diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger.hs
index 832f3d081..40cff951c 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger.hs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ module Hledger (
  ,Hledger.easytests
 )
 where
-import           Test.HUnit
+import           Test.HUnit hiding (test)
 import           EasyTest
 
 import           Hledger.Data    as X hiding (easytests)
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ tests_Hledger = TestList
     ,tests_Hledger_Utils
     ]
 
-easytests = scope "Hledger" $ tests [
+easytests = test "Hledger" $ tests [
    Hledger.Data.easytests
   ,Hledger.Read.easytests
   ]
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
index 98f3f144d..a3fb674ea 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ import Safe (headMay, headDef)
 import Data.Time.Calendar
 import Data.Tree
 import System.Time (ClockTime(TOD))
-import Test.HUnit
+import Test.HUnit hiding (test)
 import Text.Printf
 import qualified Data.Map as M
 
@@ -1088,23 +1088,18 @@ tests_Hledger_Data_Journal = TestList $
   --   journalProfitAndLossAccountNames j `is` ["expenses","expenses:e","income","income:i"]
  ]
 
-easytests = scope "Journal" $ tests [
-  scope "standard account types" $ do
+easytests = test "Journal" $ tests [
+  test "standard account types" $ do
     let
       j = samplejournal
       journalAccountNamesMatching :: Query -> Journal -> [AccountName]
       journalAccountNamesMatching q = filter (q `matchesAccount`) . journalAccountNames
       namesfrom qfunc = journalAccountNamesMatching (qfunc j) j
     tests
-      [ scope "assets" $
-        expectEq (namesfrom journalAssetAccountQuery)     ["assets","assets:bank","assets:bank:checking","assets:bank:saving","assets:cash"]
-      , scope "liabilities" $
-        expectEq (namesfrom journalLiabilityAccountQuery) ["liabilities","liabilities:debts"]
-      , scope "equity" $
-        expectEq (namesfrom journalEquityAccountQuery)    []
-      , scope "income" $
-        expectEq (namesfrom journalIncomeAccountQuery)    ["income","income:gifts","income:salary"]
-      , scope "expenses" $
-        expectEq (namesfrom journalExpenseAccountQuery)   ["expenses","expenses:food","expenses:supplies"]
+      [ "assets"      $ expectEq (namesfrom journalAssetAccountQuery)     ["assets","assets:bank","assets:bank:checking","assets:bank:saving","assets:cash"]
+      , "liabilities" $ expectEq (namesfrom journalLiabilityAccountQuery) ["liabilities","liabilities:debts"]
+      , "equity"      $ expectEq (namesfrom journalEquityAccountQuery)    []
+      , "income"      $ expectEq (namesfrom journalIncomeAccountQuery)    ["income","income:gifts","income:salary"]
+      , "expenses"    $ expectEq (namesfrom journalExpenseAccountQuery)   ["expenses","expenses:food","expenses:supplies"]
       ]
   ]
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
index e59560392..cef5adc39 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read.hs
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ import System.Environment (getEnv)
 import System.Exit (exitFailure)
 import System.FilePath
 import System.IO
-import Test.HUnit
+import Test.HUnit hiding (test)
 import Text.Printf
 
 import Hledger.Data.Dates (getCurrentDay, parsedate, showDate)
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ tests_Hledger_Read = TestList $
 
   ]
 
-easytests = scope "Read" $ tests [
+easytests = test "Read" $ tests [
    Hledger.Read.Common.easytests
   ,JournalReader.easytests
   ]
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/Common.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/Common.hs
index 61be79282..e06d06a8e 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/Common.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/Common.hs
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ import qualified Data.Text as T
 import Data.Time.Calendar
 import Data.Time.LocalTime
 import System.Time (getClockTime)
-import Test.HUnit
+import Test.HUnit hiding (test)
 import EasyTest hiding (char, char')
 import Text.Megaparsec
 import Text.Megaparsec.Char
@@ -1234,11 +1234,11 @@ tests_Hledger_Read_Common = TestList [
   test_spaceandamountormissingp
   ]
 
