diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Reports/MultiBalanceReports.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Reports/MultiBalanceReports.hs
index d2d545105..c9e7da23e 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Reports/MultiBalanceReports.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Reports/MultiBalanceReports.hs
@@ -69,11 +69,11 @@ type MultiBalanceReportRow    = (AccountName, AccountName, Int, [MixedAmount], M
 type MultiBalanceReportTotals = ([MixedAmount], MixedAmount, MixedAmount) -- (Totals list, sum of totals, average of totals)
 
 instance Show MultiBalanceReport where
-    -- use ppShow to break long lists onto multiple lines
-    -- we add some bogus extra shows here to help ppShow parse the output
+    -- use pshow (pretty-show's ppShow) to break long lists onto multiple lines
+    -- we add some bogus extra shows here to help it parse the output
     -- and wrap tuples and lists properly
     show (MultiBalanceReport (spans, items, totals)) =
-        "MultiBalanceReport (ignore extra quotes):\n" ++ ppShow (show spans, map show items, totals)
+        "MultiBalanceReport (ignore extra quotes):\n" ++ pshow (show spans, map show items, totals)
 
 -- type alias just to remind us which AccountNames might be depth-clipped, below.
 type ClippedAccountName = AccountName
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Debug.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Debug.hs
index 27ca08f67..2473cc835 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Debug.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Utils/Debug.hs
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@
 -- http://hackage.haskell.org/packages/archive/traced/2009.7.20/doc/html/Debug-Traced.html
 
 module Hledger.Utils.Debug (
-  module Hledger.Utils.Debug
+   module Hledger.Utils.Debug
   ,module Debug.Trace
-  ,ppShow
 )
 where
 
@@ -26,10 +25,15 @@ import           System.Exit
 import           System.IO.Unsafe (unsafePerformIO)
 import           Text.Megaparsec
 import           Text.Printf
-import           Text.Show.Pretty (ppShow)
+import           Text.Show.Pretty (ppShow, pPrint)
 
+-- | Easier alias for pretty-show's pPrint.
 pprint :: Show a => a -> IO ()
-pprint = putStrLn . ppShow
+pprint = pPrint
+
+-- | Easier alias for pretty-show's ppShow.
+pshow :: Show a => a -> String
+pshow = ppShow
 
 -- | Trace (print to stderr) a showable value using a custom show function.
 traceWith :: (a -> String) -> a -> a