2008/12/31 * pay off ; <- an optional * or ! after the date means "cleared" (or anything you want)
liabilities:debts $1
assets:bank:checking
```
Now let's explore the available journal file syntax in detail.
# Transactions
Transactions are represented by journal entries. Each begins with a
[simple date](#simple-dates) in column 0, followed by three optional
fields with spaces between them:
- a status flag, which can be empty or `!` or `*` (meaning "uncleared", "pending" and "cleared", or whatever you want)
- a transaction code (eg a check number),
- and/or a description
then some number of postings, of some amount to some account, each on
its own line. Usually there are at least two postings, though one or
even none is possible.
The ([real](#virtual-postings)) posting amounts within a transaction
must always balance, ie add up to 0. Optionally one amount can be
left blank, in which case it will be inferred.
# Dates
## Simple dates
Within a journal file, transaction dates use Y/M/D (or Y-M-D or Y.M.D)
Leading zeroes are optional.
The year may be omitted, in which case it defaults to the current
year, or you can set the default year with a
[default year directive](#default-year).
Some examples: `2010/01/31`, `1/31`, `2010-01-31`, `2010.1.31`.
## Secondary dates
Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the date
you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank. When you want to
model this, eg for more accurate balances, write both dates separated by
an equals sign. The *primary date*, on the left, is used by default; the
*secondary date*, on the right, is used when the `--date2` flag is specified
(For Ledger compatibility, `--aux-date` or `--effective` also work.)
Their meaning is up to you, but it's best to follow a consistent rule.
Eg write the bank's clearing date as primary, and when needed, the
date the transaction was initiated as secondary.
Here's an example. Note that a secondary date will use the year of the
primary date if unspecified.
```journal
2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket
expenses:cinema $10
assets:checking
```
<divstyle="clear:both;"></div>
```{.shell}
$ hledger register checking
2010/02/23 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10
```
<divstyle="clear:both;"></div>
```{.shell}
$ hledger register checking --date2
2010/02/19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10
```
Secondary dates require some effort: you must use them consistently in
your journal entries and remember whether to use or not use the
`--date2` flag for your reports. Arguably they are now obsolete,
superseded by...
## Posting dates
You can give individual postings a different date from their parent
transaction, by adding a [posting tag](#tags) (see below) like
`date:DATE`, where DATE is a [simple date](#simple-dates). This is
probably the best way to control posting dates precisely. Eg in this
example the expense should appear in May reports, and the deduction
from checking should be reported on 6/1 for easy bank reconciliation:
``` {.journal}
2015/5/30
expenses:food $10 ; food purchased on saturday 5/30
assets:checking ; bank cleared it on monday, date:6/1
```
<divstyle="clear:both;"></div>
```{.shell}
$ hledger -f tt.j register food
2015/05/30 expenses:food $10 $10
```
<divstyle="clear:both;"></div>
```{.shell}
$ hledger -f tt.j register checking
2015/06/01 assets:checking $-10 $-10
```
A posting date will use the year of the transaction date if unspecified.
You can also set the secondary date, with `date2:DATE2`.
For compatibility, Ledger's older posting date syntax is also
supported: `[DATE]`, `[DATE=DATE2]` or `[=DATE2]` in a posting
comment.
When using any of these forms, be sure to provide a valid simple date
or you'll get a parse error. Eg a `date:` tag with no value is not
allowed.
# Account names
Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, from
which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. They can be
anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally five top-level
accounts: `assets`, `liabilities`, `income`, `expenses`, and `equity`.
Account names may contain single spaces, eg: `assets:accounts receivable`.
Because of this, they must always be followed by at least two spaces (or newline).
Account names can be [aliased](#account-aliases).
# Amounts
After the account name, there is usually an amount.
Important: between account name and amount, there must be **two or more** spaces.
The amount is a number, optionally with a currency symbol or commodity name on either the left or right.
Negative amounts may have the minus sign either before or after the currency symbol (`-$1` or `$-1`).
Commodity names which contain more than just letters should be enclosed in double quotes (`1 "person hours"`).
## Decimal points and digit groups
hledger supports flexible decimal point and digit group separator styles,
to support international variations. Numbers can use either a period (`.`)
or a comma (`,`) as decimal point. They can also have digit group
separators at any position (eg thousands separators) which can be comma or
period - whichever one you did not use as a decimal point. If you use
digit group separators, you must also include a decimal point in at least
one number in the same commodity, so that hledger knows which character is
which. Eg, write `$1,000.00` or `$1.000,00`.
## Amount display styles
Based on how you format amounts, hledger will infer canonical display
styles for each commodity, and use these when displaying amounts in that
commodity. Amount styles include:
- the position (left or right) and spacing (space or no separator) of the commodity symbol
- the digit group separator character (comma or period) and digit group sizes, if any
- the decimal point character (period or comma)
- the display precision (number of decimal places displayed)
The canonical style is generally the style of the first posting amount seen in a commodity.
However the display precision will be the highest precision seen in all posting amounts in that commmodity.
The precisions used in a price amount, or a D directive, don't affect the canonical display precision directly, but they can affect it indirectly, eg when D's default commodity is applied to a commodity-less amount or when an amountless posting is balanced using a price's commodity (actually this last case does not influence the canonical display precision but probably should).