-easytests = scope "Common" $ tests [
-  scope "amountp" $ tests [
-    scope "basic"                  $ expectParseEq amountp "$47.18"     (usd 47.18)
-   ,scope "ends-with-decimal-mark" $ expectParseEq amountp "$1."        (usd 1  `withPrecision` 0)
-   ,scope "unit-price"        $ expectParseEq amountp "$10 @ €0.5" 
+easytests = test "Common" $ tests [
+  test "amountp" $ tests [
+    test "basic"                  $ expectParseEq amountp "$47.18"     (usd 47.18)
+   ,test "ends-with-decimal-mark" $ expectParseEq amountp "$1."        (usd 1  `withPrecision` 0)
+   ,test "unit-price"             $ expectParseEq amountp "$10 @ €0.5" 
       -- not precise enough:
       -- (usd 10 `withPrecision` 0 `at` (eur 0.5 `withPrecision` 1)) -- `withStyle` asdecimalpoint=Just '.'
       amount{
@@ -1252,7 +1252,7 @@ easytests = scope "Common" $ tests [
             ,astyle=amountstyle{asprecision=1, asdecimalpoint=Just '.'}
             } 
         } 
-   ,scope "total-price"       $ expectParseEq amountp "$10 @@ €5"
+   ,test "total-price"            $ expectParseEq amountp "$10 @@ €5"
       amount{
          acommodity="$"
         ,aquantity=10 
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
index c4f138965..99ba86cf2 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ import Data.Time.Calendar
 import Data.Time.LocalTime
 import EasyTest hiding (char, char')
 import Safe
-import Test.HUnit
+import Test.HUnit hiding (test)
 import Text.Megaparsec hiding (parse)
 import Text.Megaparsec.Char
 import Text.Megaparsec.Custom
@@ -816,9 +816,9 @@ tests_Hledger_Read_JournalReader = TestList $ concat [
  ]]
 -}
 
-easytests = scope "JournalReader" $ tests [
-  scope "periodictransactionp" $ tests [
-     scope "more-period-text-in-comment" $ expectParseEqIO periodictransactionp 
+easytests = test "JournalReader" $ tests [
+  test "periodictransactionp" $ tests [
+    test "more-period-text-in-comment" $ expectParseEqIO periodictransactionp 
       "~ monthly from 2018/6  ;In 2019 we will change this\n" 
       nullperiodictransaction {
          ptperiodexpr  = "monthly from 2018/6"
@@ -831,7 +831,7 @@ easytests = scope "JournalReader" $ tests [
         ,pttags        = []
         ,ptpostings    = []
         }
-    ,scope "more-period-text-in-description-after-two-spaces" $ skip >> expectParseEqIO periodictransactionp 
+    ,_test "more-period-text-in-description-after-two-spaces" $ expectParseEqIO periodictransactionp 
       "~ monthly from 2018/6   In 2019 we will change this\n" 
       nullperiodictransaction {
          ptperiodexpr  = "monthly from 2018/6"
@@ -839,7 +839,7 @@ easytests = scope "JournalReader" $ tests [
         ,ptspan        = DateSpan (Just $ parsedate "2018/06/01") Nothing
         ,ptcomment     = "In 2019 we will change this\n"
         }
-    ,scope "more-period-text-in-description-after-one-space" $ skip >> expectParseEqIO periodictransactionp 
+    ,_test "more-period-text-in-description-after-one-space" $ skip >> expectParseEqIO periodictransactionp 
       "~ monthly from 2018/6 In 2019 we will change this\n" 
       nullperiodictransaction {
          ptperiodexpr  = "monthly from 2018/6"
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Test.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Test.hs
index c63d49ef5..2ee4ecfd8 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Test.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Test.hs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import EasyTest
 import Safe 
 import System.Exit
 import System.IO
-import Test.HUnit as HUnit
+import Test.HUnit as HUnit hiding (test)
 import Text.Megaparsec
 import Text.Megaparsec.Custom
 
