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I couldn't understand double entry accounting until I found out about ledger-cli / hledger. These awful arbitrary "left-side / right-side" and "debit / credit"
by levosmetalo 6y ago
I couldn't understand double entry accounting until I found out about ledger-cli / hledger.
These awful arbitrary "left-side / right-side" and "debit / credit" just doesn't make any sense.
As opposed to that, no-magic approach from ledger-cli where every entry must balance is intuitive to learn and mathematically correct. And it allows to go a bit beyond the whole "assets / liabilities / expenses / income" if needed.
- virgoerns 6y agoLedger CLI is wonderful. I've been using it for over a year for budgeting (via envelope-style virtual accounts) and keeping track of my family expenses. The biggest advantage is that it's just a plain text. I can read it, I can store it in git, I can backup it. If I make an error, it's easy to fix with text editor I'm familiar with. In the beginning I changed my accounts naming scheme several times and it was super quick and easy with simple sed. Previously I used GNU Cash, which is another double-entry accounting program, and doing any bulk edits was a serious pain.
- speleding 6y agoThe straightforward approach of ledger-cli also means you don't run into arbitrary limits any time soon. I started using ledger-cli when I started a new business a decade ago, and it's still being used today with employees and representatives in a dozen countries and sales in several different currencies. The only problem is interacting with outside accountants who will never have heard of it.