hledger/hledger-lib/hledger_journal.5

.\"t

.TH "hledger_journal" "5" "January 2019" "hledger 1.12.99" "hledger User Manuals"



.SH NAME
.PP
Journal \- hledger's default file format, representing a General Journal
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal
entries in hledger journal format.
This file represents a standard accounting general journal.
I use file names ending in \f[C]\&.journal\f[], but that's not required.
The journal file contains a number of transaction entries, each
describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more
named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans.
.PP
hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's
journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal files
as well.
It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on the same
journal file, eg to validate the results you're getting.
.PP
You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use
the add or web commands to create and update it.
Many users, though, also edit the journal file directly with a text
editor, perhaps assisted by the helper modes for emacs or vim.
.PP
Here's an example:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ A\ sample\ journal\ file.\ This\ is\ a\ comment.

2008/01/01\ income\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ transaction\[aq]s\ first\ line\ starts\ in\ column\ 0,\ contains\ date\ and\ description
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ $1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ posting\ lines\ start\ with\ whitespace,\ each\ contains\ an\ account\ name
\ \ \ \ income:salary\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-1\ \ \ \ ;\ \ \ \ followed\ by\ at\ least\ two\ spaces\ and\ an\ amount

2008/06/01\ gift
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ $1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ at\ least\ two\ postings\ in\ a\ transaction
\ \ \ \ income:gifts\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ their\ amounts\ must\ balance\ to\ 0

2008/06/02\ save
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:saving\ \ \ \ $1
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ one\ amount\ may\ be\ omitted;\ here\ $\-1\ is\ inferred

2008/06/03\ eat\ &\ shop\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ description\ can\ be\ anything
\ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $1
\ \ \ \ expenses:supplies\ \ \ \ \ $1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ this\ transaction\ debits\ two\ expense\ accounts
\ \ \ \ assets:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ $\-2\ inferred

2008/10/01\ take\ a\ loan
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ $1
\ \ \ \ liabilities:debts\ \ \ \ $\-1

