of valuation and queries, Up: VALUATION - -9.11 Effect of valuation on reports -=================================== - -Here is a reference for how valuation is supposed to affect each part of -hledger's reports (and a glossary). (It's wide, you'll have to scroll -sideways.) It may be useful when troubleshooting. If you find -problems, please report them, ideally with a reproducible example. -Related: #329, #1083. - -Report '-B', '-V', '-X' '--value=then' '--value=end''--value=DATE', -type '--cost' '--value=now' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -*print* -posting cost value at value at posting value at value -amounts report end date report or at - or today journal DATE/today - end -balance unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged -assertions/assignments -*register* -starting cost value at valued at day value at value -balance report or each historical report or at -(-H) journal posting was made journal DATE/today - end end -starting cost value at valued at day value at value -balance day before each historical day before at -(-H) report or posting was made report or DATE/today -with journal journal -report start start -interval -posting cost value at value at posting value at value -amounts report or date report or at - journal journal DATE/today - end end -summary summarised value at sum of postings value at value -posting cost period in interval, period at -amounts ends valued at ends DATE/today -with interval start -report -interval -running sum/average sum/average sum/average of sum/average sum/average -total/averageof of displayed values of of - displayed displayed displayed displayed - values values values values -*balance -(bs, -bse, cf, -is)* -balance sums of value at value at posting value at value -changes costs report end date report or at - or today journal DATE/today - of sums of end of of - postings sums of sums - postings of - postings -budget like like like balance like like -amounts balance balance changes balances balance -(-budget) changes changes changes -grand sum of sum of sum of displayed sum of sum of -total displayed displayed valued displayed displayed - values values values values -*balance -(bs, -bse, cf, -is) with -report -interval* -starting sums of value at sums of values value at sums -balances costs of report of postings report of -(-H) postings start of before report start of postings - before sums of start at sums of before - report all respective all report - start postings posting dates postings start - before before - report report - start start -balance sums of same as sums of values balance value -changes costs of -value=end of postings in change in at -(bal, postings period at each DATE/today -is, bs in period respective period, of --change, posting dates valued at sums -cf period of --change) ends postings -end sums of same as sums of values period end value -balances costs of -value=end of postings from balances, at -(bal -H, postings before period valued at DATE/today -is -H, from start to period period of -bs, cf) before end at ends sums - report respective of - start to posting dates postings - period end -budget like like like balance like like -amounts balance balance changes/end balances balance -(-budget) changes/end changes/end balances changes/end - balances balances balances -row sums, sums, sums, averages sums, sums, -totals, averages averages of displayed averages averages -row of of values of of -averages displayed displayed displayed displayed -(-T, -A) values values values values -column sums of sums of sums of sums of sums -totals displayed displayed displayed values displayed of - values values values displayed - values -grand sum, sum, sum, average of sum, sum, -total, average of average of column totals average of average -grand column column column of -average totals totals totals column - totals - - '--cumulative' is omitted to save space, it works like '-H' but with -a zero starting balance. - - *Glossary:* - -_cost_ - - calculated using price(s) recorded in the transaction(s). -_value_ - - market value using available market price declarations, or the - unchanged amount if no conversion rate can be found. -_report start_ - - the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or - date:, otherwise today. -_report or journal start_ - - the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or - date:, otherwise the earliest transaction date in the journal, - otherwise today. -_report end_ - - the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or date:, - otherwise today. -_report or journal end_ - - the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or date:, - otherwise the latest transaction date in the journal, otherwise - today. -_report interval_ - - a flag (-D/-W/-M/-Q/-Y) or period expression that activates the - report's multi-period mode (whether showing one or many - subperiods). - - -File: hledger.info, Node: PIVOTING, Next: COMMANDS, Prev: VALUATION, Up: Top - -10 PIVOTING -*********** - -Normally hledger sums amounts, and organizes them in a hierarchy, based -on account name. The '--pivot FIELD' option causes it to sum and -organize hierarchy based on the value of some other field instead. -FIELD can be: 'status', 'code', 'description', 'payee', 'note', or the -full name (case insensitive) of any tag. As with account names, values -containing 'colon:separated:parts' will be displayed hierarchically in -reports. - - '--pivot' is a general option affecting all reports; you can think of -hledger transforming the journal before any other processing, replacing -every posting's account name with the value of the specified field on -that posting, inheriting it from the transaction or using a blank value -if it's not present. - - An example: - -2016/02/16 Member Fee Payment - assets:bank account 2 EUR - income:member fees -2 EUR ; member: John Doe - - Normal balance report showing account names: - -$ hledger balance - 2 EUR assets:bank account - -2 EUR income:member fees --------------------- - 0 - - Pivoted balance report, using member: tag values instead: - -$ hledger balance --pivot member - 2 EUR - -2 EUR John Doe --------------------- - 0 - - One way to show only amounts with a member: value (using a query, -described below): - -$ hledger balance --pivot member tag:member=. - -2 EUR John Doe --------------------- - -2 EUR - - Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account -name"): - -$ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. - -2 EUR John Doe --------------------- - -2 EUR - - -File: hledger.info, Node: COMMANDS, Next: JOURNAL FORMAT, Prev: PIVOTING, Up: Top - -11 COMMANDS -*********** - -hledger provides a number of commands for producing reports and managing -your data. Run 'hledger' with no arguments to list the commands -available, and 'hledger CMD' to run a command. CMD can be the full -command name, or its standard abbreviation shown in the commands list, -or any unambiguous prefix of the name. Eg: 'hledger bal'. - - Here are the built-in commands, with the most often-used in bold: - - *Data entry:* - - These data entry commands are the only ones which can modify your -journal file. - - * *add* - add transactions using guided prompts - * *import* - add any new transactions from other files (eg csv) - - *Data management:* - - * check - check for various kinds of issue in the data - * close (equity) - generate balance-resetting transactions - * diff - compare account transactions in two journal files - * rewrite - generate extra postings, similar to print -auto - - *Financial statements:* - - * *aregister (areg)* - show transactions in a particular account - * *balancesheet (bs)* - show assets, liabilities and net worth - * balancesheetequity (bse) - show assets, liabilities and equity - * cashflow (cf) - show changes in liquid assets - * *incomestatement (is)* - show revenues and expenses - * roi - show return on investments - - *Miscellaneous reports:* - - * accounts - show account names - * activity - show postings-per-interval bar charts - * *balance (bal)* - show balance changes/end balances/budgets in any - accounts - * codes - show transaction codes - * commodities - show commodity/currency symbols - * descriptions - show unique transaction descriptions - * files - show input file paths - * help - show hledger user manuals in several formats - * notes - show unique note segments of transaction descriptions - * payees - show unique payee segments of transaction descriptions - * prices - show market price records - * *print* - show transactions (journal entries) - * print-unique - show only transactions with unique descriptions - * *register (reg)* - show postings in one or more accounts & running - total - * register-match - show a recent posting that best matches a - description - * stats - show journal statistics - * tags - show tag names - * test - run self tests - - *Add-on commands:* - - Programs or scripts named 'hledger-SOMETHING' in your PATH are add-on -commands; these appear in the commands list with a '+' mark. The -following add-on commands can be installed, eg by the hledger-install -script: - - * *ui* - hledger's official curses-style TUI - * *web* - hledger's official web UI - * iadd - a popular alternative to hledger's 'add' command. - * interest - generates interest transactions - * stockquotes - downloads market prices. _(Alpha quality, needs your - help.)_ - - Next, the detailed command docs, in alphabetical order. - -* Menu: - -* accounts:: -* activity:: -* add:: -* aregister:: -* balance:: -* balancesheet:: -* balancesheetequity:: -* cashflow:: -* check:: -* close:: -* codes:: -* commodities:: -* descriptions:: -* diff:: -* files:: -* help:: -* import:: -* incomestatement:: -* notes:: -* payees:: -* prices:: -* print:: -* print-unique:: -* register:: -* register-match:: -* rewrite:: -* roi:: -* stats:: -* tags:: -* test:: -* Add-on commands:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: accounts, Next: activity, Up: COMMANDS - -11.1 accounts -============= - -accounts -Show account names. - - This command lists account names. By default it shows all known -accounts, either used in transactions or declared with account -directives. - - With query arguments, only matched account names and account names -referenced by matched postings are shown. - - Or it can show just the used accounts ('--used'/'-u'), the declared -accounts ('--declared'/'-d'), the accounts declared but not used -('--unused'), the accounts used but not declared ('--undeclared'), or -the first account matched by an account name pattern, if any ('--find'). - - It shows a flat list by default. With '--tree', it uses indentation -to show the account hierarchy. In flat mode you can add '--drop N' to -omit the first few account name components. Account names can be -depth-clipped with 'depth:N' or '--depth N' or '-N'. - - With '--types', it also shows each account's type, if it's known. -(See Declaring accounts > Account types.) - - With '--positions', it also shows the file and line number of each -account's declaration, if any, and the account's overall declaration -order; these may be useful when troubleshooting account display order. - - With '--directives', it adds the 'account' keyword, showing valid -account directives which can be pasted into a journal file. This is -useful together with '--undeclared' when updating your account -declarations to satisfy 'hledger check accounts'. - - The '--find' flag can be used to look up a single account name, in -the same way that the 'aregister' command does. It returns the -alphanumerically-first matched account name, or if none can be found, it -fails with a non-zero exit code. - - Examples: - -$ hledger accounts -assets:bank:checking -assets:bank:saving -assets:cash -expenses:food -expenses:supplies -income:gifts -income:salary -liabilities:debts - -$ hledger accounts --undeclared --directives >> $LEDGER_FILE -$ hledger check accounts - - -File: hledger.info, Node: activity, Next: add, Prev: accounts, Up: COMMANDS - -11.2 activity -============= - -activity -Show an ascii barchart of posting counts per interval. - - The activity command displays an ascii histogram showing transaction -counts by day, week, month or other reporting interval (by day is the -default). With query arguments, it counts only matched transactions. - - Examples: - -$ hledger activity --quarterly -2008-01-01 ** -2008-04-01 ******* -2008-07-01 -2008-10-01 ** - - -File: hledger.info, Node: add, Next: aregister, Prev: activity, Up: COMMANDS - -11.3 add -======== - -add -Prompt for transactions and add them to the journal. Any arguments will -be used as default inputs for the first N prompts. - - Many hledger users edit their journals directly with a text editor, -or generate them from CSV. For more interactive data entry, there is the -'add' command, which prompts interactively on the console for new -transactions, and appends them to the main journal file (which should be -in journal format). Existing transactions are not changed. This is one -of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file (see also -'import'). - - To use it, just run 'hledger add' and follow the prompts. You can -add as many transactions as you like; when you are finished, enter '.' -or press control-d or control-c to exit. - - Features: - - * add tries to provide useful defaults, using the most similar (by - description) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as - a template. - * You can also set the initial defaults with command line arguments. - * Readline-style edit keys can be used during data entry. - * The tab key will auto-complete whenever possible - accounts, - descriptions, dates ('yesterday', 'today', 'tomorrow'). If the - input area is empty, it will insert the default value. - * If the journal defines a default commodity, it will be added to any - bare numbers entered. - * A parenthesised transaction code may be entered following a date. - * Comments and tags may be entered following a description or amount. - * If you make a mistake, enter '<' at any prompt to go one step - backward. - * Input prompts are displayed in a different colour when the terminal - supports it. - - Example (see https://hledger.org/add.html for a detailed tutorial): - -$ hledger add -Adding transactions to journal file /src/hledger/examples/sample.journal -Any command line arguments will be used as defaults. -Use tab key to complete, readline keys to edit, enter to accept defaults. -An optional (CODE) may follow transaction dates. -An optional ; COMMENT may follow descriptions or amounts. -If you make a mistake, enter < at any prompt to go one step backward. -To end a transaction, enter . when prompted. -To quit, enter . at a date prompt or press control-d or control-c. -Date [2015/05/22]: -Description: supermarket -Account 1: expenses:food -Amount 1: $10 -Account 2: assets:checking -Amount 2 [$-10.0]: -Account 3 (or . or enter to finish this transaction): . -2015/05/22 supermarket - expenses:food $10 - assets:checking $-10.0 - -Save this transaction to the journal ? [y]: -Saved. -Starting the next transaction (. or ctrl-D/ctrl-C to quit) -Date [2015/05/22]: $ - - On Microsoft Windows, the add command makes sure that no part of the -file path ends with a period, as that would cause problems (#1056). - - -File: hledger.info, Node: aregister, Next: balance, Prev: add, Up: COMMANDS - -11.4 aregister -============== - -aregister, areg - - Show the transactions and running historical balance of a single -account, with each transaction displayed as one line. - - 'aregister' shows the overall transactions affecting a particular -account (and any subaccounts). Each report line represents one -transaction in this account. Transactions before the report start date -are always included in the running balance ('--historical' mode is -always on). - - This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the 'register' -command (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple -accounts, not necessarily in historical mode). As a quick rule of -thumb: - use 'aregister' for reviewing and reconciling real-world -asset/liability accounts - use 'register' for reviewing detailed -revenues/expenses. - - 'aregister' requires one argument: the account to report on. You can -write either the full account name, or a case-insensitive regular -expression which will select the alphabetically first matched account. -(Eg if you have 'assets:aaa:checking' and 'assets:bbb:checking' -accounts, 'hledger areg checking' would select 'assets:aaa:checking'.) - - Transactions involving subaccounts of this account will also be -shown. 'aregister' ignores depth limits, so its final total will always -match a balance report with similar arguments. - - Any additional arguments form a query which will filter the -transactions shown. Note some queries will disturb the running balance, -causing it to be different from the account's real-world running -balance. - - An example: this shows the transactions and historical running -balance during july, in the first account whose name contains -"checking": - -$ hledger areg checking date:jul - - Each 'aregister' line item shows: - - * the transaction's date (or the relevant posting's date if - different, see below) - * the names of all the other account(s) involved in this transaction - (probably abbreviated) - * the total change to this account's balance from this transaction - * the account's historical running balance after this transaction. - - Transactions making a net change of zero are not shown by default; -add the '-E/--empty' flag to show them. - - For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first -1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause -visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to -ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the -'--align-all' flag. - - This command also supports the output destination and output format -options. The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', and 'json'. - -* Menu: - -* aregister and custom posting dates:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: aregister and custom posting dates, Up: aregister - -11.4.1 aregister and custom posting dates ------------------------------------------ - -Transactions whose date is outside the report period can still be shown, -if they have a posting to this account dated inside the report period. -(And in this case it's the posting date that is shown.) This ensures -that 'aregister' can show an accurate historical running balance, -matching the one shown by 'register -H' with the same arguments. - - To filter strictly by transaction date instead, add the '--txn-dates' -flag. If you use this flag and some of your postings have custom dates, -it's probably best to assume the running balance is wrong. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: balance, Next: balancesheet, Prev: aregister, Up: COMMANDS - -11.5 balance -============ - -balance, bal -Show accounts and their balances. - - 'balance' is one of hledger's oldest and most versatile commands, for -listing account balances, balance changes, values, value changes and -more, during one time period or many. Generally it shows a table, with -rows representing accounts, and columns representing periods. - - Note there are some higher-level variants of the 'balance' command -with convenient defaults, which can be simpler to use: 'balancesheet', -'balancesheetequity', 'cashflow' and 'incomestatement'. When you need -more control, then use 'balance'. - -* Menu: - -* balance features:: -* Simple balance report:: -* Filtered balance report:: -* List or tree mode:: -* Depth limiting:: -* Dropping top-level accounts:: -* Multi-period balance report:: -* Showing declared accounts:: -* Data layout:: -* Sorting by amount:: -* Percentages:: -* Balance change end balance:: -* Balance report types:: -* Useful balance reports:: -* Budget report:: -* Customising single-period balance reports:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: balance features, Next: Simple balance report, Up: balance - -11.5.1 balance features ------------------------ - -Here's a quick overview of the 'balance' command's features, followed by -more detailed descriptions and examples. Many of these work with the -higher-level commands as well. - - 'balance' can show.. - - * accounts as a list ('-l') or a tree ('-t') - * optionally depth-limited ('-[1-9]') - * sorted by declaration order and name, or by amount - - ..and their.. - - * balance changes (the default) - * or actual and planned balance changes ('--budget') - * or value of balance changes ('-V') - * or change of balance values ('--valuechange') - * or unrealised capital gain/loss ('--gain') - - ..in.. - - * one time period (the whole journal period by default) - * or multiple periods ('-D', '-W', '-M', '-Q', '-Y', '-p INTERVAL') - - ..either.. - - * per period (the default) - * or accumulated since report start date ('--cumulative') - * or accumulated since account creation ('--historical/-H') - - ..possibly converted to.. - - * cost ('--value=cost[,COMM]'/'--cost'/'-B') - * or market value, as of transaction dates ('--value=then[,COMM]') - * or at period ends ('--value=end[,COMM]') - * or now ('--value=now') - * or at some other date ('--value=YYYY-MM-DD') - - ..with.. - - * totals ('-T'), averages ('-A'), percentages ('-%'), inverted sign - ('--invert') - * rows and columns swapped ('--transpose') - * another field used as account name ('--pivot') - * custom-formatted line items (single-period reports only) - ('--format') - * commodities displayed on the same line or multiple lines - ('--layout') - - This command supports the output destination and output format -options, with output formats 'txt', 'csv', 'json', and (multi-period -reports only:) 'html'. In 'txt' output in a colour-supporting terminal, -negative amounts are shown in red. - - The '--related'/'-r' flag shows the balance of the _other_ postings -in the transactions of the postings which would normally be shown. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Simple balance report, Next: Filtered balance report, Prev: balance features, Up: balance - -11.5.2 Simple balance report ----------------------------- - -With no arguments, 'balance' shows a list of all accounts and their -change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and -outflows - during the entire period of the journal. For real-world -accounts, this should also match their end balance at the end of the -journal period (more on this below). - - Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then -alphabetically by account name. For instance (using -examples/sample.journal): - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal - $1 assets:bank:saving - $-2 assets:cash - $1 expenses:food - $1 expenses:supplies - $-1 income:gifts - $-1 income:salary - $1 liabilities:debts --------------------- - 0 - - Accounts with a zero balance (and no non-zero subaccounts, in tree -mode - see below) are hidden by default. Use '-E/--empty' to show them -(revealing 'assets:bank:checking' here): - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal -E - 0 assets:bank:checking - $1 assets:bank:saving - $-2 assets:cash - $1 expenses:food - $1 expenses:supplies - $-1 income:gifts - $-1 income:salary - $1 liabilities:debts --------------------- - 0 - - The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless -'-N'/'--no-total' is used. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Filtered balance report, Next: List or tree mode, Prev: Simple balance report, Up: balance - -11.5.3 Filtered balance report ------------------------------- - -You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from -cleared transactions only, etc. by using query arguments or options to -limit the postings being matched. Eg: - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal --cleared assets date:200806 - $-2 assets:cash --------------------- - $-2 - - -File: hledger.info, Node: List or tree mode, Next: Depth limiting, Prev: Filtered balance report, Up: balance - -11.5.4 List or tree mode ------------------------- - -By default, or with '-l/--flat', accounts are shown as a flat list with -their full names visible, as in the examples above. - - With '-t/--tree', the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' -"leaf" names indented below their parent: - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance - $-1 assets - $1 bank:saving - $-2 cash - $2 expenses - $1 food - $1 supplies - $-2 income - $-1 gifts - $-1 salary - $1 liabilities:debts --------------------- - 0 - - Notes: - - * "Boring" accounts are combined with their subaccount for more - compact output, unless '--no-elide' is used. Boring accounts have - no balance of their own and just one subaccount (eg 'assets:bank' - and 'liabilities' above). - - * All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from - all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, - which requires explanation when sharing reports with - non-plaintextaccounting-users. A tree mode report's final total is - the sum of the top-level balances shown, not of all the balances - shown. - - * Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is - sorted separately. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Depth limiting, Next: Dropping top-level accounts, Prev: List or tree mode, Up: balance - -11.5.5 Depth limiting ---------------------- - -With a 'depth:NUM' query, or '--depth NUM' option, or just '-NUM' (eg: -'-3') balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, -hiding the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an -overview without too much detail. - - Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from -any deeper subaccounts (even in list mode). Eg, limiting to depth 1: - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance -1 - $-1 assets - $2 expenses - $-2 income - $1 liabilities --------------------- - 0 - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Dropping top-level accounts, Next: Multi-period balance report, Prev: Depth limiting, Up: balance - -11.5.6 Dropping top-level accounts ----------------------------------- - -You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using -'--drop NUM'. This can be useful for hiding repetitive top-level -account names: - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal expenses --drop 1 - $1 food - $1 supplies --------------------- - $2 - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Multi-period balance report, Next: Showing declared accounts, Prev: Dropping top-level accounts, Up: balance - -11.5.7 Multi-period balance report ----------------------------------- - -With a report interval (set by the '-D/--daily', '-W/--weekly', -'-M/--monthly', '-Q/--quarterly', '-Y/--yearly', or '-p/--period' flag), -'balance' shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive -time periods (and a title): - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal --quarterly income expenses -E -Balance changes in 2008: - - || 2008q1 2008q2 2008q3 2008q4 -===================++================================= - expenses:food || 0 $1 0 0 - expenses:supplies || 0 $1 0 0 - income:gifts || 0 $-1 0 0 - income:salary || $-1 0 0 0 --------------------++--------------------------------- - || $-1 $1 0 0 - - Notes: - - * The report's start/end dates will be expanded, if necessary, to - fully encompass the displayed subperiods (so that the first and - last subperiods have the same duration as the others). - * Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are - not shown, unless '-E/--empty' is used. - * Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless - '-E/--empty' is used. - * Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless - '--no-elide' is used. _(experimental)_ - * Average and/or total columns can be added with the '-A/--average' - and '-T/--row-total' flags. - * The '--transpose' flag can be used to exchange rows and columns. - * The '--pivot FIELD' option causes a different transaction field to - be used as "account name". See PIVOTING. - - Multi-period reports with many periods can be too wide for easy -viewing in the terminal. Here are some ways to handle that: - - * Hide the totals row with '-N/--no-total' - * Convert to a single currency with '-V' - * Maximize the terminal window - * Reduce the terminal's font size - * View with a pager like less, eg: 'hledger bal -D --color=yes | less - -RS' - * Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata ('hledger bal -D - -O csv | vd -f csv'), Emacs' csv-mode ('M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a'), or - a spreadsheet ('hledger bal -D -o a.csv && open a.csv') - * Output as HTML and view with a browser: 'hledger bal -D -o a.html - && open a.html' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Showing declared accounts, Next: Data layout, Prev: Multi-period balance report, Up: balance - -11.5.8 Showing declared accounts --------------------------------- - -With '--declared', accounts which have been declared with an account -directive will be included in the balance report, even if they have no -transactions. (Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need -'-E/--empty' to see them.) - - More precisely, _leaf_ declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will -be included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. - - The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance -report, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared -accounts yet. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Data layout, Next: Sorting by amount, Prev: Showing declared accounts, Up: balance - -11.5.9 Data layout ------------------- - -The '--layout' option affects how multi-commodity amounts are displayed, -and some other things, influencing the overall layout of the report -data: - - * '--layout=wide[,WIDTH]': commodities are shown on a single line, - possibly elided to the specified width - * '--layout=tall': each commodity is shown on a separate line - * '--layout=bare': amounts are shown as bare numbers, with commodity - symbols in a separate column - * '--layout=tidy': data is normalised to tidy form, with one row per - data value. We currently support this with CSV output only. In - tidy mode, totals and row averages are disabled ('-N/--no-total' is - implied and '-T/--row-total' and '-A/--average' will be ignored). - - These '--layout' modes are supported with some but not all of the -output formats: - -- txt csv html json sql ---------------------------------------- -wide Y Y Y -tall Y Y Y -bare Y Y Y -tidy Y - - Examples: - - * Wide layout. With many commodities, reports can be very wide: - - $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide - Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || 2012 2013 2014 Total - ==================++==================================================================================================================================================================================================================== - Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT - ------------------++-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT - - * Limited wide layout. A width limit reduces the width, but some - commodities will be hidden: - - $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide,32 - Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || 2012 2013 2014 Total - ==================++=========================================================================================================================== - Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. - ------------------++--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. - - * Tall layout. Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in - each column), and account names are repeated: - - $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=tall - Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || 2012 2013 2014 Total - ==================++================================================== - Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD - Assets:US:ETrade || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT - Assets:US:ETrade || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD - Assets:US:ETrade || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA - Assets:US:ETrade || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT - ------------------++-------------------------------------------------- - || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD - || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT - || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD - || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA - || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT - - * Bare layout. Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each - commodity gets its own report row, account names are repeated: - - $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=bare - Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: - - || Commodity 2012 2013 2014 Total - ==================++============================================= - Assets:US:ETrade || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 - Assets:US:ETrade || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 - Assets:US:ETrade || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 - Assets:US:ETrade || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 - Assets:US:ETrade || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 - ------------------++--------------------------------------------- - || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 - || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 - || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 - || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 - || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 - - * Bare layout also affects CSV output, which is useful for producing - data that is easier to consume, eg when making charts: - - $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -O csv --layout=bare - "account","commodity","balance" - "Assets:US:ETrade","GLD","70.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","ITOT","17.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","USD","5120.50" - "Assets:US:ETrade","VEA","36.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","VHT","294.00" - "total","GLD","70.00" - "total","ITOT","17.00" - "total","USD","5120.50" - "total","VEA","36.00" - "total","VHT","294.00" - - * Tidy layout produces normalised "tidy data", where every variable - is a column and each row represents a single data point (see - https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy-data.html). - This kind of data is the easiest to process with other software: - - $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -Y -O csv --layout=tidy - "account","period","start_date","end_date","commodity","value" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","GLD","0" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","ITOT","10.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","USD","337.18" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","VEA","12.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","VHT","106.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","GLD","70.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","ITOT","18.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","USD","-98.12" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","VEA","10.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","VHT","18.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","GLD","0" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","ITOT","-11.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","USD","4881.44" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VEA","14.00" - "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VHT","170.00" - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Sorting by amount, Next: Percentages, Prev: Data layout, Up: balance - -11.5.10 Sorting by amount -------------------------- - -With '-S/--sort-amount', accounts with the largest (most positive) -balances are shown first. Eg: 'hledger bal expenses -MAS' shows your -biggest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity -is present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commodity -first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing a -commodity, it is treated as 0). - - Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -'-S' shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add -'--invert' to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, -which flip the sign automatically. Eg: 'hledger incomestatement -MAS'). - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Percentages, Next: Balance change end balance, Prev: Sorting by amount, Up: balance - -11.5.11 Percentages -------------------- - -With '-%/--percent', balance reports show each account's value expressed -as a percentage of the (column) total: - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal expenses -Q -% -Balance changes in 2008: - - || 2008Q1 2008Q2 2008Q3 2008Q4 -===================++================================= - expenses:food || 0 50.0 % 0 0 - expenses:supplies || 0 50.0 % 0 0 --------------------++--------------------------------- - || 0 100.0 % 0 0 - - Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a -column have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each -sign, eg: - -$ hledger bal -% amt:`>0` -$ hledger bal -% amt:`<0` - - Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert -them to one commodity with '-B', '-V', '-X' or '--value', or make a -separate report for each commodity: - -$ hledger bal -% cur:\\$ -$ hledger bal -% cur:€ - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Balance change end balance, Next: Balance report types, Prev: Percentages, Up: balance - -11.5.12 Balance change, end balance ------------------------------------ - -It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in -balance reports. Here is some terminology we use: - - A *_balance change_* is the net amount added to, or removed from, an -account during some period. - - An *_end balance_* is the amount accumulated in an account as of some -date (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day -in your timezone). It is the sum of previous balance changes. - - We call it a *_historical end balance_* if it includes all balance -changes since the account was created. For a real world account, this -means it will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in -your bank statements or bank web UI. (If they are correct!) - - In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing -revenues and expenses, and historical end balances are what you want to -see when reviewing or reconciling asset, liability and equity accounts. - - 'balance' shows balance changes by default. To see accurate -historical end balances: - - 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" - transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the - journal covers the account's full lifetime. - - 2. Include all of of the account's prior postings in the report, by - not specifying a report start date, or by using the - '-H/--historical' flag. ('-H' causes report start date to be - ignored when summing postings.) - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Balance report types, Next: Useful balance reports, Prev: Balance change end balance, Up: balance - -11.5.13 Balance report types ----------------------------- - -For more flexible reporting, there are three important option groups: - - 'hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] -...' - - The first two are the most important: calculation type selects the -basic calculation to perform for each table cell, while accumulation -type says which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. -Typically one or both of these are selected by default, so you don't -need to write them explicitly. A valuation type can be added if you -want to convert the basic report to value or cost. - - *Calculation type:* -The basic calculation to perform for each table cell. It is one of: - - * '--sum' : sum the posting amounts (*default*) - * '--budget' : like -sum but also show a goal amount - * '--valuechange' : show the change in period-end historical balance - values (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price - fluctuations) - * '--gain' : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current - valued balance minus each amount's original cost) - - *Accumulation type:* -Which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. It is one -of: - - * '--change' : postings from column start to column end, ie within - the cell's period. Typically used to see revenues/expenses. - (*default for balance, incomestatement*) - - * '--cumulative' : postings from report start to column end, eg to - show changes accumulated since the report's start date. Rarely - used. - - * '--historical/-H' : postings from journal start to column end, ie - all postings from account creation to the end of the cell's period. - Typically used to see historical end balances of - assets/liabilities/equity. (*default for balancesheet, - balancesheetequity, cashflow*) - - *Valuation type:* -Which kind of valuation, valuation date(s) and optionally a target -valuation commodity to use. It is one of: - - * no valuation, show amounts in their original commodities - (*default*) - * '--value=cost[,COMM]' : no valuation, show amounts converted to - cost - * '--value=then[,COMM]' : show value at transaction dates - * '--value=end[,COMM]' : show value at period end date(s) (*default - with '--valuechange', '--gain'*) - * '--value=now[,COMM]' : show value at today's date - * '--value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM]' : show value at another date - - or one of their aliases: '--cost/-B', '--market/-V' or -'--exchange/-X'. - - Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, -but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The -following restrictions are applied: - - * '--valuechange' implies '--value=end' - * '--valuechange' makes '--change' the default when used with the - 'balancesheet'/'balancesheetequity' commands - * '--cumulative' or '--historical' disables '--row-total/-T' - - For reference, here is what the combinations of accumulation and -valuation show: - -Valuation:no valuation '--value= then' '--value= end' '--value= ->Accumulation: YYYY-MM-DD -v /now' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -'--change'change in sum of period-end DATE-value - period posting-date value of of change in - market values change in period - in period period -'--cumulative'change from sum of period-end DATE-value - report start to posting-date value of of change - period end market values change from from report - from report report start start to - start to period to period end period end - end -'--historicalchange from sum of period-end DATE-value -/-H' journal start posting-date value of of change - to period end market values change from from journal - (historical end from journal journal start start to - balance) start to period to period end period end - end - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Useful balance reports, Next: Budget report, Prev: Balance report types, Up: balance - -11.5.14 Useful balance reports ------------------------------- - -Some frequently used 'balance' options/reports are: - - * 'bal -M revenues expenses' - Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the - 'incomestatement' command. - - * 'bal -M -H assets liabilities' - Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also - available as the 'balancesheet' command. - - * 'bal -M -H assets liabilities equity' - Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. - Also available as the 'balancesheetequity' command. - - * 'bal -M assets not:receivable' - Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the - 'cashflow' command. - - Also: - - * 'bal -M expenses -2 -SA' - Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average - amount. - - * 'bal -M --budget expenses' - Show monthly expenses and budget goals. - - * 'bal -M --valuechange investments' - Show monthly change in market value of investment assets. - - * 'bal investments --valuechange -D date:lastweek amt:'>1000' -STA - [--invert]' - Show top gainers [or losers] last week - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Budget report, Next: Customising single-period balance reports, Prev: Useful balance reports, Up: balance - -11.5.15 Budget report ---------------------- - -The '--budget' report type activates extra columns showing any budget -goals for each account and period. The budget goals are defined by -periodic transactions. This is very useful for comparing planned and -actual income, expenses, time usage, etc. - - For example, you can take average monthly expenses in the common -expense categories to construct a minimal monthly budget: - -;; Budget -~ monthly - income $2000 - expenses:food $400 - expenses:bus $50 - expenses:movies $30 - assets:bank:checking - -;; Two months worth of expenses -2017-11-01 - income $1950 - expenses:food $396 - expenses:bus $49 - expenses:movies $30 - expenses:supplies $20 - assets:bank:checking - -2017-12-01 - income $2100 - expenses:food $412 - expenses:bus $53 - expenses:gifts $100 - assets:bank:checking - - You can now see a monthly budget report: - -$ hledger balance -M --budget -Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: - - || Nov Dec -======================++==================================================== - assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] - expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] - expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] - expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] - income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] -----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] - - This is different from a normal balance report in several ways: - - * Only accounts with budget goals during the report period are shown, - by default. - - * In each column, in square brackets after the actual amount, budget - goal amounts are shown, and the actual/goal percentage. (Note: - budget goals should be in the same commodity as the actual amount.) - - * All parent accounts are always shown, even in list mode. Eg - assets, assets:bank, and expenses above. - - * Amounts always include all subaccounts, budgeted or unbudgeted, - even in list mode. - - This means that the numbers displayed will not always add up! Eg -above, the 'expenses' actual amount includes the gifts and supplies -transactions, but the 'expenses:gifts' and 'expenses:supplies' accounts -are not shown, as they have no budget amounts declared. - - This can be confusing. When you need to make things clearer, use the -'-E/--empty' flag, which will reveal all accounts including unbudgeted -ones, giving the full picture. Eg: - -$ hledger balance -M --budget --empty -Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: - - || Nov Dec -======================++==================================================== - assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] - expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] - expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] - expenses:gifts || 0 $100 - expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] - expenses:supplies || $20 0 - income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] -----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] - - You can roll over unspent budgets to next period with '--cumulative': - -$ hledger balance -M --budget --cumulative -Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: - - || Nov Dec -======================++==================================================== - assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] - assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] - assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] - expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $1060 [ 110% of $960] - expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $102 [ 102% of $100] - expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $808 [ 101% of $800] - expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] $30 [ 50% of $60] - income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $4050 [ 101% of $4000] -----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] - - For more examples and notes, see Budgeting. - -* Menu: - -* Budget report start date:: -* Budgets and subaccounts:: -* Selecting budget goals:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Budget report start date, Next: Budgets and subaccounts, Up: Budget report - -11.5.15.1 Budget report start date -.................................. - -This might be a bug, but for now: when making budget reports, it's a -good idea to explicitly set the report's start date to the first day of -a reporting period, because a periodic rule like '~ monthly' generates -its transactions on the 1st of each month, and if your journal has no -regular transactions on the 1st, the default report start date could -exclude that budget goal, which can be a little surprising. Eg here the -default report period is just the day of 2020-01-15: - -~ monthly in 2020 - (expenses:food) $500 - -2020-01-15 - expenses:food $400 - assets:checking - -$ hledger bal expenses --budget -Budget performance in 2020-01-15: - - || 2020-01-15 -==============++============ - || $400 ---------------++------------ - || $400 - - To avoid this, specify the budget report's period, or at least the -start date, with '-b'/'-e'/'-p'/'date:', to ensure it includes the -budget goal transactions (periodic transactions) that you want. Eg, -adding '-b 2020/1/1' to the above: - -$ hledger bal expenses --budget -b 2020/1/1 -Budget performance in 2020-01-01..2020-01-15: - - || 2020-01-01..2020-01-15 -===============++======================== - expenses:food || $400 [80% of $500] ----------------++------------------------ - || $400 [80% of $500] - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Budgets and subaccounts, Next: Selecting budget goals, Prev: Budget report start date, Up: Budget report - -11.5.15.2 Budgets and subaccounts -................................. - -You can add budgets to any account in your account hierarchy. If you -have budgets on both parent account and some of its children, then -budget(s) of the child account(s) would be added to the budget of their -parent, much like account balances behave. - - In the most simple case this means that once you add a budget to any -account, all its parents would have budget as well. - - To illustrate this, consider the following budget: - -~ monthly from 2019/01 - expenses:personal $1,000.00 - expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 - liabilities - - With this, monthly budget for electronics is defined to be $100 and -budget for personal expenses is an additional $1000, which implicitly -means that budget for both 'expenses:personal' and 'expenses' is $1100. - - Transactions in 'expenses:personal:electronics' will be counted both -towards its $100 budget and $1100 of 'expenses:personal' , and -transactions in any other subaccount of 'expenses:personal' would be -counted towards only towards the budget of 'expenses:personal'. - - For example, let's consider these transactions: - -~ monthly from 2019/01 - expenses:personal $1,000.00 - expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 - liabilities - -2019/01/01 Google home hub - expenses:personal:electronics $90.00 - liabilities $-90.00 - -2019/01/02 Phone screen protector - expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades $10.00 - liabilities - -2019/01/02 Weekly train ticket - expenses:personal:train tickets $153.00 - liabilities - -2019/01/03 Flowers - expenses:personal $30.00 - liabilities - - As you can see, we have transactions in -'expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades' and 'expenses:personal:train -tickets', and since both of these accounts are without explicitly -defined budget, these transactions would be counted towards budgets of -'expenses:personal:electronics' and 'expenses:personal' accordingly: - -$ hledger balance --budget -M -Budget performance in 2019/01: - - || Jan -===============================++=============================== - expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] - liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] --------------------------------++------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] - - And with '--empty', we can get a better picture of budget allocation -and consumption: - -$ hledger balance --budget -M --empty -Budget performance in 2019/01: - - || Jan -========================================++=============================== - expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] - expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades || $10.00 - expenses:personal:train tickets || $153.00 - liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] -----------------------------------------++------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Selecting budget goals, Prev: Budgets and subaccounts, Up: Budget report - -11.5.15.3 Selecting budget goals -................................ - -The budget report evaluates periodic transaction rules to generate -special "goal transactions", which generate the goal amounts for each -account in each report subperiod. When troubleshooting, you can use the -print command to show these as forecasted transactions: - -$ hledger print --forecast=BUDGETREPORTPERIOD tag:generated - - By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction -rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report -interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly -periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly -budget report. - - You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to -the '--budget' flag. '--budget=DESCPAT' will match all periodic rules -whose description contains DESCPAT, a case-insensitive substring (not a -regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic -rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed), and then -select from multiple budgets defined in your journal. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Customising single-period balance reports, Prev: Budget report, Up: balance - -11.5.16 Customising single-period balance reports -------------------------------------------------- - -For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you -can use '--format FMT' to customise the format and content of each line. -Eg: - -$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format "%20(account) %12(total)" - assets $-1 - bank:saving $1 - cash $-2 - expenses $2 - food $1 - supplies $1 - income $-2 - gifts $-1 - salary $-1 - liabilities:debts $1 ---------------------------------- - 0 - - The FMT format string (plus a newline) specifies the formatting -applied to each account/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, -with data fields interpolated like so: - - '%[MIN][.MAX](FIELDNAME)' - - * MIN pads with spaces to at least this width (optional) - - * MAX truncates at this width (optional) - - * FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: - - * 'depth_spacer' - a number of spaces equal to the account's - depth, or if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. - * 'account' - the account's name - * 'total' - the account's balance/posted total, right justified - - Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how -multi-commodity amounts are rendered: - - * '%_' - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) - * '%^' - render on multiple lines, top-aligned - * '%,' - render on one line, comma-separated - - There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, '%(depth_spacer)' has no -effect, instead '%(account)' has indentation built in. Experimentation -may be needed to get pleasing results. - - Some example formats: - - * '%(total)' - the account's total - * '%-20.20(account)' - the account's name, left justified, padded to - 20 characters and clipped at 20 characters - * '%,%-50(account) %25(total)' - account name padded to 50 - characters, total padded to 20 characters, with multiple - commodities rendered on one line - * '%20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account)' - the default format for - the single-column balance report - - -File: hledger.info, Node: balancesheet, Next: balancesheetequity, Prev: balance, Up: COMMANDS - -11.6 balancesheet -================= - -balancesheet, bs -This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending -balances of asset and liability accounts. (To see equity as well, use -the balancesheetequity command.) Amounts are shown with normal positive -sign, as in conventional financial statements. - - This report shows accounts declared with the 'Asset', 'Cash' or -'Liability' type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are -declared, it shows top-level accounts named 'asset' or 'liability' (case -insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. - - Example: - -$ hledger balancesheet -Balance Sheet - -Assets: - $-1 assets - $1 bank:saving - $-2 cash --------------------- - $-1 - -Liabilities: - $1 liabilities:debts --------------------- - $1 - -Total: --------------------- - 0 - - This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and -supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. -It is similar to 'hledger balance -H assets liabilities', but with -smarter account detection, and liabilities displayed with their sign -flipped. - - This command also supports the output destination and output format -options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and -(experimental) 'json'. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: balancesheetequity, Next: cashflow, Prev: balancesheet, Up: COMMANDS - -11.7 balancesheetequity -======================= - -balancesheetequity, bse -This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending -balances of asset, liability and equity accounts. Amounts are shown -with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. - - This report shows accounts declared with the 'Asset', 'Cash', -'Liability' or 'Equity' type (see account types). Or if no such -accounts are declared, it shows top-level accounts named 'asset', -'liability' or 'equity' (case insensitive, plurals allowed) and their -subaccounts. - - Example: - -$ hledger balancesheetequity -Balance Sheet With Equity - -Assets: - $-2 assets - $1 bank:saving - $-3 cash --------------------- - $-2 - -Liabilities: - $1 liabilities:debts --------------------- - $1 - -Equity: - $1 equity:owner --------------------- - $1 - -Total: --------------------- - 0 - - This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and -supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. -It is similar to 'hledger balance -H assets liabilities equity', but -with smarter account detection, and liabilities/equity displayed with -their sign flipped. - - This command also supports the output destination and output format -options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and -(experimental) 'json'. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: cashflow, Next: check, Prev: balancesheetequity, Up: COMMANDS - -11.8 cashflow -============= - -cashflow, cf -This command displays a cashflow statement, showing the inflows and -outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) assets. -Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional -financial statements. - - This report shows accounts declared with the 'Cash' type (see account -types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows accounts - - * under a top-level account named 'asset' (case insensitive, plural - allowed) - * whose name contains some variation of 'cash', 'bank', 'checking' or - 'saving'. - - More precisely: all accounts matching this case insensitive regular -expression: - - '^assets?(:.+)?:(cash|bank|che(ck|que?)(ing)?|savings?|currentcash)(:|$)' - - and their subaccounts. - - An example cashflow report: - -$ hledger cashflow -Cashflow Statement - -Cash flows: - $-1 assets - $1 bank:saving - $-2 cash --------------------- - $-1 - -Total: --------------------- - $-1 - - This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and -supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. -It is similar to 'hledger balance assets not:fixed not:investment -not:receivable', but with smarter account detection. - - This command also supports the output destination and output format -options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and -(experimental) 'json'. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: check, Next: close, Prev: cashflow, Up: COMMANDS - -11.9 check -========== - -check -Check for various kinds of errors in your data. - - hledger provides a number of built-in error checks to help prevent -problems in your data. Some of these are run automatically; or, you can -use this 'check' command to run them on demand, with no output and a -zero exit code if all is well. Specify their names (or a prefix) as -argument(s). - - Some examples: - -hledger check # basic checks -hledger check -s # basic + strict checks -hledger check ordereddates payees # basic + two other checks - - If you are an Emacs user, you can also configure flycheck-hledger to -run these checks, providing instant feedback as you edit the journal. - - Here are the checks currently available: - -* Menu: - -* Basic checks:: -* Strict checks:: -* Other checks:: -* Custom checks:: -* More about specific checks:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Basic checks, Next: Strict checks, Up: check - -11.9.1 Basic checks -------------------- - -These checks are always run automatically, by (almost) all hledger -commands, including 'check': - - * *parseable* - data files are well-formed and can be successfully - parsed - - * *balancedwithautoconversion* - all transactions are balanced, - inferring missing amounts where necessary, and possibly converting - commodities using transaction prices or automatically-inferred - transaction prices - - * *assertions* - all balance assertions in the journal are passing. - (This check can be disabled with '-I'/'--ignore-assertions'.) - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Strict checks, Next: Other checks, Prev: Basic checks, Up: check - -11.9.2 Strict checks --------------------- - -These additional checks are run when the '-s'/'--strict' (strict mode) -flag is used. Or, they can be run by giving their names as arguments to -'check': - - * *accounts* - all account names used by transactions have been - declared - - * *commodities* - all commodity symbols used have been declared - - * *balancednoautoconversion* - transactions are balanced, possibly - using explicit transaction prices but not inferred ones - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Other checks, Next: Custom checks, Prev: Strict checks, Up: check - -11.9.3 Other checks -------------------- - -These checks can be run only by giving their names as arguments to -'check'. They are more specialised and not desirable for everyone, -therefore optional: - - * *ordereddates* - transactions are ordered by date within each file - - * *payees* - all payees used by transactions have been declared - - * *recentassertions* - all accounts with balance assertions have a - balance assertion no more than 7 days before their latest posting - - * *uniqueleafnames* - all account leaf names are unique - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Custom checks, Next: More about specific checks, Prev: Other checks, Up: check - -11.9.4 Custom checks --------------------- - -A few more checks are are available as separate add-on commands, in -https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/bin: - - * *hledger-check-tagfiles* - all tag values containing / (a forward - slash) exist as file paths - - * *hledger-check-fancyassertions* - more complex balance assertions - are passing - - You could make similar scripts to perform your own custom checks. -See: Cookbook -> Scripting. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: More about specific checks, Prev: Custom checks, Up: check - -11.9.5 More about specific checks ---------------------------------- - -'hledger check recentassertions' will complain if any balance-asserted -account does not have a balance assertion within 7 days before its -latest posting. This aims to prevent the situation where you are -regularly updating your journal, but forgetting to check your balances -against the real world, then one day must dig back through months of -data to find an error. It assumes that adding a balance assertion -requires/reminds you to check the real-world balance. That may not be -true if you auto-generate balance assertions from bank data; in that -case, I recommend to import transactions uncleared, then use the -manual-review-and-mark-cleared phase as a reminder to check the latest -assertions against real-world balances. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: close, Next: codes, Prev: check, Up: COMMANDS - -11.10 close -=========== - -close, equity -Prints a sample "closing" transaction bringing specified account -balances to zero, and an inverse "opening" transaction restoring the -same account balances. - - If like most people you split your journal files by time, eg by year: -at the end of the year you can use this command to "close out" your -asset and liability (and perhaps equity) balances in the old file, and -reinitialise them in the new file. This helps ensure that report -balances remain correct whether you are including old files or not. -(Because all closing/opening transactions except the very first will -cancel out - see example below.) - - Some people also use this command to close out revenue and expense -balances at the end of an accounting period. This properly records the -period's profit/loss as "retained earnings" (part of equity), and allows -the accounting equation (A-L=E) to balance, which you could then check -by the bse report's zero total. - - You can print just the closing transaction by using the '--close' -flag, or just the opening transaction with the '--open' flag. - - Their descriptions are 'closing balances' and 'opening balances' by -default; you can customise these with the '--close-desc' and -'--open-desc' options. - - Just one balancing equity posting is used by default, with the amount -left implicit. The default account name is 'equity:opening/closing -balances'. You can customise the account name(s) with '--close-acct' -and '--open-acct'. (If you specify only one of these, it will be used -for both.) - - With '--x/--explicit', the equity posting's amount will be shown -explicitly, and if it involves multiple commodities, there will be a -separate equity posting for each commodity (as in the print command). - - With '--interleaved', each equity posting is shown next to the -posting it balances (good for troubleshooting). - -* Menu: - -* close and prices:: -* close date:: -* Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition:: -* Hiding opening/closing transactions:: -* close and balance assertions:: -* Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: close and prices, Next: close date, Up: close - -11.10.1 close and prices ------------------------- - -Transaction prices are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening -transactions, by default. With '--show-costs', they are preserved; -there will be a separate equity posting for each cost in each commodity. -This means 'balance -B' reports will look the same after the transition. -Note if you have many foreign currency or investment transactions, this -will generate very large journal entries. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: close date, Next: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition, Prev: close and prices, Up: close - -11.10.2 close date ------------------- - -The default closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, -whichever is later. - - Unless you are running 'close' on exactly the first day of the new -period, you'll want to override the closing date. This is done by -specifying a report end date, where "last day of the report period" will -be the closing date. The opening date is always the following day. So -to close on (end of) 2020-12-31 and open on (start of) 2021-01-01, any -of these will work: - -end date explanation -argument --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -'-e end dates are exclusive -2021-01-01' -'-e 2021' equivalent, per smart dates -'-p 2020' equivalent, the period's begin date is ignored -'date:2020' equivalent query - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition, Next: Hiding opening/closing transactions, Prev: close date, Up: close - -11.10.3 Example: close asset/liability accounts for file transition -------------------------------------------------------------------- - -Carrying asset/liability balances from 2020.journal into a new file for -2021: - -$ hledger close -f 2020.journal -p 2020 assets liabilities -# copy/paste the closing transaction to the end of 2020.journal -# copy/paste the opening transaction to the start of 2021.journal - - Or: - -$ hledger close -f 2020.journal -p 2020 assets liabilities --open >> 2021.journal # add 2021's first transaction -$ hledger close -f 2020.journal -p 2020 assets liabilities --close >> 2020.journal # add 2020's last transaction - - Now, - -$ hledger bs -f 2021.journal # just new file - balances correct -$ hledger bs -f 2020.journal -f 2021.journal # old and new files - balances correct -$ hledger bs -f 2020.journal # just old files - balances are zero ? - # (exclude final closing txn, see below) - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Hiding opening/closing transactions, Next: close and balance assertions, Prev: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition, Up: close - -11.10.4 Hiding opening/closing transactions -------------------------------------------- - -Although the closing/opening transactions cancel out, they will be -visible in reports like 'print' and 'register', creating some visual -clutter. You can exclude them all with a query, like: - -$ hledger print not:desc:'opening|closing' # less typing -$ hledger print not:'equity:opening/closing balances' # more precise - - But when reporting on multiple files, this can get a bit tricky; you -may need to keep the earliest opening balances, for a historical -register report; or you may need to suppress a closing transaction, to -see year-end balances. If you find yourself needing more precise -queries, here's one solution: add more easily-matched tags to -opening/closing transactions, like this: - -; 2019.journal -2019-01-01 opening balances ; earliest opening txn, no tag here -... -2019-12-31 closing balances ; clopen:2020 -... - -; 2020.journal -2020-01-01 opening balances ; clopen:2020 -... -2020-12-31 closing balances ; clopen:2021 -... - -; 2021.journal -2021-01-01 opening balances ; clopen:2021 -... - - Now with - -; all.journal -include 2019.journal -include 2020.journal -include 2021.journal - - you could do eg: - -$ hledger -f all.journal reg -H checking not:tag:clopen - # all years checking register, hiding non-essential opening/closing txns - -$ hledger -f all.journal bs -p 2020 not:tag:clopen=2020 - # 2020 year end balances, suppressing 2020 closing txn - - -File: hledger.info, Node: close and balance assertions, Next: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings, Prev: Hiding opening/closing transactions, Up: close - -11.10.5 close and balance assertions ------------------------------------- - -The closing and opening transactions will include balance assertions, -verifying that the accounts have first been reset to zero and then -restored to their previous balance. These provide valuable error -checking, alerting you when things get out of line, but you can ignore -them temporarily with '-I' or just remove them if you prefer. - - You probably shouldn't use status or realness filters (like -C or -R -or 'status:') with 'close', or the generated balance assertions will -depend on these flags. Likewise, if you run this command with '--auto', -the balance assertions would probably always require '--auto'. - - Multi-day transactions (where some postings have a different date) -break the balance assertions, because the money is temporarily -"invisible" while in transit: - -2020/12/30 a purchase made in december, cleared in the next year - expenses:food 5 - assets:bank:checking -5 ; date: 2021/1/2 - - To fix the assertions, you can add a temporary account to track such -in-transit money (splitting the multi-day transaction into two -single-day transactions): - -; in 2020.journal: -2020/12/30 a purchase made in december, cleared in the next year - expenses:food 5 - liabilities:pending - -; in 2021.journal: -2021/1/2 clearance of last year's pending transactions - liabilities:pending 5 = 0 - assets:bank:checking - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings, Prev: close and balance assertions, Up: close - -11.10.6 Example: close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings --------------------------------------------------------------------- - -For this, use '--close' to suppress the opening transaction, as it's not -needed. Also you'll want to change the equity account name to your -equivalent of "equity:retained earnings". - - Closing 2021's first quarter revenues/expenses: - -$ hledger close -f 2021.journal --close revenues expenses -p 2021Q1 \ - --close-acct='equity:retained earnings' >> 2021.journal - - The same, using the default journal and current year: - -$ hledger close --close revenues expenses -p Q1 \ - --close-acct='equity:retained earnings' >> $LEDGER_FILE - - Now, the first quarter's balance sheet should show a zero (unless you -are using @/@@ notation without equity postings): - -$ hledger bse -p Q1 - - And we must suppress the closing transaction to see the first -quarter's income statement (using the description; 'not:'retained -earnings'' won't work here): - -$ hledger is -p Q1 not:desc:'closing balances' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: codes, Next: commodities, Prev: close, Up: COMMANDS - -11.11 codes -=========== - -codes -List the codes seen in transactions, in the order parsed. - - This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in -the order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional -value written in parentheses between the date and description, often -used to store a cheque number, order number or similar. - - Transactions aren't required to have a code, and missing or empty -codes will not be shown by default. With the '-E'/'--empty' flag, they -will be printed as blank lines. - - You can add a query to select a subset of transactions. - - Examples: - -1/1 (123) - (a) 1 - -1/1 () - (a) 1 - -1/1 - (a) 1 - -1/1 (126) - (a) 1 - -$ hledger codes -123 -124 -126 - -$ hledger codes -E -123 -124 - - -126 - - -File: hledger.info, Node: commodities, Next: descriptions, Prev: codes, Up: COMMANDS - -11.12 commodities -================= - -commodities -List all commodity/currency symbols used or declared in the journal. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: descriptions, Next: diff, Prev: commodities, Up: COMMANDS - -11.13 descriptions -================== - -descriptions -List the unique descriptions that appear in transactions. - - This command lists the unique descriptions that appear in -transactions, in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a -subset of transactions. - - Example: - -$ hledger descriptions -Store Name -Gas Station | Petrol -Person A - - -File: hledger.info, Node: diff, Next: files, Prev: descriptions, Up: COMMANDS - -11.14 diff -========== - -diff -Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It -shows any transactions to this account which are in one file but not in -the other. - - More precisely, for each posting affecting this account in either -file, it looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which posts -the same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc.) -Since postings not transactions are compared, this also works when -multiple bank transactions have been combined into a single journal -entry. - - This is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transactions -from your bank (eg as CSV data). When hledger and your bank disagree -about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with your -journal to find out the cause. - - Examples: - -$ hledger diff -f $LEDGER_FILE -f bank.csv assets:bank:giro -These transactions are in the first file only: - -2014/01/01 Opening Balances - assets:bank:giro EUR ... - ... - equity:opening balances EUR -... - -These transactions are in the second file only: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: files, Next: help, Prev: diff, Up: COMMANDS - -11.15 files -=========== - -files -List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only -file names matching the regular expression (case sensitive) are shown. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: help, Next: import, Prev: files, Up: COMMANDS - -11.16 help -========== - -help -Show the hledger user manual in the terminal, with 'info', 'man', or a -pager. With a TOPIC argument, open it at that topic if possible. TOPIC -can be any heading in the manual, or a heading prefix, case insensitive. -Eg: 'commands', 'print', 'forecast', 'journal', 'amount', '"auto -postings"'. - - This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger -version. It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the terminal -to a web browser, or when the appropriate hledger manual or viewing -tools are not installed on your system. - - By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH (preferring info -since the hledger manual is large). You can select a particular viewer -with the '-i', '-m', or '-p' flags. - - Examples - -$ hledger help --help # show how the help command works -$ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER -$ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual - - -File: hledger.info, Node: import, Next: incomestatement, Prev: help, Up: COMMANDS - -11.17 import -============ - -import -Read new transactions added to each FILE since last run, and add them to -the journal. Or with -dry-run, just print the transactions that would -be added. Or with -catchup, just mark all of the FILEs' transactions as -imported, without actually importing any. - - This command may append new transactions to the main journal file -(which should be in journal format). Existing transactions are not -changed. This is one of the few hledger commands that writes to the -journal file (see also 'add'). - - Unlike other hledger commands, with 'import' the journal file is an -output file, and will be modified, though only by appending (existing -data will not be changed). The input files are specified as arguments, -so to import one or more CSV files to your main journal, you will run -'hledger import bank.csv' or perhaps 'hledger import *.csv'. - - Note you can import from any file format, though CSV files are the -most common import source, and these docs focus on that case. - -* Menu: - -* Deduplication:: -* Import testing:: -* Importing balance assignments:: -* Commodity display styles:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Deduplication, Next: Import testing, Up: import - -11.17.1 Deduplication ---------------------- - -As a convenience 'import' does _deduplication_ while reading -transactions. This does not mean "ignore transactions that look the -same", but rather "ignore transactions that have been seen before". -This is intended for when you are periodically importing foreign data -which may contain already-imported transactions. So eg, if every day -you download bank CSV files containing redundant data, you can safely -run 'hledger import bank.csv' and only new transactions will be -imported. ('import' is idempotent.) - - Since the items being read (CSV records, eg) often do not come with -unique identifiers, hledger detects new transactions by date, assuming -that: - - 1. new items always have the newest dates - 2. item dates do not change across reads - 3. and items with the same date remain in the same relative order - across reads. - - These are often true of CSV files representing transactions, or true -enough so that it works pretty well in practice. 1 is important, but -violations of 2 and 3 amongst the old transactions won't matter (and if -you import often, the new transactions will be few, so less likely to be -the ones affected). - - hledger remembers the latest date processed in each input file by -saving a hidden ".latest" state file in the same directory. Eg when -reading 'finance/bank.csv', it will look for and update the -'finance/.latest.bank.csv' state file. The format is simple: one or -more lines containing the same ISO-format date (YYYY-MM-DD), meaning "I -have processed transactions up to this date, and this many of them on -that date." Normally you won't see or manipulate these state files -yourself. But if needed, you can delete them to reset the state (making -all transactions "new"), or you can construct them to "catch up" to a -certain date. - - Note deduplication (and updating of state files) can also be done by -'print --new', but this is less often used. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Import testing, Next: Importing balance assignments, Prev: Deduplication, Up: import - -11.17.2 Import testing ----------------------- - -With '--dry-run', the transactions that will be imported are printed to -the terminal, without updating your journal or state files. The output -is valid journal format, like the print command, so you can re-parse it. -Eg, to see any importable transactions which CSV rules have not -categorised: - -$ hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown - - or (live updating): - -$ ls bank.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ====; hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Importing balance assignments, Next: Commodity display styles, Prev: Import testing, Up: import - -11.17.3 Importing balance assignments -------------------------------------- - -Entries added by import will have their posting amounts made explicit -(like 'hledger print -x'). This means that any balance assignments in -imported files must be evaluated; but, imported files don't get to see -the main file's account balances. As a result, importing entries with -balance assignments (eg from an institution that provides only balances -and not posting amounts) will probably generate incorrect posting -amounts. To avoid this problem, use print instead of import: - -$ hledger print IMPORTFILE [--new] >> $LEDGER_FILE - - (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, -please test it and send a pull request.) - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity display styles, Prev: Importing balance assignments, Up: import - -11.17.4 Commodity display styles --------------------------------- - -Imported amounts will be formatted according to the canonical commodity -styles (declared or inferred) in the main journal file. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: incomestatement, Next: notes, Prev: import, Up: COMMANDS - -11.18 incomestatement -===================== - -incomestatement, is -This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and expenses -during one or more periods. Amounts are shown with normal positive -sign, as in conventional financial statements. - - This report shows accounts declared with the 'Revenue' or 'Expense' -type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows -top-level accounts named 'revenue' or 'income' or 'expense' (case -insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. - - Example: - -$ hledger incomestatement -Income Statement - -Revenues: - $-2 income - $-1 gifts - $-1 salary --------------------- - $-2 - -Expenses: - $2 expenses - $1 food - $1 supplies --------------------- - $2 - -Total: --------------------- - 0 - - This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and -supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. -It is similar to 'hledger balance '(revenues|income)' expenses', but -with smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their -sign flipped. - - This command also supports the output destination and output format -options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and -(experimental) 'json'. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: notes, Next: payees, Prev: incomestatement, Up: COMMANDS - -11.19 notes -=========== - -notes -List the unique notes that appear in transactions. - - This command lists the unique notes that appear in transactions, in -alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of -transactions. The note is the part of the transaction description after -a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). - - Example: - -$ hledger notes -Petrol -Snacks - - -File: hledger.info, Node: payees, Next: prices, Prev: notes, Up: COMMANDS - -11.20 payees -============ - -payees -List the unique payee/payer names that appear in transactions. - - This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared -with payee directives (-declared), used in transaction descriptions -(-used), or both (the default). - - The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | -character (or if there is no |, the whole description). - - You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This -implies -used. - - Example: - -$ hledger payees -Store Name -Gas Station -Person A - - -File: hledger.info, Node: prices, Next: print, Prev: payees, Up: COMMANDS - -11.21 prices -============ - -prices -Print market price directives from the journal. With --infer-market-prices, generate additional market prices from transaction -prices. With -infer-reverse-prices, also generate market prices by -inverting transaction prices. Prices (and postings providing -transaction prices) can be filtered by a query. Price amounts are -displayed with their full precision. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: print, Next: print-unique, Prev: prices, Up: COMMANDS - -11.22 print -=========== - -print -Show transaction journal entries, sorted by date. - - The print command displays full journal entries (transactions) from -the journal file, sorted by date (or with '--date2', by secondary date). - - Amounts are shown mostly normalised to commodity display style, eg -the placement of commodity symbols will be consistent. All of their -decimal places are shown, as in the original journal entry (with one -alteration: in some cases trailing zeroes are added.) - - Amounts are shown right-aligned within each transaction (but not -across all transactions). - - Directives and inter-transaction comments are not shown, currently. -This means the print command is somewhat lossy, and if you are using it -to reformat your journal you should take care to also copy over the -directives and file-level comments. - - Eg: - -$ hledger print -2008/01/01 income - assets:bank:checking $1 - income:salary $-1 - -2008/06/01 gift - assets:bank:checking $1 - income:gifts $-1 - -2008/06/02 save - assets:bank:saving $1 - assets:bank:checking $-1 - -2008/06/03 * eat & shop - expenses:food $1 - expenses:supplies $1 - assets:cash $-2 - -2008/12/31 * pay off - liabilities:debts $1 - assets:bank:checking $-1 - - print's output is usually a valid hledger journal, and you can -process it again with a second hledger command. This can be useful for -certain kinds of search, eg: - -# Show running total of food expenses paid from cash. -# -f- reads from stdin. -I/--ignore-assertions is sometimes needed. -$ hledger print assets:cash | hledger -f- -I reg expenses:food - - There are some situations where print's output can become -unparseable: - - * Valuation affects posting amounts but not balance assertion or - balance assignment amounts, potentially causing those to fail. - * Auto postings can generate postings with too many missing amounts. - * Account aliases can generate bad account names. - - Normally, the journal entry's explicit or implicit amount style is -preserved. For example, when an amount is omitted in the journal, it -will not appear in the output. Similarly, when a transaction price is -implied but not written, it will not appear in the output. You can use -the '-x'/'--explicit' flag to make all amounts and transaction prices -explicit, which can be useful for troubleshooting or for making your -journal more readable and robust against data entry errors. '-x' is -also implied by using any of '-B','-V','-X','--value'. - - Note, '-x'/'--explicit' will cause postings with a multi-commodity -amount (these can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an -implicit amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, -keeping the output parseable. - - With '-B'/'--cost', amounts with transaction prices are converted to -cost using that price. This can be used for troubleshooting. - - With '-m DESC'/'--match=DESC', print does a fuzzy search for the one -transaction whose description is most similar to DESC, also preferring -recent tranactions. DESC should contain at least two characters. If -there is no similar-enough match, no transaction will be shown and the -program exit code will be non-zero. - - With '--new', hledger prints only transactions it has not seen on a -previous run. This uses the same deduplication system as the 'import' -command. (See import's docs for details.) - - This command also supports the output destination and output format -options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', and -(experimental) 'json' and 'sql'. - - Here's an example of print's CSV output: - -$ hledger print -Ocsv -"txnidx","date","date2","status","code","description","comment","account","amount","commodity","credit","debit","posting-status","posting-comment" -"1","2008/01/01","","","","income","","assets:bank:checking","1","$","","1","","" -"1","2008/01/01","","","","income","","income:salary","-1","$","1","","","" -"2","2008/06/01","","","","gift","","assets:bank:checking","1","$","","1","","" -"2","2008/06/01","","","","gift","","income:gifts","-1","$","1","","","" -"3","2008/06/02","","","","save","","assets:bank:saving","1","$","","1","","" -"3","2008/06/02","","","","save","","assets:bank:checking","-1","$","1","","","" -"4","2008/06/03","","*","","eat & shop","","expenses:food","1","$","","1","","" -"4","2008/06/03","","*","","eat & shop","","expenses:supplies","1","$","","1","","" -"4","2008/06/03","","*","","eat & shop","","assets:cash","-2","$","2","","","" -"5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","liabilities:debts","1","$","","1","","" -"5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","assets:bank:checking","-1","$","1","","","" - - * There is one CSV record per posting, with the parent transaction's - fields repeated. - * The "txnidx" (transaction index) field shows which postings belong - to the same transaction. (This number might change if transactions - are reordered within the file, files are parsed/included in a - different order, etc.) - * The amount is separated into "commodity" (the symbol) and "amount" - (numeric quantity) fields. - * The numeric amount is repeated in either the "credit" or "debit" - column, for convenience. (Those names are not accurate in the - accounting sense; it just puts negative amounts under credit and - zero or greater amounts under debit.) - - -File: hledger.info, Node: print-unique, Next: register, Prev: print, Up: COMMANDS - -11.23 print-unique -================== - -print-unique -Print transactions which do not reuse an already-seen description. - - Example: - -$ cat unique.journal -1/1 test - (acct:one) 1 -2/2 test - (acct:two) 2 -$ LEDGER_FILE=unique.journal hledger print-unique -(-f option not supported) -2015/01/01 test - (acct:one) 1 - - -File: hledger.info, Node: register, Next: register-match, Prev: print-unique, Up: COMMANDS - -11.24 register -============== - -register, reg -Show postings and their running total. - - The register command displays matched postings, across all accounts, -in date order, with their running total or running historical balance. -(See also the 'aregister' command, which shows matched transactions in a -specific account.) - - register normally shows line per posting, but note that -multi-commodity amounts will occupy multiple lines (one line per -commodity). - - It is typically used with a query selecting a particular account, to -see that account's activity: - -$ hledger register checking -2008/01/01 income assets:bank:checking $1 $1 -2008/06/01 gift assets:bank:checking $1 $2 -2008/06/02 save assets:bank:checking $-1 $1 -2008/12/31 pay off assets:bank:checking $-1 0 - - With -date2, it shows and sorts by secondary date instead. - - For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first -1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause -visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to -ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the -'--align-all' flag. - - The '--historical'/'-H' flag adds the balance from any undisplayed -prior postings to the running total. This is useful when you want to -see only recent activity, with a historically accurate running balance: - -$ hledger register checking -b 2008/6 --historical -2008/06/01 gift assets:bank:checking $1 $2 -2008/06/02 save assets:bank:checking $-1 $1 -2008/12/31 pay off assets:bank:checking $-1 0 - - The '--depth' option limits the amount of sub-account detail -displayed. - - The '--average'/'-A' flag shows the running average posting amount -instead of the running total (so, the final number displayed is the -average for the whole report period). This flag implies '--empty' (see -below). It is affected by '--historical'. It works best when showing -just one account and one commodity. - - The '--related'/'-r' flag shows the _other_ postings in the -transactions of the postings which would normally be shown. - - The '--invert' flag negates all amounts. For example, it can be used -on an income account where amounts are normally displayed as negative -numbers. It's also useful to show postings on the checking account -together with the related account: - -$ hledger register --related --invert assets:checking - - With a reporting interval, register shows summary postings, one per -interval, aggregating the postings to each account: - -$ hledger register --monthly income -2008/01 income:salary $-1 $-1 -2008/06 income:gifts $-1 $-2 - - Periods with no activity, and summary postings with a zero amount, -are not shown by default; use the '--empty'/'-E' flag to see them: - -$ hledger register --monthly income -E -2008/01 income:salary $-1 $-1 -2008/02 0 $-1 -2008/03 0 $-1 -2008/04 0 $-1 -2008/05 0 $-1 -2008/06 income:gifts $-1 $-2 -2008/07 0 $-2 -2008/08 0 $-2 -2008/09 0 $-2 -2008/10 0 $-2 -2008/11 0 $-2 -2008/12 0 $-2 - - Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The '--depth' -option helps with this, causing subaccounts to be aggregated: - -$ hledger register --monthly assets --depth 1h -2008/01 assets $1 $1 -2008/06 assets $-1 0 -2008/12 assets $-1 $-1 - - Note when using report intervals, if you specify start/end dates -these will be adjusted outward if necessary to contain a whole number of -intervals. This ensures that the first and last intervals are full -length and comparable to the others in the report. - -* Menu: - -* Custom register output:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Custom register output, Up: register - -11.24.1 Custom register output ------------------------------- - -register uses the full terminal width by default, except on windows. -You can override this by setting the 'COLUMNS' environment variable (not -a bash shell variable) or by using the '--width'/'-w' option. - - The description and account columns normally share the space equally -(about half of (width - 40) each). You can adjust this by adding a -description width as part of -width's argument, comma-separated: -'--width W,D' . Here's a diagram (won't display correctly in -help): - -<--------------------------------- width (W) ----------------------------------> -date (10) description (D) account (W-41-D) amount (12) balance (12) -DDDDDDDDDD dddddddddddddddddddd aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA - - and some examples: - -$ hledger reg # use terminal width (or 80 on windows) -$ hledger reg -w 100 # use width 100 -$ COLUMNS=100 hledger reg # set with one-time environment variable -$ export COLUMNS=100; hledger reg # set till session end (or window resize) -$ hledger reg -w 100,40 # set overall width 100, description width 40 -$ hledger reg -w $COLUMNS,40 # use terminal width, & description width 40 - - This command also supports the output destination and output format -options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', and -(experimental) 'json'. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: register-match, Next: rewrite, Prev: register, Up: COMMANDS - -11.25 register-match -==================== - -register-match -Print the one posting whose transaction description is closest to DESC, -in the style of the register command. If there are multiple equally -good matches, it shows the most recent. Query options (options, not -arguments) can be used to restrict the search space. Helps -ledger-autosync detect already-seen transactions when importing. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: rewrite, Next: roi, Prev: register-match, Up: COMMANDS - -11.26 rewrite -============= - -rewrite -Print all transactions, rewriting the postings of matched transactions. -For now the only rewrite available is adding new postings, like print --auto. - - This is a start at a generic rewriter of transaction entries. It -reads the default journal and prints the transactions, like print, but -adds one or more specified postings to any transactions matching QUERY. -The posting amounts can be fixed, or a multiplier of the existing -transaction's first posting amount. - - Examples: - -$ hledger-rewrite.hs ^income --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33 ; income tax' --add-posting '(reserve:gifts) $100' -$ hledger-rewrite.hs expenses:gifts --add-posting '(reserve:gifts) *-1"' -$ hledger-rewrite.hs -f rewrites.hledger - - rewrites.hledger may consist of entries like: - -= ^income amt:<0 date:2017 - (liabilities:tax) *0.33 ; tax on income - (reserve:grocery) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery - (reserve:) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery - - Note the single quotes to protect the dollar sign from bash, and the -two spaces between account and amount. - - More: - -$ hledger rewrite -- [QUERY] --add-posting "ACCT AMTEXPR" ... -$ hledger rewrite -- ^income --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' -$ hledger rewrite -- expenses:gifts --add-posting '(budget:gifts) *-1"' -$ hledger rewrite -- ^income --add-posting '(budget:foreign currency) *0.25 JPY; diversify' - - Argument for '--add-posting' option is a usual posting of transaction -with an exception for amount specification. More precisely, you can use -''*'' (star symbol) before the amount to indicate that that this is a -factor for an amount of original matched posting. If the amount -includes a commodity name, the new posting amount will be in the new -commodity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's -commodity. - -* Menu: - -* Re-write rules in a file:: -* Diff output format:: -* rewrite vs print --auto:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Re-write rules in a file, Next: Diff output format, Up: rewrite - -11.26.1 Re-write rules in a file --------------------------------- - -During the run this tool will execute so called "Automated Transactions" -found in any journal it process. I.e instead of specifying this -operations in command line you can put them in a journal file. - -$ rewrite-rules.journal - - Make contents look like this: - -= ^income - (liabilities:tax) *.33 - -= expenses:gifts - budget:gifts *-1 - assets:budget *1 - - Note that ''='' (equality symbol) that is used instead of date in -transactions you usually write. It indicates the query by which you -want to match the posting to add new ones. - -$ hledger rewrite -- -f input.journal -f rewrite-rules.journal > rewritten-tidy-output.journal - - This is something similar to the commands pipeline: - -$ hledger rewrite -- -f input.journal '^income' --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' \ - | hledger rewrite -- -f - expenses:gifts --add-posting 'budget:gifts *-1' \ - --add-posting 'assets:budget *1' \ - > rewritten-tidy-output.journal - - It is important to understand that relative order of such entries in -journal is important. You can re-use result of previously added -postings. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Diff output format, Next: rewrite vs print --auto, Prev: Re-write rules in a file, Up: rewrite - -11.26.2 Diff output format --------------------------- - -To use this tool for batch modification of your journal files you may -find useful output in form of unified diff. - -$ hledger rewrite -- --diff -f examples/sample.journal '^income' --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' - - Output might look like: - ---- /tmp/examples/sample.journal -+++ /tmp/examples/sample.journal -@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ - 2008/01/01 income -- assets:bank:checking $1 -+ assets:bank:checking $1 - income:salary -+ (liabilities:tax) 0 -@@ -22,3 +23,4 @@ - 2008/06/01 gift -- assets:bank:checking $1 -+ assets:bank:checking $1 - income:gifts -+ (liabilities:tax) 0 - - If you'll pass this through 'patch' tool you'll get transactions -containing the posting that matches your query be updated. Note that -multiple files might be update according to list of input files -specified via '--file' options and 'include' directives inside of these -files. - - Be careful. Whole transaction being re-formatted in a style of -output from 'hledger print'. - - See also: - - https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/issues/99 - - -File: hledger.info, Node: rewrite vs print --auto, Prev: Diff output format, Up: rewrite - -11.26.3 rewrite vs. print -auto -------------------------------- - -This command predates print -auto, and currently does much the same -thing, but with these differences: - - * with multiple files, rewrite lets rules in any file affect all - other files. print -auto uses standard directive scoping; rules - affect only child files. - - * rewrite's query limits which transactions can be rewritten; all are - printed. print -auto's query limits which transactions are - printed. - - * rewrite applies rules specified on command line or in the journal. - print -auto applies rules specified in the journal. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: roi, Next: stats, Prev: rewrite, Up: COMMANDS - -11.27 roi -========= - -roi -Shows the time-weighted (TWR) and money-weighted (IRR) rate of return on -your investments. - - At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an -account name) to select your investment(s) with '--inv', and another -query to identify your profit and loss transactions with '--pnl'. - - If you do not record changes in the value of your investment -manually, or do not require computation of time-weighted return (TWR), -'--pnl' could be an empty query ('--pnl ""' or '--pnl STR' where 'STR' -does not match any of your accounts). - - This command will compute and display the internalized rate of return -(IRR) and time-weighted rate of return (TWR) for your investments for -the time period requested. Both rates of return are annualized before -display, regardless of the length of reporting interval. - - Price directives will be taken into account if you supply appropriate -'--cost' or '--value' flags (see VALUATION). - - Note, in some cases this report can fail, for these reasons: - - * Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return - (IRR). Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of - investment becomes negative at some point in time. - * Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of - Return (IRR). Either search does not converge to a solution, or - converges too slowly. - - Examples: - - * Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks: - https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/examples/investing/roi-unrealised.ledger - - * Cookbook > Return on Investment: https://hledger.org/roi.html - -* Menu: - -* Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl:: -* Semantics of --inv and --pnl:: -* IRR and TWR explained:: - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl, Next: Semantics of --inv and --pnl, Up: roi - -11.27.1 Spaces and special characters in '--inv' and ----------------------------------------------------- - -'--pnl' Note that '--inv' and '--pnl''s argument is a query, and queries -could have several space-separated terms (see QUERIES). - - To indicate that all search terms form single command-line argument, -you will need to put them in quotes (see Special characters): - -$ hledger roi --inv 'term1 term2 term3 ...' - - If any query terms contain spaces themselves, you will need an extra -level of nested quoting, eg: - -$ hledger roi --inv="'Assets:Test 1'" --pnl="'Equity:Unrealized Profit and Loss'" - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl, Next: IRR and TWR explained, Prev: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl, Up: roi - -11.27.2 Semantics of '--inv' and '--pnl' ----------------------------------------- - -Query supplied to '--inv' has to match all transactions that are related -to your investment. Transactions not matching '--inv' will be ignored. - - In these transactions, ROI will conside postings that match '--inv' -to be "investment postings" and other postings (not matching '--inv') -will be sorted into two categories: "cash flow" and "profit and loss", -as ROI needs to know which part of the investment value is your -contributions and which is due to the return on investment. - - * "Cash flow" is depositing or withdrawing money, buying or selling - assets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity - and any other commodity. Example: - - 2019-01-01 Investing in Snake Oil - assets:cash -$100 - investment:snake oil - - 2020-01-01 Selling my Snake Oil - assets:cash $10 - investment:snake oil = 0 - - * "Profit and loss" is change in the value of your investment: - - 2019-06-01 Snake Oil falls in value - investment:snake oil = $57 - equity:unrealized profit or loss - - All non-investment postings are assumed to be "cash flow", unless -they match '--pnl' query. Changes in value of your investment due to -"profit and loss" postings will be considered as part of your investment -return. - - Example: if you use '--inv snake --pnl equity:unrealized', then -postings in the example below would be classifed as: - -2019-01-01 Snake Oil #1 - assets:cash -$100 ; cash flow posting - investment:snake oil ; investment posting - -2019-03-01 Snake Oil #2 - equity:unrealized pnl -$100 ; profit and loss posting - snake oil ; investment posting - -2019-07-01 Snake Oil #3 - equity:unrealized pnl ; profit and loss posting - cash -$100 ; cash flow posting - snake oil $50 ; investment posting - - -File: hledger.info, Node: IRR and TWR explained, Prev: Semantics of --inv and --pnl, Up: roi - -11.27.3 IRR and TWR explained ------------------------------ - -"ROI" stands for "return on investment". Traditionally this was -computed as a difference between current value of investment and its -initial value, expressed in percentage of the initial value. - - However, this approach is only practical in simple cases, where -investments receives no in-flows or out-flows of money, and where rate -of growth is fixed over time. For more complex scenarios you need -different ways to compute rate of return, and this command implements -two of them: IRR and TWR. - - Internal rate of return, or "IRR" (also called "money-weighted rate -of return") takes into account effects of in-flows and out-flows. -Naively, if you are withdrawing from your investment, your future gains -would be smaller (in absolute numbers), and will be a smaller percentage -of your initial investment, and if you are adding to your investment, -you will receive bigger absolute gains (but probably at the same rate of -return). IRR is a way to compute rate of return for each period between -in-flow or out-flow of money, and then combine them in a way that gives -you a compound annual rate of return that investment is expected to -generate. - - As mentioned before, in-flows and out-flows would be any cash that -you personally put in or withdraw, and for the "roi" command, these are -the postings that match the query in the'--inv' argument and NOT match -the query in the'--pnl' argument. - - If you manually record changes in the value of your investment as -transactions that balance them against "profit and loss" (or "unrealized -gains") account or use price directives, then in order for IRR to -compute the precise effect of your in-flows and out-flows on the rate of -return, you will need to record the value of your investement on or -close to the days when in- or out-flows occur. - - In technical terms, IRR uses the same approach as computation of net -present value, and tries to find a discount rate that makes net present -value of all the cash flows of your investment to add up to zero. This -could be hard to wrap your head around, especially if you haven't done -discounted cash flow analysis before. Implementation of IRR in hledger -should produce results that match the 'XIRR' formula in Excel. - - Second way to compute rate of return that 'roi' command implements is -called "time-weighted rate of return" or "TWR". Like IRR, it will also -break the history of your investment into periods between in-flows, -out-flows and value changes, to compute rate of return per each period -and then a compound rate of return. However, internal workings of TWR -are quite different. - - TWR represents your investment as an imaginary "unit fund" where -in-flows/ out-flows lead to buying or selling "units" of your investment -and changes in its value change the value of "investment unit". Change -in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of return of -your investment. - - References: - - * Explanation of rate of return - * Explanation of IRR - * Explanation of TWR - * Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations - of both metrics - - -File: hledger.info, Node: stats, Next: tags, Prev: roi, Up: COMMANDS - -11.28 stats -=========== - -stats -Show journal and performance statistics. - - The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, -or a matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report -for each report period. - - At the end, it shows (in the terminal) the overall run time and -number of transactions processed per second. Note these are approximate -and will vary based on machine, current load, data size, hledger -version, haskell lib versions, GHC version.. but they may be of -interest. The 'stats' command's run time is similar to that of a -single-column balance report. - - Example: - -$ hledger stats -f examples/1000x1000x10.journal -Main file : /Users/simon/src/hledger/examples/1000x1000x10.journal -Included files : -Transactions span : 2000-01-01 to 2002-09-27 (1000 days) -Last transaction : 2002-09-26 (6995 days ago) -Transactions : 1000 (1.0 per day) -Transactions last 30 days: 0 (0.0 per day) -Transactions last 7 days : 0 (0.0 per day) -Payees/descriptions : 1000 -Accounts : 1000 (depth 10) -Commodities : 26 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) -Market prices : 1000 (A) - -Run time : 0.12 s -Throughput : 8342 txns/s - - This command also supports output destination and output format -selection. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: tags, Next: test, Prev: stats, Up: COMMANDS - -11.29 tags -========== - -tags -List the tags used in the journal, or their values. - - This command lists the tag names used in the journal, whether on -transactions, postings, or account declarations. - - With a TAGREGEX argument, only tag names matching this regular -expression (case insensitive, infix matched) are shown. - - With QUERY arguments, only transactions and accounts matching this -query are considered. If the query involves transaction fields (date:, -desc:, amt:, ...), the search is restricted to the matched transactions -and their accounts. - - With the -values flag, the tags' unique non-empty values are listed -instead. With -E/-empty, blank/empty values are also shown. - - With -parsed, tags or values are shown in the order they were parsed, -with duplicates included. (Except, tags from account declarations are -always shown first.) - - Tip: remember, accounts also acquire tags from their parents, -postings also acquire tags from their account and transaction, -transactions also acquire tags from their postings. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: test, Next: Add-on commands, Prev: tags, Up: COMMANDS - -11.30 test -========== - -test -Run built-in unit tests. - - This command runs the unit tests built in to hledger and hledger-lib, -printing the results on stdout. If any test fails, the exit code will -be non-zero. - - This is mainly used by hledger developers, but you can also use it to -sanity-check the installed hledger executable on your platform. All -tests are expected to pass - if you ever see a failure, please report as -a bug! - - This command also accepts tasty test runner options, written after a -- (double hyphen). Eg to run only the tests in Hledger.Data.Amount, -with ANSI colour codes disabled: - -$ hledger test -- -pData.Amount --color=never - - For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options -('-- --help' currently doesn't show them). +hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log  -File: hledger.info, Node: Add-on commands, Prev: test, Up: COMMANDS - -11.31 Add-on commands -===================== - -Add-on commands are programs or scripts in your PATH - - * whose name starts with 'hledger-' - * whose name ends with a recognised file extension: - '.bat','.com','.exe', '.hs','.lhs','.pl','.py','.rb','.rkt','.sh' - or none - * and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. - - Add-ons are a relatively easy way to add local features or experiment -with new ideas. They can be written in any language, but haskell -scripts have a big advantage: they can use the same hledger library -functions that built-in commands use for command-line options, parsing -and reporting. Some experimental/example add-on scripts can be found in -the hledger repo's bin/ directory. +File: hledger.info, Node: Limitations, Next: Troubleshooting, Prev: Output, Up: Top - Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a -double dash ('--') preceding them. Eg you must write: +7 Limitations +************* -$ hledger web -- --serve +The need to precede add-on command options with '--' when invoked from +hledger is awkward. - and not: + When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system +locale must be configured (or there will be an unhelpful error). Eg on +POSIX, set LANG to something other than C. -$ hledger web --serve + In a Microsoft Windows CMD window, non-ascii characters and colours +are not supported. - (because the '--serve' flag belongs to 'hledger-web', not 'hledger'). + On Windows, non-ascii characters may not display correctly when +running a hledger built in CMD in MSYS/CYGWIN, or vice-versa. - The '-h/--help' and '--version' flags don't require '--'. + In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in +hledger add. - If you have any trouble with this, remember you can always run the -add-on program directly, eg: + Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See hledger +and Ledger > Differences > journal format. -$ hledger-web --serve + On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than +Ledger.  -File: hledger.info, Node: JOURNAL FORMAT, Next: CSV FORMAT, Prev: COMMANDS, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: Troubleshooting, Next: PART 2 DATA FORMATS, Prev: Limitations, Up: Top -12 JOURNAL FORMAT +8 Troubleshooting ***************** +Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and +remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug +tracker): + + *Successfully installed, but "No command 'hledger' found"* +stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should +be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, +that is ~/.local/bin and ~/.cabal/bin respectively. + + *I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default +file* +'LEDGER_FILE' should be a real environment variable, not just a shell +variable. The command 'env | grep LEDGER_FILE' should show it. You may +need to use 'export'. Here's an explanation. + + *Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or +incomplete multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: +invalid argument (invalid character)"* +Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need to +have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, otherwise they +will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii +characters. + + To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which +supports UTF-8. The locale you choose must be installed on your system. + + Here's an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: + +$ file my.journal +my.journal: UTF-8 Unicode text # the file is UTF8-encoded +$ echo $LANG +C # LANG is set to the default locale, which does not support UTF8 +$ locale -a # which locales are installed ? +C +en_US.utf8 # here's a UTF8-aware one we can use +POSIX +$ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command + + If available, 'C.UTF-8' will also work. If your preferred locale +isn't listed by 'locale -a', you might need to install it. Eg on +Ubuntu/Debian: + +$ apt-get install language-pack-fr +$ locale -a +C +en_US.utf8 +fr_BE.utf8 +fr_CA.utf8 +fr_CH.utf8 +fr_FR.utf8 +fr_LU.utf8 +POSIX +$ LANG=fr_FR.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print + + Here's how you could set it permanently, if you use a bash shell: + +$ echo "export LANG=en_US.utf8" >>~/.bash_profile +$ bash --login + + Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the +difference on MacOS ('UTF-8', not 'utf8'). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) +allow variant spellings, but others (eg macos) require it to be exact: + +$ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf +en_US.UTF-8 +$ LANG=en_US.UTF-8 hledger -f my.journal print + + +File: hledger.info, Node: PART 2 DATA FORMATS, Next: Journal, Prev: Troubleshooting, Up: Top + +9 PART 2: DATA FORMATS +********************** + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Journal, Next: CSV, Prev: PART 2 DATA FORMATS, Up: Top + +10 Journal +********** + hledger's default file format, representing a General Journal. hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal @@ -5505,47 +1075,69 @@ formatting, tab completion, and useful commands. See Editor configuration at hledger.org for the full list. Here's a description of each part of the file format (and hledger's -data model). These are mostly in the order you'll use them, but in some -cases related concepts have been grouped together for easy reference, or -linked before they are introduced, so feel free to skip over anything -that looks unnecessary right now. +data model). + + A hledger journal file can contain three kinds of thing: file +comments, transactions, and/or directives (counting periodic transaction +rules and auto posting rules as directives). * Menu: +* File comments:: * Transactions:: * Dates:: * Status:: * Code:: * Description:: -* Comments:: -* Tags:: +* Transaction comments:: * Postings:: * Account names:: * Amounts:: -* Transaction prices:: -* Lot prices lot dates:: +* Costs:: * Balance assertions:: * Balance assignments:: +* Posting comments:: +* Tags:: * Directives:: -* Directives and multiple files:: -* Comment blocks:: -* Including other files:: +* Including files:: * Default year:: -* Declaring payees:: -* Declaring the decimal mark:: -* Declaring commodities:: +* Decimal mark:: +* Commodities:: * Default commodity:: -* Declaring market prices:: -* Declaring accounts:: -* Rewriting accounts:: +* Accounts:: +* Account aliases:: * Default parent account:: -* Periodic transactions:: +* Payees:: +* Market prices:: * Auto postings:: +* Periodic transactions::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Transactions, Next: Dates, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: File comments, Next: Transactions, Up: Journal -12.1 Transactions +10.1 File comments +================== + +Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (';'), a hash ('#') or a +star ('*') are file-level comments, and will be ignored. They are not +attached to anything (even if right next to a transaction). + + (Star comments allow emacs users to view and fold/unfold long +journals in org mode, but nowadays regular comments and ledger mode + +orgstruct mode may work better). + +# a file comment +; another file comment +* also a file comment, useful in org/orgstruct mode +comment +A multiline file comment, continuing until an +"end comment" directive or the end of the current file. +end comment + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Transactions, Next: Dates, Prev: File comments, Up: Journal + +10.2 Transactions ================= Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. They @@ -5572,9 +1164,9 @@ optional fields, separated by spaces: income:salary $-1  -File: hledger.info, Node: Dates, Next: Status, Prev: Transactions, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Dates, Next: Status, Prev: Transactions, Up: Journal -12.2 Dates +10.3 Dates ========== * Menu: @@ -5586,7 +1178,7 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Dates, Next: Status, Prev: Transactions, Up: JOURN  File: hledger.info, Node: Simple dates, Next: Secondary dates, Up: Dates -12.2.1 Simple dates +10.3.1 Simple dates ------------------- Dates in the journal file use _simple dates_ format: 'YYYY-MM-DD' or @@ -5602,7 +1194,7 @@ dates documented in the hledger manual.)  File: hledger.info, Node: Secondary dates, Next: Posting dates, Prev: Simple dates, Up: Dates -12.2.2 Secondary dates +10.3.2 Secondary dates ---------------------- Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the @@ -5638,7 +1230,7 @@ $ hledger register checking --date2  File: hledger.info, Node: Posting dates, Prev: Secondary dates, Up: Dates -12.2.3 Posting dates +10.3.3 Posting dates -------------------- You can give individual postings a different date from their parent @@ -5671,9 +1263,9 @@ characters in this way. With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 infers its year from DATE.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Status, Next: Code, Prev: Dates, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Status, Next: Code, Prev: Dates, Up: Journal -12.3 Status +10.4 Status =========== Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a @@ -5721,9 +1313,9 @@ your bank, '-U' to see things which will probably hit your bank soon your finances.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Code, Next: Description, Prev: Status, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Code, Next: Description, Prev: Status, Up: Journal -12.4 Code +10.5 Code ========= After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally @@ -5732,9 +1324,9 @@ place to record a check number, or some other important transaction id or reference number.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Description, Next: Comments, Prev: Code, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Description, Next: Transaction comments, Prev: Code, Up: Journal -12.5 Description +10.6 Description ================ A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date @@ -5750,7 +1342,7 @@ comments.  File: hledger.info, Node: Payee and note, Up: Description -12.5.1 Payee and note +10.6.1 Payee and note --------------------- You can optionally include a '|' (pipe) character in descriptions to @@ -5760,92 +1352,25 @@ the left (up to the first '|') and an additional note field on the right precise querying and pivoting by payee or by note.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Comments, Next: Tags, Prev: Description, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Transaction comments, Next: Postings, Prev: Description, Up: Journal -12.6 Comments -============= +10.7 Transaction comments +========================= -Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (';') or hash ('#') or -star ('*') are comments, and will be ignored. (Star comments cause -org-mode nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users to fold and navigate -their journals with org-mode or orgstruct-mode.) +Text following ';', after a transaction description, and/or on indented +lines immediately below it, form comments for that transaction. They +are reproduced by 'print' but otherwise ignored, except they may contain +tags, which are not ignored. - You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the -description and/or indented on the following lines (before the -postings). Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting -by writing them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines. -Transaction and posting comments must begin with a semicolon (';'). - - Some examples: - -# a file comment -; another file comment -* also a file comment, useful in org/orgstruct mode - -comment -A multiline file comment, which continues -until a line containing just "end comment" -(or end of file). -end comment - -2012/5/14 something ; a transaction comment - ; the transaction comment, continued - posting1 1 ; a comment for posting 1 - posting2 - ; a comment for posting 2 - ; another comment line for posting 2 -; a file comment (because not indented) - - You can also comment larger regions of a file using 'comment' and -'end comment' directives. +2012-01-01 something ; a transaction comment + ; a second line of transaction comment + expenses 1 + assets  -File: hledger.info, Node: Tags, Next: Postings, Prev: Comments, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Postings, Next: Account names, Prev: Transaction comments, Up: Journal -12.7 Tags -========= - -Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, -postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. - - They are written as a (optionally hyphenated) word immediately -followed by a full colon within a transaction or posting or account -directive's comment: - -account assets:checking ; accounttag: - -2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transaction-tag: - ; another-transaction-tag: - assets:checking $-1 - expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag: - - Tags are inherited, as follows: - - * Tags on a transaction affect the transaction and all of its - postings - * Tags on an account affect all postings to that account. - - So in the example above, - the 'assets:checking' account has one tag -('accounttag') - the transaction has two tags ('transaction-tag', -'another-transaction-tag') - the 'assets:checking' posting has three -tags ('transaction-tag', 'another-transaction-tag', 'accounttag') - the -'expenses:food' posting has three tags ('transaction-tag', -'another-transaction-tag', 'posting-tag'). - - Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, until the -next comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace stripped. So -here 'a-posting-tag''s value is "the tag value", 'tag2''s value is -"foo", and 'tag3''s value is "" (the empty string): - - expenses:food $10 - ; some text, a-posting-tag:the tag value, tag2: foo , tag3: , other text - - A hledger tag value may not contain a comma. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Postings, Next: Account names, Prev: Tags, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT - -12.8 Postings +10.8 Postings ============= A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount @@ -5877,42 +1402,42 @@ the amount, the amount will be considered part of the account name.  File: hledger.info, Node: Virtual postings, Up: Postings -12.8.1 Virtual postings +10.8.1 Virtual postings ----------------------- -A posting with a parenthesised account name is called a _virtual +A posting with parentheses around the account name is called a _virtual posting_ or _unbalanced posting_, which means it is exempt from the usual rule that a transaction's postings must balance add up to zero. - This is not part of double entry accounting, so you might choose to + This is not part of double entry bookkeeping, so you might choose to avoid this feature. Or you can use it sparingly for certain special cases where it can be convenient. Eg, you could set opening balances without using a balancing equity account: -1/1 opening balances +2022-01-01 opening balances (assets:checking) $1000 (assets:savings) $2000 - A posting with a bracketed account name is called a _balanced virtual -posting_. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to -zero (separately from other postings). Eg: + A posting with brackets around the account name is called a _balanced +virtual posting_. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must +add up to zero (separately from other postings). Eg: -1/1 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else - assets:cash $-10 ; <- these balance - expenses:food $7 ; <- - expenses:food $3 ; <- - [assets:checking:budget:food] $-10 ; <- and these balance - [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- - (something:else) $5 ; <- not required to balance +2022-01-01 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else + assets:cash $-10 ; <- these balance each other + expenses:food $7 ; <- + expenses:food $3 ; <- + [assets:checking:budget:food] $-10 ; <- and these balance each other + [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- + (something:else) $5 ; <- this is not required to balance - Ordinary non-parenthesised, non-bracketed postings are called _real -postings_. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the -'-R/--real' flag or 'real:1' query. + Postings whose account names are neither parenthesised nor bracketed +are called _real postings_. You can exclude virtual postings from +reports with the '-R/--real' flag or a 'real:1' query.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account names, Next: Amounts, Prev: Postings, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Account names, Next: Amounts, Prev: Postings, Up: Journal -12.9 Account names +10.9 Account names ================== Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, @@ -5928,9 +1453,9 @@ more spaces* (or newline). Account names can be aliased.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Amounts, Next: Transaction prices, Prev: Account names, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Amounts, Next: Costs, Prev: Account names, Up: Journal -12.10 Amounts +10.10 Amounts ============= After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Important: between @@ -5979,7 +1504,7 @@ EUR 1E3  File: hledger.info, Node: Decimal marks digit group marks, Next: Commodity, Up: Amounts -12.10.1 Decimal marks, digit group marks +10.10.1 Decimal marks, digit group marks ---------------------------------------- A _decimal mark_ can be written as a period or a comma: @@ -6010,12 +1535,12 @@ especially if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we recommend explicitly declaring the decimal mark character in each journal file, using a directive at the top of the file. The 'decimal-mark' directive is best, otherwise 'commodity' -directives will also work. These are described detail below. +directives will also work. These are described below.  File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity, Next: Directives influencing number parsing and display, Prev: Decimal marks digit group marks, Up: Amounts -12.10.2 Commodity +10.10.2 Commodity ----------------- Amounts in hledger have both a "quantity", which is a signed decimal @@ -6041,13 +1566,12 @@ these are the 'Amount' and 'MixedAmount' types.)  File: hledger.info, Node: Directives influencing number parsing and display, Next: Commodity display style, Prev: Commodity, Up: Amounts -12.10.3 Directives influencing number parsing and display +10.10.3 Directives influencing number parsing and display --------------------------------------------------------- You can add 'decimal-mark' and 'commodity' directives to the journal, to declare and control these things more explicitly and precisely. These -are described below, in JOURNAL FORMAT -> Declaring commodities. Here's -a quick example: +are described below, but here's a quick example: # the decimal mark character used by all amounts in this file (all commodities) decimal-mark . @@ -6061,7 +1585,7 @@ commodity 1 000 000.9455  File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity display style, Next: Rounding, Prev: Directives influencing number parsing and display, Up: Amounts -12.10.4 Commodity display style +10.10.4 Commodity display style ------------------------------- For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display @@ -6093,11 +1617,10 @@ order of preference: sizes), if any * Use the maximum number of decimal places of all. - Transaction price amounts don't affect the commodity display style -directly, but occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a -posting's amount is inferred using a transaction price). If you find -this causing problems, use a commodity directive to fix the display -style. + Cost amounts don't affect the commodity display style directly, but +occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a posting's amount is +inferred using a cost). If you find this causing problems, use a +commodity directive to fix the display style. To summarise: each commodity's amounts will be normalised to (a) the style declared by a 'commodity' directive, or (b) the style of the first @@ -6119,37 +1642,38 @@ line option.  File: hledger.info, Node: Rounding, Prev: Commodity display style, Up: Amounts -12.10.5 Rounding +10.10.5 Rounding ---------------- Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by the commodity display style. Note, hledger uses banker's rounding: it rounds to the nearest even number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal -places is "0"). (Guaranteed since hledger 1.17.1; in older versions -this could vary if hledger was built with Decimal < 0.5.1.) +places is "0").  -File: hledger.info, Node: Transaction prices, Next: Lot prices lot dates, Prev: Amounts, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Costs, Next: Balance assertions, Prev: Amounts, Up: Journal -12.11 Transaction prices -======================== +10.11 Costs +=========== -(AKA Costs) +After a posting amount, you can note its cost (when buying) or selling +price (when selling) in another commodity, by writing either '@ +UNITPRICE' or '@@ TOTALPRICE' after it. This indicates a conversion +transaction, where one commodity is exchanged for another. - After a posting amount, you can note its cost or selling price in -another commodity, by writing either '@ UNITPRICE' or '@@ TOTALPRICE' -after it. This indicates a conversion transaction, where one commodity -is exchanged for another. - - hledger docs have historically called this a "transaction price" -because it is specific to one transaction, unlike market prices which -are not. "Cost" is shorter and might be preferable; just remember this -feature can represent either a buyer's cost, or a seller's price. + (You might also see this called "transaction price" in hledger docs, +discussions, or code; that term was directionally neutral and reminded +that it is a price specific to a transaction, but we now just call it +"cost", with the understanding that the transaction could be a purchase +or a sale.) Costs are usually written explicitly with '@' or '@@', but can also be inferred automatically for simple multi-commodity transactions. -As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign +Note, if costs are inferred, the order of postings is significant; the +first posting will have a cost attached, in the commodity of the second. + + As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or implicitly: @@ -6166,41 +1690,97 @@ implicitly: assets:dollars 3. Specify amounts for all postings, using exactly two commodities, - and let hledger infer the price that balances the transaction: + and let hledger infer the price that balances the transaction. + Note the effect of posting order: the price is added to first + posting, making it '€100 @@ $135', as in example 2: 2009/1/1 assets:euros €100 ; one hundred euros purchased assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - 4. Like 1, but the '@' is parenthesised, i.e. '(@)'; this is for - compatibility with Ledger journals (Virtual posting costs), and is - equivalent to 1 in hledger. - - 5. Like 2, but as in 4 the '@@' is parenthesised, i.e. '(@@)'; in - hledger, this is equivalent to 2. - Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the '-B/--cost' -flag; this is discussed more in the COST section. +flag; this is discussed more in the ˜COST REPORTING section. + +* Menu: + +* Other cost/lot notations::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Lot prices lot dates, Next: Balance assertions, Prev: Transaction prices, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Other cost/lot notations, Up: Costs -12.12 Lot prices, lot dates -=========================== +10.11.1 Other cost/lot notations +-------------------------------- -Ledger allows another kind of price, lot price (four variants: -'{UNITPRICE}', '{{TOTALPRICE}}', '{=FIXEDUNITPRICE}', -'{{=FIXEDTOTALPRICE}}'), and/or a lot date ('[DATE]') to be specified. -These are normally used to select a lot when selling investments. -hledger will parse these, for compatibility with Ledger journals, but -currently ignores them. A transaction price, lot price and/or lot date -may appear in any order, after the posting amount and before the balance -assertion if any. +A slight digression for Ledger and Beancount users. Ledger has a number +of cost/lot-related notations: + + * '@ UNITCOST' and '@@ TOTALCOST' + * expresses a conversion rate, as in hledger + * when buying, also creates a lot than can be selected at + selling time + + * '(@) UNITCOST' and '(@@) TOTALCOST' (virtual cost) + * like the above, but also means "this cost was exceptional, + don't use it when inferring market prices". + + Currently, hledger treats the above like '@' and '@@'; the +parentheses are ignored. + + * '{=FIXEDUNITCOST}' and '{{=FIXEDTOTALCOST}}' (fixed price) + * when buying, means "this cost is also the fixed price, don't + let it fluctuate in value reports" + + * '{UNITCOST}' and '{{TOTALCOST}}' (lot price) + * can be used identically to '@ UNITCOST' and '@@ TOTALCOST', + also creates a lot + * when selling, combined with '@ ...', specifies an investment + lot by its cost basis; does not check if that lot is present + + * and related: '[YYYY/MM/DD]' (lot date) + * when buying, attaches this acquisition date to the lot + * when selling, selects a lot by its acquisition date + + Currently, hledger accepts any or all of the above in any order after +the posting amount, but ignores them. (To select lots, we use +subaccounts instead.) + + * also: '(SOME TEXT)' (lot note) + * when buying, attaches this note to the lot + * when selling, selects a lot by its note + + Currently, hledger rejects lot notes. + + For Beancount users, the notation and behaviour is different: + + * '@ UNITCOST' and '@@ TOTALCOST' + * expresses a cost without creating a lot, as in hledger + * when buying (augmenting) or selling (reducing) a lot, combined + with '{...}': documents the cost/selling price (not used for + transaction balancing) + + * '{UNITCOST}' and '{{TOTALCOST}}' + * when buying (augmenting), expresses the cost for transaction + balancing, and also creates a lot with this cost basis + attached + * when selling (reducing), + * selects a lot by its cost basis + * raises an error if that lot is not present or can not be + selected unambiguously (depending on booking method + configured) + * expresses the selling price for transaction balancing + + Currently, hledger accepts the '{UNITCOST}'/'{{TOTALCOST}}' notation +but ignores it. + + * variations: '{}', '{YYYY-MM-DD}', '{"LABEL"}', '{UNITCOST, + "LABEL"}', '{UNITCOST, YYYY-MM-DD, "LABEL"}' etc. + + Currently, hledger rejects these.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Balance assertions, Next: Balance assignments, Prev: Lot prices lot dates, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Balance assertions, Next: Balance assignments, Prev: Costs, Up: Journal -12.13 Balance assertions +10.12 Balance assertions ======================== hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. @@ -6222,7 +1802,7 @@ can protect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances while cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with the '-I/--ignore-assertions' flag, which can be useful for troubleshooting or for reading Ledger files. (Note: this flag currently -does not disable balance assignments, below). +does not disable balance assignments, described below). * Menu: @@ -6239,7 +1819,7 @@ does not disable balance assignments, below).  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and ordering, Next: Assertions and multiple included files, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.1 Assertions and ordering +10.12.1 Assertions and ordering ------------------------------- hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and @@ -6258,7 +1838,7 @@ can assert intra-day balances.  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and multiple included files, Next: Assertions and multiple -f files, Prev: Assertions and ordering, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.2 Assertions and multiple included files +10.12.2 Assertions and multiple included files ---------------------------------------------- Multiple files included with the 'include' directive are processed as if @@ -6274,7 +1854,7 @@ balance on that day, you'll need to put the assertion in the right file  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and multiple -f files, Next: Assertions and commodities, Prev: Assertions and multiple included files, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.3 Assertions and multiple -f files +10.12.3 Assertions and multiple -f files ---------------------------------------- Unlike 'include', when multiple files are specified on the command line @@ -6288,7 +1868,7 @@ problems in earlier files to disrupt valid assertions in later files.  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and commodities, Next: Assertions and prices, Prev: Assertions and multiple -f files, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.4 Assertions and commodities +10.12.4 Assertions and commodities ---------------------------------- The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in @@ -6336,11 +1916,11 @@ commodity into its own subaccount:  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and prices, Next: Assertions and subaccounts, Prev: Assertions and commodities, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.5 Assertions and prices +10.12.5 Assertions and prices ----------------------------- -Balance assertions ignore transaction prices, and should normally be -written without one: +Balance assertions ignore costs, and should normally be written without +one: 2019/1/1 (a) $1 @ €1 = $1 @@ -6354,7 +1934,7 @@ _assignments_ do use them (see below).  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and subaccounts, Next: Assertions and virtual postings, Prev: Assertions and prices, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.6 Assertions and subaccounts +10.12.6 Assertions and subaccounts ---------------------------------- The balance assertions above ('=' and '==') do not count the balance @@ -6371,7 +1951,7 @@ eg:  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and virtual postings, Next: Assertions and auto postings, Prev: Assertions and subaccounts, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.7 Assertions and virtual postings +10.12.7 Assertions and virtual postings --------------------------------------- Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they @@ -6380,7 +1960,7 @@ are not affected by the '--real/-R' flag or 'real:' query.  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and auto postings, Next: Assertions and precision, Prev: Assertions and virtual postings, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.8 Assertions and auto postings +10.12.8 Assertions and auto postings ------------------------------------ Balance assertions _are_ affected by the '--auto' flag, which generates @@ -6399,7 +1979,7 @@ these. So to avoid making fragile assertions, either:  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and precision, Prev: Assertions and auto postings, Up: Balance assertions -12.13.9 Assertions and precision +10.12.9 Assertions and precision -------------------------------- Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are not @@ -6408,9 +1988,9 @@ display precision, but this will not affect balance assertions. Balance assertion failure messages show exact amounts.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Balance assignments, Next: Directives, Prev: Balance assertions, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Balance assignments, Next: Posting comments, Prev: Balance assertions, Up: Journal -12.14 Balance assignments +10.13 Balance assignments ========================= Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported. These are like @@ -6447,11 +2027,11 @@ hledger or do the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it.  File: hledger.info, Node: Balance assignments and prices, Up: Balance assignments -12.14.1 Balance assignments and prices +10.13.1 Balance assignments and prices -------------------------------------- -A transaction price in a balance assignment will cause the calculated -amount to have that price attached: +A cost in a balance assignment will cause the calculated amount to have +that price attached: 2019/1/1 (a) = $1 @ €2 @@ -6461,9 +2041,88 @@ $ hledger print --explicit (a) $1 @ €2 = $1 @ €2  -File: hledger.info, Node: Directives, Next: Directives and multiple files, Prev: Balance assignments, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Posting comments, Next: Tags, Prev: Balance assignments, Up: Journal -12.15 Directives +10.14 Posting comments +====================== + +Text following ';', at the end of a posting line, and/or on indented +lines immediately below it, form comments for that posting. They are +reproduced by 'print' but otherwise ignored, except they may contain +tags or bracketed posting dates, which are not ignored. + +2012-01-01 + expenses 1 ; a comment for posting 1 + assets + ; a comment for posting 2 + ; a second comment line for posting 2 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Tags, Next: Directives, Prev: Posting comments, Up: Journal + +10.15 Tags +========== + +Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, +postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. + + They are written as a word (optionally hyphenated) immediately +followed by a full colon, in a transaction or posting or account +directive's comment. (This is an exception to the usual rule that +things in comments are ignored.) Eg, here four different tags are +recorded: one on the checking account, two on the transaction, and one +on the expenses posting: + +account assets:checking ; accounttag: + +2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag-1: + ; transactiontag-2: + assets:checking $-1 + expenses:food $1 ; postingtag: + + Postings also inherit tags from their transaction and their account. +And transactions also acquire tags from their postings (and postings' +accounts). So in the example above, the expenses posting effectively +has all four tags (by inheriting from account and transaction), and the +transaction also has all four tags (by acquiring from the expenses +posting). + + You can list tag names with 'hledger tags [NAMEREGEX]', or match by +tag name with a 'tag:NAMEREGEX' query. + +* Menu: + +* Tag values:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Tag values, Up: Tags + +10.15.1 Tag values +------------------ + +Tags can have a value, which is any text after the colon up until a +comma or end of line (with surrounding whitespace removed). Note this +means that hledger tag values can not contain commas. Eg in the +following posting, the three tags' values are "value 1", "value 2", and +"" (empty) respectively: + + expenses:food $10 ; foo, tag1: value 1 , tag2:value 2, bar tag3: , baz + + Note that tags are multi-valued. When a tag name is seen again with +a new value, the new value is added, rather than overriding the previous +value. Currently this is true for all same-tag situations, ie: + + * Same tag on multiple transactions + * Posting inheriting the same tag from its transaction or account + * Transaction acquiring the same tag from one or more of its postings + + You can list a tag's values with 'hledger tags TAGNAME --values', or +match by tag value with a 'tag:NAMEREGEX=VALUEREGEX' query. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Directives, Next: Including files, Prev: Tags, Up: Journal + +10.16 Directives ================ A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, @@ -6510,6 +2169,7 @@ Declare accounts' display 'account' order and accounting type Declare commodity display 'commodity', 'D' '-c/--commodity-style' styles +Declare market prices 'P' And here are all the directives and their precise effects: @@ -6555,11 +2215,15 @@ account'*following entries until end of current file or 'end apply (equals)on matched transactions with '--auto', in current, parent, and child files (but not sibling files, see #1212). - -File: hledger.info, Node: Directives and multiple files, Next: Comment blocks, Prev: Directives, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +* Menu: -12.16 Directives and multiple files -=================================== +* Directives and multiple files:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Directives and multiple files, Up: Directives + +10.16.1 Directives and multiple files +------------------------------------- If you use multiple '-f'/'--file' options, or the 'include' directive, hledger will process multiple input files. But directives which affect @@ -6576,20 +2240,10 @@ files. directives do not affect parent or sibling files (see below).  -File: hledger.info, Node: Comment blocks, Next: Including other files, Prev: Directives and multiple files, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Including files, Next: Default year, Prev: Directives, Up: Journal -12.17 Comment blocks -==================== - -A line containing just 'comment' starts a commented region of the file, -and a line containing just 'end comment' (or the end of the current -file) ends it. See also comments. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Including other files, Next: Default year, Prev: Comment blocks, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT - -12.18 Including other files -=========================== +10.17 Including files +===================== You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include directive, like this: @@ -6617,9 +2271,9 @@ overriding the file extension (as described in hledger.1 -> Input files): 'include timedot:~/notes/2020*.md'.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Default year, Next: Declaring payees, Prev: Including other files, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Default year, Next: Decimal mark, Prev: Including files, Up: Journal -12.19 Default year +10.18 Default year ================== You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't @@ -6643,23 +2297,10 @@ Y2010 ; change default year to 2010 assets  -File: hledger.info, Node: Declaring payees, Next: Declaring the decimal mark, Prev: Default year, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Decimal mark, Next: Commodities, Prev: Default year, Up: Journal -12.20 Declaring payees -====================== - -The 'payee' directive can be used to declare a limited set of payees -which may appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will -report an error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been -declared. Eg: - -payee Whole Foods - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Declaring the decimal mark, Next: Declaring commodities, Prev: Declaring payees, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT - -12.21 Declaring the decimal mark -================================ +10.19 Decimal mark +================== You can use a 'decimal-mark' directive - usually one per file, at the top of the file - to declare which character represents a decimal mark @@ -6676,10 +2317,10 @@ recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg thousands separators).  -File: hledger.info, Node: Declaring commodities, Next: Default commodity, Prev: Declaring the decimal mark, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Commodities, Next: Default commodity, Prev: Decimal mark, Up: Journal -12.22 Declaring commodities -=========================== +10.20 Commodities +================= You can use 'commodity' directives to declare your commodities. In fact the 'commodity' directive performs several functions at once: @@ -6752,9 +2393,9 @@ style can still be overridden by supplying a command line option. * Commodity error checking::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity error checking, Up: Declaring commodities +File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity error checking, Up: Commodities -12.22.1 Commodity error checking +10.20.1 Commodity error checking -------------------------------- In strict mode, enabled with the '-s'/'--strict' flag, hledger will @@ -6768,9 +2409,9 @@ with a directive. This is one exception for convenience: zero amounts are always allowed to have no commodity symbol.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Default commodity, Next: Declaring market prices, Prev: Declaring commodities, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Default commodity, Next: Accounts, Prev: Commodities, Up: Journal -12.23 Default commodity +10.21 Default commodity ======================= The 'D' directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any @@ -6801,39 +2442,10 @@ add a 'commodity' directive similar to the 'D'. (The 'hledger check commodities' command expects 'commodity' directives, and ignores 'D').  -File: hledger.info, Node: Declaring market prices, Next: Declaring accounts, Prev: Default commodity, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Accounts, Next: Account aliases, Prev: Default commodity, Up: Journal -12.24 Declaring market prices -============================= - -The 'P' directive declares a market price, which is an exchange rate -between two commodities on a certain date. (In Ledger, they are called -"historical prices".) These are often obtained from a stock exchange, -cryptocurrency exchange, or the foreign exchange market. - - The format is: - -P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT - - DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the -commodity being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and -quantity) of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this -date. Examples: - -# one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: -P 2009-01-01 € $1.35 - -# and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: -P 2010-01-01 € $1.40 - - The '-V', '-X' and '--value' flags use these market prices to show -amount values in another commodity. See Valuation. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Declaring accounts, Next: Rewriting accounts, Prev: Declaring market prices, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT - -12.25 Declaring accounts -======================== +10.22 Accounts +============== 'account' directives can be used to declare accounts (ie, the places that amounts are transferred from and to). Though not required, these @@ -6867,28 +2479,27 @@ account assets:bank:checking * Account types::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account comments, Next: Account subdirectives, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account comments, Next: Account subdirectives, Up: Accounts -12.25.1 Account comments +10.22.1 Account comments ------------------------ -Comments, beginning with a semicolon: +Text following *two or more spaces* and ';' at the end of an account +directive line, and/or following ';' on indented lines immediately below +it, form comments for that account. They are ignored except they may +contain tags, which are not ignored. - * can be written on the same line, but only after *two or more - spaces* (because ';' is allowed in account names) - * and/or on the next lines, indented - * and may contain tags, such as the 'type:' tag. - - For example: + The two-space requirement for same-line account comments is because +';' is allowed in account names. account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon ; next-line comment ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account subdirectives, Next: Account error checking, Prev: Account comments, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account subdirectives, Next: Account error checking, Prev: Account comments, Up: Accounts -12.25.2 Account subdirectives +10.22.2 Account subdirectives ----------------------------- Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently @@ -6898,9 +2509,9 @@ account assets:bank:checking format subdirective is ignored  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account error checking, Next: Account display order, Prev: Account subdirectives, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account error checking, Next: Account display order, Prev: Account subdirectives, Up: Accounts -12.25.3 Account error checking +10.22.3 Account error checking ------------------------------ By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence when @@ -6926,9 +2537,9 @@ been declared by an account directive. Some notes: with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account display order, Next: Account types, Prev: Account error checking, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account display order, Next: Account types, Prev: Account error checking, Up: Accounts -12.25.4 Account display order +10.22.4 Account display order ----------------------------- The order in which account directives are written influences the order @@ -6970,9 +2581,9 @@ means: between 'a:b' and 'a:c').  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account types, Prev: Account display order, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account types, Prev: Account display order, Up: Accounts -12.25.5 Account types +10.22.5 Account types --------------------- hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, @@ -6999,8 +2610,8 @@ tag's value should be one of the five main account types: * 'C' or 'Cash' (a subtype of Asset, indicating liquid assets for the cashflow report) - * 'V' or 'Conversion' (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see - COST).) + * 'V' or 'Conversion' (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see COST + REPORTING).) Here is a typical set of account type declarations: @@ -7057,10 +2668,10 @@ account equity:conversion ; type: V $ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES]  -File: hledger.info, Node: Rewriting accounts, Next: Default parent account, Prev: Declaring accounts, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Account aliases, Next: Default parent account, Prev: Accounts, Up: Journal -12.26 Rewriting accounts -======================== +10.23 Account aliases +===================== You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or parts of them, before generating reports. This can be useful for: @@ -7094,9 +2705,9 @@ more on this below. * Aliases and account types::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Basic aliases, Next: Regex aliases, Up: Rewriting accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Basic aliases, Next: Regex aliases, Up: Account aliases -12.26.1 Basic aliases +10.23.1 Basic aliases --------------------- To set an account alias, use the 'alias' directive in your journal file. @@ -7118,9 +2729,9 @@ alias checking = assets:bank:wells fargo:checking ; rewrites "checking" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking", or "checking:a" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking:a"  -File: hledger.info, Node: Regex aliases, Next: Combining aliases, Prev: Basic aliases, Up: Rewriting accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Regex aliases, Next: Combining aliases, Prev: Basic aliases, Up: Account aliases -12.26.2 Regex aliases +10.23.2 Regex aliases --------------------- There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, @@ -7152,9 +2763,9 @@ alias /^(.+):bank:([^:]+):(.*)/ = \1:\2 \3 of option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Combining aliases, Next: Aliases and multiple files, Prev: Regex aliases, Up: Rewriting accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Combining aliases, Next: Aliases and multiple files, Prev: Regex aliases, Up: Account aliases -12.26.3 Combining aliases +10.23.3 Combining aliases ------------------------- You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives @@ -7189,9 +2800,9 @@ independent of which files are being read and in which order. which aliases are being applied when.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Aliases and multiple files, Next: end aliases, Prev: Combining aliases, Up: Rewriting accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Aliases and multiple files, Next: end aliases, Prev: Combining aliases, Up: Account aliases -12.26.4 Aliases and multiple files +10.23.4 Aliases and multiple files ---------------------------------- As explained at Directives and multiple files, 'alias' directives do not @@ -7221,9 +2832,9 @@ alias bar=Bar include c.journal ; also affected  -File: hledger.info, Node: end aliases, Next: Aliases can generate bad account names, Prev: Aliases and multiple files, Up: Rewriting accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: end aliases, Next: Aliases can generate bad account names, Prev: Aliases and multiple files, Up: Account aliases -12.26.5 'end aliases' +10.23.5 'end aliases' --------------------- You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases (seen in the @@ -7232,9 +2843,9 @@ journal so far, or defined on the command line) with this directive: end aliases  -File: hledger.info, Node: Aliases can generate bad account names, Next: Aliases and account types, Prev: end aliases, Up: Rewriting accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Aliases can generate bad account names, Next: Aliases and account types, Prev: end aliases, Up: Account aliases -12.26.6 Aliases can generate bad account names +10.23.6 Aliases can generate bad account names ---------------------------------------------- Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, which @@ -7263,9 +2874,9 @@ $ hledger print --alias old="new USD" | hledger -f- print other  -File: hledger.info, Node: Aliases and account types, Prev: Aliases can generate bad account names, Up: Rewriting accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Aliases and account types, Prev: Aliases can generate bad account names, Up: Account aliases -12.26.7 Aliases and account types +10.23.7 Aliases and account types --------------------------------- If an account with a type declaration (see Declaring accounts > Account @@ -7287,9 +2898,9 @@ command, eg something like: $ hledger accounts --alias assets=bassetts type:a  -File: hledger.info, Node: Default parent account, Next: Periodic transactions, Prev: Rewriting accounts, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Default parent account, Next: Payees, Prev: Account aliases, Up: Journal -12.27 Default parent account +10.24 Default parent account ============================ You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all accounts @@ -7328,202 +2939,51 @@ If account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent account.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Periodic transactions, Next: Auto postings, Prev: Default parent account, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Payees, Next: Market prices, Prev: Default parent account, Up: Journal -12.28 Periodic transactions -=========================== +10.25 Payees +============ -Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They allow -hledger to generate temporary future transactions to help with -forecasting, so you don't have to write out each one in the journal, and -it's easy to try out different forecasts. +The 'payee' directive can be used to declare a limited set of payees +which may appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will +report an error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been +declared. Eg: - Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, -read this whole section - or at least these tips: - - 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - - read about this below. - 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with 'hledger - print --forecast tag:generated' or 'hledger register --forecast - tag:generated'. - 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last - non-forecasted transaction's date. - 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. - See below for the exact start/end rules. - 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs - improvement, but is worth studying. - 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a - natural boundary of that interval. Eg in 'weekly from DATE', DATE - must be a monday. '~ weekly from 2019/10/1' (a tuesday) will give - an error. - 7. Other period expressions with an interval are automatically - expanded to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done - to improve reports, but it also affects periodic transactions. - Yes, it's a bit inconsistent with the above.) Eg: '~ every 10th - day of month from 2020/01', which is equivalent to '~ every 10th - day of month from 2020/01/01', will be adjusted to start on - 2019/12/10. - - Periodic transaction rules also have a second meaning: they are used -to define budget goals, shown in budget reports. - -* Menu: - -* Periodic rule syntax:: -* Periodic rules and relative dates:: -* Two spaces between period expression and description!:: -* Forecasting with periodic transactions:: -* Budgeting with periodic transactions:: +payee Whole Foods  -File: hledger.info, Node: Periodic rule syntax, Next: Periodic rules and relative dates, Up: Periodic transactions +File: hledger.info, Node: Market prices, Next: Auto postings, Prev: Payees, Up: Journal -12.28.1 Periodic rule syntax ----------------------------- +10.26 Market prices +=================== -A periodic transaction rule looks like a normal journal entry, with the -date replaced by a tilde ('~') followed by a period expression -(mnemonic: '~' looks like a recurring sine wave.): +The 'P' directive declares a market price, which is a conversion rate +between two commodities on a certain date. These are often obtained +from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, or the foreign exchange +market. -~ monthly - expenses:rent $2000 - assets:bank:checking + The format is: - There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start -date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg 'monthly from -2018/1/1' is valid, but 'monthly from 2018/1/15' is not. +P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT + + DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the +commodity being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and +quantity) of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this +date. Examples: + +# one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: +P 2009-01-01 € $1.35 + +# and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: +P 2010-01-01 € $1.40 + + The '-V', '-X' and '--value' flags use these market prices to show +amount values in another commodity. See Valuation.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Periodic rules and relative dates, Next: Two spaces between period expression and description!, Prev: Periodic rule syntax, Up: Periodic transactions +File: hledger.info, Node: Auto postings, Next: Periodic transactions, Prev: Market prices, Up: Journal -12.28.2 Periodic rules and relative dates ------------------------------------------ - -Partial or relative dates (like '12/31', '25', 'tomorrow', 'last week', -'next quarter') are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the -results will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted -relative to, in order of preference: - - 1. the first day of the default year specified by a recent 'Y' - directive - 2. or the date specified with '--today' - 3. or the date on which you are running the report. - - They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period -dates. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!, Next: Forecasting with periodic transactions, Prev: Periodic rules and relative dates, Up: Periodic transactions - -12.28.3 Two spaces between period expression and description! -------------------------------------------------------------- - -If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, these -must be separated by *two or more spaces*. This helps hledger know -where the period expression ends, so that descriptions can not -accidentally alter their meaning, as in this example: - -; 2 or more spaces needed here, so the period is not understood as "every 2 months in 2020" -; || -; vv -~ every 2 months in 2020, we will review - assets:bank:checking $1500 - income:acme inc - - So, - - * Do write two spaces between your period expression and your - transaction description, if any. - * Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period - expression. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Forecasting with periodic transactions, Next: Budgeting with periodic transactions, Prev: Two spaces between period expression and description!, Up: Periodic transactions - -12.28.4 Forecasting with periodic transactions ----------------------------------------------- - -The '--forecast' flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the -journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usually -recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. 'hledger -print --forecast' is a good way to see them. - - This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps -experimenting with different scenarios. - - It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe -recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of 'print ---forecast' into the journal. - - The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like -'generated-transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR', indicating which periodic rule -generated them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named -'_generated-transaction:', which you can use to reliably match -transactions generated "just now" (rather than 'print'ed in the past). - - The forecast transactions are generated within a _forecast period_, -which is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the -bounds for generated transactions, report period controls which -transactions are reported.) The forecast period begins on: - - * the start date provided within '--forecast''s argument, if any - * otherwise, the later of - * the report start date, if specified (with '-b'/'-p'/'date:') - * the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, - if any - - * otherwise today. - - It ends on: - - * the end date provided within '--forecast''s argument, if any - * otherwise, the report end date, if specified (with - '-e'/'-p'/'date:') - * otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. - - Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic -transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start until -after the last ordinary transaction. This is usually convenient, but -you can get around it in two ways: - - * If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them - periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: '~ - YYYY-MM-DD') rather than ordinary transactions. That way they - won't suppress other periodic transactions. - - * Or give '--forecast' a period expression argument. A forecast - period specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, and - need not be in the future. Some things to note: - - * You must use '=' between flag and argument; a space won't - work. - * The period expression can specify the forecast period's start - date, end date, or both. See also Report start & end date. - * The period expression should not specify a report interval. - (Each periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) - - Some examples: '--forecast=202001-202004', '--forecast=jan-', -'--forecast=2021'. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Budgeting with periodic transactions, Prev: Forecasting with periodic transactions, Up: Periodic transactions - -12.28.5 Budgeting with periodic transactions --------------------------------------------- - -With the '--budget' flag, currently supported by the balance command, -each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals for the -specified accounts. Eg the first example above declares a goal of -spending $2000 on rent (and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into -checking) every month. Goals and actual performance can then be -compared in budget reports. - - See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Auto postings, Prev: Periodic transactions, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT - -12.29 Auto postings +10.27 Auto postings =================== "Automated postings" or "auto postings" are extra postings which get @@ -7601,7 +3061,7 @@ $ hledger print --auto  File: hledger.info, Node: Auto postings and multiple files, Next: Auto postings and dates, Up: Auto postings -12.29.1 Auto postings and multiple files +10.27.1 Auto postings and multiple files ---------------------------------------- An auto posting rule can affect any transaction in the current file, or @@ -7611,7 +3071,7 @@ sibling files (when multiple '-f'/'--file' are used - see #1212).  File: hledger.info, Node: Auto postings and dates, Next: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions, Prev: Auto postings and multiple files, Up: Auto postings -12.29.2 Auto postings and dates +10.27.2 Auto postings and dates ------------------------------- A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking @@ -7621,7 +3081,7 @@ used in the generated posting.  File: hledger.info, Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions, Next: Auto posting tags, Prev: Auto postings and dates, Up: Auto postings -12.29.3 Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / +10.27.3 Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / -------------------------------------------------------------------- balance assertions Currently, auto postings are added: @@ -7641,7 +3101,7 @@ infer amounts.  File: hledger.info, Node: Auto posting tags, Prev: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions, Up: Auto postings -12.29.4 Auto posting tags +10.27.4 Auto posting tags ------------------------- Automated postings will have some extra tags: @@ -7661,64 +3121,136 @@ will have these tags added: transaction was modified "just now".  -File: hledger.info, Node: CSV FORMAT, Next: TIMECLOCK FORMAT, Prev: JOURNAL FORMAT, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: Periodic transactions, Prev: Auto postings, Up: Journal -13 CSV FORMAT -************* +10.28 Periodic transactions +=========================== -How hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format. +Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They allow +hledger to generate temporary future transactions (visible only in +reports) to help with forecasting or budgeting. - hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually -comma, semicolon, or tab) containing dated records as if they were -journal files, automatically converting each CSV record into a -transaction. + Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, +read this whole section, or at least these tips: + + 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - + read about this below. + 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with 'hledger + print --forecast tag:generated' or 'hledger register --forecast + tag:generated'. + 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last + non-forecasted transaction's date. + 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. + See below for the exact start/end rules. + 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs + improvement, but is worth studying. + 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a + natural boundary of that interval. Eg in 'weekly from DATE', DATE + must be a monday. '~ weekly from 2019/10/1' (a tuesday) will give + an error. + 7. Other period expressions with an interval are automatically + expanded to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done + to improve reports, but it also affects periodic transactions. + Yes, it's a bit inconsistent with the above.) Eg: '~ every 10th + day of month from 2020/01', which is equivalent to '~ every 10th + day of month from 2020/01/01', will be adjusted to start on + 2019/12/10. + +* Menu: + +* Periodic rule syntax:: +* Periodic rules and relative dates:: +* Two spaces between period expression and description!:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Periodic rule syntax, Next: Periodic rules and relative dates, Up: Periodic transactions + +10.28.1 Periodic rule syntax +---------------------------- + +A periodic transaction rule looks like a normal journal entry, with the +date replaced by a tilde ('~') followed by a period expression +(mnemonic: '~' looks like a recurring sine wave.): + +~ monthly + expenses:rent $2000 + assets:bank:checking + + There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start +date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg 'monthly from +2018/1/1' is valid, but 'monthly from 2018/1/15' is not. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Periodic rules and relative dates, Next: Two spaces between period expression and description!, Prev: Periodic rule syntax, Up: Periodic transactions + +10.28.2 Periodic rules and relative dates +----------------------------------------- + +Partial or relative dates (like '12/31', '25', 'tomorrow', 'last week', +'next quarter') are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the +results will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted +relative to, in order of preference: + + 1. the first day of the default year specified by a recent 'Y' + directive + 2. or the date specified with '--today' + 3. or the date on which you are running the report. + + They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period +dates. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!, Prev: Periodic rules and relative dates, Up: Periodic transactions + +10.28.3 Two spaces between period expression and description! +------------------------------------------------------------- + +If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, these +must be separated by *two or more spaces*. This helps hledger know +where the period expression ends, so that descriptions can not +accidentally alter their meaning, as in this example: + +; 2 or more spaces needed here, so the period is not understood as "every 2 months in 2020" +; || +; vv +~ every 2 months in 2020, we will review + assets:bank:checking $1500 + income:acme inc + + So, + + * Do write two spaces between your period expression and your + transaction description, if any. + * Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period + expression. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: CSV, Next: Timeclock, Prev: Journal, Up: Top + +11 CSV +****** + +hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, +semicolon, or tab) containing dated records, automatically converting +each record into a transaction. (To learn about _writing_ CSV, see CSV output.) - We describe each CSV file's format with a corresponding _rules file_. -By default this is named like the CSV file with a '.rules' extension -added. Eg when reading 'FILE.csv', hledger also looks for -'FILE.csv.rules' in the same directory as 'FILE.csv'. You can specify a -different rules file with the '--rules-file' option. If a rules file is -not found, hledger will create a sample rules file, which you'll need to -adjust. + Note, for best error messages when reading CSV/TSV/SSV files, make +sure they have a corresponding '.csv', '.tsv' or '.ssv' file extension +or use a hledger file prefix (see File Extension below). - This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields -layout, date format etc.), and how to construct hledger journal entries -(transactions) from it. Often there will also be a list of conditional -rules for categorising transactions based on their descriptions. Here's -an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully below, -after the examples: + Each CSV file must be described by a corresponding _rules file_. +This contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields layout, +date format etc.), how to construct hledger transactions from it, and +how to categorise transactions based on description or other attributes. -*'skip'* skip one or more header lines or matched - CSV records -*'fields' list* name CSV fields, assign them to hledger - fields -*field assignment* assign a value to one hledger field, with - interpolation -*Field names* hledger field names, used in the fields - list and field assignments -*'separator'* a custom field separator -*'if' block* apply some rules to CSV records matched by - patterns -*'if' table* apply some rules to CSV records matched by - patterns, alternate syntax -*'end'* skip the remaining CSV records -*'date-format'* how to parse dates in CSV records -*'decimal-mark'* the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if - ambiguous -*'newest-first'* improve txn order when there are multiple - records, newest first, all with the same - date -*'intra-day-reversed'* improve txn order when each day's txns are - reverse of the overall date order -*'include'* inline another CSV rules file -*'balance-type'* choose which type of balance assignments to - use - - Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a '.csv', -'.tsv' or '.ssv' file extension or file prefix - see File Extension -below. + By default hledger looks for a rules file named like the CSV file +with an extra '.rules' extension, in the same directory. Eg when asked +to read 'foo/FILE.csv', hledger looks for 'foo/FILE.csv.rules'. You can +specify a different rules file with the '--rules-file' option. If no +rules file is found, hledger will create a sample rules file, which +you'll need to adjust. There's an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. @@ -7726,12 +3258,39 @@ below. * Examples:: * CSV rules:: +* separator:: +* skip:: +* date-format:: +* timezone:: +* decimal-mark:: +* newest-first:: +* intra-day-reversed:: +* fields:: +* Field assignment:: +* Field names:: +* if:: +* if table:: +* end:: +* include:: +* balance-type:: * Tips:: +* Rapid feedback:: +* Valid CSV:: +* File Extension:: +* Reading multiple CSV files:: +* Valid transactions:: +* Deduplicating importing:: +* Setting amounts:: +* Amount signs:: +* Setting currency/commodity:: +* Amount decimal places:: +* Referencing other fields:: +* How CSV rules are evaluated::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Examples, Next: CSV rules, Up: CSV FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Examples, Next: CSV rules, Up: CSV -13.1 Examples +11.1 Examples ============= Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full @@ -7748,7 +3307,7 @@ https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv  File: hledger.info, Node: Basic, Next: Bank of Ireland, Up: Examples -13.1.1 Basic +11.1.1 Basic ------------ At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, and @@ -7773,7 +3332,7 @@ $ hledger print -f basic.csv  File: hledger.info, Node: Bank of Ireland, Next: Amazon, Prev: Basic, Up: Examples -13.1.2 Bank of Ireland +11.1.2 Bank of Ireland ---------------------- Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance @@ -7826,7 +3385,7 @@ imported into a journal file.  File: hledger.info, Node: Amazon, Next: Paypal, Prev: Bank of Ireland, Up: Examples -13.1.3 Amazon +11.1.3 Amazon ------------- Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to @@ -7884,7 +3443,7 @@ $ hledger -f amazon-orders.csv print  File: hledger.info, Node: Paypal, Prev: Amazon, Up: Examples -13.1.4 Paypal +11.1.4 Paypal ------------- Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some @@ -8036,37 +3595,72 @@ $ hledger -f paypal-custom.csv print expenses:banking:paypal $0.59 ; business:  -File: hledger.info, Node: CSV rules, Next: Tips, Prev: Examples, Up: CSV FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: CSV rules, Next: separator, Prev: Examples, Up: CSV -13.2 CSV rules +11.2 CSV rules ============== The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order. -Blank lines and lines beginning with '#' or ';' are ignored. +Blank lines and lines beginning with '#' or ';' or '*' are ignored. -* Menu: - -* skip:: -* fields list:: -* field assignment:: -* Field names:: -* separator:: -* if block:: -* if table:: -* end:: -* date-format:: -* timezone:: -* decimal-mark:: -* newest-first:: -* intra-day-reversed:: -* include:: -* balance-type:: +*'separator'* a custom field separator +*'skip'* skip one or more header lines or matched CSV + records +*'date-format'* how to parse dates in CSV records +*'timezone'* declare the time zone of ambiguous CSV + date-times +*'decimal-mark'* the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if + ambiguous +*'newest-first'* improve txn order when there are multiple + records, newest first, all with the same + date +*'intra-day-reversed'* improve txn order when each day's txns are + reverse of the overall date order +*'balance-type'* choose which type of balance assignments to + use +*'fields'* name CSV fields, assign them to hledger + fields +*Field assignment* assign a value to one hledger field, with + interpolation +*Field names* hledger field names, used in the fields list + and field assignments +*'if'* apply some rules to CSV records matched by + patterns +*'if' table* apply some rules to CSV records matched by + patterns, alternate syntax +*'end'* skip the remaining CSV records +*'include'* inline another CSV rules file  -File: hledger.info, Node: skip, Next: fields list, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: separator, Next: skip, Prev: CSV rules, Up: CSV -13.2.1 'skip' -------------- +11.3 'separator' +================ + +You can use the 'separator' rule to read other kinds of +character-separated data. The argument is any single separator +character, or the words 'tab' or 'space' (case insensitive). Eg, for +comma-separated values (CSV): + +separator , + + or for semicolon-separated values (SSV): + +separator ; + + or for tab-separated values (TSV): + +separator TAB + + If the input file has a '.csv', '.ssv' or '.tsv' file extension (or a +'csv:', 'ssv:', 'tsv:' prefix), the appropriate separator will be +inferred automatically, and you won't need this rule. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: skip, Next: date-format, Prev: separator, Up: CSV + +11.4 'skip' +=========== skip N @@ -8075,14 +3669,134 @@ hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. - It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks to -ignore certain CSV records (described below). + It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks +(described below) to ignore certain CSV records.  -File: hledger.info, Node: fields list, Next: field assignment, Prev: skip, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: date-format, Next: timezone, Prev: skip, Up: CSV -13.2.2 'fields' list --------------------- +11.5 'date-format' +================== + +date-format DATEFMT + + This is a helper for the 'date' (and 'date2') fields. If your CSV +dates are not formatted like 'YYYY-MM-DD', 'YYYY/MM/DD' or 'YYYY.MM.DD', +you'll need to add a date-format rule describing them with a +strptime-style date parsing pattern - see +https://hackage.haskell.org/package/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. +The pattern must parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: + +# MM/DD/YY +date-format %m/%d/%y + +# D/M/YYYY +# The - makes leading zeros optional. +date-format %-d/%-m/%Y + +# YYYY-Mmm-DD +date-format %Y-%h-%d + +# M/D/YYYY HH:MM AM some other junk +# Note the time and junk must be fully parsed, though only the date is used. +date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p some other junk + + +File: hledger.info, Node: timezone, Next: decimal-mark, Prev: date-format, Up: CSV + +11.6 'timezone' +=============== + +timezone TIMEZONE + + When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone +other than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you +can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps +prevent off-by-one dates. + + When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't +need this rule; instead, use '%Z' in 'date-format' (or '%z', '%EZ', +'%Ez'; see the formatTime link above). + + In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware +conversion, localising the CSV date-times to your current system time +zone. If you prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for +reproducibility, you can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with +the TZ environment variable, eg: + +$ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv + + 'timezone' currently does not understand timezone names, except +"UTC", "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". +For others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: decimal-mark, Next: newest-first, Prev: timezone, Up: CSV + +11.7 'decimal-mark' +=================== + +decimal-mark . + + or: + +decimal-mark , + + hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal +mark when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the +CSV contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you +should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid +misparsed numbers. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: newest-first, Next: intra-day-reversed, Prev: decimal-mark, Up: CSV + +11.8 'newest-first' +=================== + +hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered +chronologically, including intra-day transactions. Usually it can +auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV +where all records are on the same date, it assumes that the records are +oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, +like: + +2022-10-01, txn 3... +2022-10-01, txn 2... +2022-10-01, txn 1... + + you can add the 'newest-first' rule to help hledger generate the +transactions in correct order. + +# same-day CSV records are newest first +newest-first + + +File: hledger.info, Node: intra-day-reversed, Next: fields, Prev: newest-first, Up: CSV + +11.9 'intra-day-reversed' +========================= + +CSV records for each day are sometimes ordered in reverse compared to +the overall date order. Eg, here dates are newest first, but the +transactions on each date are oldest first: + +2022-10-02, txn 3... +2022-10-02, txn 4... +2022-10-01, txn 1... +2022-10-01, txn 2... + + In this situation, add the 'intra-day-reversed' rule, and hledger +will compensate, improving the order of transactions. + +# transactions within each day are reversed with respect to the overall date order +intra-day-reversed + + +File: hledger.info, Node: fields, Next: Field assignment, Prev: intra-day-reversed, Up: CSV + +11.10 'fields' +============== fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... @@ -8122,10 +3836,10 @@ fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield or no name.  -File: hledger.info, Node: field assignment, Next: Field names, Prev: fields list, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: Field assignment, Next: Field names, Prev: fields, Up: CSV -13.2.3 field assignment ------------------------ +11.11 Field assignment +====================== HLEDGERFIELDNAME FIELDVALUE @@ -8156,13 +3870,13 @@ comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1 a hledger field. (See Referencing other fields below).  -File: hledger.info, Node: Field names, Next: separator, Prev: field assignment, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: Field names, Next: if, Prev: Field assignment, Up: CSV -13.2.4 Field names ------------------- +11.12 Field names +================= Here are the standard hledger field (and pseudo-field) names, which you -can use in a fields list and in field assignments. For more about the +can use in a fields list or in field assignments. For more about the transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions. * Menu: @@ -8181,64 +3895,63 @@ transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions.  File: hledger.info, Node: date field, Next: date2 field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.1 date field -................... +11.12.1 date field +------------------ Assigning to 'date' sets the transaction date.  File: hledger.info, Node: date2 field, Next: status field, Prev: date field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.2 date2 field -.................... +11.12.2 date2 field +------------------- 'date2' sets the transaction's secondary date, if any.  File: hledger.info, Node: status field, Next: code field, Prev: date2 field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.3 status field -..................... +11.12.3 status field +-------------------- 'status' sets the transaction's status, if any.  File: hledger.info, Node: code field, Next: description field, Prev: status field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.4 code field -................... +11.12.4 code field +------------------ 'code' sets the transaction's code, if any.  File: hledger.info, Node: description field, Next: comment field, Prev: code field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.5 description field -.......................... +11.12.5 description field +------------------------- 'description' sets the transaction's description, if any.  File: hledger.info, Node: comment field, Next: account field, Prev: description field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.6 comment field -...................... +11.12.6 comment field +--------------------- 'comment' sets the transaction's comment, if any. 'commentN', where N is a number, sets the Nth posting's comment. - Tips: + You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal '\n' in the +code. A comment starting with '\n' will begin on a new line. - * You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal '\n' in the - code. A comment starting with '\n' will begin on a new line. - * Comments can contain tags, as usual. + Comments can contain tags, as usual.  File: hledger.info, Node: account field, Next: amount field, Prev: comment field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.7 account field -...................... +11.12.7 account field +--------------------- Assigning to 'accountN', where N is 1 to 99, sets the account name of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. @@ -8255,8 +3968,8 @@ or "income:unknown").  File: hledger.info, Node: amount field, Next: currency field, Prev: account field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.8 amount field -..................... +11.12.8 amount field +-------------------- 'amountN' sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. By assigning to 'amount1', 'amount2', ... etc. you can @@ -8272,7 +3985,7 @@ below. pre-hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for occasional convenience). They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both posting 1's and posting 2's amount. Posting 2's amount will be -negated, and also converted to cost if there's a transaction price. +negated, and also converted to cost if there's a cost price. If you have an existing rules file using the unnumbered form, you might want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, @@ -8285,8 +3998,8 @@ avoiding conflicts.  File: hledger.info, Node: currency field, Next: balance field, Prev: amount field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.9 currency field -....................... +11.12.9 currency field +---------------------- 'currency' sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all postings' amounts. You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency @@ -8298,8 +4011,8 @@ amount.  File: hledger.info, Node: balance field, Prev: currency field, Up: Field names -13.2.4.10 balance field -....................... +11.12.10 balance field +---------------------- 'balanceN' sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is left empty, a balance assignment) on posting N. @@ -8313,35 +4026,10 @@ equivalent to 'balance1'. See Tips below for more about setting amounts and currency.  -File: hledger.info, Node: separator, Next: if block, Prev: Field names, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: if, Next: if table, Prev: Field names, Up: CSV -13.2.5 'separator' ------------------- - -You can use the 'separator' rule to read other kinds of -character-separated data. The argument is any single separator -character, or the words 'tab' or 'space' (case insensitive). Eg, for -comma-separated values (CSV): - -separator , - - or for semicolon-separated values (SSV): - -separator ; - - or for tab-separated values (TSV): - -separator TAB - - If the input file has a '.csv', '.ssv' or '.tsv' file extension (or a -'csv:', 'ssv:', 'tsv:' prefix), the appropriate separator will be -inferred automatically, and you won't need this rule. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: if block, Next: if table, Prev: separator, Up: CSV rules - -13.2.6 'if' block ------------------ +11.13 'if' +========== if MATCHER RULE @@ -8366,10 +4054,10 @@ descriptions. * Rules applied on successful match::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Matching the whole record, Next: Matching individual fields, Up: if block +File: hledger.info, Node: Matching the whole record, Next: Matching individual fields, Up: if -13.2.6.1 Matching the whole record -.................................. +11.13.1 Matching the whole record +--------------------------------- Each MATCHER can be a record matcher, which looks like this: @@ -8389,10 +4077,10 @@ the original record is '2020-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000', the REGEX will actually see '2020-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000').  -File: hledger.info, Node: Matching individual fields, Next: Combining matchers, Prev: Matching the whole record, Up: if block +File: hledger.info, Node: Matching individual fields, Next: Combining matchers, Prev: Matching the whole record, Up: if -13.2.6.2 Matching individual fields -................................... +11.13.2 Matching individual fields +---------------------------------- Or, MATCHER can be a field matcher, like this: @@ -8403,10 +4091,10 @@ is a percent sign followed by the field's name or column number, like '%date' or '%1'.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Combining matchers, Next: Rules applied on successful match, Prev: Matching individual fields, Up: if block +File: hledger.info, Node: Combining matchers, Next: Rules applied on successful match, Prev: Matching individual fields, Up: if -13.2.6.3 Combining matchers -........................... +11.13.3 Combining matchers +-------------------------- A single matcher can be written on the same line as the "if"; or multiple matchers can be written on the following lines, non-indented. @@ -8420,10 +4108,10 @@ MATCHER RULE  -File: hledger.info, Node: Rules applied on successful match, Prev: Combining matchers, Up: if block +File: hledger.info, Node: Rules applied on successful match, Prev: Combining matchers, Up: if -13.2.6.4 Rules applied on successful match -.......................................... +11.13.4 Rules applied on successful match +----------------------------------------- After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all indented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in @@ -8448,10 +4136,10 @@ banking thru software comment XXX deductible ? check it  -File: hledger.info, Node: if table, Next: end, Prev: if block, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: if table, Next: end, Prev: if, Up: CSV -13.2.7 'if' table ------------------ +11.14 'if' table +================ if,CSVFIELDNAME1,CSVFIELDNAME2,...,CSVFIELDNAMEn MATCHER1,VALUE11,VALUE12,...,VALUE1n @@ -8509,10 +4197,10 @@ atm transaction fee,expenses:business:banking,deductible? check it 2020/01/12.*Plumbing LLC,expenses:house:upkeep,emergency plumbing call-out  -File: hledger.info, Node: end, Next: date-format, Prev: if table, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: end, Next: include, Prev: if table, Up: CSV -13.2.8 'end' ------------- +11.15 'end' +=========== This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command @@ -8523,130 +4211,10 @@ if ,,,, end  -File: hledger.info, Node: date-format, Next: timezone, Prev: end, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: include, Next: balance-type, Prev: end, Up: CSV -13.2.9 'date-format' --------------------- - -date-format DATEFMT - - This is a helper for the 'date' (and 'date2') fields. If your CSV -dates are not formatted like 'YYYY-MM-DD', 'YYYY/MM/DD' or 'YYYY.MM.DD', -you'll need to add a date-format rule describing them with a -strptime-style date parsing pattern - see -https://hackage.haskell.org/package/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. -The pattern must parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: - -# MM/DD/YY -date-format %m/%d/%y - -# D/M/YYYY -# The - makes leading zeros optional. -date-format %-d/%-m/%Y - -# YYYY-Mmm-DD -date-format %Y-%h-%d - -# M/D/YYYY HH:MM AM some other junk -# Note the time and junk must be fully parsed, though only the date is used. -date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p some other junk - - -File: hledger.info, Node: timezone, Next: decimal-mark, Prev: date-format, Up: CSV rules - -13.2.10 'timezone' ------------------- - -timezone TIMEZONE - - When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone -other than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you -can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps -prevent off-by-one dates. - - When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't -need this rule; instead, use '%Z' in 'date-format' (or '%z', '%EZ', -'%Ez'; see the formatTime link above). - - In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware -conversion, localising the CSV date-times to your current system time -zone. If you prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for -reproducibility, you can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with -the TZ environment variable, eg: - -$ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv - - 'timezone' currently does not understand timezone names, except -"UTC", "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". -For others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: decimal-mark, Next: newest-first, Prev: timezone, Up: CSV rules - -13.2.11 'decimal-mark' ----------------------- - -decimal-mark . - - or: - -decimal-mark , - - hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal -mark when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the -CSV contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you -should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid -misparsed numbers. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: newest-first, Next: intra-day-reversed, Prev: decimal-mark, Up: CSV rules - -13.2.12 'newest-first' ----------------------- - -hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered -chronologically, including intra-day transactions. Usually it can -auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV -where all records are on the same date, it assumes that the records are -oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, -like: - -2022-10-01, txn 3... -2022-10-01, txn 2... -2022-10-01, txn 1... - - you can add the 'newest-first' rule to help hledger generate the -transactions in correct order. - -# same-day CSV records are newest first -newest-first - - -File: hledger.info, Node: intra-day-reversed, Next: include, Prev: newest-first, Up: CSV rules - -13.2.13 'intra-day-reversed' ----------------------------- - -CSV records for each day are sometimes ordered in reverse compared to -the overall date order. Eg, here dates are newest first, but the -transactions on each date are oldest first: - -2022-10-02, txn 3... -2022-10-02, txn 4... -2022-10-01, txn 1... -2022-10-01, txn 2... - - In this situation, add the 'intra-day-reversed' rule, and hledger -will compensate, improving the order of transactions. - -# transactions within each day are reversed with respect to the overall date order -intra-day-reversed - - -File: hledger.info, Node: include, Next: balance-type, Prev: intra-day-reversed, Up: CSV rules - -13.2.14 'include' ------------------ +11.16 'include' +=============== include RULESFILE @@ -8666,10 +4234,10 @@ account2 expenses:misc include categorisation.rules  -File: hledger.info, Node: balance-type, Prev: include, Up: CSV rules +File: hledger.info, Node: balance-type, Next: Tips, Prev: include, Up: CSV -13.2.15 'balance-type' ----------------------- +11.17 'balance-type' +==================== Balance assertions generated by assigning to balanceN are of the simple '=' type by default, which is a single-commodity, subaccount-excluding @@ -8689,31 +4257,16 @@ balance-type ==* ==* multi commodity, include subaccounts  -File: hledger.info, Node: Tips, Prev: CSV rules, Up: CSV FORMAT +File: hledger.info, Node: Tips, Next: Rapid feedback, Prev: balance-type, Up: CSV -13.3 Tips -========= - -* Menu: - -* Rapid feedback:: -* Valid CSV:: -* File Extension:: -* Reading multiple CSV files:: -* Valid transactions:: -* Deduplicating importing:: -* Setting amounts:: -* Amount signs:: -* Setting currency/commodity:: -* Amount decimal places:: -* Referencing other fields:: -* How CSV rules are evaluated:: +11.18 Tips +==========  -File: hledger.info, Node: Rapid feedback, Next: Valid CSV, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Rapid feedback, Next: Valid CSV, Prev: Tips, Up: CSV -13.3.1 Rapid feedback ---------------------- +11.19 Rapid feedback +==================== It's a good idea to get rapid feedback while creating/troubleshooting CSV rules. Here's a good way, using entr from eradman.com/entrproject: @@ -8726,10 +4279,10 @@ a separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to read the output.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Valid CSV, Next: File Extension, Prev: Rapid feedback, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Valid CSV, Next: File Extension, Prev: Rapid feedback, Up: CSV -13.3.2 Valid CSV ----------------- +11.20 Valid CSV +=============== hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are enclosed in quotes, note: @@ -8738,10 +4291,10 @@ enclosed in quotes, note: * spaces outside the quotes are not allowed  -File: hledger.info, Node: File Extension, Next: Reading multiple CSV files, Prev: Valid CSV, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: File Extension, Next: Reading multiple CSV files, Prev: Valid CSV, Up: CSV -13.3.3 File Extension ---------------------- +11.21 File Extension +==================== To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a '.csv', '.ssv' or @@ -8758,10 +4311,10 @@ $ cat foo | hledger -f ssv:- foo See also: Input files in the hledger manual.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Reading multiple CSV files, Next: Valid transactions, Prev: File Extension, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Reading multiple CSV files, Next: Valid transactions, Prev: File Extension, Up: CSV -13.3.4 Reading multiple CSV files ---------------------------------- +11.22 Reading multiple CSV files +================================ If you use multiple '-f' options to read multiple CSV files at once, hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV @@ -8769,10 +4322,10 @@ file. But if you use the '--rules-file' option, that rules file will be used for all the CSV files.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Valid transactions, Next: Deduplicating importing, Prev: Reading multiple CSV files, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Valid transactions, Next: Deduplicating importing, Prev: Reading multiple CSV files, Up: CSV -13.3.5 Valid transactions -------------------------- +11.23 Valid transactions +======================== After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the generated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing @@ -8788,10 +4341,10 @@ assertions generated from CSV right away, pipe into another hledger: $ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print  -File: hledger.info, Node: Deduplicating importing, Next: Setting amounts, Prev: Valid transactions, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Deduplicating importing, Next: Setting amounts, Prev: Valid transactions, Up: CSV -13.3.6 Deduplicating, importing -------------------------------- +11.24 Deduplicating, importing +============================== When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing some @@ -8818,10 +4371,10 @@ CSV data. See: * https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion  -File: hledger.info, Node: Setting amounts, Next: Amount signs, Prev: Deduplicating importing, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Setting amounts, Next: Amount signs, Prev: Deduplicating importing, Up: CSV -13.3.7 Setting amounts ----------------------- +11.25 Setting amounts +===================== Some tips on using the amount-setting rules discussed above. @@ -8889,10 +4442,10 @@ Some tips on using the amount-setting rules discussed above. account1 assets:checking  -File: hledger.info, Node: Amount signs, Next: Setting currency/commodity, Prev: Setting amounts, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Amount signs, Next: Setting currency/commodity, Prev: Setting amounts, Up: CSV -13.3.8 Amount signs -------------------- +11.26 Amount signs +================== There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing and sign-flipping: @@ -8915,10 +4468,10 @@ sign-flipping: '"()"' becomes '""'.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Setting currency/commodity, Next: Amount decimal places, Prev: Amount signs, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Setting currency/commodity, Next: Amount decimal places, Prev: Amount signs, Up: CSV -13.3.9 Setting currency/commodity ---------------------------------- +11.27 Setting currency/commodity +================================ If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount field(s): @@ -8963,10 +4516,10 @@ amount %amt %cur that would trigger the prepending effect, which we don't want here.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Amount decimal places, Next: Referencing other fields, Prev: Setting currency/commodity, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Amount decimal places, Next: Referencing other fields, Prev: Setting currency/commodity, Up: CSV -13.3.10 Amount decimal places ------------------------------ +11.28 Amount decimal places +=========================== Like amounts in a journal file, the amounts generated by CSV rules like 'amount1' influence commodity display styles, such as the number of @@ -8976,10 +4529,10 @@ decimal places displayed in reports. style (because we don't yet reliably know their commodity).  -File: hledger.info, Node: Referencing other fields, Next: How CSV rules are evaluated, Prev: Amount decimal places, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: Referencing other fields, Next: How CSV rules are evaluated, Prev: Amount decimal places, Up: CSV -13.3.11 Referencing other fields --------------------------------- +11.29 Referencing other fields +============================== In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger @@ -9013,10 +4566,10 @@ if something comment C  -File: hledger.info, Node: How CSV rules are evaluated, Prev: Referencing other fields, Up: Tips +File: hledger.info, Node: How CSV rules are evaluated, Prev: Referencing other fields, Up: CSV -13.3.12 How CSV rules are evaluated ------------------------------------ +11.30 How CSV rules are evaluated +================================= Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need to). First, @@ -9054,10 +4607,10 @@ successfully, the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the user specified.  -File: hledger.info, Node: TIMECLOCK FORMAT, Next: TIMEDOT FORMAT, Prev: CSV FORMAT, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: Timeclock, Next: Timedot, Prev: CSV, Up: Top -14 TIMECLOCK FORMAT -******************* +12 Timeclock +************ The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. @@ -9066,7 +4619,8 @@ these are (a subset of) timeclock.el's format, containing clock-in and clock-out entries as in the example below. The date is a simple date. The time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. Seconds and timezone are optional. The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored -(currently the time is always interpreted as a local time). +(currently the time is always interpreted as a local time). Lines +beginning with '#' or ';' or '*', and blank lines, are ignored. i 2015/03/30 09:00:00 some:account name optional description after two spaces o 2015/03/30 09:20:00 @@ -9108,10 +4662,10 @@ $ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p weekly --depth 1 --empty # time summa ledger 2 executable renamed.  -File: hledger.info, Node: TIMEDOT FORMAT, Next: COMMON TASKS, Prev: TIMECLOCK FORMAT, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: Timedot, Next: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS, Prev: Timeclock, Up: Top -15 TIMEDOT FORMAT -***************** +13 Timedot +********** 'timedot' format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Compared to 'timeclock' format, it is @@ -9180,18 +4734,19 @@ transaction lines, consisting of: There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in the same file as your notes, todo lists, etc.: - * Lines beginning with '#' or ';', and blank lines, are ignored. + * Blank lines and lines beginning with '#' or ';' are ignored. + + * Before the first date line, lines beginning with '*' are ignored. + From the first date line onward, a sequence of '*''s followed by a + space at beginning of lines (ie, the headline prefix used by Emacs + Org mode) is ignored. This means the time log can be kept under an + Org headline, and date lines or time transaction lines can be Org + headlines. * Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as transactions with zero amount. (Most hledger reports hide these by default; add -E to see them.) - * One or more stars ('*') followed by a space, at the start of a - line, is ignored. So date lines or time transaction lines can also - be Org-mode headlines. - - * All Org-mode headlines before the first date line are ignored. - More examples: # on this day, 6h was spent on client work, 1.5h on haskell FOSS work, etc. @@ -9270,11 +4825,4748 @@ $ hledger -f a.timedot --alias /\\./=: bal --tree A sample.timedot file.  -File: hledger.info, Node: COMMON TASKS, Next: LIMITATIONS, Prev: TIMEDOT FORMAT, Up: Top +File: hledger.info, Node: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS, Next: Time periods, Prev: Timedot, Up: Top -16 COMMON TASKS +14 PART 3: REPORTING CONCEPTS +***************************** + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Time periods, Next: Depth, Prev: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS, Up: Top + +15 Time periods *************** +* Menu: + +* Report start & end date:: +* Smart dates:: +* Report intervals:: +* Period expressions:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Report start & end date, Next: Smart dates, Up: Time periods + +15.1 Report start & end date +============================ + +By default, most hledger reports will show the full span of time +represented by the journal data. The report start date will be the +earliest transaction or posting date, and the report end date will be +the latest transaction, posting, or market price date. + + Often you will want to see a shorter time span, such as the current +month. You can specify a start and/or end date using '-b/--begin', +'-e/--end', '-p/--period' or a 'date:' query (described below). All of +these accept the smart date syntax (below). + + Some notes: + + * End dates are exclusive, as in Ledger, so you should write the date + _after_ the last day you want to see in the report. + * As noted in reporting options: among start/end dates specified with + _options_, the last (i.e. right-most) option takes precedence. + * The effective report start and end dates are the intersection of + the start/end dates from options and that from 'date:' queries. + That is, 'date:2019-01 date:2019 -p'2000 to 2030'' yields January + 2019, the smallest common time span. + * A report interval (see below) will adjust start/end dates, when + needed, so that they fall on subperiod boundaries. + + Examples: + +'-b begin on St. Patrick's day 2016 +2016/3/17' +'-e 12/1' end at the start of december 1st of the current year + (11/30 will be the last date included) +'-b all transactions on or after the 1st of the current month +thismonth' +'-p all transactions in the current month +thismonth' +'date:2016/3/17..'the above written as queries instead ('..' can also be + replaced with '-') +'date:..12/1' +'date:thismonth..' +'date:thismonth' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Smart dates, Next: Report intervals, Prev: Report start & end date, Up: Time periods + +15.2 Smart dates +================ + +hledger's user interfaces accept a flexible "smart date" syntax. Smart +dates allow some english words, can be relative to today's date, and can +have less-significant date parts omitted (defaulting to 1). + + Examples: + +'2004/10/1', exact date, several separators allowed. Year +'2004-01-01', is 4+ digits, month is 1-12, day is 1-31 +'2004.9.1' +'2004' start of year +'2004/10' start of month +'10/1' month and day in current year +'21' day in current month +'october, oct' start of month in current year +'yesterday, today, -1, 0, 1 days from today +tomorrow' +'last/this/next -1, 0, 1 periods from the current period +day/week/month/quarter/year' +'in n n periods from the current period +days/weeks/months/quarters/years' +'n n periods from the current period +days/weeks/months/quarters/years +ahead' +'n -n periods from the current period +days/weeks/months/quarters/years +ago' +'20181201' 8 digit YYYYMMDD with valid year month and + day +'201812' 6 digit YYYYMM with valid year and month + + Counterexamples - malformed digit sequences might give surprising +results: + +'201813' 6 digits with an invalid month is parsed as start of + 6-digit year +'20181301' 8 digits with an invalid month is parsed as start of + 8-digit year +'20181232' 8 digits with an invalid day gives an error +'201801012' 9+ digits beginning with a valid YYYYMMDD gives an error + + Note "today's date" can be overridden with the '--today' option, in +case it's needed for testing or for recreating old reports. (Except for +periodic transaction rules; those are not affected by '--today'.) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Report intervals, Next: Period expressions, Prev: Smart dates, Up: Time periods + +15.3 Report intervals +===================== + +A report interval can be specified so that commands like register, +balance and activity become multi-period, showing each subperiod as a +separate row or column. + + The following "standard" report intervals can be enabled by using +their corresponding flag: + + * '-D/--daily' + * '-W/--weekly' + * '-M/--monthly' + * '-Q/--quarterly' + * '-Y/--yearly' + + These standard intervals always start on natural interval boundaries: +eg '--weekly' starts on mondays, '--monthly' starts on the first of the +month, '--yearly' always starts on January 1st, etc. + + Certain more complex intervals, and more flexible boundary dates, can +be specified by '-p/--period'. These are described in period +expressions, below. + + Report intervals can only be specified by the flags above, and not by +query arguments, currently. + + Report intervals have another effect: multi-period reports are always +expanded to fill a whole number of subperiods. So if you use a report +interval (other than '--daily'), and you have specified a start or end +date, you may notice those dates being overridden (ie, the report starts +earlier than your requested start date, or ends later than your +requested end date). This is done to ensure "full" first and last +subperiods, so that all subperiods' numbers are comparable. + + To summarise: + + * In multiperiod reports, all subperiods are forced to be the same + length, to simplify reporting. + * Reports with the standard + '--weekly'/'--monthly'/'--quarterly'/'--yearly' intervals are + required to start on the first day of a week/month/quarter/year. + We'd like more flexibility here but it isn't supported yet. + * '--period' (below) can specify more complex intervals, starting on + any date. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Period expressions, Prev: Report intervals, Up: Time periods + +15.4 Period expressions +======================= + +The '-p/--period' option accepts period expressions, a shorthand way of +expressing a start date, end date, and/or report interval all at once. + + Here's a basic period expression specifying the first quarter of +2009. Note, hledger always treats start dates as inclusive and end +dates as exclusive: + +'-p "from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"' + + Keywords like "from" and "to" are optional, and so are the spaces, as +long as you don't run two dates together. "to" can also be written as +".." or "-". These are equivalent to the above: + +'-p "2009/1/1 2009/4/1"' +'-p2009/1/1to2009/4/1' +'-p2009/1/1..2009/4/1' + + Dates are smart dates, so if the current year is 2009, the above can +also be written as: + +'-p "1/1 4/1"' +'-p "january-apr"' +'-p "this year to 4/1"' + + If you specify only one date, the missing start or end date will be +the earliest or latest transaction in your journal: + +'-p "from 2009/1/1"' everything after january 1, 2009 +'-p "from 2009/1"' the same +'-p "from 2009"' the same +'-p "to 2009"' everything before january 1, 2009 + + A single date with no "from" or "to" defines both the start and end +date like so: + +'-p "2009"' the year 2009; equivalent to “2009/1/1 to 2010/1/1” +'-p "2009/1"' the month of jan; equivalent to “2009/1/1 to 2009/2/1” +'-p just that day; equivalent to “2009/1/1 to 2009/1/2” +"2009/1/1"' + + Or you can specify a single quarter like so: + +'-p "2009Q1"' first quarter of 2009, equivalent to “2009/1/1 to + 2009/4/1” +'-p "q4"' fourth quarter of the current year + +* Menu: + +* Period expressions with a report interval:: +* More complex report intervals:: +* Intervals with custom start date:: +* Periods or dates ?:: +* Events on multiple weekdays:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Period expressions with a report interval, Next: More complex report intervals, Up: Period expressions + +15.4.1 Period expressions with a report interval +------------------------------------------------ + +'-p/--period''s argument can also begin with, or entirely consist of, a +report interval. This should be separated from the start/end dates (if +any) by a space, or the word 'in'. The basic intervals (which can also +be written as command line flags) are 'daily', 'weekly', 'monthly', +'quarterly', and 'yearly'. Some examples: + +'-p "weekly from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"' +'-p "monthly in 2008"' +'-p "quarterly"' + + As mentioned above, the 'weekly', 'monthly', 'quarterly' and 'yearly' +intervals require a report start date that is the first day of a week, +month, quarter or year. And, report start/end dates will be expanded if +needed to span a whole number of intervals. + + For example: + +'-p "weekly from starts on 2008/12/29, closest preceding +2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"' Monday +'-p "monthly in starts on 2018/11/01 +2008/11/25"' +'-p "quarterly from starts on 2009/04/01, ends on 2009/06/30, +2009-05-05 to which are first and last days of Q2 2009 +2009-06-01"' +'-p "yearly from starts on 2009/01/01, first day of 2009 +2009-12-29"' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: More complex report intervals, Next: Intervals with custom start date, Prev: Period expressions with a report interval, Up: Period expressions + +15.4.2 More complex report intervals +------------------------------------ + +Some more complex kinds of interval are also supported in period +expressions: + + * 'biweekly' + * 'fortnightly' + * 'bimonthly' + * 'every day|week|month|quarter|year' + * 'every N days|weeks|months|quarters|years' + + These too will cause report start/end dates to be expanded, if +needed, to span a whole number of intervals. Examples: + +'-p "bimonthly from periods will have boundaries on 2008/01/01, +2008"' 2008/03/01, ... +'-p "every 2 weeks"' starts on closest preceding Monday +'-p "every 5 months from periods will have boundaries on 2009/03/01, +2009/03"' 2009/08/01, ... + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Intervals with custom start date, Next: Periods or dates ?, Prev: More complex report intervals, Up: Period expressions + +15.4.3 Intervals with custom start date +--------------------------------------- + +All intervals mentioned above are required to start on their natural +calendar boundaries, but the following intervals can start on any date: + + Weekly on custom day: + + * 'every Nth day of week' ('th', 'nd', 'rd', or 'st' are all accepted + after the number) + * 'every WEEKDAYNAME' (full or three-letter english weekday name, + case insensitive) + + Monthly on custom day: + + * 'every Nth day [of month]' + * 'every Nth WEEKDAYNAME [of month]' + + Yearly on custom day: + + * 'every MM/DD [of year]' (month number and day of month number) + * 'every MONTHNAME DDth [of year]' (full or three-letter english + month name, case insensitive, and day of month number) + * 'every DDth MONTHNAME [of year]' (equivalent to the above) + + Examples: + +'-p "every 2nd day of periods will go from Tue to Tue +week"' +'-p "every Tue"' same +'-p "every 15th day"' period boundaries will be on 15th of each + month +'-p "every 2nd period boundaries will be on second Monday of +Monday"' each month +'-p "every 11/05"' yearly periods with boundaries on 5th of + November +'-p "every 5th same +November"' +'-p "every Nov 5th"' same + + Show historical balances at end of the 15th day of each month (N is +an end date, exclusive as always): + +$ hledger balance -H -p "every 16th day" + + Group postings from the start of wednesday to end of the following +tuesday (N is both (inclusive) start date and (exclusive) end date): + +$ hledger register checking -p "every 3rd day of week" + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Periods or dates ?, Next: Events on multiple weekdays, Prev: Intervals with custom start date, Up: Period expressions + +15.4.4 Periods or dates ? +------------------------- + +Report intervals like the above are most often used with '-p|--period', +to divide reports into multiple subperiods - each generated date marks a +subperiod boundary. Here, the periods between the dates are what's +important. + + But report intervals can also be used with '--forecast' to generate +future transactions, or with 'balance --budget' to generate budget +goal-setting transactions. For these, the dates themselves are what +matters. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Events on multiple weekdays, Prev: Periods or dates ?, Up: Period expressions + +15.4.5 Events on multiple weekdays +---------------------------------- + +The 'every WEEKDAYNAME' form has a special variant with multiple day +names, comma-separated. Eg: 'every mon,thu,sat'. Also, 'weekday' and +'weekendday' are shorthand for 'mon,tue,wed,thu,fri' and 'sat,sun' +respectively. + + This form is mainly intended for use with '--forecast', to generate +periodic transactions on arbitrary days of the week. It may be less +useful with '-p', since it divides each week into subperiods of unequal +length. (Because gaps between periods are not allowed; if you'd like to +change this, see #1632.) + + Examples: + +'-p "every dates will be Mon, Wed, Fri; periods will be +mon,wed,fri"' Mon-Tue, Wed-Thu, Fri-Sun +'-p "every dates will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri; periods will +weekday"' be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri-Sun +'-p "every dates will be Sat, Sun; periods will be Sat, Sun-Fri +weekendday"' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Depth, Next: Queries, Prev: Time periods, Up: Top + +16 Depth +******** + +With the '--depth NUM' option (short form: '-NUM'), reports will show +accounts only to the specified depth, hiding deeper subaccounts. Use +this when you want a summary with less detail. This flag has the same +effect as a 'depth:' query argument: 'depth:2', '--depth=2' or '-2' are +equivalent. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Queries, Next: Pivoting, Prev: Depth, Up: Top + +17 Queries +********** + +One of hledger's strengths is being able to quickly report on a precise +subset of your data. Most hledger commands accept optional query +arguments to restrict their scope. The syntax is as follows: + + * Zero or more space-separated query terms. These are most often + account name substrings: + + 'utilities food:groceries' + + * Terms with spaces or other special characters should be enclosed in + quotes: + + '"personal care"' + + * Regular expressions are also supported: + + '"^expenses\b" "accounts (payable|receivable)"' + + * Add a query type prefix to match other parts of the data: + + 'date:202012- desc:amazon cur:USD amt:">100" status:' + + * Add a 'not:' prefix to negate a term: + + 'not:cur:USD' + +* Menu: + +* Query types:: +* Combining query terms:: +* Queries and command options:: +* Queries and account aliases:: +* Queries and valuation:: +* Querying with account aliases:: +* Querying with cost or value:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Query types, Next: Combining query terms, Up: Queries + +17.1 Query types +================ + +Here are the types of query term available. Remember these can also be +prefixed with *'not:'* to convert them into a negative match. + + *'acct:REGEX', 'REGEX'* +Match account names containing this (case insensitive) regular +expression. This is the default query type when there is no prefix, and +regular expression syntax is typically not needed, so usually we just +write an account name substring, like 'expenses' or 'food'. + + *'amt:N, amt:N, amt:>=N'* +Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or +greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested +and will always match.) The comparison has two modes: if N is preceded +by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. +Otherwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. + + *'code:REGEX'* +Match by transaction code (eg check number). + + *'cur:REGEX'* +Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose +currency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (For a partial +match, use '.*REGEX.*'). Note, to match special characters which are +regex-significant, you need to escape them with '\'. And for characters +which are significant to your shell you may need one more level of +escaping. So eg to match the dollar sign: +'hledger print cur:\\$'. + + *'desc:REGEX'* +Match transaction descriptions. + + *'date:PERIODEXPR'* +Match dates (or with the '--date2' flag, secondary dates) within the +specified period. PERIODEXPR is a period expression with no report +interval. Examples: +'date:2016', 'date:thismonth', 'date:2/1-2/15', +'date:2021-07-27..nextquarter'. + + *'date2:PERIODEXPR'* +Match secondary dates within the specified period (independent of the +'--date2' flag). + + *'depth:N'* +Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this +depth. + + *'note:REGEX'* +Match transaction notes (the part of the description right of '|', or +the whole description if there's no '|'). + + *'payee:REGEX'* +Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left of +'|', or the whole description if there's no '|'). + + *'real:, real:0'* +Match real or virtual postings respectively. + + *'status:, status:!, status:*'* +Match unmarked, pending, or cleared transactions respectively. + + *'type:TYPECODES'* +Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). +'TYPECODES' is one or more of the single-letter account type codes +'ALERXCV', case insensitive. Note 'type:A' and 'type:E' will also match +their respective subtypes 'C' (Cash) and 'V' (Conversion). Certain +kinds of account alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts +> Aliases and account types. + + *'tag:REGEX[=REGEX]'* +Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. (To match only by +value, use 'tag:.=REGEX'.) + + When querying by tag, note that: + + * Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts + * Postings also inherit the tags of their account and their + transaction + * Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. + + (*'inacct:ACCTNAME'* +A special query term used automatically in hledger-web only: tells +hledger-web to show the transaction register for an account.) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Combining query terms, Next: Queries and command options, Prev: Query types, Up: Queries + +17.2 Combining query terms +========================== + +When given multiple query terms, most commands select things which +match: + + * any of the description terms AND + * any of the account terms AND + * any of the status terms AND + * all the other terms. + + The print command is a little different, showing transactions which: + + * match any of the description terms AND + * have any postings matching any of the positive account terms AND + * have no postings matching any of the negative account terms AND + * match all the other terms. + + Although these fixed rules are enough for many needs, we do not +support full boolean expressions (#203), (and you should not write AND +or OR in your queries). This makes certain queries hard to express, but +here are some tricks that can help: + + 1. Use a doubled 'not:' prefix. Eg, to print only the food expenses + paid with cash: + + $ hledger print food not:not:cash + + 2. Or pre-filter the transactions with 'print', piping the result into + a second hledger command (with balance assertions disabled): + + $ hledger print cash | hledger -f- -I balance food + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Queries and command options, Next: Queries and account aliases, Prev: Combining query terms, Up: Queries + +17.3 Queries and command options +================================ + +Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: 'depth:2' is +equivalent to '--depth 2', 'date:2020' is equivalent to '-p 2020', etc. +When you mix command options and query arguments, generally the +resulting query is their intersection. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Queries and account aliases, Next: Queries and valuation, Prev: Queries and command options, Up: Queries + +17.4 Queries and account aliases +================================ + +When account names are rewritten with '--alias' or 'alias', 'acct:' will +match either the old or the new account name. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Queries and valuation, Next: Querying with account aliases, Prev: Queries and account aliases, Up: Queries + +17.5 Queries and valuation +========================== + +When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value +reports, 'cur:' and 'amt:' match the old commodity symbol and the old +amount quantity, not the new ones (except in hledger 1.22.0 where it's +reversed, see #1625). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Querying with account aliases, Next: Querying with cost or value, Prev: Queries and valuation, Up: Queries + +17.6 Querying with account aliases +================================== + +When account names are rewritten with '--alias' or 'alias', note that +'acct:' will match either the old or the new account name. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Querying with cost or value, Prev: Querying with account aliases, Up: Queries + +17.7 Querying with cost or value +================================ + +When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value +reports, note that 'cur:' matches the new commodity symbol, and not the +old one, and 'amt:' matches the new quantity, and not the old one. +Note: this changed in hledger 1.22, previously it was the reverse, see +the discussion at #1625. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Pivoting, Next: Generating data, Prev: Queries, Up: Top + +18 Pivoting +*********** + +Normally, hledger groups and sums amounts within each account. The +'--pivot FIELD' option substitutes some other transaction field for +account names, causing amounts to be grouped and summed by that field's +value instead. FIELD can be any of the transaction fields 'status', +'code', 'description', 'payee', 'note', or a tag name. Values +containing 'colon:separated:parts' will form a hierarchy, as account +names do. + + Some examples: + +2016/02/16 Member Fee Payment + assets:bank account 2 EUR + income:member fees -2 EUR ; member: John Doe + + Normal balance report showing account names: + +$ hledger balance + 2 EUR assets:bank account + -2 EUR income:member fees +-------------------- + 0 + + Pivoted balance report, using member: tag values instead: + +$ hledger balance --pivot member + 2 EUR + -2 EUR John Doe +-------------------- + 0 + + One way to show only amounts with a member: value (using a query): + +$ hledger balance --pivot member tag:member=. + -2 EUR John Doe +-------------------- + -2 EUR + + Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account +name"): + +$ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. + -2 EUR John Doe +-------------------- + -2 EUR + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Generating data, Next: Forecasting, Prev: Pivoting, Up: Top + +19 Generating data +****************** + +Two features for generating transient data (visible only at report time) +are built in to hledger's journal format: + + * Auto posting rules can generate extra postings on certain + transactions. They are activated by the '--auto' flag. + + * Periodic transaction rules can generate repeating transactions, + usually dated in the future, to help with forecasting or budgeting. + They are activated by the '--forecast' or 'balance --budget' + options, described next. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Forecasting, Next: Budgeting, Prev: Generating data, Up: Top + +20 Forecasting +************** + +The '--forecast' flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the +journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usually +recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. 'hledger +print --forecast' is a good way to see them. + + This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps +experimenting with different scenarios. + + It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe +recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of 'print +--forecast' into the journal. + + The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like +'generated-transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR', indicating which periodic rule +generated them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named +'_generated-transaction:', which you can use to reliably match +transactions generated "just now" (rather than 'print'ed in the past). + + The forecast transactions are generated within a _forecast period_, +which is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the +bounds for generated transactions, report period controls which +transactions are reported.) The forecast period begins on: + + * the start date provided within '--forecast''s argument, if any + * otherwise, the later of + * the report start date, if specified (with '-b'/'-p'/'date:') + * the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, + if any + + * otherwise today. + + It ends on: + + * the end date provided within '--forecast''s argument, if any + * otherwise, the report end date, if specified (with + '-e'/'-p'/'date:') + * otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. + + Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic +transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start until +after the last ordinary transaction. This is usually convenient, but +you can get around it in two ways: + + * If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them + periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: '~ + YYYY-MM-DD') rather than ordinary transactions. That way they + won't suppress other periodic transactions. + + * Or give '--forecast' a period expression argument. A forecast + period specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, and + need not be in the future. Some things to note: + + * You must use '=' between flag and argument; a space won't + work. + * The period expression can specify the forecast period's start + date, end date, or both. See also Report start & end date. + * The period expression should not specify a report interval. + (Each periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) + + Some examples: '--forecast=202001-202004', '--forecast=jan-', +'--forecast=2021'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Budgeting, Next: Cost reporting, Prev: Forecasting, Up: Top + +21 Budgeting +************ + +With the balance command's '--budget' report, each periodic transaction +rule generates recurring budget goals in specified accounts, and goals +and actual performance can be compared. See the balance command's doc +below. + + See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Cost reporting, Next: Valuation, Prev: Budgeting, Up: Top + +22 Cost reporting +***************** + +This section is about recording the cost of things, in transactions +where one commodity is exchanged for another. Eg an exchange of +currency, or a stock purchase or sale. First, a quick glossary: + + * Conversion - an exchange of one currency or commodity for another. + Eg a foreign currency exchange, or a purchase or sale of stock or + cryptocurrency. + + * Conversion transaction - a transaction involving one or more + conversions. + + * Conversion rate - the cost per unit of one commodity in the other, + ie the exchange rate. + + * Cost - how much of one commodity was paid to acquire the other. + And more generally, in hledger docs: the amount exchanged in the + "secondary" commodity (usually your base currency), whether in a + purchase or a sale, and whether expressed per unit or in total. + Also, the "@/@@ PRICE" notation used to represent this. + +* Menu: + +* -B Convert to cost:: +* Equity conversion postings:: +* Inferring equity postings from cost:: +* Inferring cost from equity postings:: +* When to infer cost/equity:: +* How to record conversions:: +* Cost tips:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: -B Convert to cost, Next: Equity conversion postings, Up: Cost reporting + +22.1 -B: Convert to cost +======================== + +As discussed in JOURNAL > Costs, when recording a transaction you can +also record the amount's cost in another commodity, by adding '@ +UNITPRICE' or '@@ TOTALPRICE'. + + Then you can see a report with amounts converted to cost, by adding +the '-B/--cost' flag. (Mnemonic: "B" from "cost Basis", as in Ledger). +Eg: + +2022-01-01 + assets:dollars $-135 ; 135 dollars is exchanged for.. + assets:euros €100 @ $1.35 ; one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each + +$ hledger bal -N + $-135 assets:dollars + €100 assets:euros +$ hledger bal -N -B + $-135 assets:dollars + $135 assets:euros # <- the euros' cost + + Notes: + + -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a cost is inferred: the +inferred price will be in the commodity of the last amount. So if +example 3's postings are reversed, while the transaction is equivalent, +-B shows something different: + +2022-01-01 + assets:dollars $-135 ; 135 dollars sold + assets:euros €100 ; for 100 euros + +$ hledger bal -N -B + €-100 assets:dollars # <- the dollars' selling price + €100 assets:euros + + The @/@@ cost notation is convenient, but has some drawbacks: it does +not truly balance the transaction, so it disrupts the accounting +equation and tends to causes a non-zero total in balance reports. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Equity conversion postings, Next: Inferring equity postings from cost, Prev: -B Convert to cost, Up: Cost reporting + +22.2 Equity conversion postings +=============================== + +By contrast, conventional double entry bookkeeping (DEB) uses a +different notation: an extra pair of equity postings to balance +conversion transactions. In this style, the above entry might be +written: + +2022-01-01 one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each + assets:dollars $-135 + equity:conversion $135 + equity:conversion €-100 + assets:euros €100 + + This style is more correct, but it's also more verbose and makes cost +reporting more difficult for PTA tools. + + Happily, current hledger can read either notation, or convert one to +the other when needed, so you can use the one you prefer. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Inferring equity postings from cost, Next: Inferring cost from equity postings, Prev: Equity conversion postings, Up: Cost reporting + +22.3 Inferring equity postings from cost +======================================== + +With '--infer-equity', hledger detects transactions written with PTA +cost notation and adds equity conversion postings to them (and +temporarily permits the coexistence of equity conversion postings and +cost notation, which normally would cause an unbalanced transaction +error). Eg: + +2022-01-01 + assets:dollars -$135 + assets:euros €100 @ $1.35 + +$ hledger print --infer-equity +2022-01-01 + assets:dollars $-135 + assets:euros €100 @ $1.35 + equity:conversion:$-€:€ €-100 ; generated-posting: + equity:conversion:$-€:$ $135.00 ; generated-posting: + + The conversion account names can be changed with the conversion +account type declaration. + + -infer-equity is useful when when transactions have been recorded +using cost notation, to help preserve the accounting equation and +balance reports' zero total, or to produce more conventional journal +entries for sharing with non-PTA-users. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Inferring cost from equity postings, Next: When to infer cost/equity, Prev: Inferring equity postings from cost, Up: Cost reporting + +22.4 Inferring cost from equity postings +======================================== + +The reverse operation is possible using '--infer-costs', which detects +transactions written with equity conversion postings and adds PTA cost +notation to them (and temporarily permits the coexistence of equity +conversion postings and cost notation). Eg: + +2022-01-01 + assets:dollars $-135 + equity:conversion $135 + equity:conversion €-100 + assets:euros €100 + +$ hledger print --infer-costs +2022-01-01 + assets:dollars $-135 @@ €100 + equity:conversion $135 + equity:conversion €-100 + assets:euros €100 + + -infer-costs is useful when combined with -B/-cost, allowing cost +reporting even when transactions have been recorded using equity +postings: + +$ hledger print --infer-costs -B +2009-01-01 + assets:dollars €-100 + assets:euros €100 + + Notes: + + For '--infer-costs' to work, an exchange must consist of four +postings: + + 1. two non-equity postings + 2. two equity postings, next to one another + 3. the equity accounts must be declared, with account type + 'V'/'Conversion' (or if they are not declared, they must be named + 'equity:conversion', 'equity:trade', 'equity:trading' or + subaccounts of these) + 4. the equity postings' amounts must exactly match the non-equity + postings' amounts + + Multiple such exchanges can coexist within a single transaction, +should you need that. + + When inferring cost, the order of postings matters: the cost is added +to the first of the non-equity postings involved in the exchange, in the +commodity of the last non-equity posting involved in the exchange. If +you don't want to write your postings in the required order, the +alternative is not to infer cost; instead, use explicit cost notation, +omitting the equity postings, inferring them later with -infer-equity if +needed. + + -infer-equity and -infer-costs can be used together, if you have a +mixture of both notations in your journal. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: When to infer cost/equity, Next: How to record conversions, Prev: Inferring cost from equity postings, Up: Cost reporting + +22.5 When to infer cost/equity +============================== + +Inferring equity postings or costs is still fairly new, so not enabled +by default. We're not sure yet if that should change. Here are two +suggestions to try, experience reports welcome: + + 1. When you use -B, always use -infer-costs as well. Eg: 'hledger bal + -B --infer-costs' + + 2. Always run hledger with both flags enabled. Eg: 'alias hl="hledger + --infer-equity --infer-costs"' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: How to record conversions, Next: Cost tips, Prev: When to infer cost/equity, Up: Cost reporting + +22.6 How to record conversions +============================== + +Essentially there are four ways to record a conversion transaction in +hledger. Here are all of them, with pros and cons. + +* Menu: + +* Conversion with implicit cost:: +* Conversion with explicit cost:: +* Conversion with equity postings:: +* Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with implicit cost, Next: Conversion with explicit cost, Up: How to record conversions + +22.6.1 Conversion with implicit cost +------------------------------------ + +Let's assume 100 EUR is converted to 120 USD. You can just record the +outflow (100 EUR) and inflow (120 USD) in the appropriate asset account: + +2021-01-01 + assets:cash -100 EUR + assets:cash 120 USD + + hledger will assume this transaction is balanced, inferring that the +conversion rate must be 1 EUR = 1.20 USD. You can see the inferred rate +by using 'hledger print -x'. + + Pro: + + * Concise, easy + + Con: + + * Less error checking - typos in amounts or commodity symbols may not + be detected + * Conversion rate is not clear + * Disturbs the accounting equation, unless you add the -infer-equity + flag + + You can prevent accidental implicit conversions due to a mistyped +commodity symbol, by using 'hledger check commodities'. + + You can prevent implicit conversions entirely, by using 'hledger +check balancednoautoconversion', or '-s/--strict'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with explicit cost, Next: Conversion with equity postings, Prev: Conversion with implicit cost, Up: How to record conversions + +22.6.2 Conversion with explicit cost +------------------------------------ + +You can add the conversion rate using @ notation: + +2021-01-01 + assets:cash -100 EUR @ 1.20 USD + assets:cash 120 USD + + Now hledger will check that 100 * 1.20 = 120, and would report an +error otherwise. + + Pro: + + * Still concise + * Makes the conversion rate clear + * Provides more error checking + + Con: + + * Disturbs the accounting equation, unless you add the -infer-equity + flag + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with equity postings, Next: Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost, Prev: Conversion with explicit cost, Up: How to record conversions + +22.6.3 Conversion with equity postings +-------------------------------------- + +In strict double entry bookkeeping, the above transaction is not +balanced in EUR or in USD, since some EUR disappears, and some USD +appears. This violates the accounting equation (A+L+E=0), and prevents +reports like 'balancesheetequity' from showing a zero total. + + The proper way to make it balance is to add a balancing posting for +each commodity, using an equity account: + +2021-01-01 + assets:cash -100 EUR + equity:conversion 100 EUR + equity:conversion -120 USD + assets:cash 120 USD + + Pro: + + * Preserves the accounting equation + * Keeps track of conversions and related gains/losses in one place + * Standard, works in any double entry accounting system + + Con: + + * More verbose + * Conversion rate is not obvious + * Cost reporting requires adding the -infer-costs flag + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost, Prev: Conversion with equity postings, Up: How to record conversions + +22.6.4 Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost +-------------------------------------------------------- + +Here both equity postings and @ notation are used together. hledger +will usually complain about this redundancy, but when using the +-infer-costs flag it is accepted. + +2021-01-01 + assets:cash -100 EUR @ 1.20 USD + equity:conversion 100 EUR + equity:conversion -120 USD + assets:cash 120 USD + + Pro: + + * Preserves the accounting equation + * Keeps track of conversions and related gains/losses in one place + * Makes the conversion rate clear + * Provides more error checking + + Con: + + * Most verbose + * Requires the -infer-costs flag + * Not compatible with ledger + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Cost tips, Prev: How to record conversions, Up: Cost reporting + +22.7 Cost tips +============== + + * Recording the conversion rate explicitly is good because it makes + that clear and helps detect errors. + * Recording equity postings is good because it is correct bookkeeping + and preserves the accounting equation. + * Combining these is possible by using the -infer-costs flag (which + requires well-ordered postings). + * When you want to see the cost (or sale proceeds) of things, use + '-B' (or '--cost'). If you use equity conversion postings + notation, use '-B --infer-costs'. + * If you use PTA cost notation, and you want to see a balanced + balance sheet or print correct journal entries, use + '--infer-equity'. + * Conversion to cost is performed before valuation (described next). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Valuation, Next: PART 4 COMMANDS, Prev: Cost reporting, Up: Top + +23 Valuation +************ + +Instead of reporting amounts in their original commodity, hledger can +convert them to cost/sale amount (using the conversion rate recorded in +the transaction), and/or to market value (using some market price on a +certain date). This is controlled by the '--value=TYPE[,COMMODITY]' +option, which will be described below. We also provide the simpler '-V' +and '-X COMMODITY' options, and often one of these is all you need: + +* Menu: + +* -V Value:: +* -X Value in specified commodity:: +* Valuation date:: +* Finding market price:: +* --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions:: +* Valuation commodity:: +* Simple valuation examples:: +* --value Flexible valuation:: +* More valuation examples:: +* Interaction of valuation and queries:: +* Effect of valuation on reports:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: -V Value, Next: -X Value in specified commodity, Up: Valuation + +23.1 -V: Value +============== + +The '-V/--market' flag converts amounts to market value in their default +_valuation commodity_, using the market prices in effect on the +_valuation date(s)_, if any. More on these in a minute. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: -X Value in specified commodity, Next: Valuation date, Prev: -V Value, Up: Valuation + +23.2 -X: Value in specified commodity +===================================== + +The '-X/--exchange=COMM' option is like '-V', except you tell it which +currency you want to convert to, and it tries to convert everything to +that. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Valuation date, Next: Finding market price, Prev: -X Value in specified commodity, Up: Valuation + +23.3 Valuation date +=================== + +Since market prices can change from day to day, market value reports +have a valuation date (or more than one), which determines which market +prices will be used. + + For single period reports, if an explicit report end date is +specified, that will be used as the valuation date; otherwise the +valuation date is the journal's end date. + + For multiperiod reports, each column/period is valued on the last day +of the period, by default. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Finding market price, Next: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions, Prev: Valuation date, Up: Valuation + +23.4 Finding market price +========================= + +To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, +hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, in +this order of preference : + + 1. A _declared market price_ or _inferred market price_: A's latest + market price in B on or before the valuation date as declared by a + P directive, or (with the '--infer-market-prices' flag) inferred + from costs. + + 2. A _reverse market price_: the inverse of a declared or inferred + market price from B to A. + + 3. A _forward chain of market prices_: a synthetic price formed by + combining the shortest chain of "forward" (only 1 above) market + prices, leading from A to B. + + 4. _Any chain of market prices_: a chain of any market prices, + including both forward and reverse prices (1 and 2 above), leading + from A to B. + + There is a limit to the length of these price chains; if hledger +reaches that length without finding a complete chain or exhausting all +possibilities, it will give up (with a "gave up" message visible in +'--debug=2' output). That limit is currently 1000. + + Amounts for which no suitable market price can be found, are not +converted. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions, Next: Valuation commodity, Prev: Finding market price, Up: Valuation + +23.5 -infer-market-prices: market prices from transactions +========================================================== + +Normally, market value in hledger is fully controlled by, and requires, +P directives in your journal. Since adding and updating those can be a +chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market +value, why not use the recorded costs as additional market prices (as +Ledger does) ? Adding the '--infer-market-prices' flag to '-V', '-X' or +'--value' enables this. + + So for example, 'hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices' will get market +prices both from P directives and from transactions. If both occur on +the same day, the P directive takes precedence. + + There is a downside: value reports can sometimes be affected in +confusing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to +you, read all of this Valuation section carefully, and try adding +'--debug' or '--debug=2' to troubleshoot. + + '--infer-market-prices' can infer market prices from: + + * multicommodity transactions with explicit prices ('@'/'@@') + + * multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no '@', two + commodities, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings + matters. 'hledger print -x' can be useful for troubleshooting.) + + * multicommodity transactions with equity postings, if cost is + inferred with '--infer-costs'. + + There is a limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity is +not specified, prices inferred with '--infer-market-prices' do not help +select a default valuation commodity, as 'P' prices would. So +conversion might not happen because no valuation commodity was detected +('--debug=2' will show this). To be safe, specify the valuation +commmodity, eg: + + * '-X EUR --infer-market-prices', not '-V --infer-market-prices' + * '--value=then,EUR --infer-market-prices', not '--value=then + --infer-market-prices' + + Signed costs and market prices can be confusing. For reference, here +is the current behaviour, since hledger 1.25. (If you think it should +work differently, see #1870.) + +2022-01-01 Positive Unit prices + a A 1 + b B -1 @ A 1 + +2022-01-01 Positive Total prices + a A 1 + b B -1 @@ A 1 + + +2022-01-02 Negative unit prices + a A 1 + b B 1 @ A -1 + +2022-01-02 Negative total prices + a A 1 + b B 1 @@ A -1 + + +2022-01-03 Double Negative unit prices + a A -1 + b B -1 @ A -1 + +2022-01-03 Double Negative total prices + a A -1 + b B -1 @@ A -1 + + All of the transactions above are considered balanced (and on each +day, the two transactions are considered equivalent). Here are the +market prices inferred for B: + +$ hledger -f- --infer-market-prices prices +P 2022-01-01 B A 1 +P 2022-01-01 B A 1.0 +P 2022-01-02 B A -1 +P 2022-01-02 B A -1.0 +P 2022-01-03 B A -1 +P 2022-01-03 B A -1.0 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Valuation commodity, Next: Simple valuation examples, Prev: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions, Up: Valuation + +23.6 Valuation commodity +======================== + +*When you specify a valuation commodity ('-X COMM' or '--value +TYPE,COMM'):* +hledger will convert all amounts to COMM, wherever it can find a +suitable market price (including by reversing or chaining prices). + + *When you leave the valuation commodity unspecified ('-V' or '--value +TYPE'):* +For each commodity A, hledger picks a default valuation commodity as +follows, in this order of preference: + + 1. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A + on or before valuation date. + + 2. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A + on any date. (Allows conversion to proceed when there are inferred + prices before the valuation date.) + + 3. If there are no P directives at all (any commodity or date) and the + '--infer-market-prices' flag is used: the price commodity from the + latest transaction-inferred price for A on or before valuation + date. + + This means: + + * If you have P directives, they determine which commodities '-V' + will convert, and to what. + + * If you have no P directives, and use the '--infer-market-prices' + flag, costs determine it. + + Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not +converted. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Simple valuation examples, Next: --value Flexible valuation, Prev: Valuation commodity, Up: Valuation + +23.7 Simple valuation examples +============================== + +Here are some quick examples of '-V': + +; one euro is worth this many dollars from nov 1 +P 2016/11/01 € $1.10 + +; purchase some euros on nov 3 +2016/11/3 + assets:euros €100 + assets:checking + +; the euro is worth fewer dollars by dec 21 +P 2016/12/21 € $1.03 + + How many euros do I have ? + +$ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros + €100 assets:euros + + What are they worth at end of nov 3 ? + +$ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V -e 2016/11/4 + $110.00 assets:euros + + What are they worth after 2016/12/21 ? (no report end date +specified, defaults to today) + +$ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V + $103.00 assets:euros + + +File: hledger.info, Node: --value Flexible valuation, Next: More valuation examples, Prev: Simple valuation examples, Up: Valuation + +23.8 -value: Flexible valuation +=============================== + +'-V' and '-X' are special cases of the more general '--value' option: + + --value=TYPE[,COMM] TYPE is then, end, now or YYYY-MM-DD. + COMM is an optional commodity symbol. + Shows amounts converted to: + - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using market prices at posting dates + - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using market prices at period end(s) + - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using current market prices + - default valuation commodity (or COMM) using market prices at some date + + The TYPE part selects cost or value and valuation date: + +'--value=then' + + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity, + using market prices on each posting's date. +'--value=end' + + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity, + using market prices on the last day of the report period (or if + unspecified, the journal's end date); or in multiperiod reports, + market prices on the last day of each subperiod. +'--value=now' + + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity + using current market prices (as of when report is generated). +'--value=YYYY-MM-DD' + + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commodity + using market prices on this date. + + To select a different valuation commodity, add the optional ',COMM' +part: a comma, then the target commodity's symbol. Eg: +*'--value=now,EUR'*. hledger will do its best to convert amounts to +this commodity, deducing market prices as described above. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: More valuation examples, Next: Interaction of valuation and queries, Prev: --value Flexible valuation, Up: Valuation + +23.9 More valuation examples +============================ + +Here are some examples showing the effect of '--value', as seen with +'print': + +P 2000-01-01 A 1 B +P 2000-02-01 A 2 B +P 2000-03-01 A 3 B +P 2000-04-01 A 4 B + +2000-01-01 + (a) 1 A @ 5 B + +2000-02-01 + (a) 1 A @ 6 B + +2000-03-01 + (a) 1 A @ 7 B + + Show the cost of each posting: + +$ hledger -f- print --cost +2000-01-01 + (a) 5 B + +2000-02-01 + (a) 6 B + +2000-03-01 + (a) 7 B + + Show the value as of the last day of the report period (2000-02-29): + +$ hledger -f- print --value=end date:2000/01-2000/03 +2000-01-01 + (a) 2 B + +2000-02-01 + (a) 2 B + + With no report period specified, that shows the value as of the last +day of the journal (2000-03-01): + +$ hledger -f- print --value=end +2000-01-01 + (a) 3 B + +2000-02-01 + (a) 3 B + +2000-03-01 + (a) 3 B + + Show the current value (the 2000-04-01 price is still in effect +today): + +$ hledger -f- print --value=now +2000-01-01 + (a) 4 B + +2000-02-01 + (a) 4 B + +2000-03-01 + (a) 4 B + + Show the value on 2000/01/15: + +$ hledger -f- print --value=2000-01-15 +2000-01-01 + (a) 1 B + +2000-02-01 + (a) 1 B + +2000-03-01 + (a) 1 B + + You may need to explicitly set a commodity's display style, when +reverse prices are used. Eg this output might be surprising: + +P 2000-01-01 A 2B + +2000-01-01 + a 1B + b + +$ hledger print -x -X A +2000-01-01 + a 0 + b 0 + + Explanation: because there's no amount or commodity directive +specifying a display style for A, 0.5A gets the default style, which +shows no decimal digits. Because the displayed amount looks like zero, +the commodity symbol and minus sign are not displayed either. Adding a +commodity directive sets a more useful display style for A: + +P 2000-01-01 A 2B +commodity 0.00A + +2000-01-01 + a 1B + b + +$ hledger print -X A +2000-01-01 + a 0.50A + b -0.50A + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Interaction of valuation and queries, Next: Effect of valuation on reports, Prev: More valuation examples, Up: Valuation + +23.10 Interaction of valuation and queries +========================================== + +When matching postings based on queries in the presence of valuation, +the following happens. + + 1. The query is separated into two parts: + 1. the currency ('cur:') or amount ('amt:'). + 2. all other parts. + + 2. The postings are matched to the currency and amount queries based + on pre-valued amounts. + 3. Valuation is applied to the postings. + 4. The postings are matched to the other parts of the query based on + post-valued amounts. + + See: 1625 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Effect of valuation on reports, Prev: Interaction of valuation and queries, Up: Valuation + +23.11 Effect of valuation on reports +==================================== + +Here is a reference for how valuation is supposed to affect each part of +hledger's reports (and a glossary). (It's wide, you'll have to scroll +sideways.) It may be useful when troubleshooting. If you find +problems, please report them, ideally with a reproducible example. +Related: #329, #1083. + +Report '-B', '-V', '-X' '--value=then' '--value=end''--value=DATE', +type '--cost' '--value=now' +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +*print* +posting cost value at value at posting value at value +amounts report end date report or at + or today journal DATE/today + end +balance unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged +assertions/assignments +*register* +starting cost value at valued at day value at value +balance report or each historical report or at +(-H) journal posting was made journal DATE/today + end end +starting cost value at valued at day value at value +balance day before each historical day before at +(-H) report or posting was made report or DATE/today +with journal journal +report start start +interval +posting cost value at value at posting value at value +amounts report or date report or at + journal journal DATE/today + end end +summary summarised value at sum of postings value at value +posting cost period in interval, period at +amounts ends valued at ends DATE/today +with interval start +report +interval +running sum/average sum/average sum/average of sum/average sum/average +total/averageof of displayed values of of + displayed displayed displayed displayed + values values values values +*balance +(bs, +bse, cf, +is)* +balance sums of value at value at posting value at value +changes costs report end date report or at + or today journal DATE/today + of sums of end of of + postings sums of sums + postings of + postings +budget like like like balance like like +amounts balance balance changes balances balance +(-budget) changes changes changes +grand sum of sum of sum of displayed sum of sum of +total displayed displayed valued displayed displayed + values values values values +*balance +(bs, +bse, cf, +is) with +report +interval* +starting sums of value at sums of values value at sums +balances costs of report of postings report of +(-H) postings start of before report start of postings + before sums of start at sums of before + report all respective all report + start postings posting dates postings start + before before + report report + start start +balance sums of same as sums of values balance value +changes costs of -value=end of postings in change in at +(bal, postings period at each DATE/today +is, bs in period respective period, of +-change, posting dates valued at sums +cf period of +-change) ends postings +end sums of same as sums of values period end value +balances costs of -value=end of postings from balances, at +(bal -H, postings before period valued at DATE/today +is -H, from start to period period of +bs, cf) before end at ends sums + report respective of + start to posting dates postings + period end +budget like like like balance like like +amounts balance balance changes/end balances balance +(-budget) changes/end changes/end balances changes/end + balances balances balances +row sums, sums, sums, averages sums, sums, +totals, averages averages of displayed averages averages +row of of values of of +averages displayed displayed displayed displayed +(-T, -A) values values values values +column sums of sums of sums of sums of sums +totals displayed displayed displayed values displayed of + values values values displayed + values +grand sum, sum, sum, average of sum, sum, +total, average of average of column totals average of average +grand column column column of +average totals totals totals column + totals + + '--cumulative' is omitted to save space, it works like '-H' but with +a zero starting balance. + + *Glossary:* + +_cost_ + + calculated using price(s) recorded in the transaction(s). +_value_ + + market value using available market price declarations, or the + unchanged amount if no conversion rate can be found. +_report start_ + + the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or + date:, otherwise today. +_report or journal start_ + + the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or + date:, otherwise the earliest transaction date in the journal, + otherwise today. +_report end_ + + the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or date:, + otherwise today. +_report or journal end_ + + the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or date:, + otherwise the latest transaction date in the journal, otherwise + today. +_report interval_ + + a flag (-D/-W/-M/-Q/-Y) or period expression that activates the + report's multi-period mode (whether showing one or many + subperiods). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: PART 4 COMMANDS, Next: PART 5 COMMON TASKS, Prev: Valuation, Up: Top + +24 PART 4: COMMANDS +******************* + +Here are the built-in commands, with the most often-used in bold: + + *Data entry:* + + These data entry commands are the only ones which can modify your +journal file. + + * *add* - add transactions using guided prompts + * *import* - add any new transactions from other files (eg csv) + + *Data management:* + + * check - check for various kinds of issue in the data + * close (equity) - generate balance-resetting transactions + * diff - compare account transactions in two journal files + * rewrite - generate extra postings, similar to print -auto + + *Financial statements:* + + * *aregister (areg)* - show transactions in a particular account + * *balancesheet (bs)* - show assets, liabilities and net worth + * balancesheetequity (bse) - show assets, liabilities and equity + * cashflow (cf) - show changes in liquid assets + * *incomestatement (is)* - show revenues and expenses + * roi - show return on investments + + *Miscellaneous reports:* + + * accounts - show account names + * activity - show postings-per-interval bar charts + * *balance (bal)* - show balance changes/end balances/budgets in any + accounts + * codes - show transaction codes + * commodities - show commodity/currency symbols + * descriptions - show unique transaction descriptions + * files - show input file paths + * help - show hledger user manuals in several formats + * notes - show unique note segments of transaction descriptions + * payees - show unique payee segments of transaction descriptions + * prices - show market price records + * *print* - show transactions (journal entries) + * print-unique - show only transactions with unique descriptions + * *register (reg)* - show postings in one or more accounts & running + total + * register-match - show a recent posting that best matches a + description + * stats - show journal statistics + * tags - show tag names + * test - run self tests + + And here are some typical add-on commands installed by the +hledger-install script. If installed, these will also appear in +hledger's commands list, with a '+' mark: + + * *ui* - hledger's official curses-style TUI + * *web* - hledger's official web UI + * iadd - a popular alternative to hledger's 'add' command. + * interest - generates interest transactions + * stockquotes - downloads market prices. _(Alpha quality, needs your + help.)_ + + Next, each command is described in detail, in alphabetical order. + +* Menu: + +* accounts:: +* activity:: +* add:: +* aregister:: +* balance:: +* balancesheet:: +* balancesheetequity:: +* cashflow:: +* check:: +* close:: +* codes:: +* commodities:: +* descriptions:: +* diff:: +* files:: +* help:: +* import:: +* incomestatement:: +* notes:: +* payees:: +* prices:: +* print:: +* print-unique:: +* register:: +* register-match:: +* rewrite:: +* roi:: +* stats:: +* tags:: +* test:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: accounts, Next: activity, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.1 accounts +============= + +accounts +Show account names. + + This command lists account names. By default it shows all known +accounts, either used in transactions or declared with account +directives. + + With query arguments, only matched account names and account names +referenced by matched postings are shown. + + Or it can show just the used accounts ('--used'/'-u'), the declared +accounts ('--declared'/'-d'), the accounts declared but not used +('--unused'), the accounts used but not declared ('--undeclared'), or +the first account matched by an account name pattern, if any ('--find'). + + It shows a flat list by default. With '--tree', it uses indentation +to show the account hierarchy. In flat mode you can add '--drop N' to +omit the first few account name components. Account names can be +depth-clipped with 'depth:N' or '--depth N' or '-N'. + + With '--types', it also shows each account's type, if it's known. +(See Declaring accounts > Account types.) + + With '--positions', it also shows the file and line number of each +account's declaration, if any, and the account's overall declaration +order; these may be useful when troubleshooting account display order. + + With '--directives', it adds the 'account' keyword, showing valid +account directives which can be pasted into a journal file. This is +useful together with '--undeclared' when updating your account +declarations to satisfy 'hledger check accounts'. + + The '--find' flag can be used to look up a single account name, in +the same way that the 'aregister' command does. It returns the +alphanumerically-first matched account name, or if none can be found, it +fails with a non-zero exit code. + + Examples: + +$ hledger accounts +assets:bank:checking +assets:bank:saving +assets:cash +expenses:food +expenses:supplies +income:gifts +income:salary +liabilities:debts + +$ hledger accounts --undeclared --directives >> $LEDGER_FILE +$ hledger check accounts + + +File: hledger.info, Node: activity, Next: add, Prev: accounts, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.2 activity +============= + +activity +Show an ascii barchart of posting counts per interval. + + The activity command displays an ascii histogram showing transaction +counts by day, week, month or other reporting interval (by day is the +default). With query arguments, it counts only matched transactions. + + Examples: + +$ hledger activity --quarterly +2008-01-01 ** +2008-04-01 ******* +2008-07-01 +2008-10-01 ** + + +File: hledger.info, Node: add, Next: aregister, Prev: activity, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.3 add +======== + +add +Prompt for transactions and add them to the journal. Any arguments will +be used as default inputs for the first N prompts. + + Many hledger users edit their journals directly with a text editor, +or generate them from CSV. For more interactive data entry, there is the +'add' command, which prompts interactively on the console for new +transactions, and appends them to the main journal file (which should be +in journal format). Existing transactions are not changed. This is one +of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file (see also +'import'). + + To use it, just run 'hledger add' and follow the prompts. You can +add as many transactions as you like; when you are finished, enter '.' +or press control-d or control-c to exit. + + Features: + + * add tries to provide useful defaults, using the most similar (by + description) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as + a template. + * You can also set the initial defaults with command line arguments. + * Readline-style edit keys can be used during data entry. + * The tab key will auto-complete whenever possible - accounts, + descriptions, dates ('yesterday', 'today', 'tomorrow'). If the + input area is empty, it will insert the default value. + * If the journal defines a default commodity, it will be added to any + bare numbers entered. + * A parenthesised transaction code may be entered following a date. + * Comments and tags may be entered following a description or amount. + * If you make a mistake, enter '<' at any prompt to go one step + backward. + * Input prompts are displayed in a different colour when the terminal + supports it. + + Example (see https://hledger.org/add.html for a detailed tutorial): + +$ hledger add +Adding transactions to journal file /src/hledger/examples/sample.journal +Any command line arguments will be used as defaults. +Use tab key to complete, readline keys to edit, enter to accept defaults. +An optional (CODE) may follow transaction dates. +An optional ; COMMENT may follow descriptions or amounts. +If you make a mistake, enter < at any prompt to go one step backward. +To end a transaction, enter . when prompted. +To quit, enter . at a date prompt or press control-d or control-c. +Date [2015/05/22]: +Description: supermarket +Account 1: expenses:food +Amount 1: $10 +Account 2: assets:checking +Amount 2 [$-10.0]: +Account 3 (or . or enter to finish this transaction): . +2015/05/22 supermarket + expenses:food $10 + assets:checking $-10.0 + +Save this transaction to the journal ? [y]: +Saved. +Starting the next transaction (. or ctrl-D/ctrl-C to quit) +Date [2015/05/22]: $ + + On Microsoft Windows, the add command makes sure that no part of the +file path ends with a period, as that would cause problems (#1056). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: aregister, Next: balance, Prev: add, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.4 aregister +============== + +aregister, areg + + Show the transactions and running historical balance of a single +account, with each transaction displayed as one line. + + 'aregister' shows the overall transactions affecting a particular +account (and any subaccounts). Each report line represents one +transaction in this account. Transactions before the report start date +are always included in the running balance ('--historical' mode is +always on). + + This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the 'register' +command (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple +accounts, not necessarily in historical mode). As a quick rule of +thumb: - use 'aregister' for reviewing and reconciling real-world +asset/liability accounts - use 'register' for reviewing detailed +revenues/expenses. + + 'aregister' requires one argument: the account to report on. You can +write either the full account name, or a case-insensitive regular +expression which will select the alphabetically first matched account. +(Eg if you have 'assets:aaa:checking' and 'assets:bbb:checking' +accounts, 'hledger areg checking' would select 'assets:aaa:checking'.) + + Transactions involving subaccounts of this account will also be +shown. 'aregister' ignores depth limits, so its final total will always +match a balance report with similar arguments. + + Any additional arguments form a query which will filter the +transactions shown. Note some queries will disturb the running balance, +causing it to be different from the account's real-world running +balance. + + An example: this shows the transactions and historical running +balance during july, in the first account whose name contains +"checking": + +$ hledger areg checking date:jul + + Each 'aregister' line item shows: + + * the transaction's date (or the relevant posting's date if + different, see below) + * the names of all the other account(s) involved in this transaction + (probably abbreviated) + * the total change to this account's balance from this transaction + * the account's historical running balance after this transaction. + + Transactions making a net change of zero are not shown by default; +add the '-E/--empty' flag to show them. + + For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first +1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause +visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to +ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the +'--align-all' flag. + + This command also supports the output destination and output format +options. The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', and 'json'. + +* Menu: + +* aregister and custom posting dates:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: aregister and custom posting dates, Up: aregister + +24.4.1 aregister and custom posting dates +----------------------------------------- + +Transactions whose date is outside the report period can still be shown, +if they have a posting to this account dated inside the report period. +(And in this case it's the posting date that is shown.) This ensures +that 'aregister' can show an accurate historical running balance, +matching the one shown by 'register -H' with the same arguments. + + To filter strictly by transaction date instead, add the '--txn-dates' +flag. If you use this flag and some of your postings have custom dates, +it's probably best to assume the running balance is wrong. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: balance, Next: balancesheet, Prev: aregister, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.5 balance +============ + +balance, bal +Show accounts and their balances. + + 'balance' is one of hledger's oldest and most versatile commands, for +listing account balances, balance changes, values, value changes and +more, during one time period or many. Generally it shows a table, with +rows representing accounts, and columns representing periods. + + Note there are some higher-level variants of the 'balance' command +with convenient defaults, which can be simpler to use: 'balancesheet', +'balancesheetequity', 'cashflow' and 'incomestatement'. When you need +more control, then use 'balance'. + +* Menu: + +* balance features:: +* Simple balance report:: +* Balance report line format:: +* Filtered balance report:: +* List or tree mode:: +* Depth limiting:: +* Dropping top-level accounts:: +* Showing declared accounts:: +* Sorting by amount:: +* Percentages:: +* Multi-period balance report:: +* Balance change end balance:: +* Balance report types:: +* Budget report:: +* Data layout:: +* Useful balance reports:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: balance features, Next: Simple balance report, Up: balance + +24.5.1 balance features +----------------------- + +Here's a quick overview of the 'balance' command's features, followed by +more detailed descriptions and examples. Many of these work with the +higher-level commands as well. + + 'balance' can show.. + + * accounts as a list ('-l') or a tree ('-t') + * optionally depth-limited ('-[1-9]') + * sorted by declaration order and name, or by amount + + ..and their.. + + * balance changes (the default) + * or actual and planned balance changes ('--budget') + * or value of balance changes ('-V') + * or change of balance values ('--valuechange') + * or unrealised capital gain/loss ('--gain') + + ..in.. + + * one time period (the whole journal period by default) + * or multiple periods ('-D', '-W', '-M', '-Q', '-Y', '-p INTERVAL') + + ..either.. + + * per period (the default) + * or accumulated since report start date ('--cumulative') + * or accumulated since account creation ('--historical/-H') + + ..possibly converted to.. + + * cost ('--value=cost[,COMM]'/'--cost'/'-B') + * or market value, as of transaction dates ('--value=then[,COMM]') + * or at period ends ('--value=end[,COMM]') + * or now ('--value=now') + * or at some other date ('--value=YYYY-MM-DD') + + ..with.. + + * totals ('-T'), averages ('-A'), percentages ('-%'), inverted sign + ('--invert') + * rows and columns swapped ('--transpose') + * another field used as account name ('--pivot') + * custom-formatted line items (single-period reports only) + ('--format') + * commodities displayed on the same line or multiple lines + ('--layout') + + This command supports the output destination and output format +options, with output formats 'txt', 'csv', 'json', and (multi-period +reports only:) 'html'. In 'txt' output in a colour-supporting terminal, +negative amounts are shown in red. + + The '--related'/'-r' flag shows the balance of the _other_ postings +in the transactions of the postings which would normally be shown. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Simple balance report, Next: Balance report line format, Prev: balance features, Up: balance + +24.5.2 Simple balance report +---------------------------- + +With no arguments, 'balance' shows a list of all accounts and their +change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and +outflows - during the entire period of the journal. ("Simple" here +means just one column of numbers, covering a single period. You can +also have multi-period reports, described later.) + + For real-world accounts, these numbers will normally be their end +balance at the end of the journal period; more on this below. + + Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then +alphabetically by account name. For instance (using +examples/sample.journal): + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal + $1 assets:bank:saving + $-2 assets:cash + $1 expenses:food + $1 expenses:supplies + $-1 income:gifts + $-1 income:salary + $1 liabilities:debts +-------------------- + 0 + + Accounts with a zero balance (and no non-zero subaccounts, in tree +mode - see below) are hidden by default. Use '-E/--empty' to show them +(revealing 'assets:bank:checking' here): + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal -E + 0 assets:bank:checking + $1 assets:bank:saving + $-2 assets:cash + $1 expenses:food + $1 expenses:supplies + $-1 income:gifts + $-1 income:salary + $1 liabilities:debts +-------------------- + 0 + + The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless +'-N'/'--no-total' is used. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Balance report line format, Next: Filtered balance report, Prev: Simple balance report, Up: balance + +24.5.3 Balance report line format +--------------------------------- + +For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you +can use '--format FMT' to customise the format and content of each line. +Eg: + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format "%20(account) %12(total)" + assets $-1 + bank:saving $1 + cash $-2 + expenses $2 + food $1 + supplies $1 + income $-2 + gifts $-1 + salary $-1 + liabilities:debts $1 +--------------------------------- + 0 + + The FMT format string specifies the formatting applied to each +account/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, with data +fields interpolated like so: + + '%[MIN][.MAX](FIELDNAME)' + + * MIN pads with spaces to at least this width (optional) + + * MAX truncates at this width (optional) + + * FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: + + * 'depth_spacer' - a number of spaces equal to the account's + depth, or if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. + * 'account' - the account's name + * 'total' - the account's balance/posted total, right justified + + Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how +multi-commodity amounts are rendered: + + * '%_' - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) + * '%^' - render on multiple lines, top-aligned + * '%,' - render on one line, comma-separated + + There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, '%(depth_spacer)' has no +effect, instead '%(account)' has indentation built in. Experimentation +may be needed to get pleasing results. + + Some example formats: + + * '%(total)' - the account's total + * '%-20.20(account)' - the account's name, left justified, padded to + 20 characters and clipped at 20 characters + * '%,%-50(account) %25(total)' - account name padded to 50 + characters, total padded to 20 characters, with multiple + commodities rendered on one line + * '%20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account)' - the default format for + the single-column balance report + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Filtered balance report, Next: List or tree mode, Prev: Balance report line format, Up: balance + +24.5.4 Filtered balance report +------------------------------ + +You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from +cleared transactions only, etc. by using query arguments or options to +limit the postings being matched. Eg: + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal --cleared assets date:200806 + $-2 assets:cash +-------------------- + $-2 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: List or tree mode, Next: Depth limiting, Prev: Filtered balance report, Up: balance + +24.5.5 List or tree mode +------------------------ + +By default, or with '-l/--flat', accounts are shown as a flat list with +their full names visible, as in the examples above. + + With '-t/--tree', the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' +"leaf" names indented below their parent: + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance + $-1 assets + $1 bank:saving + $-2 cash + $2 expenses + $1 food + $1 supplies + $-2 income + $-1 gifts + $-1 salary + $1 liabilities:debts +-------------------- + 0 + + Notes: + + * "Boring" accounts are combined with their subaccount for more + compact output, unless '--no-elide' is used. Boring accounts have + no balance of their own and just one subaccount (eg 'assets:bank' + and 'liabilities' above). + + * All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from + all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, + which requires explanation when sharing reports with + non-plaintextaccounting-users. A tree mode report's final total is + the sum of the top-level balances shown, not of all the balances + shown. + + * Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is + sorted separately. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Depth limiting, Next: Dropping top-level accounts, Prev: List or tree mode, Up: balance + +24.5.6 Depth limiting +--------------------- + +With a 'depth:NUM' query, or '--depth NUM' option, or just '-NUM' (eg: +'-3') balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, +hiding the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an +overview without too much detail. + + Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from +any deeper subaccounts (even in list mode). Eg, limiting to depth 1: + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance -1 + $-1 assets + $2 expenses + $-2 income + $1 liabilities +-------------------- + 0 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Dropping top-level accounts, Next: Showing declared accounts, Prev: Depth limiting, Up: balance + +24.5.7 Dropping top-level accounts +---------------------------------- + +You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using +'--drop NUM'. This can be useful for hiding repetitive top-level +account names: + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal expenses --drop 1 + $1 food + $1 supplies +-------------------- + $2 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Showing declared accounts, Next: Sorting by amount, Prev: Dropping top-level accounts, Up: balance + +24.5.8 Showing declared accounts +-------------------------------- + +With '--declared', accounts which have been declared with an account +directive will be included in the balance report, even if they have no +transactions. (Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need +'-E/--empty' to see them.) + + More precisely, _leaf_ declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will +be included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. + + The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance +report, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared +accounts yet. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Sorting by amount, Next: Percentages, Prev: Showing declared accounts, Up: balance + +24.5.9 Sorting by amount +------------------------ + +With '-S/--sort-amount', accounts with the largest (most positive) +balances are shown first. Eg: 'hledger bal expenses -MAS' shows your +biggest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity +is present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commodity +first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing a +commodity, it is treated as 0). + + Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so +'-S' shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add +'--invert' to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, +which flip the sign automatically. Eg: 'hledger incomestatement -MAS'). