50 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
50 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
# How to use account aliases
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Here's an example of using [account aliases](manual.html#account-aliases).
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Say a sole proprietor has a `personal.journal`:
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```journal
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2014/1/2
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expenses:food $1
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assets:cash
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```
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and a `business.journal`:
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```journal
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2014/1/1
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expenses:office supplies $1
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assets:business checking
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```
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So each entity (the business owner, and the business) has their own file with its own simple chart of accounts.
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However, at tax reporting time we need to view these as a single entity (at least in the US).
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In `unified.journal`, we include both files, and rewrite the personal
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account names to fit into the business chart of accounts,
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```journal
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alias expenses = equity:draw:personal
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alias assets:cash = assets:personal cash
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include personal.journal
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end aliases
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include business.journal
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```
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Now we can see the data from both files at once, and the personal account names have changed:
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```shell
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$ hledger -f unified.journal print
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2014/01/01 # from business.journal - no aliases applied
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expenses:office supplies $1
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assets:business checking $-1
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2014/01/02 # from personal.journal
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equity:draw:personal:food $1 # <- was expenses:food
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assets:personal cash $-1 # <- was assets:cash
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```
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You can also specify aliases on the command line. This could be useful to
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quickly rewrite account names when sharing a report with someone else, such as
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your accountant:
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```shell
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$ hledger --alias 'my earning=income:business' ...
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```
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