Plain Text Accounting (PTA)

Welcome! Plain text accounting is a way of doing bookkeeping and accounting with plain text files and scriptable, command-line-friendly software, such as Ledger, hledger, or Beancount. This site collects the PTA community's tools, docs and practices. It is maintained by Simon Michael (hledger project leader, PTA fan) and contributors like you. See also our discussion forum and chat rooms.

Site map
What is Plain Text Accounting ?
News & discussion
Videos
Slides
Docs: Accounting basics , PTA app docs , comparisons , intros , cheatsheets , cookbooks , FAQs
FAQ
Cookbook
Software: PTA apps , Feature matrix , Editor plugins , Data import/conversion , Price fetching , Data generation , Workflows , Formatting , Reporting , Time logging , UI, console , UI, curses , UI, GUI , UI, web , UI, mobile , Library , Utilities , API

This is a community-supported site; if you find it useful, why not contribute to the github repo or help with finance. Thank you sponsors, including:

A modern accounting book app based on Beancount and Git

News & discussion

Chat - matrix room - matrix space - IRC channel - project chats
Blogs & articles - See the PTA forum's News category and RSS feed - Older blogs & articles, 2006-2024
PTA forum - forum.plaintextaccounting.org
Reddit - /r/plaintextaccounting
Lemmy - lemmy.world/c/plaintextaccounting
Hacker News - stories - comments
Mastodon - #plaintextaccounting - #ledgercli - #hledger - #beancount
Twitter - #plaintextaccounting - #ledgercli - #hledger - #beancount - LedgerTips 2014-2018
Stack Exchange - ledger-cli tag - ledger-cli search - hledger tag - hledger search
Project specific - Project mail lists - This Week In Hledger
plaintextaccounting.org site - commits - contributors - issues - email the site admin

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=plaintextaccounting

Slides

Docs

Accounting basics , PTA app docs , Comparisons , Intros , Cheatsheets , Cookbooks , FAQs

Accounting basics

PTA app docs

Comparisons

PTA apps project stats
Feature matrix
Syntax Quick Reference
FAQ: Which PTA app should I choose ?
hledger and Ledger, hledger and Beancount, hledger and other software 2014, 2019, 2022, 2023..
Matthias Kauer: Command Line Accounting – A look at the various ledger ports 2015
beancount mail list: Another Ledger user's perspective 2015
Beancount: A Comparison of Beancount and Ledger 2014
ledger list: ledger vs hledger vs beancount or how to choose the right cli client 2014

Intros

Cheatsheets

Cookbooks

Cookbook the Plain Text Accounting Cookbook; more docs, examples...
Beancount cookbook
hledger cookbook
Ledger wiki
PTA Forum
Reddit: plaintextaccounting

FAQs

FAQ the Plain Text Accounting FAQ
hledger FAQ
Ledger FAQ

Software

PTA apps , Editor plugins , Data import/conversion , Price fetching , Data generation , Workflows , Formatting , Reporting , Time logging , UI, console , UI, curses , UI, GUI , UI, web , UI, mobile , Library , Utilities , API

PTA apps

To do Plain Text Accounting, try one (or more) of the apps below. Generally it's possible to migrate data between them.

Project	Start	Last release	Code	Committers	Stars	Mail list, size	Chat, size	Issues

Popular
Ledger	2003	2023	C++	226	4.9k	ledger ~900	IRC ~60	1.5k
hledger	2007	2024	haskell	171	2.9k	hledger ~250	matrix ~200, IRC ~60	1.4k
Beancount	2008	2023	python	84	3.1k	beancount ~700	matrix ~10, matrix (fava) ~190, IRC ~30	0.5k

Small userbase
Ledger (Go)	2013	2023	go	11	409
Abandon	2013	2020	scala	11	178		matrix
knut	2020	2022	go	3	49
zhang	2023	2023	rust/ts	1	105
ledg	2021	2021	javascript	1	37
Goledger	2019	2020	go	1	25
blossom	2020		F#	1	25
awk-pta	2022		awk	1	15
Tackler	2017	2022	scala	1	9		matrix
coin	2019		go	1	7
budget-cli	2023	2023	typescript	1	2
mynt	2023		rust	1
placc	2024		nim	1