2008/12/31\ *\ pay\ off\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ an\ optional\ *\ or\ !\ after\ the\ date\ means\ "cleared"\ (or\ anything\ you\ want)
\ \ \ \ liabilities:debts\ \ \ \ \ $1
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking
\f[]
.fi
.SH FILE FORMAT
.SS Transactions
.PP
Transactions are movements of some quantity of commodities between named
accounts.
Each transaction is represented by a journal entry beginning with a
simple date in column 0.
This can be followed by any of the following, separated by spaces:
.IP \[bu] 2
(optional) a status character (empty, \f[C]!\f[], or \f[C]*\f[])
.IP \[bu] 2
(optional) a transaction code (any short number or text, enclosed in
parentheses)
.IP \[bu] 2
(optional) a transaction description (any remaining text until end of
line or a semicolon)
.IP \[bu] 2
(optional) a transaction comment (any remaining text following a
semicolon until end of line)
.PP
Then comes zero or more (but usually at least 2) indented lines
representing\&...
.SS Postings
.PP
A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount
from, an account.
Each posting line begins with at least one space or tab (2 or 4 spaces
is common), followed by:
.IP \[bu] 2
(optional) a status character (empty, \f[C]!\f[], or \f[C]*\f[]),
followed by a space
.IP \[bu] 2
(required) an account name (any text, optionally containing \f[B]single
spaces\f[], until end of line or a double space)
.IP \[bu] 2
(optional) \f[B]two or more spaces\f[] or tabs followed by an amount.
.PP
Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are
being removed.
.PP
The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero.
As a convenience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so
as to balance the transaction.
.PP
Be sure to note the unusual two\-space delimiter between account name
and amount.
This makes it easy to write account names containing spaces.
But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the amount,
the amount will be considered part of the account name.
.SS Dates
.SS Simple dates
.PP
Within a journal file, transaction dates use Y/M/D (or Y\-M\-D or Y.M.D)
Leading zeros are optional.
The year may be omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the
context \- the current transaction, the default year set with a default
year directive, or the current date when the command is run.
Some examples: \f[C]2010/01/31\f[], \f[C]1/31\f[],
\f[C]2010\-01\-31\f[], \f[C]2010.1.31\f[].
.SS Secondary dates
.PP
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, you can
specify individual posting dates, which I recommend.
Or, you can use the secondary dates (aka auxiliary/effective dates)
feature, supported for compatibility with Ledger.
.PP
A secondary date can be written after the primary date, 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 \f[C]\-\-date2\f[] flag is specified
(\f[C]\-\-aux\-date\f[] or \f[C]\-\-effective\f[] also work).
.PP
The meaning of secondary dates 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.
.PP
Here's an example.
Note that a secondary date will use the year of the primary date if
unspecified.
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2010/2/23=2/19\ movie\ ticket
\ \ expenses:cinema\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\ \ assets:checking
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ register\ checking
2010/02/23\ movie\ ticket\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ register\ checking\ \-\-date2
2010/02/19\ movie\ ticket\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Secondary dates require some effort; you must use them consistently in
your journal entries and remember whether to use or not use the
\f[C]\-\-date2\f[] flag for your reports.
They are included in hledger for Ledger compatibility, but posting dates
are a more powerful and less confusing alternative.
.SS Posting dates
.PP
You can give individual postings a different date from their parent
transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below)
like \f[C]date:DATE\f[].
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:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2015/5/30
\ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ $10\ \ \ ;\ food\ purchased\ on\ saturday\ 5/30
\ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ bank\ cleared\ it\ on\ monday,\ date:6/1
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ \-f\ t.j\ register\ food
2015/05/30\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ \-f\ t.j\ register\ checking
2015/06/01\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.PP
DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use
the year of the transaction's date.
You can set the secondary date similarly, with \f[C]date2:DATE2\f[].
The \f[C]date:\f[] or \f[C]date2:\f[] tags must have a valid simple date
value if they are present, eg a \f[C]date:\f[] tag with no value is not
allowed.
.PP
Ledger's earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also supported:
\f[C][DATE]\f[], \f[C][DATE=DATE2]\f[] or \f[C][=DATE2]\f[].
hledger will attempt to parse any square\-bracketed sequence of the
\f[C]0123456789/\-.=\f[] characters in this way.
With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2
infers its year from DATE.
.SS Status
.PP
Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a
status mark, which is a single character before the transaction
description or posting account name, separated from it by a space,
indicating one of three statuses:
.PP
.TS
tab(@);
l l.
T{
mark \ 
T}@T{
status
T}
_
T{
\ 
T}@T{
unmarked
T}
T{
\f[C]!\f[]
T}@T{
pending
T}
T{
\f[C]*\f[]
T}@T{
cleared
T}
.TE
.PP
When reporting, you can filter by status with the
\f[C]\-U/\-\-unmarked\f[], \f[C]\-P/\-\-pending\f[], and
\f[C]\-C/\-\-cleared\f[] flags; or the \f[C]status:\f[],
\f[C]status:!\f[], and \f[C]status:*\f[] queries; or the U, P, C keys in
hledger\-ui.
.PP
Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the \[lq]unmarked\[rq]
state is called \[lq]uncleared\[rq].
As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to unmarked for clarity.
.PP
To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching
pending, combine \-U and \-P.
.PP
Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with
real\-world accounts.
Some editor modes provide highlighting and shortcuts for working with
status.
Eg in Emacs ledger\-mode, you can toggle transaction status with C\-c
C\-e, or posting status with C\-c C\-c.
.PP
What \[lq]uncleared\[rq], \[lq]pending\[rq], and \[lq]cleared\[rq]
actually mean is up to you.
Here's one suggestion:
.PP
.TS
tab(@);
lw(9.9n) lw(60.1n).
T{
status
T}@T{
meaning
T}
_
T{
uncleared
T}@T{
recorded but not yet reconciled; needs review
T}
T{
pending
T}@T{
tentatively reconciled (if needed, eg during a big reconciliation)
T}
T{
cleared
T}@T{
complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered correct
T}
.TE
.PP
With this scheme, you would use \f[C]\-PC\f[] to see the current balance
at your bank, \f[C]\-U\f[] to see things which will probably hit your
bank soon (like uncashed checks), and no flags to see the most
up\-to\-date state of your finances.
.SS Description
.PP
A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date
and status mark (or until a comment begins).
Sometimes called the \[lq]narration\[rq] in traditional bookkeeping, it
can be used for whatever you wish, or left blank.
Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike comments.
.SS Payee and note
.PP
You can optionally include a \f[C]|\f[] (pipe) character in a
description to subdivide it into a payee/payer name on the left and
additional notes on the right.
This may be worthwhile if you need to do more precise querying and
pivoting by payee.
.SS Account names
.PP
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: \f[C]assets\f[], \f[C]liabilities\f[],
\f[C]income\f[], \f[C]expenses\f[], and \f[C]equity\f[].
.PP
Account names may contain single spaces, eg:
\f[C]assets:accounts\ receivable\f[].
Because of this, they must always be followed by \f[B]two or more
spaces\f[] (or newline).
.PP
Account names can be aliased.
.SS Amounts
.PP
After the account name, there is usually an amount.
Important: between account name and amount, there must be \f[B]two or
more spaces\f[].
.PP
Amounts consist of a number and (usually) a currency symbol or commodity
name.
Some examples:
.PP
\f[C]2.00001\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]$1\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]4000\ AAPL\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]3\ "green\ apples"\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]\-$1,000,000.00\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]INR\ 9,99,99,999.00\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]EUR\ \-2.000.000,00\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]1\ 999\ 999.9455\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]EUR\ 1E3\f[]
.PD 0
.P
.PD
\f[C]1000E\-6s\f[]
.PP
As you can see, the amount format is somewhat flexible:
.IP \[bu] 2
amounts are a number (the \[lq]quantity\[rq]) and optionally a currency
symbol/commodity name (the \[lq]commodity\[rq]).
.IP \[bu] 2
the commodity is a symbol, word, or phrase, on the left or right, with
or without a separating space.
If the commodity contains numbers, spaces or non\-word punctuation it
must be enclosed in double quotes.
.IP \[bu] 2
negative amounts with a commodity on the left can have the minus sign
before or after it
.IP \[bu] 2
digit groups (thousands, or any other grouping) can be separated by
space or comma or period and should be used as separator between all
groups
.IP \[bu] 2
decimal part can be separated by comma or period and should be different
from digit groups separator
.IP \[bu] 2
scientific E\-notation is allowed.
Be careful not to use a digit group separator character in scientific
notation, as it's not supported and it might get mistaken for a decimal
point.
(Declaring the digit group separator character explicitly with a
commodity directive will prevent this.)
.PP
You can use any of these variations when recording data.
However, there is some ambiguous way of representing numbers like
\f[C]$1.000\f[] and \f[C]$1,000\f[] both may mean either one thousand or
one dollar.
By default hledger will assume that this is sole delimiter is used only
for decimals.
On the other hand commodity format declared prior to that line will help
to resolve that ambiguity differently:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
commodity\ $1,000.00

