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@ -2,50 +2,76 @@ close
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(equity)
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Generate transactions which transfer account balances to and/or from
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another account (typically equity). This can be useful for migrating
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balances to a new journal file, or for merging earnings into equity at
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end of accounting period.
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By default, it prints a transaction that zeroes out ALE accounts (asset,
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liability, equity accounts; this requires account types to be
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configured); or if ACCTQUERY is provided, the accounts matched by that.
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(experimental)
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A transaction-generating command which generates several kinds of
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"closing" and/or "opening" transactions useful in certain situations. It
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prints one or two transactions to stdout, but does not write them to the
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journal file; you can append or copy them there when you are happy with
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the output.
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_FLAGS
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This command has four main modes, corresponding to the most common use
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cases:
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This command is most often used when migrating balances to a new journal
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file, at the start of a new financial year. It can also be used to
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"retain earnings" (transfer revenues and expenses to equity), or as a
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sort of generic mover of balances from any group of accounts to some
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other account. So it currently has six modes, selected by a mode flag.
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Use only one of these flags at a time:
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1. With --close (default), it prints a "closing balances" transaction
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that zeroes out ALE (asset, liability, equity) accounts by default
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(this requires account types to be inferred or declared); or, the
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accounts matched by the provided ACCTQUERY arguments.
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1. With --close (or no mode flag) it prints a "closing balances"
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transaction that zeroes out all the asset, liability, and equity
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account balances, by default (this requires inferred or declared
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account types). Or, it will zero out the accounts matched by any
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ACCTQUERY arguments you provide. All of the balances are transferred
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to a special "opening/closing balances" equity account.
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2. With --open, it prints an opposite "opening balances" transaction
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that restores those balances from zero. This is similar to Ledger's
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equity command.
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that restores the same account balances, starting from zero. This
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mode is similar to Ledger's equity command.
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3. With --migrate, it prints both the closing and opening transactions.
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This is the preferred way to migrate balances to a new file: run
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hledger close --migrate, add the closing transaction at the end of
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the old file, and add the opening transaction at the start of the
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new file. The matching closing/opening transactions cancel each
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other out, preserving correct balances during multi-file reporting.
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3. With --migrate, it prints both the closing and opening transactions
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above. This is a common way to migrate balances to a new file at
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year end; run hledger close --migrate -e NEWYEAR (-e influences the
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transaction date) and add the closing transaction at the end of the
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old file, and the opening transaction at the start of the new file.
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Doing this means you can include past year files in your reports at
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any time without disturbing asset/liability/equity balances, because
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the closing balances transaction cancels out the following opening
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balances transaction. You will sometimes need to exclude these
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transactions from reports, eg to see an end of year balance sheet; a
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not:opening/closing query argument should do. You should probably
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also use this query when close-ing, to exclude the "opening/closing
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balances" account which might otherwise cause problems. Or you can
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just migrate assets and liabilities: hledger close type:AL. Most
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people don't need to migrate equity. And revenues and expenses
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usually should not be migrated.
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4. With --retain, it prints a "retain earnings" transaction that
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transfers RX (revenue and expense) balances to
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equity:retained earnings. Businesses traditionally do this at the
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end of each accounting period; it is less necessary with
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computer-based accounting, but it could still be useful if you want
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to see the accounting equation (A=L+E) satisfied.
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4. With --assert it prints a "closing balances" transaction that just
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asserts the current balances, without changing them. This can be
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useful as documention and to guard against errors and changes.
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In all modes, the defaults can be overridden:
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5. With --assign it prints an "opening balances" transaction that
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restores the account balances using balance assignments. Balance
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assignments work regardless of any previous balance, so a preceding
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closing balances transaction is not needed. This is an alternative
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to --close and --open: at year end,
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hledger close --assert -e NEWYEAR in the old file (optional, but
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useful for error checking), and hledger close --assign -e NEWYEAR in
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the new file. This might be more convenient, eg if you are often
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doing cleanups or fixes which would break closing/opening
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transactions.
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6. With --retain, it prints a "retain earnings" transaction that
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transfers revenue and expense balances to equity:retained earnings.
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This is a traditional end-of-period bookkeeping operation also
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called "closing the books"; in personal accounting you probably will
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not need this but it could be useful if you want to see the
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accounting equation (A=L+E) balanced.
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In all modes, the following things can be overridden:
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- the transaction descriptions can be changed with --close-desc=DESC
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and --open-desc=DESC
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- the account to transfer to/from can be changed with
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- the account to transfer to and from can be changed with
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--close-acct=ACCT and --open-acct=ACCT
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- the accounts to be closed/opened can be changed with ACCTQUERY
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(account query arguments).
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Simon Michael