mirror of
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The plan is to keep a small number of key docs in both the main hledger repo and the hledger.org wiki, and merge the updates from both sides periodically (at release time and on the first of the month, eg.) Because sometimes you're working on the web, sometimes you're working in the code, and I can't give up either one.
1342 lines
50 KiB
Markdown
1342 lines
50 KiB
Markdown
<!-- hledger repo and http://hledger.org versions of this document are periodically bidirectionally synced -->
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# User manual
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For: hledger 0.22.1
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## Introduction
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[hledger](http://hledger.org) is a program for tracking money, time,
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or any other commodity, using a simple, editable file format and
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double-entry accounting, inspired by and largely compatible with
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[ledger](http://ledger-cli.org). hledger is Free Software released
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under GPL version 3 or later.
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hledger's basic function is to read a plain text file describing (eg)
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financial transactions, and quickly generate useful reports via the
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command line. It can also help you record transactions, or (via add-ons)
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provide a local web interface for editing, or publish live financial data
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on the web.
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You can use it to, eg:
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- track spending and income
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- track unpaid or due invoices
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- track time and report by day/week/month/project
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- get accurate numbers for client billing and tax filing
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hledger works on linux, mac and windows. People most often build the
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latest release with cabal-install, like so:
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$ cabal update
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$ cabal install hledger [hledger-web]
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...
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$ hledger --version
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hledger 0.19.3
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For more help with this, and other install options, see the [Installation Guide](INSTALL.html).
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## Basic Usage
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Basic usage is:
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$ hledger COMMAND [OPTIONS] [ARGS]
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Most [commands](#commands) query or operate on a
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[journal file](#the-journal-file), which by default is `.hledger.journal`
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in your home directory. You can specify a different file with the `-f`
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option or `LEDGER_FILE` environment variable, or standard input with `-f-`.
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Options are similar across most commands, with some variations; use
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`hledger COMMAND --help` for details. Most options must appear
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somewhere after COMMAND, not before it. These input and help-related
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options can appear anywhere: `-f`, `--rules-file`, `--alias`,
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`--help`, `--debug`, `--version`.
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Arguments are also command-specific, but usually they form a
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[query](#queries) which selects a subset of the journal, eg transactions
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in a certain account.
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To create an initial journal, run `hledger add` and follow the prompts to
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enter some transactions. Or, save this
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[sample file](https://raw.github.com/simonmichael/hledger/master/data/sample.journal) as
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`.hledger.journal` in your home directory. Now try commands like these:
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$ hledger # show available commands
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$ hledger add # add more transactions to the journal file
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$ hledger balance # all accounts with aggregated balances
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$ hledger balance --help # show help for balance command
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$ hledger balance --depth 1 # only top-level accounts
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$ hledger register # show a register of postings from all transactions
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$ hledger reg income # show postings to/from income accounts
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$ hledger reg checking # show postings to/from checking account
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$ hledger reg desc:shop # show postings with shop in the description
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$ hledger activity # show transactions per day as a bar chart
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## Data format
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### Journal files
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hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal entries in hledger journal format.
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This file represents a standard accounting [general journal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_journal).
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I use file names ending in `.journal`, but that's not required.
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The journal file contains a number of transaction entries,
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each describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more named accounts,
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in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans.
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hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly,
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of [ledger's journal format](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Journal-Format),
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so hledger can work with [compatible](FAQ.html#what-are-the-file-format-differences) ledger journal files as well.
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It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on the same journal file,
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eg to validate the results you're getting.
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You can use hledger without learning any more about this file;
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just use the [add](#add) or [web](#web) commands to create and update it.
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Many users, though, also edit the journal file directly with a text editor, perhaps assisted by the helper modes for emacs or vim.
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Here's an example:
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; A sample journal file. This is a comment.
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2008/01/01 income ; <- transaction's first line starts in column 0, contains date and description
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assets:bank:checking $1 ; <- posting lines start with whitespace, each contains an account name
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income:salary $-1 ; followed by at least two spaces and an amount
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2008/06/01 gift
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assets:bank:checking $1 ; <- at least two postings in a transaction
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income:gifts $-1 ; <- their amounts must balance to 0
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2008/06/02 save
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assets:bank:saving $1
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assets:bank:checking ; <- one amount may be omitted; here $-1 is inferred
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2008/06/03 eat & shop ; <- description can be anything
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expenses:food $1
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expenses:supplies $1 ; <- this transaction debits two expense accounts
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assets:cash ; <- $-2 inferred
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2008/12/31 * pay off ; <- an optional * or ! after the date means "cleared" (or anything you want)
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liabilities:debts $1
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assets:bank:checking
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Now let's explore the available journal file syntax in detail.