2017/12/25\ New\ life\ of\ Scrooge
\ \ \ \ expenses:gifts\ \ $1,000
\ \ \ \ assets
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Though journal may contain mixed styles to represent amount, when
hledger displays amounts, it will choose a consistent format for each
commodity.
(Except for price amounts, which are always formatted as written).
The display format is chosen as follows:
.IP \[bu] 2
if there is a commodity directive specifying the format, that is used
.IP \[bu] 2
otherwise the format is inferred from the first posting amount in that
commodity in the journal, and the precision (number of decimal places)
will be the maximum from all posting amounts in that commmodity
.IP \[bu] 2
or if there are no such amounts in the journal, a default format is used
(like \f[C]$1000.00\f[]).
.PP
Price amounts and amounts in \f[C]D\f[] directives usually don't affect
amount format inference, but in some situations they can do so
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, or
when \-V is used.) If you find this causing problems, set the desired
format with a commodity directive.
.SS Virtual Postings
.PP
When you parenthesise the account name in a posting, we call that a
\f[I]virtual posting\f[], which means:
.IP \[bu] 2
it is ignored when checking that the transaction is balanced
.IP \[bu] 2
it is excluded from reports when the \f[C]\-\-real/\-R\f[] flag is used,
or the \f[C]real:1\f[] query.
.PP
You could use this, eg, to set an account's opening balance without
needing to use the \f[C]equity:opening\ balances\f[] account:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
1/1\ special\ unbalanced\ posting\ to\ set\ initial\ balance
\ \ (assets:checking)\ \ \ $1000
\f[]
.fi
.PP
When the account name is bracketed, we call it a \f[I]balanced virtual
posting\f[].
This is like an ordinary 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 \f[C]\-\-real/\-R\f[] or
\f[C]real:1\f[].
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
1/1\ buy\ food\ with\ cash,\ and\ update\ some\ budget\-tracking\ subaccounts\ elsewhere
\ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\ \ assets:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\ \ [assets:checking:available]\ \ \ \ \ $10
\ \ [assets:checking:budget:food]\ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Virtual postings have some legitimate uses, but those are few.
You can usually find an equivalent journal entry using real postings,
which is more correct and provides better error checking.
.SS Balance Assertions
.PP
hledger supports Ledger\-style balance assertions in journal files.
These look like \f[C]=EXPECTEDBALANCE\f[] following a posting's amount.
Eg in this example we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a
and b after each posting:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2013/1/1
\ \ a\ \ \ $1\ \ =$1
\ \ b\ \ \ \ \ \ \ =$\-1

2013/1/2
\ \ a\ \ \ $1\ \ =$2
\ \ b\ \ $\-1\ \ =$\-2
\f[]
.fi
.PP
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
\f[C]\-\-ignore\-assertions\f[] flag, which can be useful for
troubleshooting or for reading Ledger files.
.SS Assertions and ordering
.PP
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.)
.PP
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.
.SS Assertions and included files
.PP
With included 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.
.SS Assertions and multiple \-f options
.PP
Balance assertions don't work well across files specified with multiple
\-f options.
Use include or concatenate the files instead.
.SS Assertions and commodities
.PP
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.
.PD 0
.P
.PD
This is how assertions work in Ledger also.
We could call this a \[lq]partial\[rq] balance assertion.
.PP
To assert the balance of more than one commodity in an account, you can
write multiple postings, each asserting one commodity's balance.
.PP
You can make a stronger kind of balance assertion, by writing a double
equals sign (\f[C]==EXPECTEDBALANCE\f[]).
This \[lq]complete\[rq] balance assertion asserts the absence of other
commodities (or, that their balance is 0, which to hledger is
equivalent.)
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2013/1/1
\ \ a\ \ \ $1
\ \ a\ \ \ \ 1€
\ \ b\ \ $\-1
\ \ c\ \ \ \-1€

2013/1/2\ \ ;\ These\ assertions\ succeed
\ \ a\ \ \ \ 0\ \ =\ \ $1
\ \ a\ \ \ \ 0\ \ =\ \ \ 1€
\ \ b\ \ \ \ 0\ ==\ $\-1
\ \ c\ \ \ \ 0\ ==\ \ \-1€

2013/1/3\ \ ;\ This\ assertion\ fails\ as\ \[aq]a\[aq]\ also\ contains\ 1€
\ \ a\ \ \ \ 0\ ==\ \ $1
\f[]
.fi
.PP
It's not yet possible to make a complete assertion about a balance that
has multiple commodities.
One workaround is to isolate each commodity into its own subaccount:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2013/1/1
\ \ a:usd\ \ \ $1
\ \ a:euro\ \ \ 1€
\ \ b

