diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
index 1648a575f..9948bc154 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Journal.hs
@@ -146,19 +146,19 @@ mainfile :: Journal -> (FilePath, String)
 mainfile = headDef ("", "") . files
 
 addTransaction :: Transaction -> Journal -> Journal
-addTransaction t l0 = l0 { jtxns = t : jtxns l0 }
+addTransaction t j = j { jtxns = t : jtxns j }
 
 addModifierTransaction :: ModifierTransaction -> Journal -> Journal
-addModifierTransaction mt l0 = l0 { jmodifiertxns = mt : jmodifiertxns l0 }
+addModifierTransaction mt j = j { jmodifiertxns = mt : jmodifiertxns j }
 
 addPeriodicTransaction :: PeriodicTransaction -> Journal -> Journal
-addPeriodicTransaction pt l0 = l0 { jperiodictxns = pt : jperiodictxns l0 }
+addPeriodicTransaction pt j = j { jperiodictxns = pt : jperiodictxns j }
 
 addHistoricalPrice :: HistoricalPrice -> Journal -> Journal
-addHistoricalPrice h l0 = l0 { historical_prices = h : historical_prices l0 }
+addHistoricalPrice h j = j { historical_prices = h : historical_prices j }
 
 addTimeLogEntry :: TimeLogEntry -> Journal -> Journal
-addTimeLogEntry tle l0 = l0 { open_timelog_entries = tle : open_timelog_entries l0 }
+addTimeLogEntry tle j = j { open_timelog_entries = tle : open_timelog_entries j }
 
 -- | Unique transaction descriptions used in this journal.
 journalDescriptions :: Journal -> [String]
@@ -404,8 +404,16 @@ journalFinalise :: ClockTime -> LocalTime -> FilePath -> String -> JournalContex
 journalFinalise tclock tlocal path txt ctx assrt j@Journal{files=fs} = do
   (journalBalanceTransactions $
     journalCanonicaliseAmounts $
-    journalCloseTimeLogEntries tlocal
-    j{files=(path,txt):fs, filereadtime=tclock, jContext=ctx})
+    journalCloseTimeLogEntries tlocal $
+    j{ files=(path,txt):fs
+     , filereadtime=tclock
+     , jContext=ctx
+     , jtxns=reverse $ jtxns j -- NOTE: see addTransaction
+     , jmodifiertxns=reverse $ jmodifiertxns j -- NOTE: see addModifierTransaction
+     , jperiodictxns=reverse $ jperiodictxns j -- NOTE: see addPeriodicTransaction
+     , historical_prices=reverse $ historical_prices j -- NOTE: see addHistoricalPrice
+     , open_timelog_entries=reverse $ open_timelog_entries j -- NOTE: see addTimeLogEntry
+     })
   >>= if assrt then journalCheckBalanceAssertions else return
 
 -- | Check any balance assertions in the journal and return an error
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs
index b683df327..5f38d9efa 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ data Journal = Journal {
       files :: [(FilePath, String)],        -- ^ the file path and raw text of the main and
                                             -- any included journal files. The main file is
                                             -- first followed by any included files in the
-                                            -- order encountered (XXX reversed, cf journalAddFile).
+                                            -- order encountered.
       filereadtime :: ClockTime,            -- ^ when this journal was last read from its file(s)
       jcommoditystyles :: M.Map Commodity AmountStyle  -- ^ how to display amounts in each commodity
     } deriving (Eq, Typeable, Data)
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
index 7bbe7bcf4..88cbf4728 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ parse _ = parseJournalWith journal
 
 -- | Flatten a list of JournalUpdate's into a single equivalent one.
 combineJournalUpdates :: [JournalUpdate] -> JournalUpdate
-combineJournalUpdates us = liftM (foldl' (.) id) $ sequence us
+combineJournalUpdates us = liftM (foldl' (\acc new x -> new (acc x)) id) $ sequence us
 
 -- | Given a JournalUpdate-generating parsec parser, file path and data string,
 -- parse and post-process a Journal so that it's ready to use, or give an error.
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ includedirective = do
 
 journalAddFile :: (FilePath,String) -> Journal -> Journal
 journalAddFile f j@Journal{files=fs} = j{files=fs++[f]}
-  -- XXX currently called in reverse order of includes, I can't see why
+ -- NOTE: first encountered file to left, to avoid a reverse
 
 accountdirective :: ParsecT [Char] JournalContext (ErrorT String IO) JournalUpdate
 accountdirective = do
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs
index bac5a0b32..2c56ad0d4 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ module Hledger.Read.TimelogReader (
 where
 import Control.Monad
 import Control.Monad.Error
-import Data.List (isPrefixOf)
+import Data.List (isPrefixOf, foldl')
 import Test.HUnit
 import Text.Parsec hiding (parse)
 import System.FilePath
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ timelogFile :: ParsecT [Char] JournalContext (ErrorT String IO) (JournalUpdate,
 timelogFile = do items <- many timelogItem
                  eof
                  ctx <- getState
-                 return (liftM (foldr (.) id) $ sequence items, ctx)
+                 return (liftM (foldl' (\acc new x -> new (acc x)) id) $ sequence items, ctx)
     where
       -- As all ledger line types can be distinguished by the first
       -- character, excepting transactions versus empty (blank or
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Stats.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Stats.hs
index 74e275292..5258acb95 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Stats.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Stats.hs
@@ -57,8 +57,7 @@ showLedgerStats l today span =
       -- w2 = maximum $ map (length . show . snd) stats
       stats = [
          ("Main journal file" :: String, path) -- ++ " (from " ++ source ++ ")")
-        ,("Included journal files", unlines $ reverse $ -- cf journalAddFile
-                                    drop 1 $ journalFilePaths j)
+        ,("Included journal files", unlines $ drop 1 $ journalFilePaths j)
         ,("Transactions span", printf "%s to %s (%d days)" (start span) (end span) days)
         ,("Last transaction", maybe "none" show lastdate ++ showelapsed lastelapsed)
         ,("Transactions", printf "%d (%0.1f per day)" tnum txnrate)