diff --git a/MANUAL.md b/MANUAL.md
index f3e70af93..e6f683506 100644
--- a/MANUAL.md
+++ b/MANUAL.md
@@ -439,7 +439,8 @@ Included files are also affected, eg:
 ### Account aliases
 
 You can define account aliases to rewrite certain account names (and their subaccounts).
-The format is `alias ORIGACCT = ALIAS`. Use `end aliases` to forget all previously defined aliases.
+The format is `alias ORIG = ALIAS`, where ORIG and ALIAS are full account names.
+To forget all aliases defined to this point, use `end aliases`.
 
 Here's an example: say a sole proprietor has a personal.journal:
 
@@ -475,6 +476,21 @@ giving:
         expenses:office supplies            $1
         assets:business checking           $-1
 
+You can also specify aliases on the command line. This could be useful to
+rewrite account names when sharing a report with someone else, such as
+your accountant:
+
+    $ hledger --alias 'my earning=income:business'
+
+Command-line alias options are applied after any alias directives in the
+journal.  At most one alias directive and one alias option will be applied
+to each account name.
+
+Aliases tend to be a little more reliable than post-processing with sed or
+similar, as they know about account name syntax, posting type indicators
+etc. Note aliases only change the displayed names, not the account
+hierarchy - aliasing two accounts to the same name does not merge them
+into one account.
 
 ## Core commands
 
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
index 1067ffddf..e53b2feb0 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
@@ -242,6 +242,13 @@ journalSelectingDate ActualDate j = j
 journalSelectingDate EffectiveDate j =
     j{jtxns=map (journalTransactionWithDate EffectiveDate) $ jtxns j}
 
+-- | Apply additional account aliases (eg from the command-line) to all postings in a journal.
+journalApplyAliases :: [(AccountName,AccountName)] -> Journal -> Journal
+journalApplyAliases aliases j@Journal{jtxns=ts} = j{jtxns=map fixtransaction ts}
+    where
+      fixtransaction t@Transaction{tpostings=ps} = t{tpostings=map fixposting ps}
+      fixposting p@Posting{paccount=a} = p{paccount=accountNameApplyAliases aliases a}
+
 -- | Do post-parse processing on a journal, to make it ready for use.
 journalFinalise :: ClockTime -> LocalTime -> FilePath -> String -> JournalContext -> Journal -> Either String Journal
 journalFinalise tclock tlocal path txt ctx j@Journal{files=fs} =
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Posting.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Posting.hs
index aa457b5e9..2b101081a 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Posting.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Posting.hs
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ postingsDateSpan [] = DateSpan Nothing Nothing
 postingsDateSpan ps = DateSpan (Just $ postingDate $ head ps') (Just $ addDays 1 $ postingDate $ last ps')
     where ps' = sortBy (comparing postingDate) ps
 
--- balanced/non-balanced posting indicators
+-- AccountName stuff that depends on PostingType
 
 accountNamePostingType :: AccountName -> PostingType
 accountNamePostingType a
@@ -131,6 +131,15 @@ concatAccountNames :: [AccountName] -> AccountName
 concatAccountNames as = accountNameWithPostingType t $ intercalate ":" $ map accountNameWithoutPostingType as
     where t = headDef RegularPosting $ filter (/= RegularPosting) $ map accountNamePostingType as
 
+-- | Rewrite an account name using the first applicable alias from the given list, if any.
+accountNameApplyAliases :: [(AccountName,AccountName)] -> AccountName -> AccountName
+accountNameApplyAliases aliases a = withorigtype
+    where
+      (a',t) = (accountNameWithoutPostingType a, accountNamePostingType a)
+      firstmatchingalias = headDef Nothing $ map Just $ filter (\(orig,_) -> orig == a' || orig `isAccountNamePrefixOf` a') aliases
+      rewritten = maybe a' (\(orig,alias) -> alias++drop (length orig) a') firstmatchingalias
+      withorigtype = accountNameWithPostingType t rewritten
+
 tests_Hledger_Data_Posting = TestList [
 
   "accountNamePostingType" ~: do
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
index 4191037ac..cd3284db2 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
@@ -482,12 +482,7 @@ modifiedaccountname = do
   prefix <- getParentAccount
   let prefixed = prefix `joinAccountNames` a
   aliases <- getAccountAliases
-  let t = accountNamePostingType prefixed
-      a' = accountNameWithoutPostingType prefixed
-      match = headDef Nothing $ map Just $ filter (\(orig,_) -> orig == a' || orig `isAccountNamePrefixOf` a') aliases
-      rewritten = maybe a' (\(orig,alias) -> alias++drop (length orig) a') match
-      withtype = accountNameWithPostingType t rewritten
-  return withtype
+  return $ accountNameApplyAliases aliases prefixed
 