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#### Entries
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Each journal entry begins with a [simple date](#simple-dates) in
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column 0, followed by three optional fields with spaces between them:
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a status flag (`*` or `!` or nothing), a transaction code (eg a check
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number), and/or a description; then two or more postings (of some
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amount to some account), each on their own line.
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The posting amounts within a transaction must always balance, ie add up to
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0. You can leave one amount blank and it will be inferred.
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#### Dates
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##### Simple dates
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Within a journal file, transaction dates always follow a year/month/day
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format, although several different separator characters are accepted. Some
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examples:
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> `2010/01/31`, `2010/1/31`, `2010-1-31`, `2010.1.31`
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Writing the year is optional if you set a default year with a Y directive.
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This is a line containing `Y` and the year; it affects subsequent
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transactions, like so:
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Y2009
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12/15 ; equivalent to 2009/12/15
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...
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Y2010
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1/31 ; equivalent to 2010/1/31
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...
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##### Secondary dates
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Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the date
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you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank. When you want to
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model this, eg for more accurate balances, write both dates separated by
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an equals sign. The *primary date*, on the left, is used by default; the
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*secondary date*, on the right, is used when the `--date2` flag is specified
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(`--aux-date` or `--effective` will also work).
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Their meaning is up to you, but it's best to follow a consistent rule. I
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write the bank's clearing date as primary, and the date I initiated the
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transaction as secondary (if needed).
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Example:
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; PRIMARY=SECONDARY
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; The secondary date's year is optional, defaulting to the primary's
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2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket
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expenses:cinema $10
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assets:checking
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$ hledger register checking
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2010/02/23 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10
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$ hledger register checking --date2
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2010/02/19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10
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##### Posting dates
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[Comments and tags](#comments) are covered below, but while we are talking
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about dates: you can give individual postings a different date from their
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parent transaction, by adding a posting tag like `date:DATE`, where DATE is
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a [simple date](#simple-dates). The secondary date can be set with
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`date2:DATE2`. If present, these dates will take precedence in reports.
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Ledger's bracketed posting date syntax (`[DATE]`,
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`[DATE=DATE2]` or `[=DATE2]` in a posting comment)
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is also supported, as an alternate spelling of the date and date2 tags.
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Note: if you do use either of these forms, be sure to give them a valid DATE
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or you'll get a parse error, eg an empty `date:` tag is not allowed.
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#### Accounts
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Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, from
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which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. They can be
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anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally five top-level
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accounts: `assets`, `liabilities`, `income`, `expenses`, and `equity`.
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Account names may contain single spaces, eg: `assets:accounts receivable`.
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#### Amounts
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After the account name, there is usually an amount.
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Important: between account name and amount, there must be **two or more** spaces.
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The amount is a number, optionally with a currency symbol or commodity name on either the left or right.
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Negative amounts may have the minus sign either before or after the currency symbol (`-$1` or `$-1`).
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Commodity names which contain more than just letters should be enclosed in double quotes (`1 "person hours"`).
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##### Decimal points and digit groups
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hledger supports flexible decimal point and digit group separator styles,
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to support international variations. Numbers can use either a period (`.`)
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or a comma (`,`) as decimal point. They can also have digit group
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separators at any position (eg thousands separators) which can be comma or
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period - whichever one you did not use as a decimal point. If you use
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digit group separators, you must also include a decimal point in at least
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one number in the same commodity, so that hledger knows which character is
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which. Eg, write `$1,000.00` or `$1.000,00`.
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##### Canonical amount styles
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Based on how you format amounts, hledger will infer canonical display
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styles for each commodity, and use these when displaying amounts in that
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commodity. Amount styles include:
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- the position (left or right) and spacing (space or no separator) of the commodity symbol
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- the digit group separator character (comma or period) and digit group sizes, if any
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- the decimal point character (period or comma)
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- the display precision (number of decimal places displayed)
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The canonical style is generally the style of the first amount seen in a commodity
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(which may be in a [default commodity directive](#default-commodity).