2013/1/2
\ \ a\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0\ ==\ \ 0
\ \ a:usd\ \ \ \ 0\ ==\ $1
\ \ a:euro\ \ \ 0\ ==\ \ 1€
\f[]
.fi
.SS Assertions and prices
.PP
Balance assertion (or assignment) amounts should not have a price, as
the meaning of that would be unclear.
.SS Assertions and subaccounts
.PP
Balance assertions do not count the balance from subaccounts; they check
the posted account's exclusive balance.
For example:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
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
\f[]
.fi
.PP
The balance report's flat mode shows these exclusive balances more
clearly:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ bal\ checking\ \-\-flat
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1\ \ checking
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1\ \ checking:fund
\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 2
\f[]
.fi
.SS Assertions and virtual postings
.PP
Balance assertions are checked against all postings, both real and
virtual.
They are not affected by the \f[C]\-\-real/\-R\f[] flag or
\f[C]real:\f[] query.
.SS Balance Assignments
.PP
Ledger\-style balance assignments are also supported.
These are like balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the
left side of the equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so
as to satisfy the assertion.
This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when setting opening
balances:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ starting\ a\ new\ journal,\ set\ asset\ account\ balances\ 
2016/1/1\ opening\ balances
\ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ =\ $409.32
\ \ assets:savings\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ =\ $735.24
\ \ assets:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ =\ $42
\ \ equity:opening\ balances
\f[]
.fi
.PP
or when adjusting a balance to reality:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ no\ cash\ left;\ update\ balance,\ record\ any\ untracked\ spending\ as\ a\ generic\ expense
2016/1/15
\ \ assets:cash\ \ \ \ =\ $0
\ \ expenses:misc
\f[]
.fi
.PP
The calculated amount depends on the account's balance in the commodity
at that point (which depends on the previously\-dated postings of the
commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or
assignment).
Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a little less
explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger or do
the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it.
.SS Transaction prices
.PP
Within a transaction, you can note an amount's price in another
commodity.
This can be used to document the cost (in a purchase) or selling price
(in a sale).
For example, transaction prices are useful to record purchases of a
foreign currency.
Note transaction prices are fixed at the time of the transaction, and do
not change over time.
See also market prices, which represent prevailing exchange rates on a
certain date.
.PP
There are several ways to record a transaction price:
.IP "1." 3
Write the price per unit, as \f[C]\@\ UNITPRICE\f[] after the amount:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2009/1/1
\ \ assets:euros\ \ \ \ \ €100\ \@\ $1.35\ \ ;\ one\ hundred\ euros\ purchased\ at\ $1.35\ each
\ \ assets:dollars\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ balancing\ amount\ is\ \-$135.00
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.IP "2." 3
Write the total price, as \f[C]\@\@\ TOTALPRICE\f[] after the amount:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2009/1/1
\ \ assets:euros\ \ \ \ \ €100\ \@\@\ $135\ \ ;\ one\ hundred\ euros\ purchased\ at\ $135\ for\ the\ lot
\ \ assets:dollars
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.IP "3." 3
Specify amounts for all postings, using exactly two commodities, and let
hledger infer the price that balances the transaction:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2009/1/1
\ \ assets:euros\ \ \ \ \ €100\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ one\ hundred\ euros\ purchased
\ \ assets:dollars\ \ $\-135\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ for\ $135
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.PP
(Ledger users: Ledger uses a different syntax for fixed prices,
\f[C]{=UNITPRICE}\f[], which hledger currently ignores).
.PP
Use the \f[C]\-B/\-\-cost\f[] flag to convert amounts to their
transaction price's commodity, if any.
(mnemonic: \[lq]B\[rq] is from \[lq]cost Basis\[rq], as in Ledger).
Eg here is how \-B affects the balance report for the example above:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ bal\ \-N\ \-\-flat
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-135\ \ assets:dollars
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ €100\ \ assets:euros
$\ hledger\ bal\ \-N\ \-\-flat\ \-B
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-135\ \ assets:dollars
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $135\ \ assets:euros\ \ \ \ #\ <\-\ the\ euros\[aq]\ cost
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Note \-B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price
is inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last
amount.
So if example 3's postings are reversed, while the transaction is
equivalent, \-B shows something different:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2009/1/1
\ \ assets:dollars\ \ $\-135\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ 135\ dollars\ sold
\ \ assets:euros\ \ \ \ \ €100\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ for\ 100\ euros
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ bal\ \-N\ \-\-flat\ \-B
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ €\-100\ \ assets:dollars\ \ #\ <\-\ the\ dollars\[aq]\ selling\ price
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ €100\ \ assets:euros
\f[]
.fi
.SS Comments
.PP
Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (\f[C];\f[]) or hash
(\f[C]#\f[]) or star (\f[C]*\f[]) are comments, and will be ignored.
(Star comments cause org\-mode nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users
to fold and navigate their journals with org\-mode or orgstruct\-mode.)
.PP
You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the
description and/or indented on the following lines (before the
postings).
Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by writing
them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines.
Transaction and posting comments must begin with a semicolon
(\f[C];\f[]).
.PP
Some examples:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ a\ file\ comment

;\ also\ a\ file\ comment

comment
This\ is\ a\ multiline\ file\ comment,
which\ continues\ until\ a\ line
where\ the\ "end\ comment"\ string
appears\ on\ its\ own\ (or\ end\ of\ file).
end\ comment