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Percentages, Next: Multi-period balance report, Prev: Sorting by amount, Up: balance + +24.5.10 Percentages +------------------- + +With '-%/--percent', balance reports show each account's value expressed +as a percentage of the (column) total. + + Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a +column have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each +sign, eg: + +$ hledger bal -% amt:`>0` +$ hledger bal -% amt:`<0` + + Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert +them to one commodity with '-B', '-V', '-X' or '--value', or make a +separate report for each commodity: + +$ hledger bal -% cur:\\$ +$ hledger bal -% cur:€ + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Multi-period balance report, Next: Balance change end balance, Prev: Percentages, Up: balance + +24.5.11 Multi-period balance report +----------------------------------- + +With a report interval (set by the '-D/--daily', '-W/--weekly', +'-M/--monthly', '-Q/--quarterly', '-Y/--yearly', or '-p/--period' flag), +'balance' shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive +time periods (and a title): + +$ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal --quarterly income expenses -E +Balance changes in 2008: + + || 2008q1 2008q2 2008q3 2008q4 +===================++================================= + expenses:food || 0 $1 0 0 + expenses:supplies || 0 $1 0 0 + income:gifts || 0 $-1 0 0 + income:salary || $-1 0 0 0 +-------------------++--------------------------------- + || $-1 $1 0 0 + + Notes: + + * The report's start/end dates will be expanded, if necessary, to + fully encompass the displayed subperiods (so that the first and + last subperiods have the same duration as the others). + * Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are + not shown, unless '-E/--empty' is used. + * Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless + '-E/--empty' is used. + * Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless + '--no-elide' is used. _(experimental)_ + * Average and/or total columns can be added with the '-A/--average' + and '-T/--row-total' flags. + * The '--transpose' flag can be used to exchange rows and columns. + * The '--pivot FIELD' option causes a different transaction field to + be used as "account name". See PIVOTING. + + Multi-period reports with many periods can be too wide for easy +viewing in the terminal. Here are some ways to handle that: + + * Hide the totals row with '-N/--no-total' + * Convert to a single currency with '-V' + * Maximize the terminal window + * Reduce the terminal's font size + * View with a pager like less, eg: 'hledger bal -D --color=yes | less + -RS' + * Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata ('hledger bal -D + -O csv | vd -f csv'), Emacs' csv-mode ('M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a'), or + a spreadsheet ('hledger bal -D -o a.csv && open a.csv') + * Output as HTML and view with a browser: 'hledger bal -D -o a.html + && open a.html' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Balance change end balance, Next: Balance report types, Prev: Multi-period balance report, Up: balance + +24.5.12 Balance change, end balance +----------------------------------- + +It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in +balance reports. Here is some terminology we use: + + A *_balance change_* is the net amount added to, or removed from, an +account during some period. + + An *_end balance_* is the amount accumulated in an account as of some +date (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day +in your timezone). It is the sum of previous balance changes. + + We call it a *_historical end balance_* if it includes all balance +changes since the account was created. For a real world account, this +means it will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in +your bank statements or bank web UI. (If they are correct!) + + In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing +revenues and expenses, and historical end balances are what you want to +see when reviewing or reconciling asset, liability and equity accounts. + + 'balance' shows balance changes by default. To see accurate +historical end balances: + + 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" + transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the + journal covers the account's full lifetime. + + 2. Include all of of the account's prior postings in the report, by + not specifying a report start date, or by using the + '-H/--historical' flag. ('-H' causes report start date to be + ignored when summing postings.) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Balance report types, Next: Budget report, Prev: Balance change end balance, Up: balance + +24.5.13 Balance report types +---------------------------- + +The balance command is quite flexible; here is the full detail on how to +control what it reports. There are three important option groups: + + 'hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] +...' + + The first two are the most important: + + * calculation type selects the basic calculation to perform for each + table cell + * accumulation type says which postings should be included in each + cell's calculation + + Typically one or both of these are selected by default, so you don't +need to write them explicitly. Then + + * a valuation type can be added if you want to convert the basic + report to value or cost + +* Menu: + +* Calculation type:: +* Accumulation type:: +* Valuation type:: +* Combining balance report types:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Calculation type, Next: Accumulation type, Up: Balance report types + +24.5.13.1 Calculation type +.......................... + +The basic calculation to perform for each table cell. It is one of: + + * '--sum' : sum the posting amounts (*default*) + * '--budget' : like -sum but also show a goal amount + * '--valuechange' : show the change in period-end historical balance + values (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price + fluctuations) + * '--gain' : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current + valued balance minus each amount's original cost) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Accumulation type, Next: Valuation type, Prev: Calculation type, Up: Balance report types + +24.5.13.2 Accumulation type +........................... + +Which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. It is one +of: + + * '--change' : postings from column start to column end, ie within + the cell's period. Typically used to see revenues/expenses. + (*default for balance, incomestatement*) + + * '--cumulative' : postings from report start to column end, eg to + show changes accumulated since the report's start date. Rarely + used. + + * '--historical/-H' : postings from journal start to column end, ie + all postings from account creation to the end of the cell's period. + Typically used to see historical end balances of + assets/liabilities/equity. (*default for balancesheet, + balancesheetequity, cashflow*) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Valuation type, Next: Combining balance report types, Prev: Accumulation type, Up: Balance report types + +24.5.13.3 Valuation type +........................ + +Which kind of valuation, valuation date(s) and optionally a target +valuation commodity to use. It is one of: + + * no valuation, show amounts in their original commodities + (*default*) + * '--value=cost[,COMM]' : no valuation, show amounts converted to + cost + * '--value=then[,COMM]' : show value at transaction dates + * '--value=end[,COMM]' : show value at period end date(s) (*default + with '--valuechange', '--gain'*) + * '--value=now[,COMM]' : show value at today's date + * '--value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM]' : show value at another date + + or one of their aliases: '--cost/-B', '--market/-V' or +'--exchange/-X'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Combining balance report types, Prev: Valuation type, Up: Balance report types + +24.5.13.4 Combining balance report types +........................................ + +Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, +but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The +following restrictions are applied: + + * '--valuechange' implies '--value=end' + * '--valuechange' makes '--change' the default when used with the + 'balancesheet'/'balancesheetequity' commands + * '--cumulative' or '--historical' disables '--row-total/-T' + + For reference, here is what the combinations of accumulation and +valuation show: + +Valuation:>no valuation '--value= then' '--value= end' '--value= +Accumulation:v YYYY-MM-DD + /now' +----------------------------------------------------------------------------- +'--change'change in sum of period-end DATE-value + period posting-date value of of change in + market values change in period + in period period +'--cumulative'change from sum of period-end DATE-value + report start to posting-date value of of change + period end market values change from from report + from report report start start to + start to period to period end period end + end +'--historicalchange from sum of period-end DATE-value +/-H' journal start posting-date value of of change + to period end market values change from from journal + (historical end from journal journal start start to + balance) start to period to period end period end + end + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Budget report, Next: Data layout, Prev: Balance report types, Up: balance + +24.5.14 Budget report +--------------------- + +The '--budget' report type activates extra columns showing any budget +goals for each account and period. The budget goals are defined by +periodic transactions. This is very useful for comparing planned and +actual income, expenses, time usage, etc. + + For example, you can take average monthly expenses in the common +expense categories to construct a minimal monthly budget: + +;; Budget +~ monthly + income $2000 + expenses:food $400 + expenses:bus $50 + expenses:movies $30 + assets:bank:checking + +;; Two months worth of expenses +2017-11-01 + income $1950 + expenses:food $396 + expenses:bus $49 + expenses:movies $30 + expenses:supplies $20 + assets:bank:checking + +2017-12-01 + income $2100 + expenses:food $412 + expenses:bus $53 + expenses:gifts $100 + assets:bank:checking + + You can now see a monthly budget report: + +$ hledger balance -M --budget +Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: + + || Nov Dec +======================++==================================================== + assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] + expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] + expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] + expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] + income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] +----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] + + This is different from a normal balance report in several ways: + + * Only accounts with budget goals during the report period are shown, + by default. + + * In each column, in square brackets after the actual amount, budget + goal amounts are shown, and the actual/goal percentage. (Note: + budget goals should be in the same commodity as the actual amount.) + + * All parent accounts are always shown, even in list mode. Eg + assets, assets:bank, and expenses above. + + * Amounts always include all subaccounts, budgeted or unbudgeted, + even in list mode. + + This means that the numbers displayed will not always add up! Eg +above, the 'expenses' actual amount includes the gifts and supplies +transactions, but the 'expenses:gifts' and 'expenses:supplies' accounts +are not shown, as they have no budget amounts declared. + + This can be confusing. When you need to make things clearer, use the +'-E/--empty' flag, which will reveal all accounts including unbudgeted +ones, giving the full picture. Eg: + +$ hledger balance -M --budget --empty +Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: + + || Nov Dec +======================++==================================================== + assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] + expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] + expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] + expenses:gifts || 0 $100 + expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] + expenses:supplies || $20 0 + income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] +----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] + + You can roll over unspent budgets to next period with '--cumulative': + +$ hledger balance -M --budget --cumulative +Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: + + || Nov Dec +======================++==================================================== + assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] + assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] + assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] + expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $1060 [ 110% of $960] + expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $102 [ 102% of $100] + expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $808 [ 101% of $800] + expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] $30 [ 50% of $60] + income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $4050 [ 101% of $4000] +----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] + + For more examples and notes, see Budgeting. + +* Menu: + +* Budget report start date:: +* Budgets and subaccounts:: +* Selecting budget goals:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Budget report start date, Next: Budgets and subaccounts, Up: Budget report + +24.5.14.1 Budget report start date +.................................. + +This might be a bug, but for now: when making budget reports, it's a +good idea to explicitly set the report's start date to the first day of +a reporting period, because a periodic rule like '~ monthly' generates +its transactions on the 1st of each month, and if your journal has no +regular transactions on the 1st, the default report start date could +exclude that budget goal, which can be a little surprising. Eg here the +default report period is just the day of 2020-01-15: + +~ monthly in 2020 + (expenses:food) $500 + +2020-01-15 + expenses:food $400 + assets:checking + +$ hledger bal expenses --budget +Budget performance in 2020-01-15: + + || 2020-01-15 +==============++============ + || $400 +--------------++------------ + || $400 + + To avoid this, specify the budget report's period, or at least the +start date, with '-b'/'-e'/'-p'/'date:', to ensure it includes the +budget goal transactions (periodic transactions) that you want. Eg, +adding '-b 2020/1/1' to the above: + +$ hledger bal expenses --budget -b 2020/1/1 +Budget performance in 2020-01-01..2020-01-15: + + || 2020-01-01..2020-01-15 +===============++======================== + expenses:food || $400 [80% of $500] +---------------++------------------------ + || $400 [80% of $500] + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Budgets and subaccounts, Next: Selecting budget goals, Prev: Budget report start date, Up: Budget report + +24.5.14.2 Budgets and subaccounts +................................. + +You can add budgets to any account in your account hierarchy. If you +have budgets on both parent account and some of its children, then +budget(s) of the child account(s) would be added to the budget of their +parent, much like account balances behave. + + In the most simple case this means that once you add a budget to any +account, all its parents would have budget as well. + + To illustrate this, consider the following budget: + +~ monthly from 2019/01 + expenses:personal $1,000.00 + expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 + liabilities + + With this, monthly budget for electronics is defined to be $100 and +budget for personal expenses is an additional $1000, which implicitly +means that budget for both 'expenses:personal' and 'expenses' is $1100. + + Transactions in 'expenses:personal:electronics' will be counted both +towards its $100 budget and $1100 of 'expenses:personal' , and +transactions in any other subaccount of 'expenses:personal' would be +counted towards only towards the budget of 'expenses:personal'. + + For example, let's consider these transactions: + +~ monthly from 2019/01 + expenses:personal $1,000.00 + expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 + liabilities + +2019/01/01 Google home hub + expenses:personal:electronics $90.00 + liabilities $-90.00 + +2019/01/02 Phone screen protector + expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades $10.00 + liabilities + +2019/01/02 Weekly train ticket + expenses:personal:train tickets $153.00 + liabilities + +2019/01/03 Flowers + expenses:personal $30.00 + liabilities + + As you can see, we have transactions in +'expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades' and 'expenses:personal:train +tickets', and since both of these accounts are without explicitly +defined budget, these transactions would be counted towards budgets of +'expenses:personal:electronics' and 'expenses:personal' accordingly: + +$ hledger balance --budget -M +Budget performance in 2019/01: + + || Jan +===============================++=============================== + expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] + liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] +-------------------------------++------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] + + And with '--empty', we can get a better picture of budget allocation +and consumption: + +$ hledger balance --budget -M --empty +Budget performance in 2019/01: + + || Jan +========================================++=============================== + expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] + expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades || $10.00 + expenses:personal:train tickets || $153.00 + liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] +----------------------------------------++------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Selecting budget goals, Prev: Budgets and subaccounts, Up: Budget report + +24.5.14.3 Selecting budget goals +................................ + +The budget report evaluates periodic transaction rules to generate +special "goal transactions", which generate the goal amounts for each +account in each report subperiod. When troubleshooting, you can use the +print command to show these as forecasted transactions: + +$ hledger print --forecast=BUDGETREPORTPERIOD tag:generated + + By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction +rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report +interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly +periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly +budget report. + + You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to +the '--budget' flag. '--budget=DESCPAT' will match all periodic rules +whose description contains DESCPAT, a case-insensitive substring (not a +regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic +rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed), and then +select from multiple budgets defined in your journal. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Data layout, Next: Useful balance reports, Prev: Budget report, Up: balance + +24.5.15 Data layout +------------------- + +The '--layout' option affects how balance reports show commodity symbols +and multi-commodity amounts, which can improve readability. It can also +normalise the data for easy consumption by other programs. It has four +possible values: + + * '--layout=wide[,WIDTH]': commodities are shown on a single line, + possibly elided to the specified width + * '--layout=tall': each commodity is shown on a separate line + * '--layout=bare': amounts are shown as bare numbers, with commodity + symbols in a separate column + * '--layout=tidy': data is normalised to easily-consumed "tidy" form, + with one row per data value (works only with CSV output) + + These '--layout' modes are supported with some but not all of the +output formats: + +- txt csv html json sql +--------------------------------------- +wide Y Y Y +tall Y Y Y +bare Y Y Y +tidy Y + + Examples: + + * Wide layout. With many commodities, reports can be very wide: + + $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide + Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || 2012 2013 2014 Total + ==================++==================================================================================================================================================================================================================== + Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT + ------------------++-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT + + * Limited wide layout. A width limit reduces the width, but some + commodities will be hidden: + + $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide,32 + Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || 2012 2013 2014 Total + ==================++=========================================================================================================================== + Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. + ------------------++--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. + + * Tall layout. Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in + each column), and account names are repeated: + + $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=tall + Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || 2012 2013 2014 Total + ==================++================================================== + Assets:US:ETrade || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD + Assets:US:ETrade || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT + Assets:US:ETrade || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD + Assets:US:ETrade || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA + Assets:US:ETrade || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT + ------------------++-------------------------------------------------- + || 10.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD -11.00 ITOT 70.00 GLD + || 337.18 USD 18.00 ITOT 4881.44 USD 17.00 ITOT + || 12.00 VEA -98.12 USD 14.00 VEA 5120.50 USD + || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA + || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT + + * Bare layout. Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each + commodity gets its own report row, account names are repeated: + + $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=bare + Balance changes in 2012-01-01..2014-12-31: + + || Commodity 2012 2013 2014 Total + ==================++============================================= + Assets:US:ETrade || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 + Assets:US:ETrade || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 + Assets:US:ETrade || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 + Assets:US:ETrade || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 + Assets:US:ETrade || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 + ------------------++--------------------------------------------- + || GLD 0 70.00 0 70.00 + || ITOT 10.00 18.00 -11.00 17.00 + || USD 337.18 -98.12 4881.44 5120.50 + || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 + || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 + + * Bare layout also affects CSV output, which is useful for producing + data that is easier to consume, eg when making charts: + + $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -O csv --layout=bare + "account","commodity","balance" + "Assets:US:ETrade","GLD","70.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","ITOT","17.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","USD","5120.50" + "Assets:US:ETrade","VEA","36.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","VHT","294.00" + "total","GLD","70.00" + "total","ITOT","17.00" + "total","USD","5120.50" + "total","VEA","36.00" + "total","VHT","294.00" + + * Tidy layout produces normalised "tidy data", where every variable + has its own column and each row represents a single data point. + See + https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy-data.html + for more. + + This kind of output is the easiest to process with other software. + Here's how it looks: + + $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -Y -O csv --layout=tidy + "account","period","start_date","end_date","commodity","value" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","GLD","0" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","ITOT","10.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","USD","337.18" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","VEA","12.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2012","2012-01-01","2012-12-31","VHT","106.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","GLD","70.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","ITOT","18.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","USD","-98.12" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","VEA","10.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2013","2013-01-01","2013-12-31","VHT","18.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","GLD","0" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","ITOT","-11.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","USD","4881.44" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VEA","14.00" + "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VHT","170.00" + + Currently tidy layout is supported only with CSV output. + + In tidy mode, row totals, row averages and column totals are not + shown ('-T/--row-total' and '-A/--average' flags are disabled and + '-N/--no-total' is enabled). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Useful balance reports, Prev: Data layout, Up: balance + +24.5.16 Useful balance reports +------------------------------ + +Some frequently used 'balance' options/reports are: + + * 'bal -M revenues expenses' + Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the + 'incomestatement' command. + + * 'bal -M -H assets liabilities' + Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also + available as the 'balancesheet' command. + + * 'bal -M -H assets liabilities equity' + Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. + Also available as the 'balancesheetequity' command. + + * 'bal -M assets not:receivable' + Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the + 'cashflow' command. + + Also: + + * 'bal -M expenses -2 -SA' + Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average + amount. + + * 'bal -M --budget expenses' + Show monthly expenses and budget goals. + + * 'bal -M --valuechange investments' + Show monthly change in market value of investment assets. + + * 'bal investments --valuechange -D date:lastweek amt:'>1000' -STA + [--invert]' + Show top gainers [or losers] last week + + +File: hledger.info, Node: balancesheet, Next: balancesheetequity, Prev: balance, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.6 balancesheet +================= + +balancesheet, bs +This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending +balances of asset and liability accounts. (To see equity as well, use +the balancesheetequity command.) Amounts are shown with normal positive +sign, as in conventional financial statements. + + This report shows accounts declared with the 'Asset', 'Cash' or +'Liability' type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are +declared, it shows top-level accounts named 'asset' or 'liability' (case +insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. + + Example: + +$ hledger balancesheet +Balance Sheet + +Assets: + $-1 assets + $1 bank:saving + $-2 cash +-------------------- + $-1 + +Liabilities: + $1 liabilities:debts +-------------------- + $1 + +Total: +-------------------- + 0 + + This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and +supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. +It is similar to 'hledger balance -H assets liabilities', but with +smarter account detection, and liabilities displayed with their sign +flipped. + + This command also supports the output destination and output format +options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and +(experimental) 'json'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: balancesheetequity, Next: cashflow, Prev: balancesheet, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.7 balancesheetequity +======================= + +balancesheetequity, bse +This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending +balances of asset, liability and equity accounts. Amounts are shown +with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. + + This report shows accounts declared with the 'Asset', 'Cash', +'Liability' or 'Equity' type (see account types). Or if no such +accounts are declared, it shows top-level accounts named 'asset', +'liability' or 'equity' (case insensitive, plurals allowed) and their +subaccounts. + + Example: + +$ hledger balancesheetequity +Balance Sheet With Equity + +Assets: + $-2 assets + $1 bank:saving + $-3 cash +-------------------- + $-2 + +Liabilities: + $1 liabilities:debts +-------------------- + $1 + +Equity: + $1 equity:owner +-------------------- + $1 + +Total: +-------------------- + 0 + + This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and +supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. +It is similar to 'hledger balance -H assets liabilities equity', but +with smarter account detection, and liabilities/equity displayed with +their sign flipped. + + This command also supports the output destination and output format +options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and +(experimental) 'json'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: cashflow, Next: check, Prev: balancesheetequity, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.8 cashflow +============= + +cashflow, cf +This command displays a cashflow statement, showing the inflows and +outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) assets. +Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional +financial statements. + + This report shows accounts declared with the 'Cash' type (see account +types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows accounts + + * under a top-level account named 'asset' (case insensitive, plural + allowed) + * whose name contains some variation of 'cash', 'bank', 'checking' or + 'saving'. + + More precisely: all accounts matching this case insensitive regular +expression: + + '^assets?(:.+)?:(cash|bank|che(ck|que?)(ing)?|savings?|currentcash)(:|$)' + + and their subaccounts. + + An example cashflow report: + +$ hledger cashflow +Cashflow Statement + +Cash flows: + $-1 assets + $1 bank:saving + $-2 cash +-------------------- + $-1 + +Total: +-------------------- + $-1 + + This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and +supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. +It is similar to 'hledger balance assets not:fixed not:investment +not:receivable', but with smarter account detection. + + This command also supports the output destination and output format +options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and +(experimental) 'json'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: check, Next: close, Prev: cashflow, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.9 check +========== + +check +Check for various kinds of errors in your data. + + hledger provides a number of built-in error checks to help prevent +problems in your data. Some of these are run automatically; or, you can +use this 'check' command to run them on demand, with no output and a +zero exit code if all is well. Specify their names (or a prefix) as +argument(s). + + Some examples: + +hledger check # basic checks +hledger check -s # basic + strict checks +hledger check ordereddates payees # basic + two other checks + + If you are an Emacs user, you can also configure flycheck-hledger to +run these checks, providing instant feedback as you edit the journal. + + Here are the checks currently available: + +* Menu: + +* Basic checks:: +* Strict checks:: +* Other checks:: +* Custom checks:: +* More about specific checks:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Basic checks, Next: Strict checks, Up: check + +24.9.1 Basic checks +------------------- + +These checks are always run automatically, by (almost) all hledger +commands, including 'check': + + * *parseable* - data files are well-formed and can be successfully + parsed + + * *balancedwithautoconversion* - all transactions are balanced, + inferring missing amounts where necessary, and possibly converting + commodities using costs or automatically-inferred costs + + * *assertions* - all balance assertions in the journal are passing. + (This check can be disabled with '-I'/'--ignore-assertions'.) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Strict checks, Next: Other checks, Prev: Basic checks, Up: check + +24.9.2 Strict checks +-------------------- + +These additional checks are run when the '-s'/'--strict' (strict mode) +flag is used. Or, they can be run by giving their names as arguments to +'check': + + * *accounts* - all account names used by transactions have been + declared + + * *commodities* - all commodity symbols used have been declared + + * *balancednoautoconversion* - transactions are balanced, possibly + using explicit costs but not inferred ones + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Other checks, Next: Custom checks, Prev: Strict checks, Up: check + +24.9.3 Other checks +------------------- + +These checks can be run only by giving their names as arguments to +'check'. They are more specialised and not desirable for everyone, +therefore optional: + + * *ordereddates* - transactions are ordered by date within each file + + * *payees* - all payees used by transactions have been declared + + * *recentassertions* - all accounts with balance assertions have a + balance assertion no more than 7 days before their latest posting + + * *uniqueleafnames* - all account leaf names are unique + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Custom checks, Next: More about specific checks, Prev: Other checks, Up: check + +24.9.4 Custom checks +-------------------- + +A few more checks are are available as separate add-on commands, in +https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/bin: + + * *hledger-check-tagfiles* - all tag values containing / (a forward + slash) exist as file paths + + * *hledger-check-fancyassertions* - more complex balance assertions + are passing + + You could make similar scripts to perform your own custom checks. +See: Cookbook -> Scripting. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: More about specific checks, Prev: Custom checks, Up: check + +24.9.5 More about specific checks +--------------------------------- + +'hledger check recentassertions' will complain if any balance-asserted +account does not have a balance assertion within 7 days before its +latest posting. This aims to prevent the situation where you are +regularly updating your journal, but forgetting to check your balances +against the real world, then one day must dig back through months of +data to find an error. It assumes that adding a balance assertion +requires/reminds you to check the real-world balance. That may not be +true if you auto-generate balance assertions from bank data; in that +case, I recommend to import transactions uncleared, then use the +manual-review-and-mark-cleared phase as a reminder to check the latest +assertions against real-world balances. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: close, Next: codes, Prev: check, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.10 close +=========== + +close, equity +Prints a sample "closing" transaction bringing specified account +balances to zero, and an inverse "opening" transaction restoring the +same account balances. + + If like most people you split your journal files by time, eg by year: +at the end of the year you can use this command to "close out" your +asset and liability (and perhaps equity) balances in the old file, and +reinitialise them in the new file. This helps ensure that report +balances remain correct whether you are including old files or not. +(Because all closing/opening transactions except the very first will +cancel out - see example below.) + + Some people also use this command to close out revenue and expense +balances at the end of an accounting period. This properly records the +period's profit/loss as "retained earnings" (part of equity), and allows +the accounting equation (A-L=E) to balance, which you could then check +by the bse report's zero total. + + You can print just the closing transaction by using the '--close' +flag, or just the opening transaction with the '--open' flag. + + Their descriptions are 'closing balances' and 'opening balances' by +default; you can customise these with the '--close-desc' and +'--open-desc' options. + + Just one balancing equity posting is used by default, with the amount +left implicit. The default account name is 'equity:opening/closing +balances'. You can customise the account name(s) with '--close-acct' +and '--open-acct'. (If you specify only one of these, it will be used +for both.) + + With '--x/--explicit', the equity posting's amount will be shown +explicitly, and if it involves multiple commodities, there will be a +separate equity posting for each commodity (as in the print command). + + With '--interleaved', each equity posting is shown next to the +posting it balances (good for troubleshooting). + +* Menu: + +* close and costs:: +* close date:: +* Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition:: +* Hiding opening/closing transactions:: +* close and balance assertions:: +* Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: close and costs, Next: close date, Up: close + +24.10.1 close and costs +----------------------- + +Costs are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening transactions, by +default. With '--show-costs', they are preserved; there will be a +separate equity posting for each cost in each commodity. This means +'balance -B' reports will look the same after the transition. Note if +you have many foreign currency or investment transactions, this will +generate very large journal entries. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: close date, Next: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition, Prev: close and costs, Up: close + +24.10.2 close date +------------------ + +The default closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, +whichever is later. + + Unless you are running 'close' on exactly the first day of the new +period, you'll want to override the closing date. This is done by +specifying a report end date, where "last day of the report period" will +be the closing date. The opening date is always the following day. So +to close on (end of) 2020-12-31 and open on (start of) 2021-01-01, any +of these will work: + +end date explanation +argument +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +'-e end dates are exclusive +2021-01-01' +'-e 2021' equivalent, per smart dates +'-p 2020' equivalent, the period's begin date is ignored +'date:2020' equivalent query + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition, Next: Hiding opening/closing transactions, Prev: close date, Up: close + +24.10.3 Example: close asset/liability accounts for file transition +------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Carrying asset/liability balances from 2020.journal into a new file for +2021: + +$ hledger close -f 2020.journal -p 2020 assets liabilities +# copy/paste the closing transaction to the end of 2020.journal +# copy/paste the opening transaction to the start of 2021.journal + + Or: + +$ hledger close -f 2020.journal -p 2020 assets liabilities --open >> 2021.journal # add 2021's first transaction +$ hledger close -f 2020.journal -p 2020 assets liabilities --close >> 2020.journal # add 2020's last transaction + + Now, + +$ hledger bs -f 2021.journal # just new file - balances correct +$ hledger bs -f 2020.journal -f 2021.journal # old and new files - balances correct +$ hledger bs -f 2020.journal # just old files - balances are zero ? + # (exclude final closing txn, see below) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Hiding opening/closing transactions, Next: close and balance assertions, Prev: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition, Up: close + +24.10.4 Hiding opening/closing transactions +------------------------------------------- + +Although the closing/opening transactions cancel out, they will be +visible in reports like 'print' and 'register', creating some visual +clutter. You can exclude them all with a query, like: + +$ hledger print not:desc:'opening|closing' # less typing +$ hledger print not:'equity:opening/closing balances' # more precise + + But when reporting on multiple files, this can get a bit tricky; you +may need to keep the earliest opening balances, for a historical +register report; or you may need to suppress a closing transaction, to +see year-end balances. If you find yourself needing more precise +queries, here's one solution: add more easily-matched tags to +opening/closing transactions, like this: + +; 2019.journal +2019-01-01 opening balances ; earliest opening txn, no tag here +... +2019-12-31 closing balances ; clopen:2020 +... + +; 2020.journal +2020-01-01 opening balances ; clopen:2020 +... +2020-12-31 closing balances ; clopen:2021 +... + +; 2021.journal +2021-01-01 opening balances ; clopen:2021 +... + + Now with + +; all.journal +include 2019.journal +include 2020.journal +include 2021.journal + + you could do eg: + +$ hledger -f all.journal reg -H checking not:tag:clopen + # all years checking register, hiding non-essential opening/closing txns + +$ hledger -f all.journal bs -p 2020 not:tag:clopen=2020 + # 2020 year end balances, suppressing 2020 closing txn + + +File: hledger.info, Node: close and balance assertions, Next: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings, Prev: Hiding opening/closing transactions, Up: close + +24.10.5 close and balance assertions +------------------------------------ + +The closing and opening transactions will include balance assertions, +verifying that the accounts have first been reset to zero and then +restored to their previous balance. These provide valuable error +checking, alerting you when things get out of line, but you can ignore +them temporarily with '-I' or just remove them if you prefer. + + You probably shouldn't use status or realness filters (like -C or -R +or 'status:') with 'close', or the generated balance assertions will +depend on these flags. Likewise, if you run this command with '--auto', +the balance assertions would probably always require '--auto'. + + Multi-day transactions (where some postings have a different date) +break the balance assertions, because the money is temporarily +"invisible" while in transit: + +2020/12/30 a purchase made in december, cleared in the next year + expenses:food 5 + assets:bank:checking -5 ; date: 2021/1/2 + + To fix the assertions, you can add a temporary account to track such +in-transit money (splitting the multi-day transaction into two +single-day transactions): + +; in 2020.journal: +2020/12/30 a purchase made in december, cleared in the next year + expenses:food 5 + liabilities:pending + +; in 2021.journal: +2021/1/2 clearance of last year's pending transactions + liabilities:pending 5 = 0 + assets:bank:checking + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings, Prev: close and balance assertions, Up: close + +24.10.6 Example: close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + +For this, use '--close' to suppress the opening transaction, as it's not +needed. Also you'll want to change the equity account name to your +equivalent of "equity:retained earnings". + + Closing 2021's first quarter revenues/expenses: + +$ hledger close -f 2021.journal --close revenues expenses -p 2021Q1 \ + --close-acct='equity:retained earnings' >> 2021.journal + + The same, using the default journal and current year: + +$ hledger close --close revenues expenses -p Q1 \ + --close-acct='equity:retained earnings' >> $LEDGER_FILE + + Now, the first quarter's balance sheet should show a zero (unless you +are using @/@@ notation without equity postings): + +$ hledger bse -p Q1 + + And we must suppress the closing transaction to see the first +quarter's income statement (using the description; 'not:'retained +earnings'' won't work here): + +$ hledger is -p Q1 not:desc:'closing balances' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: codes, Next: commodities, Prev: close, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.11 codes +=========== + +codes +List the codes seen in transactions, in the order parsed. + + This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in +the order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional +value written in parentheses between the date and description, often +used to store a cheque number, order number or similar. + + Transactions aren't required to have a code, and missing or empty +codes will not be shown by default. With the '-E'/'--empty' flag, they +will be printed as blank lines. + + You can add a query to select a subset of transactions. + + Examples: + +2022/1/1 (123) Supermarket + Food $5.00 + Checking + +2022/1/2 (124) Post Office + Postage $8.32 + Checking + +2022/1/3 Supermarket + Food $11.23 + Checking + +2022/1/4 (126) Post Office + Postage $3.21 + Checking + +$ hledger codes +123 +124 +126 + +$ hledger codes -E +123 +124 + +126 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: commodities, Next: descriptions, Prev: codes, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.12 commodities +================= + +commodities +List all commodity/currency symbols used or declared in the journal. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: descriptions, Next: diff, Prev: commodities, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.13 descriptions +================== + +descriptions +List the unique descriptions that appear in transactions. + + This command lists the unique descriptions that appear in +transactions, in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a +subset of transactions. + + Example: + +$ hledger descriptions +Store Name +Gas Station | Petrol +Person A + + +File: hledger.info, Node: diff, Next: files, Prev: descriptions, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.14 diff +========== + +diff +Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It +shows any transactions to this account which are in one file but not in +the other. + + More precisely, for each posting affecting this account in either +file, it looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which posts +the same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc.) +Since postings not transactions are compared, this also works when +multiple bank transactions have been combined into a single journal +entry. + + This is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transactions +from your bank (eg as CSV data). When hledger and your bank disagree +about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with your +journal to find out the cause. + + Examples: + +$ hledger diff -f $LEDGER_FILE -f bank.csv assets:bank:giro +These transactions are in the first file only: + +2014/01/01 Opening Balances + assets:bank:giro EUR ... + ... + equity:opening balances EUR -... + +These transactions are in the second file only: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: files, Next: help, Prev: diff, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.15 files +=========== + +files +List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only +file names matching the regular expression (case sensitive) are shown. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: help, Next: import, Prev: files, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.16 help +========== + +help +Show the hledger user manual in the terminal, with 'info', 'man', or a +pager. With a TOPIC argument, open it at that topic if possible. TOPIC +can be any heading in the manual, or a heading prefix, case insensitive. +Eg: 'commands', 'print', 'forecast', 'journal', 'amount', '"auto +postings"'. + + This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger +version. It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the terminal +to a web browser, or when the appropriate hledger manual or viewing +tools are not installed on your system. + + By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH (preferring info +since the hledger manual is large). You can select a particular viewer +with the '-i', '-m', or '-p' flags. + + Examples + +$ hledger help --help # show how the help command works +$ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER +$ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual + + +File: hledger.info, Node: import, Next: incomestatement, Prev: help, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.17 import +============ + +import +Read new transactions added to each FILE since last run, and add them to +the journal. Or with -dry-run, just print the transactions that would +be added. Or with -catchup, just mark all of the FILEs' transactions as +imported, without actually importing any. + + This command may append new transactions to the main journal file +(which should be in journal format). Existing transactions are not +changed. This is one of the few hledger commands that writes to the +journal file (see also 'add'). + + Unlike other hledger commands, with 'import' the journal file is an +output file, and will be modified, though only by appending (existing +data will not be changed). The input files are specified as arguments, +so to import one or more CSV files to your main journal, you will run +'hledger import bank.csv' or perhaps 'hledger import *.csv'. + + Note you can import from any file format, though CSV files are the +most common import source, and these docs focus on that case. + +* Menu: + +* Deduplication:: +* Import testing:: +* Importing balance assignments:: +* Commodity display styles:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Deduplication, Next: Import testing, Up: import + +24.17.1 Deduplication +--------------------- + +As a convenience 'import' does _deduplication_ while reading +transactions. This does not mean "ignore transactions that look the +same", but rather "ignore transactions that have been seen before". +This is intended for when you are periodically importing foreign data +which may contain already-imported transactions. So eg, if every day +you download bank CSV files containing redundant data, you can safely +run 'hledger import bank.csv' and only new transactions will be +imported. ('import' is idempotent.) + + Since the items being read (CSV records, eg) often do not come with +unique identifiers, hledger detects new transactions by date, assuming +that: + + 1. new items always have the newest dates + 2. item dates do not change across reads + 3. and items with the same date remain in the same relative order + across reads. + + These are often true of CSV files representing transactions, or true +enough so that it works pretty well in practice. 1 is important, but +violations of 2 and 3 amongst the old transactions won't matter (and if +you import often, the new transactions will be few, so less likely to be +the ones affected). + + hledger remembers the latest date processed in each input file by +saving a hidden ".latest" state file in the same directory. Eg when +reading 'finance/bank.csv', it will look for and update the +'finance/.latest.bank.csv' state file. The format is simple: one or +more lines containing the same ISO-format date (YYYY-MM-DD), meaning "I +have processed transactions up to this date, and this many of them on +that date." Normally you won't see or manipulate these state files +yourself. But if needed, you can delete them to reset the state (making +all transactions "new"), or you can construct them to "catch up" to a +certain date. + + Note deduplication (and updating of state files) can also be done by +'print --new', but this is less often used. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Import testing, Next: Importing balance assignments, Prev: Deduplication, Up: import + +24.17.2 Import testing +---------------------- + +With '--dry-run', the transactions that will be imported are printed to +the terminal, without updating your journal or state files. The output +is valid journal format, like the print command, so you can re-parse it. +Eg, to see any importable transactions which CSV rules have not +categorised: + +$ hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown + + or (live updating): + +$ ls bank.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ====; hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Importing balance assignments, Next: Commodity display styles, Prev: Import testing, Up: import + +24.17.3 Importing balance assignments +------------------------------------- + +Entries added by import will have their posting amounts made explicit +(like 'hledger print -x'). This means that any balance assignments in +imported files must be evaluated; but, imported files don't get to see +the main file's account balances. As a result, importing entries with +balance assignments (eg from an institution that provides only balances +and not posting amounts) will probably generate incorrect posting +amounts. To avoid this problem, use print instead of import: + +$ hledger print IMPORTFILE [--new] >> $LEDGER_FILE + + (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, +please test it and send a pull request.) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Commodity display styles, Prev: Importing balance assignments, Up: import + +24.17.4 Commodity display styles +-------------------------------- + +Imported amounts will be formatted according to the canonical commodity +styles (declared or inferred) in the main journal file. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: incomestatement, Next: notes, Prev: import, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.18 incomestatement +===================== + +incomestatement, is +This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and expenses +during one or more periods. Amounts are shown with normal positive +sign, as in conventional financial statements. + + This report shows accounts declared with the 'Revenue' or 'Expense' +type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows +top-level accounts named 'revenue' or 'income' or 'expense' (case +insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. + + Example: + +$ hledger incomestatement +Income Statement + +Revenues: + $-2 income + $-1 gifts + $-1 salary +-------------------- + $-2 + +Expenses: + $2 expenses + $1 food + $1 supplies +-------------------- + $2 + +Total: +-------------------- + 0 + + This command is a higher-level variant of the 'balance' command, and +supports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. +It is similar to 'hledger balance '(revenues|income)' expenses', but +with smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their +sign flipped. + + This command also supports the output destination and output format +options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'html', and +(experimental) 'json'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: notes, Next: payees, Prev: incomestatement, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.19 notes +=========== + +notes +List the unique notes that appear in transactions. + + This command lists the unique notes that appear in transactions, in +alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of +transactions. The note is the part of the transaction description after +a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). + + Example: + +$ hledger notes +Petrol +Snacks + + +File: hledger.info, Node: payees, Next: prices, Prev: notes, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.20 payees +============ + +payees +List the unique payee/payer names that appear in transactions. + + This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared +with payee directives (-declared), used in transaction descriptions +(-used), or both (the default). + + The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | +character (or if there is no |, the whole description). + + You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This +implies -used. + + Example: + +$ hledger payees +Store Name +Gas Station +Person A + + +File: hledger.info, Node: prices, Next: print, Prev: payees, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.21 prices +============ + +prices +Print market price directives from the journal. With +-infer-market-prices, generate additional market prices from costs. +With -infer-reverse-prices, also generate market prices by inverting +known prices. Prices can be filtered by a query. Price amounts are +displayed with their full precision. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: print, Next: print-unique, Prev: prices, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.22 print +=========== + +print +Show transaction journal entries, sorted by date. + + The print command displays full journal entries (transactions) from +the journal file, sorted by date (or with '--date2', by secondary date). + + Amounts are shown mostly normalised to commodity display style, eg +the placement of commodity symbols will be consistent. All of their +decimal places are shown, as in the original journal entry (with one +alteration: in some cases trailing zeroes are added.) + + Amounts are shown right-aligned within each transaction (but not +across all transactions). + + Directives and inter-transaction comments are not shown, currently. +This means the print command is somewhat lossy, and if you are using it +to reformat your journal you should take care to also copy over the +directives and file-level comments. + + Eg: + +$ hledger print +2008/01/01 income + assets:bank:checking $1 + income:salary $-1 + +2008/06/01 gift + assets:bank:checking $1 + income:gifts $-1 + +2008/06/02 save + assets:bank:saving $1 + assets:bank:checking $-1 + +2008/06/03 * eat & shop + expenses:food $1 + expenses:supplies $1 + assets:cash $-2 + +2008/12/31 * pay off + liabilities:debts $1 + assets:bank:checking $-1 + + print's output is usually a valid hledger journal, and you can +process it again with a second hledger command. This can be useful for +certain kinds of search, eg: + +# Show running total of food expenses paid from cash. +# -f- reads from stdin. -I/--ignore-assertions is sometimes needed. +$ hledger print assets:cash | hledger -f- -I reg expenses:food + + There are some situations where print's output can become +unparseable: + + * Valuation affects posting amounts but not balance assertion or + balance assignment amounts, potentially causing those to fail. + * Auto postings can generate postings with too many missing amounts. + * Account aliases can generate bad account names. + + Normally, the journal entry's explicit or implicit amount style is +preserved. For example, when an amount is omitted in the journal, it +will not appear in the output. Similarly, when a cost is implied but +not written, it will not appear in the output. You can use the +'-x'/'--explicit' flag to make all amounts and costs explicit, which can +be useful for troubleshooting or for making your journal more readable +and robust against data entry errors. '-x' is also implied by using any +of '-B','-V','-X','--value'. + + Note, '-x'/'--explicit' will cause postings with a multi-commodity +amount (these can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an +implicit amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, +keeping the output parseable. + + With '-B'/'--cost', amounts with costs are converted to cost using +that price. This can be used for troubleshooting. + + With '-m DESC'/'--match=DESC', print does a fuzzy search for the one +transaction whose description is most similar to DESC, also preferring +recent tranactions. DESC should contain at least two characters. If +there is no similar-enough match, no transaction will be shown and the +program exit code will be non-zero. + + With '--new', hledger prints only transactions it has not seen on a +previous run. This uses the same deduplication system as the 'import' +command. (See import's docs for details.) + + This command also supports the output destination and output format +options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', and +(experimental) 'json' and 'sql'. + + Here's an example of print's CSV output: + +$ hledger print -Ocsv +"txnidx","date","date2","status","code","description","comment","account","amount","commodity","credit","debit","posting-status","posting-comment" +"1","2008/01/01","","","","income","","assets:bank:checking","1","$","","1","","" +"1","2008/01/01","","","","income","","income:salary","-1","$","1","","","" +"2","2008/06/01","","","","gift","","assets:bank:checking","1","$","","1","","" +"2","2008/06/01","","","","gift","","income:gifts","-1","$","1","","","" +"3","2008/06/02","","","","save","","assets:bank:saving","1","$","","1","","" +"3","2008/06/02","","","","save","","assets:bank:checking","-1","$","1","","","" +"4","2008/06/03","","*","","eat & shop","","expenses:food","1","$","","1","","" +"4","2008/06/03","","*","","eat & shop","","expenses:supplies","1","$","","1","","" +"4","2008/06/03","","*","","eat & shop","","assets:cash","-2","$","2","","","" +"5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","liabilities:debts","1","$","","1","","" +"5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","assets:bank:checking","-1","$","1","","","" + + * There is one CSV record per posting, with the parent transaction's + fields repeated. + * The "txnidx" (transaction index) field shows which postings belong + to the same transaction. (This number might change if transactions + are reordered within the file, files are parsed/included in a + different order, etc.) + * The amount is separated into "commodity" (the symbol) and "amount" + (numeric quantity) fields. + * The numeric amount is repeated in either the "credit" or "debit" + column, for convenience. (Those names are not accurate in the + accounting sense; it just puts negative amounts under credit and + zero or greater amounts under debit.) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: print-unique, Next: register, Prev: print, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.23 print-unique +================== + +print-unique +Print transactions which do not reuse an already-seen description. + + Example: + +$ cat unique.journal +1/1 test + (acct:one) 1 +2/2 test + (acct:two) 2 +$ LEDGER_FILE=unique.journal hledger print-unique +(-f option not supported) +2015/01/01 test + (acct:one) 1 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: register, Next: register-match, Prev: print-unique, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.24 register +============== + +register, reg +Show postings and their running total. + + The register command displays matched postings, across all accounts, +in date order, with their running total or running historical balance. +(See also the 'aregister' command, which shows matched transactions in a +specific account.) + + register normally shows line per posting, but note that +multi-commodity amounts will occupy multiple lines (one line per +commodity). + + It is typically used with a query selecting a particular account, to +see that account's activity: + +$ hledger register checking +2008/01/01 income assets:bank:checking $1 $1 +2008/06/01 gift assets:bank:checking $1 $2 +2008/06/02 save assets:bank:checking $-1 $1 +2008/12/31 pay off assets:bank:checking $-1 0 + + With -date2, it shows and sorts by secondary date instead. + + For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first +1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause +visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to +ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the +'--align-all' flag. + + The '--historical'/'-H' flag adds the balance from any undisplayed +prior postings to the running total. This is useful when you want to +see only recent activity, with a historically accurate running balance: + +$ hledger register checking -b 2008/6 --historical +2008/06/01 gift assets:bank:checking $1 $2 +2008/06/02 save assets:bank:checking $-1 $1 +2008/12/31 pay off assets:bank:checking $-1 0 + + The '--depth' option limits the amount of sub-account detail +displayed. + + The '--average'/'-A' flag shows the running average posting amount +instead of the running total (so, the final number displayed is the +average for the whole report period). This flag implies '--empty' (see +below). It is affected by '--historical'. It works best when showing +just one account and one commodity. + + The '--related'/'-r' flag shows the _other_ postings in the +transactions of the postings which would normally be shown. + + The '--invert' flag negates all amounts. For example, it can be used +on an income account where amounts are normally displayed as negative +numbers. It's also useful to show postings on the checking account +together with the related account: + +$ hledger register --related --invert assets:checking + + With a reporting interval, register shows summary postings, one per +interval, aggregating the postings to each account: + +$ hledger register --monthly income +2008/01 income:salary $-1 $-1 +2008/06 income:gifts $-1 $-2 + + Periods with no activity, and summary postings with a zero amount, +are not shown by default; use the '--empty'/'-E' flag to see them: + +$ hledger register --monthly income -E +2008/01 income:salary $-1 $-1 +2008/02 0 $-1 +2008/03 0 $-1 +2008/04 0 $-1 +2008/05 0 $-1 +2008/06 income:gifts $-1 $-2 +2008/07 0 $-2 +2008/08 0 $-2 +2008/09 0 $-2 +2008/10 0 $-2 +2008/11 0 $-2 +2008/12 0 $-2 + + Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The '--depth' +option helps with this, causing subaccounts to be aggregated: + +$ hledger register --monthly assets --depth 1h +2008/01 assets $1 $1 +2008/06 assets $-1 0 +2008/12 assets $-1 $-1 + + Note when using report intervals, if you specify start/end dates +these will be adjusted outward if necessary to contain a whole number of +intervals. This ensures that the first and last intervals are full +length and comparable to the others in the report. + +* Menu: + +* Custom register output:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Custom register output, Up: register + +24.24.1 Custom register output +------------------------------ + +register uses the full terminal width by default, except on windows. +You can override this by setting the 'COLUMNS' environment variable (not +a bash shell variable) or by using the '--width'/'-w' option. + + The description and account columns normally share the space equally +(about half of (width - 40) each). You can adjust this by adding a +description width as part of -width's argument, comma-separated: +'--width W,D' . Here's a diagram (won't display correctly in -help): + +<--------------------------------- width (W) ----------------------------------> +date (10) description (D) account (W-41-D) amount (12) balance (12) +DDDDDDDDDD dddddddddddddddddddd aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA + + and some examples: + +$ hledger reg # use terminal width (or 80 on windows) +$ hledger reg -w 100 # use width 100 +$ COLUMNS=100 hledger reg # set with one-time environment variable +$ export COLUMNS=100; hledger reg # set till session end (or window resize) +$ hledger reg -w 100,40 # set overall width 100, description width 40 +$ hledger reg -w $COLUMNS,40 # use terminal width, & description width 40 + + This command also supports the output destination and output format +options The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', and +(experimental) 'json'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: register-match, Next: rewrite, Prev: register, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.25 register-match +==================== + +register-match +Print the one posting whose transaction description is closest to DESC, +in the style of the register command. If there are multiple equally +good matches, it shows the most recent. Query options (options, not +arguments) can be used to restrict the search space. Helps +ledger-autosync detect already-seen transactions when importing. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: rewrite, Next: roi, Prev: register-match, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.26 rewrite +============= + +rewrite +Print all transactions, rewriting the postings of matched transactions. +For now the only rewrite available is adding new postings, like print +-auto. + + This is a start at a generic rewriter of transaction entries. It +reads the default journal and prints the transactions, like print, but +adds one or more specified postings to any transactions matching QUERY. +The posting amounts can be fixed, or a multiplier of the existing +transaction's first posting amount. + + Examples: + +$ hledger-rewrite.hs ^income --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33 ; income tax' --add-posting '(reserve:gifts) $100' +$ hledger-rewrite.hs expenses:gifts --add-posting '(reserve:gifts) *-1"' +$ hledger-rewrite.hs -f rewrites.hledger + + rewrites.hledger may consist of entries like: + += ^income amt:<0 date:2017 + (liabilities:tax) *0.33 ; tax on income + (reserve:grocery) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery + (reserve:) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery + + Note the single quotes to protect the dollar sign from bash, and the +two spaces between account and amount. + + More: + +$ hledger rewrite -- [QUERY] --add-posting "ACCT AMTEXPR" ... +$ hledger rewrite -- ^income --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' +$ hledger rewrite -- expenses:gifts --add-posting '(budget:gifts) *-1"' +$ hledger rewrite -- ^income --add-posting '(budget:foreign currency) *0.25 JPY; diversify' + + Argument for '--add-posting' option is a usual posting of transaction +with an exception for amount specification. More precisely, you can use +''*'' (star symbol) before the amount to indicate that that this is a +factor for an amount of original matched posting. If the amount +includes a commodity name, the new posting amount will be in the new +commodity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's +commodity. + +* Menu: + +* Re-write rules in a file:: +* Diff output format:: +* rewrite vs print --auto:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Re-write rules in a file, Next: Diff output format, Up: rewrite + +24.26.1 Re-write rules in a file +-------------------------------- + +During the run this tool will execute so called "Automated Transactions" +found in any journal it process. I.e instead of specifying this +operations in command line you can put them in a journal file. + +$ rewrite-rules.journal + + Make contents look like this: + += ^income + (liabilities:tax) *.33 + += expenses:gifts + budget:gifts *-1 + assets:budget *1 + + Note that ''='' (equality symbol) that is used instead of date in +transactions you usually write. It indicates the query by which you +want to match the posting to add new ones. + +$ hledger rewrite -- -f input.journal -f rewrite-rules.journal > rewritten-tidy-output.journal + + This is something similar to the commands pipeline: + +$ hledger rewrite -- -f input.journal '^income' --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' \ + | hledger rewrite -- -f - expenses:gifts --add-posting 'budget:gifts *-1' \ + --add-posting 'assets:budget *1' \ + > rewritten-tidy-output.journal + + It is important to understand that relative order of such entries in +journal is important. You can re-use result of previously added +postings. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Diff output format, Next: rewrite vs print --auto, Prev: Re-write rules in a file, Up: rewrite + +24.26.2 Diff output format +-------------------------- + +To use this tool for batch modification of your journal files you may +find useful output in form of unified diff. + +$ hledger rewrite -- --diff -f examples/sample.journal '^income' --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' + + Output might look like: + +--- /tmp/examples/sample.journal ++++ /tmp/examples/sample.journal +@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ + 2008/01/01 income +- assets:bank:checking $1 ++ assets:bank:checking $1 + income:salary ++ (liabilities:tax) 0 +@@ -22,3 +23,4 @@ + 2008/06/01 gift +- assets:bank:checking $1 ++ assets:bank:checking $1 + income:gifts ++ (liabilities:tax) 0 + + If you'll pass this through 'patch' tool you'll get transactions +containing the posting that matches your query be updated. Note that +multiple files might be update according to list of input files +specified via '--file' options and 'include' directives inside of these +files. + + Be careful. Whole transaction being re-formatted in a style of +output from 'hledger print'. + + See also: + + https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/issues/99 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: rewrite vs print --auto, Prev: Diff output format, Up: rewrite + +24.26.3 rewrite vs. print -auto +------------------------------- + +This command predates print -auto, and currently does much the same +thing, but with these differences: + + * with multiple files, rewrite lets rules in any file affect all + other files. print -auto uses standard directive scoping; rules + affect only child files. + + * rewrite's query limits which transactions can be rewritten; all are + printed. print -auto's query limits which transactions are + printed. + + * rewrite applies rules specified on command line or in the journal. + print -auto applies rules specified in the journal. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: roi, Next: stats, Prev: rewrite, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.27 roi +========= + +roi +Shows the time-weighted (TWR) and money-weighted (IRR) rate of return on +your investments. + + At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an +account name) to select your investment(s) with '--inv', and another +query to identify your profit and loss transactions with '--pnl'. + + If you do not record changes in the value of your investment +manually, or do not require computation of time-weighted return (TWR), +'--pnl' could be an empty query ('--pnl ""' or '--pnl STR' where 'STR' +does not match any of your accounts). + + This command will compute and display the internalized rate of return +(IRR) and time-weighted rate of return (TWR) for your investments for +the time period requested. Both rates of return are annualized before +display, regardless of the length of reporting interval. + + Price directives will be taken into account if you supply appropriate +'--cost' or '--value' flags (see VALUATION). + + Note, in some cases this report can fail, for these reasons: + + * Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return + (IRR). Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of + investment becomes negative at some point in time. + * Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of + Return (IRR). Either search does not converge to a solution, or + converges too slowly. + + Examples: + + * Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks: + https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/examples/investing/roi-unrealised.ledger + + * Cookbook > Return on Investment: https://hledger.org/roi.html + +* Menu: + +* Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl:: +* Semantics of --inv and --pnl:: +* IRR and TWR explained:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl, Next: Semantics of --inv and --pnl, Up: roi + +24.27.1 Spaces and special characters in '--inv' and +---------------------------------------------------- + +'--pnl' Note that '--inv' and '--pnl''s argument is a query, and queries +could have several space-separated terms (see QUERIES). + + To indicate that all search terms form single command-line argument, +you will need to put them in quotes (see Special characters): + +$ hledger roi --inv 'term1 term2 term3 ...' + + If any query terms contain spaces themselves, you will need an extra +level of nested quoting, eg: + +$ hledger roi --inv="'Assets:Test 1'" --pnl="'Equity:Unrealized Profit and Loss'" + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl, Next: IRR and TWR explained, Prev: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl, Up: roi + +24.27.2 Semantics of '--inv' and '--pnl' +---------------------------------------- + +Query supplied to '--inv' has to match all transactions that are related +to your investment. Transactions not matching '--inv' will be ignored. + + In these transactions, ROI will conside postings that match '--inv' +to be "investment postings" and other postings (not matching '--inv') +will be sorted into two categories: "cash flow" and "profit and loss", +as ROI needs to know which part of the investment value is your +contributions and which is due to the return on investment. + + * "Cash flow" is depositing or withdrawing money, buying or selling + assets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity + and any other commodity. Example: + + 2019-01-01 Investing in Snake Oil + assets:cash -$100 + investment:snake oil + + 2020-01-01 Selling my Snake Oil + assets:cash $10 + investment:snake oil = 0 + + * "Profit and loss" is change in the value of your investment: + + 2019-06-01 Snake Oil falls in value + investment:snake oil = $57 + equity:unrealized profit or loss + + All non-investment postings are assumed to be "cash flow", unless +they match '--pnl' query. Changes in value of your investment due to +"profit and loss" postings will be considered as part of your investment +return. + + Example: if you use '--inv snake --pnl equity:unrealized', then +postings in the example below would be classifed as: + +2019-01-01 Snake Oil #1 + assets:cash -$100 ; cash flow posting + investment:snake oil ; investment posting + +2019-03-01 Snake Oil #2 + equity:unrealized pnl -$100 ; profit and loss posting + snake oil ; investment posting + +2019-07-01 Snake Oil #3 + equity:unrealized pnl ; profit and loss posting + cash -$100 ; cash flow posting + snake oil $50 ; investment posting + + +File: hledger.info, Node: IRR and TWR explained, Prev: Semantics of --inv and --pnl, Up: roi + +24.27.3 IRR and TWR explained +----------------------------- + +"ROI" stands for "return on investment". Traditionally this was +computed as a difference between current value of investment and its +initial value, expressed in percentage of the initial value. + + However, this approach is only practical in simple cases, where +investments receives no in-flows or out-flows of money, and where rate +of growth is fixed over time. For more complex scenarios you need +different ways to compute rate of return, and this command implements +two of them: IRR and TWR. + + Internal rate of return, or "IRR" (also called "money-weighted rate +of return") takes into account effects of in-flows and out-flows. +Naively, if you are withdrawing from your investment, your future gains +would be smaller (in absolute numbers), and will be a smaller percentage +of your initial investment, and if you are adding to your investment, +you will receive bigger absolute gains (but probably at the same rate of +return). IRR is a way to compute rate of return for each period between +in-flow or out-flow of money, and then combine them in a way that gives +you a compound annual rate of return that investment is expected to +generate. + + As mentioned before, in-flows and out-flows would be any cash that +you personally put in or withdraw, and for the "roi" command, these are +the postings that match the query in the'--inv' argument and NOT match +the query in the'--pnl' argument. + + If you manually record changes in the value of your investment as +transactions that balance them against "profit and loss" (or "unrealized +gains") account or use price directives, then in order for IRR to +compute the precise effect of your in-flows and out-flows on the rate of +return, you will need to record the value of your investement on or +close to the days when in- or out-flows occur. + + In technical terms, IRR uses the same approach as computation of net +present value, and tries to find a discount rate that makes net present +value of all the cash flows of your investment to add up to zero. This +could be hard to wrap your head around, especially if you haven't done +discounted cash flow analysis before. Implementation of IRR in hledger +should produce results that match the 'XIRR' formula in Excel. + + Second way to compute rate of return that 'roi' command implements is +called "time-weighted rate of return" or "TWR". Like IRR, it will also +break the history of your investment into periods between in-flows, +out-flows and value changes, to compute rate of return per each period +and then a compound rate of return. However, internal workings of TWR +are quite different. + + TWR represents your investment as an imaginary "unit fund" where +in-flows/ out-flows lead to buying or selling "units" of your investment +and changes in its value change the value of "investment unit". Change +in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of return of +your investment. + + References: + + * Explanation of rate of return + * Explanation of IRR + * Explanation of TWR + * Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations + of both metrics + + +File: hledger.info, Node: stats, Next: tags, Prev: roi, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.28 stats +=========== + +stats +Show journal and performance statistics. + + The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, +or a matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report +for each report period. + + At the end, it shows (in the terminal) the overall run time and +number of transactions processed per second. Note these are approximate +and will vary based on machine, current load, data size, hledger +version, haskell lib versions, GHC version.. but they may be of +interest. The 'stats' command's run time is similar to that of a +single-column balance report. + + Example: + +$ hledger stats -f examples/1000x1000x10.journal +Main file : /Users/simon/src/hledger/examples/1000x1000x10.journal +Included files : +Transactions span : 2000-01-01 to 2002-09-27 (1000 days) +Last transaction : 2002-09-26 (6995 days ago) +Transactions : 1000 (1.0 per day) +Transactions last 30 days: 0 (0.0 per day) +Transactions last 7 days : 0 (0.0 per day) +Payees/descriptions : 1000 +Accounts : 1000 (depth 10) +Commodities : 26 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) +Market prices : 1000 (A) + +Run time : 0.12 s +Throughput : 8342 txns/s + + This command also supports output destination and output format +selection. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: tags, Next: test, Prev: stats, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.29 tags +========== + +tags +List the tags used in the journal, or their values. + + This command lists the tag names used in the journal, whether on +transactions, postings, or account declarations. + + With a TAGREGEX argument, only tag names matching this regular +expression (case insensitive, infix matched) are shown. + + With QUERY arguments, only transactions and accounts matching this +query are considered. If the query involves transaction fields (date:, +desc:, amt:, ...), the search is restricted to the matched transactions +and their accounts. + + With the -values flag, the tags' unique non-empty values are listed +instead. With -E/-empty, blank/empty values are also shown. + + With -parsed, tags or values are shown in the order they were parsed, +with duplicates included. (Except, tags from account declarations are +always shown first.) + + Tip: remember, accounts also acquire tags from their parents, +postings also acquire tags from their account and transaction, +transactions also acquire tags from their postings. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: test, Prev: tags, Up: PART 4 COMMANDS + +24.30 test +========== + +test +Run built-in unit tests. + + This command runs the unit tests built in to hledger and hledger-lib, +printing the results on stdout. If any test fails, the exit code will +be non-zero. + + This is mainly used by hledger developers, but you can also use it to +sanity-check the installed hledger executable on your platform. All +tests are expected to pass - if you ever see a failure, please report as +a bug! + + This command also accepts tasty test runner options, written after a +- (double hyphen). Eg to run only the tests in Hledger.Data.Amount, +with ANSI colour codes disabled: + +$ hledger test -- -pData.Amount --color=never + + For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options +('-- --help' currently doesn't show them). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: PART 5 COMMON TASKS, Prev: PART 4 COMMANDS, Up: Top + +25 PART 5: COMMON TASKS +*********************** + Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. * Menu: @@ -9289,9 +9581,9 @@ Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. * Migrating to a new file::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Getting help, Next: Constructing command lines, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Getting help, Next: Constructing command lines, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.1 Getting help +25.1 Getting help ================= Here's how to list commands and view options and command docs: @@ -9312,15 +9604,15 @@ https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion archives can be found at https://hledger.org/support.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Constructing command lines, Next: Starting a journal file, Prev: Getting help, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Constructing command lines, Next: Starting a journal file, Prev: Getting help, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.2 Constructing command lines +25.2 Constructing command lines =============================== hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We strive to keep it simple and ergonomic, but you may run into one of the -confusing real world details described in OPTIONS, below. If that -happens, here are some tips that may help: +confusing real world details OPTIONS. If that happens, here are some +tips that may help: * command-specific options must go after the command (it's fine to put all options there) ('hledger CMD OPTS ARGS') @@ -9332,9 +9624,9 @@ happens, here are some tips that may help: * to see how a misbehaving command is being parsed, add '--debug=2'.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Starting a journal file, Next: Setting opening balances, Prev: Constructing command lines, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Starting a journal file, Next: Setting opening balances, Prev: Constructing command lines, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.3 Starting a journal file +25.3 Starting a journal file ============================ hledger looks for your accounting data in a journal file, @@ -9371,9 +9663,9 @@ Commodities : 0 () Market prices : 0 ()  -File: hledger.info, Node: Setting opening balances, Next: Recording transactions, Prev: Starting a journal file, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Setting opening balances, Next: Recording transactions, Prev: Starting a journal file, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.4 Setting opening balances +25.4 Setting opening balances ============================= Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some @@ -9454,9 +9746,9 @@ the journal. Eg: $ git commit -m 'initial balances' 2020.journal  -File: hledger.info, Node: Recording transactions, Next: Reconciling, Prev: Setting opening balances, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Recording transactions, Next: Reconciling, Prev: Setting opening balances, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.5 Recording transactions +25.5 Recording transactions =========================== As you spend or receive money, you can record these transactions using @@ -9480,9 +9772,9 @@ and hledger.org for more ideas: assets:bank:checking $1000  -File: hledger.info, Node: Reconciling, Next: Reporting, Prev: Recording transactions, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Reconciling, Next: Reporting, Prev: Recording transactions, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.6 Reconciling +25.6 Reconciling ================ Periodically you should reconcile - compare your hledger-reported @@ -9535,9 +9827,9 @@ commit: $ git commit -m 'txns' 2020.journal  -File: hledger.info, Node: Reporting, Next: Migrating to a new file, Prev: Reconciling, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Reporting, Next: Migrating to a new file, Prev: Reconciling, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.7 Reporting +25.7 Reporting ============== Here are some basic reports. @@ -9683,9 +9975,9 @@ $ hledger activity -W 2020-01-13 ****  -File: hledger.info, Node: Migrating to a new file, Prev: Reporting, Up: COMMON TASKS +File: hledger.info, Node: Migrating to a new file, Prev: Reporting, Up: PART 5 COMMON TASKS -16.8 Migrating to a new file +25.8 Migrating to a new file ============================ At the end of the year, you may want to continue your journal in a new @@ -9695,666 +9987,589 @@ close command. If using version control, don't forget to 'git add' the new file. - -File: hledger.info, Node: LIMITATIONS, Next: TROUBLESHOOTING, Prev: COMMON TASKS, Up: Top - -17 LIMITATIONS -************** - -The need to precede add-on command options with '--' when invoked from -hledger is awkward. - - When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system -locale must be configured (or there will be an unhelpful error). Eg on -POSIX, set LANG to something other than C. - - In a Microsoft Windows CMD window, non-ascii characters and colours -are not supported. - - On Windows, non-ascii characters may not display correctly when -running a hledger built in CMD in MSYS/CYGWIN, or vice-versa. - - In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in -hledger add. - - Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See hledger -and Ledger > Differences > journal format. - - On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than -Ledger. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: TROUBLESHOOTING, Prev: LIMITATIONS, Up: Top - -18 TROUBLESHOOTING -****************** - -Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and -remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug -tracker): - - *Successfully installed, but "No command 'hledger' found"* -stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should -be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, -that is ~/.local/bin and ~/.cabal/bin respectively. - - *I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default -file* -'LEDGER_FILE' should be a real environment variable, not just a shell -variable. The command 'env | grep LEDGER_FILE' should show it. You may -need to use 'export'. Here's an explanation. - - *Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or -incomplete multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: -invalid argument (invalid character)"* -Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need to -have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, otherwise they -will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii -characters. - - To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which -supports UTF-8. The locale you choose must be installed on your system. - - Here's an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: - -$ file my.journal -my.journal: UTF-8 Unicode text # the file is UTF8-encoded -$ echo $LANG -C # LANG is set to the default locale, which does not support UTF8 -$ locale -a # which locales are installed ? -C -en_US.utf8 # here's a UTF8-aware one we can use -POSIX -$ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command - - If available, 'C.UTF-8' will also work. If your preferred locale -isn't listed by 'locale -a', you might need to install it. Eg on -Ubuntu/Debian: - -$ apt-get install language-pack-fr -$ locale -a -C -en_US.utf8 -fr_BE.utf8 -fr_CA.utf8 -fr_CH.utf8 -fr_FR.utf8 -fr_LU.utf8 -POSIX -$ LANG=fr_FR.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print - - Here's how you could set it permanently, if you use a bash shell: - -$ echo "export LANG=en_US.utf8" >>~/.bash_profile -$ bash --login - - Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the -difference on MacOS ('UTF-8', not 'utf8'). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) -allow variant spellings, but others (eg macos) require it to be exact: - -$ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf -en_US.UTF-8 -$ LANG=en_US.UTF-8 hledger -f my.journal print -  Tag Table: Node: Top208 -Node: OPTIONS2597 -Ref: #options2698 -Node: General options2840 -Ref: #general-options2965 -Node: Command options7178 -Ref: #command-options7329 -Node: Command arguments7729 -Ref: #command-arguments7887 -Node: Special characters8767 -Ref: #special-characters8930 -Node: Single escaping shell metacharacters9093 -Ref: #single-escaping-shell-metacharacters9334 -Node: Double escaping regular expression metacharacters9937 -Ref: #double-escaping-regular-expression-metacharacters10248 -Node: Triple escaping for add-on commands10774 -Ref: #triple-escaping-for-add-on-commands11034 -Node: Less escaping11678 -Ref: #less-escaping11832 -Node: Unicode characters12156 -Ref: #unicode-characters12321 -Node: Regular expressions13733 -Ref: #regular-expressions13873 -Node: ENVIRONMENT15609 -Ref: #environment15720 -Node: INPUT17289 -Ref: #input17387 -Node: Data formats17930 -Ref: #data-formats18043 -Node: Multiple files19437 -Ref: #multiple-files19574 -Node: Strict mode20043 -Ref: #strict-mode20153 -Node: OUTPUT20877 -Ref: #output20978 -Node: Output destination21153 -Ref: #output-destination21285 -Node: Output styling21710 -Ref: #output-styling21856 -Node: Output format22613 -Ref: #output-format22755 -Node: CSV output24266 -Ref: #csv-output24382 -Node: HTML output24485 -Ref: #html-output24623 -Node: JSON output24717 -Ref: #json-output24855 -Node: SQL output25772 -Ref: #sql-output25888 -Node: Commodity styles26389 -Ref: #commodity-styles26535 -Node: Debug output27311 -Ref: #debug-output27427 -Node: TIME PERIODS28093 -Ref: #time-periods28206 -Node: Smart dates28304 -Ref: #smart-dates28430 -Node: Report start & end date30260 -Ref: #report-start-end-date30435 -Node: Report intervals32102 -Ref: #report-intervals32270 -Node: Period expressions34009 -Ref: #period-expressions34149 -Node: Period expressions with a report interval35908 -Ref: #period-expressions-with-a-report-interval36140 -Node: More complex report intervals37221 -Ref: #more-complex-report-intervals37470 -Node: Intervals with custom start date38110 -Ref: #intervals-with-custom-start-date38342 -Node: Periods or dates ?39916 -Ref: #periods-or-dates40118 -Node: Events on multiple weekdays40560 -Ref: #events-on-multiple-weekdays40739 -Node: DEPTH41602 -Ref: #depth41702 -Node: QUERIES42036 -Ref: #queries42132 -Node: Query types43073 -Ref: #query-types43192 -Node: Combining query terms46366 -Ref: #combining-query-terms46541 -Node: Queries and command options47615 -Ref: #queries-and-command-options47818 -Node: Queries and account aliases48067 -Ref: #queries-and-account-aliases48270 -Node: Queries and valuation48390 -Ref: #queries-and-valuation48583 -Node: Querying with account aliases48812 -Ref: #querying-with-account-aliases49021 -Node: Querying with cost or value49151 -Ref: #querying-with-cost-or-value49326 -Node: COST49627 -Ref: #cost49721 -Node: -B Convert to cost50915 -Ref: #b-convert-to-cost51059 -Node: Equity conversion postings52487 -Ref: #equity-conversion-postings52689 -Node: Inferring equity postings from cost53316 -Ref: #inferring-equity-postings-from-cost53553 -Node: Inferring cost from equity postings54542 -Ref: #inferring-cost-from-equity-postings54778 -Node: When to infer cost/equity57003 -Ref: #when-to-infer-costequity57209 -Node: How to record conversions57605 -Ref: #how-to-record-conversions57785 -Node: Conversion with implicit cost58076 -Ref: #conversion-with-implicit-cost58279 -Node: Conversion with explicit cost59156 -Ref: #conversion-with-explicit-cost59399 -Node: Conversion with equity postings59816 -Ref: #conversion-with-equity-postings60083 -Node: Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost60902 -Ref: #conversion-with-equity-postings-and-explicit-cost61167 -Node: Cost tips61772 -Ref: #cost-tips61886 -Node: VALUATION62615 -Ref: #valuation62720 -Node: -V Value63487 -Ref: #v-value63611 -Node: -X Value in specified commodity63806 -Ref: #x-value-in-specified-commodity63999 -Node: Valuation date64148 -Ref: #valuation-date64310 -Node: Market prices64747 -Ref: #market-prices64929 -Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions66112 -Ref: #infer-market-prices-market-prices-from-transactions66379 -Node: Valuation commodity68263 -Ref: #valuation-commodity68474 -Node: Simple valuation examples69700 -Ref: #simple-valuation-examples69896 -Node: --value Flexible valuation70555 -Ref: #value-flexible-valuation70757 -Node: More valuation examples72401 -Ref: #more-valuation-examples72608 -Node: Interaction of valuation and queries74607 -Ref: #interaction-of-valuation-and-queries74846 -Node: Effect of valuation on reports75318 -Ref: #effect-of-valuation-on-reports75513 -Node: PIVOTING83210 -Ref: #pivoting83319 -Node: COMMANDS85005 -Ref: #commands85119 -Node: accounts88373 -Ref: #accounts88473 -Node: activity90369 -Ref: #activity90481 -Node: add90864 -Ref: #add90967 -Node: aregister93775 -Ref: #aregister93889 -Node: aregister and custom posting dates96558 -Ref: #aregister-and-custom-posting-dates96724 -Node: balance97276 -Ref: #balance97395 -Node: balance features98388 -Ref: #balance-features98528 -Node: Simple balance report100452 -Ref: #simple-balance-report100634 -Node: Filtered balance report102114 -Ref: #filtered-balance-report102301 -Node: List or tree mode102628 -Ref: #list-or-tree-mode102796 -Node: Depth limiting104141 -Ref: #depth-limiting104307 -Node: Dropping top-level accounts104908 -Ref: #dropping-top-level-accounts105110 -Node: Multi-period balance report105420 -Ref: #multi-period-balance-report105633 -Node: Showing declared accounts107908 -Ref: #showing-declared-accounts108101 -Node: Data layout108632 -Ref: #data-layout108787 -Node: Sorting by amount116727 -Ref: #sorting-by-amount116882 -Node: Percentages117552 -Ref: #percentages117710 -Node: Balance change end balance118671 -Ref: #balance-change-end-balance118864 -Node: Balance report types120292 -Ref: #balance-report-types120482 -Node: Useful balance reports124761 -Ref: #useful-balance-reports124942 -Node: Budget report126027 -Ref: #budget-report126211 -Node: Budget report start date131486 -Ref: #budget-report-start-date131664 -Node: Budgets and subaccounts132996 -Ref: #budgets-and-subaccounts133203 -Node: Selecting budget goals136643 -Ref: #selecting-budget-goals136815 -Node: Customising single-period balance reports137849 -Ref: #customising-single-period-balance-reports138058 -Node: balancesheet140233 -Ref: #balancesheet140371 -Node: balancesheetequity141699 -Ref: #balancesheetequity141850 -Node: cashflow143253 -Ref: #cashflow143377 -Node: check144809 -Ref: #check144914 -Node: Basic checks145722 -Ref: #basic-checks145840 -Node: Strict checks146391 -Ref: #strict-checks146532 -Node: Other checks146968 -Ref: #other-checks147108 -Node: Custom checks147607 -Ref: #custom-checks147762 -Node: More about specific checks148179 -Ref: #more-about-specific-checks148339 -Node: close149067 -Ref: #close149171 -Node: close and prices151262 -Ref: #close-and-prices151391 -Node: close date151786 -Ref: #close-date151970 -Node: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition152736 -Ref: #example-close-assetliability-accounts-for-file-transition153037 -Node: Hiding opening/closing transactions153896 -Ref: #hiding-openingclosing-transactions154167 -Node: close and balance assertions155544 -Ref: #close-and-balance-assertions155802 -Node: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings157156 -Ref: #example-close-revenueexpense-accounts-to-retained-earnings157434 -Node: codes158324 -Ref: #codes158434 -Node: commodities159146 -Ref: #commodities159275 -Node: descriptions159357 -Ref: #descriptions159487 -Node: diff159791 -Ref: #diff159899 -Node: files160946 -Ref: #files161048 -Node: help161195 -Ref: #help161297 -Node: import162248 -Ref: #import162364 -Node: Deduplication163457 -Ref: #deduplication163582 -Node: Import testing165476 -Ref: #import-testing165641 -Node: Importing balance assignments166129 -Ref: #importing-balance-assignments166335 -Node: Commodity display styles166984 -Ref: #commodity-display-styles167157 -Node: incomestatement167286 -Ref: #incomestatement167421 -Node: notes168753 -Ref: #notes168868 -Node: payees169236 -Ref: #payees169344 -Node: prices169870 -Ref: #prices169978 -Node: print170347 -Ref: #print170459 -Node: print-unique175876 -Ref: #print-unique176004 -Node: register176289 -Ref: #register176418 -Node: Custom register output181168 -Ref: #custom-register-output181299 -Node: register-match182636 -Ref: #register-match182772 -Node: rewrite183123 -Ref: #rewrite183240 -Node: Re-write rules in a file185146 -Ref: #re-write-rules-in-a-file185309 -Node: Diff output format186458 -Ref: #diff-output-format186641 -Node: rewrite vs print --auto187733 -Ref: #rewrite-vs.