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The precision is the highest precision seen among all amounts in the commmodity.
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##### Balance Assertions
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hledger supports ledger-style
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[balance assertions](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Balance-assertions)
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in journal files.
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These look like `=EXPECTEDBALANCE` following a posting's amount. Eg in
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this example we assert the expected balance in accounts a and b after
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each posting:
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2013/1/1
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a $1 =$1
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b =$-1
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2013/1/2
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a $1 =$2
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b $-1 =$-2
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After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance
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assertions and report an error if any of them fail. Balance assertions
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can protect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances
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while cleaning up old entries.
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Note, when checking balance assertions hledger sorts the account's
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postings first by date and then (for postings with the same date) by
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parse order. This is different from ledger, which currently goes
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strictly by parse order. Sorting by date means balance assertions will
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still work if you reorder your entries.
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Also note the asserted balance must be a simple amount - it's not
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currently possible to assert a balance containing multiple commodities.
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The impact of balance assertions on parsing time for large files is
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not yet known.
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#### Prices
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<!-- ##### Transaction prices -->
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When recording an amount, you can also record its price in another
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commodity. This documents an exchange rate that was applied within
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this transaction (or to be precise, within the posting). There are
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three ways to specify a transaction price:
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1. Write the unit price (exchange rate) explicitly as `@ UNITPRICE` after the amount:
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2009/1/1
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assets:foreign currency €100 @ $1.35 ; one hundred euros at $1.35 each
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assets:cash
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2. Or write the total price for this amount as `@@ TOTALPRICE`:
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2009/1/1
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assets:foreign currency €100 @@ $135 ; one hundred euros at $135 for the lot
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assets:cash
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3. Or fully specify all posting amounts using exactly two commodities:
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2009/1/1
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assets:foreign currency €100 ; one hundred euros
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assets:cash $-135 ; exchanged for $135
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You can use the `--cost/-B` flag with reporting commands to see such
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amounts converted to their price's commodity. Eg, using any of the above
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examples we get:
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$ hledger print --cost
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2009/01/01
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assets:foreign currency $135.00
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assets $-135.00
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##### Fixed Lot Prices
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ledger has another syntax for
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[fixed lot prices](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Fixing-Lot-Prices).
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(`{=PRICE}`). In ledger, this is equivalent to `@ PRICE`, except you
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can provide both and then ledger generates an automatic Capital Losses
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posting covering the difference.
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hledger will parse this syntax, but ignore it.
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##### Historical prices
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hledger will parse and ignore ledger-style historical price directives:
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<!-- (A time and numeric time zone are allowed but ignored, like ledger.) -->
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; Historical price directives look like: P DATE COMMODITYSYMBOL UNITPRICE
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; These say the euro's exchange rate is $1.35 during 2009 and
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; $1.40 from 2010/1/1 on.
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P 2009/1/1 € $1.35
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P 2010/1/1 € $1.40
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#### Comments
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A semicolon in the journal file marks the start of a comment. You can
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write comments on their own line between transactions, like so:
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; Also known as a "journal comment". Whitespace before the ; is allowed.
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You can also write transaction- or posting-specific comments following the
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transaction's first line or the posting, on the same line and/or indented
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on following lines. Some examples:
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; a journal comment
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2012/5/14 something ; and now a transaction comment
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; another comment for this transaction
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posting1 1 ; a comment for posting 1
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posting2
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; a comment for posting 2
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; another comment for posting 2
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; another journal comment (because not indented)
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Currently `print` preserves transaction and posting comments but not
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journal comments.
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Comments may contain [tags](#tags).
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#### Tags
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You can include *tags* (labels), optionally with values,
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in transaction and posting comments, and then [query by tag](#queries).
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This is like Ledger's [metadata](http://ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger3.html#Metadata)
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feature, except hledger's tag values are simple strings.
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A tag is any unspaced word immediately followed by a full colon, eg: `sometag:` .
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A tag's *value* is the text following the colon, if any, until the next newline or comma,
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with leading and trailing whitespace removed. Comma may be used to write multiple
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tags on one line.