 -- | Parse an account name. Account names may have single spaces inside
 -- them, and are terminated by two or more spaces. They should have one or
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs
index 64d915f45..ba70f7039 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Options.hs
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ options_cli :: [OptDescr Opt]
 options_cli = [
   Option "f" ["file"]         (ReqArg File "FILE")   "use a different journal/timelog file; - means stdin"
  ,Option ""  ["no-new-accounts"] (NoArg NoNewAccts)  "don't allow to create new accounts"
+ ,Option ""  ["alias"]        (ReqArg Alias "ACCT=ALIAS")  "display ACCT's name as ALIAS instead"
  ,Option "b" ["begin"]        (ReqArg Begin "DATE")  "report on transactions on or after this date"
  ,Option "e" ["end"]          (ReqArg End "DATE")    "report on transactions before this date"
  ,Option "p" ["period"]       (ReqArg Period "EXPR") ("report on transactions during the specified period\n" ++
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ options_cli = [
 data Opt = 
     File          {value::String}
     | NoNewAccts
+    | Alias       {value::String}
     | Begin       {value::String}
     | End         {value::String}
     | Period      {value::String}
@@ -306,6 +308,18 @@ journalFilePathFromOpts opts = do
   f <- if istimequery then myTimelogPath else myJournalPath
   return $ last $ f : optValuesForConstructor File opts
 
+aliasesFromOpts :: [Opt] -> [(AccountName,AccountName)]
+aliasesFromOpts opts = map parseAlias $ optValuesForConstructor Alias opts
+    where
+      -- similar to ledgerAlias
+      parseAlias :: String -> (AccountName,AccountName)
+      parseAlias s = (accountNameWithoutPostingType $ strip orig
+                     ,accountNameWithoutPostingType $ strip alias')
+          where
+            (orig, alias) = break (=='=') s
+            alias' = case alias of ('=':rest) -> rest
+                                   _ -> orig
+
 -- | Gather filter pattern arguments into a list of account patterns and a
 -- list of description patterns. We interpret pattern arguments as
 -- follows: those prefixed with "desc:" are description patterns, all
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Utils.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Utils.hs
index 46186ddef..8ac8585a3 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Utils.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Utils.hs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ import System.Time (ClockTime, getClockTime, diffClockTimes, TimeDiff(TimeDiff))
 import Test.HUnit
 import Text.Printf
 
-import Hledger.Cli.Options (Opt(..),journalFilePathFromOpts,whichDateFromOpts)
+import Hledger.Cli.Options
 import Hledger.Data
 import Hledger.Read
 import Hledger.Utils
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ withJournalDo opts args _ cmd = do
   -- We kludgily read the file before parsing to grab the full text, unless
   -- it's stdin, or it doesn't exist and we are adding. We read it strictly
   -- to let the add command work.
-  journalFilePathFromOpts opts >>= readJournalFile Nothing >>= either error' (cmd opts args)
+  journalFilePathFromOpts opts >>= readJournalFile Nothing >>=
+    either error' (cmd opts args . journalApplyAliases (aliasesFromOpts opts))
 
 -- -- | Get a journal from the given string and options, or throw an error.
 -- readJournalWithOpts :: [Opt] -> String -> IO Journal
diff --git a/tests/aliases.test b/tests/aliases.test
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a11fe04f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/aliases.test
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# alias-related tests
+
+# 1. command-line --alias option.  Note multiple applicable aliases, but
+# only one is applied per account name.  Spaces are allowed if quoted.
+bin/hledger -f- print --alias 'a a=A' --alias b=B
+<<<
+2011/01/01
+    a a  1
+    c
+
+>>>
+2011/01/01
+    A             1
+    c            -1
+
+>>>=0
+
+# 2. alias directive, and an account with unbalanced posting indicators.
+bin/hledger -f- print
+<<<
+alias b=B
+
+2011/01/01
+    (b)  1
+
+>>>
+2011/01/01
+    (B)             1
+
+>>>=0
+
+# 3. --alias options run after alias directives. Subaccounts are also
+# matched and rewritten. Accounts with an internal part matching the alias
+# are ignored.
+bin/hledger -f- print --alias a=A --alias B=C
+<<<
+alias a=B
+
+2011/01/01
+    [a:x]    1
+    [x:a:x]
+
+>>>
+2011/01/01
+    [C:x]             1
+    [x:a:x]            -1
+
+>>>2
+>>>=0