-print---auto187893 -Node: roi188449 -Ref: #roi188549 -Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl190274 -Ref: #spaces-and-special-characters-in---inv-and---pnl190514 -Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl191002 -Ref: #semantics-of---inv-and---pnl191241 -Node: IRR and TWR explained193091 -Ref: #irr-and-twr-explained193251 -Node: stats196337 -Ref: #stats196438 -Node: tags197818 -Ref: #tags197918 -Node: test198932 -Ref: #test199042 -Node: Add-on commands199789 -Ref: #add-on-commands199908 -Node: JOURNAL FORMAT201039 -Ref: #journal-format201167 -Node: Transactions203394 -Ref: #transactions203509 -Node: Dates204523 -Ref: #dates204639 -Node: Simple dates204704 -Ref: #simple-dates204824 -Node: Secondary dates205333 -Ref: #secondary-dates205481 -Node: Posting dates206817 -Ref: #posting-dates206940 -Node: Status208312 -Ref: #status208422 -Node: Code210130 -Ref: #code210242 -Node: Description210474 -Ref: #description210602 -Node: Payee and note210922 -Ref: #payee-and-note211030 -Node: Comments211365 -Ref: #comments211487 -Node: Tags212681 -Ref: #tags-1212792 -Node: Postings214247 -Ref: #postings214371 -Node: Virtual postings215397 -Ref: #virtual-postings215508 -Node: Account names216813 -Ref: #account-names216950 -Node: Amounts217438 -Ref: #amounts217575 -Node: Decimal marks digit group marks218560 -Ref: #decimal-marks-digit-group-marks218737 -Node: Commodity219758 -Ref: #commodity219947 -Node: Directives influencing number parsing and display220899 -Ref: #directives-influencing-number-parsing-and-display221160 -Node: Commodity display style221653 -Ref: #commodity-display-style221861 -Node: Rounding224056 -Ref: #rounding224176 -Node: Transaction prices224588 -Ref: #transaction-prices224754 -Node: Lot prices lot dates226677 -Ref: #lot-prices-lot-dates226860 -Node: Balance assertions227348 -Ref: #balance-assertions227526 -Node: Assertions and ordering228599 -Ref: #assertions-and-ordering228790 -Node: Assertions and multiple included files229490 -Ref: #assertions-and-multiple-included-files229752 -Node: Assertions and multiple -f files230252 -Ref: #assertions-and-multiple--f-files230505 -Node: Assertions and commodities230902 -Ref: #assertions-and-commodities231126 -Node: Assertions and prices232306 -Ref: #assertions-and-prices232514 -Node: Assertions and subaccounts232954 -Ref: #assertions-and-subaccounts233177 -Node: Assertions and virtual postings233501 -Ref: #assertions-and-virtual-postings233741 -Node: Assertions and auto postings233873 -Ref: #assertions-and-auto-postings234105 -Node: Assertions and precision234750 -Ref: #assertions-and-precision234934 -Node: Balance assignments235201 -Ref: #balance-assignments235371 -Node: Balance assignments and prices236535 -Ref: #balance-assignments-and-prices236701 -Node: Directives236925 -Ref: #directives237088 -Node: Directives and multiple files241580 -Ref: #directives-and-multiple-files241776 -Node: Comment blocks242468 -Ref: #comment-blocks242645 -Node: Including other files242821 -Ref: #including-other-files242995 -Node: Default year243919 -Ref: #default-year244077 -Node: Declaring payees244484 -Ref: #declaring-payees244655 -Node: Declaring the decimal mark244901 -Ref: #declaring-the-decimal-mark245101 -Node: Declaring commodities245498 -Ref: #declaring-commodities245689 -Node: Commodity error checking248207 -Ref: #commodity-error-checking248357 -Node: Default commodity248872 -Ref: #default-commodity249052 -Node: Declaring market prices250168 -Ref: #declaring-market-prices250357 -Node: Declaring accounts251170 -Ref: #declaring-accounts251350 -Node: Account comments252514 -Ref: #account-comments252667 -Node: Account subdirectives253090 -Ref: #account-subdirectives253284 -Node: Account error checking253426 -Ref: #account-error-checking253627 -Node: Account display order254816 -Ref: #account-display-order255007 -Node: Account types256108 -Ref: #account-types256252 -Node: Rewriting accounts259926 -Ref: #rewriting-accounts260105 -Node: Basic aliases261145 -Ref: #basic-aliases261281 -Node: Regex aliases262025 -Ref: #regex-aliases262187 -Node: Combining aliases263077 -Ref: #combining-aliases263260 -Node: Aliases and multiple files264536 -Ref: #aliases-and-multiple-files264735 -Node: end aliases265314 -Ref: #end-aliases265508 -Node: Aliases can generate bad account names265657 -Ref: #aliases-can-generate-bad-account-names265900 -Node: Aliases and account types266485 -Ref: #aliases-and-account-types266682 -Node: Default parent account267378 -Ref: #default-parent-account267568 -Node: Periodic transactions268452 -Ref: #periodic-transactions268635 -Node: Periodic rule syntax270590 -Ref: #periodic-rule-syntax270770 -Node: Periodic rules and relative dates271229 -Ref: #periodic-rules-and-relative-dates271497 -Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!272008 -Ref: #two-spaces-between-period-expression-and-description272334 -Node: Forecasting with periodic transactions273018 -Ref: #forecasting-with-periodic-transactions273317 -Node: Budgeting with periodic transactions276088 -Ref: #budgeting-with-periodic-transactions276321 -Node: Auto postings276730 -Ref: #auto-postings276866 -Node: Auto postings and multiple files279045 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-multiple-files279243 -Node: Auto postings and dates279452 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-dates279720 -Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions279895 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-transaction-balancing-inferred-amounts-balance-assertions280240 -Node: Auto posting tags280743 -Ref: #auto-posting-tags280952 -Node: CSV FORMAT281588 -Ref: #csv-format281716 -Node: Examples284542 -Ref: #examples284645 -Node: Basic284853 -Ref: #basic284955 -Node: Bank of Ireland285497 -Ref: #bank-of-ireland285634 -Node: Amazon287096 -Ref: #amazon287216 -Node: Paypal288935 -Ref: #paypal289031 -Node: CSV rules296675 -Ref: #csv-rules296793 -Node: skip297162 -Ref: #skip297262 -Node: fields list297637 -Ref: #fields-list297776 -Node: field assignment299342 -Ref: #field-assignment299494 -Node: Field names300529 -Ref: #field-names300669 -Node: date field301049 -Ref: #date-field301169 -Node: date2 field301217 -Ref: #date2-field301360 -Node: status field301416 -Ref: #status-field301561 -Node: code field301610 -Ref: #code-field301757 -Node: description field301802 -Ref: #description-field301964 -Node: comment field302023 -Ref: #comment-field302180 -Node: account field302491 -Ref: #account-field302643 -Node: amount field303218 -Ref: #amount-field303369 -Node: currency field304614 -Ref: #currency-field304769 -Node: balance field305026 -Ref: #balance-field305160 -Node: separator305532 -Ref: #separator305664 -Node: if block306204 -Ref: #if-block306331 -Node: Matching the whole record306732 -Ref: #matching-the-whole-record306909 -Node: Matching individual fields307712 -Ref: #matching-individual-fields307918 -Node: Combining matchers308142 -Ref: #combining-matchers308340 -Node: Rules applied on successful match308653 -Ref: #rules-applied-on-successful-match308846 -Node: if table309500 -Ref: #if-table309621 -Node: end311359 -Ref: #end311473 -Node: date-format311697 -Ref: #date-format311827 -Node: timezone312551 -Ref: #timezone312686 -Node: decimal-mark313691 -Ref: #decimal-mark313835 -Node: newest-first314174 -Ref: #newest-first314328 -Node: intra-day-reversed314906 -Ref: #intra-day-reversed315067 -Node: include315560 -Ref: #include315699 -Node: balance-type316143 -Ref: #balance-type316265 -Node: Tips316965 -Ref: #tips317056 -Node: Rapid feedback317355 -Ref: #rapid-feedback317474 -Node: Valid CSV317926 -Ref: #valid-csv318058 -Node: File Extension318250 -Ref: #file-extension318404 -Node: Reading multiple CSV files318833 -Ref: #reading-multiple-csv-files319020 -Node: Valid transactions319261 -Ref: #valid-transactions319441 -Node: Deduplicating importing320069 -Ref: #deduplicating-importing320250 -Node: Setting amounts321286 -Ref: #setting-amounts321443 -Node: Amount signs323887 -Ref: #amount-signs324041 -Node: Setting currency/commodity324728 -Ref: #setting-currencycommodity324916 -Node: Amount decimal places326090 -Ref: #amount-decimal-places326282 -Node: Referencing other fields326594 -Ref: #referencing-other-fields326793 -Node: How CSV rules are evaluated327690 -Ref: #how-csv-rules-are-evaluated327865 -Node: TIMECLOCK FORMAT329316 -Ref: #timeclock-format329456 -Node: TIMEDOT FORMAT331517 -Ref: #timedot-format331655 -Node: COMMON TASKS336217 -Ref: #common-tasks336346 -Node: Getting help336620 -Ref: #getting-help336754 -Node: Constructing command lines337506 -Ref: #constructing-command-lines337700 -Node: Starting a journal file338397 -Ref: #starting-a-journal-file338597 -Node: Setting opening balances339785 -Ref: #setting-opening-balances339983 -Node: Recording transactions343124 -Ref: #recording-transactions343306 -Node: Reconciling343862 -Ref: #reconciling344007 -Node: Reporting346264 -Ref: #reporting346406 -Node: Migrating to a new file350391 -Ref: #migrating-to-a-new-file350541 -Node: LIMITATIONS350840 -Ref: #limitations350968 -Node: TROUBLESHOOTING351737 -Ref: #troubleshooting351852 +Node: PART 1 USER INTERFACE3112 +Ref: #part-1-user-interface3253 +Node: Options3253 +Ref: #options3372 +Node: General options3514 +Ref: #general-options3639 +Node: Command options7852 +Ref: #command-options8003 +Node: Command arguments8403 +Ref: #command-arguments8561 +Node: Special characters9441 +Ref: #special-characters9604 +Node: Single escaping shell metacharacters9767 +Ref: #single-escaping-shell-metacharacters10008 +Node: Double escaping regular expression metacharacters10611 +Ref: #double-escaping-regular-expression-metacharacters10922 +Node: Triple escaping for add-on commands11448 +Ref: #triple-escaping-for-add-on-commands11708 +Node: Less escaping12352 +Ref: #less-escaping12506 +Node: Unicode characters12830 +Ref: #unicode-characters12995 +Node: Regular expressions14407 +Ref: #regular-expressions14547 +Node: Environment16283 +Ref: #environment16394 +Node: Input17963 +Ref: #input18063 +Node: Data formats18606 +Ref: #data-formats18719 +Node: Multiple files20105 +Ref: #multiple-files20242 +Node: Strict mode20711 +Ref: #strict-mode20821 +Node: Commands21545 +Ref: #commands21646 +Node: Add-on commands22118 +Ref: #add-on-commands22220 +Node: Output23305 +Ref: #output23408 +Node: Output destination23524 +Ref: #output-destination23655 +Node: Output format24080 +Ref: #output-format24226 +Node: CSV output25764 +Ref: #csv-output25880 +Node: HTML output25983 +Ref: #html-output26121 +Node: JSON output26215 +Ref: #json-output26353 +Node: SQL output27275 +Ref: #sql-output27391 +Node: Commodity styles27900 +Ref: #commodity-styles28040 +Node: Colour28639 +Ref: #colour28757 +Node: Box-drawing29161 +Ref: #box-drawing29285 +Node: Debug output29575 +Ref: #debug-output29686 +Node: Limitations30349 +Ref: #limitations30469 +Node: Troubleshooting31238 +Ref: #troubleshooting31379 +Node: PART 2 DATA FORMATS33861 +Ref: #part-2-data-formats34008 +Node: Journal34008 +Ref: #journal34119 +Node: File comments36190 +Ref: #file-comments36308 +Node: Transactions36897 +Ref: #transactions37027 +Node: Dates38041 +Ref: #dates38150 +Node: Simple dates38215 +Ref: #simple-dates38335 +Node: Secondary dates38844 +Ref: #secondary-dates38992 +Node: Posting dates40328 +Ref: #posting-dates40451 +Node: Status41823 +Ref: #status41926 +Node: Code43634 +Ref: #code43739 +Node: Description43971 +Ref: #description44104 +Node: Payee and note44424 +Ref: #payee-and-note44532 +Node: Transaction comments44867 +Ref: #transaction-comments45022 +Node: Postings45385 +Ref: #postings45518 +Node: Virtual postings46544 +Ref: #virtual-postings46655 +Node: Account names48042 +Ref: #account-names48172 +Node: Amounts48660 +Ref: #amounts48777 +Node: Decimal marks digit group marks49762 +Ref: #decimal-marks-digit-group-marks49939 +Node: Commodity50953 +Ref: #commodity51142 +Node: Directives influencing number parsing and display52094 +Ref: #directives-influencing-number-parsing-and-display52355 +Node: Commodity display style52807 +Ref: #commodity-display-style53015 +Node: Rounding55184 +Ref: #rounding55304 +Node: Costs55603 +Ref: #costs55721 +Node: Other cost/lot notations57720 +Ref: #other-costlot-notations57854 +Node: Balance assertions60497 +Ref: #balance-assertions60653 +Node: Assertions and ordering61736 +Ref: #assertions-and-ordering61927 +Node: Assertions and multiple included files62627 +Ref: #assertions-and-multiple-included-files62889 +Node: Assertions and multiple -f files63389 +Ref: #assertions-and-multiple--f-files63642 +Node: Assertions and commodities64039 +Ref: #assertions-and-commodities64263 +Node: Assertions and prices65443 +Ref: #assertions-and-prices65651 +Node: Assertions and subaccounts66078 +Ref: #assertions-and-subaccounts66301 +Node: Assertions and virtual postings66625 +Ref: #assertions-and-virtual-postings66865 +Node: Assertions and auto postings66997 +Ref: #assertions-and-auto-postings67229 +Node: Assertions and precision67874 +Ref: #assertions-and-precision68058 +Node: Balance assignments68325 +Ref: #balance-assignments68494 +Node: Balance assignments and prices69658 +Ref: #balance-assignments-and-prices69824 +Node: Posting comments70035 +Ref: #posting-comments70184 +Node: Tags70588 +Ref: #tags70704 +Node: Tag values71897 +Ref: #tag-values71988 +Node: Directives72896 +Ref: #directives73023 +Node: Directives and multiple files77596 +Ref: #directives-and-multiple-files77750 +Node: Including files78442 +Ref: #including-files78587 +Node: Default year79511 +Ref: #default-year79652 +Node: Decimal mark80059 +Ref: #decimal-mark80196 +Node: Commodities80593 +Ref: #commodities80733 +Node: Commodity error checking83251 +Ref: #commodity-error-checking83391 +Node: Default commodity83906 +Ref: #default-commodity84054 +Node: Accounts85170 +Ref: #accounts85304 +Node: Account comments86468 +Ref: #account-comments86611 +Node: Account subdirectives87119 +Ref: #account-subdirectives87303 +Node: Account error checking87445 +Ref: #account-error-checking87636 +Node: Account display order88825 +Ref: #account-display-order89006 +Node: Account types90107 +Ref: #account-types90241 +Node: Account aliases93925 +Ref: #account-aliases94078 +Node: Basic aliases95118 +Ref: #basic-aliases95251 +Node: Regex aliases95995 +Ref: #regex-aliases96154 +Node: Combining aliases97044 +Ref: #combining-aliases97224 +Node: Aliases and multiple files98500 +Ref: #aliases-and-multiple-files98696 +Node: end aliases99275 +Ref: #end-aliases99466 +Node: Aliases can generate bad account names99615 +Ref: #aliases-can-generate-bad-account-names99855 +Node: Aliases and account types100440 +Ref: #aliases-and-account-types100634 +Node: Default parent account101330 +Ref: #default-parent-account101495 +Node: Payees102379 +Ref: #payees102510 +Node: Market prices102756 +Ref: #market-prices102892 +Node: Auto postings103655 +Ref: #auto-postings103806 +Node: Auto postings and multiple files105985 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-multiple-files106183 +Node: Auto postings and dates106392 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-dates106660 +Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions106835 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-transaction-balancing-inferred-amounts-balance-assertions107180 +Node: Auto posting tags107683 +Ref: #auto-posting-tags107892 +Node: Periodic transactions108528 +Ref: #periodic-transactions108673 +Node: Periodic rule syntax110358 +Ref: #periodic-rule-syntax110538 +Node: Periodic rules and relative dates110997 +Ref: #periodic-rules-and-relative-dates111265 +Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!111776 +Ref: #two-spaces-between-period-expression-and-description112055 +Node: CSV112739 +Ref: #csv112832 +Node: Examples114539 +Ref: #examples114635 +Node: Basic114843 +Ref: #basic114945 +Node: Bank of Ireland115487 +Ref: #bank-of-ireland115624 +Node: Amazon117086 +Ref: #amazon117206 +Node: Paypal118925 +Ref: #paypal119021 +Node: CSV rules126665 +Ref: #csv-rules126781 +Node: separator128431 +Ref: #separator128547 +Node: skip129087 +Ref: #skip129195 +Node: date-format129570 +Ref: #date-format129691 +Node: timezone130415 +Ref: #timezone130538 +Node: decimal-mark131543 +Ref: #decimal-mark-1131675 +Node: newest-first132014 +Ref: #newest-first132156 +Node: intra-day-reversed132734 +Ref: #intra-day-reversed132882 +Node: fields133375 +Ref: #fields133505 +Node: Field assignment135071 +Ref: #field-assignment135210 +Node: Field names136245 +Ref: #field-names136370 +Node: date field136749 +Ref: #date-field136867 +Node: date2 field136915 +Ref: #date2-field137056 +Node: status field137112 +Ref: #status-field137255 +Node: code field137304 +Ref: #code-field137449 +Node: description field137494 +Ref: #description-field137654 +Node: comment field137713 +Ref: #comment-field137868 +Node: account field138161 +Ref: #account-field138311 +Node: amount field138886 +Ref: #amount-field139035 +Node: currency field140273 +Ref: #currency-field140426 +Node: balance field140683 +Ref: #balance-field140815 +Node: if141187 +Ref: #if141290 +Node: Matching the whole record141691 +Ref: #matching-the-whole-record141860 +Node: Matching individual fields142663 +Ref: #matching-individual-fields142861 +Node: Combining matchers143085 +Ref: #combining-matchers143275 +Node: Rules applied on successful match143588 +Ref: #rules-applied-on-successful-match143773 +Node: if table144427 +Ref: #if-table144534 +Node: end146272 +Ref: #end146374 +Node: include146598 +Ref: #include146712 +Node: balance-type147156 +Ref: #balance-type147281 +Node: Tips147981 +Ref: #tips148093 +Node: Rapid feedback148093 +Ref: #rapid-feedback148222 +Node: Valid CSV148674 +Ref: #valid-csv148803 +Node: File Extension148995 +Ref: #file-extension149146 +Node: Reading multiple CSV files149575 +Ref: #reading-multiple-csv-files149759 +Node: Valid transactions150000 +Ref: #valid-transactions150177 +Node: Deduplicating importing150805 +Ref: #deduplicating-importing150983 +Node: Setting amounts152019 +Ref: #setting-amounts152173 +Node: Amount signs154617 +Ref: #amount-signs154768 +Node: Setting currency/commodity155455 +Ref: #setting-currencycommodity155640 +Node: Amount decimal places156814 +Ref: #amount-decimal-places157001 +Node: Referencing other fields157313 +Ref: #referencing-other-fields157507 +Node: How CSV rules are evaluated158404 +Ref: #how-csv-rules-are-evaluated158574 +Node: Timeclock160025 +Ref: #timeclock160130 +Node: Timedot162262 +Ref: #timedot162385 +Node: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS167082 +Ref: #part-3-reporting-concepts167246 +Node: Time periods167246 +Ref: #time-periods167380 +Node: Report start & end date167478 +Ref: #report-start-end-date167630 +Node: Smart dates169305 +Ref: #smart-dates169458 +Node: Report intervals171288 +Ref: #report-intervals171446 +Node: Period expressions173185 +Ref: #period-expressions173327 +Node: Period expressions with a report interval175086 +Ref: #period-expressions-with-a-report-interval175320 +Node: More complex report intervals176401 +Ref: #more-complex-report-intervals176652 +Node: Intervals with custom start date177292 +Ref: #intervals-with-custom-start-date177526 +Node: Periods or dates ?179100 +Ref: #periods-or-dates179304 +Node: Events on multiple weekdays179746 +Ref: #events-on-multiple-weekdays179927 +Node: Depth180790 +Ref: #depth180892 +Node: Queries181188 +Ref: #queries181290 +Node: Query types182231 +Ref: #query-types182352 +Node: Combining query terms185526 +Ref: #combining-query-terms185703 +Node: Queries and command options186777 +Ref: #queries-and-command-options186982 +Node: Queries and account aliases187231 +Ref: #queries-and-account-aliases187436 +Node: Queries and valuation187556 +Ref: #queries-and-valuation187751 +Node: Querying with account aliases187980 +Ref: #querying-with-account-aliases188191 +Node: Querying with cost or value188321 +Ref: #querying-with-cost-or-value188498 +Node: Pivoting188799 +Ref: #pivoting188913 +Node: Generating data190267 +Ref: #generating-data190399 +Node: Forecasting190879 +Ref: #forecasting191004 +Node: Budgeting193775 +Ref: #budgeting193895 +Node: Cost reporting194158 +Ref: #cost-reporting194286 +Node: -B Convert to cost195393 +Ref: #b-convert-to-cost195549 +Node: Equity conversion postings196941 +Ref: #equity-conversion-postings197155 +Node: Inferring equity postings from cost197782 +Ref: #inferring-equity-postings-from-cost198031 +Node: Inferring cost from equity postings198997 +Ref: #inferring-cost-from-equity-postings199245 +Node: When to infer cost/equity201244 +Ref: #when-to-infer-costequity201462 +Node: How to record conversions201858 +Ref: #how-to-record-conversions202050 +Node: Conversion with implicit cost202341 +Ref: #conversion-with-implicit-cost202546 +Node: Conversion with explicit cost203423 +Ref: #conversion-with-explicit-cost203668 +Node: Conversion with equity postings204085 +Ref: #conversion-with-equity-postings204354 +Node: Conversion with equity postings and explicit cost205173 +Ref: #conversion-with-equity-postings-and-explicit-cost205440 +Node: Cost tips206045 +Ref: #cost-tips206171 +Node: Valuation206900 +Ref: #valuation207024 +Node: -V Value207798 +Ref: #v-value207924 +Node: -X Value in specified commodity208119 +Ref: #x-value-in-specified-commodity208314 +Node: Valuation date208463 +Ref: #valuation-date208634 +Node: Finding market price209071 +Ref: #finding-market-price209276 +Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions210446 +Ref: #infer-market-prices-market-prices-from-transactions210722 +Node: Valuation commodity213478 +Ref: #valuation-commodity213691 +Node: Simple valuation examples214904 +Ref: #simple-valuation-examples215102 +Node: --value Flexible valuation215761 +Ref: #value-flexible-valuation215965 +Node: More valuation examples217609 +Ref: #more-valuation-examples217818 +Node: Interaction of valuation and queries219817 +Ref: #interaction-of-valuation-and-queries220058 +Node: Effect of valuation on reports220530 +Ref: #effect-of-valuation-on-reports220727 +Node: PART 4 COMMANDS228424 +Ref: #part-4-commands228567 +Node: accounts231400 +Ref: #accounts-1231507 +Node: activity233403 +Ref: #activity233522 +Node: add233905 +Ref: #add234015 +Node: aregister236823 +Ref: #aregister236944 +Node: aregister and custom posting dates239613 +Ref: #aregister-and-custom-posting-dates239779 +Node: balance240331 +Ref: #balance240457 +Node: balance features241435 +Ref: #balance-features241575 +Node: Simple balance report243499 +Ref: #simple-balance-report243684 +Node: Balance report line format245309 +Ref: #balance-report-line-format245511 +Node: Filtered balance report247669 +Ref: #filtered-balance-report247861 +Node: List or tree mode248188 +Ref: #list-or-tree-mode248356 +Node: Depth limiting249701 +Ref: #depth-limiting249867 +Node: Dropping top-level accounts250468 +Ref: #dropping-top-level-accounts250668 +Node: Showing declared accounts250978 +Ref: #showing-declared-accounts251177 +Node: Sorting by amount251708 +Ref: #sorting-by-amount251875 +Node: Percentages252545 +Ref: #percentages252704 +Node: Multi-period balance report253252 +Ref: #multi-period-balance-report253452 +Node: Balance change end balance255727 +Ref: #balance-change-end-balance255936 +Node: Balance report types257364 +Ref: #balance-report-types257545 +Node: Calculation type258305 +Ref: #calculation-type258460 +Node: Accumulation type258918 +Ref: #accumulation-type259098 +Node: Valuation type259806 +Ref: #valuation-type259994 +Node: Combining balance report types260627 +Ref: #combining-balance-report-types260821 +Node: Budget report262659 +Ref: #budget-report262811 +Node: Budget report start date268086 +Ref: #budget-report-start-date268264 +Node: Budgets and subaccounts269596 +Ref: #budgets-and-subaccounts269803 +Node: Selecting budget goals273243 +Ref: #selecting-budget-goals273415 +Node: Data layout274449 +Ref: #data-layout274599 +Node: Useful balance reports282769 +Ref: #useful-balance-reports282919 +Node: balancesheet284004 +Ref: #balancesheet284149 +Node: balancesheetequity285477 +Ref: #balancesheetequity285635 +Node: cashflow287038 +Ref: #cashflow287169 +Node: check288601 +Ref: #check288713 +Node: Basic checks289521 +Ref: #basic-checks289639 +Node: Strict checks290159 +Ref: #strict-checks290300 +Node: Other checks290723 +Ref: #other-checks290863 +Node: Custom checks291362 +Ref: #custom-checks291517 +Node: More about specific checks291934 +Ref: #more-about-specific-checks292094 +Node: close292822 +Ref: #close292933 +Node: close and costs295023 +Ref: #close-and-costs295149 +Node: close date295533 +Ref: #close-date295716 +Node: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition296482 +Ref: #example-close-assetliability-accounts-for-file-transition296783 +Node: Hiding opening/closing transactions297642 +Ref: #hiding-openingclosing-transactions297913 +Node: close and balance assertions299290 +Ref: #close-and-balance-assertions299548 +Node: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings300902 +Ref: #example-close-revenueexpense-accounts-to-retained-earnings301180 +Node: codes302070 +Ref: #codes302187 +Node: commodities303057 +Ref: #commodities-1303193 +Node: descriptions303275 +Ref: #descriptions303412 +Node: diff303716 +Ref: #diff303831 +Node: files304878 +Ref: #files304987 +Node: help305134 +Ref: #help305243 +Node: import306194 +Ref: #import306317 +Node: Deduplication307410 +Ref: #deduplication307535 +Node: Import testing309429 +Ref: #import-testing309594 +Node: Importing balance assignments310082 +Ref: #importing-balance-assignments310288 +Node: Commodity display styles310937 +Ref: #commodity-display-styles311110 +Node: incomestatement311239 +Ref: #incomestatement311381 +Node: notes312713 +Ref: #notes312835 +Node: payees313203 +Ref: #payees-1313318 +Node: prices313844 +Ref: #prices313959 +Node: print314264 +Ref: #print314383 +Node: print-unique319761 +Ref: #print-unique319896 +Node: register320181 +Ref: #register320317 +Node: Custom register output325067 +Ref: #custom-register-output325198 +Node: register-match326535 +Ref: #register-match326678 +Node: rewrite327029 +Ref: #rewrite327153 +Node: Re-write rules in a file329059 +Ref: #re-write-rules-in-a-file329222 +Node: Diff output format330371 +Ref: #diff-output-format330554 +Node: rewrite vs print --auto331646 +Ref: #rewrite-vs.-print---auto331806 +Node: roi332362 +Ref: #roi332469 +Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl334194 +Ref: #spaces-and-special-characters-in---inv-and---pnl334434 +Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl334922 +Ref: #semantics-of---inv-and---pnl335161 +Node: IRR and TWR explained337011 +Ref: #irr-and-twr-explained337171 +Node: stats340257 +Ref: #stats340365 +Node: tags341745 +Ref: #tags-1341852 +Node: test342866 +Ref: #test342959 +Node: PART 5 COMMON TASKS343706 +Ref: #part-5-common-tasks343839 +Node: Getting help344113 +Ref: #getting-help344254 +Node: Constructing command lines345006 +Ref: #constructing-command-lines345207 +Node: Starting a journal file345883 +Ref: #starting-a-journal-file346090 +Node: Setting opening balances347278 +Ref: #setting-opening-balances347483 +Node: Recording transactions350624 +Ref: #recording-transactions350813 +Node: Reconciling351369 +Ref: #reconciling351521 +Node: Reporting353778 +Ref: #reporting353927 +Node: Migrating to a new file357912 +Ref: #migrating-to-a-new-file358069  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger/hledger.txt b/hledger/hledger.txt index dbc51275b..0237866e8 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.txt +++ b/hledger/hledger.txt @@ -4,18 +4,22 @@ HLEDGER(1) hledger User Manuals HLEDGER(1) NAME - This is the command-line interface (CLI) for the hledger accounting - tool. Here we also describe hledger's concepts and file formats. This - manual is for hledger 1.28.99. + hledger - robust, friendly plain text accounting (CLI version) SYNOPSIS hledger + hledger [-f FILE] COMMAND [OPTS] [ARGS] + hledger [-f FILE] ADDONCMD -- [OPTS] [ARGS] - hledger [-f FILE] COMMAND [OPTIONS] [ARGS] +INTRODUCTION + This manual is for hledger's command line interface, version 1.28.99. + It also describes the concepts and file formats common to all hledger + programs. You can read it on hledger.org, or as an info manual or man + page on your system. It is detailed and not entirely linear, so you + should feel free to skip ahead / skim when needed. You don't need to + know everything in here to use hledger productively, but when you have + a question about functionality, this doc should answer it. - hledger [-f FILE] ADDONCMD -- [OPTIONS] [ARGS] - -DESCRIPTION hledger is a reliable, cross-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and a simple, editable file format. hledger is inspired by and largely @@ -53,7 +57,8 @@ DESCRIPTION try some commands like hledger print or hledger balance. Run hledger with no arguments for a list of commands. -OPTIONS +PART 1: USER INTERFACE +Options General options To see general usage help, including general options which are sup- ported by most hledger commands, run hledger -h. @@ -403,7 +408,7 @@ OPTIONS ing to the shell and so must be escaped at least once more. See Spe- cial characters. -ENVIRONMENT +Environment LEDGER_FILE The journal file path when not specified with -f. On unix computers, the default value is: ~/.hledger.journal. @@ -446,7 +451,7 @@ ENVIRONMENT ANSI color codes in terminal output. This is overriden by the --color/--colour option. -INPUT +Input hledger reads transactions from one or more data files. The default data file is $HOME/.hledger.journal (or on Windows, something like C:\Users\YOURNAME\.hledger.journal). @@ -476,13 +481,13 @@ INPUT journals, for transactions .ledger time- timeclock files, for precise time log- .timeclock clock ging + timedot timedot files, for approximate time .timedot logging - csv comma/semicolon/tab/other-separated .csv .ssv .tsv values, for data import - These formats are described in their own sections, below. + These formats are described in more detail below. hledger detects the format automatically based on the file extensions shown above. If it can't recognise the file extension, it assumes @@ -539,9 +544,53 @@ INPUT You can use the check command to run individual checks -- the ones listed above and some more. -OUTPUT - Some of this section may refer to things explained further below. +Commands + hledger provides a number of built-in subcommands (described below). + Most of these read your data without changing it, and display a report. + A few assist with data entry and management. + Run hledger with no arguments to list the commands available, and + hledger CMD to run a command. CMD can be the full command name, or its + standard abbreviation shown in the commands list, or any unambiguous + prefix of the name. Eg: hledger bal. + + Add-on commands + Add-on commands are extra subcommands provided by programs or scripts + in your PATH + + o whose name starts with hledger- + + o whose name ends with a recognised file extension: .bat,.com,.exe, + .hs,.lhs,.pl,.py,.rb,.rkt,.sh or none + + o and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. + + Addons can be written in any language, but haskell scripts or programs + have a big advantage: they can use hledger's library code, for command- + line options, parsing and reporting. + + Several add-on commands are installed by the hledger-install script. + See https://hledger.org/scripts.html for more details. + + Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a double + dash (--) preceding them. Eg you must write: + + $ hledger web -- --serve + + and not: + + $ hledger web --serve + + (because the --serve flag belongs to hledger-web, not hledger). + + The -h/--help and --version flags don't require --. + + If you have any trouble with this, remember you can always run the add- + on program directly, eg: + + $ hledger-web --serve + +Output Output destination hledger commands send their output to the terminal by default. You can of course redirect this, eg into a file, using standard shell syntax: @@ -555,24 +604,9 @@ OUTPUT $ hledger print -o foo.txt $ hledger print -o - # write to stdout (the default) - Output styling - hledger commands can produce colour output when the terminal supports - it. This is controlled by the --color/--colour option: - if the - --color/--colour option is given a value of yes or always (or no or - never), colour will (or will not) be used; - otherwise, if the NO_COLOR - environment variable is set, colour will not be used; - otherwise, - colour will be used if the output (terminal or file) supports it. - - hledger commands can also use unicode box-drawing characters to produce - prettier tables and output. This is controlled by the --pretty option: - - if the --pretty option is given a value of yes or always (or no or - never), unicode characters will (or will not) be used; - otherwise, - unicode characters will not be used. - Output format - Some commands offer additional output formats, other than the usual - plain text terminal output. Here are those commands and the formats - currently supported: + Some commands offer other kinds of output, not just text on the termi- + nal. Here are those commands and the formats currently supported: - txt csv html json sql @@ -605,6 +639,8 @@ OUTPUT $ hledger balancesheet -o foo.txt -O csv # write CSV to foo.txt + Some notes about the various output formats: + CSV output o In CSV output, digit group marks (such as thousands separators) are disabled automatically. @@ -614,11 +650,11 @@ OUTPUT directory. JSON output - o Not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. + o This is not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. - o Our JSON is rather large and verbose, as it is quite a faithful rep- - resentation of hledger's internal data types. To understand the - JSON, read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in + o Our JSON is rather large and verbose, since it is a faithful repre- + sentation of hledger's internal data types. To understand the JSON, + read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/hledger- lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs. @@ -632,7 +668,7 @@ OUTPUT otherwise, please let us know. (Cf #1195) SQL output - o Not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. + o This is not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome. o SQL output is expected to work with sqlite, MySQL and PostgreSQL @@ -643,34 +679,3256 @@ OUTPUT or drop tables completely as otherwise your postings will be duped. Commodity styles - The display style of a commodity/currency is inferred according to the - rules described in Commodity display style. The inferred display style - can be overridden by an optional -c/--commodity-style option (Excep- - tions: as is the case for inferred styles, price amounts, and all - amounts displayed by the print command, will be displayed with all of - their decimal digits visible, regardless of the specified precision). - For example, the following will override the display style for dollars. + When displaying amounts, hledger infers a standard display style for + each commodity/currency, as described below in Commodity display style. + + If needed, this can be overridden by a -c/--commodity-style option + (except for cost amounts and amounts displayed by the print command, + which are always displayed with all decimal digits). For example, the + following will force dollar amounts to be displayed as shown: $ hledger print -c '$1.000,0' - The format specification of the style is identical to the commodity - display style specification for the commodity directive. The command - line option can be supplied repeatedly to override the display style - for multiple commodity/currency symbols. + This option can repeated to set the display style for multiple commodi- + ties/currencies. Its argument is as described in the commodity direc- + tive. + + Colour + In terminal output, some commands can produce colour when the terminal + supports it: + + o if the --color/--colour option is given a value of yes or always (or + no or never), colour will (or will not) be used; + + o otherwise, if the NO_COLOR environment variable is set, colour will + not be used; + + o otherwise, colour will be used if the output (terminal or file) sup- + ports it. + + Box-drawing + In terminal output, you can enable unicode box-drawing characters to + render prettier tables: + + o if the --pretty option is given a value of yes or always (or no or + never), unicode characters will (or will not) be used; + + o otherwise, unicode characters will not be used. Debug output - We aim for hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect - and develop. You can add --debug[=N] to any hledger command line to - see additional debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the - default) to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and - increase until you are seeing enough. Debug output goes to stderr, and - is not affected by -o/--output-file (unless you redirect stderr to std- - out, eg: 2>&1). It will be interleaved with normal output, which can - help reveal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug - output in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: - hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log. + We intend hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect and + develop. You can add --debug[=N] to any hledger command line to see + additional debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) + to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and increase + until you are seeing enough. Debug output goes to stderr, and is not + affected by -o/--output-file (unless you redirect stderr to stdout, eg: + 2>&1). It will be interleaved with normal output, which can help + reveal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug output + in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: + + hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log + +Limitations + The need to precede add-on command options with -- when invoked from + hledger is awkward. + + When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system locale + must be configured (or there will be an unhelpful error). Eg on POSIX, + set LANG to something other than C. + + In a Microsoft Windows CMD window, non-ascii characters and colours are + not supported. + + On Windows, non-ascii characters may not display correctly when running + a hledger built in CMD in MSYS/CYGWIN, or vice-versa. + + In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in hledger + add. + + Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See hledger and + Ledger > Differences > journal format. + + On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than + Ledger. + +Troubleshooting + Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and + remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug + tracker): + + Successfully installed, but "No command 'hledger' found" + stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should + be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, + that is ~/.local/bin and ~/.cabal/bin respectively. + + I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default file + LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell + variable. The command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show it. You may + need to use export. Here's an explanation. + + Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete + multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argu- + ment (invalid character)" + Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need + to have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, otherwise + they will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii + characters. + + To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which sup- + ports UTF-8. The locale you choose must be installed on your system. + + Here's an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: + + $ file my.journal + my.journal: UTF-8 Unicode text # the file is UTF8-encoded + $ echo $LANG + C # LANG is set to the default locale, which does not support UTF8 + $ locale -a # which locales are installed ? + C + en_US.utf8 # here's a UTF8-aware one we can use + POSIX + $ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command + + If available, C.UTF-8 will also work. If your preferred locale isn't + listed by locale -a, you might need to install it. Eg on + Ubuntu/Debian: + + $ apt-get install language-pack-fr + $ locale -a + C + en_US.utf8 + fr_BE.utf8 + fr_CA.utf8 + fr_CH.utf8 + fr_FR.utf8 + fr_LU.utf8 + POSIX + $ LANG=fr_FR.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print + + Here's how you could set it permanently, if you use a bash shell: + + $ echo "export LANG=en_US.utf8" >>~/.bash_profile + $ bash --login + + Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the differ- + ence on MacOS (UTF-8, not utf8). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow + variant spellings, but others (eg macos) require it to be exact: + + $ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf + en_US.UTF-8 + $ LANG=en_US.UTF-8 hledger -f my.journal print + +PART 2: DATA FORMATS +Journal + hledger's default file format, representing a General Journal. + + hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal + entries in hledger journal format. This file represents a standard + accounting general journal. I use file names ending in .journal, but + that's not required. The journal file contains a number of transaction + entries, each describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between + two or more named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger + and humans. + + hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's + journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal + files as well. It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and + ledger on the same journal file, eg to validate the results you're get- + ting. + + You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use + the add or web or import commands to create and update it. + + Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track + changes with a version control system such as git. Editor addons such + as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and + hledger-vscode for Visual Studio Code, make this easier, adding colour, + formatting, tab completion, and useful commands. See Editor configura- + tion at hledger.org for the full list. + + Here's a description of each part of the file format (and hledger's + data model). + + A hledger journal file can contain three kinds of thing: file comments, + transactions, and/or directives (counting periodic transaction rules + and auto posting rules as directives). + + File comments + Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (;), a hash (#) or a + star (*) are file-level comments, and will be ignored. They are not + attached to anything (even if right next to a transaction). + + (Star comments allow emacs users to view and fold/unfold long journals + in org mode, but nowadays regular comments and ledger mode + orgstruct + mode may work better). + + # a file comment + ; another file comment + * also a file comment, useful in org/orgstruct mode + comment + A multiline file comment, continuing until an + "end comment" directive or the end of the current file. + end comment + + Transactions + Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. They + represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of commodities + between two or more named accounts. + + Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a sim- + ple date in column 0. This can be followed by any of the following + optional fields, separated by spaces: + + o a status character (empty, !, or *) + + o a code (any short number or text, enclosed in parentheses) + + o a description (any remaining text until end of line or a semicolon) + + o a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of + line, and any following indented lines beginning with a semicolon) + + o 0 or more indented posting lines, describing what was transferred and + the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also allowed, but + not blank lines or non-indented lines). + + Here's a simple journal file containing one transaction: + + 2008/01/01 income + assets:bank:checking $1 + income:salary $-1 + + Dates + Simple dates + Dates in the journal file use simple dates format: YYYY-MM-DD or + YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, with leading zeros optional. The year may be + omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- + rent transaction, the default year set with a default year directive, + or the current date when the command is run. Some examples: + 2010-01-31, 2010/01/31, 2010.1.31, 1/31. + + (The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart + dates documented in the hledger manual.) + + Secondary dates + Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the + date you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank. When you + want to model this, for more accurate daily balances, you can specify + individual posting dates. + + Or, you can use the older secondary date feature (Ledger calls it aux- + iliary date or effective date). Note: we support this for compatibil- + ity, but I usually recommend avoiding this feature; posting dates are + almost always clearer and simpler. + + A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals + sign. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. + When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but + with the --date2 flag (or --aux-date or --effective), the secondary + (right) date will be used instead. + + The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it's best to follow a + consistent rule. Eg "primary = the bank's clearing date, secondary = + date the transaction was initiated, if different", as shown here: + + 2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket + expenses:cinema $10 + assets:checking + + $ hledger register checking + 2010-02-23 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 + + $ hledger register checking --date2 + 2010-02-19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 + + Posting dates + You can give individual postings a different date from their parent + transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below) + like date:DATE. This is probably the best way to control posting dates + precisely. Eg in this example the expense should appear in May + reports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for + easy bank reconciliation: + + 2015/5/30 + expenses:food $10 ; food purchased on saturday 5/30 + assets:checking ; bank cleared it on monday, date:6/1 + + $ hledger -f t.j register food + 2015-05-30 expenses:food $10 $10 + + $ hledger -f t.j register checking + 2015-06-01 assets:checking $-10 $-10 + + DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use + the year of the transaction's date. You can set the secondary date + similarly, with date2:DATE2. The date: or date2: tags must have a + valid simple date value if they are present, eg a date: tag with no + value is not allowed. + + Ledger's earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also supported: + [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2]. hledger will attempt to parse any + square-bracketed sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. + With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 + infers its year from DATE. + + Status + Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a + status mark, which is a single character before the transaction + description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, + indicating one of three statuses: + + + mark status + ------------------ + unmarked + ! pending + * cleared + + When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, + -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags; or the status:, status:!, and + status:* queries; or the U, P, C keys in hledger-ui. + + Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the "unmarked" state + is called "uncleared". As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to + unmarked for clarity. + + To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching pend- + ing, combine -U and -P. + + Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with + real-world accounts. Some editor modes provide highlighting and short- + cuts for working with status. Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can toggle + transaction status with C-c C-e, or posting status with C-c C-c. + + What "uncleared", "pending", and "cleared" actually mean is up to you. + Here's one suggestion: + + + status meaning + -------------------------------------------------------------------------- + uncleared recorded but not yet reconciled; needs review + pending tentatively reconciled (if needed, eg during a big reconcil- + iation) + cleared complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered cor- + rect + + With this scheme, you would use -PC to see the current balance at your + bank, -U to see things which will probably hit your bank soon (like + uncashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of your + finances. + + Code + After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally + write a transaction "code", enclosed in parentheses. This is a good + place to record a check number, or some other important transaction id + or reference number. + + Description + A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date + and status mark (or until a comment begins). Sometimes called the + "narration" in traditional bookkeeping, it can be used for whatever you + wish, or left blank. Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike + comments. + + Payee and note + You can optionally include a | (pipe) character in descriptions to sub- + divide the description into separate fields for payee/payer name on the + left (up to the first |) and an additional note field on the right + (after the first |). This may be worthwhile if you need to do more + precise querying and pivoting by payee or by note. + + Transaction comments + Text following ;, after a transaction description, and/or on indented + lines immediately below it, form comments for that transaction. They + are reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain + tags, which are not ignored. + + 2012-01-01 something ; a transaction comment + ; a second line of transaction comment + expenses 1 + assets + + Postings + A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount + from, an account. Each posting line begins with at least one space or + tab (2 or 4 spaces is common), followed by: + + o (optional) a status character (empty, !, or *), followed by a space + + o (required) an account name (any text, optionally containing single + spaces, until end of line or a double space) + + o (optional) two or more spaces or tabs followed by an amount. + + Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are + being removed. + + The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero. As a con- + venience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so as to + balance the transaction. + + Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name + and amount. This makes it easy to write account names containing spa- + ces. But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the + amount, the amount will be considered part of the account name. + + Virtual postings + A posting with parentheses around the account name is called a virtual + posting or unbalanced posting, which means it is exempt from the usual + rule that a transaction's postings must balance add up to zero. + + This is not part of double entry bookkeeping, so you might choose to + avoid this feature. Or you can use it sparingly for certain special + cases where it can be convenient. Eg, you could set opening balances + without using a balancing equity account: + + 2022-01-01 opening balances + (assets:checking) $1000 + (assets:savings) $2000 + + A posting with brackets around the account name is called a balanced + virtual posting. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must + add up to zero (separately from other postings). Eg: + + 2022-01-01 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else + assets:cash $-10 ; <- these balance each other + expenses:food $7 ; <- + expenses:food $3 ; <- + [assets:checking:budget:food] $-10 ; <- and these balance each other + [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- + (something:else) $5 ; <- this is not required to balance + + Postings whose account names are neither parenthesised nor bracketed + are called real postings. You can exclude virtual postings from + reports with the -R/--real flag or a real:1 query. + + Account names + Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, + from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. They can + be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally five top- + level accounts: assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and equity. + + Account names may contain single spaces, eg: assets:accounts receiv- + able. Because of this, they must always be followed by two or more + spaces (or newline). + + Account names can be aliased. + + Amounts + After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Important: + between account name and amount, there must be two or more spaces.) + + hledger's amount format is flexible, supporting several international + formats. Here are some examples. Amounts have a number (the "quan- + tity"): + + 1 + + ..and usually a currency symbol or commodity name (more on this below), + to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a separating + space: + + $1 + 4000 AAPL + 3 "green apples" + + Amounts can be preceded by a minus sign (or a plus sign, though plus is + the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side com- + modity symbol: + + -$1 + $-1 + + One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when + parsing (but they won't be displayed in output): + + + $1 + $- 1 + + Scientific E notation is allowed: + + 1E-6 + EUR 1E3 + + Decimal marks, digit group marks + A decimal mark can be written as a period or a comma: + + 1.23 + 1,23456780000009 + + In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups + of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a space, + comma, or period (different from the decimal mark): + + $1,000,000.00 + EUR 2.000.000,00 + INR 9,99,99,999.00 + 1 000 000.9455 + + Note, a number containing a single digit group mark and no decimal mark + is ambiguous. Are these digit group marks or decimal marks ? + + 1,000 + 1.000 + + If you don't tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the above + are decimal marks, parsing both numbers as 1. + + To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially + if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we + recommend explicitly declaring the decimal mark character in each jour- + nal file, using a directive at the top of the file. The decimal-mark + directive is best, otherwise commodity directives will also work. + These are described below. + + Commodity + Amounts in hledger have both a "quantity", which is a signed decimal + number, and a "commodity", which is a currency symbol, stock ticker, or + any word or phrase describing something you are tracking. + + If the commodity name contains non-letters (spaces, numbers, or punctu- + ation), you must always write it inside double quotes ("green apples", + "ABC123"). + + If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with + name ""; we call that the "no-symbol commodity". + + Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more + powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of + the time. A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: 1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 + TSLA. In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in + hledger's output; you can't write them directly in the journal file. + + (If you are writing scripts or working with hledger's internals, these + are the Amount and MixedAmount types.) + + Directives influencing number parsing and display + You can add decimal-mark and commodity directives to the journal, to + declare and control these things more explicitly and precisely. These + are described below, but here's a quick example: + + # the decimal mark character used by all amounts in this file (all commodities) + decimal-mark . + + # display styles for the $, EUR, INR and no-symbol commodities: + commodity $1,000.00 + commodity EUR 1.000,00 + commodity INR 9,99,99,999.00 + commodity 1 000 000.9455 + + + Commodity display style + For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display + style to use in most reports. (Exceptions: price amounts, and all + amounts displayed by the print command, are displayed with all of their + decimal digits visible.) + + A commodity's display style is inferred as follows. + + First, if a default commodity is declared with D, this commodity and + its style is applied to any no-symbol amounts in the journal. + + Then each commodity's style is inferred from one of the following, in + order of preference: + + o The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol + commodity), if any. + + o The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal's transactions. + (Posting amounts only; prices and periodic or auto rules are ignored, + currently.) + + o The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: $1000.00. (Sym- + bol on the left, period decimal mark, two decimal places.) + + A style is inferred from journal amounts as follows: + + o Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first + amount + + o Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group + sizes), if any + + o Use the maximum number of decimal places of all. + + Cost amounts don't affect the commodity display style directly, but + occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a posting's amount is + inferred using a cost). If you find this causing problems, use a com- + modity directive to fix the display style. + + To summarise: each commodity's amounts will be normalised to (a) the + style declared by a commodity directive, or (b) the style of the first + posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group style + and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. So if your reports are + showing amounts in a way you don't like, eg with too many decimal + places, use a commodity directive. Some examples: + + # declare euro, dollar, bitcoin and no-symbol commodities and set their + # input number formats and output display styles: + commodity EUR 1.000, + commodity $1000.00 + commodity 1000.00000000 BTC + commodity 1 000. + + The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command + line option. + + Rounding + Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal + places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by + the commodity display style. Note, hledger uses banker's rounding: it + rounds to the nearest even number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal + places is "0"). + + Costs + After a posting amount, you can note its cost (when buying) or selling + price (when selling) in another commodity, by writing either @ UNIT- + PRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE after it. This indicates a conversion transac- + tion, where one commodity is exchanged for another. + + (You might also see this called "transaction price" in hledger docs, + discussions, or code; that term was directionally neutral and reminded + that it is a price specific to a transaction, but we now just call it + "cost", with the understanding that the transaction could be a purchase + or a sale.) + + Costs are usually written explicitly with @ or @@, but can also be + inferred automatically for simple multi-commodity transactions. Note, + if costs are inferred, the order of postings is significant; the first + posting will have a cost attached, in the commodity of the second. + + As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign + currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or + implicitly: + + 1. Write the price per unit, as @ UNITPRICE after the amount: + + 2009/1/1 + assets:euros EUR100 @ $1.35 ; one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each + assets:dollars ; balancing amount is -$135.00 + + 2. Write the total price, as @@ TOTALPRICE after the amount: + + 2009/1/1 + assets:euros EUR100 @@ $135 ; one hundred euros purchased at $135 for the lot + assets:dollars + + 3. Specify amounts for all postings, using exactly two commodities, and + let hledger infer the price that balances the transaction. Note the + effect of posting order: the price is added to first posting, making + it EUR100 @@ $135, as in example 2: + + 2009/1/1 + assets:euros EUR100 ; one hundred euros purchased + assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 + + Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the -B/--cost + flag; this is discussed more in the COST REPORTING section. + + Other cost/lot notations + A slight digression for Ledger and Beancount users. Ledger has a num- + ber of cost/lot-related notations: + + o @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST + + o expresses a conversion rate, as in hledger + + o when buying, also creates a lot than can be selected at selling + time + + o (@) UNITCOST and (@@) TOTALCOST (virtual cost) + + o like the above, but also means "this cost was exceptional, don't + use it when inferring market prices". + + Currently, hledger treats the above like @ and @@; the parentheses are + ignored. + + o {=FIXEDUNITCOST} and {{=FIXEDTOTALCOST}} (fixed price) + + o when buying, means "this cost is also the fixed price, don't let it + fluctuate in value reports" + + o {UNITCOST} and {{TOTALCOST}} (lot price) + + o can be used identically to @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST, also cre- + ates a lot + + o when selling, combined with @ ..., specifies an investment lot by + its cost basis; does not check if that lot is present + + o and related: [YYYY/MM/DD] (lot date) + + o when buying, attaches this acquisition date to the lot + + o when selling, selects a lot by its acquisition date + + Currently, hledger accepts any or all of the above in any order after + the posting amount, but ignores them. (To select lots, we use subac- + counts instead.) + + o also: (SOME TEXT) (lot note) + + o when buying, attaches this note to the lot + + o when selling, selects a lot by its note + + Currently, hledger rejects lot notes. + + For Beancount users, the notation and behaviour is different: + + o @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST + + o expresses a cost without creating a lot, as in hledger + + o when buying (augmenting) or selling (reducing) a lot, combined with + {...}: documents the cost/selling price (not used for transaction + balancing) + + o {UNITCOST} and {{TOTALCOST}} + + o when buying (augmenting), expresses the cost for transaction bal- + ancing, and also creates a lot with this cost basis attached + + o when selling (reducing), + + o selects a lot by its cost basis + + o raises an error if that lot is not present or can not be selected + unambiguously (depending on booking method configured) + + o expresses the selling price for transaction balancing + + Currently, hledger accepts the {UNITCOST}/{{TOTALCOST}} notation but + ignores it. + + o variations: {}, {YYYY-MM-DD}, {"LABEL"}, {UNITCOST, "LABEL"}, {UNIT- + COST, YYYY-MM-DD, "LABEL"} etc. + + Currently, hledger rejects these. + + Balance assertions + hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. + These look like, for example, = EXPECTEDBALANCE following a posting's + amount. Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a + and b after each posting: + + 2013/1/1 + a $1 =$1 + b =$-1 + + 2013/1/2 + a $1 =$2 + b $-1 =$-2 + + After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance assertions + and report an error if any of them fail. Balance assertions can pro- + tect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances while + cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with the + -I/--ignore-assertions flag, which can be useful for troubleshooting or + for reading Ledger files. (Note: this flag currently does not disable + balance assignments, described below). + + Assertions and ordering + hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and + then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. Note this is dif- + ferent from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse order. (Also, + Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated post- + ings to the same account within a transaction.) + + So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder differently- + dated transactions within the journal. But if you reorder same-dated + transactions or postings, assertions might break and require updating. + This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise control over the + order of postings and assertions within a day, so you can assert intra- + day balances. + + Assertions and multiple included files + Multiple files included with the include directive are processed as if + concatenated into one file, preserving their order and the posting + order within each file. It means that balance assertions in later + files will see balance from earlier files. + + And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split + across multiple files, and you want to assert the account's balance on + that day, you'll need to put the assertion in the right file - the last + one in the sequence, probably. + + Assertions and multiple -f files + Unlike include, when multiple files are specified on the command line + with multiple -f/--file options, balance assertions will not see bal- + ance from earlier files. This can be useful when you do not want prob- + lems in earlier files to disrupt valid assertions in later files. + + If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use + include, or concatenate the files temporarily. + + Assertions and commodities + The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in + fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the + (possibly multi-commodity) account balance. This is how assertions + work in Ledger also. We could call this a "partial" balance assertion. + + To assert the balance of more than one commodity in an account, you can + write multiple postings, each asserting one commodity's balance. + + You can make a stronger "total" balance assertion by writing a double + equals sign (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This asserts that there are no other + commodities in the account besides the asserted one (or at least, that + their balance is 0). + + 2013/1/1 + a $1 + a 1EUR + b $-1 + c -1EUR + + 2013/1/2 ; These assertions succeed + a 0 = $1 + a 0 = 1EUR + b 0 == $-1 + c 0 == -1EUR + + 2013/1/3 ; This assertion fails as 'a' also contains 1EUR + a 0 == $1 + + It's not yet possible to make a complete assertion about a balance that + has multiple commodities. One workaround is to isolate each commodity + into its own subaccount: + + 2013/1/1 + a:usd $1 + a:euro 1EUR + b + + 2013/1/2 + a 0 == 0 + a:usd 0 == $1 + a:euro 0 == 1EUR + + Assertions and prices + Balance assertions ignore costs, and should normally be written without + one: + + 2019/1/1 + (a) $1 @ EUR1 = $1 + + We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, + even though they don't affect whether the assertion passes or fails. + This is for backward compatibility (hledger's close command used to + generate balance assertions with prices), and because balance assign- + ments do use them (see below). + + Assertions and subaccounts + The balance assertions above (= and ==) do not count the balance from + subaccounts; they check the account's exclusive balance only. You can + assert the balance including subaccounts by writing =* or ==*, eg: + + 2019/1/1 + equity:opening balances + checking:a 5 + checking:b 5 + checking 1 ==* 11 + + Assertions and virtual postings + Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they + are not affected by the --real/-R flag or real: query. + + Assertions and auto postings + Balance assertions are affected by the --auto flag, which generates + auto postings, which can alter account balances. Because auto postings + are optional in hledger, accounts affected by them effectively have two + balances. But balance assertions can only test one or the other of + these. So to avoid making fragile assertions, either: + + o assert the balance calculated with --auto, and always use --auto with + that file + + o or assert the balance calculated without --auto, and never use --auto + with that file + + o or avoid balance assertions on accounts affected by auto postings (or + avoid auto postings entirely). + + Assertions and precision + Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are + not always what is shown by reports. Eg a commodity directive may + limit the display precision, but this will not affect balance asser- + tions. Balance assertion failure messages show exact amounts. + + Balance assignments + Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported. These are like + balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the left side of the + equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so as to satisfy + the assertion. This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when + setting opening balances: + + ; starting a new journal, set asset account balances + 2016/1/1 opening balances + assets:checking = $409.32 + assets:savings = $735.24 + assets:cash = $42 + equity:opening balances + + or when adjusting a balance to reality: + + ; no cash left; update balance, record any untracked spending as a generic expense + 2016/1/15 + assets:cash = $0 + expenses:misc + + The calculated amount depends on the account's balance in the commodity + at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings of the + commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or assign- + ment). Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a little + less explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger + or do the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it. + + Balance assignments and prices + A cost in a balance assignment will cause the calculated amount to have + that price attached: + + 2019/1/1 + (a) = $1 @ EUR2 + + $ hledger print --explicit + 2019-01-01 + (a) $1 @ EUR2 = $1 @ EUR2 + + Posting comments + Text following ;, at the end of a posting line, and/or on indented + lines immediately below it, form comments for that posting. They are + reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain tags + or bracketed posting dates, which are not ignored. + + 2012-01-01 + expenses 1 ; a comment for posting 1 + assets + ; a comment for posting 2 + ; a second comment line for posting 2 + + Tags + Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, + postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. + + They are written as a word (optionally hyphenated) immediately followed + by a full colon, in a transaction or posting or account directive's + comment. (This is an exception to the usual rule that things in com- + ments are ignored.) Eg, here four different tags are recorded: one on + the checking account, two on the transaction, and one on the expenses + posting: + + account assets:checking ; accounttag: + + 2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag-1: + ; transactiontag-2: + assets:checking $-1 + expenses:food $1 ; postingtag: + + Postings also inherit tags from their transaction and their account. + And transactions also acquire tags from their postings (and postings' + accounts). So in the example above, the expenses posting effectively + has all four tags (by inheriting from account and transaction), and the + transaction also has all four tags (by acquiring from the expenses + posting). + + You can list tag names with hledger tags [NAMEREGEX], or match by tag + name with a tag:NAMEREGEX query. + + Tag values + Tags can have a value, which is any text after the colon up until a + comma or end of line (with surrounding whitespace removed). Note this + means that hledger tag values can not contain commas. Eg in the fol- + lowing posting, the three tags' values are "value 1", "value 2", and "" + (empty) respectively: + + expenses:food $10 ; foo, tag1: value 1 , tag2:value 2, bar tag3: , baz + + Note that tags are multi-valued. When a tag name is seen again with a + new value, the new value is added, rather than overriding the previous + value. Currently this is true for all same-tag situations, ie: + + o Same tag on multiple transactions + + o Posting inheriting the same tag from its transaction or account + + o Transaction acquiring the same tag from one or more of its postings + + You can list a tag's values with hledger tags TAGNAME --values, or + match by tag value with a tag:NAMEREGEX=VALUEREGEX query. + + Directives + A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, + that influences how the journal is processed, how things are displayed, + and so on. hledger's directives are based on (a subset of) Ledger's, + but there are many differences, and also some differences between + hledger versions. Here are some more definitions: + + o subdirective - Some directives support subdirectives, written + indented below the parent directive. + + o decimal mark - The character to interpret as a decimal mark (period + or comma) when parsing amounts of a commodity. + + o display style - How to display amounts of a commodity in output: sym- + bol side and spacing, digit groups, decimal mark, and number of deci- + mal places. + + Directives are not required when starting out with hledger, but you + will probably add some as your needs grow. Here is an overview of + directives by purpose: + + + purpose directives command line + options with sim- + ilar effect + ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- + READING/GENERATING DATA: + Declare a commodity's or file's commodity, D, decimal- + decimal mark to help parse mark + amounts accurately + Apply changes to the data while alias, apply account, --alias + parsing comment, D, Y + Inline extra data files include multiple + -f/--file's + Generate extra transactions or ~ + budget goals + Generate extra postings = + CHECKING FOR ERRORS: + Define valid entities to allow account, commodity, + stricter error checking payee + DISPLAYING REPORTS: + Declare accounts' display order account + and accounting type + Declare commodity display commodity, D -c/--commodity- + styles style + Declare market prices P + + And here are all the directives and their precise effects: + + + + + + direc- effects ends + tive at + file + end? + ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + account Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; + and its display order and type, for reports. Subdirectives: + any text, ignored. + alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of Y + current file or end aliases. + apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in Y + account following entries until end of current file or end apply + account. + comment Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file Y + or end comment. + commod- Declares a commodity, for checking all entries in all files; N, Y + ity the decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity, for + following entries until end of current file; and its display + style, for reports. Takes precedence over D. Subdirectives: + format (alternate syntax). + D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts, and Y + its decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity in + following entries until end of current file; and its display + style, for reports. + deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all com- Y + mal- modities in following entries until next decimal-mark or end + mark of current file. Included files can override. Takes prece- + dence over commodity and D. + include Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they + were written inline. + payee Declares a payee name, for checking all entries in all files. + P Declares a market price for a commodity on some date, for + valuation reports. + Y Declares a year for yearless dates, for following entries Y + until end of current file. + ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future + (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance + --budget. + = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings partly + (equals) on matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and + child files (but not sibling files, see #1212). + + Directives and multiple files + If you use multiple -f/--file options, or the include directive, + hledger will process multiple input files. But directives which affect + input typically have effect only until the end of the file in which + they occur (and on any included files in that region). + + This may seem inconvenient, but it's intentional; it makes reports sta- + ble and deterministic, independent of the order of input. Otherwise + you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f options in + a different order, or if you moved includes around while cleaning up + your files. + + It can be surprising though; for example, it means that alias direc- + tives do not affect parent or sibling files (see below). + + Including files + You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include + directive, like this: + + include FILEPATH + + Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot + files can be included (not CSV files, currently). + + If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the + current file's folder. + + A tilde means home directory, eg: include ~/main.journal. + + The path may contain glob patterns to match multiple files, eg: include + *.journal. + + There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is + required) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient + since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but + this can be done, eg: include */**/*.journal. + + The path may also be prefixed to force a specific file format, overrid- + ing the file extension (as described in hledger.1 -> Input files): + include timedot:~/notes/2020*.md. + + Default year + You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't + specify a year. This is a line beginning with Y followed by the year. + Eg: + + Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 + + 12/15 ; equivalent to 2009/12/15 + expenses 1 + assets + + Y2010 ; change default year to 2010 + + 2009/1/30 ; specifies the year, not affected + expenses 1 + assets + + 1/31 ; equivalent to 2010/1/31 + expenses 1 + assets + + Decimal mark + You can use a decimal-mark directive - usually one per file, at the top + of the file - to declare which character represents a decimal mark when + parsing amounts in this file. It can look like + + decimal-mark . + + or + + decimal-mark , + + This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we + recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg + thousands separators). + + Commodities + You can use commodity directives to declare your commodities. In fact + the commodity directive performs several functions at once: + + 1. It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. This can + optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. (Cf Com- + modity error checking) + + 2. It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to + expect when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international + number formats in your data. Without this, hledger will parse both + 1,000 and 1.000 as 1. (Cf Amounts) + + 3. It declares how to render the commodity's amounts when displaying + output - the decimal mark, any digit group marks, the number of dec- + imal places, symbol placement and so on. (Cf Commodity display + style) + + You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives + sooner or later, so we recommend using them, for robust and predictable + parsing and display. + + Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since + for function 2, they affect only following amounts, cf #793). + + A commodity directive is just the word commodity followed by a sample + amount, like this: + + ;commodity SAMPLEAMOUNT + + commodity $1000.00 + commodity 1,000.0000 AAAA ; optional same-line comment + + It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the format subdirec- + tive, as in Ledger. Note in this case the commodity symbol appears + twice; it must be the same in both places: + + ;commodity SYMBOL + ; format SAMPLEAMOUNT + + ; display indian rupees with currency name on the left, + ; thousands, lakhs and crores comma-separated, + ; period as decimal point, and two decimal places. + commodity INR + format INR 1,00,00,000.00 + + Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or + punctuation, it must be enclosed in double quotes (cf Commodity). + + The amount's quantity does not matter; only the format is significant. + It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed + by 0 or more decimal digits. + + A few more examples: + + # number formats for $, EUR, INR and the no-symbol commodity: + commodity $1,000.00 + commodity EUR 1.000,00 + commodity INR 9,99,99,999.0 + commodity 1 000 000. + + Note hledger normally uses banker's rounding, so 0.5 displayed with + zero decimal digits is "0". (More at Commodity display style.) + + Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display + style can still be overridden by supplying a command line option. + + Commodity error checking + In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report + an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not been declared by a + commodity directive. This works similarly to account error checking, + see the notes there for more details. + + Note, this disallows amounts without a commodity symbol, because cur- + rently it's not possible (?) to declare the "no-symbol" commodity with + a directive. This is one exception for convenience: zero amounts are + always allowed to have no commodity symbol. + + Default commodity + The D directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any subsequent + commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- + nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the + journal. + + For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity + directive (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display + style for output). + + The syntax is D AMOUNT. As with commodity, the amount must include a + decimal mark (either period or comma). Eg: + + ; commodity-less amounts should be treated as dollars + ; (and displayed with the dollar sign on the left, thousands separators and two decimal places) + D $1,000.00 + + 1/1 + a 5 ; <- commodity-less amount, parsed as $5 and displayed as $5.00 + b + + If both commodity and D directives are found for a commodity, commodity + takes precedence for setting decimal mark and display style. + + If you are using D and also checking commodities, you will need to add + a commodity directive similar to the D. (The hledger check commodities + command expects commodity directives, and ignores D). + + Accounts + account directives can be used to declare accounts (ie, the places that + amounts are transferred from and to). Though not required, these dec- + larations can provide several benefits: + + o They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a refer- + ence. + + o In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by + transactions, which helps detect typos. + + o They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- + betic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). + + o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, + hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) + + o They can store additional account information as comments, or as tags + which can be used to filter or pivot reports. + + o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, + equity, revenue, expense), affecting reports like balancesheet and + incomestatement. + + They are written as the word account followed by a hledger-style + account name, eg: + + account assets:bank:checking + + Account comments + Text following two or more spaces and ; at the end of an account direc- + tive line, and/or following ; on indented lines immediately below it, + form comments for that account. They are ignored except they may con- + tain tags, which are not ignored. + + The two-space requirement for same-line account comments is because ; + is allowed in account names. + + account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon + ; next-line comment + ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 + + Account subdirectives + Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently + ignored: + + account assets:bank:checking + format subdirective is ignored + + Account error checking + By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence + when a posting references them. This is convenient, but it means + hledger can't warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the jour- + nal. Usually you'll find that error later, as an extra account in bal- + ance reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. + + In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report + an error if any transaction uses an account name that has not been + declared by an account directive. Some notes: + + o The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct + account name capitalisation. + + o The account directive's scope is "whole file and below" (see direc- + tives). This means it affects all of the current file, and any files + it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of + account directives within the file does not matter, though it's usual + to put them at the top. + + o Accounts can only be declared in journal files, but will affect + included files of all types. + + o It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" + with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared. + + Account display order + The order in which account directives are written influences the order + in which accounts appear in reports, hledger-ui, hledger-web etc. By + default accounts appear in alphabetical order, but if you add these + account directives to the journal file: + + account assets + account liabilities + account equity + account revenues + account expenses + + those accounts will be displayed in declaration order: + + $ hledger accounts -1 + assets + liabilities + equity + revenues + expenses + + Any undeclared accounts are displayed last, in alphabetical order. + + Sorting is done at each level of the account tree, within each group of + sibling accounts under the same parent. And currently, this directive: + + account other:zoo + + would influence the position of zoo among other's subaccounts, but not + the position of other among the top-level accounts. This means: + + o you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg account other above) + that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their display + order + + o sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display x:y in between + a:b and a:c). + + Account types + hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, + expenses and so on. This enables easy reports like balancesheet and + incomestatement, and filtering by account type with the type: query. + + As a convenience, hledger will detect these account types automatically + if you are using common english-language top-level account names + (described below). But generally we recommend you declare types + explicitly, by adding a type: tag to your top-level account directives. + Subaccounts will inherit the type of their parent. The tag's value + should be one of the five main account types: + + o A or Asset (things you own) + + o L or Liability (things you owe) + + o E or Equity (investment/ownership; balanced counterpart of assets & + liabilities) + + o R or Revenue (what you received money from, AKA income; technically + part of Equity) + + o X or Expense (what you spend money on; technically part of Equity) + + or, it can be (these are used less often): + + o C or Cash (a subtype of Asset, indicating liquid assets for the cash- + flow report) + + o V or Conversion (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see COST + REPORTING).) + + Here is a typical set of account type declarations: + + account assets ; type: A + account liabilities ; type: L + account equity ; type: E + account revenues ; type: R + account expenses ; type: X + + account assets:bank ; type: C + account assets:cash ; type: C + + account equity:conversion ; type: V + + Here are some tips for working with account types. + + o The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. + These are just a convenience that sometimes help new users get going; + if they don't work for you, just ignore them and declare your account + types. See also Regular expressions. Note the Cash regexp changed + in hledger 1.24.99.2. + + If account's name contains this (CI) regular expression: | its type is: + --------------------------------------------------------------------|------------- + ^assets?(:.+)?:(cash|bank|che(ck|que?)(ing)?|savings?|current)(:|$) | Cash + ^assets?(:|$) | Asset + ^(debts?|liabilit(y|ies))(:|$) | Liability + ^equity:(trad(e|ing)|conversion)s?(:|$) | Conversion + ^equity(:|$) | Equity + ^(income|revenue)s?(:|$) | Revenue + ^expenses?(:|$) | Expense + + o If you declare any account types, it's a good idea to declare an + account for all of the account types, because a mixture of declared + and name-inferred types can disrupt certain reports. + + o Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. See + Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. + + o As mentioned above, subaccounts will inherit a type from their parent + account. More precisely, an account's type is decided by the first + of these that exists: + + 1. A type: declaration for this account. + + 2. A type: declaration in the parent accounts above it, preferring + the nearest. + + 3. An account type inferred from this account's name. + + 4. An account type inferred from a parent account's name, preferring + the nearest parent. + + 5. Otherwise, it will have no type. + + o For troubleshooting, you can list accounts and their types with: + + $ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES] + + Account aliases + You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or + parts of them, before generating reports. This can be useful for: + + o expanding shorthand account names to their full form, allowing easier + data entry and a less verbose journal + + o adapting old journals to your current chart of accounts + + o experimenting with new account organisations, like a new hierarchy + + o combining two accounts into one, eg to see their sum or difference on + one line + + o customising reports + + Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. They + do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger- + web. + + Account aliases are very powerful. They are generally easy to use cor- + rectly, but you can also generate invalid account names with them; more + on this below. + + See also Rewrite account names. + + Basic aliases + To set an account alias, use the alias directive in your journal file. + This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its + included files (but note: not sibling or parent files). The spaces + around the = are optional: + + alias OLD = NEW + + Or, you can use the --alias 'OLD=NEW' option on the command line. This + affects all entries. It's useful for trying out aliases interactively. + + OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. hledger will + replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Sub- + accounts are also affected. Eg: + + alias checking = assets:bank:wells fargo:checking + ; rewrites "checking" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking", or "checking:a" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking:a" + + Regex aliases + There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, + indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. (This is the + only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a regular + expression.) + + Eg: + + alias /REGEX/ = REPLACEMENT + + or: + + $ hledger --alias '/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT' ... + + Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by + REPLACEMENT. REGEX is case-insensitive as usual. + + If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg + /\/=:. + + If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced + by the usual backslash and number in REPLACEMENT: + + alias /^(.+):bank:([^:]+):(.*)/ = \1:\2 \3 + ; rewrites "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking" to "assets:wells fargo checking" + + REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on command line, to end of + option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace. + + Combining aliases + You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives + and/or command line options. + + Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, + then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. Each alias sees the + effect of previously applied aliases. + + In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be + applied and in which order. For (each account name in) each journal + entry, we apply: + + 1. alias directives preceding the journal entry, most recently parsed + first (ie, reading upward from the journal entry, bottom to top) + + 2. --alias options, in the order they appeared on the command line + (left to right). + + In other words, for (an account name in) a given journal entry: + + o the nearest alias declaration before/above the entry is applied first + + o the next alias before/above that will be be applied next, and so on + + o aliases defined after/below the entry do not affect it. + + This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps pro- + vide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way inde- + pendent of which files are being read and in which order. + + In case of trouble, adding --debug=6 to the command line will show + which aliases are being applied when. + + Aliases and multiple files + As explained at Directives and multiple files, alias directives do not + affect parent or sibling files. Eg in this command, + + hledger -f a.aliases -f b.journal + + account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. + Including the aliases doesn't work either: + + include a.aliases + + 2020-01-01 ; not affected by a.aliases + foo 1 + bar + + This means that account aliases should usually be declared at the start + of your top-most file, like this: + + alias foo=Foo + alias bar=Bar + + 2020-01-01 ; affected by aliases above + foo 1 + bar + + include c.journal ; also affected + + end aliases + You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases (seen in the jour- + nal so far, or defined on the command line) with this directive: + + end aliases + + Aliases can generate bad account names + Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, + which could cause confusing reports or invalid print output. For exam- + ple, you could erase all account names: + + 2021-01-01 + a:aa 1 + b + + $ hledger print --alias '/.