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For example, here is a transaction with three tags, the posting has
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one, and all tags have values except TAG1:
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1/1 a transaction ; TAG1:, TAG2: tag2's value
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; TAG3: a third transaction tag
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a $1 ; TAG4: a posting tag
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#### Directives
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##### Account aliases
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You can define account aliases to rewrite certain account names (and their subaccounts).
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This tends to be a little more reliable than post-processing with sed or similar.
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The directive is `alias ORIG = ALIAS`, where ORIG and ALIAS are full account names.
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Eg:
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alias expenses = equity:draw:personal
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To forget all aliases defined to this point, use:
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end aliases
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See also [How to use account aliases](ALIASES.html).
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##### Default commodity
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You can set a default commodity, to be used for any subsequent amounts
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which have no commodity symbol, with the D directive:
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; set british pound as default commodity
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; also sets canonical style for pound amounts, since it's the first one
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; (pound symbol on left, comma thousands separator, two decimal places)
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D £1,000.00
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2010/1/1
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a 2340 ; no symbol, will use pound
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b
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A default commodity directive may also influence the canonical
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[amount style](#commodity-display-settings) for the commodity.
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##### Default parent account
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You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all accounts
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within a section of the journal. Use the `account` directive like so:
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account home
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2010/1/1
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food $10
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cash
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end
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If `!end` is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the file.
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The above is equivalent to:
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2010/01/01
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home:food $10
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home:cash $-10
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Included files are also affected, eg:
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account business
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include biz.journal
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end
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account personal
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include personal.journal
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end
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##### Including other files
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You can pull in the content of additional journal files, by writing lines like this:
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include path/to/file.journal
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The `include` directive may only be used in journal files, and currently
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it may only include other journal files (eg, not CSV or timelog files.)
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### CSV files
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hledger can also read
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[CSV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values) files,
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translating the CSV records into journal entries on the fly.
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We must provide some some conversion hints in a "rules file", named
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like the CSV file with an extra `.rules` suffix (you can choose another name with `--rules-file`).
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If the rules file does not exist, it will be created with default rules, which you'll need to tweak.
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Here's a minimal rules file. It says that the first and second CSV fields
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are the journal entry's date and amount:
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fields date, amount
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Lines beginning with `#` or `;` and blank lines are ignored.
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The following kinds of rule can appear in any order:
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**fields** *CSVFIELDNAME1*, *CSVFIELDNAME1*, ...
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: (Field list) This names the CSV fields (names may not contain whitespace or `;` or `#`),
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and also assigns them to journal entry fields when you use any of these names:
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date
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date2
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status
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code
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description
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comment
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account1
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account2
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currency
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amount
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amount-in
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amount-out
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*JOURNALFIELDNAME* *FIELDVALUE*
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: (Field assignment) This assigns the given text value
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to a journal entry field (one of the field names above).
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CSV fields can be referenced with `%CSVFIELDNAME` or `%N` (N starts at 1) and will be interpolated.
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You can use a field list, field assignments, or both.
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At least the `date` and `amount` fields must be assigned.
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**if** *PATTERNS*<br> *FIELDASSIGNMENTS*
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: (Conditional block) This applies the field assignments only to CSV records matched by one of the PATTERNS.
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PATTERNS is one or more regular expressions, each on its own line.
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The first pattern can optionally be written on the same line as
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the `if`; patterns on the following lines must start in column 0
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(no indenting). The regular expressions are case insensitive, and
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can match anywhere within the whole CSV record. (It's not yet
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|
possible to match within a specific field.)
|
|
|
|
FIELDASSIGNMENTS is one or more field assignments (described
|
|
above), each on its own line and indented by at least one
|
|
space. (The indent is required for successful parsing.)
|
|
|
|
Example 1. The simplest conditional block has a single pattern and
|
|
a single field assignment. Here, any CSV record containing the
|
|
pattern `groceries` will have its account2 field set to
|
|
`expenses:groceries`.
|
|
|
|
if groceries
|
|
account2 expenses:groceries
|
|
|
|
Example 2. Here, CSV records containing any of these patterns will
|
|
have their account2 and comment fields set as shown. The
|
|
capitalisation is not required, that's just how I copied them from
|
|
my bank's CSV.