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ import Hledger.Utils.Debug (pshow)
 import Hledger.Utils.Parse (parseWithState)
 import Hledger.Utils.UTF8IOCompat (error')
 
+-- * HUnit helpers
+
 -- | Get a Test's label, or the empty string.
 testName :: HUnit.Test -> String
 testName (TestLabel n _) = n
@@ -72,48 +74,6 @@ assertParseEqual'' label parse expected =
     (\actual -> assertEqual (unlines [label, "expected: " ++ show expected, " but got: " ++ show actual]) expected actual) 
     $ runIdentity parse
 
-printParseError :: (Show a) => a -> IO ()
-printParseError e = do putStr "parse error at "; print e
-
--- | Run some easytests, returning True if there was a problem. Catches ExitCode.
--- With arguments, runs only tests in the scope named by the first argument
--- (case sensitive). 
--- If there is a second argument, it should be an integer and will be used
--- as the seed for randomness. 
-runEasyTests :: [String] -> EasyTest.Test () -> IO Bool
-runEasyTests args easytests = (do
-  case args of
-    []    -> EasyTest.run easytests
-    [a]   -> EasyTest.runOnly (T.pack a) easytests
-    a:b:_ -> do
-      case readMay b :: Maybe Int of
-        Nothing   -> error' "the second argument should be an integer (a seed for easytest)"
-        Just seed -> EasyTest.rerunOnly seed (T.pack a) easytests
-  return False
-  )
-  `catch` (\(_::ExitCode) -> return True)
-
--- | Given a stateful, runnable-in-Identity-monad parser, input text, and expected parse result,
--- make an easytest Test that parses the text and compares the result,
--- showing a nice failure message if either step fails.
-expectParseEq :: (Monoid st, Eq a, Show a) => StateT st (ParsecT CustomErr T.Text Identity) a -> T.Text -> a -> EasyTest.Test ()
-expectParseEq parser input expected = do
-  let ep = runIdentity $ parseWithState mempty parser input
-  either (fail.("parse error at "++).parseErrorPretty) (expectEq' expected) ep
-
--- | Given a stateful, runnable-in-IO-monad parser, input text, and expected parse result,
--- make an easytest Test that parses the text and compares the result,
--- showing a nice failure message if either step fails.
-expectParseEqIO :: (Monoid st, Eq a, Show a) => StateT st (ParsecT CustomErr T.Text IO) a -> T.Text -> a -> EasyTest.Test ()
-expectParseEqIO parser input expected = do
-  ep <- io $ runParserT (evalStateT parser mempty) "" input
-  either (fail.("parse error at "++).parseErrorPretty) (expectEq' expected) ep
-
--- | Like easytest's expectEq, but pretty-prints the values in failure output. 
-expectEq' :: (Eq a, Show a, HasCallStack) => a -> a -> EasyTest.Test ()
-expectEq' x y = if x == y then ok else crash $
-  "expected:\n" <> T.pack (pshow x) <> "\nbut got:\n" <> T.pack (pshow y) <> "\n"
-
 -- | Run some hunit tests, returning True if there was a problem.
 -- With arguments, runs only tests whose names contain the first argument
 -- (case sensitive). 
@@ -187,3 +147,65 @@ runHunitTests args hunittests = do
 --     -- lengths of successive summary lines are monotonically nondecreasing.
 --   erase cnt = if cnt == 0 then "" else "\r" ++ replicate cnt ' ' ++ "\r"
 