2012/5/14\ something\ \ ;\ a\ transaction\ comment
\ \ \ \ ;\ the\ transaction\ comment,\ continued
\ \ \ \ posting1\ \ 1\ \ ;\ a\ comment\ for\ posting\ 1
\ \ \ \ posting2
\ \ \ \ ;\ a\ comment\ for\ posting\ 2
\ \ \ \ ;\ another\ comment\ line\ for\ posting\ 2
;\ a\ file\ comment\ (because\ not\ indented)
\f[]
.fi
.PP
You can also comment larger regions of a file using \f[C]comment\f[] and
\f[C]end\ comment\f[] directives.
.SS Tags
.PP
Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to postings and
transactions, which you can then search or pivot on.
.PP
A simple tag is a word (which may contain hyphens) followed by a full
colon, written inside a transaction or posting comment line:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2017/1/16\ bought\ groceries\ \ \ \ ;\ sometag:
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, up to the next
comma or end of line, with leading/trailing whitespace removed:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ $10\ \ \ ;\ a\-posting\-tag:\ the\ tag\ value
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Note this means hledger's tag values can not contain commas or newlines.
Ending at commas means you can write multiple short tags on one line,
comma separated:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ a\ comment\ containing\ tag1:,\ tag2:\ some\ value\ ...
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Here,
.IP \[bu] 2
\[lq]\f[C]a\ comment\ containing\f[]\[rq] is just comment text, not a
tag
.IP \[bu] 2
\[lq]\f[C]tag1\f[]\[rq] is a tag with no value
.IP \[bu] 2
\[lq]\f[C]tag2\f[]\[rq] is another tag, whose value is
\[lq]\f[C]some\ value\ ...\f[]\[rq]
.PP
Tags in a transaction comment affect the transaction and all of its
postings, while tags in a posting comment affect only that posting.
For example, the following transaction has three tags (\f[C]A\f[],
\f[C]TAG2\f[], \f[C]third\-tag\f[]) and the posting has four (those plus
\f[C]posting\-tag\f[]):
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
1/1\ a\ transaction\ \ ;\ A:,\ TAG2:
\ \ \ \ ;\ third\-tag:\ a\ third\ transaction\ tag,\ <\-\ with\ a\ value
\ \ \ \ (a)\ \ $1\ \ ;\ posting\-tag:
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Tags are like Ledger's metadata feature, except hledger's tag values are
simple strings.
.SS Directives
.PP
A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword,
that influences how the journal is processed.
hledger's directives are based on a subset of Ledger's, but there are
many differences (and also some differences between hledger versions).
.PP
Directives' behaviour and interactions can get a little bit complex, so
here is a table summarising the directives and their effects, with links
to more detailed docs.
.PP
.TS
tab(@);
lw(7.8n) lw(8.6n) lw(7.0n) lw(27.8n) lw(18.8n).
T{
directive
T}@T{
end directive
T}@T{
subdirectives
T}@T{
purpose
T}@T{
can affect (as of 2018/06)
T}
_
T{
\f[C]account\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
any text
T}@T{
document account names, declare account types & display order
T}@T{
all entries in all files, before or after
T}
T{
\f[C]alias\f[]
T}@T{
\f[C]end\ aliases\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
rewrite account names
T}@T{
following inline/included entries until end of current file or end
directive
T}
T{
\f[C]apply\ account\f[]
T}@T{
\f[C]end\ apply\ account\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
prepend a common parent to account names
T}@T{
following inline/included entries until end of current file or end
directive
T}
T{
\f[C]comment\f[]
T}@T{
\f[C]end\ comment\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
ignore part of journal
T}@T{
following inline/included entries until end of current file or end
directive
T}
T{
\f[C]commodity\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
\f[C]format\f[]
T}@T{
declare a commodity and its number notation & display style
T}@T{
number notation: following entries in that commodity in all files;
display style: amounts of that commodity in reports
T}
T{
\f[C]D\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
T}@T{
declare a commodity, number notation & display style for commodityless
amounts
T}@T{
commodity: all commodityless entries in all files; number notation:
following commodityless entries and entries in that commodity in all
files; display style: amounts of that commodity in reports
T}
T{
\f[C]include\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
T}@T{
include entries/directives from another file
T}@T{
what the included directives affect
T}
T{
\f[C]P\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
T}@T{
declare a market price for a commodity
T}@T{
amounts of that commodity in reports, when \-V is used
T}
T{
\f[C]Y\f[]
T}@T{
T}@T{
T}@T{
declare a year for yearless dates
T}@T{
following inline/included entries until end of current file
T}
.TE
.PP
And some definitions:
.PP
.TS
tab(@);
lw(8.9n) lw(61.1n).
T{
subdirective
T}@T{
optional indented directive line immediately following a parent
directive
T}
T{
number notation
T}@T{
how to interpret numbers when parsing journal entries (the identity of
the decimal separator character).
(Currently each commodity can have its own notation, even in the same
file.)
T}
T{
display style
T}@T{
how to display amounts of a commodity in reports (symbol side and
spacing, digit groups, decimal separator, decimal places)
T}
T{
directive scope
T}@T{
which entries and (when there are multiple files) which files are
affected by a directive
T}
.TE
.PP
As you can see, directives vary in which journal entries and files they
affect, and whether they are focussed on input (parsing) or output
(reports).
Some directives have multiple effects.
.PP
If you have a journal made up of multiple files, or pass multiple \-f
options on the command line, note that directives which affect input
typically last only until the end of their defining file.
This provides more simplicity and predictability, eg reports are not
changed by writing file options in a different order.
It can be surprising at times though.
.SS Comment blocks
.PP
A line containing just \f[C]comment\f[] starts a commented region of the
file, and a line containing just \f[C]end\ comment\f[] (or the end of
the current file) ends it.
See also comments.
.SS Including other files
.PP
You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include
directive, like this:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
include\ path/to/file.journal
\f[]
.fi
.PP
If the path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the current
file.
The include file path may contain common glob patterns (e.g.
\f[C]*\f[]).
.PP
The \f[C]include\f[] directive can only be used in journal files.
It can include journal, timeclock or timedot files, but not CSV files.
.SS Default year
.PP
You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't
specify a year.
This is a line beginning with \f[C]Y\f[] followed by the year.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
Y2009\ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ set\ default\ year\ to\ 2009

12/15\ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ equivalent\ to\ 2009/12/15
\ \ expenses\ \ 1
\ \ assets

Y2010\ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ change\ default\ year\ to\ 2010

2009/1/30\ \ ;\ specifies\ the\ year,\ not\ affected
\ \ expenses\ \ 1
\ \ assets

1/31\ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ equivalent\ to\ 2010/1/31
\ \ expenses\ \ 1
\ \ assets
\f[]
.fi
.SS Declaring commodities
.PP
The \f[C]commodity\f[] directive declares commodities which may be used
in the journal (though currently we do not enforce this).
It may be written on a single line, like this:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ commodity\ EXAMPLEAMOUNT

;\ display\ AAAA\ amounts\ with\ the\ symbol\ on\ the\ right,\ space\-separated,
;\ using\ period\ as\ decimal\ point,\ with\ four\ decimal\ places,\ and
;\ separating\ thousands\ with\ comma.
commodity\ 1,000.0000\ AAAA
\f[]
.fi
.PP
or on multiple lines, using the \[lq]format\[rq] subdirective.
In this case the commodity symbol appears twice and should be the same
in both places:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ commodity\ SYMBOL
;\ \ \ format\ EXAMPLEAMOUNT