|
|
|
|
if
|
|
MONTHLY SERVICE FEE
|
|
ATM TRANSACTION FEE
|
|
FOREIGN CURR CONV
|
|
OVERDRAFT TRANSFER FEE
|
|
BANKING THRU SOFTWARE:FEE
|
|
INTERNATIONAL PURCHASE TRANSACTION FEE
|
|
WIRE TRANS SVC CHARGE
|
|
FEE FOR TRANSFER
|
|
VISA ISA FEE
|
|
account2 expenses:business:banking
|
|
comment XXX probably deductible, check
|
|
|
|
**skip** [*N*]
|
|
: Skip this number of CSV records (1 by default).
|
|
Use this to skip CSV header lines.
|
|
<!-- hledger tries to skip initial CSV header lines automatically. -->
|
|
<!-- If it guesses wrong, use this directive to skip exactly N lines. -->
|
|
<!-- This can also be used in a conditional block to ignore certain CSV records. -->
|
|
|
|
**date-format** *DATEFMT*
|
|
: This is required if the values for `date` or `date2` fields are not in YYYY/MM/DD format (or close to it).
|
|
DATEFMT specifies a strptime-style date parsing pattern containing [year/month/date format codes](http://hackage.haskell.org/packages/archive/time/latest/doc/html/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime).
|
|
Note the pattern must parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples:
|
|
|
|
# "6/11/2013"
|
|
date-format %-d/%-m/%Y
|
|
|
|
# "11/06/2013"
|
|
date-format %m/%d/%Y
|
|
|
|
# "2013-Nov-06"
|
|
date-format %Y-%h-%d
|
|
|
|
# "11/6/2013 11:32 PM"
|
|
date-format %-m/%-d/%Y %l:%M %p
|
|
|
|
**include** *RULESFILE*
|
|
: Include another rules file at this point. Useful for common rules shared across multiple CSV files.
|
|
|
|
Typically you'll keep one rules file for each account which you
|
|
download as CSV. For an example, see [How to read CSV
|
|
files](CSV.html).
|
|
|
|
Other notes:
|
|
|
|
An amount value that is parenthesised will have the parentheses stripped and its sign flipped.
|
|
|
|
If the `currency` pseudo field is assigned, its value will be prepended to every amount.
|
|
|
|
If the CSV has debit/credit amounts in separate fields, assign the `amount-in` and `amount-out` pseudo fields instead of `amount`.
|
|
|
|
Generating entries with three or more postings is not supported at present.
|
|
|
|
### Timelog files
|
|
|
|
hledger can also read time log files. These are (a subset of) timeclock.el's
|
|
format, containing clock-in and clock-out entries like so:
|
|
|
|
i 2009/03/31 22:21:45 projects:A
|
|
o 2009/04/01 02:00:34
|
|
|
|
hledger treats the clock-in description ("projects:A") as an account name,
|
|
and creates a virtual transaction (or several - one per day) with the
|
|
appropriate amount of hours. From the time log above, hledger print gives:
|
|
|
|
2009/03/31 * 22:21-23:59
|
|
(projects:A) 1.6h
|
|
|
|
2009/04/01 * 00:00-02:00
|
|
(projects:A) 2.0h
|
|
|
|
Here is a
|
|
[sample.timelog](https://raw.github.com/simonmichael/hledger/master/data/sample.timelog) to
|
|
download and some queries to try:
|
|
|
|
hledger -f sample.timelog balance # current time balances
|
|
hledger -f sample.timelog register -p 2009/3 # sessions in march 2009
|
|
hledger -f sample.timelog register -p weekly --depth 1 --empty # time summary by week
|
|
|
|
To generate time logs, ie to clock in and clock out, you could:
|
|
|
|
- use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or
|
|
the extended [timeclock-x.el](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/timeclock-x.el)
|
|
and perhaps the extras in [ledgerutils.el](http://hub.darcs.net/simon/ledgertools/ledgerutils.el)
|
|
|
|
- at the command line, use these bash aliases:
|
|
|
|
alias ti="echo i \`date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'\` \$* >>$TIMELOG"
|
|
alias to="echo o \`date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'\` >>$TIMELOG"
|
|
|
|
- or use the old `ti` and `to` scripts in the [ledger 2.x repository](https://github.com/ledger/ledger/tree/maint/scripts).
|
|
These rely on a "timeclock" executable which I think is just the ledger 2 executable renamed.
|
|
|
|
## Commands
|
|
|
|
hledger provides a number of subcommands out of the box; run `hledger` with no arguments to see a list.