+-- * easytest helpers
+
+-- | Name the given test(s). A more readable synonym for scope.
+test :: T.Text -> EasyTest.Test a -> EasyTest.Test a 
+test = scope
+
+-- | Skip the given test(s), with the same type signature as test.
+_test :: T.Text -> EasyTest.Test a -> EasyTest.Test a 
+_test _name = (skip >>) 
+
+-- | Name the given test(s). Another synonym for test.
+it :: T.Text -> EasyTest.Test a -> EasyTest.Test a 
+it = test
+
+-- | Name the given test(s). Another synonym for _test.
+_it :: T.Text -> EasyTest.Test a -> EasyTest.Test a 
+_it = _test
+
+-- | Run some easytests, returning True if there was a problem. Catches ExitCode.
+-- With arguments, runs only tests in the scope named by the first argument
+-- (case sensitive). 
+-- If there is a second argument, it should be an integer and will be used
+-- as the seed for randomness. 
+runEasyTests :: [String] -> EasyTest.Test () -> IO Bool
+runEasyTests args easytests = (do
+  case args of
+    []    -> EasyTest.run easytests
+    [a]   -> EasyTest.runOnly (T.pack a) easytests
+    a:b:_ -> do
+      case readMay b :: Maybe Int of
+        Nothing   -> error' "the second argument should be an integer (a seed for easytest)"
+        Just seed -> EasyTest.rerunOnly seed (T.pack a) easytests
+  return False
+  )
+  `catch` (\(_::ExitCode) -> return True)
+
+-- | Given a stateful, runnable-in-Identity-monad parser, input text, and expected parse result,
+-- make an easytest Test that parses the text and compares the result,
+-- showing a nice failure message if either step fails.
+expectParseEq :: (Monoid st, Eq a, Show a) => StateT st (ParsecT CustomErr T.Text Identity) a -> T.Text -> a -> EasyTest.Test ()
+expectParseEq parser input expected = do
+  let ep = runIdentity $ parseWithState mempty parser input
+  either (fail.("parse error at "++).parseErrorPretty) (expectEq' expected) ep
+
+-- | Given a stateful, runnable-in-IO-monad parser, input text, and expected parse result,
+-- make an easytest Test that parses the text and compares the result,
+-- showing a nice failure message if either step fails.
+expectParseEqIO :: (Monoid st, Eq a, Show a) => StateT st (ParsecT CustomErr T.Text IO) a -> T.Text -> a -> EasyTest.Test ()
+expectParseEqIO parser input expected = do
+  ep <- io $ runParserT (evalStateT parser mempty) "" input
+  either (fail.("parse error at "++).parseErrorPretty) (expectEq' expected) ep
+
+-- | Like easytest's expectEq, but pretty-prints the values in failure output. 
+expectEq' :: (Eq a, Show a, HasCallStack) => a -> a -> EasyTest.Test ()
+expectEq' x y = if x == y then ok else crash $
+  "expected:\n" <> T.pack (pshow x) <> "\nbut got:\n" <> T.pack (pshow y) <> "\n"
+
+-- * misc
+
+printParseError :: (Show a) => a -> IO ()
+printParseError e = do putStr "parse error at "; print e
+
diff --git a/hledger-lib/tests/easytests.hs b/hledger-lib/tests/easytests.hs
index 65acc87e9..47f9f3193 100755
--- a/hledger-lib/tests/easytests.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/tests/easytests.hs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ main = do
   -- rerunOnly 2686786430487349354 "journal.standard account types.queries.assets"
     $ tests [
 
-      scope "journal.standard account types.queries" $
+      test "journal.standard account types.queries" $
         let
           j = samplejournal
           journalAccountNamesMatching :: Query -> Journal -> [AccountName]
@@ -24,15 +24,15 @@ main = do
           namesfrom qfunc = journalAccountNamesMatching (qfunc j) j
         in
           tests
-            [ scope "assets" $
+            [ test "assets" $
               expectEq (namesfrom journalAssetAccountQuery)     ["assets","assets:bank","assets:bank:checking","assets:bank:saving","assets:cash"]
-            , scope "liabilities" $
+            , test "liabilities" $
               expectEq (namesfrom journalLiabilityAccountQuery) ["liabilities","liabilities:debts"]
-            , scope "equity" $
+            , test "equity" $
               expectEq (namesfrom journalEquityAccountQuery)    []
-            , scope "income" $
+            , test "income" $
               expectEq (namesfrom journalIncomeAccountQuery)    ["income","income:gifts","income:salary"]
-            , scope "expenses" $
+            , test "expenses" $
               expectEq (namesfrom journalExpenseAccountQuery)   ["expenses","expenses:food","expenses:supplies"]
             ]