;\ display\ indian\ rupees\ with\ currency\ name\ on\ the\ left,
;\ thousands,\ lakhs\ and\ crores\ comma\-separated,
;\ period\ as\ decimal\ point,\ and\ two\ decimal\ places.
commodity\ INR
\ \ format\ INR\ 9,99,99,999.00
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Commodity directives have a second purpose: they define the standard
display format for amounts in the commodity.
Normally the display format is inferred from journal entries, but this
can be unpredictable; declaring it with a commodity directive overrides
this and removes ambiguity.
Towards this end, amounts in commodity directives must always be written
with a decimal point (a period or comma, followed by 0 or more decimal
digits).
.SS Default commodity
.PP
The \f[C]D\f[] directive sets a default commodity (and display format),
to be used for amounts without a commodity symbol (ie, plain numbers).
(Note this differs from Ledger's default commodity directive.) The
commodity and display format will be applied to all subsequent
commodity\-less amounts, or until the next \f[C]D\f[] directive.
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ commodity\-less\ amounts\ should\ be\ treated\ as\ dollars
#\ (and\ displayed\ with\ symbol\ on\ the\ left,\ thousands\ separators\ and\ two\ decimal\ places)
D\ $1,000.00

1/1
\ \ a\ \ \ \ \ 5\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ commodity\-less\ amount,\ becomes\ $1
\ \ b
\f[]
.fi
.PP
As with the \f[C]commodity\f[] directive, the amount must always be
written with a decimal point.
.SS Market prices
.PP
The \f[C]P\f[] directive declares a market price, which is an exchange
rate between two commodities on a certain date.
(In Ledger, they are called \[lq]historical prices\[rq].) These are
often obtained from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, or the
foreign exchange market.
.PP
Here is the format:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
P\ DATE\ COMMODITYA\ COMMODITYBAMOUNT
\f[]
.fi
.IP \[bu] 2
DATE is a simple date
.IP \[bu] 2
COMMODITYA is the symbol of the commodity being priced
.IP \[bu] 2
COMMODITYBAMOUNT is an amount (symbol and quantity) in a second
commodity, giving the price in commodity B of one unit of commodity A.
.PP
These two market price directives say that one euro was worth 1.35 US
dollars during 2009, and $1.40 from 2010 onward:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
P\ 2009/1/1\ €\ $1.35
P\ 2010/1/1\ €\ $1.40
\f[]
.fi
.PP
The \f[C]\-V/\-\-value\f[] flag can be used to convert reported amounts
to another commodity using these prices.
.SS Declaring accounts
.PP
\f[C]account\f[] directives can be used to pre\-declare some or all
accounts.
Though not required, they can provide several benefits:
.IP \[bu] 2
They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a
reference.
.IP \[bu] 2
They can store extra information about accounts (account numbers, notes,
etc.)
.IP \[bu] 2
They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability,
equity, revenue, expense), useful for reports like balancesheet and
incomestatement.
.IP \[bu] 2
They control account display order in reports, allowing non\-alphabetic
sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses).
.IP \[bu] 2
They help with account name completion in the add command,
hledger\-iadd, hledger\-web, ledger\-mode etc.
.PP
Here is the full syntax:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
account\ ACCTNAME\ \ [ACCTTYPE]
\ \ [COMMENTS]
\f[]
.fi
.PP
The simplest form just declares a hledger\-style account name, eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
account\ assets:bank:checking
\f[]
.fi
.SS Account types
.PP
hledger recognises five types of account: asset, liability, equity,
revenue, expense.
This is useful for certain accounting\-aware reports, in particular
balancesheet, incomestatement and cashflow.
.PP
If you name your top\-level accounts with some variation of
\f[C]assets\f[], \f[C]liabilities\f[]/\f[C]debts\f[], \f[C]equity\f[],
\f[C]revenues\f[]/\f[C]income\f[], or \f[C]expenses\f[], their types are
detected automatically.
.PP
More generally, you can declare an account's type by adding one of the
letters \f[C]ALERX\f[] to its account directive, separated from the
account name by two or more spaces.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
account\ assets\ \ \ \ \ \ \ A
account\ liabilities\ \ L
account\ equity\ \ \ \ \ \ \ E
account\ revenues\ \ \ \ \ R
account\ expenses\ \ \ \ \ X
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Note: if you ever override the types of those auto\-detected english
account names mentioned above, you might need to help the reports a bit:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ make\ "liabilities"\ not\ have\ the\ liability\ type,\ who\ knows\ why
account\ liabilities\ \ \ E