|
|
More [add-on commands](#add-ons) will appear if you install additional `hledger-*` packages,
|
|
or if you put programs or scripts named `hledger-NAME` in your PATH.
|
|
|
|
To run a command, you just need to type its unique prefix, eg `hledger reg` is a shortcut for `hledger register`.
|
|
(Also, `hledger bs` is short for `hledger balancesheet`.)
|
|
|
|
### Data entry
|
|
|
|
Many hledger users edit their journals directly with a text editor, or generate them from CSV.
|
|
For more interactive data entry, there is the `add` command and also the `web` add-on (below).
|
|
|
|
#### add
|
|
|
|
The add command prompts interactively for new transactions, and appends
|
|
them to the journal file. Just run `hledger add` and follow the prompts.
|
|
You can add as many transactions as you like; when you are finished,
|
|
press control-d or control-c to exit.
|
|
|
|
Additional convenience features:
|
|
|
|
- Sensible defaults are provided where possible.
|
|
You can set the initial defaults by providing them as command line arguments.
|
|
If there is a recent transaction with a description similar
|
|
to the one you entered, it will be displayed and used for defaults.
|
|
|
|
- [Readline-style edit keys](http://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/readline/rluserman.html#SEC3)
|
|
may be used during data entry. Eg control-p recalls previous entries.
|
|
|
|
- While entering account names, the tab key will auto-complete or list
|
|
the available completions, based on the existing transactions.
|
|
|
|
- If the journal defines a [default commodity](#default-commodity),
|
|
it will be added to any bare numbers entered.
|
|
|
|
- A code (in parentheses) may be entered at the Date: prompt, following the date.
|
|
Comments and/or tags may be entered following a date or amount.
|
|
|
|
- If you make a mistake, enter `<` at any prompt to restart the transaction.
|
|
|
|
An example:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger add
|
|
(...)
|
|
Starting a new transaction.
|
|
date ? [2013/04/09]:
|
|
description ? : starbucks
|
|
|
|
Using this existing transaction for defaults:
|
|
2012/04/19 * starbucks
|
|
expenses:personal:food:snacks $3.70
|
|
assets:cash:wallet $-3.70
|
|
|
|
account 1 ? [expenses:personal:food:snacks]:
|
|
amount 1 ? [$3.7]:
|
|
account 2 ? [assets:cash:wallet]:
|
|
amount 2 ? [$-3.7]:
|
|
account 3 (or . to complete this transaction) ? : .
|
|
|
|
Transaction entered:
|
|
2013/04/09 starbucks
|
|
expenses:personal:food:snacks $7.7
|
|
assets:cash:wallet $-7.7
|
|
|
|
Accept this transaction ? [y]:
|
|
Added to the journal.
|
|
|
|
Starting a new transaction.
|
|
date ? [2013/04/09]: <CTRL-D>
|
|
$
|
|
|
|
### Reporting
|
|
|
|
These are the commands for actually querying your ledger.
|
|
The most basic reporting commands are `print`, `register` and `balance`:
|
|
|
|
#### print
|
|
|
|
The print command displays full transactions from the journal file,
|
|
tidily formatted and showing all amounts explicitly. The output of
|
|
print is always a valid hledger journal, but it does always not
|
|
preserve all original content exactly (eg directives).
|
|
|
|
hledger's print command also shows all unit prices in effect, or (with
|
|
-B/--cost) shows cost amounts.
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger print
|
|
$ hledger print employees:bob | hledger -f- register expenses
|
|
|
|
#### register
|
|
|
|
The register command displays postings, one per line, and their running
|
|
total. With no [query terms](#queries), this is not all that different
|
|
from [print](#print):
|
|
|
|
$ hledger register
|
|
|
|
More typically, use it to see a specific account's activity:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger register assets:bank:checking
|
|
|
|
The `--depth` option limits the amount of sub-account detail displayed:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger register assets:bank:checking --depth 2
|
|
|
|
With a [reporting interval](#reporting-interval) it shows aggregated
|
|
summary postings within each interval:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger register --monthly rent
|
|
$ hledger register --monthly -E food --depth 4
|
|
|
|
The `--average`/`-A` flag shows the running average posting amount instead of the running total.
|
|
|
|
The `--related`/`-r` flag shows the *other* postings in the transactions
|
|
of the postings which would normally be shown.
|
|
|
|
The `--width`/`-w` option adjusts the width of the output. By default,
|
|
this is 80 characters. To allow more space for descriptions and account
|
|
names, use `-w` to increase the width to 120 characters, or `-wN` to set
|
|
any desired width (at least 50 recommended).
|
|
Note, currently -w/--width can not have a space between flag and value ([#149](https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/issues/149)).
|
|
|
|
#### balance
|
|
|
|
The balance command displays accounts and their balances, indented to show the account hierarchy.