Inactive
bankroll	2020	2020	rust	1	1
pta	2020	2020	perl	1
acc	2020		rust	1	1
rust_ledger	2019	2021	rust	4	90
beans	2019	2019	haskell	2	24
Transity	2018	2020	purescript	8	571		matrix
Prudent	2018		js, addons	1			@PrudentLedger
.Net Ledger	2017	2021	C#	1	164		matrix
monescript	2017	2018	javascript	1	12
Go Ledger	2016		go	3	37
uledger	2015		python	1	17
pacioli	2013		python	1	31
ledger.pl	2013		perl	1	6
Penny	2012	2014	haskell
UMM	2009	2010	haskell
sm-Ledger	2007		squeak
cl-ledger	2007		lisp	4	66

Feature matrix

A rough comparison of the big three PTA apps' main features, plus some relevant third-party tools in italics. (Plus some geeky technical bits that you may not care about.) Corrections and suggestions are appreciated (chat). You can also use this as a kind of overview, quick reference or porting guide. (See also syntax quick reference.)

	Ledger	hledger	Beancount

User interfaces
CLI:	ledger	hledger	beanquery
TUI:	regdel	hledger add, hledger-ui, hledger-iadd, puffin	bean-add
GUI:	Prudent, ledgerble, addtrans	fruit-credits
WUI:	ledgeraccounting, paisa, cashier, ledgible, ledger (howeyc), ledger-web (vifon), ledger-web (peterkeen), ledger-pyreport, ledger-analytics, node-ledger-web	hledger-web, ledgeraccounting, paisa, cashier	fava, paisa, BeanHub
Android:	cashier, NanoLedger	cashier, MoLe, NanoLedger	Beancount Mobile CE, beancount-mobile (xuhcc)
IOS:			Beancount Mobile CE

Help
CLI help:	general --help, also available as man page	general and command-specific --help, commands summary, built-in asciinema demos	command-specific --help
TLDR short help:	ledger	hledger and commands, also built-in
User manual formats:	web	web, info, man, also built-in info/man/text with jump to topic	web
Active support channels:		chat, mail list, forum, reddit	mail list
Easy install and setup:	yes	yes	no

Data formats
Input formats:	journal (ledger), timeclock, csv	journal (hledger), timeclock, timedot, csv, tsv, ssv, *sv	journal (beancount)
Output formats:	text, csv, xml, lisp	text, html, csv, tsv, fods, beancount, sql, json	text, ?

Commands
Commands:	accounts, balance, cleared, commodities, convert, csv, entry, emacs, equity, lisp, payees, pricemap, pricedb, prices, print, register, select, source, stats, tags	accounts, activity, add, aregister, balance, balancesheet, balancesheetequity, cashflow, check, close, codes, commodities, demo, descriptions, diff, files, help, import, incomestatement, payees, prices, print, notes, register, rewrite, roi, stats, tags, test	beancount: check, doctor, example, format
Add-on commands:		bar, check-fancyassertions, edit, git, iadd, interest, lots, move, pijul, plot..	beanquery: balances, journal, print, select

Configuration
Config file:	general options	general and command-specific options	?
Extensibility:	built-in expression language, embedded python, HTTP-JSON	add-on commands, haskell library, HTTP-JSON	data-modifying plugins, python library

