141 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
141 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
# Working with multiple year files
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Here are some yearly journal files demonstrating issues and techniques
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discussed in the [close docs](https://hledger.org/dev/hledger.html).
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`2021.journal`, `2022.journal` and `2023.journal` each have
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only an opening balances transaction and some ordinary transactions.
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These are what you'd get if you started a new file each year
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using hledger's `close --open` command or Ledger's `equity` command.
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These files show correct balances when used individually, but they can't be combined for a multi-year report;
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their opening transactions are redundant and will produce nonsense balances.
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To solve this, whenever we transition to a new file we can
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- add a counterbalancing [closing transaction](https://hledger.org/hledger.html#close) using `close`.
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Also (not necessary for basic personal accounting, but if we want to be fully correct), we can ensure all equity is accounted for:
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- wherever we have used [@/@@ notation](https://hledger.org/hledger.html#costs) to convert between commodities,
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add [equivalent equity postings](https://hledger.org/hledger.html#equity-conversion-postings)
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- and consolidate revenues and expenses into equity (AKA [retain earnings](https://hledger.org/hledger.html#close)).
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Combining these in the right sequence can be tricky, so here's an example of fully migrating to a new file at the end of 2021/start of 2022.
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`2021-closed.journal` and `2022-closed.journal` are the result of applying this procedure to the 2021 and 2022 journals.
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(They are named differently from the original journals for clarity here; also because the `print --infer-equity` step overwrites your entries and
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discards directives, requiring some extra manual steps to preserve those. Normally you would keep the file names unchanged.)
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First, ensure all equity changes are recorded:
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```cli
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$ hledger -f 2021.journal print --infer-equity > 2021-closed.journal # add explicit equity:conversion postings where needed
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$ hledger -f 2021-closed.journal close --retain -e 2022 >> 2021-closed.journal # retain earnings (transfer RX to E)
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```
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Next, migrate asset/liability balances from old file to new file.
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(If you want to preserve equity balances too, add a [`type:ALE` argument](https://hledger.org/hledger.html#account-types).)
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Note how --open is done first and --close second; or you could --close first and `--open not:desc:closing` second:
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```cli
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$ hledger -f 2021-closed.journal close --open -e 2022 >> 2022.journal # migrate balances (add opening txn to 2022.journal)
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$ hledger -f 2021-closed.journal close --close -e 2022 >> 2021-closed.journal # migrate balances (add closing txn to 2021.journal)
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```
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Finally, add a tag like this (manually for now) to the closing and opening transactions to make them easier to exclude from reports:
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```journal
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2021-12-31 closing balances ; start:2022
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```
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```journal
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2022-01-01 opening balances ; start:2022
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```
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## Reports
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Now we can confirm that the accounting equation was preserved in 2021,
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by checking that the grand total of Assets, Liabilities, and Equity is zero.
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To see the end balances, we must exclude the closing balances transaction:
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```cli
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$ hledger -f 2021-closed.journal bse not:tag:start=2022
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Balance Sheet With Equity 2021-12-31
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|| 2021-12-31
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=================================++==============
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Assets ||
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---------------------------------++--------------
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assets || 21
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---------------------------------++--------------
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|| 21
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=================================++==============
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Liabilities ||
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---------------------------------++--------------
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---------------------------------++--------------
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||
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=================================++==============
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Equity ||
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---------------------------------++--------------
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equity:conversion:A-B:A || -1 A
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equity:conversion:A-B:B || 1 B
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equity:opening/closing balances || 20
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equity:retained earnings || 1, 1 A, -1 B
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---------------------------------++--------------
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|| 21
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=================================++==============
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Net: || 0
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```
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We can check this for 2022 too, if we add any missing equity changes with --infer-equity and --retain (temporarily):
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```cli
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$ (hledger -f 2022.journal print --infer-equity; hledger -f 2022.journal close --retain) | hledger -f- bse
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Balance Sheet With Equity 2024-01-19
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|| 2024-01-19
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==========================++==============
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Assets ||
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--------------------------++--------------
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assets || 22
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--------------------------++--------------
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|| 22
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==========================++==============
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Liabilities ||
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--------------------------++--------------
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--------------------------++--------------
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||
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==========================++==============
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Equity ||
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--------------------------++--------------
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equity:conversion:A-B:A || -1 A
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equity:conversion:A-B:B || 1 B
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equity:retained earnings || 1, 1 A, -1 B
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equity:start || 21
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--------------------------++--------------
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|| 22
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==========================++==============
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Net: || 0
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```
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We can see correct balance sheets from any range of files, if we exclude all opening/closing transactions except the first:
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```cli
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$ hledger bs -Y -f 2021-closed.journal -f 2022-closed.journal -f 2023.journal expr:'tag:start=2021 or not tag:start'
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$ hledger bs -Y -f 2021-closed.journal -f 2022-closed.journal expr:'tag:start=2021 or not tag:start'
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$ hledger bs -Y -f 2022-closed.journal -f 2023.journal expr:'tag:start=2022 or not tag:start'
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$ hledger bs -Y -f 2021-closed.journal expr:'tag:start=2021 or not tag:start'
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$ hledger bs -Y -f 2022-closed.journal expr:'tag:start=2022 or not tag:start'
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$ hledger bs -Y -f 2023.journal # unclosed file, no query needed
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```
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We can see correct income statements from any range of files, if we exclude retain earnings transactions:
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```cli
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$ hledger is -Y -f 2021-closed.journal -f 2022-closed.journal -f 2023.journal not:desc:retain
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$ hledger is -Y -f 2021-closed.journal -f 2022-closed.journal not:desc:retain
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$ hledger is -Y -f 2022-closed.journal -f 2023.journal not:desc:retain
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$ hledger is -Y -f 2021-closed.journal not:desc:retain
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$ hledger is -Y -f 2022-closed.journal not:desc:retain
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$ hledger is -Y -f 2023.journal # unclosed file, no query needed
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```
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