*/=' + 2021-01-01 + 1 + + The above print output is not a valid journal. Or you could insert an + illegal double space, causing print output that would give a different + journal when reparsed: + + 2021-01-01 + old 1 + other + + $ hledger print --alias old="new USD" | hledger -f- print + 2021-01-01 + new USD 1 + other + + Aliases and account types + If an account with a type declaration (see Declaring accounts > Account + types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in + effect. + + However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming + parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent + child accounts from inheriting the account type of their parents. + + Secondly, if an account's type is being inferred from its name, renam- + ing it by an alias could prevent or alter that. + + If you are using account aliases and the type: query is not matching + accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts command, + eg something like: + + $ hledger accounts --alias assets=bassetts type:a + + Default parent account + You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all + accounts within a section of the journal. Use the apply account and + end apply account directives like so: + + apply account home + + 2010/1/1 + food $10 + cash + + end apply account + + which is equivalent to: + + 2010/01/01 + home:food $10 + home:cash $-10 + + If end apply account is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the + file. Included files are also affected, eg: + + apply account business + include biz.journal + end apply account + apply account personal + include personal.journal + + Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy account and end spellings were also sup- + ported. + + A default parent account also affects account directives. It does not + affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. If + account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent + account. + + Payees + The payee directive can be used to declare a limited set of payees + which may appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will + report an error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been + declared. Eg: + + payee Whole Foods + + Market prices + The P directive declares a market price, which is a conversion rate + between two commodities on a certain date. These are often obtained + from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, or the foreign exchange + market. + + The format is: + + P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT + + DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity + being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) + of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. + Examples: + + # one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: + P 2009-01-01 EUR $1.35 + + # and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: + P 2010-01-01 EUR $1.40 + + The -V, -X and --value flags use these market prices to show amount + values in another commodity. See Valuation. + + + Auto postings + "Automated postings" or "auto postings" are extra postings which get + added automatically to transactions which match certain queries, + defined by "auto posting rules", when you use the --auto flag. + + An auto posting rule looks a bit like a transaction: + + = QUERY + ACCOUNT AMOUNT + ... + ACCOUNT [AMOUNT] + + except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: = suggests match- + ing), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and each + "posting" line describes a posting to be generated, and the posting + amounts can be: + + o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg $2. This will be used + as-is. + + o a number, eg 2. The commodity symbol (if any) from the matched post- + ing will be added to this. + + o a numeric multiplier, eg *2 (a star followed by a number N). The + matched posting's amount (and total price, if any) will be multiplied + by N. + + o a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg *$2 (a star, number N, and + symbol S). The matched posting's amount will be multiplied by N, and + its commodity symbol will be replaced with S. + + Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double + quotes, as on the command line. Eg, note the quotes around the second + query term below: + + = expenses:groceries 'expenses:dining out' + (budget:funds:dining out) *-1 + + Some examples: + + ; every time I buy food, schedule a dollar donation + = expenses:food + (liabilities:charity) $-1 + + ; when I buy a gift, also deduct that amount from a budget envelope subaccount + = expenses:gifts + assets:checking:gifts *-1 + assets:checking *1 + + 2017/12/1 + expenses:food $10 + assets:checking + + 2017/12/14 + expenses:gifts $20 + assets:checking + + $ hledger print --auto + 2017-12-01 + expenses:food $10 + assets:checking + (liabilities:charity) $-1 + + 2017-12-14 + expenses:gifts $20 + assets:checking + assets:checking:gifts -$20 + assets:checking $20 + + Auto postings and multiple files + An auto posting rule can affect any transaction in the current file, or + in any parent file or child file. Note, currently it will not affect + sibling files (when multiple -f/--file are used - see #1212). + + Auto postings and dates + A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking + precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also + be used in the generated posting. + + Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance asser- + tions + Currently, auto postings are added: + + o after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for + balancedness, + + o but before balance assertions are checked. + + Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and + after auto postings are added. This changed in hledger 1.12+; see #893 + for background. + + This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a + missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to + infer amounts. + + Auto posting tags + Automated postings will have some extra tags: + + o generated-posting:= QUERY - shows this was generated by an auto post- + ing rule, and the query + + o _generated-posting:= QUERY - a hidden tag, which does not appear in + hledger's output. This can be used to match postings generated "just + now", rather than generated in the past and saved to the journal. + + Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will + have these tags added: + + o modified: - this transaction was modified + + o _modified: - a hidden tag not appearing in the comment; this transac- + tion was modified "just now". + + Periodic transactions + Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They + allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions (visible only + in reports) to help with forecasting or budgeting. + + Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, + read this whole section, or at least these tips: + + 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - + read about this below. + + 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with hledger + print --forecast tag:generated or hledger register --forecast + tag:generated. + + 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-fore- + casted transaction's date. + + 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. + See below for the exact start/end rules. + + 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs + improvement, but is worth studying. + + 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a + natural boundary of that interval. Eg in weekly from DATE, DATE + must be a monday. ~ weekly from 2019/10/1 (a tuesday) will give an + error. + + 7. Other period expressions with an interval are automatically expanded + to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done to improve + reports, but it also affects periodic transactions. Yes, it's a bit + inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from + 2020/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from + 2020/01/01, will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. + + Periodic rule syntax + A periodic transaction rule looks like a normal journal entry, with the + date replaced by a tilde (~) followed by a period expression (mnemonic: + ~ looks like a recurring sine wave.): + + ~ monthly + expenses:rent $2000 + assets:bank:checking + + There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start + date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg monthly from + 2018/1/1 is valid, but monthly from 2018/1/15 is not. + + Periodic rules and relative dates + Partial or relative dates (like 12/31, 25, tomorrow, last week, next + quarter) are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the + results will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted + relative to, in order of preference: + + 1. the first day of the default year specified by a recent Y directive + + 2. or the date specified with --today + + 3. or the date on which you are running the report. + + They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period + dates. + + Two spaces between period expression and description! + If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, + these must be separated by two or more spaces. This helps hledger know + where the period expression ends, so that descriptions can not acciden- + tally alter their meaning, as in this example: + + ; 2 or more spaces needed here, so the period is not understood as "every 2 months in 2020" + ; || + ; vv + ~ every 2 months in 2020, we will review + assets:bank:checking $1500 + income:acme inc + + So, + + o Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transac- + tion description, if any. + + o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period + expression. + +CSV + hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, + semicolon, or tab) containing dated records, automatically converting + each record into a transaction. + + (To learn about writing CSV, see CSV output.) + + Note, for best error messages when reading CSV/TSV/SSV files, make sure + they have a corresponding .csv, .tsv or .ssv file extension or use a + hledger file prefix (see File Extension below). + + Each CSV file must be described by a corresponding rules file. + This contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields lay- + out, date format etc.), how to construct hledger transactions from it, + and how to categorise transactions based on description or other + attributes. + + By default hledger looks for a rules file named like the CSV file with + an extra .rules extension, in the same directory. Eg when asked to + read foo/FILE.csv, hledger looks for foo/FILE.csv.rules. You can spec- + ify a different rules file with the --rules-file option. If no rules + file is found, hledger will create a sample rules file, which you'll + need to adjust. + + There's an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. + + Examples + Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full col- + lection at: + https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv + + Basic + At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, + and often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines + there are. Here's a simple CSV file and a rules file for it: + + Date, Description, Id, Amount + 12/11/2019, Foo, 123, 10.23 + + # basic.csv.rules + skip 1 + fields date, description, _, amount + date-format %d/%m/%Y + + $ hledger print -f basic.csv + 2019-11-12 Foo + expenses:unknown 10.23 + income:unknown -10.23 + + Default account names are chosen, since we didn't set them. + + Bank of Ireland + Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance + field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not neces- + sary but provides extra error checking: + + Date,Details,Debit,Credit,Balance + 07/12/2012,LODGMENT 529898,,10.0,131.21 + 07/12/2012,PAYMENT,5,,126 + + # bankofireland-checking.csv.rules + + # skip the header line + skip + + # name the csv fields, and assign some of them as journal entry fields + fields date, description, amount-out, amount-in, balance + + # We generate balance assertions by assigning to "balance" + # above, but you may sometimes need to remove these because: + # + # - the CSV balance differs from the true balance, + # by up to 0.0000000000005 in my experience + # + # - it is sometimes calculated based on non-chronological ordering, + # eg when multiple transactions clear on the same day + + # date is in UK/Ireland format + date-format %d/%m/%Y + + # set the currency + currency EUR + + # set the base account for all txns + account1 assets:bank:boi:checking + + $ hledger -f bankofireland-checking.csv print + 2012-12-07 LODGMENT 529898 + assets:bank:boi:checking EUR10.0 = EUR131.2 + income:unknown EUR-10.0 + + 2012-12-07 PAYMENT + assets:bank:boi:checking EUR-5.0 = EUR126.0 + expenses:unknown EUR5.0 + + The balance assertions don't raise an error above, because we're read- + ing directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are + imported into a journal file. + + Amazon + Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to gener- + ate a third posting if there's a fee. (In practice you'd probably get + this data from your bank instead, but it's an example.) + + "Date","Type","To/From","Name","Status","Amount","Fees","Transaction ID" + "Jul 29, 2012","Payment","To","Foo.","Completed","$20.00","$0.00","16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL" + "Jul 30, 2012","Payment","To","Adapteva, Inc.","Completed","$25.00","$1.00","17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL" + + # amazon-orders.csv.rules + + # skip one header line + skip 1 + + # name the csv fields, and assign the transaction's date, amount and code. + # Avoided the "status" and "amount" hledger field names to prevent confusion. + fields date, _, toorfrom, name, amzstatus, amzamount, fees, code + + # how to parse the date + date-format %b %-d, %Y + + # combine two fields to make the description + description %toorfrom %name + + # save the status as a tag + comment status:%amzstatus + + # set the base account for all transactions + account1 assets:amazon + # leave amount1 blank so it can balance the other(s). + # I'm assuming amzamount excludes the fees, don't remember + + # set a generic account2 + account2 expenses:misc + amount2 %amzamount + # and maybe refine it further: + #include categorisation.rules + + # add a third posting for fees, but only if they are non-zero. + if %fees [1-9] + account3 expenses:fees + amount3 %fees + + $ hledger -f amazon-orders.csv print + 2012-07-29 (16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Foo. ; status:Completed + assets:amazon + expenses:misc $20.00 + + 2012-07-30 (17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Adapteva, Inc. ; status:Completed + assets:amazon + expenses:misc $25.00 + expenses:fees $1.00 + + Paypal + Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some + Paypal-specific rules, and a second rules file included: + + "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note" + "10/01/2019","03:46:20","PDT","Calm Radio","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","-6.99","0.00","-6.99","simon@joyful.com","memberships@calmradio.com","60P57143A8206782E","MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month","","I-R8YLY094FJYR","","-6.99","" + "10/01/2019","03:46:20","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","6.99","0.00","6.99","","simon@joyful.com","0TU1544T080463733","","","60P57143A8206782E","","0.00","" + "10/01/2019","08:57:01","PDT","Patreon","PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment","Completed","USD","-7.00","0.00","-7.00","simon@joyful.com","support@patreon.com","2722394R5F586712G","Patreon* Membership","","B-0PG93074E7M86381M","","-7.00","" + "10/01/2019","08:57:01","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","7.00","0.00","7.00","","simon@joyful.com","71854087RG994194F","Patreon* Membership","","2722394R5F586712G","","0.00","" + "10/19/2019","03:02:12","PDT","Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","-2.00","0.00","-2.00","simon@joyful.com","tle@wikimedia.org","K9U43044RY432050M","Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation","","I-R5C3YUS3285L","","-2.00","" + "10/19/2019","03:02:12","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","2.00","0.00","2.00","","simon@joyful.com","3XJ107139A851061F","","","K9U43044RY432050M","","0.00","" + "10/22/2019","05:07:06","PDT","Noble Benefactor","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","10.00","-0.59","9.41","noble@bene.fac.tor","simon@joyful.com","6L8L1662YP1334033","Joyful Systems","","I-KC9VBGY2GWDB","","9.41","" + + # paypal-custom.csv.rules + + # Tips: + # Export from Activity -> Statements -> Custom -> Activity download + # Suggested transaction type: "Balance affecting" + # Paypal's default fields in 2018 were: + # "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Shipping Address","Address Status","Item Title","Item ID","Shipping and Handling Amount","Insurance Amount","Sales Tax","Option 1 Name","Option 1 Value","Option 2 Name","Option 2 Value","Reference Txn ID","Invoice Number","Custom Number","Quantity","Receipt ID","Balance","Address Line 1","Address Line 2/District/Neighborhood","Town/City","State/Province/Region/County/Territory/Prefecture/Republic","Zip/Postal Code","Country","Contact Phone Number","Subject","Note","Country Code","Balance Impact" + # This rules file assumes the following more detailed fields, configured in "Customize report fields": + # "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note" + + fields date, time, timezone, description_, type, status_, currency, grossamount, feeamount, netamount, fromemail, toemail, code, itemtitle, itemid, referencetxnid, receiptid, balance, note + + skip 1 + + date-format %-m/%-d/%Y + + # ignore some paypal events + if + In Progress + Temporary Hold + Update to + skip + + # add more fields to the description + description %description_ %itemtitle + + # save some other fields as tags + comment itemid:%itemid, fromemail:%fromemail, toemail:%toemail, time:%time, type:%type, status:%status_ + + # convert to short currency symbols + if %currency USD + currency $ + if %currency EUR + currency E + if %currency GBP + currency P + + # generate postings + + # the first posting will be the money leaving/entering my paypal account + # (negative means leaving my account, in all amount fields) + account1 assets:online:paypal + amount1 %netamount + + # the second posting will be money sent to/received from other party + # (account2 is set below) + amount2 -%grossamount + + # if there's a fee, add a third posting for the money taken by paypal. + if %feeamount [1-9] + account3 expenses:banking:paypal + amount3 -%feeamount + comment3 business: + + # choose an account for the second posting + + # override the default account names: + # if the amount is positive, it's income (a debit) + if %grossamount ^[^-] + account2 income:unknown + # if negative, it's an expense (a credit) + if %grossamount ^- + account2 expenses:unknown + + # apply common rules for setting account2 & other tweaks + include common.rules + + # apply some overrides specific to this csv + + # Transfers from/to bank. These are usually marked Pending, + # which can be disregarded in this case. + if + Bank Account + Bank Deposit to PP Account + description %type for %referencetxnid %itemtitle + account2 assets:bank:wf:pchecking + account1 assets:online:paypal + + # Currency conversions + if Currency Conversion + account2 equity:currency conversion + + # common.rules + + if + darcs + noble benefactor + account2 revenues:foss donations:darcshub + comment2 business: + + if + Calm Radio + account2 expenses:online:apps + + if + electronic frontier foundation + Patreon + wikimedia + Advent of Code + account2 expenses:dues + + if Google + account2 expenses:online:apps + description google | music + + $ hledger -f paypal-custom.csv print + 2019-10-01 (60P57143A8206782E) Calm Radio MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:memberships@calmradio.com, time:03:46:20, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $-6.99 = $-6.99 + expenses:online:apps $6.99 + + 2019-10-01 (0TU1544T080463733) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 60P57143A8206782E ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:03:46:20, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending + assets:online:paypal $6.99 = $0.00 + assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-6.99 + + 2019-10-01 (2722394R5F586712G) Patreon Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:support@patreon.com, time:08:57:01, type:PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $-7.00 = $-7.00 + expenses:dues $7.00 + + 2019-10-01 (71854087RG994194F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 2722394R5F586712G Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:08:57:01, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending + assets:online:paypal $7.00 = $0.00 + assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-7.00 + + 2019-10-19 (K9U43044RY432050M) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:tle@wikimedia.org, time:03:02:12, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $-2.00 = $-2.00 + expenses:dues $2.00 + expenses:banking:paypal ; business: + + 2019-10-19 (3XJ107139A851061F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for K9U43044RY432050M ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:03:02:12, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending + assets:online:paypal $2.00 = $0.00 + assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-2.00 + + 2019-10-22 (6L8L1662YP1334033) Noble Benefactor Joyful Systems ; itemid:, fromemail:noble@bene.fac.tor, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:05:07:06, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed + assets:online:paypal $9.41 = $9.41 + revenues:foss donations:darcshub $-10.00 ; business: + expenses:banking:paypal $0.59 ; business: + + + CSV rules + The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order. + Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; or * are ignored. + + + separator a custom field separator + skip skip one or more header lines or matched CSV + records + date-format how to parse dates in CSV records + timezone declare the time zone of ambiguous CSV date- + times + decimal-mark the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if + ambiguous + newest-first improve txn order when there are multiple + records, newest first, all with the same date + intra-day-reversed improve txn order when each day's txns are + reverse of the overall date order + balance-type choose which type of balance assignments to + use + fields name CSV fields, assign them to hledger + fields + Field assignment assign a value to one hledger field, with + interpolation + Field names hledger field names, used in the fields list + and field assignments + if apply some rules to CSV records matched by + patterns + if table apply some rules to CSV records matched by + patterns, alternate syntax + end skip the remaining CSV records + include inline another CSV rules file + + separator + You can use the separator rule to read other kinds of character-sepa- + rated data. The argument is any single separator character, or the + words tab or space (case insensitive). Eg, for comma-separated values + (CSV): + + separator , + + or for semicolon-separated values (SSV): + + separator ; + + or for tab-separated values (TSV): + + separator TAB + + If the input file has a .csv, .ssv or .tsv file extension (or a csv:, + ssv:, tsv: prefix), the appropriate separator will be inferred automat- + ically, and you won't need this rule. + + skip + skip N + + The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells + hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. + (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when- + ever your CSV data contains header lines. + + It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks + (described below) to ignore certain CSV records. + + date-format + date-format DATEFMT + + This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates + are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll + need to add a date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style + date parsing pattern - see https://hackage.haskell.org/pack- + age/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. The pattern must + parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: + + # MM/DD/YY + date-format %m/%d/%y + + # D/M/YYYY + # The - makes leading zeros optional. + date-format %-d/%-m/%Y + + # YYYY-Mmm-DD + date-format %Y-%h-%d + + # M/D/YYYY HH:MM AM some other junk + # Note the time and junk must be fully parsed, though only the date is used. + date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p some other junk + + timezone + timezone TIMEZONE + + When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone + other than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you + can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps + prevent off-by-one dates. + + When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't + need this rule; instead, use %Z in date-format (or %z, %EZ, %Ez; see + the formatTime link above). + + In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware conversion, + localising the CSV date-times to your current system time zone. If you + prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for reproducibility, you + can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with the TZ environment + variable, eg: + + $ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv + + timezone currently does not understand timezone names, except "UTC", + "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". For + others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. + + decimal-mark + decimal-mark . + + or: + + decimal-mark , + + hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark + when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the CSV + contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you + should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid + misparsed numbers. + + newest-first + hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered + chronologically, including intra-day transactions. Usually it can + auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV + where all records are on the same date, it assumes that the records are + oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, + like: + + 2022-10-01, txn 3... + 2022-10-01, txn 2... + 2022-10-01, txn 1... + + you can add the newest-first rule to help hledger generate the transac- + tions in correct order. + + # same-day CSV records are newest first + newest-first + + intra-day-reversed + CSV records for each day are sometimes ordered in reverse compared to + the overall date order. Eg, here dates are newest first, but the + transactions on each date are oldest first: + + 2022-10-02, txn 3... + 2022-10-02, txn 4... + 2022-10-01, txn 1... + 2022-10-01, txn 2... + + In this situation, add the intra-day-reversed rule, and hledger will + compensate, improving the order of transactions. + + # transactions within each day are reversed with respect to the overall date order + intra-day-reversed + + fields + fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... + + A fields list (the word "fields" followed by comma-separated field + names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields. + (The other way is field assignments, see below.) A fields list does + does two things: + + 1. It names the CSV fields. This is optional, but can be convenient + later for interpolating them. + + 2. Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the + CSV value is assigned to that part of the hledger transaction. + + Here's an example that says "use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as the + transaction's date, description and amount; name the last two fields + for later reference; and ignore the others": + + fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield + + Tips: + + o The fields list always use commas, even if your CSV data uses another + separator character. + + o Currently there must be least two items in the list (at least one + comma). + + o Field names may not contain spaces. Spaces before/after field names + are optional. + + o Field names may contain _ (underscore) or - (hyphen). + + o If the CSV contains column headings, it's a good idea to use these, + suitably modified, as the basis for your field names (eg lower-cased, + with underscores instead of spaces). + + o If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don't + want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by + appending an underscore. + + o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name (eg: _ ), or no + name. + + Field assignment + HLEDGERFIELDNAME FIELDVALUE + + Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to + hledger fields. They can be used instead of or in addition to a fields + list (see above). + + To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the + standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, + followed by a text value on the same line. This text value may inter- + polate CSV fields, referenced by their 1-based position in the CSV + record (%N), or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSV- + FIELDNAME). + + Some examples: + + # set the amount to the 4th CSV field, with " USD" appended + amount %4 USD + + # combine three fields to make a comment, containing note: and date: tags + comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1 + + Tips: + + o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " + becomes 1 when interpolated) (#1051). + + o Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can't interpolate a + hledger field. (See Referencing other fields below). + + Field names + Here are the standard hledger field (and pseudo-field) names, which you + can use in a fields list or in field assignments. For more about the + transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions. + + date field + Assigning to date sets the transaction date. + + date2 field + date2 sets the transaction's secondary date, if any. + + status field + status sets the transaction's status, if any. + + code field + code sets the transaction's code, if any. + + description field + description sets the transaction's description, if any. + + comment field + comment sets the transaction's comment, if any. + + commentN, where N is a number, sets the Nth posting's comment. + + You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \n in the code. + A comment starting with \n will begin on a new line. + + Comments can contain tags, as usual. + + account field + Assigning to accountN, where N is 1 to 99, sets the account name of the + Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. + + Most often there are two postings, so you'll want to set account1 and + account2. Typically account1 is associated with the CSV file, and is + set once with a top-level assignment, while account2 is set based on + each transaction's description, and in conditional blocks. + + If a posting's account name is left unset but its amount is set (see + below), a default account name will be chosen (like "expenses:unknown" + or "income:unknown"). + + amount field + amountN sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to + be generated. By assigning to amount1, amount2, ... etc. you can + generate up to 99 postings. + + amountN-in and amountN-out can be used instead, if the CSV uses sepa- + rate fields for debits and credits (inflows and outflows). hledger + assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will automatically + negate the "-out" value. If they are signed, see "Setting amounts" + below. + + amount, or amount-in and amount-out are a legacy mode, to keep pre- + hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for occasional convenience). + They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both + posting 1's and posting 2's amount. Posting 2's amount will be + negated, and also converted to cost if there's a cost price. + + If you have an existing rules file using the unnumbered form, you might + want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without + having to update and retest all the old rules. To facilitate this, + posting 1 ignores amount/amount-in/amount-out if any of + amount1/amount1-in/amount1-out are assigned, and posting 2 ignores them + if any of amount2/amount2-in/amount2-out are assigned, avoiding con- + flicts. + + currency field + currency sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all postings' + amounts. You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency + symbol, eg if it is in a separate column. + + currencyN prepends a currency symbol to just the Nth posting's amount. + + balance field + balanceN sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is + left empty, a balance assignment) on posting N. + + balance is a compatibility spelling for hledger <1.17; it is equivalent + to balance1. + + You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the balance-type + rule (see below). + + See Tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. + + if + if MATCHER + RULE + + if + MATCHER + MATCHER + MATCHER + RULE + RULE + + Conditional blocks ("if blocks") are a block of rules that are applied + only to CSV records which match certain patterns. They are often used + for customising account names based on transaction descriptions. + + Matching the whole record + Each MATCHER can be a record matcher, which looks like this: + + REGEX + + REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression that tries to match any- + where within the CSV record. It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular + expression) that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>), + and nothing else. If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: + https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions + + Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, + but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclos- + ing whitespace) removed, and always comma-separated (which means that a + field containing a comma will appear like two fields). Eg, if the + original record is 2020-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000, the REGEX will + actually see 2020-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000). + + Matching individual fields + Or, MATCHER can be a field matcher, like this: + + %CSVFIELD REGEX + + which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. CSVFIELD is + a percent sign followed by the field's name or column number, like + %date or %1. + + Combining matchers + A single matcher can be written on the same line as the "if"; or multi- + ple matchers can be written on the following lines, non-indented. Mul- + tiple matchers are OR'd (any one of them can match), unless one begins + with an & symbol, in which case it is AND'ed with the previous matcher. + + if + MATCHER + & MATCHER + RULE + + Rules applied on successful match + After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all + indented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in + conditional blocks: + + o field assignments (to set a hledger field) + + o skip (to skip the matched CSV record) + + o end (to skip all remaining CSV records). + + Examples: + + # if the CSV record contains "groceries", set account2 to "expenses:groceries" + if groceries + account2 expenses:groceries + + # if the CSV record contains any of these patterns, set account2 and comment as shown + if + monthly service fee + atm transaction fee + banking thru software + account2 expenses:business:banking + comment XXX deductible ? check it + + if table + if,CSVFIELDNAME1,CSVFIELDNAME2,...,CSVFIELDNAMEn + MATCHER1,VALUE11,VALUE12,...,VALUE1n + MATCHER2,VALUE21,VALUE22,...,VALUE2n + MATCHER3,VALUE31,VALUE32,...,VALUE3n + + + Conditional tables ("if tables") are a different syntax to specify + field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which match + certain patterns. + + MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. + When MATCHER matches, values from that row would be assigned to the CSV + fields named on the if line, in the same order. + + Therefore if table is exactly equivalent to a sequence of of if blocks: + + if MATCHER1 + CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE11 + CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE12 + ... + CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE1n + + if MATCHER2 + CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE21 + CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE22 + ... + CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE2n + + if MATCHER3 + CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE31 + CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE32 + ... + CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE3n + + Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) + values for all the listed fields. + + Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the + table and, like with if blocks, later rules (in the same or another ta- + ble) or if blocks could override the effect of any rule. + + Instead of ',' you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric charac- + ters as a separator. First character after if is taken to be the sepa- + rator for the rest of the table. It is the responsibility of the user + to ensure that separator does not occur inside MATCHERs and values - + there is no way to escape separator. + + Example: + + if,account2,comment + atm transaction fee,expenses:business:banking,deductible? check it + %description groceries,expenses:groceries, + 2020/01/12.*Plumbing LLC,expenses:house:upkeep,emergency plumbing call-out + + end + This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop + reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command + execution. Eg: + + # ignore everything following the first empty record + if ,,,, + end + + include + include RULESFILE + + This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. + RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the current + file's directory. This can be useful for sharing common rules between + several rules files, eg: + + # someaccount.csv.rules + + ## someaccount-specific rules + fields date,description,amount + account1 assets:someaccount + account2 expenses:misc + + ## common rules + include categorisation.rules + + balance-type + Balance assertions generated by assigning to balanceN are of the simple + = type by default, which is a single-commodity, subaccount-excluding + assertion. You may find the subaccount-including variants more useful, + eg if you have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help + with budgeting. You can select a different type of assertion with the + balance-type rule: + + # balance assertions will consider all commodities and all subaccounts + balance-type ==* + + Here are the balance assertion types for quick reference: + + = single commodity, exclude subaccounts + =* single commodity, include subaccounts + == multi commodity, exclude subaccounts + ==* multi commodity, include subaccounts + + Tips + Rapid feedback + It's a good idea to get rapid feedback while creating/troubleshooting + CSV rules. Here's a good way, using entr from eradman.com/entrproject: + + $ ls foo.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ----; hledger -f foo.csv print desc:SOMEDESC' + + A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions + of interest. "bash -c" is used to run multiple commands, so we can + echo a separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to + read the output. + + Valid CSV + hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are + enclosed in quotes, note: + + o they must be double quotes (not single quotes) + + o spaces outside the quotes are not allowed + + File Extension + To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, + CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv + filename extension. Or, the file path should be prefixed with csv:, + ssv: or tsv:. Eg: + + $ hledger -f foo.ssv print + + or: + + $ cat foo | hledger -f ssv:- foo + + You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. + See also: Input files in the hledger manual. + + Reading multiple CSV files + If you use multiple -f options to read multiple CSV files at once, + hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV + file. But if you use the --rules-file option, that rules file will be + used for all the CSV files. + + Valid transactions + After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the gen- + erated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing them, + applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. Any + errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying the + problem entry. + + There is one exception: balance assertions, if you have generated them, + will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV + data is part of the main journal. If you do need to check balance + assertions generated from CSV right away, pipe into another hledger: + + $ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print + + Deduplicating, importing + When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank + transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing + some of the same records. + + The import command will (a) detect the new transactions, and (b) append + just those transactions to your main journal. It is idempotent, so you + don't have to remember how many times you ran it or with which version + of the CSV. (It keeps state in a hidden .latest.FILE.csv file.) This + is the easiest way to import CSV data. Eg: + + # download the latest CSV files, then run this command. + # Note, no -f flags needed here. + $ hledger import *.csv [--dry] + + This method works for most CSV files. (Where records have a stable + chronological order, and new records appear only at the new end.) + + A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, + exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data. + See: + + o https://hledger.org/cookbook.html#setups-and-workflows + + o https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion + + Setting amounts + Some tips on using the amount-setting rules discussed above. + + Here are the ways to set a posting's amount: + + 1. If the CSV has a single amount field: + Assign (via a fields list or a field assignment) to amountN. This sets + the Nth posting's amount. N is usually 1 or 2 but can go up to 99. + + 2. If the CSV has separate amount fields for debit & credit (in & out): + + a. If both fields are unsigned: + Assign to amountN-in and amountN-out. This sets posting N's amount + to whichever of these has a non-zero value, and negates the "-out" + value. + + b. If either field is signed (can contain a minus sign): + Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). + Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already nega- + tive, we must undo that by negating once more (but only if the + field is non-empty): + + fields date, description, amount1-in, amount1-out + if %amount1-out [1-9] + amount1-out -%amount1-out + + c. If both fields, or neither field, can contain a non-zero value: + hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non- + zero value. Eg, the amountN-in/amountN-out rules would reject + value pairs like these: + + "", "" + "0", "0" + "1", "none" + + So, use smarter conditional rules to set the amount from the appro- + priate field. Eg, these rules would make it use only the value + containing non-zero digits, handling the above: + + fields date, description, in, out + if %in [1-9] + amount1 %in + if %out [1-9] + amount1 %out + + 3. If you want posting 2's amount converted to cost: + Assign to amount (or to amount-in and amount-out). (This is the legacy + numberless syntax, which sets amount1 and amount2 and converts amount2 + to cost.) + + 4. If the CSV has the balance instead of the transaction amount: + Assign to balanceN, which sets posting N's amount indirectly via a bal- + ance assignment. (Old syntax: balance, equivalent to balance1.) + + o If hledger guesses the wrong default account name: + When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess + the wrong default account name. So, set the account name explic- + itly, eg: + + fields date, description, balance1 + account1 assets:checking + + Amount signs + There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing + and sign-flipping: + + o If an amount value begins with a plus sign: + that will be removed: +AMT becomes AMT + + o If an amount value is parenthesised: + it will be de-parenthesised and sign-flipped: (AMT) becomes -AMT + + o If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, + or a minus sign and parentheses): + they cancel out and will be removed: --AMT or -(AMT) becomes AMT + + o If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of parenthe- + ses): + that is removed, making it an empty value. "+" or "-" or "()" becomes + "". + + Setting currency/commodity + If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount + field(s): + + 2020-01-01,foo,$123.00 + + you don't have to do anything special for the commodity symbol, it will + be assigned as part of the amount. Eg: + + fields date,description,amount + + 2020-01-01 foo + expenses:unknown $123.00 + income:unknown $-123.00 + + If the currency is provided as a separate CSV field: + + 2020-01-01,foo,USD,123.00 + + You can assign that to the currency pseudo-field, which has the special + effect of prepending itself to every amount in the transaction (on the + left, with no separating space): + + fields date,description,currency,amount + + 2020-01-01 foo + expenses:unknown USD123.00 + income:unknown USD-123.00 + + Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, + with more control. Eg to put the symbol on the right, and separated by + a space: + + fields date,description,cur,amt + amount %amt %cur + + 2020-01-01 foo + expenses:unknown 123.00 USD + income:unknown -123.00 USD + + Note we used a temporary field name (cur) that is not currency - that + would trigger the prepending effect, which we don't want here. + + Amount decimal places + Like amounts in a journal file, the amounts generated by CSV rules like + amount1 influence commodity display styles, such as the number of deci- + mal places displayed in reports. + + The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display + style (because we don't yet reliably know their commodity). + + Referencing other fields + In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger + fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger + field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the + hledger field: + + # Name the third CSV field "amount1" + fields date,description,amount1 + + # Set hledger's amount1 to the CSV amount1 field followed by USD + amount1 %amount1 USD + + # Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above) + comment %amount1 + + Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit- + eral "amount1": + + fields date,description,csvamount + amount1 %csvamount USD + # Can't interpolate amount1 here + comment %amount1 + + When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, + only the last one takes effect. Here, comment's value will be be B, or + C if "something" is matched, but never A: + + comment A + comment B + if something + comment C + + How CSV rules are evaluated + Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need + to). First, + + o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first. + (At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further + includes, recursively, before proceeding.) + + Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is + repeated, the last one wins: + + o skip (at top level) + + o date-format + + o newest-first + + o fields - names the CSV fields, optionally sets up initial assignments + to hledger fields + + Then for each CSV record in turn: + + o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all + remaining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule, + skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip + rules, the first one wins. + + o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks. + When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last + one. + + o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was + assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a + default + + o generate a synthetic hledger transaction from these values. + + This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can + use to parse input files. When all files have been read successfully, + the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the + user specified. + + +Timeclock + The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. + + hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. As with Ledger, these + are (a subset of) timeclock.el's format, containing clock-in and clock- + out entries as in the example below. The date is a simple date. The + time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. Seconds and timezone are optional. + The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored (currently + the time is always interpreted as a local time). Lines beginning with + # or ; or *, and blank lines, are ignored. + + i 2015/03/30 09:00:00 some:account name optional description after two spaces + o 2015/03/30 09:20:00 + i 2015/03/31 22:21:45 another account + o 2015/04/01 02:00:34 + + hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting + some number of hours to an account. Or if the session spans more than + one day, it is split into several transactions, one for each day. For + the above time log, hledger print generates these journal entries: + + $ hledger -f t.timeclock print + 2015-03-30 * optional description after two spaces + (some:account name) 0.33h + + 2015-03-31 * 22:21-23:59 + (another account) 1.64h + + 2015-04-01 * 00:00-02:00 + (another account) 2.01h + + Here is a sample.timeclock to download and some queries to try: + + $ hledger -f sample.timeclock balance # current time balances + $ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p 2009/3 # sessions in march 2009 + $ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p weekly --depth 1 --empty # time summary by week + + To generate time logs, ie to clock in and clock out, you could: + + o use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock- + x.el and perhaps the extras in ledgerutils.el + + o at the command line, use these bash aliases: shell alias ti="echo + i `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` \$* >>$TIMELOG" alias to="echo o + `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` >>$TIMELOG" + + o or use the old ti and to scripts in the ledger 2.x repository. These + rely on a "timeclock" executable which I think is just the ledger 2 + executable renamed. + + +Timedot + timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- + pared to timeclock format, it is + + o convenient for quick, approximate, and retroactive time logging + + o readable: you can see at a glance where time was spent. + + A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like + this: + + 2021-08-04 + hom:errands .... .... + fos:hledger:timedot .. ; docs + per:admin:finance + + hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each + dot representing a quarter-hour spent: + + $ hledger -f a.timedot print # .timedot file extension activates the timedot reader + 2021-08-04 * + (hom:errands) 2.00 + + 2021-08-04 * + (fos:hledger:timedot) 0.50 + + 2021-08-04 * + (per:admin:finance) 0 + + A day entry begins with a date line: + + o a non-indented simple date (Y-M-D, Y/M/D, or Y.M.D). + + Optionally this can be followed on the same line by + + o a common transaction description for this day + + o a common transaction comment for this day, after a semicolon (;). + + After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time transac- + tion lines, consisting of: + + o an account name - any word or phrase, usually a hledger-style account + name. + + o two or more spaces - a field separator, required if there is an + amount (as in journal format). + + o a timedot amount - dots representing quarter hours, or a number rep- + resenting hours. + + o an optional comment beginning with semicolon. This is ignored. + + In more detail, timedot amounts can be: + + o dots: zero or more period characters, each representing one quarter- + hour. Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. Eg: .... .. + + o a number, representing hours. Eg: 1.5 + + o a number immediately followed by a unit symbol s, m, h, d, w, mo, or + y, representing seconds, minutes, hours, days weeks, months or years. + Eg 1.5h or 90m. The following equivalencies are assumed: + 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = 1w, 30d = 1mo, 365d = 1y. (This + unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, which is + always in hours.) + + There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in + the same file as your notes, todo lists, etc.: + + o Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; are ignored. + + o Before the first date line, lines beginning with * are ignored. From + the first date line onward, a sequence of *'s followed by a space at + beginning of lines (ie, the headline prefix used by Emacs Org mode) + is ignored. This means the time log can be kept under an Org head- + line, and date lines or time transaction lines can be Org headlines. + + o Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as trans- + actions with zero amount. (Most hledger reports hide these by + default; add -E to see them.) + + More examples: + + # on this day, 6h was spent on client work, 1.5h on haskell FOSS work, etc. + 2016/2/1 + inc:client1 .... .... .... .... .... .... + fos:haskell .... .. + biz:research . + + 2016/2/2 + inc:client1 .... .... + biz:research . + + 2016/2/3 + inc:client1 4 + fos:hledger 3 + biz:research 1 + + * Time log + ** 2020-01-01 + *** adm:time . + *** adm:finance . + + * 2020 Work Diary + ** Q1 + *** 2020-02-29 + **** DONE + 0700 yoga + **** UNPLANNED + **** BEGUN + hom:chores + cleaning ... + water plants + outdoor - one full watering can + indoor - light watering + **** TODO + adm:planning: trip + *** LATER + + Reporting: + + $ hledger -f a.timedot print date:2016/2/2 + 2016-02-02 * + (inc:client1) 2.00 + + 2016-02-02 * + (biz:research) 0.25 + + $ hledger -f a.timedot bal --daily --tree + Balance changes in 2016-02-01-2016-02-03: + + || 2016-02-01d 2016-02-02d 2016-02-03d + ============++======================================== + biz || 0.25 0.25 1.00 + research || 0.25 0.25 1.00 + fos || 1.50 0 3.00 + haskell || 1.50 0 0 + hledger || 0 0 3.00 + inc || 6.00 2.00 4.00 + client1 || 6.00 2.00 4.00 + ------------++---------------------------------------- + || 7.75 2.25 8.00 + + Using period instead of colon as account name separator: + + 2016/2/4 + fos.hledger.timedot 4 + fos.ledger .. + + $ hledger -f a.timedot --alias /\\./=: bal --tree + 4.50 fos + 4.00 hledger:timedot + 0.50 ledger + -------------------- + 4.50 + + A sample.timedot file. + +PART 3: REPORTING CONCEPTS +Time periods + Report start & end date + By default, most hledger reports will show the full span of time repre- + sented by the journal data. The report start date will be the earliest + transaction or posting date, and the report end date will be the latest + transaction, posting, or market price date. + + Often you will want to see a shorter time span, such as the current + month. You can specify a start and/or end date using -b/--begin, + -e/--end, -p/--period or a date: query (described below). All of these + accept the smart date syntax (below). + + Some notes: + + o End dates are exclusive, as in Ledger, so you should write the date + after the last day you want to see in the report. + + o As noted in reporting options: among start/end dates specified with + options, the last (i.e. right-most) option takes precedence. + + o The effective report start and end dates are the intersection of the + start/end dates from options and that from date: queries. That is, + date:2019-01 date:2019 -p'2000 to 2030' yields January 2019, the + smallest common time span. + + o A report interval (see below) will adjust start/end dates, when + needed, so that they fall on subperiod boundaries. + + Examples: + + + -b 2016/3/17 begin on St. Patrick's day 2016 + -e 12/1 end at the start of december 1st of the current year + (11/30 will be the last date included) + -b thismonth all transactions on or after the 1st of the current month + -p thismonth all transactions in the current month + date:2016/3/17.. the above written as queries instead (.. can also be + replaced with -) + date:..12/1 + date:thismonth.. + date:thismonth -TIME PERIODS Smart dates hledger's user interfaces accept a flexible "smart date" syntax. Smart dates allow some english words, can be relative to today's date, and @@ -686,8 +3944,6 @@ TIME PERIODS 10/1 month and day in current year 21 day in current month october, oct start of month in current year - - yesterday, today, tomor- -1, 0, 1 days from today row last/this/next -1, 0, 1 periods from the current period @@ -720,50 +3976,6 @@ TIME PERIODS it's needed for testing or for recreating old reports. (Except for periodic transaction rules; those are not affected by --today.) - - Report start & end date - By default, most hledger reports will show the full span of time repre- - sented by the journal data. The report start date will be the earliest - transaction or posting date, and the report end date will be the latest - transaction, posting, or market price date. - - Often you will want to see a shorter time span, such as the current - month. You can specify a start and/or end date using -b/--begin, - -e/--end, -p/--period or a date: query (described below). All of these - accept the smart date syntax. - - Some notes: - - o End dates are exclusive, as in Ledger, so you should write the date - after the last day you want to see in the report. - - o As noted in reporting options: among start/end dates specified with - options, the last (i.e. right-most) option takes precedence. - - o The effective report start and end dates are the intersection of the - start/end dates from options and that from date: queries. That is, - date:2019-01 date:2019 -p'2000 to 2030' yields January 2019, the - smallest common time span. - - o A report interval (see below) will adjust start/end dates, when - needed, so that they fall on subperiod boundaries. - - Examples: - - - -b 2016/3/17 begin on St. Patrick's day 2016 - -e 12/1 end at the start of december 1st of the current year - (11/30 will be the last date included) - -b thismonth all transactions on or after the 1st of the current month - -p thismonth all transactions in the current month - - - date:2016/3/17.. the above written as queries instead (.. can also be - replaced with -) - date:..12/1 - date:thismonth.. - date:thismonth - Report intervals A report interval can be specified so that commands like register, bal- ance and activity become multi-period, showing each subperiod as a sep- @@ -782,51 +3994,51 @@ TIME PERIODS o -Y/--yearly - These standard intervals always start on natural interval boundaries: - eg --weekly starts on mondays, --monthly starts on the first of the + These standard intervals always start on natural interval boundaries: + eg --weekly starts on mondays, --monthly starts on the first of the month, --yearly always starts on January 1st, etc. - Certain more complex intervals, and more flexible boundary dates, can - be specified by -p/--period. These are described in period expres- + Certain more complex intervals, and more flexible boundary dates, can + be specified by -p/--period. These are described in period expres- sions, below. - Report intervals can only be specified by the flags above, and not by + Report intervals can only be specified by the flags above, and not by query arguments, currently. - Report intervals have another effect: multi-period reports are always - expanded to fill a whole number of subperiods. So if you use a report - interval (other than --daily), and you have specified a start or end - date, you may notice those dates being overridden (ie, the report - starts earlier than your requested start date, or ends later than your + Report intervals have another effect: multi-period reports are always + expanded to fill a whole number of subperiods. So if you use a report + interval (other than --daily), and you have specified a start or end + date, you may notice those dates being overridden (ie, the report + starts earlier than your requested start date, or ends later than your requested end date). This is done to ensure "full" first and last sub- periods, so that all subperiods' numbers are comparable. To summarise: - o In multiperiod reports, all subperiods are forced to be the same + o In multiperiod reports, all subperiods are forced to be the same length, to simplify reporting. o Reports with the standard --weekly/--monthly/--quarterly/--yearly - intervals are required to start on the first day of a - week/month/quarter/year. We'd like more flexibility here but it + intervals are required to start on the first day of a + week/month/quarter/year. We'd like more flexibility here but it isn't supported yet. - o --period (below) can specify more complex intervals, starting on any + o --period (below) can specify more complex intervals, starting on any date. Period expressions - The -p/--period option accepts period expressions, a shorthand way of - expressing a start date, end date, and/or report interval all at once. + The -p/--period option accepts period expressions, a shorthand way of + expressing a start date, end date, and/or report interval all at once. - Here's a basic period expression specifying the first quarter of 2009. - Note, hledger always treats start dates as inclusive and end dates as + Here's a basic period expression specifying the first quarter of 2009. + Note, hledger always treats start dates as inclusive and end dates as exclusive: -p "from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1" - Keywords like "from" and "to" are optional, and so are the spaces, as - long as you don't run two dates together. "to" can also be written as + Keywords like "from" and "to" are optional, and so are the spaces, as + long as you don't run two dates together. "to" can also be written as ".." or "-". These are equivalent to the above: @@ -834,7 +4046,7 @@ TIME PERIODS -p2009/1/1to2009/4/1 -p2009/1/1..2009/4/1 - Dates are smart dates, so if the current year is 2009, the above can + Dates are smart dates, so if the current year is 2009, the above can also be written as: @@ -850,10 +4062,10 @@ TIME PERIODS 1, 2009 -p "from 2009/1" the same -p "from 2009" the same - -p "to 2009" everything before january + -p "to 2009" everything before january 1, 2009 - A single date with no "from" or "to" defines both the start and end + A single date with no "from" or "to" defines both the start and end date like so: @@ -864,15 +4076,15 @@ TIME PERIODS Or you can specify a single quarter like so: - -p "2009Q1" first quarter of 2009, equivalent to "2009/1/1 to + -p "2009Q1" first quarter of 2009, equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1" -p "q4" fourth quarter of the current year Period expressions with a report interval - -p/--period's argument can also begin with, or entirely consist of, a + -p/--period's argument can also begin with, or entirely consist of, a report interval. This should be separated from the start/end dates (if - any) by a space, or the word in. The basic intervals (which can also - be written as command line flags) are daily, weekly, monthly, quar- + any) by a space, or the word in. The basic intervals (which can also + be written as command line flags) are daily, weekly, monthly, quar- terly, and yearly. Some examples: @@ -881,24 +4093,24 @@ TIME PERIODS -p "quarterly" As mentioned above, the weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly intervals - require a report start date that is the first day of a week, month, - quarter or year. And, report start/end dates will be expanded if + require a report start date that is the first day of a week, month, + quarter or year. And, report start/end dates will be expanded if needed to span a whole number of intervals. For example: - -p "weekly from 2009/1/1 starts on 2008/12/29, closest preceding Mon- + -p "weekly from 2009/1/1 starts on 2008/12/29, closest preceding Mon- to 2009/4/1" day - -p "monthly in starts on 2018/11/01 + -p "monthly in starts on 2018/11/01 2008/11/25" - -p "quarterly from starts on 2009/04/01, ends on 2009/06/30, + -p "quarterly from starts on 2009/04/01, ends on 2009/06/30, 2009-05-05 to 2009-06-01" which are first and last days of Q2 2009 -p "yearly from starts on 2009/01/01, first day of 2009 2009-12-29" More complex report intervals - Some more complex kinds of interval are also supported in period + Some more complex kinds of interval are also supported in period expressions: o biweekly @@ -911,26 +4123,26 @@ TIME PERIODS o every N days|weeks|months|quarters|years - These too will cause report start/end dates to be expanded, if needed, + These too will cause report start/end dates to be expanded, if needed, to span a whole number of intervals. Examples: - -p "bimonthly from 2008" periods will have boundaries on 2008/01/01, + -p "bimonthly from 2008" periods will have boundaries on 2008/01/01, 2008/03/01, ... -p "every 2 weeks" starts on closest preceding Monday - -p "every 5 months from periods will have boundaries on 2009/03/01, + -p "every 5 months from periods will have boundaries on 2009/03/01, 2009/03" 2009/08/01, ... Intervals with custom start date - All intervals mentioned above are required to start on their natural + All intervals mentioned above are required to start on their natural calendar boundaries, but the following intervals can start on any date: Weekly on custom day: - o every Nth day of week (th, nd, rd, or st are all accepted after the + o every Nth day of week (th, nd, rd, or st are all accepted after the number) - o every WEEKDAYNAME (full or three-letter english weekday name, case + o every WEEKDAYNAME (full or three-letter english weekday name, case insensitive) Monthly on custom day: @@ -943,7 +4155,7 @@ TIME PERIODS o every MM/DD [of year] (month number and day of month number) - o every MONTHNAME DDth [of year] (full or three-letter english month + o every MONTHNAME DDth [of year] (full or three-letter english month name, case insensitive, and day of month number) o every DDth MONTHNAME [of year] (equivalent to the above) @@ -954,76 +4166,77 @@ TIME PERIODS -p "every 2nd day of periods will go from Tue to Tue week" -p "every Tue" same - -p "every 15th day" period boundaries will be on 15th of each + + -p "every 15th day" period boundaries will be on 15th of each month - -p "every 2nd Monday" period boundaries will be on second Monday of + -p "every 2nd Monday" period boundaries will be on second Monday of each month -p "every 11/05" yearly periods with boundaries on 5th of November -p "every 5th November" same -p "every Nov 5th" same - Show historical balances at end of the 15th day of each month (N is an + Show historical balances at end of the 15th day of each month (N is an end date, exclusive as always): $ hledger balance -H -p "every 16th day" - Group postings from the start of wednesday to end of the following + Group postings from the start of wednesday to end of the following tuesday (N is both (inclusive) start date and (exclusive) end date): $ hledger register checking -p "every 3rd day of week" Periods or dates ? - Report intervals like the above are most often used with -p|--period, - to divide reports into multiple subperiods - each generated date marks - a subperiod boundary. Here, the periods between the dates are what's + Report intervals like the above are most often used with -p|--period, + to divide reports into multiple subperiods - each generated date marks + a subperiod boundary. Here, the periods between the dates are what's important. - But report intervals can also be used with --forecast to generate - future transactions, or with balance --budget to generate budget goal- - setting transactions. For these, the dates themselves are what mat- + But report intervals can also be used with --forecast to generate + future transactions, or with balance --budget to generate budget goal- + setting transactions. For these, the dates themselves are what mat- ters. Events on multiple weekdays - The every WEEKDAYNAME form has a special variant with multiple day - names, comma-separated. Eg: every mon,thu,sat. Also, weekday and - weekendday are shorthand for mon,tue,wed,thu,fri and sat,sun respec- + The every WEEKDAYNAME form has a special variant with multiple day + names, comma-separated. Eg: every mon,thu,sat. Also, weekday and + weekendday are shorthand for mon,tue,wed,thu,fri and sat,sun respec- tively. This form is mainly intended for use with --forecast, to generate peri- odic transactions on arbitrary days of the week. It may be less useful - with -p, since it divides each week into subperiods of unequal length. - (Because gaps between periods are not allowed; if you'd like to change + with -p, since it divides each week into subperiods of unequal length. + (Because gaps between periods are not allowed; if you'd like to change this, see #1632.) Examples: - -p "every dates will be Mon, Wed, Fri; periods will be Mon- + -p "every dates will be Mon, Wed, Fri; periods will be Mon- mon,wed,fri" Tue, Wed-Thu, Fri-Sun - -p "every weekday" dates will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri; periods will + -p "every weekday" dates will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri; periods will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri-Sun -p "every weekend- dates will be Sat, Sun; periods will be Sat, Sun-Fri day" -DEPTH - With the --depth NUM option (short form: -NUM), commands like account, - balance and register will show only the uppermost accounts in the - account tree, down to level NUM. Use this when you want a summary with - less detail. This flag has the same effect as a depth: query argument: - depth:2, --depth=2 or -2 are equivalent. +Depth + With the --depth NUM option (short form: -NUM), reports will show + accounts only to the specified depth, hiding deeper subaccounts. Use + this when you want a summary with less detail. This flag has the same + effect as a depth: query argument: depth:2, --depth=2 or -2 are equiva- + lent. -QUERIES +Queries One of hledger's strengths is being able to quickly report on a precise subset of your data. Most hledger commands accept optional query argu- ments to restrict their scope. The syntax is as follows: - o Zero or more space-separated query terms. These are most often + o Zero or more space-separated query terms. These are most often account name substrings: utilities food:groceries - o Terms with spaces or other special characters should be enclosed in + o Terms with spaces or other special characters should be enclosed in quotes: "personal care" @@ -1045,16 +4258,16 @@ QUERIES prefixed with not: to convert them into a negative match. acct:REGEX, REGEX - Match account names containing this (case insensitive) regular expres- + Match account names containing this (case insensitive) regular expres- sion. This is the default query type when there is no prefix, and reg- - ular expression syntax is typically not needed, so usually we just + ular expression syntax is typically not needed, so usually we just write an account name substring, like expenses or food. amt:N, amt:N, amt:>=N - Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or - greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested + Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or + greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested and will always match.) The comparison has two modes: if N is preceded - by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. Oth- + by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. Oth- erwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. code:REGEX @@ -1062,10 +4275,10 @@ QUERIES cur:REGEX Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose cur- - rency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (For a partial - match, use .*REGEX.*). Note, to match special characters which are - regex-significant, you need to escape them with \. And for characters - which are significant to your shell you may need one more level of + rency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (For a partial + match, use .*REGEX.*). Note, to match special characters which are + regex-significant, you need to escape them with \. And for characters + which are significant to your shell you may need one more level of escaping. So eg to match the dollar sign: hledger print cur:\\$. @@ -1073,17 +4286,17 @@ QUERIES Match transaction descriptions. date:PERIODEXPR - Match dates (or with the --date2 flag, secondary dates) within the - specified period. PERIODEXPR is a period expression with no report + Match dates (or with the --date2 flag, secondary dates) within the + specified period. PERIODEXPR is a period expression with no report interval. Examples: date:2016, date:thismonth, date:2/1-2/15, date:2021-07-27..nextquarter. date2:PERIODEXPR - Match secondary dates within the specified period (independent of the + Match secondary dates within the specified period (independent of the --date2 flag). depth:N - Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this + Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this depth. note:REGEX @@ -1091,7 +4304,7 @@ QUERIES whole description if there's no |). payee:REGEX - Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left + Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left of |, or the whole description if there's no |). real:, real:0 @@ -1101,11 +4314,11 @@ QUERIES Match unmarked, pending, or cleared transactions respectively. type:TYPECODES - Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). TYPE- - CODES is one or more of the single-letter account type codes ALERXCV, + Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). TYPE- + CODES is one or more of the single-letter account type codes ALERXCV, case insensitive. Note type:A and type:E will also match their respec- - tive subtypes C (Cash) and V (Conversion). Certain kinds of account - alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and + tive subtypes C (Cash) and V (Conversion). Certain kinds of account + alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. tag:REGEX[=REGEX] @@ -1121,11 +4334,11 @@ QUERIES o Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. (inacct:ACCTNAME - A special query term used automatically in hledger-web only: tells + A special query term used automatically in hledger-web only: tells hledger-web to show the transaction register for an account.) Combining query terms - When given multiple query terms, most commands select things which + When given multiple query terms, most commands select things which match: o any of the description terms AND @@ -1148,7 +4361,7 @@ QUERIES Although these fixed rules are enough for many needs, we do not support full boolean expressions (#203), (and you should not write AND or OR in - your queries). This makes certain queries hard to express, but here + your queries). This makes certain queries hard to express, but here are some tricks that can help: 1. Use a doubled not: prefix. Eg, to print only the food expenses paid @@ -1156,25 +4369,25 @@ QUERIES $ hledger print food not:not:cash - 2. Or pre-filter the transactions with print, piping the result into a + 2. Or pre-filter the transactions with print, piping the result into a second hledger command (with balance assertions disabled): $ hledger print cash | hledger -f- -I balance food Queries and command options - Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: depth:2 is + Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: depth:2 is equivalent to --depth 2, date:2020 is equivalent to -p 2020, etc. When - you mix command options and query arguments, generally the resulting + you mix command options and query arguments, generally the resulting query is their intersection. Queries and account aliases - When account names are rewritten with --alias or alias, acct: will + When account names are rewritten with --alias or alias, acct: will match either the old or the new account name. Queries and valuation - When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value - reports, cur: and amt: match the old commodity symbol and the old - amount quantity, not the new ones (except in hledger 1.22.0 where it's + When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value + reports, cur: and amt: match the old commodity symbol and the old + amount quantity, not the new ones (except in hledger 1.22.0 where it's reversed, see #1625). Querying with account aliases @@ -1182,13 +4395,146 @@ QUERIES will match either the old or the new account name. Querying with cost or value - When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value - reports, note that cur: matches the new commodity symbol, and not the + When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value + reports, note that cur: matches the new commodity symbol, and not the old one, and amt: matches the new quantity, and not the old one. Note: - this changed in hledger 1.22, previously it was the reverse, see the + this changed in hledger 1.22, previously it was the reverse, see the discussion at #1625. -COST +Pivoting + Normally, hledger groups and sums amounts within each account. The + --pivot FIELD option substitutes some other transaction field for + account names, causing amounts to be grouped and summed by that field's + value instead. FIELD can be any of the transaction fields status, + code, description, payee, note, or a tag name. Values containing + colon:separated:parts will form a hierarchy, as account names do. + + Some examples: + + 2016/02/16 Member Fee Payment + assets:bank account 2 EUR + income:member fees -2 EUR ; member: John Doe + + Normal balance report showing account names: + + $ hledger balance + 2 EUR assets:bank account + -2 EUR income:member fees + -------------------- + 0 + + Pivoted balance report, using member: tag values instead: + + $ hledger balance --pivot member + 2 EUR + -2 EUR John Doe + -------------------- + 0 + + One way to show only amounts with a member: value (using a query): + + $ hledger balance --pivot member tag:member=. + -2 EUR John Doe + -------------------- + -2 EUR + + Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account + name"): + + $ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. + -2 EUR John Doe + -------------------- + -2 EUR + +Generating data + Two features for generating transient data (visible only at report + time) are built in to hledger's journal format: + + o Auto posting rules can generate extra postings on certain transac- + tions. They are activated by the --auto flag. + + o Periodic transaction rules can generate repeating transactions, usu- + ally dated in the future, to help with forecasting or budgeting. + They are activated by the --forecast or balance --budget options, + described next. + +Forecasting + The --forecast flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the + journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usu- + ally recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. + hledger print --forecast is a good way to see them. + + This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps + experimenting with different scenarios. + + It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe + recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of print + --forecast into the journal. + + The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like generated- + transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR, indicating which periodic rule generated + them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named _generated-transac- + tion:, which you can use to reliably match transactions generated "just + now" (rather than printed in the past). + + The forecast transactions are generated within a forecast period, which + is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the bounds + for generated transactions, report period controls which transactions + are reported.) The forecast period begins on: + + o the start date provided within --forecast's argument, if any + + o otherwise, the later of + + o the report start date, if specified (with -b/-p/date:) + + o the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if + any + + o otherwise today. + + It ends on: + + o the end date provided within --forecast's argument, if any + + o otherwise, the report end date, if specified (with -e/-p/date:) + + o otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. + + Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic + transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start + until after the last ordinary transaction. This is usually convenient, + but you can get around it in two ways: + + o If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them + periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: ~ YYYY-MM-DD) + rather than ordinary transactions. That way they won't suppress + other periodic transactions. + + o Or give --forecast a period expression argument. A forecast period + specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, and need not be + in the future. Some things to note: + + o You must use = between flag and argument; a space won't work. + + o The period expression can specify the forecast period's start date, + end date, or both. See also Report start & end date. + + o The period expression should not specify a report interval. (Each + periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) + + Some examples: --forecast=202001-202004, --forecast=jan-, --fore- + cast=2021. + +Budgeting + With the balance command's --budget report, each periodic transaction + rule generates recurring budget goals in specified accounts, and goals + and actual performance can be compared. See the balance command's doc + below. + + See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. + +Cost reporting This section is about recording the cost of things, in transactions where one commodity is exchanged for another. Eg an exchange of cur- rency, or a stock purchase or sale. First, a quick glossary: @@ -1206,16 +4552,13 @@ COST o Cost - how much of one commodity was paid to acquire the other. And more generally, in hledger docs: the amount exchanged in the "sec- ondary" commodity (usually your base currency), whether in a purchase - or a sale, and whether expressed per unit or in total. Or, the @/@@ - notation used to represent this. - - o Transaction price - another name for the cost expressed with - hledger's cost notation. + or a sale, and whether expressed per unit or in total. Also, the + "@/@@ PRICE" notation used to represent this. -B: Convert to cost - As discussed a little further on in Transaction prices, when recording - a transaction you can also record the amount's cost in another commod- - ity, by adding @ UNITPRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE. + As discussed in JOURNAL > Costs, when recording a transaction you can + also record the amount's cost in another commodity, by adding @ UNIT- + PRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE. Then you can see a report with amounts converted to cost, by adding the -B/--cost flag. (Mnemonic: "B" from "cost Basis", as in Ledger). Eg: @@ -1233,10 +4576,10 @@ COST Notes: - -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price is - inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last - amount. So if example 3's postings are reversed, while the transaction - is equivalent, -B shows something different: + -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a cost is inferred: the + inferred price will be in the commodity of the last amount. So if + example 3's postings are reversed, while the transaction is equivalent, + -B shows something different: 2022-01-01 assets:dollars $-135 ; 135 dollars sold @@ -1246,13 +4589,13 @@ COST EUR-100 assets:dollars # <- the dollars' selling price EUR100 assets:euros - The @/@@ cost notation is convenient, but has some drawbacks: it does - not truly balance the transaction, so it disrupts the accounting equa- + The @/@@ cost notation is convenient, but has some drawbacks: it does + not truly balance the transaction, so it disrupts the accounting equa- tion and tends to causes a non-zero total in balance reports. Equity conversion postings By contrast, conventional double entry bookkeeping (DEB) uses a differ- - ent notation: an extra pair of equity postings to balance conversion + ent notation: an extra pair of equity postings to balance conversion transactions. In this style, the above entry might be written: 2022-01-01 one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each @@ -1261,16 +4604,16 @@ COST equity:conversion EUR-100 assets:euros EUR100 - This style is more correct, but it's also more verbose and makes cost + This style is more correct, but it's also more verbose and makes cost reporting more difficult for PTA tools. - Happily, current hledger can read either notation, or convert one to + Happily, current hledger can read either notation, or convert one to the other when needed, so you can use the one you prefer. Inferring equity postings from cost With --infer-equity, hledger detects transactions written with PTA cost - notation and adds equity conversion postings to them (and temporarily - permits the coexistence of equity conversion postings and cost nota- + notation and adds equity conversion postings to them (and temporarily + permits the coexistence of equity conversion postings and cost nota- tion, which normally would cause an unbalanced transaction error). Eg: 2022-01-01 @@ -1287,17 +4630,15 @@ COST The conversion account names can be changed with the conversion account type declaration. - --infer-equity is useful when when transactions have been recorded - using PTA cost notation, to help preserve the accounting equation and - balance reports' zero total, or to produce more conventional journal + --infer-equity is useful when when transactions have been recorded + using cost notation, to help preserve the accounting equation and bal- + ance reports' zero total, or to produce more conventional journal entries for sharing with non-PTA-users. - Experimental - Inferring cost from equity postings - The reverse operation is possible using --infer-costs, which detects - transactions written with equity conversion postings and adds PTA cost - notation to them (and temporarily permits the coexistence of equity + The reverse operation is possible using --infer-costs, which detects + transactions written with equity conversion postings and adds PTA cost + notation to them (and temporarily permits the coexistence of equity conversion postings and cost notation). Eg: 2022-01-01 @@ -1313,8 +4654,8 @@ COST equity:conversion EUR-100 assets:euros EUR100 - --infer-costs is useful when combined with -B/--cost, allowing cost - reporting even when transactions have been recorded using equity post- + --infer-costs is useful when combined with -B/--cost, allowing cost + reporting even when transactions have been recorded using equity post- ings: $ hledger print --infer-costs -B @@ -1324,38 +4665,32 @@ COST Notes: - Postings will be recognised as equity conversion postings if they are - 1. to account(s) declared with type V (Conversion; or if no such - accounts are declared, accounts named equity:conversion, equity:trade, - equity:trading, or subaccounts of these) 2. adjacent 3. and exactly - matching the amounts of two non-conversion postings. + For --infer-costs to work, an exchange must consist of four postings: - The total cost is appended to the first matching posting in the trans- - action. If you need to assign it to a different posting, or if you - have several different sets of conversion postings in one transaction, - you may need to write the costs explicitly yourself. Eg: + 1. two non-equity postings - 2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-135 - equity:conversion EUR-100 - equity:conversion $135 - assets:euros EUR100 @@ $135 + 2. two equity postings, next to one another - or: + 3. the equity accounts must be declared, with account type V/Conversion + (or if they are not declared, they must be named equity:conversion, + equity:trade, equity:trading or subaccounts of these) - 2022-01-01 - assets:dollars $-235 - assets:euros EUR100 @ $1.35 ; 100 euros bought for $1.35 each - equity:conversion EUR-100 - equity:conversion $135 - assets:pounds 80 @@ $100 ; 80 pounds bought for $100 total - equity:conversion -80 - equity:conversion $100 + 4. the equity postings' amounts must exactly match the non-equity post- + ings' amounts - --infer-equity and --infer-costs can be used together, eg if you have a - mixture of both notations. + Multiple such exchanges can coexist within a single transaction, should + you need that. - Experimental + When inferring cost, the order of postings matters: the cost is added + to the first of the non-equity postings involved in the exchange, in + the commodity of the last non-equity posting involved in the exchange. + If you don't want to write your postings in the required order, the + alternative is not to infer cost; instead, use explicit cost notation, + omitting the equity postings, inferring them later with --infer-equity + if needed. + + --infer-equity and --infer-costs can be used together, if you have a + mixture of both notations in your journal. When to infer cost/equity Inferring equity postings or costs is still fairly new, so not enabled @@ -1507,7 +4842,7 @@ COST o Conversion to cost is performed before valuation (described next). -VALUATION +Valuation Instead of reporting amounts in their original commodity, hledger can convert them to cost/sale amount (using the conversion rate recorded in the transaction), and/or to market value (using some market price on a @@ -1537,15 +4872,14 @@ VALUATION For multiperiod reports, each column/period is valued on the last day of the period, by default. - Market prices + Finding market price To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, in this order of preference : 1. A declared market price or inferred market price: A's latest market price in B on or before the valuation date as declared by a P direc- - tive, or (with the --infer-market-prices flag) inferred from trans- - action prices. + tive, or (with the --infer-market-prices flag) inferred from costs. 2. A reverse market price: the inverse of a declared or inferred market price from B to A. @@ -1570,17 +4904,16 @@ VALUATION Normally, market value in hledger is fully controlled by, and requires, P directives in your journal. Since adding and updating those can be a chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market - value, why not use the recorded transaction prices as additional market - prices (as Ledger does) ? We could produce value reports without need- - ing P directives at all. + value, why not use the recorded costs as additional market prices (as + Ledger does) ? Adding the --infer-market-prices flag to -V, -X or + --value enables this. - Adding the --infer-market-prices flag to -V, -X or --value enables - this. So for example, hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices will get - market prices both from P directives and from transactions. (And if - both occur on the same day, the P directive takes precedence). + So for example, hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices will get market + prices both from P directives and from transactions. If both occur on + the same day, the P directive takes precedence. There is a downside: value reports can sometimes be affected in confus- - ing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to you, + ing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to you, read all of this Valuation section carefully, and try adding --debug or --debug=2 to troubleshoot. @@ -1588,25 +4921,66 @@ VALUATION o multicommodity transactions with explicit prices (@/@@) - o multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no @, two commodi- - ties, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings matters. + o multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no @, two commodi- + ties, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings matters. hledger print -x can be useful for troubleshooting.) - o but not, currently, from "more correct" multicommodity transactions - (no @, multiple commodities, balanced). + o multicommodity transactions with equity postings, if cost is inferred + with --infer-costs. - There is another limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity - is not specified, prices inferred with --infer-market-prices do not - help select a default valuation commodity, as P prices would. So con- - version might not happen because no valuation commodity was detected - (--debug=2 will show this). To be safe, specify the valuation commmod- - ity, eg: + There is a limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity is + not specified, prices inferred with --infer-market-prices do not help + select a default valuation commodity, as P prices would. So conversion + might not happen because no valuation commodity was detected (--debug=2 + will show this). To be safe, specify the valuation commmodity, eg: o -X EUR --infer-market-prices, not -V --infer-market-prices o --value=then,EUR --infer-market-prices, not --value=then --infer-mar- ket-prices + Signed costs and market prices can be confusing. For reference, here + is the current behaviour, since hledger 1.25. (If you think it should + work differently, see #1870.) + + 2022-01-01 Positive Unit prices + a A 1 + b B -1 @ A 1 + + 2022-01-01 Positive Total prices + a A 1 + b B -1 @@ A 1 + + + 2022-01-02 Negative unit prices + a A 1 + b B 1 @ A -1 + + 2022-01-02 Negative total prices + a A 1 + b B 1 @@ A -1 + + + 2022-01-03 Double Negative unit prices + a A -1 + b B -1 @ A -1 + + 2022-01-03 Double Negative total prices + a A -1 + b B -1 @@ A -1 + + All of the transactions above are considered balanced (and on each day, + the two transactions are considered equivalent). Here are the market + prices inferred for B: + + $ hledger -f- --infer-market-prices prices + P 2022-01-01 B A 1 + P 2022-01-01 B A 1.0 + P 2022-01-02 B A -1 + P 2022-01-02 B A -1.0 + P 2022-01-03 B A -1 + P 2022-01-03 B A -1.0 + Valuation commodity When you specify a valuation commodity (-X COMM or --value TYPE,COMM): hledger will convert all amounts to COMM, wherever it can find a suit- @@ -1634,7 +5008,7 @@ VALUATION convert, and to what. o If you have no P directives, and use the --infer-market-prices flag, - transaction prices determine it. + costs determine it. Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not con- verted. @@ -1876,7 +5250,6 @@ VALUATION balance (bs, bse, cf, is) - balance sums of value at value at posting value at value at changes costs report end date report or DATE/today of or today of journal end sums of post- @@ -1904,6 +5277,9 @@ VALUATION is, bs postings in period at respec- each period, sums of post- --change, cf period tive posting valued at ings --change) dates period ends + + + end balances sums of same as sums of values of period end value at (bal -H, is costs of --value=end postings from balances, DATE/today of --H, bs, cf) postings before period valued at sums of post- @@ -1959,65 +5335,7 @@ VALUATION report's multi-period mode (whether showing one or many subperi- ods). -PIVOTING - Normally hledger sums amounts, and organizes them in a hierarchy, based - on account name. The --pivot FIELD option causes it to sum and orga- - nize hierarchy based on the value of some other field instead. FIELD - can be: status, code, description, payee, note, or the full name (case - insensitive) of any tag. As with account names, values containing - colon:separated:parts will be displayed hierarchically in reports. - - --pivot is a general option affecting all reports; you can think of - hledger transforming the journal before any other processing, replacing - every posting's account name with the value of the specified field on - that posting, inheriting it from the transaction or using a blank value - if it's not present. - - An example: - - 2016/02/16 Member Fee Payment - assets:bank account 2 EUR - income:member fees -2 EUR ; member: John Doe - - Normal balance report showing account names: - - $ hledger balance - 2 EUR assets:bank account - -2 EUR income:member fees - -------------------- - 0 - - Pivoted balance report, using member: tag values instead: - - $ hledger balance --pivot member - 2 EUR - -2 EUR John Doe - -------------------- - 0 - - One way to show only amounts with a member: value (using a query, - described below): - - $ hledger balance --pivot member tag:member=. - -2 EUR John Doe - -------------------- - -2 EUR - - Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account - name"): - - $ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. - -2 EUR John Doe - -------------------- - -2 EUR - -COMMANDS - hledger provides a number of commands for producing reports and manag- - ing your data. Run hledger with no arguments to list the commands - available, and hledger CMD to run a command. CMD can be the full com- - mand name, or its standard abbreviation shown in the commands list, or - any unambiguous prefix of the name. Eg: hledger bal. - +PART 4: COMMANDS Here are the built-in commands, with the most often-used in bold: Data entry: @@ -2059,7 +5377,7 @@ COMMANDS o activity - show postings-per-interval bar charts - o balance (bal) - show balance changes/end balances/budgets in any + o balance (bal) - show balance changes/end balances/budgets in any accounts o codes - show transaction codes @@ -2082,10 +5400,10 @@ COMMANDS o print-unique - show only transactions with unique descriptions - o register (reg) - show postings in one or more accounts & running + o register (reg) - show postings in one or more accounts & running total - o register-match - show a recent posting that best matches a descrip- + o register-match - show a recent posting that best matches a descrip- tion o stats - show journal statistics @@ -2095,11 +5413,9 @@ COMMANDS o test - run self tests - Add-on commands: - - Programs or scripts named hledger-SOMETHING in your PATH are add-on - commands; these appear in the commands list with a + mark. The follow- - ing add-on commands can be installed, eg by the hledger-install script: + And here are some typical add-on commands installed by the hledger- + install script. If installed, these will also appear in hledger's com- + mands list, with a + mark: o ui - hledger's official curses-style TUI @@ -2112,7 +5428,7 @@ COMMANDS o stockquotes - downloads market prices. (Alpha quality, needs your help.) - Next, the detailed command docs, in alphabetical order. + Next, each command is described in detail, in alphabetical order. accounts accounts @@ -2416,11 +5732,14 @@ COMMANDS Simple balance report With no arguments, balance shows a list of all accounts and their change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and - outflows - during the entire period of the journal. For real-world - accounts, this should also match their end balance at the end of the - journal period (more on this below). + outflows - during the entire period of the journal. ("Simple" here + means just one column of numbers, covering a single period. You can + also have multi-period reports, described later.) - Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then alphabeti- + For real-world accounts, these numbers will normally be their end bal- + ance at the end of the journal period; more on this below. + + Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then alphabeti- cally by account name. For instance (using examples/sample.journal): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal @@ -2435,7 +5754,7 @@ COMMANDS 0 Accounts with a zero balance (and no non-zero subaccounts, in tree mode - - see below) are hidden by default. Use -E/--empty to show them + - see below) are hidden by default. Use -E/--empty to show them (revealing assets:bank:checking here): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal -E @@ -2450,11 +5769,76 @@ COMMANDS -------------------- 0 - The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless + The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless -N/--no-total is used. + Balance report line format + For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you + can use --format FMT to customise the format and content of each line. + Eg: + + $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format "%20(account) %12(total)" + assets $-1 + bank:saving $1 + cash $-2 + expenses $2 + food $1 + supplies $1 + income $-2 + gifts $-1 + salary $-1 + liabilities:debts $1 + --------------------------------- + 0 + + The FMT format string specifies the formatting applied to each + account/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, with data + fields interpolated like so: + + %[MIN][.MAX](FIELDNAME) + + o MIN pads with spaces to at least this width (optional) + + o MAX truncates at this width (optional) + + o FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: + + o depth_spacer - a number of spaces equal to the account's depth, or + if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. + + o account - the account's name + + o total - the account's balance/posted total, right justified + + Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how multi-com- + modity amounts are rendered: + + o %_ - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) + + o %^ - render on multiple lines, top-aligned + + o %, - render on one line, comma-separated + + There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, %(depth_spacer) has no + effect, instead %(account) has indentation built in. Experimentation + may be needed to get pleasing results. + + Some example formats: + + o %(total) - the account's total + + o %-20.20(account) - the account's name, left justified, padded to 20 + characters and clipped at 20 characters + + o %,%-50(account) %25(total) - account name padded to 50 characters, + total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities rendered on + one line + + o %20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account) - the default format for the + single-column balance report + Filtered balance report - You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from + You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from cleared transactions only, etc. by using query arguments or options to limit the postings being matched. Eg: @@ -2464,10 +5848,10 @@ COMMANDS $-2 List or tree mode - By default, or with -l/--flat, accounts are shown as a flat list with + By default, or with -l/--flat, accounts are shown as a flat list with their full names visible, as in the examples above. - With -t/--tree, the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' + With -t/--tree, the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' "leaf" names indented below their parent: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance @@ -2487,26 +5871,26 @@ COMMANDS Notes: o "Boring" accounts are combined with their subaccount for more compact - output, unless --no-elide is used. Boring accounts have no balance - of their own and just one subaccount (eg assets:bank and liabilities + output, unless --no-elide is used. Boring accounts have no balance + of their own and just one subaccount (eg assets:bank and liabilities above). - o All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from - all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, + o All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from + all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, which requires explanation when sharing reports with non-plaintextac- - counting-users. A tree mode report's final total is the sum of the + counting-users. A tree mode report's final total is the sum of the top-level balances shown, not of all the balances shown. - o Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is sorted + o Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is sorted separately. Depth limiting - With a depth:NUM query, or --depth NUM option, or just -NUM (eg: -3) - balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, hiding - the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an overview + With a depth:NUM query, or --depth NUM option, or just -NUM (eg: -3) + balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, hiding + the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an overview without too much detail. - Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from + Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from any deeper subaccounts (even in list mode). Eg, limiting to depth 1: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance -1 @@ -2518,7 +5902,7 @@ COMMANDS 0 Dropping top-level accounts - You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using + You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using --drop NUM. This can be useful for hiding repetitive top-level account names: @@ -2529,10 +5913,55 @@ COMMANDS $2 + Showing declared accounts + With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account + directive will be included in the balance report, even if they have no + transactions. (Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need + -E/--empty to see them.) + + More precisely, leaf declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will be + included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. + + The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance + report, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared + accounts yet. + + Sorting by amount + With -S/--sort-amount, accounts with the largest (most positive) bal- + ances are shown first. Eg: hledger bal expenses -MAS shows your big- + gest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity is + present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commodity + first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing a + commodity, it is treated as 0). + + Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -S + shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add + --invert to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, + which flip the sign automatically. Eg: hledger incomestatement -MAS). + + + Percentages + With -%/--percent, balance reports show each account's value expressed + as a percentage of the (column) total. + + Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a col- + umn have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each + sign, eg: + + $ hledger bal -% amt:`>0` + $ hledger bal -% amt:`<0` + + Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert + them to one commodity with -B, -V, -X or --value, or make a separate + report for each commodity: + + $ hledger bal -% cur:\\$ + $ hledger bal -% cur:EUR + Multi-period balance report - With a report interval (set by the -D/--daily, -W/--weekly, - -M/--monthly, -Q/--quarterly, -Y/--yearly, or -p/--period flag), bal- - ance shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive time + With a report interval (set by the -D/--daily, -W/--weekly, + -M/--monthly, -Q/--quarterly, -Y/--yearly, or -p/--period flag), bal- + ance shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive time periods (and a title): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal --quarterly income expenses -E @@ -2553,21 +5982,21 @@ COMMANDS encompass the displayed subperiods (so that the first and last subpe- riods have the same duration as the others). - o Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are not + o Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless -E/--empty is used. - o Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless + o Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless -E/--empty is used. - o Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless + o Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless --no-elide is used. (experimental) - o Average and/or total columns can be added with the -A/--average and + o Average and/or total columns can be added with the -A/--average and -T/--row-total flags. o The --transpose flag can be used to exchange rows and columns. - o The --pivot FIELD option causes a different transaction field to be + o The --pivot FIELD option causes a different transaction field to be used as "account name". See PIVOTING. Multi-period reports with many periods can be too wide for easy viewing @@ -2581,33 +6010,415 @@ COMMANDS o Reduce the terminal's font size - o View with a pager like less, eg: hledger bal -D --color=yes | less + o View with a pager like less, eg: hledger bal -D --color=yes | less -RS - o Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata (hledger bal -D -O - csv | vd -f csv), Emacs' csv-mode (M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a), or a + o Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata (hledger bal -D -O + csv | vd -f csv), Emacs' csv-mode (M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a), or a spreadsheet (hledger bal -D -o a.csv && open a.csv) - o Output as HTML and view with a browser: hledger bal -D -o a.html && + o Output as HTML and view with a browser: hledger bal -D -o a.html && open a.html - Showing declared accounts - With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account - directive will be included in the balance report, even if they have no - transactions. (Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need - -E/--empty to see them.) + Balance change, end balance + It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in bal- + ance reports. Here is some terminology we use: - More precisely, leaf declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will be - included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. + A balance change is the net amount added to, or removed from, an + account during some period. - The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance - report, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared - accounts yet. + An end balance is the amount accumulated in an account as of some date + (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day in + your timezone). It is the sum of previous balance changes. + + We call it a historical end balance if it includes all balance changes + since the account was created. For a real world account, this means it + will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in your + bank statements or bank web UI. (If they are correct!) + + In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing + revenues and expenses, and historical end balances are what you want to + see when reviewing or reconciling asset, liability and equity accounts. + + balance shows balance changes by default. To see accurate historical + end balances: + + 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" + transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the + journal covers the account's full lifetime. + + 2. Include all of of the account's prior postings in the report, by not + specifying a report start date, or by using the -H/--historical + flag. (-H causes report start date to be ignored when summing post- + ings.) + + Balance report types + The balance command is quite flexible; here is the full detail on how + to control what it reports. There are three important option groups: + + hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] + ... + + The first two are the most important: + + o calculation type selects the basic calculation to perform for each + table cell + + o accumulation type says which postings should be included in each + cell's calculation + + Typically one or both of these are selected by default, so you don't + need to write them explicitly. Then + + o a valuation type can be added if you want to convert the basic report + to value or cost + + Calculation type + The basic calculation to perform for each table cell. It is one of: + + o --sum : sum the posting amounts (default) + + o --budget : like --sum but also show a goal amount + + o --valuechange : show the change in period-end historical balance val- + ues (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price fluctua- + tions) + + o --gain : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current valued + balance minus each amount's original cost) + + Accumulation type + Which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. It is + one of: + + o --change : postings from column start to column end, ie within the + cell's period. Typically used to see revenues/expenses. (default + for balance, incomestatement) + + o --cumulative : postings from report start to column end, eg to show + changes accumulated since the report's start date. Rarely used. + + o --historical/-H : postings from journal start to column end, ie all + postings from account creation to the end of the cell's period. Typ- + ically used to see historical end balances of assets/liabili- + ties/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheetequity, cash- + flow) + + Valuation type + Which kind of valuation, valuation date(s) and optionally a target val- + uation commodity to use. It is one of: + + o no valuation, show amounts in their original commodities (default) + + o --value=cost[,COMM] : no valuation, show amounts converted to cost + + o --value=then[,COMM] : show value at transaction dates + + o --value=end[,COMM] : show value at period end date(s) (default with + --valuechange, --gain) + + o --value=now[,COMM] : show value at today's date + + o --value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM] : show value at another date + + or one of their aliases: --cost/-B, --market/-V or --exchange/-X. + + Combining balance report types + Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, + but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The + following restrictions are applied: + + o --valuechange implies --value=end + + o --valuechange makes --change the default when used with the bal- + ancesheet/balancesheetequity commands + + o --cumulative or --historical disables --row-total/-T + + For reference, here is what the combinations of accumulation and valua- + tion show: + + + Valua- no valuation --value= then --value= end --value= YYYY- + tion:> MM-DD /now + Accumu- + lation:v + ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + --change change in period sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of + date market val- value of change change in + ues in period in period period + --cumu- change from sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of + lative report start to date market val- value of change change from + period end ues from report from report report start + start to period start to period to period end + end end + --his- change from sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of + torical journal start to date market val- value of change change from + /-H period end (his- ues from journal from journal journal start + torical end bal- start to period start to period to period end + ance) end end + + Budget report + The --budget report type activates extra columns showing any budget + goals for each account and period. The budget goals are defined by + periodic transactions. This is very useful for comparing planned and + actual income, expenses, time usage, etc. + + For example, you can take average monthly expenses in the common + expense categories to construct a minimal monthly budget: + + ;; Budget + ~ monthly + income $2000 + expenses:food $400 + expenses:bus $50 + expenses:movies $30 + assets:bank:checking + + ;; Two months worth of expenses + 2017-11-01 + income $1950 + expenses:food $396 + expenses:bus $49 + expenses:movies $30 + expenses:supplies $20 + assets:bank:checking + + 2017-12-01 + income $2100 + expenses:food $412 + expenses:bus $53 + expenses:gifts $100 + assets:bank:checking + + You can now see a monthly budget report: + + $ hledger balance -M --budget + Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: + + || Nov Dec + ======================++==================================================== + assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] + expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] + expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] + expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] + income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] + ----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] + + This is different from a normal balance report in several ways: + + o Only accounts with budget goals during the report period are shown, + by default. + + o In each column, in square brackets after the actual amount, budget + goal amounts are shown, and the actual/goal percentage. (Note: bud- + get goals should be in the same commodity as the actual amount.) + + o All parent accounts are always shown, even in list mode. Eg assets, + assets:bank, and expenses above. + + o Amounts always include all subaccounts, budgeted or unbudgeted, even + in list mode. + + This means that the numbers displayed will not always add up! Eg + above, the expenses actual amount includes the gifts and supplies + transactions, but the expenses:gifts and expenses:supplies accounts are + not shown, as they have no budget amounts declared. + + This can be confusing. When you need to make things clearer, use the + -E/--empty flag, which will reveal all accounts including unbudgeted + ones, giving the full picture. Eg: + + $ hledger balance -M --budget --empty + Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: + + || Nov Dec + ======================++==================================================== + assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] + expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] + expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] + expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] + expenses:gifts || 0 $100 + expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] + expenses:supplies || $20 0 + income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] + ----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] + + You can roll over unspent budgets to next period with --cumulative: + + $ hledger balance -M --budget --cumulative + Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: + + || Nov Dec + ======================++==================================================== + assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] + assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] + assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] + expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $1060 [ 110% of $960] + expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $102 [ 102% of $100] + expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $808 [ 101% of $800] + expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] $30 [ 50% of $60] + income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $4050 [ 101% of $4000] + ----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] + + For more examples and notes, see Budgeting. + + Budget report start date + This might be a bug, but for now: when making budget reports, it's a + good idea to explicitly set the report's start date to the first day of + a reporting period, because a periodic rule like ~ monthly generates + its transactions on the 1st of each month, and if your journal has no + regular transactions on the 1st, the default report start date could + exclude that budget goal, which can be a little surprising. Eg here + the default report period is just the day of 2020-01-15: + + ~ monthly in 2020 + (expenses:food) $500 + + 2020-01-15 + expenses:food $400 + assets:checking + + $ hledger bal expenses --budget + Budget performance in 2020-01-15: + + || 2020-01-15 + ==============++============ + || $400 + --------------++------------ + || $400 + + To avoid this, specify the budget report's period, or at least the + start date, with -b/-e/-p/date:, to ensure it includes the budget goal + transactions (periodic transactions) that you want. Eg, adding -b + 2020/1/1 to the above: + + $ hledger bal expenses --budget -b 2020/1/1 + Budget performance in 2020-01-01..2020-01-15: + + || 2020-01-01..2020-01-15 + ===============++======================== + expenses:food || $400 [80% of $500] + ---------------++------------------------ + || $400 [80% of $500] + + Budgets and subaccounts + You can add budgets to any account in your account hierarchy. If you + have budgets on both parent account and some of its children, then bud- + get(s) of the child account(s) would be added to the budget of their + parent, much like account balances behave. + + In the most simple case this means that once you add a budget to any + account, all its parents would have budget as well. + + To illustrate this, consider the following budget: + + ~ monthly from 2019/01 + expenses:personal $1,000.00 + expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 + liabilities + + With this, monthly budget for electronics is defined to be $100 and + budget for personal expenses is an additional $1000, which implicitly + means that budget for both expenses:personal and expenses is $1100. + + Transactions in expenses:personal:electronics will be counted both + towards its $100 budget and $1100 of expenses:personal , and transac- + tions in any other subaccount of expenses:personal would be counted + towards only towards the budget of expenses:personal. + + For example, let's consider these transactions: + + ~ monthly from 2019/01 + expenses:personal $1,000.00 + expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 + liabilities + + 2019/01/01 Google home hub + expenses:personal:electronics $90.00 + liabilities $-90.00 + + 2019/01/02 Phone screen protector + expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades $10.00 + liabilities + + 2019/01/02 Weekly train ticket + expenses:personal:train tickets $153.00 + liabilities + + 2019/01/03 Flowers + expenses:personal $30.00 + liabilities + + As you can see, we have transactions in expenses:personal:electron- + ics:upgrades and expenses:personal:train tickets, and since both of + these accounts are without explicitly defined budget, these transac- + tions would be counted towards budgets of expenses:personal:electronics + and expenses:personal accordingly: + + $ hledger balance --budget -M + Budget performance in 2019/01: + + || Jan + ===============================++=============================== + expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] + liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] + -------------------------------++------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] + + And with --empty, we can get a better picture of budget allocation and + consumption: + + $ hledger balance --budget -M --empty + Budget performance in 2019/01: + + || Jan + ========================================++=============================== + expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] + expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] + expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades || $10.00 + expenses:personal:train tickets || $153.00 + liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] + ----------------------------------------++------------------------------- + || 0 [ 0] + + Selecting budget goals + The budget report evaluates periodic transaction rules to generate spe- + cial "goal transactions", which generate the goal amounts for each + account in each report subperiod. When troubleshooting, you can use + the print command to show these as forecasted transactions: + + $ hledger print --forecast=BUDGETREPORTPERIOD tag:generated + + By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction + rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report + interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly + periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly + budget report. + + You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to + the --budget flag. --budget=DESCPAT will match all periodic rules + whose description contains DESCPAT, a case-insensitive substring (not a + regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic + rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed), and then + select from multiple budgets defined in your journal. Data layout - The --layout option affects how multi-commodity amounts are displayed, - and some other things, influencing the overall layout of the report - data: + The --layout option affects how balance reports show commodity symbols + and multi-commodity amounts, which can improve readability. It can + also normalise the data for easy consumption by other programs. It has + four possible values: o --layout=wide[,WIDTH]: commodities are shown on a single line, possi- bly elided to the specified width @@ -2617,10 +6428,8 @@ COMMANDS o --layout=bare: amounts are shown as bare numbers, with commodity sym- bols in a separate column - o --layout=tidy: data is normalised to tidy form, with one row per data - value. We currently support this with CSV output only. In tidy - mode, totals and row averages are disabled (-N/--no-total is implied - and -T/--row-total and -A/--average will be ignored). + o --layout=tidy: data is normalised to easily-consumed "tidy" form, + with one row per data value (works only with CSV output) These --layout modes are supported with some but not all of the output formats: @@ -2714,11 +6523,13 @@ COMMANDS "total","VEA","36.00" "total","VHT","294.00" - o Tidy layout produces normalised "tidy data", where every variable is - a column and each row represents a single data point (see + o Tidy layout produces normalised "tidy data", where every variable has + its own column and each row represents a single data point. See https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy- - data.html). This kind of data is the easiest to process with other - software: + data.html for more. + + This kind of output is the easiest to process with other software. + Here's how it looks: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -Y -O csv --layout=tidy "account","period","start_date","end_date","commodity","value" @@ -2738,206 +6549,35 @@ COMMANDS "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VEA","14.00" "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VHT","170.00" - Sorting by amount - With -S/--sort-amount, accounts with the largest (most positive) bal- - ances are shown first. Eg: hledger bal expenses -MAS shows your big- - gest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity is - present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commodity - first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing a - commodity, it is treated as 0). + Currently tidy layout is supported only with CSV output. - Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -S - shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add - --invert to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, - which flip the sign automatically. Eg: hledger incomestatement -MAS). - - - Percentages - With -%/--percent, balance reports show each account's value expressed - as a percentage of the (column) total: - - $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal expenses -Q -% - Balance changes in 2008: - - || 2008Q1 2008Q2 2008Q3 2008Q4 - ===================++================================= - expenses:food || 0 50.0 % 0 0 - expenses:supplies || 0 50.0 % 0 0 - -------------------++--------------------------------- - || 0 100.0 % 0 0 - - Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a col- - umn have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each - sign, eg: - - $ hledger bal -% amt:`>0` - $ hledger bal -% amt:`<0` - - Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert - them to one commodity with -B, -V, -X or --value, or make a separate - report for each commodity: - - $ hledger bal -% cur:\\$ - $ hledger bal -% cur:EUR - - Balance change, end balance - It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in bal- - ance reports. Here is some terminology we use: - - A balance change is the net amount added to, or removed from, an - account during some period. - - An end balance is the amount accumulated in an account as of some date - (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day in - your timezone). It is the sum of previous balance changes. - - We call it a historical end balance if it includes all balance changes - since the account was created. For a real world account, this means it - will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in your - bank statements or bank web UI. (If they are correct!) - - In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing - revenues and expenses, and historical end balances are what you want to - see when reviewing or reconciling asset, liability and equity accounts. - - balance shows balance changes by default. To see accurate historical - end balances: - - 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" - transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the - journal covers the account's full lifetime. - - 2. Include all of of the account's prior postings in the report, by not - specifying a report start date, or by using the -H/--historical - flag. (-H causes report start date to be ignored when summing post- - ings.) - - Balance report types - For more flexible reporting, there are three important option groups: - - hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] - ... - - The first two are the most important: calculation type selects the - basic calculation to perform for each table cell, while accumulation - type says which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. - Typically one or both of these are selected by default, so you don't - need to write them explicitly. A valuation type can be added if you - want to convert the basic report to value or cost. - - Calculation type: - The basic calculation to perform for each table cell. It is one of: - - o --sum : sum the posting amounts (default) - - o --budget : like --sum but also show a goal amount - - o --valuechange : show the change in period-end historical balance val- - ues (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price fluctua- - tions) - - o --gain : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current valued - balance minus each amount's original cost) - - Accumulation type: - Which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. It is - one of: - - o --change : postings from column start to column end, ie within the - cell's period. Typically used to see revenues/expenses. (default - for balance, incomestatement) - - o --cumulative : postings from report start to column end, eg to show - changes accumulated since the report's start date. Rarely used. - - o --historical/-H : postings from journal start to column end, ie all - postings from account creation to the end of the cell's period. Typ- - ically used to see historical end balances of assets/liabili- - ties/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheetequity, cash- - flow) - - Valuation type: - Which kind of valuation, valuation date(s) and optionally a target val- - uation commodity to use. It is one of: - - o no valuation, show amounts in their original commodities (default) - - o --value=cost[,COMM] : no valuation, show amounts converted to cost - - o --value=then[,COMM] : show value at transaction dates - - o --value=end[,COMM] : show value at period end date(s) (default with - --valuechange, --gain) - - o --value=now[,COMM] : show value at today's date - - o --value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM] : show value at another date - - or one of their aliases: --cost/-B, --market/-V or --exchange/-X. - - Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, - but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The - following restrictions are applied: - - o --valuechange implies --value=end - - o --valuechange makes --change the default when used with the bal- - ancesheet/balancesheetequity commands - - o --cumulative or --historical disables --row-total/-T - - For reference, here is what the combinations of accumulation and valua- - tion show: - - - - - - - - Valua- no valuation --value= then --value= end --value= YYYY- - tion: MM-DD /now - >Accumu- - lation: - v - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - --change change in period sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of - date market val- value of change change in - ues in period in period period - --cumu- change from sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of - lative report start to date market val- value of change change from - period end ues from report from report report start - start to period start to period to period end - end end - --his- change from sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of - torical journal start to date market val- value of change change from - /-H period end (his- ues from journal from journal journal start - torical end bal- start to period start to period to period end - ance) end end + In tidy mode, row totals, row averages and column totals are not + shown (-T/--row-total and -A/--average flags are disabled and + -N/--no-total is enabled). Useful balance reports Some frequently used balance options/reports are: o bal -M revenues expenses - Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the incomes- + Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the incomes- tatement command. o bal -M -H assets liabilities - Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also + Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also available as the balancesheet command. o bal -M -H assets liabilities equity - Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. + Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. Also available as the balancesheetequity command. o bal -M assets not:receivable - Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the + Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the cashflow command. Also: o bal -M expenses -2 -SA - Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average + Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average amount. o bal -M --budget expenses @@ -2950,327 +6590,6 @@ COMMANDS [--invert] Show top gainers [or losers] last week - Budget report - The --budget report type activates extra columns showing any budget - goals for each account and period. The budget goals are defined by - periodic transactions. This is very useful for comparing planned and - actual income, expenses, time usage, etc. - - For example, you can take average monthly expenses in the common - expense categories to construct a minimal monthly budget: - - ;; Budget - ~ monthly - income $2000 - expenses:food $400 - expenses:bus $50 - expenses:movies $30 - assets:bank:checking - - ;; Two months worth of expenses - 2017-11-01 - income $1950 - expenses:food $396 - expenses:bus $49 - expenses:movies $30 - expenses:supplies $20 - assets:bank:checking - - 2017-12-01 - income $2100 - expenses:food $412 - expenses:bus $53 - expenses:gifts $100 - assets:bank:checking - - You can now see a monthly budget report: - - $ hledger balance -M --budget - Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: - - || Nov Dec - ======================++==================================================== - assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] - expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] - expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] - expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] - income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] - ----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] - - This is different from a normal balance report in several ways: - - o Only accounts with budget goals during the report period are shown, - by default. - - o In each column, in square brackets after the actual amount, budget - goal amounts are shown, and the actual/goal percentage. (Note: bud- - get goals should be in the same commodity as the actual amount.) - - o All parent accounts are always shown, even in list mode. Eg assets, - assets:bank, and expenses above. - - o Amounts always include all subaccounts, budgeted or unbudgeted, even - in list mode. - - This means that the numbers displayed will not always add up! Eg - above, the expenses actual amount includes the gifts and supplies - transactions, but the expenses:gifts and expenses:supplies accounts are - not shown, as they have no budget amounts declared. - - This can be confusing. When you need to make things clearer, use the - -E/--empty flag, which will reveal all accounts including unbudgeted - ones, giving the full picture. Eg: - - $ hledger balance -M --budget --empty - Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: - - || Nov Dec - ======================++==================================================== - assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-2665 [ 107% of $-2480] - expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $565 [ 118% of $480] - expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $53 [ 106% of $50] - expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $412 [ 103% of $400] - expenses:gifts || 0 $100 - expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] 0 [ 0% of $30] - expenses:supplies || $20 0 - income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $2100 [ 105% of $2000] - ----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] - - You can roll over unspent budgets to next period with --cumulative: - - $ hledger balance -M --budget --cumulative - Budget performance in 2017/11/01-2017/12/31: - - || Nov Dec - ======================++==================================================== - assets || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] - assets:bank || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] - assets:bank:checking || $-2445 [ 99% of $-2480] $-5110 [ 103% of $-4960] - expenses || $495 [ 103% of $480] $1060 [ 110% of $960] - expenses:bus || $49 [ 98% of $50] $102 [ 102% of $100] - expenses:food || $396 [ 99% of $400] $808 [ 101% of $800] - expenses:movies || $30 [ 100% of $30] $30 [ 50% of $60] - income || $1950 [ 98% of $2000] $4050 [ 101% of $4000] - ----------------------++---------------------------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] 0 [ 0] - - For more examples and notes, see Budgeting. - - Budget report start date - This might be a bug, but for now: when making budget reports, it's a - good idea to explicitly set the report's start date to the first day of - a reporting period, because a periodic rule like ~ monthly generates - its transactions on the 1st of each month, and if your journal has no - regular transactions on the 1st, the default report start date could - exclude that budget goal, which can be a little surprising. Eg here - the default report period is just the day of 2020-01-15: - - ~ monthly in 2020 - (expenses:food) $500 - - 2020-01-15 - expenses:food $400 - assets:checking - - $ hledger bal expenses --budget - Budget performance in 2020-01-15: - - || 2020-01-15 - ==============++============ - || $400 - --------------++------------ - || $400 - - To avoid this, specify the budget report's period, or at least the - start date, with -b/-e/-p/date:, to ensure it includes the budget goal - transactions (periodic transactions) that you want. Eg, adding -b - 2020/1/1 to the above: - - $ hledger bal expenses --budget -b 2020/1/1 - Budget performance in 2020-01-01..2020-01-15: - - || 2020-01-01..2020-01-15 - ===============++======================== - expenses:food || $400 [80% of $500] - ---------------++------------------------ - || $400 [80% of $500] - - Budgets and subaccounts - You can add budgets to any account in your account hierarchy. If you - have budgets on both parent account and some of its children, then bud- - get(s) of the child account(s) would be added to the budget of their - parent, much like account balances behave. - - In the most simple case this means that once you add a budget to any - account, all its parents would have budget as well. - - To illustrate this, consider the following budget: - - ~ monthly from 2019/01 - expenses:personal $1,000.00 - expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 - liabilities - - With this, monthly budget for electronics is defined to be $100 and - budget for personal expenses is an additional $1000, which implicitly - means that budget for both expenses:personal and expenses is $1100. - - Transactions in expenses:personal:electronics will be counted both - towards its $100 budget and $1100 of expenses:personal , and transac- - tions in any other subaccount of expenses:personal would be counted - towards only towards the budget of expenses:personal. - - For example, let's consider these transactions: - - ~ monthly from 2019/01 - expenses:personal $1,000.00 - expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 - liabilities - - 2019/01/01 Google home hub - expenses:personal:electronics $90.00 - liabilities $-90.00 - - 2019/01/02 Phone screen protector - expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades $10.00 - liabilities - - 2019/01/02 Weekly train ticket - expenses:personal:train tickets $153.00 - liabilities - - 2019/01/03 Flowers - expenses:personal $30.00 - liabilities - - As you can see, we have transactions in expenses:personal:electron- - ics:upgrades and expenses:personal:train tickets, and since both of - these accounts are without explicitly defined budget, these transac- - tions would be counted towards budgets of expenses:personal:electronics - and expenses:personal accordingly: - - $ hledger balance --budget -M - Budget performance in 2019/01: - - || Jan - ===============================++=============================== - expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] - liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] - -------------------------------++------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] - - And with --empty, we can get a better picture of budget allocation and - consumption: - - $ hledger balance --budget -M --empty - Budget performance in 2019/01: - - || Jan - ========================================++=============================== - expenses || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal || $283.00 [ 26% of $1100.00] - expenses:personal:electronics || $100.00 [ 100% of $100.00] - expenses:personal:electronics:upgrades || $10.00 - expenses:personal:train tickets || $153.00 - liabilities || $-283.00 [ 26% of $-1100.00] - ----------------------------------------++------------------------------- - || 0 [ 0] - - Selecting budget goals - The budget report evaluates periodic transaction rules to generate spe- - cial "goal transactions", which generate the goal amounts for each - account in each report subperiod. When troubleshooting, you can use - the print command to show these as forecasted transactions: - - $ hledger print --forecast=BUDGETREPORTPERIOD tag:generated - - By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction - rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report - interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly - periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly - budget report. - - You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to - the --budget flag. --budget=DESCPAT will match all periodic rules - whose description contains DESCPAT, a case-insensitive substring (not a - regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic - rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed), and then - select from multiple budgets defined in your journal. - - Customising single-period balance reports - For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you - can use --format FMT to customise the format and content of each line. - Eg: - - $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format "%20(account) %12(total)" - assets $-1 - bank:saving $1 - cash $-2 - expenses $2 - food $1 - supplies $1 - income $-2 - gifts $-1 - salary $-1 - liabilities:debts $1 - --------------------------------- - 0 - - The FMT format string (plus a newline) specifies the formatting applied - to each account/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, with - data fields interpolated like so: - - %[MIN][.MAX](FIELDNAME) - - o MIN pads with spaces to at least this width (optional) - - o MAX truncates at this width (optional) - - o FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: - - o depth_spacer - a number of spaces equal to the account's depth, or - if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. - - o account - the account's name - - o total - the account's balance/posted total, right justified - - Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how multi-com- - modity amounts are rendered: - - o %_ - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) - - o %^ - render on multiple lines, top-aligned - - o %, - render on one line, comma-separated - - There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, %(depth_spacer) has no - effect, instead %(account) has indentation built in. Experimentation - may be needed to get pleasing results. - - Some example formats: - - o %(total) - the account's total - - o %-20.20(account) - the account's name, left justified, padded to 20 - characters and clipped at 20 characters - - o %,%-50(account) %25(total) - account name padded to 50 characters, - total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities rendered on - one line - - o %20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account) - the default format for the - single-column balance report - balancesheet balancesheet, bs This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- @@ -3437,124 +6756,124 @@ COMMANDS o balancedwithautoconversion - all transactions are balanced, inferring missing amounts where necessary, and possibly converting commodities - using transaction prices or automatically-inferred transaction prices + using costs or automatically-inferred costs - o assertions - all balance assertions in the journal are passing. + o assertions - all balance assertions in the journal are passing. (This check can be disabled with -I/--ignore-assertions.) Strict checks These additional checks are run when the -s/--strict (strict mode) flag - is used. Or, they can be run by giving their names as arguments to + is used. Or, they can be run by giving their names as arguments to check: o accounts - all account names used by transactions have been declared o commodities - all commodity symbols used have been declared - o balancednoautoconversion - transactions are balanced, possibly using - explicit transaction prices but not inferred ones + o balancednoautoconversion - transactions are balanced, possibly using + explicit costs but not inferred ones Other checks - These checks can be run only by giving their names as arguments to - check. They are more specialised and not desirable for everyone, + These checks can be run only by giving their names as arguments to + check. They are more specialised and not desirable for everyone, therefore optional: o ordereddates - transactions are ordered by date within each file o payees - all payees used by transactions have been declared - o recentassertions - all accounts with balance assertions have a bal- + o recentassertions - all accounts with balance assertions have a bal- ance assertion no more than 7 days before their latest posting o uniqueleafnames - all account leaf names are unique Custom checks - A few more checks are are available as separate add-on commands, in + A few more checks are are available as separate add-on commands, in https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/bin: - o hledger-check-tagfiles - all tag values containing / (a forward + o hledger-check-tagfiles - all tag values containing / (a forward slash) exist as file paths - o hledger-check-fancyassertions - more complex balance assertions are + o hledger-check-fancyassertions - more complex balance assertions are passing You could make similar scripts to perform your own custom checks. See: Cookbook -> Scripting. More about specific checks - hledger check recentassertions will complain if any balance-asserted + hledger check recentassertions will complain if any balance-asserted account does not have a balance assertion within 7 days before its lat- - est posting. This aims to prevent the situation where you are regu- - larly updating your journal, but forgetting to check your balances - against the real world, then one day must dig back through months of - data to find an error. It assumes that adding a balance assertion - requires/reminds you to check the real-world balance. That may not be - true if you auto-generate balance assertions from bank data; in that - case, I recommend to import transactions uncleared, then use the man- - ual-review-and-mark-cleared phase as a reminder to check the latest + est posting. This aims to prevent the situation where you are regu- + larly updating your journal, but forgetting to check your balances + against the real world, then one day must dig back through months of + data to find an error. It assumes that adding a balance assertion + requires/reminds you to check the real-world balance. That may not be + true if you auto-generate balance assertions from bank data; in that + case, I recommend to import transactions uncleared, then use the man- + ual-review-and-mark-cleared phase as a reminder to check the latest assertions against real-world balances. close close, equity - Prints a sample "closing" transaction bringing specified account bal- - ances to zero, and an inverse "opening" transaction restoring the same + Prints a sample "closing" transaction bringing specified account bal- + ances to zero, and an inverse "opening" transaction restoring the same account balances. - If like most people you split your journal files by time, eg by year: - at the end of the year you can use this command to "close out" your - asset and liability (and perhaps equity) balances in the old file, and - reinitialise them in the new file. This helps ensure that report bal- - ances remain correct whether you are including old files or not. - (Because all closing/opening transactions except the very first will + If like most people you split your journal files by time, eg by year: + at the end of the year you can use this command to "close out" your + asset and liability (and perhaps equity) balances in the old file, and + reinitialise them in the new file. This helps ensure that report bal- + ances remain correct whether you are including old files or not. + (Because all closing/opening transactions except the very first will cancel out - see example below.) Some people also use this command to close out revenue and expense bal- - ances at the end of an accounting period. This properly records the - period's profit/loss as "retained earnings" (part of equity), and + ances at the end of an accounting period. This properly records the + period's profit/loss as "retained earnings" (part of equity), and allows the accounting equation (A-L=E) to balance, which you could then check by the bse report's zero total. - You can print just the closing transaction by using the --close flag, + You can print just the closing transaction by using the --close flag, or just the opening transaction with the --open flag. Their descriptions are closing balances and opening balances by - default; you can customise these with the --close-desc and --open-desc + default; you can customise these with the --close-desc and --open-desc options. - Just one balancing equity posting is used by default, with the amount + Just one balancing equity posting is used by default, with the amount left implicit. The default account name is equity:opening/closing bal- - ances. You can customise the account name(s) with --close-acct and - --open-acct. (If you specify only one of these, it will be used for + ances. You can customise the account name(s) with --close-acct and + --open-acct. (If you specify only one of these, it will be used for both.) - With --x/--explicit, the equity posting's amount will be shown explic- + With --x/--explicit, the equity posting's amount will be shown explic- itly, and if it involves multiple commodities, there will be a separate equity posting for each commodity (as in the print command). With --interleaved, each equity posting is shown next to the posting it balances (good for troubleshooting). - close and prices - Transaction prices are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening - transactions, by default. With --show-costs, they are preserved; there - will be a separate equity posting for each cost in each commodity. - This means balance -B reports will look the same after the transition. - Note if you have many foreign currency or investment transactions, this - will generate very large journal entries. + close and costs + Costs are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening transactions, by + default. With --show-costs, they are preserved; there will be a sepa- + rate equity posting for each cost in each commodity. This means bal- + ance -B reports will look the same after the transition. Note if you + have many foreign currency or investment transactions, this will gener- + ate very large journal entries. close date - The default closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, + The default closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, whichever is later. - Unless you are running close on exactly the first day of the new - period, you'll want to override the closing date. This is done by - specifying a report end date, where "last day of the report period" - will be the closing date. The opening date is always the following - day. So to close on (end of) 2020-12-31 and open on (start of) + Unless you are running close on exactly the first day of the new + period, you'll want to override the closing date. This is done by + specifying a report end date, where "last day of the report period" + will be the closing date. The opening date is always the following + day. So to close on (end of) 2020-12-31 and open on (start of) 2021-01-01, any of these will work: - end date argu- explanation + end date argu- explanation ment -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -e 2021-01-01 end dates are exclusive @@ -3584,17 +6903,17 @@ COMMANDS Hiding opening/closing transactions Although the closing/opening transactions cancel out, they will be vis- - ible in reports like print and register, creating some visual clutter. + ible in reports like print and register, creating some visual clutter. You can exclude them all with a query, like: $ hledger print not:desc:'opening|closing' # less typing $ hledger print not:'equity:opening/closing balances' # more precise - But when reporting on multiple files, this can get a bit tricky; you + But when reporting on multiple files, this can get a bit tricky; you may need to keep the earliest opening balances, for a historical regis- - ter report; or you may need to suppress a closing transaction, to see - year-end balances. If you find yourself needing more precise queries, - here's one solution: add more easily-matched tags to opening/closing + ter report; or you may need to suppress a closing transaction, to see + year-end balances. If you find yourself needing more precise queries, + here's one solution: add more easily-matched tags to opening/closing transactions, like this: ; 2019.journal @@ -3629,18 +6948,18 @@ COMMANDS # 2020 year end balances, suppressing 2020 closing txn close and balance assertions - The closing and opening transactions will include balance assertions, - verifying that the accounts have first been reset to zero and then - restored to their previous balance. These provide valuable error - checking, alerting you when things get out of line, but you can ignore + The closing and opening transactions will include balance assertions, + verifying that the accounts have first been reset to zero and then + restored to their previous balance. These provide valuable error + checking, alerting you when things get out of line, but you can ignore them temporarily with -I or just remove them if you prefer. You probably shouldn't use status or realness filters (like -C or -R or status:) with close, or the generated balance assertions will depend on - these flags. Likewise, if you run this command with --auto, the bal- + these flags. Likewise, if you run this command with --auto, the bal- ance assertions would probably always require --auto. - Multi-day transactions (where some postings have a different date) + Multi-day transactions (where some postings have a different date) break the balance assertions, because the money is temporarily "invisi- ble" while in transit: @@ -3648,8 +6967,8 @@ COMMANDS expenses:food 5 assets:bank:checking -5 ; date: 2021/1/2 - To fix the assertions, you can add a temporary account to track such - in-transit money (splitting the multi-day transaction into two single- + To fix the assertions, you can add a temporary account to track such + in-transit money (splitting the multi-day transaction into two single- day transactions): ; in 2020.journal: @@ -3663,8 +6982,8 @@ COMMANDS assets:bank:checking Example: close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings - For this, use --close to suppress the opening transaction, as it's not - needed. Also you'll want to change the equity account name to your + For this, use --close to suppress the opening transaction, as it's not + needed. Also you'll want to change the equity account name to your equivalent of "equity:retained earnings". Closing 2021's first quarter revenues/expenses: @@ -3677,13 +6996,13 @@ COMMANDS $ hledger close --close revenues expenses -p Q1 \ --close-acct='equity:retained earnings' >> $LEDGER_FILE - Now, the first quarter's balance sheet should show a zero (unless you + Now, the first quarter's balance sheet should show a zero (unless you are using @/@@ notation without equity postings): $ hledger bse -p Q1 And we must suppress the closing transaction to see the first quarter's - income statement (using the description; not:'retained earnings' won't + income statement (using the description; not:'retained earnings' won't work here): $ hledger is -p Q1 not:desc:'closing balances' @@ -3692,30 +7011,34 @@ COMMANDS codes List the codes seen in transactions, in the order parsed. - This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in the - order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional - value written in parentheses between the date and description, often + This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in the + order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional + value written in parentheses between the date and description, often used to store a cheque number, order number or similar. Transactions aren't required to have a code, and missing or empty codes - will not be shown by default. With the -E/--empty flag, they will be + will not be shown by default. With the -E/--empty flag, they will be printed as blank lines. You can add a query to select a subset of transactions. Examples: - 1/1 (123) - (a) 1 + 2022/1/1 (123) Supermarket + Food $5.00 + Checking - 1/1 () - (a) 1 + 2022/1/2 (124) Post Office + Postage $8.32 + Checking - 1/1 - (a) 1 + 2022/1/3 Supermarket + Food $11.23 + Checking - 1/1 (126) - (a) 1 + 2022/1/4 (126) Post Office + Postage $3.21 + Checking $ hledger codes 123 @@ -3726,7 +7049,6 @@ COMMANDS 123 124 - 126 commodities @@ -3738,7 +7060,7 @@ COMMANDS List the unique descriptions that appear in transactions. This command lists the unique descriptions that appear in transactions, - in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of trans- + in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of trans- actions. Example: @@ -3750,18 +7072,18 @@ COMMANDS diff diff - Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It + Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It shows any transactions to this account which are in one file but not in the other. More precisely, for each posting affecting this account in either file, - it looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which posts the - same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc.) + it looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which posts the + same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc.) Since postings not transactions are compared, this also works when mul- tiple bank transactions have been combined into a single journal entry. This is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transactions from - your bank (eg as CSV data). When hledger and your bank disagree about + your bank (eg as CSV data). When hledger and your bank disagree about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with your journal to find out the cause. @@ -3779,23 +7101,23 @@ COMMANDS files files - List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only - file names matching the regular expression (case sensitive) are shown. + List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only + file names matching the regular expression (case sensitive) are shown. help help - Show the hledger user manual in the terminal, with info, man, or a - pager. With a TOPIC argument, open it at that topic if possible. - TOPIC can be any heading in the manual, or a heading prefix, case - insensitive. Eg: commands, print, forecast, journal, amount, "auto + Show the hledger user manual in the terminal, with info, man, or a + pager. With a TOPIC argument, open it at that topic if possible. + TOPIC can be any heading in the manual, or a heading prefix, case + insensitive. Eg: commands, print, forecast, journal, amount, "auto postings". This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger version. It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the terminal to a web - browser, or when the appropriate hledger manual or viewing tools are + browser, or when the appropriate hledger manual or viewing tools are not installed on your system. - By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH (preferring info + By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH (preferring info since the hledger manual is large). You can select a particular viewer with the -i, -m, or -p flags. @@ -3807,71 +7129,71 @@ COMMANDS import import - Read new transactions added to each FILE since last run, and add them - to the journal. Or with --dry-run, just print the transactions that - would be added. Or with --catchup, just mark all of the FILEs' trans- + Read new transactions added to each FILE since last run, and add them + to the journal. Or with --dry-run, just print the transactions that + would be added. Or with --catchup, just mark all of the FILEs' trans- actions as imported, without actually importing any. - This command may append new transactions to the main journal file - (which should be in journal format). Existing transactions are not - changed. This is one of the few hledger commands that writes to the + This command may append new transactions to the main journal file + (which should be in journal format). Existing transactions are not + changed. This is one of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file (see also add). - Unlike other hledger commands, with import the journal file is an out- + Unlike other hledger commands, with import the journal file is an out- put file, and will be modified, though only by appending (existing data - will not be changed). The input files are specified as arguments, so - to import one or more CSV files to your main journal, you will run + will not be changed). The input files are specified as arguments, so + to import one or more CSV files to your main journal, you will run hledger import bank.csv or perhaps hledger import *.csv. Note you can import from any file format, though CSV files are the most common import source, and these docs focus on that case. Deduplication - As a convenience import does deduplication while reading transactions. + As a convenience import does deduplication while reading transactions. This does not mean "ignore transactions that look the same", but rather "ignore transactions that have been seen before". This is intended for - when you are periodically importing foreign data which may contain - already-imported transactions. So eg, if every day you download bank - CSV files containing redundant data, you can safely run hledger import - bank.csv and only new transactions will be imported. (import is idem- + when you are periodically importing foreign data which may contain + already-imported transactions. So eg, if every day you download bank + CSV files containing redundant data, you can safely run hledger import + bank.csv and only new transactions will be imported. (import is idem- potent.) - Since the items being read (CSV records, eg) often do not come with - unique identifiers, hledger detects new transactions by date, assuming + Since the items being read (CSV records, eg) often do not come with + unique identifiers, hledger detects new transactions by date, assuming that: 1. new items always have the newest dates 2. item dates do not change across reads - 3. and items with the same date remain in the same relative order + 3. and items with the same date remain in the same relative order across reads. - These are often true of CSV files representing transactions, or true - enough so that it works pretty well in practice. 1 is important, but + These are often true of CSV files representing transactions, or true + enough so that it works pretty well in practice. 1 is important, but violations of 2 and 3 amongst the old transactions won't matter (and if - you import often, the new transactions will be few, so less likely to + you import often, the new transactions will be few, so less likely to be the ones affected). - hledger remembers the latest date processed in each input file by sav- + hledger remembers the latest date processed in each input file by sav- ing a hidden ".latest" state file in the same directory. Eg when read- - ing finance/bank.csv, it will look for and update the finance/.lat- - est.bank.csv state file. The format is simple: one or more lines con- - taining the same ISO-format date (YYYY-MM-DD), meaning "I have pro- - cessed transactions up to this date, and this many of them on that + ing finance/bank.csv, it will look for and update the finance/.lat- + est.bank.csv state file. The format is simple: one or more lines con- + taining the same ISO-format date (YYYY-MM-DD), meaning "I have pro- + cessed transactions up to this date, and this many of them on that date." Normally you won't see or manipulate these state files yourself. - But if needed, you can delete them to reset the state (making all - transactions "new"), or you can construct them to "catch up" to a cer- + But if needed, you can delete them to reset the state (making all + transactions "new"), or you can construct them to "catch up" to a cer- tain date. - Note deduplication (and updating of state files) can also be done by + Note deduplication (and updating of state files) can also be done by print --new, but this is less often used. Import testing - With --dry-run, the transactions that will be imported are printed to + With --dry-run, the transactions that will be imported are printed to the terminal, without updating your journal or state files. The output - is valid journal format, like the print command, so you can re-parse - it. Eg, to see any importable transactions which CSV rules have not + is valid journal format, like the print command, so you can re-parse + it. Eg, to see any importable transactions which CSV rules have not categorised: $ hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown @@ -3881,17 +7203,17 @@ COMMANDS $ ls bank.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ====; hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' Importing balance assignments - Entries added by import will have their posting amounts made explicit - (like hledger print -x). This means that any balance assignments in - imported files must be evaluated; but, imported files don't get to see - the main file's account balances. As a result, importing entries with + Entries added by import will have their posting amounts made explicit + (like hledger print -x). This means that any balance assignments in + imported files must be evaluated; but, imported files don't get to see + the main file's account balances. As a result, importing entries with balance assignments (eg from an institution that provides only balances - and not posting amounts) will probably generate incorrect posting + and not posting amounts) will probably generate incorrect posting amounts. To avoid this problem, use print instead of import: $ hledger print IMPORTFILE [--new] >> $LEDGER_FILE - (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, + (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, please test it and send a pull request.) Commodity display styles @@ -3901,12 +7223,12 @@ COMMANDS incomestatement incomestatement, is This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and - expenses during one or more periods. Amounts are shown with normal + expenses during one or more periods. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. - This report shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type - (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows - top-level accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensi- + This report shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type + (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows + top-level accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensi- tive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -3933,22 +7255,22 @@ COMMANDS 0 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. It is similar to hledger balance '(revenues|income)' expenses, but with - smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their + smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their sign flipped. - This command also supports the output destination and output format - options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- + This command also supports the output destination and output format + options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- mental) json. notes notes List the unique notes that appear in transactions. - This command lists the unique notes that appear in transactions, in - alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of transac- - tions. The note is the part of the transaction description after a | + This command lists the unique notes that appear in transactions, in + alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of transac- + tions. The note is the part of the transaction description after a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). Example: @@ -3961,14 +7283,14 @@ COMMANDS payees List the unique payee/payer names that appear in transactions. - This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared - with payee directives (--declared), used in transaction descriptions + This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared + with payee directives (--declared), used in transaction descriptions (--used), or both (the default). - The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | + The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). - You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This + You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This implies --used. Example: @@ -3980,12 +7302,11 @@ COMMANDS prices prices - Print market price directives from the journal. With --infer-market- - prices, generate additional market prices from transaction prices. - With --infer-reverse-prices, also generate market prices by inverting - transaction prices. Prices (and postings providing transaction prices) - can be filtered by a query. Price amounts are displayed with their - full precision. + Print market price directives from the journal. With --infer-market- + prices, generate additional market prices from costs. With --infer- + reverse-prices, also generate market prices by inverting known prices. + Prices can be filtered by a query. Price amounts are displayed with + their full precision. print print @@ -4050,20 +7371,20 @@ COMMANDS Normally, the journal entry's explicit or implicit amount style is pre- served. For example, when an amount is omitted in the journal, it will - not appear in the output. Similarly, when a transaction price is - implied but not written, it will not appear in the output. You can use - the -x/--explicit flag to make all amounts and transaction prices - explicit, which can be useful for troubleshooting or for making your - journal more readable and robust against data entry errors. -x is also - implied by using any of -B,-V,-X,--value. + not appear in the output. Similarly, when a cost is implied but not + written, it will not appear in the output. You can use the + -x/--explicit flag to make all amounts and costs explicit, which can be + useful for troubleshooting or for making your journal more readable and + robust against data entry errors. -x is also implied by using any of + -B,-V,-X,--value. Note, -x/--explicit will cause postings with a multi-commodity amount (these can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an implicit amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, keeping the output parseable. - With -B/--cost, amounts with transaction prices are converted to cost - using that price. This can be used for troubleshooting. + With -B/--cost, amounts with costs are converted to cost using that + price. This can be used for troubleshooting. With -m DESC/--match=DESC, print does a fuzzy search for the one trans- action whose description is most similar to DESC, also preferring @@ -4632,3110 +7953,9 @@ COMMANDS For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options (-- --help currently doesn't show them). - Add-on commands - Add-on commands are programs or scripts in your PATH - o whose name starts with hledger- - - o whose name ends with a recognised file extension: .bat,.com,.exe, - .hs,.lhs,.pl,.py,.rb,.rkt,.sh or none - - o and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. - - Add-ons are a relatively easy way to add local features or experiment - with new ideas. They can be written in any language, but haskell - scripts have a big advantage: they can use the same hledger library - functions that built-in commands use for command-line options, parsing - and reporting. Some experimental/example add-on scripts can be found - in the hledger repo's bin/ directory. - - Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a double - dash (--) preceding them. Eg you must write: - - $ hledger web -- --serve - - and not: - - $ hledger web --serve - - (because the --serve flag belongs to hledger-web, not hledger). - - The -h/--help and --version flags don't require --. - - If you have any trouble with this, remember you can always run the add- - on program directly, eg: - - $ hledger-web --serve - -JOURNAL FORMAT - hledger's default file format, representing a General Journal. - - hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal - entries in hledger journal format. This file represents a standard - accounting general journal. I use file names ending in .journal, but - that's not required. The journal file contains a number of transaction - entries, each describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between - two or more named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger - and humans. - - hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's - journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal - files as well. It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and - ledger on the same journal file, eg to validate the results you're get- - ting. - - You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use - the add or web or import commands to create and update it. - - Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track - changes with a version control system such as git. Editor addons such - as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and - hledger-vscode for Visual Studio Code, make this easier, adding colour, - formatting, tab completion, and useful commands. See Editor configura- - tion at hledger.org for the full list. - - Here's a description of each part of the file format (and hledger's - data model). These are mostly in the order you'll use them, but in - some cases related concepts have been grouped together for easy refer- - ence, or linked before they are introduced, so feel free to skip over - anything that looks unnecessary right now. - - Transactions - Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. They - represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of commodities - between two or more named accounts. - - Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a sim- - ple date in column 0. This can be followed by any of the following - optional fields, separated by spaces: - - o a status character (empty, !, or *) - - o a code (any short number or text, enclosed in parentheses) - - o a description (any remaining text until end of line or a semicolon) - - o a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of - line, and any following indented lines beginning with a semicolon) - - o 0 or more indented posting lines, describing what was transferred and - the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also allowed, but - not blank lines or non-indented lines). - - Here's a simple journal file containing one transaction: - - 2008/01/01 income - assets:bank:checking $1 - income:salary $-1 - - Dates - Simple dates - Dates in the journal file use simple dates format: YYYY-MM-DD or - YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, with leading zeros optional. The year may be - omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- - rent transaction, the default year set with a default year directive, - or the current date when the command is run. Some examples: - 2010-01-31, 2010/01/31, 2010.1.31, 1/31. - - (The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart - dates documented in the hledger manual.) - - Secondary dates - Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the - date you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank. When you - want to model this, for more accurate daily balances, you can specify - individual posting dates. - - Or, you can use the older secondary date feature (Ledger calls it aux- - iliary date or effective date). Note: we support this for compatibil- - ity, but I usually recommend avoiding this feature; posting dates are - almost always clearer and simpler. - - A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals - sign. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. - When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but - with the --date2 flag (or --aux-date or --effective), the secondary - (right) date will be used instead. - - The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it's best to follow a - consistent rule. Eg "primary = the bank's clearing date, secondary = - date the transaction was initiated, if different", as shown here: - - 2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket - expenses:cinema $10 - assets:checking - - $ hledger register checking - 2010-02-23 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 - - $ hledger register checking --date2 - 2010-02-19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 - - Posting dates - You can give individual postings a different date from their parent - transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below) - like date:DATE. This is probably the best way to control posting dates - precisely. Eg in this example the expense should appear in May - reports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for - easy bank reconciliation: - - 2015/5/30 - expenses:food $10 ; food purchased on saturday 5/30 - assets:checking ; bank cleared it on monday, date:6/1 - - $ hledger -f t.j register food - 2015-05-30 expenses:food $10 $10 - - $ hledger -f t.j register checking - 2015-06-01 assets:checking $-10 $-10 - - DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use - the year of the transaction's date. You can set the secondary date - similarly, with date2:DATE2. The date: or date2: tags must have a - valid simple date value if they are present, eg a date: tag with no - value is not allowed. - - Ledger's earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also supported: - [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2]. hledger will attempt to parse any - square-bracketed sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. - With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 - infers its year from DATE. - - Status - Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a - status mark, which is a single character before the transaction - description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, - indicating one of three statuses: - - - mark status - ------------------ - unmarked - ! pending - * cleared - - When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, - -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags; or the status:, status:!, and - status:* queries; or the U, P, C keys in hledger-ui. - - Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the "unmarked" state - is called "uncleared". As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to - unmarked for clarity. - - To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching pend- - ing, combine -U and -P. - - Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with - real-world accounts. Some editor modes provide highlighting and short- - cuts for working with status. Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can toggle - transaction status with C-c C-e, or posting status with C-c C-c. - - What "uncleared", "pending", and "cleared" actually mean is up to you. - Here's one suggestion: - - - status meaning - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - uncleared recorded but not yet reconciled; needs review - pending tentatively reconciled (if needed, eg during a big reconcil- - iation) - cleared complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered cor- - rect - - With this scheme, you would use -PC to see the current balance at your - bank, -U to see things which will probably hit your bank soon (like - uncashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of your - finances. - - Code - After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally - write a transaction "code", enclosed in parentheses. This is a good - place to record a check number, or some other important transaction id - or reference number. - - Description - A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date - and status mark (or until a comment begins). Sometimes called the - "narration" in traditional bookkeeping, it can be used for whatever you - wish, or left blank. Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike - comments. - - Payee and note - You can optionally include a | (pipe) character in descriptions to sub- - divide the description into separate fields for payee/payer name on the - left (up to the first |) and an additional note field on the right - (after the first |). This may be worthwhile if you need to do more - precise querying and pivoting by payee or by note. - - Comments - Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (;) or hash (#) or star - (*) are comments, and will be ignored. (Star comments cause org-mode - nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users to fold and navigate their - journals with org-mode or orgstruct-mode.) - - You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the - description and/or indented on the following lines (before the post- - ings). Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by - writing them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines. - Transaction and posting comments must begin with a semicolon (;). - - Some examples: - - # a file comment - ; another file comment - * also a file comment, useful in org/orgstruct mode - - comment - A multiline file comment, which continues - until a line containing just "end comment" - (or end of file). - end comment - - 2012/5/14 something ; a transaction comment - ; the transaction comment, continued - posting1 1 ; a comment for posting 1 - posting2 - ; a comment for posting 2 - ; another comment line for posting 2 - ; a file comment (because not indented) - - You can also comment larger regions of a file using comment and end - comment directives. - - Tags - Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, - postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. - - They are written as a (optionally hyphenated) word immediately followed - by a full colon within a transaction or posting or account directive's - comment: - - account assets:checking ; accounttag: - - 2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transaction-tag: - ; another-transaction-tag: - assets:checking $-1 - expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag: - - Tags are inherited, as follows: - - o Tags on a transaction affect the transaction and all of its postings - - o Tags on an account affect all postings to that account. - - So in the example above, - the assets:checking account has one tag - (accounttag) - the transaction has two tags (transaction-tag, another- - transaction-tag) - the assets:checking posting has three tags (transac- - tion-tag, another-transaction-tag, accounttag) - the expenses:food - posting has three tags (transaction-tag, another-transaction-tag, post- - ing-tag). - - Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, until the - next comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace stripped. So - here a-posting-tag's value is "the tag value", tag2's value is "foo", - and tag3's value is "" (the empty string): - - expenses:food $10 - ; some text, a-posting-tag:the tag value, tag2: foo , tag3: , other text - - A hledger tag value may not contain a comma. - - Postings - A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount - from, an account. Each posting line begins with at least one space or - tab (2 or 4 spaces is common), followed by: - - o (optional) a status character (empty, !, or *), followed by a space - - o (required) an account name (any text, optionally containing single - spaces, until end of line or a double space) - - o (optional) two or more spaces or tabs followed by an amount. - - Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are - being removed. - - The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero. As a con- - venience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so as to - balance the transaction. - - Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name - and amount. This makes it easy to write account names containing spa- - ces. But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the - amount, the amount will be considered part of the account name. - - Virtual postings - A posting with a parenthesised account name is called a virtual posting - or unbalanced posting, which means it is exempt from the usual rule - that a transaction's postings must balance add up to zero. - - This is not part of double entry accounting, so you might choose to - avoid this feature. Or you can use it sparingly for certain special - cases where it can be convenient. Eg, you could set opening balances - without using a balancing equity account: - - 1/1 opening balances - (assets:checking) $1000 - (assets:savings) $2000 - - A posting with a bracketed account name is called a balanced virtual - posting. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to - zero (separately from other postings). Eg: - - 1/1 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else - assets:cash $-10 ; <- these balance - expenses:food $7 ; <- - expenses:food $3 ; <- - [assets:checking:budget:food] $-10 ; <- and these balance - [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- - (something:else) $5 ; <- not required to balance - - Ordinary non-parenthesised, non-bracketed postings are called real - postings. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the - -R/--real flag or real:1 query. - - Account names - Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, - from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. They can - be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally five top- - level accounts: assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and equity. - - Account names may contain single spaces, eg: assets:accounts receiv- - able. Because of this, they must always be followed by two or more - spaces (or newline). - - Account names can be aliased. - - Amounts - After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Important: - between account name and amount, there must be two or more spaces.) - - hledger's amount format is flexible, supporting several international - formats. Here are some examples. Amounts have a number (the "quan- - tity"): - - 1 - - ..and usually a currency symbol or commodity name (more on this below), - to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a separating - space: - - $1 - 4000 AAPL - 3 "green apples" - - Amounts can be preceded by a minus sign (or a plus sign, though plus is - the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side com- - modity symbol: - - -$1 - $-1 - - One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when - parsing (but they won't be displayed in output): - - + $1 - $- 1 - - Scientific E notation is allowed: - - 1E-6 - EUR 1E3 - - Decimal marks, digit group marks - A decimal mark can be written as a period or a comma: - - 1.23 - 1,23456780000009 - - In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups - of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a space, - comma, or period (different from the decimal mark): - - $1,000,000.00 - EUR 2.000.000,00 - INR 9,99,99,999.00 - 1 000 000.9455 - - Note, a number containing a single digit group mark and no decimal mark - is ambiguous. Are these digit group marks or decimal marks ? - - 1,000 - 1.000 - - If you don't tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the above - are decimal marks, parsing both numbers as 1. - - To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially - if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we - recommend explicitly declaring the decimal mark character in each jour- - nal file, using a directive at the top of the file. The decimal-mark - directive is best, otherwise commodity directives will also work. - These are described detail below. - - Commodity - Amounts in hledger have both a "quantity", which is a signed decimal - number, and a "commodity", which is a currency symbol, stock ticker, or - any word or phrase describing something you are tracking. - - If the commodity name contains non-letters (spaces, numbers, or punctu- - ation), you must always write it inside double quotes ("green apples", - "ABC123"). - - If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with - name ""; we call that the "no-symbol commodity". - - Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more - powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of - the time. A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: 1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 - TSLA. In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in - hledger's output; you can't write them directly in the journal file. - - (If you are writing scripts or working with hledger's internals, these - are the Amount and MixedAmount types.) - - Directives influencing number parsing and display - You can add decimal-mark and commodity directives to the journal, to - declare and control these things more explicitly and precisely. These - are described below, in JOURNAL FORMAT -> Declaring commodities. - Here's a quick example: - - # the decimal mark character used by all amounts in this file (all commodities) - decimal-mark . - - # display styles for the $, EUR, INR and no-symbol commodities: - commodity $1,000.00 - commodity EUR 1.000,00 - commodity INR 9,99,99,999.00 - commodity 1 000 000.9455 - - - Commodity display style - For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display - style to use in most reports. (Exceptions: price amounts, and all - amounts displayed by the print command, are displayed with all of their - decimal digits visible.) - - A commodity's display style is inferred as follows. - - First, if a default commodity is declared with D, this commodity and - its style is applied to any no-symbol amounts in the journal. - - Then each commodity's style is inferred from one of the following, in - order of preference: - - o The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol - commodity), if any. - - o The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal's transactions. - (Posting amounts only; prices and periodic or auto rules are ignored, - currently.) - - o The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: $1000.00. (Sym- - bol on the left, period decimal mark, two decimal places.) - - A style is inferred from journal amounts as follows: - - o Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first - amount - - o Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group - sizes), if any - - o Use the maximum number of decimal places of all. - - Transaction price amounts don't affect the commodity display style - directly, but occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a post- - ing's amount is inferred using a transaction price). If you find this - causing problems, use a commodity directive to fix the display style. - - To summarise: each commodity's amounts will be normalised to (a) the - style declared by a commodity directive, or (b) the style of the first - posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group style - and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. So if your reports are - showing amounts in a way you don't like, eg with too many decimal - places, use a commodity directive. Some examples: - - # declare euro, dollar, bitcoin and no-symbol commodities and set their - # input number formats and output display styles: - commodity EUR 1.000, - commodity $1000.00 - commodity 1000.00000000 BTC - commodity 1 000. - - The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command - line option. - - Rounding - Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal - places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by - the commodity display style. Note, hledger uses banker's rounding: it - rounds to the nearest even number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal - places is "0"). (Guaranteed since hledger 1.17.1; in older versions - this could vary if hledger was built with Decimal < 0.5.1.) - - Transaction prices - (AKA Costs) - - After a posting amount, you can note its cost or selling price in - another commodity, by writing either @ UNITPRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE after - it. This indicates a conversion transaction, where one commodity is - exchanged for another. - - hledger docs have historically called this a "transaction price" - because it is specific to one transaction, unlike market prices which - are not. "Cost" is shorter and might be preferable; just remember this - feature can represent either a buyer's cost, or a seller's price. - - Costs are usually written explicitly with @ or @@, but can also be - inferred automatically for simple multi-commodity transactions. - As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign - currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or - implicitly: - - 1. Write the price per unit, as @ UNITPRICE after the amount: - - 2009/1/1 - assets:euros EUR100 @ $1.35 ; one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each - assets:dollars ; balancing amount is -$135.00 - - 2. Write the total price, as @@ TOTALPRICE after the amount: - - 2009/1/1 - assets:euros EUR100 @@ $135 ; one hundred euros purchased at $135 for the lot - assets:dollars - - 3. Specify amounts for all postings, using exactly two commodities, and - let hledger infer the price that balances the transaction: - - 2009/1/1 - assets:euros EUR100 ; one hundred euros purchased - assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - - 4. Like 1, but the @ is parenthesised, i.e. (@); this is for compati- - bility with Ledger journals (Virtual posting costs), and is equiva- - lent to 1 in hledger. - - 5. Like 2, but as in 4 the @@ is parenthesised, i.e. (@@); in hledger, - this is equivalent to 2. - - Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the -B/--cost - flag; this is discussed more in the COST section. - - Lot prices, lot dates - Ledger allows another kind of price, lot price (four variants: {UNIT- - PRICE}, {{TOTALPRICE}}, {=FIXEDUNITPRICE}, {{=FIXEDTOTALPRICE}}), - and/or a lot date ([DATE]) to be specified. These are normally used to - select a lot when selling investments. hledger will parse these, for - compatibility with Ledger journals, but currently ignores them. A - transaction price, lot price and/or lot date may appear in any order, - after the posting amount and before the balance assertion if any. - - Balance assertions - hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. - These look like, for example, = EXPECTEDBALANCE following a posting's - amount. Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a - and b after each posting: - - 2013/1/1 - a $1 =$1 - b =$-1 - - 2013/1/2 - a $1 =$2 - b $-1 =$-2 - - After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance assertions - and report an error if any of them fail. Balance assertions can pro- - tect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances while - cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with the - -I/--ignore-assertions flag, which can be useful for troubleshooting or - for reading Ledger files. (Note: this flag currently does not disable - balance assignments, below). - - Assertions and ordering - hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and - then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. Note this is dif- - ferent from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse order. (Also, - Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated post- - ings to the same account within a transaction.) - - So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder differently- - dated transactions within the journal. But if you reorder same-dated - transactions or postings, assertions might break and require updating. - This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise control over the - order of postings and assertions within a day, so you can assert intra- - day balances. - - Assertions and multiple included files - Multiple files included with the include directive are processed as if - concatenated into one file, preserving their order and the posting - order within each file. It means that balance assertions in later - files will see balance from earlier files. - - And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split - across multiple files, and you want to assert the account's balance on - that day, you'll need to put the assertion in the right file - the last - one in the sequence, probably. - - Assertions and multiple -f files - Unlike include, when multiple files are specified on the command line - with multiple -f/--file options, balance assertions will not see bal- - ance from earlier files. This can be useful when you do not want prob- - lems in earlier files to disrupt valid assertions in later files. - - If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use - include, or concatenate the files temporarily. - - Assertions and commodities - The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in - fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the - (possibly multi-commodity) account balance. This is how assertions - work in Ledger also. We could call this a "partial" balance assertion. - - To assert the balance of more than one commodity in an account, you can - write multiple postings, each asserting one commodity's balance. - - You can make a stronger "total" balance assertion by writing a double - equals sign (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This asserts that there are no other - commodities in the account besides the asserted one (or at least, that - their balance is 0). - - 2013/1/1 - a $1 - a 1EUR - b $-1 - c -1EUR - - 2013/1/2 ; These assertions succeed - a 0 = $1 - a 0 = 1EUR - b 0 == $-1 - c 0 == -1EUR - - 2013/1/3 ; This assertion fails as 'a' also contains 1EUR - a 0 == $1 - - It's not yet possible to make a complete assertion about a balance that - has multiple commodities. One workaround is to isolate each commodity - into its own subaccount: - - 2013/1/1 - a:usd $1 - a:euro 1EUR - b - - 2013/1/2 - a 0 == 0 - a:usd 0 == $1 - a:euro 0 == 1EUR - - Assertions and prices - Balance assertions ignore transaction prices, and should normally be - written without one: - - 2019/1/1 - (a) $1 @ EUR1 = $1 - - We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, - even though they don't affect whether the assertion passes or fails. - This is for backward compatibility (hledger's close command used to - generate balance assertions with prices), and because balance assign- - ments do use them (see below). - - Assertions and subaccounts - The balance assertions above (= and ==) do not count the balance from - subaccounts; they check the account's exclusive balance only. You can - assert the balance including subaccounts by writing =* or ==*, eg: - - 2019/1/1 - equity:opening balances - checking:a 5 - checking:b 5 - checking 1 ==* 11 - - Assertions and virtual postings - Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they - are not affected by the --real/-R flag or real: query. - - Assertions and auto postings - Balance assertions are affected by the --auto flag, which generates - auto postings, which can alter account balances. Because auto postings - are optional in hledger, accounts affected by them effectively have two - balances. But balance assertions can only test one or the other of - these. So to avoid making fragile assertions, either: - - o assert the balance calculated with --auto, and always use --auto with - that file - - o or assert the balance calculated without --auto, and never use --auto - with that file - - o or avoid balance assertions on accounts affected by auto postings (or - avoid auto postings entirely). - - Assertions and precision - Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are - not always what is shown by reports. Eg a commodity directive may - limit the display precision, but this will not affect balance asser- - tions. Balance assertion failure messages show exact amounts. - - Balance assignments - Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported. These are like - balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the left side of the - equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so as to satisfy - the assertion. This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when - setting opening balances: - - ; starting a new journal, set asset account balances - 2016/1/1 opening balances - assets:checking = $409.32 - assets:savings = $735.24 - assets:cash = $42 - equity:opening balances - - or when adjusting a balance to reality: - - ; no cash left; update balance, record any untracked spending as a generic expense - 2016/1/15 - assets:cash = $0 - expenses:misc - - The calculated amount depends on the account's balance in the commodity - at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings of the - commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or assign- - ment). Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a little - less explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger - or do the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it. - - Balance assignments and prices - A transaction price in a balance assignment will cause the calculated - amount to have that price attached: - - 2019/1/1 - (a) = $1 @ EUR2 - - $ hledger print --explicit - 2019-01-01 - (a) $1 @ EUR2 = $1 @ EUR2 - - Directives - A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, - that influences how the journal is processed, how things are displayed, - and so on. hledger's directives are based on (a subset of) Ledger's, - but there are many differences, and also some differences between - hledger versions. Here are some more definitions: - - o subdirective - Some directives support subdirectives, written - indented below the parent directive. - - o decimal mark - The character to interpret as a decimal mark (period - or comma) when parsing amounts of a commodity. - - o display style - How to display amounts of a commodity in output: sym- - bol side and spacing, digit groups, decimal mark, and number of deci- - mal places. - - Directives are not required when starting out with hledger, but you - will probably add some as your needs grow. Here is an overview of - directives by purpose: - - - purpose directives command line - options with sim- - ilar effect - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - READING/GENERATING DATA: - Declare a commodity's or file's commodity, D, decimal- - decimal mark to help parse mark - amounts accurately - Apply changes to the data while alias, apply account, --alias - parsing comment, D, Y - Inline extra data files include multiple - -f/--file's - Generate extra transactions or ~ - budget goals - Generate extra postings = - CHECKING FOR ERRORS: - Define valid entities to allow account, commodity, - stricter error checking payee - DISPLAYING REPORTS: - - - Declare accounts' display order account - and accounting type - Declare commodity display commodity, D -c/--commodity- - styles style - - And here are all the directives and their precise effects: - - - direc- effects ends - tive at - file - end? - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - account Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; - and its display order and type, for reports. Subdirectives: - any text, ignored. - alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of Y - current file or end aliases. - apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in Y - account following entries until end of current file or end apply - account. - comment Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file Y - or end comment. - commod- Declares a commodity, for checking all entries in all files; N, Y - ity the decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity, for - following entries until end of current file; and its display - style, for reports. Takes precedence over D. Subdirectives: - format (alternate syntax). - D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts, and Y - its decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity in - following entries until end of current file; and its display - style, for reports. - deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all com- Y - mal- modities in following entries until next decimal-mark or end - mark of current file. Included files can override. Takes prece- - dence over commodity and D. - include Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they - were written inline. - payee Declares a payee name, for checking all entries in all files. - P Declares a market price for a commodity on some date, for - valuation reports. - Y Declares a year for yearless dates, for following entries Y - until end of current file. - ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future - (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance - --budget. - = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings partly - (equals) on matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and - child files (but not sibling files, see #1212). - - Directives and multiple files - If you use multiple -f/--file options, or the include directive, - hledger will process multiple input files. But directives which affect - input typically have effect only until the end of the file in which - they occur (and on any included files in that region). - - This may seem inconvenient, but it's intentional; it makes reports sta- - ble and deterministic, independent of the order of input. Otherwise - you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f options in - a different order, or if you moved includes around while cleaning up - your files. - - It can be surprising though; for example, it means that alias direc- - tives do not affect parent or sibling files (see below). - - Comment blocks - A line containing just comment starts a commented region of the file, - and a line containing just end comment (or the end of the current file) - ends it. See also comments. - - Including other files - You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include - directive, like this: - - include FILEPATH - - Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot - files can be included (not CSV files, currently). - - If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the - current file's folder. - - A tilde means home directory, eg: include ~/main.journal. - - The path may contain glob patterns to match multiple files, eg: include - *.journal. - - There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is - required) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient - since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but - this can be done, eg: include */**/*.journal. - - The path may also be prefixed to force a specific file format, overrid- - ing the file extension (as described in hledger.1 -> Input files): - include timedot:~/notes/2020*.md. - - Default year - You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't - specify a year. This is a line beginning with Y followed by the year. - Eg: - - Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 - - 12/15 ; equivalent to 2009/12/15 - expenses 1 - assets - - Y2010 ; change default year to 2010 - - 2009/1/30 ; specifies the year, not affected - expenses 1 - assets - - 1/31 ; equivalent to 2010/1/31 - expenses 1 - assets - - Declaring payees - The payee directive can be used to declare a limited set of payees - which may appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will - report an error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been - declared. Eg: - - payee Whole Foods - - Declaring the decimal mark - You can use a decimal-mark directive - usually one per file, at the top - of the file - to declare which character represents a decimal mark when - parsing amounts in this file. It can look like - - decimal-mark . - - or - - decimal-mark , - - This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we - recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg - thousands separators). - - Declaring commodities - You can use commodity directives to declare your commodities. In fact - the commodity directive performs several functions at once: - - 1. It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. This can - optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. (Cf Com- - modity error checking) - - 2. It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to - expect when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international - number formats in your data. Without this, hledger will parse both - 1,000 and 1.000 as 1. (Cf Amounts) - - 3. It declares how to render the commodity's amounts when displaying - output - the decimal mark, any digit group marks, the number of dec- - imal places, symbol placement and so on. (Cf Commodity display - style) - - You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives - sooner or later, so we recommend using them, for robust and predictable - parsing and display. - - Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since - for function 2, they affect only following amounts, cf #793). - - A commodity directive is just the word commodity followed by a sample - amount, like this: - - ;commodity SAMPLEAMOUNT - - commodity $1000.00 - commodity 1,000.0000 AAAA ; optional same-line comment - - It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the format subdirec- - tive, as in Ledger. Note in this case the commodity symbol appears - twice; it must be the same in both places: - - ;commodity SYMBOL - ; format SAMPLEAMOUNT - - ; display indian rupees with currency name on the left, - ; thousands, lakhs and crores comma-separated, - ; period as decimal point, and two decimal places. - commodity INR - format INR 1,00,00,000.00 - - Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or - punctuation, it must be enclosed in double quotes (cf Commodity). - - The amount's quantity does not matter; only the format is significant. - It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed - by 0 or more decimal digits. - - A few more examples: - - # number formats for $, EUR, INR and the no-symbol commodity: - commodity $1,000.00 - commodity EUR 1.000,00 - commodity INR 9,99,99,999.0 - commodity 1 000 000. - - Note hledger normally uses banker's rounding, so 0.5 displayed with - zero decimal digits is "0". (More at Commodity display style.) - - Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display - style can still be overridden by supplying a command line option. - - Commodity error checking - In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report - an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not been declared by a - commodity directive. This works similarly to account error checking, - see the notes there for more details. - - Note, this disallows amounts without a commodity symbol, because cur- - rently it's not possible (?) to declare the "no-symbol" commodity with - a directive. This is one exception for convenience: zero amounts are - always allowed to have no commodity symbol. - - Default commodity - The D directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any subsequent - commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- - nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the - journal. - - For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity - directive (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display - style for output). - - The syntax is D AMOUNT. As with commodity, the amount must include a - decimal mark (either period or comma). Eg: - - ; commodity-less amounts should be treated as dollars - ; (and displayed with the dollar sign on the left, thousands separators and two decimal places) - D $1,000.00 - - 1/1 - a 5 ; <- commodity-less amount, parsed as $5 and displayed as $5.00 - b - - If both commodity and D directives are found for a commodity, commodity - takes precedence for setting decimal mark and display style. - - If you are using D and also checking commodities, you will need to add - a commodity directive similar to the D. (The hledger check commodities - command expects commodity directives, and ignores D). - - Declaring market prices - The P directive declares a market price, which is an exchange rate - between two commodities on a certain date. (In Ledger, they are called - "historical prices".) These are often obtained from a stock exchange, - cryptocurrency exchange, or the foreign exchange market. - - The format is: - - P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT - - DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity - being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) - of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. - Examples: - - # one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: - P 2009-01-01 EUR $1.35 - - # and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: - P 2010-01-01 EUR $1.40 - - The -V, -X and --value flags use these market prices to show amount - values in another commodity. See Valuation. - - Declaring accounts - account directives can be used to declare accounts (ie, the places that - amounts are transferred from and to). Though not required, these dec- - larations can provide several benefits: - - o They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a refer- - ence. - - o In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by - transactions, which helps detect typos. - - o They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- - betic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). - - o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, - hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) - - o They can store additional account information as comments, or as tags - which can be used to filter or pivot reports. - - o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, - equity, revenue, expense), affecting reports like balancesheet and - incomestatement. - - They are written as the word account followed by a hledger-style - account name, eg: - - account assets:bank:checking - - Account comments - Comments, beginning with a semicolon: - - o can be written on the same line, but only after two or more spaces - (because ; is allowed in account names) - - o and/or on the next lines, indented - - o and may contain tags, such as the type: tag. - - For example: - - account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon - ; next-line comment - ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 - - Account subdirectives - Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently - ignored: - - account assets:bank:checking - format subdirective is ignored - - Account error checking - By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence - when a posting references them. This is convenient, but it means - hledger can't warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the jour- - nal. Usually you'll find that error later, as an extra account in bal- - ance reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. - - In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report - an error if any transaction uses an account name that has not been - declared by an account directive. Some notes: - - o The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct - account name capitalisation. - - o The account directive's scope is "whole file and below" (see direc- - tives). This means it affects all of the current file, and any files - it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of - account directives within the file does not matter, though it's usual - to put them at the top. - - o Accounts can only be declared in journal files, but will affect - included files of all types. - - o It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" - with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared. - - Account display order - The order in which account directives are written influences the order - in which accounts appear in reports, hledger-ui, hledger-web etc. By - default accounts appear in alphabetical order, but if you add these - account directives to the journal file: - - account assets - account liabilities - account equity - account revenues - account expenses - - those accounts will be displayed in declaration order: - - $ hledger accounts -1 - assets - liabilities - equity - revenues - expenses - - Any undeclared accounts are displayed last, in alphabetical order. - - Sorting is done at each level of the account tree, within each group of - sibling accounts under the same parent. And currently, this directive: - - account other:zoo - - would influence the position of zoo among other's subaccounts, but not - the position of other among the top-level accounts. This means: - - o you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg account other above) - that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their display - order - - o sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display x:y in between - a:b and a:c). - - Account types - hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, - expenses and so on. This enables easy reports like balancesheet and - incomestatement, and filtering by account type with the type: query. - - As a convenience, hledger will detect these account types automatically - if you are using common english-language top-level account names - (described below). But generally we recommend you declare types - explicitly, by adding a type: tag to your top-level account directives. - Subaccounts will inherit the type of their parent. The tag's value - should be one of the five main account types: - - o A or Asset (things you own) - - o L or Liability (things you owe) - - o E or Equity (investment/ownership; balanced counterpart of assets & - liabilities) - - o R or Revenue (what you received money from, AKA income; technically - part of Equity) - - o X or Expense (what you spend money on; technically part of Equity) - - or, it can be (these are used less often): - - o C or Cash (a subtype of Asset, indicating liquid assets for the cash- - flow report) - - o V or Conversion (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see COST).) - - Here is a typical set of account type declarations: - - account assets ; type: A - account liabilities ; type: L - account equity ; type: E - account revenues ; type: R - account expenses ; type: X - - account assets:bank ; type: C - account assets:cash ; type: C - - account equity:conversion ; type: V - - Here are some tips for working with account types. - - o The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. - These are just a convenience that sometimes help new users get going; - if they don't work for you, just ignore them and declare your account - types. See also Regular expressions. Note the Cash regexp changed - in hledger 1.24.99.2. - - If account's name contains this (CI) regular expression: | its type is: - --------------------------------------------------------------------|------------- - ^assets?(:.+)?:(cash|bank|che(ck|que?)(ing)?|savings?|current)(:|$) | Cash - ^assets?(:|$) | Asset - ^(debts?|liabilit(y|ies))(:|$) | Liability - ^equity:(trad(e|ing)|conversion)s?(:|$) | Conversion - ^equity(:|$) | Equity - ^(income|revenue)s?(:|$) | Revenue - ^expenses?(:|$) | Expense - - o If you declare any account types, it's a good idea to declare an - account for all of the account types, because a mixture of declared - and name-inferred types can disrupt certain reports. - - o Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. See - Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. - - o As mentioned above, subaccounts will inherit a type from their parent - account. More precisely, an account's type is decided by the first - of these that exists: - - 1. A type: declaration for this account. - - 2. A type: declaration in the parent accounts above it, preferring - the nearest. - - 3. An account type inferred from this account's name. - - 4. An account type inferred from a parent account's name, preferring - the nearest parent. - - 5. Otherwise, it will have no type. - - o For troubleshooting, you can list accounts and their types with: - - $ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES] - - Rewriting accounts - You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or - parts of them, before generating reports. This can be useful for: - - o expanding shorthand account names to their full form, allowing easier - data entry and a less verbose journal - - o adapting old journals to your current chart of accounts - - o experimenting with new account organisations, like a new hierarchy - - o combining two accounts into one, eg to see their sum or difference on - one line - - o customising reports - - Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. They - do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger- - web. - - Account aliases are very powerful. They are generally easy to use cor- - rectly, but you can also generate invalid account names with them; more - on this below. - - See also Rewrite account names. - - Basic aliases - To set an account alias, use the alias directive in your journal file. - This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its - included files (but note: not sibling or parent files). The spaces - around the = are optional: - - alias OLD = NEW - - Or, you can use the --alias 'OLD=NEW' option on the command line. This - affects all entries. It's useful for trying out aliases interactively. - - OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. hledger will - replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Sub- - accounts are also affected. Eg: - - alias checking = assets:bank:wells fargo:checking - ; rewrites "checking" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking", or "checking:a" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking:a" - - Regex aliases - There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, - indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. (This is the - only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a regular - expression.) - - Eg: - - alias /REGEX/ = REPLACEMENT - - or: - - $ hledger --alias '/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT' ... - - Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by - REPLACEMENT. REGEX is case-insensitive as usual. - - If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg - /\/=:. - - If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced - by the usual backslash and number in REPLACEMENT: - - alias /^(.+):bank:([^:]+):(.*)/ = \1:\2 \3 - ; rewrites "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking" to "assets:wells fargo checking" - - REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on command line, to end of - option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace. - - Combining aliases - You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives - and/or command line options. - - Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, - then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. Each alias sees the - effect of previously applied aliases. - - In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be - applied and in which order. For (each account name in) each journal - entry, we apply: - - 1. alias directives preceding the journal entry, most recently parsed - first (ie, reading upward from the journal entry, bottom to top) - - 2. --alias options, in the order they appeared on the command line - (left to right). - - In other words, for (an account name in) a given journal entry: - - o the nearest alias declaration before/above the entry is applied first - - o the next alias before/above that will be be applied next, and so on - - o aliases defined after/below the entry do not affect it. - - This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps pro- - vide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way inde- - pendent of which files are being read and in which order. - - In case of trouble, adding --debug=6 to the command line will show - which aliases are being applied when. - - Aliases and multiple files - As explained at Directives and multiple files, alias directives do not - affect parent or sibling files. Eg in this command, - - hledger -f a.aliases -f b.journal - - account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. - Including the aliases doesn't work either: - - include a.aliases - - 2020-01-01 ; not affected by a.aliases - foo 1 - bar - - This means that account aliases should usually be declared at the start - of your top-most file, like this: - - alias foo=Foo - alias bar=Bar - - 2020-01-01 ; affected by aliases above - foo 1 - bar - - include c.journal ; also affected - - end aliases - You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases (seen in the jour- - nal so far, or defined on the command line) with this directive: - - end aliases - - Aliases can generate bad account names - Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, - which could cause confusing reports or invalid print output. For exam- - ple, you could erase all account names: - - 2021-01-01 - a:aa 1 - b - - $ hledger print --alias '/.*/=' - 2021-01-01 - 1 - - The above print output is not a valid journal. Or you could insert an - illegal double space, causing print output that would give a different - journal when reparsed: - - 2021-01-01 - old 1 - other - - $ hledger print --alias old="new USD" | hledger -f- print - 2021-01-01 - new USD 1 - other - - Aliases and account types - If an account with a type declaration (see Declaring accounts > Account - types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in - effect. - - However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming - parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent - child accounts from inheriting the account type of their parents. - - Secondly, if an account's type is being inferred from its name, renam- - ing it by an alias could prevent or alter that. - - If you are using account aliases and the type: query is not matching - accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts command, - eg something like: - - $ hledger accounts --alias assets=bassetts type:a - - Default parent account - You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all - accounts within a section of the journal. Use the apply account and - end apply account directives like so: - - apply account home - - 2010/1/1 - food $10 - cash - - end apply account - - which is equivalent to: - - 2010/01/01 - home:food $10 - home:cash $-10 - - If end apply account is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the - file. Included files are also affected, eg: - - apply account business - include biz.journal - end apply account - apply account personal - include personal.journal - - Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy account and end spellings were also sup- - ported. - - A default parent account also affects account directives. It does not - affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. If - account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent - account. - - Periodic transactions - Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They - allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions to help with - forecasting, so you don't have to write out each one in the journal, - and it's easy to try out different forecasts. - - Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, - read this whole section - or at least these tips: - - 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - - read about this below. - - 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with hledger - print --forecast tag:generated or hledger register --forecast - tag:generated. - - 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-fore- - casted transaction's date. - - 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. - See below for the exact start/end rules. - - 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs - improvement, but is worth studying. - - 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a - natural boundary of that interval. Eg in weekly from DATE, DATE - must be a monday. ~ weekly from 2019/10/1 (a tuesday) will give an - error. - - 7. Other period expressions with an interval are automatically expanded - to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done to improve - reports, but it also affects periodic transactions. Yes, it's a bit - inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from - 2020/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from - 2020/01/01, will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. - - Periodic transaction rules also have a second meaning: they are used to - define budget goals, shown in budget reports. - - Periodic rule syntax - A periodic transaction rule looks like a normal journal entry, with the - date replaced by a tilde (~) followed by a period expression (mnemonic: - ~ looks like a recurring sine wave.): - - ~ monthly - expenses:rent $2000 - assets:bank:checking - - There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start - date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg monthly from - 2018/1/1 is valid, but monthly from 2018/1/15 is not. - - Periodic rules and relative dates - Partial or relative dates (like 12/31, 25, tomorrow, last week, next - quarter) are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the - results will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted - relative to, in order of preference: - - 1. the first day of the default year specified by a recent Y directive - - 2. or the date specified with --today - - 3. or the date on which you are running the report. - - They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period - dates. - - Two spaces between period expression and description! - If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, - these must be separated by two or more spaces. This helps hledger know - where the period expression ends, so that descriptions can not acciden- - tally alter their meaning, as in this example: - - ; 2 or more spaces needed here, so the period is not understood as "every 2 months in 2020" - ; || - ; vv - ~ every 2 months in 2020, we will review - assets:bank:checking $1500 - income:acme inc - - So, - - o Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transac- - tion description, if any. - - o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period - expression. - - Forecasting with periodic transactions - The --forecast flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the - journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usu- - ally recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. - hledger print --forecast is a good way to see them. - - This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps - experimenting with different scenarios. - - It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe - recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of print - --forecast into the journal. - - The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like generated- - transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR, indicating which periodic rule generated - them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named _generated-transac- - tion:, which you can use to reliably match transactions generated "just - now" (rather than printed in the past). - - The forecast transactions are generated within a forecast period, which - is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the bounds - for generated transactions, report period controls which transactions - are reported.) The forecast period begins on: - - o the start date provided within --forecast's argument, if any - - o otherwise, the later of - - o the report start date, if specified (with -b/-p/date:) - - o the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if - any - - o otherwise today. - - It ends on: - - o the end date provided within --forecast's argument, if any - - o otherwise, the report end date, if specified (with -e/-p/date:) - - o otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. - - Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic - transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start - until after the last ordinary transaction. This is usually convenient, - but you can get around it in two ways: - - o If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them - periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: ~ YYYY-MM-DD) - rather than ordinary transactions. That way they won't suppress - other periodic transactions. - - o Or give --forecast a period expression argument. A forecast period - specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, and need not be - in the future. Some things to note: - - o You must use = between flag and argument; a space won't work. - - o The period expression can specify the forecast period's start date, - end date, or both. See also Report start & end date. - - o The period expression should not specify a report interval. (Each - periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) - - Some examples: --forecast=202001-202004, --forecast=jan-, --fore- - cast=2021. - - Budgeting with periodic transactions - With the --budget flag, currently supported by the balance command, - each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals for the - specified accounts. Eg the first example above declares a goal of - spending $2000 on rent (and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into - checking) every month. Goals and actual performance can then be com- - pared in budget reports. - - See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. - - - Auto postings - "Automated postings" or "auto postings" are extra postings which get - added automatically to transactions which match certain queries, - defined by "auto posting rules", when you use the --auto flag. - - An auto posting rule looks a bit like a transaction: - - = QUERY - ACCOUNT AMOUNT - ... - ACCOUNT [AMOUNT] - - except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: = suggests match- - ing), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and each - "posting" line describes a posting to be generated, and the posting - amounts can be: - - o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg $2. This will be used - as-is. - - o a number, eg 2. The commodity symbol (if any) from the matched post- - ing will be added to this. - - o a numeric multiplier, eg *2 (a star followed by a number N). The - matched posting's amount (and total price, if any) will be multiplied - by N. - - o a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg *$2 (a star, number N, and - symbol S). The matched posting's amount will be multiplied by N, and - its commodity symbol will be replaced with S. - - Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double - quotes, as on the command line. Eg, note the quotes around the second - query term below: - - = expenses:groceries 'expenses:dining out' - (budget:funds:dining out) *-1 - - Some examples: - - ; every time I buy food, schedule a dollar donation - = expenses:food - (liabilities:charity) $-1 - - ; when I buy a gift, also deduct that amount from a budget envelope subaccount - = expenses:gifts - assets:checking:gifts *-1 - assets:checking *1 - - 2017/12/1 - expenses:food $10 - assets:checking - - 2017/12/14 - expenses:gifts $20 - assets:checking - - $ hledger print --auto - 2017-12-01 - expenses:food $10 - assets:checking - (liabilities:charity) $-1 - - 2017-12-14 - expenses:gifts $20 - assets:checking - assets:checking:gifts -$20 - assets:checking $20 - - Auto postings and multiple files - An auto posting rule can affect any transaction in the current file, or - in any parent file or child file. Note, currently it will not affect - sibling files (when multiple -f/--file are used - see #1212). - - Auto postings and dates - A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking - precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also - be used in the generated posting. - - Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance asser- - tions - Currently, auto postings are added: - - o after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for - balancedness, - - o but before balance assertions are checked. - - Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and - after auto postings are added. This changed in hledger 1.12+; see #893 - for background. - - This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a - missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to - infer amounts. - - Auto posting tags - Automated postings will have some extra tags: - - o generated-posting:= QUERY - shows this was generated by an auto post- - ing rule, and the query - - o _generated-posting:= QUERY - a hidden tag, which does not appear in - hledger's output. This can be used to match postings generated "just - now", rather than generated in the past and saved to the journal. - - Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will - have these tags added: - - o modified: - this transaction was modified - - o _modified: - a hidden tag not appearing in the comment; this transac- - tion was modified "just now". - -CSV FORMAT - How hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format. - - hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, - semicolon, or tab) containing dated records as if they were journal - files, automatically converting each CSV record into a transaction. - - (To learn about writing CSV, see CSV output.) - - We describe each CSV file's format with a corresponding rules file. By - default this is named like the CSV file with a .rules extension added. - Eg when reading FILE.csv, hledger also looks for FILE.csv.rules in the - same directory as FILE.csv. You can specify a different rules file - with the --rules-file option. If a rules file is not found, hledger - will create a sample rules file, which you'll need to adjust. - - This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields - layout, date format etc.), and how to construct hledger journal entries - (transactions) from it. Often there will also be a list of conditional - rules for categorising transactions based on their descriptions. - Here's an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully - below, after the examples: - - - skip skip one or more header lines or matched CSV - records - fields list name CSV fields, assign them to hledger - fields - field assignment assign a value to one hledger field, with - interpolation - Field names hledger field names, used in the fields list - and field assignments - separator a custom field separator - if block apply some rules to CSV records matched by - patterns - if table apply some rules to CSV records matched by - patterns, alternate syntax - end skip the remaining CSV records - date-format how to parse dates in CSV records - decimal-mark the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if - ambiguous - newest-first improve txn order when there are multiple - records, newest first, all with the same - date - intra-day-reversed improve txn order when each day's txns are - reverse of the overall date order - include inline another CSV rules file - balance-type choose which type of balance assignments to - use - - Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a .csv, .tsv - or .ssv file extension or file prefix - see File Extension below. - - There's an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. - - Examples - Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full col- - lection at: - https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv - - Basic - At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, - and often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines - there are. Here's a simple CSV file and a rules file for it: - - Date, Description, Id, Amount - 12/11/2019, Foo, 123, 10.23 - - # basic.csv.rules - skip 1 - fields date, description, _, amount - date-format %d/%m/%Y - - $ hledger print -f basic.csv - 2019-11-12 Foo - expenses:unknown 10.23 - income:unknown -10.23 - - Default account names are chosen, since we didn't set them. - - Bank of Ireland - Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance - field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not neces- - sary but provides extra error checking: - - Date,Details,Debit,Credit,Balance - 07/12/2012,LODGMENT 529898,,10.0,131.21 - 07/12/2012,PAYMENT,5,,126 - - # bankofireland-checking.csv.rules - - # skip the header line - skip - - # name the csv fields, and assign some of them as journal entry fields - fields date, description, amount-out, amount-in, balance - - # We generate balance assertions by assigning to "balance" - # above, but you may sometimes need to remove these because: - # - # - the CSV balance differs from the true balance, - # by up to 0.0000000000005 in my experience - # - # - it is sometimes calculated based on non-chronological ordering, - # eg when multiple transactions clear on the same day - - # date is in UK/Ireland format - date-format %d/%m/%Y - - # set the currency - currency EUR - - # set the base account for all txns - account1 assets:bank:boi:checking - - $ hledger -f bankofireland-checking.csv print - 2012-12-07 LODGMENT 529898 - assets:bank:boi:checking EUR10.0 = EUR131.2 - income:unknown EUR-10.0 - - 2012-12-07 PAYMENT - assets:bank:boi:checking EUR-5.0 = EUR126.0 - expenses:unknown EUR5.0 - - The balance assertions don't raise an error above, because we're read- - ing directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are - imported into a journal file. - - Amazon - Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to gener- - ate a third posting if there's a fee. (In practice you'd probably get - this data from your bank instead, but it's an example.) - - "Date","Type","To/From","Name","Status","Amount","Fees","Transaction ID" - "Jul 29, 2012","Payment","To","Foo.","Completed","$20.00","$0.00","16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL" - "Jul 30, 2012","Payment","To","Adapteva, Inc.","Completed","$25.00","$1.00","17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL" - - # amazon-orders.csv.rules - - # skip one header line - skip 1 - - # name the csv fields, and assign the transaction's date, amount and code. - # Avoided the "status" and "amount" hledger field names to prevent confusion. - fields date, _, toorfrom, name, amzstatus, amzamount, fees, code - - # how to parse the date - date-format %b %-d, %Y - - # combine two fields to make the description - description %toorfrom %name - - # save the status as a tag - comment status:%amzstatus - - # set the base account for all transactions - account1 assets:amazon - # leave amount1 blank so it can balance the other(s). - # I'm assuming amzamount excludes the fees, don't remember - - # set a generic account2 - account2 expenses:misc - amount2 %amzamount - # and maybe refine it further: - #include categorisation.rules - - # add a third posting for fees, but only if they are non-zero. - if %fees [1-9] - account3 expenses:fees - amount3 %fees - - $ hledger -f amazon-orders.csv print - 2012-07-29 (16000000000000DGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Foo. ; status:Completed - assets:amazon - expenses:misc $20.00 - - 2012-07-30 (17LA58JSKRD4HDGLNJPI1P9B8DKPVHL) To Adapteva, Inc. ; status:Completed - assets:amazon - expenses:misc $25.00 - expenses:fees $1.00 - - Paypal - Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some - Paypal-specific rules, and a second rules file included: - - "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note" - "10/01/2019","03:46:20","PDT","Calm Radio","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","-6.99","0.00","-6.99","simon@joyful.com","memberships@calmradio.com","60P57143A8206782E","MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month","","I-R8YLY094FJYR","","-6.99","" - "10/01/2019","03:46:20","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","6.99","0.00","6.99","","simon@joyful.com","0TU1544T080463733","","","60P57143A8206782E","","0.00","" - "10/01/2019","08:57:01","PDT","Patreon","PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment","Completed","USD","-7.00","0.00","-7.00","simon@joyful.com","support@patreon.com","2722394R5F586712G","Patreon* Membership","","B-0PG93074E7M86381M","","-7.00","" - "10/01/2019","08:57:01","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","7.00","0.00","7.00","","simon@joyful.com","71854087RG994194F","Patreon* Membership","","2722394R5F586712G","","0.00","" - "10/19/2019","03:02:12","PDT","Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","-2.00","0.00","-2.00","simon@joyful.com","tle@wikimedia.org","K9U43044RY432050M","Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation","","I-R5C3YUS3285L","","-2.00","" - "10/19/2019","03:02:12","PDT","","Bank Deposit to PP Account ","Pending","USD","2.00","0.00","2.00","","simon@joyful.com","3XJ107139A851061F","","","K9U43044RY432050M","","0.00","" - "10/22/2019","05:07:06","PDT","Noble Benefactor","Subscription Payment","Completed","USD","10.00","-0.59","9.41","noble@bene.fac.tor","simon@joyful.com","6L8L1662YP1334033","Joyful Systems","","I-KC9VBGY2GWDB","","9.41","" - - # paypal-custom.csv.rules - - # Tips: - # Export from Activity -> Statements -> Custom -> Activity download - # Suggested transaction type: "Balance affecting" - # Paypal's default fields in 2018 were: - # "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Shipping Address","Address Status","Item Title","Item ID","Shipping and Handling Amount","Insurance Amount","Sales Tax","Option 1 Name","Option 1 Value","Option 2 Name","Option 2 Value","Reference Txn ID","Invoice Number","Custom Number","Quantity","Receipt ID","Balance","Address Line 1","Address Line 2/District/Neighborhood","Town/City","State/Province/Region/County/Territory/Prefecture/Republic","Zip/Postal Code","Country","Contact Phone Number","Subject","Note","Country Code","Balance Impact" - # This rules file assumes the following more detailed fields, configured in "Customize report fields": - # "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note" - - fields date, time, timezone, description_, type, status_, currency, grossamount, feeamount, netamount, fromemail, toemail, code, itemtitle, itemid, referencetxnid, receiptid, balance, note - - skip 1 - - date-format %-m/%-d/%Y - - # ignore some paypal events - if - In Progress - Temporary Hold - Update to - skip - - # add more fields to the description - description %description_ %itemtitle - - # save some other fields as tags - comment itemid:%itemid, fromemail:%fromemail, toemail:%toemail, time:%time, type:%type, status:%status_ - - # convert to short currency symbols - if %currency USD - currency $ - if %currency EUR - currency E - if %currency GBP - currency P - - # generate postings - - # the first posting will be the money leaving/entering my paypal account - # (negative means leaving my account, in all amount fields) - account1 assets:online:paypal - amount1 %netamount - - # the second posting will be money sent to/received from other party - # (account2 is set below) - amount2 -%grossamount - - # if there's a fee, add a third posting for the money taken by paypal. - if %feeamount [1-9] - account3 expenses:banking:paypal - amount3 -%feeamount - comment3 business: - - # choose an account for the second posting - - # override the default account names: - # if the amount is positive, it's income (a debit) - if %grossamount ^[^-] - account2 income:unknown - # if negative, it's an expense (a credit) - if %grossamount ^- - account2 expenses:unknown - - # apply common rules for setting account2 & other tweaks - include common.rules - - # apply some overrides specific to this csv - - # Transfers from/to bank. These are usually marked Pending, - # which can be disregarded in this case. - if - Bank Account - Bank Deposit to PP Account - description %type for %referencetxnid %itemtitle - account2 assets:bank:wf:pchecking - account1 assets:online:paypal - - # Currency conversions - if Currency Conversion - account2 equity:currency conversion - - # common.rules - - if - darcs - noble benefactor - account2 revenues:foss donations:darcshub - comment2 business: - - if - Calm Radio - account2 expenses:online:apps - - if - electronic frontier foundation - Patreon - wikimedia - Advent of Code - account2 expenses:dues - - if Google - account2 expenses:online:apps - description google | music - - $ hledger -f paypal-custom.csv print - 2019-10-01 (60P57143A8206782E) Calm Radio MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months: Me - Order 99309. Item total: $1.00 USD first 2 months, then $6.99 / Month ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:memberships@calmradio.com, time:03:46:20, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $-6.99 = $-6.99 - expenses:online:apps $6.99 - - 2019-10-01 (0TU1544T080463733) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 60P57143A8206782E ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:03:46:20, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending - assets:online:paypal $6.99 = $0.00 - assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-6.99 - - 2019-10-01 (2722394R5F586712G) Patreon Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:support@patreon.com, time:08:57:01, type:PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $-7.00 = $-7.00 - expenses:dues $7.00 - - 2019-10-01 (71854087RG994194F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for 2722394R5F586712G Patreon* Membership ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:08:57:01, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending - assets:online:paypal $7.00 = $0.00 - assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-7.00 - - 2019-10-19 (K9U43044RY432050M) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Monthly donation to the Wikimedia Foundation ; itemid:, fromemail:simon@joyful.com, toemail:tle@wikimedia.org, time:03:02:12, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $-2.00 = $-2.00 - expenses:dues $2.00 - expenses:banking:paypal ; business: - - 2019-10-19 (3XJ107139A851061F) Bank Deposit to PP Account for K9U43044RY432050M ; itemid:, fromemail:, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:03:02:12, type:Bank Deposit to PP Account, status:Pending - assets:online:paypal $2.00 = $0.00 - assets:bank:wf:pchecking $-2.00 - - 2019-10-22 (6L8L1662YP1334033) Noble Benefactor Joyful Systems ; itemid:, fromemail:noble@bene.fac.tor, toemail:simon@joyful.com, time:05:07:06, type:Subscription Payment, status:Completed - assets:online:paypal $9.41 = $9.41 - revenues:foss donations:darcshub $-10.00 ; business: - expenses:banking:paypal $0.59 ; business: - - CSV rules - The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order. - Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; are ignored. - - skip - skip N - - The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells - hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. - (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when- - ever your CSV data contains header lines. - - It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks to ignore - certain CSV records (described below). - - fields list - fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... - - A fields list (the word "fields" followed by comma-separated field - names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields. - (The other way is field assignments, see below.) A fields list does - does two things: - - 1. It names the CSV fields. This is optional, but can be convenient - later for interpolating them. - - 2. Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the - CSV value is assigned to that part of the hledger transaction. - - Here's an example that says "use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as the - transaction's date, description and amount; name the last two fields - for later reference; and ignore the others": - - fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield - - Tips: - - o The fields list always use commas, even if your CSV data uses another - separator character. - - o Currently there must be least two items in the list (at least one - comma). - - o Field names may not contain spaces. Spaces before/after field names - are optional. - - o Field names may contain _ (underscore) or - (hyphen). - - o If the CSV contains column headings, it's a good idea to use these, - suitably modified, as the basis for your field names (eg lower-cased, - with underscores instead of spaces). - - o If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don't - want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by - appending an underscore. - - o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name (eg: _ ), or no - name. - - field assignment - HLEDGERFIELDNAME FIELDVALUE - - Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to - hledger fields. They can be used instead of or in addition to a fields - list (see above). - - To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the - standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, - followed by a text value on the same line. This text value may inter- - polate CSV fields, referenced by their 1-based position in the CSV - record (%N), or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSV- - FIELDNAME). - - Some examples: - - # set the amount to the 4th CSV field, with " USD" appended - amount %4 USD - - # combine three fields to make a comment, containing note: and date: tags - comment note: %somefield - %anotherfield, date: %1 - - Tips: - - o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " - becomes 1 when interpolated) (#1051). - - o Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can't interpolate a - hledger field. (See Referencing other fields below). - - Field names - Here are the standard hledger field (and pseudo-field) names, which you - can use in a fields list and in field assignments. For more about the - transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions. - - date field - Assigning to date sets the transaction date. - - date2 field - date2 sets the transaction's secondary date, if any. - - status field - status sets the transaction's status, if any. - - code field - code sets the transaction's code, if any. - - description field - description sets the transaction's description, if any. - - comment field - comment sets the transaction's comment, if any. - - commentN, where N is a number, sets the Nth posting's comment. - - Tips: - - o You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \n in the code. - A comment starting with \n will begin on a new line. - - o Comments can contain tags, as usual. - - account field - Assigning to accountN, where N is 1 to 99, sets the account name of the - Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. - - Most often there are two postings, so you'll want to set account1 and - account2. Typically account1 is associated with the CSV file, and is - set once with a top-level assignment, while account2 is set based on - each transaction's description, and in conditional blocks. - - If a posting's account name is left unset but its amount is set (see - below), a default account name will be chosen (like "expenses:unknown" - or "income:unknown"). - - amount field - amountN sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to - be generated. By assigning to amount1, amount2, ... etc. you can - generate up to 99 postings. - - amountN-in and amountN-out can be used instead, if the CSV uses sepa- - rate fields for debits and credits (inflows and outflows). hledger - assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will automatically - negate the "-out" value. If they are signed, see "Setting amounts" - below. - - amount, or amount-in and amount-out are a legacy mode, to keep pre- - hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for occasional convenience). - They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both - posting 1's and posting 2's amount. Posting 2's amount will be - negated, and also converted to cost if there's a transaction price. - - If you have an existing rules file using the unnumbered form, you might - want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without - having to update and retest all the old rules. To facilitate this, - posting 1 ignores amount/amount-in/amount-out if any of - amount1/amount1-in/amount1-out are assigned, and posting 2 ignores them - if any of amount2/amount2-in/amount2-out are assigned, avoiding con- - flicts. - - currency field - currency sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all postings' - amounts. You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency - symbol, eg if it is in a separate column. - - currencyN prepends a currency symbol to just the Nth posting's amount. - - balance field - balanceN sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is - left empty, a balance assignment) on posting N. - - balance is a compatibility spelling for hledger <1.17; it is equivalent - to balance1. - - You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the balance-type - rule (see below). - - See Tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. - - separator - You can use the separator rule to read other kinds of character-sepa- - rated data. The argument is any single separator character, or the - words tab or space (case insensitive). Eg, for comma-separated values - (CSV): - - separator , - - or for semicolon-separated values (SSV): - - separator ; - - or for tab-separated values (TSV): - - separator TAB - - If the input file has a .csv, .ssv or .tsv file extension (or a csv:, - ssv:, tsv: prefix), the appropriate separator will be inferred automat- - ically, and you won't need this rule. - - if block - if MATCHER - RULE - - if - MATCHER - MATCHER - MATCHER - RULE - RULE - - Conditional blocks ("if blocks") are a block of rules that are applied - only to CSV records which match certain patterns. They are often used - for customising account names based on transaction descriptions. - - Matching the whole record - Each MATCHER can be a record matcher, which looks like this: - - REGEX - - REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression that tries to match any- - where within the CSV record. It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular - expression) that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>), - and nothing else. If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: - https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions - - Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, - but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclos- - ing whitespace) removed, and always comma-separated (which means that a - field containing a comma will appear like two fields). Eg, if the - original record is 2020-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000, the REGEX will - actually see 2020-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000). - - Matching individual fields - Or, MATCHER can be a field matcher, like this: - - %CSVFIELD REGEX - - which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. CSVFIELD is - a percent sign followed by the field's name or column number, like - %date or %1. - - Combining matchers - A single matcher can be written on the same line as the "if"; or multi- - ple matchers can be written on the following lines, non-indented. Mul- - tiple matchers are OR'd (any one of them can match), unless one begins - with an & symbol, in which case it is AND'ed with the previous matcher. - - if - MATCHER - & MATCHER - RULE - - Rules applied on successful match - After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all - indented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in - conditional blocks: - - o field assignments (to set a hledger field) - - o skip (to skip the matched CSV record) - - o end (to skip all remaining CSV records). - - Examples: - - # if the CSV record contains "groceries", set account2 to "expenses:groceries" - if groceries - account2 expenses:groceries - - # if the CSV record contains any of these patterns, set account2 and comment as shown - if - monthly service fee - atm transaction fee - banking thru software - account2 expenses:business:banking - comment XXX deductible ? check it - - if table - if,CSVFIELDNAME1,CSVFIELDNAME2,...,CSVFIELDNAMEn - MATCHER1,VALUE11,VALUE12,...,VALUE1n - MATCHER2,VALUE21,VALUE22,...,VALUE2n - MATCHER3,VALUE31,VALUE32,...,VALUE3n - - - Conditional tables ("if tables") are a different syntax to specify - field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which match - certain patterns. - - MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. - When MATCHER matches, values from that row would be assigned to the CSV - fields named on the if line, in the same order. - - Therefore if table is exactly equivalent to a sequence of of if blocks: - - if MATCHER1 - CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE11 - CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE12 - ... - CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE1n - - if MATCHER2 - CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE21 - CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE22 - ... - CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE2n - - if MATCHER3 - CSVFIELDNAME1 VALUE31 - CSVFIELDNAME2 VALUE32 - ... - CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE3n - - Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) - values for all the listed fields. - - Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the - table and, like with if blocks, later rules (in the same or another ta- - ble) or if blocks could override the effect of any rule. - - Instead of ',' you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric charac- - ters as a separator. First character after if is taken to be the sepa- - rator for the rest of the table. It is the responsibility of the user - to ensure that separator does not occur inside MATCHERs and values - - there is no way to escape separator. - - Example: - - if,account2,comment - atm transaction fee,expenses:business:banking,deductible? check it - %description groceries,expenses:groceries, - 2020/01/12.*Plumbing LLC,expenses:house:upkeep,emergency plumbing call-out - - end - This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop - reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command - execution. Eg: - - # ignore everything following the first empty record - if ,,,, - end - - date-format - date-format DATEFMT - - This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates - are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll - need to add a date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style - date parsing pattern - see https://hackage.haskell.org/pack- - age/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. The pattern must - parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: - - # MM/DD/YY - date-format %m/%d/%y - - # D/M/YYYY - # The - makes leading zeros optional. - date-format %-d/%-m/%Y - - # YYYY-Mmm-DD - date-format %Y-%h-%d - - # M/D/YYYY HH:MM AM some other junk - # Note the time and junk must be fully parsed, though only the date is used. - date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p some other junk - - timezone - timezone TIMEZONE - - When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone - other than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you - can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps - prevent off-by-one dates. - - When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't - need this rule; instead, use %Z in date-format (or %z, %EZ, %Ez; see - the formatTime link above). - - In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware conversion, - localising the CSV date-times to your current system time zone. If you - prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for reproducibility, you - can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with the TZ environment - variable, eg: - - $ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv - - timezone currently does not understand timezone names, except "UTC", - "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". For - others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. - - decimal-mark - decimal-mark . - - or: - - decimal-mark , - - hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark - when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the CSV - contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you - should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid - misparsed numbers. - - newest-first - hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered - chronologically, including intra-day transactions. Usually it can - auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV - where all records are on the same date, it assumes that the records are - oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, - like: - - 2022-10-01, txn 3... - 2022-10-01, txn 2... - 2022-10-01, txn 1... - - you can add the newest-first rule to help hledger generate the transac- - tions in correct order. - - # same-day CSV records are newest first - newest-first - - intra-day-reversed - CSV records for each day are sometimes ordered in reverse compared to - the overall date order. Eg, here dates are newest first, but the - transactions on each date are oldest first: - - 2022-10-02, txn 3... - 2022-10-02, txn 4... - 2022-10-01, txn 1... - 2022-10-01, txn 2... - - In this situation, add the intra-day-reversed rule, and hledger will - compensate, improving the order of transactions. - - # transactions within each day are reversed with respect to the overall date order - intra-day-reversed - - include - include RULESFILE - - This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. - RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the current - file's directory. This can be useful for sharing common rules between - several rules files, eg: - - # someaccount.csv.rules - - ## someaccount-specific rules - fields date,description,amount - account1 assets:someaccount - account2 expenses:misc - - ## common rules - include categorisation.rules - - balance-type - Balance assertions generated by assigning to balanceN are of the simple - = type by default, which is a single-commodity, subaccount-excluding - assertion. You may find the subaccount-including variants more useful, - eg if you have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help - with budgeting. You can select a different type of assertion with the - balance-type rule: - - # balance assertions will consider all commodities and all subaccounts - balance-type ==* - - Here are the balance assertion types for quick reference: - - = single commodity, exclude subaccounts - =* single commodity, include subaccounts - == multi commodity, exclude subaccounts - ==* multi commodity, include subaccounts - - Tips - Rapid feedback - It's a good idea to get rapid feedback while creating/troubleshooting - CSV rules. Here's a good way, using entr from eradman.com/entrproject: - - $ ls foo.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ----; hledger -f foo.csv print desc:SOMEDESC' - - A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions - of interest. "bash -c" is used to run multiple commands, so we can - echo a separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to - read the output. - - Valid CSV - hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are - enclosed in quotes, note: - - o they must be double quotes (not single quotes) - - o spaces outside the quotes are not allowed - - File Extension - To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, - CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv - filename extension. Or, the file path should be prefixed with csv:, - ssv: or tsv:. Eg: - - $ hledger -f foo.ssv print - - or: - - $ cat foo | hledger -f ssv:- foo - - You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. - See also: Input files in the hledger manual. - - Reading multiple CSV files - If you use multiple -f options to read multiple CSV files at once, - hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV - file. But if you use the --rules-file option, that rules file will be - used for all the CSV files. - - Valid transactions - After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the gen- - erated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing them, - applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. Any - errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying the - problem entry. - - There is one exception: balance assertions, if you have generated them, - will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV - data is part of the main journal. If you do need to check balance - assertions generated from CSV right away, pipe into another hledger: - - $ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print - - Deduplicating, importing - When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank - transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing - some of the same records. - - The import command will (a) detect the new transactions, and (b) append - just those transactions to your main journal. It is idempotent, so you - don't have to remember how many times you ran it or with which version - of the CSV. (It keeps state in a hidden .latest.FILE.csv file.) This - is the easiest way to import CSV data. Eg: - - # download the latest CSV files, then run this command. - # Note, no -f flags needed here. - $ hledger import *.csv [--dry] - - This method works for most CSV files. (Where records have a stable - chronological order, and new records appear only at the new end.) - - A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, - exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data. - See: - - o https://hledger.org/cookbook.html#setups-and-workflows - - o https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion - - Setting amounts - Some tips on using the amount-setting rules discussed above. - - Here are the ways to set a posting's amount: - - 1. If the CSV has a single amount field: - Assign (via a fields list or a field assignment) to amountN. This sets - the Nth posting's amount. N is usually 1 or 2 but can go up to 99. - - 2. If the CSV has separate amount fields for debit & credit (in & out): - - a. If both fields are unsigned: - Assign to amountN-in and amountN-out. This sets posting N's amount - to whichever of these has a non-zero value, and negates the "-out" - value. - - b. If either field is signed (can contain a minus sign): - Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). - Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already nega- - tive, we must undo that by negating once more (but only if the - field is non-empty): - - fields date, description, amount1-in, amount1-out - if %amount1-out [1-9] - amount1-out -%amount1-out - - c. If both fields, or neither field, can contain a non-zero value: - hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non- - zero value. Eg, the amountN-in/amountN-out rules would reject - value pairs like these: - - "", "" - "0", "0" - "1", "none" - - So, use smarter conditional rules to set the amount from the appro- - priate field. Eg, these rules would make it use only the value - containing non-zero digits, handling the above: - - fields date, description, in, out - if %in [1-9] - amount1 %in - if %out [1-9] - amount1 %out - - 3. If you want posting 2's amount converted to cost: - Assign to amount (or to amount-in and amount-out). (This is the legacy - numberless syntax, which sets amount1 and amount2 and converts amount2 - to cost.) - - 4. If the CSV has the balance instead of the transaction amount: - Assign to balanceN, which sets posting N's amount indirectly via a bal- - ance assignment. (Old syntax: balance, equivalent to balance1.) - - o If hledger guesses the wrong default account name: - When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess - the wrong default account name. So, set the account name explic- - itly, eg: - - fields date, description, balance1 - account1 assets:checking - - Amount signs - There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing - and sign-flipping: - - o If an amount value begins with a plus sign: - that will be removed: +AMT becomes AMT - - o If an amount value is parenthesised: - it will be de-parenthesised and sign-flipped: (AMT) becomes -AMT - - o If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, - or a minus sign and parentheses): - they cancel out and will be removed: --AMT or -(AMT) becomes AMT - - o If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of parenthe- - ses): - that is removed, making it an empty value. "+" or "-" or "()" becomes - "". - - Setting currency/commodity - If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount - field(s): - - 2020-01-01,foo,$123.00 - - you don't have to do anything special for the commodity symbol, it will - be assigned as part of the amount. Eg: - - fields date,description,amount - - 2020-01-01 foo - expenses:unknown $123.00 - income:unknown $-123.00 - - If the currency is provided as a separate CSV field: - - 2020-01-01,foo,USD,123.00 - - You can assign that to the currency pseudo-field, which has the special - effect of prepending itself to every amount in the transaction (on the - left, with no separating space): - - fields date,description,currency,amount - - 2020-01-01 foo - expenses:unknown USD123.00 - income:unknown USD-123.00 - - Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, - with more control. Eg to put the symbol on the right, and separated by - a space: - - fields date,description,cur,amt - amount %amt %cur - - 2020-01-01 foo - expenses:unknown 123.00 USD - income:unknown -123.00 USD - - Note we used a temporary field name (cur) that is not currency - that - would trigger the prepending effect, which we don't want here. - - Amount decimal places - Like amounts in a journal file, the amounts generated by CSV rules like - amount1 influence commodity display styles, such as the number of deci- - mal places displayed in reports. - - The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display - style (because we don't yet reliably know their commodity). - - Referencing other fields - In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger - fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger - field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the - hledger field: - - # Name the third CSV field "amount1" - fields date,description,amount1 - - # Set hledger's amount1 to the CSV amount1 field followed by USD - amount1 %amount1 USD - - # Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above) - comment %amount1 - - Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit- - eral "amount1": - - fields date,description,csvamount - amount1 %csvamount USD - # Can't interpolate amount1 here - comment %amount1 - - When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, - only the last one takes effect. Here, comment's value will be be B, or - C if "something" is matched, but never A: - - comment A - comment B - if something - comment C - - How CSV rules are evaluated - Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need - to). First, - - o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first. - (At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further - includes, recursively, before proceeding.) - - Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is - repeated, the last one wins: - - o skip (at top level) - - o date-format - - o newest-first - - o fields - names the CSV fields, optionally sets up initial assignments - to hledger fields - - Then for each CSV record in turn: - - o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all - remaining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule, - skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip - rules, the first one wins. - - o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks. - When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last - one. - - o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was - assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a - default - - o generate a synthetic hledger transaction from these values. - - This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can - use to parse input files. When all files have been read successfully, - the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the - user specified. - -TIMECLOCK FORMAT - The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. - - hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. As with Ledger, these - are (a subset of) timeclock.el's format, containing clock-in and clock- - out entries as in the example below. The date is a simple date. The - time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. Seconds and timezone are optional. - The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored (currently - the time is always interpreted as a local time). - - i 2015/03/30 09:00:00 some:account name optional description after two spaces - o 2015/03/30 09:20:00 - i 2015/03/31 22:21:45 another account - o 2015/04/01 02:00:34 - - hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting - some number of hours to an account. Or if the session spans more than - one day, it is split into several transactions, one for each day. For - the above time log, hledger print generates these journal entries: - - $ hledger -f t.timeclock print - 2015-03-30 * optional description after two spaces - (some:account name) 0.33h - - 2015-03-31 * 22:21-23:59 - (another account) 1.64h - - 2015-04-01 * 00:00-02:00 - (another account) 2.01h - - Here is a sample.timeclock to download and some queries to try: - - $ hledger -f sample.timeclock balance # current time balances - $ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p 2009/3 # sessions in march 2009 - $ hledger -f sample.timeclock register -p weekly --depth 1 --empty # time summary by week - - To generate time logs, ie to clock in and clock out, you could: - - o use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock- - x.el and perhaps the extras in ledgerutils.el - - o at the command line, use these bash aliases: shell alias ti="echo - i `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` \$* >>$TIMELOG" alias to="echo o - `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` >>$TIMELOG" - - o or use the old ti and to scripts in the ledger 2.x repository. These - rely on a "timeclock" executable which I think is just the ledger 2 - executable renamed. - -TIMEDOT FORMAT - timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- - pared to timeclock format, it is - - o convenient for quick, approximate, and retroactive time logging - - o readable: you can see at a glance where time was spent. - - A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like - this: - - 2021-08-04 - hom:errands .... .... - fos:hledger:timedot .. ; docs - per:admin:finance - - hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each - dot representing a quarter-hour spent: - - $ hledger -f a.timedot print # .timedot file extension activates the timedot reader - 2021-08-04 * - (hom:errands) 2.00 - - 2021-08-04 * - (fos:hledger:timedot) 0.50 - - 2021-08-04 * - (per:admin:finance) 0 - - A day entry begins with a date line: - - o a non-indented simple date (Y-M-D, Y/M/D, or Y.M.D). - - Optionally this can be followed on the same line by - - o a common transaction description for this day - - o a common transaction comment for this day, after a semicolon (;). - - After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time transac- - tion lines, consisting of: - - o an account name - any word or phrase, usually a hledger-style account - name. - - o two or more spaces - a field separator, required if there is an - amount (as in journal format). - - o a timedot amount - dots representing quarter hours, or a number rep- - resenting hours. - - o an optional comment beginning with semicolon. This is ignored. - - In more detail, timedot amounts can be: - - o dots: zero or more period characters, each representing one quarter- - hour. Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. Eg: .... .. - - o a number, representing hours. Eg: 1.5 - - o a number immediately followed by a unit symbol s, m, h, d, w, mo, or - y, representing seconds, minutes, hours, days weeks, months or years. - Eg 1.5h or 90m. The following equivalencies are assumed: - 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = 1w, 30d = 1mo, 365d = 1y. (This - unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, which is - always in hours.) - - There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in - the same file as your notes, todo lists, etc.: - - o Lines beginning with # or ;, and blank lines, are ignored. - - o Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as trans- - actions with zero amount. (Most hledger reports hide these by - default; add -E to see them.) - - o One or more stars (*) followed by a space, at the start of a line, is - ignored. So date lines or time transaction lines can also be Org- - mode headlines. - - o All Org-mode headlines before the first date line are ignored. - - More examples: - - # on this day, 6h was spent on client work, 1.5h on haskell FOSS work, etc. - 2016/2/1 - inc:client1 .... .... .... .... .... .... - fos:haskell .... .. - biz:research . - - 2016/2/2 - inc:client1 .... .... - biz:research . - - 2016/2/3 - inc:client1 4 - fos:hledger 3 - biz:research 1 - - * Time log - ** 2020-01-01 - *** adm:time . - *** adm:finance . - - * 2020 Work Diary - ** Q1 - *** 2020-02-29 - **** DONE - 0700 yoga - **** UNPLANNED - **** BEGUN - hom:chores - cleaning ... - water plants - outdoor - one full watering can - indoor - light watering - **** TODO - adm:planning: trip - *** LATER - - Reporting: - - $ hledger -f a.timedot print date:2016/2/2 - 2016-02-02 * - (inc:client1) 2.00 - - 2016-02-02 * - (biz:research) 0.25 - - $ hledger -f a.timedot bal --daily --tree - Balance changes in 2016-02-01-2016-02-03: - - || 2016-02-01d 2016-02-02d 2016-02-03d - ============++======================================== - biz || 0.25 0.25 1.00 - research || 0.25 0.25 1.00 - fos || 1.50 0 3.00 - haskell || 1.50 0 0 - hledger || 0 0 3.00 - inc || 6.00 2.00 4.00 - client1 || 6.00 2.00 4.00 - ------------++---------------------------------------- - || 7.75 2.25 8.00 - - Using period instead of colon as account name separator: - - 2016/2/4 - fos.hledger.timedot 4 - fos.ledger .. - - $ hledger -f a.timedot --alias /\\./=: bal --tree - 4.50 fos - 4.00 hledger:timedot - 0.50 ledger - -------------------- - 4.50 - - A sample.timedot file. - -COMMON TASKS - Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with +PART 5: COMMON TASKS + Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. Getting help @@ -7745,38 +7965,38 @@ COMMON TASKS $ hledger --help # show common options $ hledger CMD --help # show common options and CMD's options and documentation - You can also view your hledger version's manual in several formats by + You can also view your hledger version's manual in several formats by using the help command. Eg: $ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER (best available) $ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual $ hledger help --help # show how the help command works - To view manuals and introductory docs on the web, visit - https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion ar- + To view manuals and introductory docs on the web, visit + https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion ar- chives can be found at https://hledger.org/support. Constructing command lines - hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We + hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We strive to keep it simple and ergonomic, but you may run into one of the - confusing real world details described in OPTIONS, below. If that hap- - pens, here are some tips that may help: + confusing real world details OPTIONS. If that happens, here are some + tips that may help: - o command-specific options must go after the command (it's fine to put + o command-specific options must go after the command (it's fine to put all options there) (hledger CMD OPTS ARGS) - o running add-on executables directly simplifies command line parsing + o running add-on executables directly simplifies command line parsing (hledger-ui OPTS ARGS) o enclose "problematic" args in single quotes - o if needed, also add a backslash to hide regular expression metachar- + o if needed, also add a backslash to hide regular expression metachar- acters from the shell o to see how a misbehaving command is being parsed, add --debug=2. Starting a journal file - hledger looks for your accounting data in a journal file, + hledger looks for your accounting data in a journal file, $HOME/.hledger.journal by default: $ hledger stats @@ -7784,9 +8004,9 @@ COMMON TASKS Please create it first, eg with "hledger add" or a text editor. Or, specify an existing journal file with -f or LEDGER_FILE. - You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable. + You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable. It's a good practice to keep this important file under version control, - and to start a new file each year. So you could do something like + and to start a new file each year. So you could do something like this: $ mkdir ~/finance @@ -7810,20 +8030,20 @@ COMMON TASKS Market prices : 0 () Setting opening balances - Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some - real-world assets (bank accounts, wallet..) and liabilities (credit + Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some + real-world assets (bank accounts, wallet..) and liabilities (credit cards..). - To avoid a lot of data entry, you may want to start with just one or - two accounts, like your checking account or cash wallet; and pick a - recent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can + To avoid a lot of data entry, you may want to start with just one or + two accounts, like your checking account or cash wallet; and pick a + recent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can always come back later and add more accounts and older transactions, eg going back to january 1st. - Add an opening balances transaction to the journal, declaring the bal- + Add an opening balances transaction to the journal, declaring the bal- ances on this date. Here are two ways to do it: - o The first way: open the journal in any text editor and save an entry + o The first way: open the journal in any text editor and save an entry like this: 2020-01-01 * opening balances @@ -7833,19 +8053,19 @@ COMMON TASKS liabilities:creditcard $-50 = $-50 equity:opening/closing balances - These are start-of-day balances, ie whatever was in the account at + These are start-of-day balances, ie whatever was in the account at the end of the previous day. - The * after the date is an optional status flag. Here it means + The * after the date is an optional status flag. Here it means "cleared & confirmed". - The currency symbols are optional, but usually a good idea as you'll + The currency symbols are optional, but usually a good idea as you'll be dealing with multiple currencies sooner or later. - The = amounts are optional balance assertions, providing extra error + The = amounts are optional balance assertions, providing extra error checking. - o The second way: run hledger add and follow the prompts to record a + o The second way: run hledger add and follow the prompts to record a similar transaction: $ hledger add @@ -7882,18 +8102,18 @@ COMMON TASKS Starting the next transaction (. or ctrl-D/ctrl-C to quit) Date [2020-01-01]: . - If you're using version control, this could be a good time to commit + If you're using version control, this could be a good time to commit the journal. Eg: $ git commit -m 'initial balances' 2020.journal Recording transactions - As you spend or receive money, you can record these transactions using - one of the methods above (text editor, hledger add) or by using the - hledger-iadd or hledger-web add-ons, or by using the import command to + As you spend or receive money, you can record these transactions using + one of the methods above (text editor, hledger add) or by using the + hledger-iadd or hledger-web add-ons, or by using the import command to convert CSV data downloaded from your bank. - Here are some simple transactions, see the hledger_journal(5) manual + Here are some simple transactions, see the hledger_journal(5) manual and hledger.org for more ideas: 2020/1/10 * gift received @@ -7909,22 +8129,22 @@ COMMON TASKS assets:bank:checking $1000 Reconciling - Periodically you should reconcile - compare your hledger-reported bal- - ances against external sources of truth, like bank statements or your - bank's website - to be sure that your ledger accurately represents the - real-world balances (and, that the real-world institutions have not - made a mistake!). This gets easy and fast with (1) practice and (2) - frequency. If you do it daily, it can take 2-10 minutes. If you let - it pile up, expect it to take longer as you hunt down errors and dis- + Periodically you should reconcile - compare your hledger-reported bal- + ances against external sources of truth, like bank statements or your + bank's website - to be sure that your ledger accurately represents the + real-world balances (and, that the real-world institutions have not + made a mistake!). This gets easy and fast with (1) practice and (2) + frequency. If you do it daily, it can take 2-10 minutes. If you let + it pile up, expect it to take longer as you hunt down errors and dis- crepancies. A typical workflow: - 1. Reconcile cash. Count what's in your wallet. Compare with what - hledger reports (hledger bal cash). If they are different, try to - remember the missing transaction, or look for the error in the - already-recorded transactions. A register report can be helpful - (hledger reg cash). If you can't find the error, add an adjustment + 1. Reconcile cash. Count what's in your wallet. Compare with what + hledger reports (hledger bal cash). If they are different, try to + remember the missing transaction, or look for the error in the + already-recorded transactions. A register report can be helpful + (hledger reg cash). If you can't find the error, add an adjustment transaction. Eg if you have $105 after the above, and can't explain the missing $2, it could be: @@ -7934,26 +8154,26 @@ COMMON TASKS 2. Reconcile checking. Log in to your bank's website. Compare today's (cleared) balance with hledger's cleared balance (hledger bal check- - ing -C). If they are different, track down the error or record the - missing transaction(s) or add an adjustment transaction, similar to + ing -C). If they are different, track down the error or record the + missing transaction(s) or add an adjustment transaction, similar to the above. Unlike the cash case, you can usually compare the trans- - action history and running balance from your bank with the one - reported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you - generally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's + action history and running balance from your bank with the one + reported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you + generally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's clearing dates. 3. Repeat for other asset/liability accounts. - Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live- + Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live- updating register while you edit the journal: hledger-ui --watch --reg- ister checking -C - After reconciling, it could be a good time to mark the reconciled - transactions' status as "cleared and confirmed", if you want to track - that, by adding the * marker. Eg in the paycheck transaction above, + After reconciling, it could be a good time to mark the reconciled + transactions' status as "cleared and confirmed", if you want to track + that, by adding the * marker. Eg in the paycheck transaction above, insert * between 2020-01-15 and paycheck - If you're using version control, this can be another good time to com- + If you're using version control, this can be another good time to com- mit: $ git commit -m 'txns' 2020.journal @@ -8025,7 +8245,7 @@ COMMON TASKS -------------------- 0 - Show only asset and liability balances, as a flat list, limited to + Show only asset and liability balances, as a flat list, limited to depth 2: $ hledger bal assets liabilities -2 @@ -8035,7 +8255,7 @@ COMMON TASKS -------------------- $4055 - Show the same thing without negative numbers, formatted as a simple + Show the same thing without negative numbers, formatted as a simple balance sheet: $ hledger bs -2 @@ -8102,116 +8322,30 @@ COMMON TASKS 2020-01-13 **** Migrating to a new file - At the end of the year, you may want to continue your journal in a new + At the end of the year, you may want to continue your journal in a new file, so that old transactions don't slow down or clutter your reports, - and to help ensure the integrity of your accounting history. See the + and to help ensure the integrity of your accounting history. See the close command. If using version control, don't forget to git add the new file. -LIMITATIONS - The need to precede add-on command options with -- when invoked from - hledger is awkward. - - When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system locale - must be configured (or there will be an unhelpful error). Eg on POSIX, - set LANG to something other than C. - - In a Microsoft Windows CMD window, non-ascii characters and colours are - not supported. - - On Windows, non-ascii characters may not display correctly when running - a hledger built in CMD in MSYS/CYGWIN, or vice-versa. - - In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in hledger - add. - - Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See hledger and - Ledger > Differences > journal format. - - On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than - Ledger. - -TROUBLESHOOTING - Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and - remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug - tracker): - - Successfully installed, but "No command 'hledger' found" - stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should - be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, - that is ~/.local/bin and ~/.cabal/bin respectively. - - I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default file - LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell - variable. The command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show it. You may - need to use export. Here's an explanation. - - Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete - multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argu- - ment (invalid character)" - Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need - to have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, otherwise - they will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii - characters. - - To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which sup- - ports UTF-8. The locale you choose must be installed on your system. - - Here's an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: - - $ file my.journal - my.journal: UTF-8 Unicode text # the file is UTF8-encoded - $ echo $LANG - C # LANG is set to the default locale, which does not support UTF8 - $ locale -a # which locales are installed ? - C - en_US.utf8 # here's a UTF8-aware one we can use - POSIX - $ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command - - If available, C.UTF-8 will also work. If your preferred locale isn't - listed by locale -a, you might need to install it. Eg on - Ubuntu/Debian: - - $ apt-get install language-pack-fr - $ locale -a - C - en_US.utf8 - fr_BE.utf8 - fr_CA.utf8 - fr_CH.utf8 - fr_FR.utf8 - fr_LU.utf8 - POSIX - $ LANG=fr_FR.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print - - Here's how you could set it permanently, if you use a bash shell: - - $ echo "export LANG=en_US.utf8" >>~/.bash_profile - $ bash --login - - Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the differ- - ence on MacOS (UTF-8, not utf8). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow - variant spellings, but others (eg macos) require it to be exact: - - $ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf - en_US.UTF-8 - $ LANG=en_US.UTF-8 hledger -f my.journal print - REPORTING BUGS - Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel - or hledger mail list) + Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger chat or + hledger mail list) AUTHORS - Simon Michael and contributors + Simon Michael and contributors. + See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html COPYRIGHT - Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Simon Michael. + Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors. + + +LICENSE Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.