> - I never quite understood how to 'start' the ledger balance. Should I start on the first of the year when my account was at $56 or today when it's at $76 ...

> - I never quite understood how to 'start' the ledger balance. Should I start on the first of the year when my account was at $56 or today when it's at $76 ... where does this $ come from? That's not ledger-related, that's double-bookkeeping related. What you want to do is something like: 2014-07-05 Opening balance Assets:Checking $ 56.00 Equity:OpeningBalance $-56.00 Actually, there is, in the wonderful ledger manual, something about that. Of course, Equity:Opening balance will remain forever at -56.00, but that's not a problem. Wrt to investments, I haven't really explored that part yet, but there is a description of how you're supposed to track your portfolio.