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger balance
|
|
$ hledger balance food -p 'last month'
|
|
|
|
Accounts which have zero balance (and no non-zero subaccounts) will be
|
|
omitted by default; use `-E/--empty` to show them. "Boring parent"
|
|
accounts, which contain a single interesting subaccount and no balance
|
|
of their own, are elided into the subaccount's line for more compact output;
|
|
use `--no-elide` to prevent this.
|
|
|
|
A final total is displayed, use `--no-total` to suppress this. Also, the
|
|
`--depth N` option shows accounts only to the specified depth, useful for
|
|
an overview:
|
|
|
|
$ for y in 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010; do echo; echo $y; hledger -f $y.journal balance ^expenses --depth 2; done
|
|
|
|
With `--flat`, a non-hierarchical list of full account names is displayed
|
|
instead. This mode shows just the accounts actually contributing to the
|
|
balance, making the arithmetic a little more obvious to non-hledger users.
|
|
In this mode you can also use `--drop N` to elide the first few account
|
|
name components. Note `--depth` doesn't work too well with `--flat` currently;
|
|
it hides deeper accounts rather than aggregating them.
|
|
|
|
With a [reporting interval](#reporting-interval), multiple columns
|
|
will be shown, one for each period. There are three modes available:
|
|
|
|
1. By default each column shows the sum of postings in that period, ie
|
|
the account's change of balance in that period. This is good for a
|
|
multi-column income statement:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger balance ^income ^expense -p 'monthly this year' --depth 3
|
|
|
|
or cashflow statement:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger balance ^assets ^liabilities 'not:(receivable|payable)' -p 'weekly this month'
|
|
|
|
2. With `--cumulative`, the report shows the ending balance for each
|
|
account at the end of each period, starting from zero at the report
|
|
start date.
|
|
|
|
3. With `--historical/-H`, it shows the actual ending balance at the
|
|
end of each period, including any balance from postings before the
|
|
report start date. This is good for historical balance sheets:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger balance ^assets ^liabilities -YH
|
|
|
|
#### incomestatement
|
|
|
|
This command displays a simple
|
|
[income statement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_statement). It
|
|
currently assumes that you have top-level accounts named `income` (or
|
|
`revenue`) and `expense` (plural forms also allowed.)
|
|
|
|
#### balancesheet
|
|
|
|
This command displays a simple
|
|
[balance sheet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_sheet). It currently
|
|
assumes that you have top-level accounts named `asset` and `liability`
|
|
(plural forms also allowed.)
|
|
|
|
#### cashflow
|
|
|
|
This command displays a simplified
|
|
[cashflow statement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_flow_statement)
|
|
(without the traditional segmentation into operating, investing, and
|
|
financing cash flows.) It shows the change in all "cash" accounts for the
|
|
period. It currently assumes that cash accounts are under a top-level
|
|
account named `asset` and do not contain `receivable` or `A/R` (plural
|
|
forms also allowed.)
|
|
|
|
#### activity
|
|
|
|
The activity command displays a simplistic textual bar chart showing
|
|
transaction counts by day, week, month or other reporting interval.
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger activity -p weekly dining
|
|
|
|
#### stats
|
|
|
|
The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, or
|
|
a matched part of it.
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger stats
|
|
$ hledger stats -p 'monthly in 2009'
|
|
|
|
### Utility
|
|
|
|
#### test
|
|
|
|
This command runs hledger's built-in unit tests and displays a quick
|
|
report. A pattern can be provided to filter tests by name. It's mainly
|
|
used in development, but it's also nice to be able to check hledger for
|
|
smoke at any time.
