diff --git a/Ledger/Parse.hs b/Ledger/Parse.hs
index 7425dec35..1eac11e2d 100644
--- a/Ledger/Parse.hs
+++ b/Ledger/Parse.hs
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ parseLedgerFile :: String -> IO (Either ParseError RawLedger)
 parseLedgerFile "-" = fmap (parse ledgerfile "-") $ hGetContents stdin
 parseLedgerFile f   = parseFromFile ledgerfile f
     
-parseError :: (Show a) => a -> IO ()
-parseError e = do putStr "ledger parse error at "; print e
+printParseError :: (Show a) => a -> IO ()
+printParseError e = do putStr "ledger parse error at "; print e
 
 -- set up token parsing, though we're not yet using these much
 ledgerLanguageDef = LanguageDef {
diff --git a/Options.hs b/Options.hs
index f2d284b24..2649670eb 100644
--- a/Options.hs
+++ b/Options.hs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ parseArguments,
 ledgerFilePathFromOpts,
 beginDateFromOpts,
 endDateFromOpts,
-parsePatternArgs, 
+parseAccountDescriptionArgs,
 regexFor, 
 nullpats, 
 wildcard, 
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
     
 import Ledger.Utils
 import Ledger.Types
-import Ledger.Parse (parseLedgerFile, parseError)
-import Ledger.Ledger (cacheLedger)
 
 
 usagehdr    = "Usage: hledger [OPTIONS] "++commands++" [ACCTPATTERNS] [-- DESCPATTERNS]\nOptions:"
@@ -107,12 +105,11 @@ endDateFromOpts opts =
       getenddate _ = []
       defaultdate = ""
 
--- | ledger pattern arguments are: 0 or more account patterns
--- optionally followed by -- and 0 or more description patterns.
--- No arguments implies match all. Here we gather these into two lists.
--- parsePatternArgs :: [String] -> (Regex,Regex)
-parsePatternArgs :: [String] -> ([String],[String])
-parsePatternArgs args = (as, ds')
+-- | Gather any ledger-style account/description pattern arguments into
+-- two lists.  These are 0 or more account patterns optionally followed by
+-- 0 or more description patterns.
+parseAccountDescriptionArgs :: [String] -> ([String],[String])
+parseAccountDescriptionArgs args = (as, ds')
     where (as, ds) = break (=="--") args
           ds' = dropWhile (=="--") ds
 
diff --git a/Tests.hs b/Tests.hs
index 5b6ee6761..d19034f14 100644
--- a/Tests.hs
+++ b/Tests.hs
@@ -14,11 +14,9 @@ assertEqual' e a = assertEqual "" e a
 
 parse' p ts = parse p "" ts
 
+-- | Assert a parsed thing equals some expected thing, or print a parse error.
 assertParseEqual :: (Show a, Eq a) => a -> (Either ParseError a) -> Assertion
-assertParseEqual expected parsed =
-    case parsed of
-      Left e -> parseError e
-      Right v -> assertEqual " " expected v
+assertParseEqual expected parsed = either printParseError (assertEqual " " expected) parsed
 
 -- find tests with template haskell
 --
diff --git a/hledger.hs b/hledger.hs
index 216400fa2..af666f289 100644
--- a/hledger.hs
+++ b/hledger.hs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ import qualified Data.Map as Map (lookup)
 
 import Options
 import Tests (hunit, quickcheck)
-import Ledger.Parse (parseLedgerFile, parseError)
+import Ledger.Parse (parseLedgerFile, printParseError)
 import Ledger.Utils hiding (test)
 import Ledger hiding (rawledger)
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ balance opts args = parseLedgerAndDo opts args printbalance
       printbalance l = putStr $ showLedgerAccountBalances l depth
           where 
             showsubs = (ShowSubs `elem` opts)
-            pats = parsePatternArgs args
+            pats = parseAccountDescriptionArgs args
             depth = case (pats, showsubs) of
                       -- when there is no -s or pattern args, show with depth 1
                       (([],[]), False) -> 1
@@ -85,14 +85,14 @@ balance opts args = parseLedgerAndDo opts args printbalance
 -- (or report a parse error). This function makes the whole thing go.
 parseLedgerAndDo :: [Opt] -> [String] -> (Ledger -> IO ()) -> IO ()
 parseLedgerAndDo opts args cmd = 
-    ledgerFilePathFromOpts opts >>= parseLedgerFile >>= either parseError runthecommand
+    ledgerFilePathFromOpts opts >>= parseLedgerFile >>= either printParseError runthecommand
     where
       runthecommand = cmd . cacheLedger . filterLedger begin end aregex dregex
       begin = beginDateFromOpts opts
       end = endDateFromOpts opts
-      aregex = regexFor apats
-      dregex = regexFor dpats
-      (acctpats,descpats) = parsePatternArgs args
+      aregex = regexFor acctpats
+      dregex = regexFor descpats
+      (acctpats,descpats) = parseAccountDescriptionArgs args
 
 -- ghci helpers