Other features
Account names:	any	any	capitalised, no spaces, english top level names
Account types awareness:	no	yes	yes
Budget report:	built-in	built-in	fava
Charting tools:	paisa, etc..	activity, hledger-bar, hledger-web, hledger-plot, paisa, etc..	paisa..
Commodity names:	any, on left or right, optional	any, on left or right, optional	2-24 uppercase letters / digits / punctuation, on right, required
Data importing:	built-in from CSV, others..	built-in from any input format, others..	beangulp framework, beancount_reds_importers framework, beancount-import library, others..
Data deduplication:	checksum-based (requires unique CSV records)	date-based (requires date-ordered CSV records)	?
Date range:	1400-01-01 to 9999-12-31	0000-01-01 onward	0001-01-01 to 9999-12-31
Generate postings by rule:	built-in	built-in	?
Generate recurring transactions:	built-in	built-in	beancount-repete
International number notations:	no	yes	no
Lot management:	lot matching syntax, lots report, revaluation transactions, lotter	manual, hledger-lots, hledger-move, lotter	lot matching syntax, ?
Multi-period balance reports:	no	yes	fava
Pivoting:	on single tag	on one or more tags / other fields	no
Precision (journal):	254 significant digits	"unlimited" integer digits + 255 decimal digits	28 significant digits
Precision (internal):	"unlimited" (rational numbers)	"unlimited" integer digits + 255 decimal digits	28 significant digits
Precision (balancing):	max precisions in local entry	global commodity precisions	max precisions in local entry / 2 (configurable)
Precision (display):	inferred commodity precision, or a default max precision of 6	inferred / specified commodity precision, or a default max precision of 8	inferred commodity precision, or a default max precision of 0 (configurable)
Price fetching:	pricehist	pricehist	beanprice, pricehist
Querying:	cli options, custom query expressions	cli options, custom query expressions, sql	SQL-like beancount query language
REPL:	built-in	haskell GHCI	beanquery, python
Shell completions:	bash (commands, flags, maybe accounts)	bash (commands, flags, flag values, query types, journal data)
Unrealised gains report:	--unrealized	--gain, roi	fava
Validation:	configurable	configurable	always strict
Miscellaneous:	?	standard financial reports	?
		customisable account display order
		customisable amount styles for input and output
		documentation-first development
		regular releases
		regression bounties

Editor plugins

Atom - language-ledger - ledger
Emacs - beancount-mode - hledger-mode - ledger-mode (good for hledger also)
IntelliJ - Ledger CLI
Nano - scopatz/nanorc
Sublime - sublime-ledger-syntax
TextMate - Ledger.tmbundle
VIM - vim-ledger - vim-beancount - hledger-vim - cmp-beancount
VS Code - hledger-vscode - ledger - vscode-beancount

hledger: Editor configuration

Data import/conversion

Ledger and hledger have CSV conversion built in. Also:
bean-identify, bean-extract, bean-file - Beancount built-in tools
banks2ledger - CSV to *ledger converter
beanborg Advanced transaction importer with auto-categorization (python)
beancount-import web app/framework for converting various formats to beancount (python)
beancount-reds-importers Simple importers and tools for Beancount. A framework to allow you to easily write your own importers.
beancount-ynab Import YNAB4 (legacy desktop-based version) into beancount
beancount-ynab5 Import YNAB5 (cloud-based version) transactions into beancount
beanhub-extract Simple Python library for extracting all kinds of bank export CSV files into standardized transaction data objects
beanhub-import Declarative idempotent rule-based beancount transaction import engine in Python consumes data extracted by beanhub-extract
buchhaltung CSV/FinTS/HBCI/OFX to *ledger conversion/deduplication (haskell)
Costflow convert one line message to beancount/*ledger format
csv2beancount CSV to beancount converter (clojure)
CSV2Ledger CSV to *ledger converter (perl)
double-entry-generator Rule-based double-entry bookkeeping importer (from Alipay/WeChat/Huobi etc. to Beancount)
fints2ledger FinTS/HBCI to csv to *ledger or beancount journals (python)
gcash2ledger.py GNUCash XML to *ledger converter (python)
gnucash-to-beancount GNUCash sqlite to beancount converter (python)
gnucash2ledger.py GNUCash sqlite to *ledger converter (python)
grisbi2Ledger Grisbi to *ledger converter
gsheet-csv.hs a script to download Google sheets (haskell)
hledger-Excel Excel spreadsheet to *ledger journal converter (visual basic for applications)
hledger-import-dsl alternate, programmable CSV converter for hledger
hledger-to-influxdb hledger to InfluxDB converter (haskell)
hledger2beancount hledger to beancount converter (haskell)
homebank2ledger HomeBank to ledger and beancount converter (perl)
icsvledger interactive CSV to *ledger converter (python)
into-ledger CSV to *ledger converter
invoice2data extract data from PDF invoices (python)
jali downloader/importer to *ledger (python)
kmymoney2hledger KMyMoney to *ledger converter (clojure)
kmymoney2ledgers KMyMoney to *ledger/beancount converter (python)
kmymoney2ledgers.awk KMyMoney to *ledger/beancount converter (Awk)
ldgclip import bank transactions via the clipboard with one click (bash/awk)
Ledger in Go has limport, a CSV to *ledger converter
ledger-autosync OFX download, OFX to *ledger conversion, deduplication
ledger-guesser neural network for generating entries like past ones, can be used with ledger-autosync (javascript)
ledger-myexpenses MyExpenses android app sqlite db to *ledger conversion (python, 2017)
ledgermyexpenses sync MyExpenses android app to/from Ledger (bash, 2023)
ledger-to-beancount yet another simple ledger to beancount converter (python)
ledger-tutorials convert Pete Keen's tutorials to ebook format
ledger2beancount.py *ledger to beancount converter
ledger2beancount/beancount2ledger the best converter between h/ledger and beancount formats (perl).
moneymoney-ledger MoneyMoney export extension for *ledger
outofit QuickBooks to *ledger converter
piecash GNUCash SQL to *ledger converter (python)
plaid2qif Download transactions from plaid as QIF or CSV files
plaid2text Plaid API to *ledger/beancount download/conversion
qb2ledger QuickBooks General Journal CSV to *ledger converter
QIFtoLedger (Bank of America's) QIF to *ledger converter
reckon smart interactive/non-interactive CSV to *ledger converter
slc generates Ledger accounting entries, works with generic CSV files as well as the Stripe API
smart_importer library for building smarter CSV to beancount/Fava converters
Tiller service to download from mostly-US banks to google or microsoft spreadsheets (commercial but pretty good)
total_recall CSV to *ledger converter
ynab-to-ledger You Need A Budget (YNAB) to *ledger converter. Handles multiple currencies, multiple number formats, reconciliation, memos, transfers, and split transactions
ynab_to_ledger You Need A Budget to *ledger converter