# Virtual Postings
When you parenthesise the account name in a posting, that posting is considered *virtual*, which
means:
- it is ignored when checking that the transaction is balanced
- it is excluded from reports when the `--real/-R` flag is used, or the `real:1` query.
You could use this, eg, to set an account's opening balance without needing to use the
`equity:opening balances` account:
```journal
1/1 special unbalanced posting to set initial balance
(assets:checking) $1000
```
## Balanced Virtual Postings
When the account name is bracketed, the posting is *balanced virtual*, which is just like a virtual posting except the balanced virtual postings in a transaction must balance to 0, like the real postings (but separately from them). Balanced virtual postings are also excluded by `--real/-R` or `real:1`.
Virtual postings are a feature inherited from Ledger can can occasionally be useful, but they can be a crutch and you should think twice or three times before using them. You can almost always find an equivalent journal entry using two or more real postings that will be more correct and more error-proof.
These look like `=EXPECTEDBALANCE` following a posting's amount. Eg in
this example we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a and b after
each posting:
``` {.journal}
2013/1/1
a $1 =$1
b =$-1
2013/1/2
a $1 =$2
b $-1 =$-2
```
After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance
assertions and report an error if any of them fail. Balance assertions
can protect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances
while cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with
the `--ignore-assertions` flag, which can be useful for
troubleshooting or for reading Ledger files.
## Assertions and ordering
hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and
then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. Note this is
different from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse
order. (Also, Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of
repeated postings to the same account within a transaction.)
So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder
differently-dated transactions within the journal. But if you reorder
same-dated transactions or postings, assertions might break and require
updating. This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise
control over the order of postings and assertions within a day, so you
can assert intra-day balances.
With [included files](#including-other-files), things are a little
more complicated. Including preserves the ordering of postings and
assertions. If you have multiple postings to an account on the same
day, split across different files, and you also want to assert the
account's balance on the same day, you'll have to put the assertion
in the right file.
## Assertions and commodities
The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in
fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the
(possibly multi-commodity) account balance. We could call this a
partial balance assertion. This is compatible with Ledger, and makes
it possible to make assertions about accounts containing multiple
commodities.
To assert each commodity's balance in such a multi-commodity account,
you can add multiple postings (with amount 0 if necessary). But note
that no matter how many assertions you add, you can't be sure the
account does not contain some unexpected commodity. (We'll add support
for this kind of total balance assertion if there's demand.)
## Assertions and subaccounts
Balance assertions do not count the balance from subaccounts; they check
the posted account's exclusive balance. For example:
``` {.journal}
1/1
checking:fund 1 = 1 ; post to this subaccount, its balance is now 1
checking 1 = 1 ; post to the parent account, its exclusive balance is now 1
equity
```
The balance report's flat mode shows these exclusive balances more clearly:
```shell
$ hledger bal checking --flat
1 checking
1 checking:fund
--------------------
2
```
### Assertions and virtual postings
Balance assertions are checked against all postings, both real and
[virtual](#virtual-postings). They are not affected by the `--real/-R`
flag or `real:` query.
# Prices
## Transaction prices
When recording a transaction, you can also record an amount's price in another commodity.
This documents the exchange rate, cost (of a purchase), or selling price (of a sale) that was in effect within this particular transaction (or more precisely, within the particular posting).
These transaction prices are fixed, and do not change.
Such priced amounts can be displayed in their transaction price's
commodity, by using the `--cost/-B` flag (B for "cost Basis"),
supported by most hledger commands.
There are three ways to specify a transaction price:
1. Write the unit price (aka exchange rate), as `@ UNITPRICE` after the amount:
```journal
2009/1/1
assets:foreign currency €100 @ $1.35 ; one hundred euros at $1.35 each
assets:cash
```
2. Or write the total price, as `@@ TOTALPRICE` after the amount:
```journal
2009/1/1
assets:foreign currency €100 @@ $135 ; one hundred euros at $135 for the lot
assets:cash
```
3. Or let hledger infer the price so as to balance the transaction.
To permit this, you must fully specify all posting amounts, and
their sum must have a non-zero amount in exactly two commodities:
```journal
2009/1/1
assets:foreign currency €100 ; one hundred euros
assets:cash $-135 ; exchanged for $135
```
With any of the above examples we get:
```shell
$ hledger print -B
2009/01/01
assets:foreign currency $135.00
assets:cash $-135.00
```
Example use for transaction prices: recording the effective conversion
rate of purchases made in a foreign currency.
## Market prices
Market prices are not tied to a particular transaction; they represent
historical exchange rates between two commodities, usually from some
public market which publishes such rates.
When market prices are known, the `-V/--value` option will use them to
convert reported amounts to their market value as of the report end
date. This option is currently available only with the
[balance](#balance) command.
You record market prices (Ledger calls them historical prices) with a
P directive, in the journal or perhaps in a separate
[included](#including-other-files) file. Market price directives have
the format:
```journal
P DATE COMMODITYSYMBOL UNITPRICE
```
<!-- (A time and numeric time zone are allowed but ignored, like ledger.) -->
For example, the following directives say that the euro's exchange rate was 1.35 US dollars during 2009, and $1.40 from 2010 onward (and unknown before 2009).
```journal
P 2009/1/1 € $1.35
P 2010/1/1 € $1.40
```
Example use for market prices: tracking the value of stocks.
<!--
This is different from Ledger, where transaction prices fluctuate by
default. Ledger has a different syntax for specifying