;\ better\ ensure\ some\ other\ account\ has\ the\ liability\ type,\ 
;\ otherwise\ balancesheet\ would\ still\ show\ "liabilities"\ under\ Liabilities\ 
account\ \-\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ L
\f[]
.fi
.PP
)
.SS Account comments
.PP
An account directive can also have indented comments on following lines,
eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
account\ assets:bank:checking
\ \ ;\ acctno:12345
\ \ ;\ a\ comment
\f[]
.fi
.PP
We also allow (and ignore) Ledger\-style subdirectives, with no leading
semicolon, for compatibility.
.PP
Tags in account comments, like \f[C]acctno\f[] above, currently have no
effect.
.SS Account display order
.PP
Account directives also set the order in which accounts are displayed in
reports, the hledger\-ui accounts screen, the hledger\-web sidebar, etc.
Normally accounts are listed in alphabetical order, but if you have eg
these account directives in the journal:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
account\ assets
account\ liabilities
account\ equity
account\ revenues
account\ expenses
\f[]
.fi
.PP
you'll see those accounts listed in declaration order, not
alphabetically:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ accounts\ \-1
assets
liabilities
equity
revenues
expenses
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Undeclared accounts, if any, are displayed last, in alphabetical order.
.PP
Note that sorting is done at each level of the account tree (within each
group of sibling accounts under the same parent).
And currently, this directive:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
account\ other:zoo
\f[]
.fi
.PP
would influence the position of \f[C]zoo\f[] among \f[C]other\f[]'s
subaccounts, but not the position of \f[C]other\f[] among the top\-level
accounts.
This means: \- you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg
\f[C]account\ other\f[] above) that you don't intend to post to, just to
customize their display order \- sibling accounts stay together (you
couldn't display \f[C]x:y\f[] in between \f[C]a:b\f[] and \f[C]a:c\f[]).
.SS Rewriting accounts
.PP
You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or
parts of them, before generating reports.
This can be useful for:
.IP \[bu] 2
expanding shorthand account names to their full form, allowing easier
data entry and a less verbose journal
.IP \[bu] 2
adapting old journals to your current chart of accounts
.IP \[bu] 2
experimenting with new account organisations, like a new hierarchy or
combining two accounts into one
.IP \[bu] 2
customising reports
.PP
Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives.
They do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or
hledger\-web.
.PP
See also Cookbook: Rewrite account names.
.SS Basic aliases
.PP
To set an account alias, use the \f[C]alias\f[] directive in your
journal file.
This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its
included files.
The spaces around the = are optional:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
alias\ OLD\ =\ NEW
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Or, you can use the \f[C]\-\-alias\ \[aq]OLD=NEW\[aq]\f[] option on the
command line.
This affects all entries.
It's useful for trying out aliases interactively.
.PP
OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names.
hledger will replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new
one.
Subaccounts are also affected.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
alias\ checking\ =\ assets:bank:wells\ fargo:checking
#\ rewrites\ "checking"\ to\ "assets:bank:wells\ fargo:checking",\ or\ "checking:a"\ to\ "assets:bank:wells\ fargo:checking:a"
\f[]
.fi
.SS Regex aliases
.PP
There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression,
indicated by the forward slashes:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
alias\ /REGEX/\ =\ REPLACEMENT
\f[]
.fi
.PP
or \f[C]\-\-alias\ \[aq]/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT\[aq]\f[].
.PP
REGEX is a case\-insensitive regular expression.
Anywhere it matches inside an account name, the matched part will be
replaced by REPLACEMENT.
If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced by
the usual numeric backreferences in REPLACEMENT.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
alias\ /^(.+):bank:([^:]+)(.*)/\ =\ \\1:\\2\ \\3
#\ rewrites\ "assets:bank:wells\ fargo:checking"\ to\ \ "assets:wells\ fargo\ checking"
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Also note that REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on command
line, to end of option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace.
.SS Multiple aliases
.PP
You can define as many aliases as you like using directives or
command\-line options.
Aliases are recursive \- each alias sees the result of applying previous
ones.
(This is different from Ledger, where aliases are non\-recursive by
default).
Aliases are applied in the following order:
.IP "1." 3
alias directives, most recently seen first (recent directives take
precedence over earlier ones; directives not yet seen are ignored)
.IP "2." 3
alias options, in the order they appear on the command line
.SS \f[C]end\ aliases\f[]
.PP
You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases with the
\f[C]end\ aliases\f[] directive:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
end\ aliases
\f[]
.fi
.SS Default parent account
.PP
You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all accounts
within a section of the journal.
Use the \f[C]apply\ account\f[] and \f[C]end\ apply\ account\f[]
directives like so:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
apply\ account\ home