Price fetching

bean-price Beancount's price fetching tool (python)
hledger-stockquotes download market prices for your hledger commodities (haskell)
ledger-get-prices download market prices (ruby)
LedgerStockUpdate update a Ledger price database (go)
market-prices download market prices from several sources (python)
market-prices.hs small, easy to adapt script to scrape market data from the internet (Haskell)
pricehist fetch and format historical price data, with support for multiple sources and output formats (python)
the-solipsist/scripts download prices for your hledger commodities, including indian commodities (bash)

Data generation

beancount-extract-price generate prices transactions based on your beancount ledger (python)
DepreciateForLedger generate *ledger depreciation transactions (python)
hledger-interest generate *ledger interest entries (haskell)
ledger-ts typescript EDSL for generating beancount journals (typescript)
ledgerbil schedule recurring txns, interactive reconcile, date sorting
LedgerScheduler move entries from one file to another when they come due (python)
lotter generate postings for capital gain/loss (go)
recurring generate recurring *ledger entries (python)
reorder-journal.sh sort hledger entries, preserving directives/comments at top of file (bash)
sassetti adds lisp macros to ledger files (common lisp)

Invoicing

kairos (repo) generate invoices from hledger timedot files (go)

Workflows

docker-finance hledger/hledger-flow/docker-based system for tracking and reporting on traditional and cryptocurrency finances
Full-fledged hledger scripts and detailed tutorial for generating hledger journals from CSV files (haskell, shell)
hledger-flow command-line tool to generate hledger (or Ledger) journals from CSV files (haskell)
rtrledger another hledger journals from CSV files system, designed for chaotic German freelancers (shell etc.)
Lazy Beancount Beancount packaged in Docker with additional plugins and tools

Formatting

beancount-black opinionated beancount file formatter
beancount-black web app opinionated beancount file formatter as a web-based app

Reporting

budget_report budget reporting with beancount (python)
gainstrack personal wealth analysis app with beancount export (scala/typescript)
hledger-diff report differing transactions between two journals (haskell)
hledger-irr calculate an account's internal rate of return (superseded by roi) (haskell)
hledger-sankey Script + HTML files to plot income next to expense money flows from an hledger ledger file (shell + javascript)
hledger-tools generating charts from hledger (typescript)
hledger-vega makes configurable vega-lite charts from hledger (shell)
hreports customise hledger reports with templates and PDF output (python)
ledger-plot interactive tool for making GNUplot charts from Ledger (python)
ledger-plots R package & script to make charts from Ledger (R)
r-ledger an R package for reading and reporting on ledger/hledger/beancount files (R)
TaxingLots calculates capital gains for a ledger journal (python)