2010/1/1
\ \ \ \ food\ \ \ \ $10
\ \ \ \ cash

end\ apply\ account
\f[]
.fi
.PP
which is equivalent to:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2010/01/01
\ \ \ \ home:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\ \ \ \ home:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.PP
If \f[C]end\ apply\ account\f[] is omitted, the effect lasts to the end
of the file.
Included files are also affected, eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
apply\ account\ business
include\ biz.journal
end\ apply\ account
apply\ account\ personal
include\ personal.journal
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy \f[C]account\f[] and \f[C]end\f[] spellings
were also supported.
.PP
A default parent account also affects account directives.
It does not affect account names being entered via hledger add or
hledger\-web.
If account aliases are present, they are applied after the default
parent account.
.SS Periodic transactions
.PP
Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur.
They allow you to generate future transactions for forecasting, without
having to write them out explicitly in the journal (with
\f[C]\-\-forecast\f[]).
Secondly, they also can be used to define budget goals (with
\f[C]\-\-budget\f[]).
.PP
A periodic transaction rule looks like a normal journal entry, with the
date replaced by a tilde (\f[C]~\f[]) followed by a period expression
(mnemonic: \f[C]~\f[] looks like a recurring sine wave.):
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
~\ monthly
\ \ \ \ expenses:rent\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $2000
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking
\f[]
.fi
.PP
There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start
date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval.
Eg \f[C]monthly\ from\ 2018/1/1\f[] is valid, but
\f[C]monthly\ from\ 2018/1/15\f[] is not.
.PP
Partial or relative dates (M/D, D, tomorrow, last week) in the period
expression can work (useful or not).
They will be relative to today's date, unless a Y default year directive
is in effect, in which case they will be relative to Y/1/1.
.PP
Period expressions must be terminated by \f[B]two or more spaces\f[] if
followed by additional fields.
For example, the periodic transaction given below includes a transaction
description \[lq]paycheck\[rq], which is separated from the period
expression by a double space.
If not for the second space, hledger would attempt (and fail) to parse
\[lq]paycheck\[rq] as a part of the period expression.
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 2\ or\ more\ spaces
;\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ||
;\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ vv
~\ every\ 2\ weeks\ from\ 2018/6/4\ to\ 2018/9\ \ paycheck
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ \ $1500
\ \ \ \ income:acme\ inc
\f[]
.fi
.SS Forecasting with periodic transactions
.PP
With the \f[C]\-\-forecast\f[] flag, each periodic transaction rule
generates future transactions recurring at the specified interval.
These are not saved in the journal, but appear in all reports.
They will look like normal transactions, but with an extra tag named
\f[C]recur\f[], whose value is the generating period expression.
.PP
Forecast transactions start on the first occurrence, and end on the last
occurrence, of their interval within the forecast period.
The forecast period:
.IP \[bu] 2
begins on the later of
.RS 2
.IP \[bu] 2
the report start date if specified with \-b/\-p/date:
.IP \[bu] 2
the day after the latest normal (non\-periodic) transaction in the
journal, or today if there are no normal transactions.
.RE
.IP \[bu] 2
ends on the report end date if specified with \-e/\-p/date:, or 180 days
from today.
.PP
where \[lq]today\[rq] means the current date at report time.
The \[lq]later of\[rq] rule ensures that forecast transactions do not
overlap normal transactions in time; they will begin only after normal
transactions end.
.PP
Forecasting can be useful for estimating balances into the future, and
experimenting with different scenarios.
Note the start date logic means that forecasted transactions are
automatically replaced by normal transactions as you add those.
.PP
Forecasting can also help with data entry: describe most of your
transactions with periodic rules, and every so often copy the output of
\f[C]print\ \-\-forecast\f[] to the journal.
.PP
You can generate one\-time transactions too: just write a period
expression specifying a date with no report interval.
(You could also write a normal transaction with a future date, but
remember this disables forecast transactions on previous dates.)
.SS Budgeting with periodic transactions
.PP
With the \f[C]\-\-budget\f[] flag, currently supported by the balance
command, each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals
for the specified accounts.
Eg the first example above declares a goal of spending $2000 on rent
(and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into checking) every month.
Goals and actual performance can then be compared in budget reports.
.PP
For more details, see: balance: Budget report and Cookbook: Budgeting
and Forecasting.
.PP
.SS Transaction Modifiers
.PP
Transaction modifier rules describe changes that should be applied
automatically to certain transactions.
Currently, this means adding extra postings (also known as
\[lq]automated postings\[rq]).
Transaction modifiers are enabled by the \f[C]\-\-auto\f[] flag.
.PP
A transaction modifier rule looks quite like a normal transaction,
except the first line is an equals sign followed by a query that matches
certain postings (mnemonic: \f[C]=\f[] suggests matching).
And each \[lq]posting\[rq] is actually a posting\-generating rule:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
=\ QUERY
\ \ \ \ ACCT\ \ AMT
\ \ \ \ ACCT\ \ [AMT]
\ \ \ \ ...
\f[]
.fi
.PP
The posting rules look just like normal postings, except the amount can
be:
.IP \[bu] 2
a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg \f[C]$2\f[].
This will be used as\-is.
.IP \[bu] 2
a number, eg \f[C]2\f[].
The commodity symbol (if any) from the matched posting will be added to
this.
.IP \[bu] 2
a numeric multiplier, eg \f[C]*2\f[] (a star followed by a number N).
The matched posting's amount (and total price, if any) will be
multiplied by N.
.IP \[bu] 2
a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg \f[C]*$2\f[] (a star, number N,
and symbol S).
The matched posting's amount will be multiplied by N, and its commodity
symbol will be replaced with S.
.PP
Some examples:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ every\ time\ I\ buy\ food,\ schedule\ a\ dollar\ donation
=\ expenses:food
\ \ \ \ (liabilities:charity)\ \ \ $\-1

;\ when\ I\ buy\ a\ gift,\ also\ deduct\ that\ amount\ from\ a\ budget\ envelope\ subaccount
=\ expenses:gifts
\ \ \ \ assets:checking:gifts\ \ *\-1
\ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ *1

2017/12/1
\ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ $10
\ \ assets:checking

2017/12/14
\ \ expenses:gifts\ \ \ $20
\ \ assets:checking
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ print\ \-\-auto
2017/12/01
\ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\ \ \ \ assets:checking
\ \ \ \ (liabilities:charity)\ \ \ \ \ \ $\-1

2017/12/14
\ \ \ \ expenses:gifts\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $20
\ \ \ \ assets:checking
\ \ \ \ assets:checking:gifts\ \ \ \ \ \-$20
\ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $20
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Postings added by transaction modifiers participate in transaction
balancing, missing amount inference and balance assertions, like regular
postings.
.SH EDITOR SUPPORT
.PP
Add\-on modes exist for various text editors, to make working with
journal files easier.
They add colour, navigation aids and helpful commands.
For hledger users who edit the journal file directly (the majority),
using one of these modes is quite recommended.
.PP
These were written with Ledger in mind, but also work with hledger
files:
.PP
.TS
tab(@);
lw(12.2n) lw(57.8n).
T{
Editor
T}@T{
T}
_
T{
Emacs
T}@T{
http://www.ledger\-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger\-mode.html
T}
T{
Vim
T}@T{
https://github.com/ledger/vim\-ledger
T}
T{
Sublime Text
T}@T{
https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Editing\-Ledger\-files\-with\-Sublime\-Text\-or\-RubyMine
T}
T{
Textmate
T}@T{
https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Using\-TextMate\-2
T}
T{
Text Wrangler \ 
T}@T{
https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Editing\-Ledger\-files\-with\-TextWrangler
T}
T{
Visual Studio Code
T}@T{
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mark\-hansen.hledger\-vscode
T}
.TE


.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org
(or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list)

.SH AUTHORS
Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com> and contributors

.SH COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2007-2016 Simon Michael.
.br
Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.

.SH SEE ALSO
hledger(1), hledger\-ui(1), hledger\-web(1), hledger\-api(1),
hledger_csv(5), hledger_journal(5), hledger_timeclock(5), hledger_timedot(5),
ledger(1)

http://hledger.org