Time logging

org2tc org to timeclock converter
on-modify.timetrack.py taskwarrior hook for timeclock output
t ledger timeclock shellscript
tim time logging/reporting tool using hledger
timekeeping-template time logging/reporting examples/how-to using hledger
tito time logging bash scripts that avoid double clock-in

UI, console

bean-add interactive transaction entry tool (python)
hledger add interactive transaction entry tool (builtin command)
ladd create and edit a new *ledger transaction by fuzzy-matching past descriptions
ldgr command line tool to add/sort/tag ledger files (ruby)
ledger xact history-aware transaction generator (builtin command)

UI, curses

hledger-iadd TUI for *ledger transaction entry (haskell)
hledger-ui TUI for *ledger browsing (haskell, video)
ledger-add TUI for *ledger transaction entry (python)
puffin TUI for hledger browsing (go)
regdel TUI for browsing Ledger files (python)

UI, GUI

favagtk app of Fava web UI for beancount browsing (Python, GTK)
fruit-credits data entry/reporting GUI for hledger (Vala, GNOME)
ledgerble reporting GUI with charts & adjustable reports (Javascript)
ledgerhelpers misc. GUI tools + helper library (Python, GTK)
Prudent integrated journal editing/importing/reporting GUI for Ledger (Javascript, mac only, closed source)

UI, web

fava web UI for beancount browsing (python, demo)
hledger-web web UI for *ledger browsing, data entry (haskell, demo, Sandstorm app)
hledger-web-rs web UI for hledger reports (rust)
Paisa web UI or desktop app for ledger, hledger and beancount (go, javascript, demo)
Ledger in Go web UI for browsing ledger transactions, reports, and porfolios
Ledger Web ledger HTML reporting system (ruby, postgres)
Ledger Web web UI/API for ledger browsing, data entry (python)
ledger-analytics web UI for ledger data analytics (javascript)
ledger-dashboard web UI for ledger browsing, data entry (python)
ledger-pyreport web UI for standard accounting statements and unrealised gains (python)
ledgeraccounting web UI for hledger: data entry, basic reports and budgets (javascript)
ledgible web UI for ledger browsing, data entry (python)
n4s danish-language ERP system (php)
node-ledger-web web UI for ledger browsing (javascript)
WealthPulse web UI for ledger browsing, price fetching (F#)
BeanHub web UI for beancount browsing, data entry with a Git repository (proprietary SaaS; some components open source)

UI, mobile

Beancount mobile app (Android, IOS)
beancount-mobile data entry app (Android)
NanoLedger data entry app supporting the ledger and hledger syntax (Android)
cashier mobile or desktop client for ledger and hledger-web (Android/Desktop, javascript, app)
cone data entry app for the h/ledger format (Android, dart)
MoLe mobile client for hledger-web (Android, java)
hledger.org: Mobile apps

Library

beancount-parser standalone Lark-based beancount syntax parser (not relying on the beancount library)
beancount-parser a Beancount parser in Rust using nom
beancount-parser-lima another Beancount parser in Rust using Logos and Chumsky
beancount-txn-elisp a library to read/parse and write/insert individual Beancount transactions, implemented in Emacs Lisp
beanhub-forms a library provides data types and processors of custom beancount forms for inputting repeating similar entries easily
beanhub-web-react react components for beancount entry input forms and beanhub-forms
magicbeans Beancount extensions for cryptocurrency tax tracking and reporting

Utilities

beanhub-cli beancount command line tools come with features like formatter, beanhub-import and a beanhub-forms web app

API

gledger Go package to interface with Ledger (go)
hledger-lib library for parsing and generating reports from *ledger files (haskell)
hledger-web the web app includes a JSON API server for *ledger files (haskell)
ledgerhelpers extends Ledger's python library (python)
node-hledger Node.js API for *ledger files (javascript)
BeanHub API proprietary SaaS API for operating on hosted beancount repositories and beanhub-forms