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger test
|
|
$ hledger test -v balance
|
|
|
|
### Add-ons
|
|
|
|
Add-on commands are executables named `hledger-*` installed in your
|
|
PATH. hledger will detect these at startup and offer them as extra
|
|
commands. Run `hledger` without a command to see a list.
|
|
|
|
hledger-web is released along with hledger and supported on all the
|
|
major platforms, while other add-ons may or may not be.
|
|
|
|
#### autosync
|
|
|
|
[ledger-autosync](https://bitbucket.org/egh/ledger-autosync/commits/all),
|
|
which includes a `hledger-autosync` alias, downloads transactions
|
|
from your bank(s) via OFX, and prints just the new ones as journal
|
|
entries which you can add to your journal. It can also operate on .OFX
|
|
files which you've downloaded manually. It can be a nice alternative
|
|
to hledger's built-in CSV reader, especially if your bank supports OFX
|
|
download.
|
|
|
|
#### interest
|
|
|
|
[hledger-interest](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-interest)
|
|
computes interests for a given account. Using command line flags,
|
|
the program can be configured to use various schemes for day-counting,
|
|
such as act/act, 30/360, 30E/360, and 30/360isda. Furthermore, it
|
|
supports a (small) number of interest schemes, i.e. annual interest
|
|
with a fixed rate and the scheme mandated by the German BGB288
|
|
(Basiszins für Verbrauchergeschäfte). See the package page for more.
|
|
|
|
#### irr
|
|
|
|
[hledger-irr](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-irr)
|
|
computes the internal rate of return, also known as the effective
|
|
interest rate, of a given investment. After specifying what account
|
|
holds the investment, and what account stores the gains (or losses, or
|
|
fees, or cost), it calculates the hypothetical annual rate of fixed
|
|
rate investment that would have provided the exact same cash flow.
|
|
See the package page for more.
|
|
|
|
#### web
|
|
|
|
[hledger-web](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-web)
|
|
provides a web-based user interface for viewing and modifying your ledger ([demo](http://demo.hledger.org)).
|
|
It includes an account register view that is more useful than the command-line register, and basic data entry and editing.
|
|
|
|
web-specific options:
|
|
|
|
--server log requests, don't exit on inactivity
|
|
--port=N serve on tcp port N (default 5000)
|
|
--base-url=URL use this base url (default http://localhost:PORT/)
|
|
--static-root=URL use this base url for static files (default http://localhost:PORT/static)
|
|
|
|
By default, the web command starts a transient local web app and displays it in your default web browser ("local ui mode").
|
|
With `--server`, it starts the web app, leaves it running, and also logs requests to the console ("server mode").
|
|
|
|
Typically in server mode you'll also want to use
|
|
`--base-url` to set the protocol/hostname/port/path to be used in
|
|
hyperlinks.
|
|
|
|
You can use `--port` to listen on a different TCP port, eg if you are running multiple hledger-web
|
|
instances. Note `--port`'s argument need not be the same as the PORT
|
|
in the base url.
|
|
|
|
The more advanced option `--static-root` allows the static files served from a
|
|
separate base url. This enables the optimization that the static files can be
|
|
served from a generic web server like apache, which is good at handling static
|
|
files and caching. One can also serve the files in a separate domain to reduce
|
|
cookies overhead.
|
|
|
|
**Note:** unlike any other hledger command, `web` can alter existing journal
|
|
data, via the edit form. A numbered backup of the file is saved on
|
|
each edit, normally (ie if file permissions allow, disk is not full, etc.)
|
|
Also, there is no built-in access control. So unless you run it behind an
|
|
authenticating proxy, any visitor to your server will be able to see and
|
|
overwrite the journal file (and included files.)
|
|
|
|
hledger-web disallows edits which would leave the journal file not in
|
|
valid [journal format](#the-journal-file). If the file becomes unparseable
|
|
by other means, hledger-web will show an error until the file has been
|
|
fixed.
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger-web
|
|
$ hledger-web -E -B --depth 2 -f some.journal
|
|
$ hledger-web --server --port 5010 --base-url http://some.vhost.com --debug
|
|
|
|
\
|
|
\
|
|
\
|
|
The following add-ons are examples and experiments provided in the
|
|
[extra](https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/extra)
|
|
directory in the hledger source. Add this directory to your PATH to
|
|
make them available. The scripts are designed to run interpreted on
|
|
unix systems (for tweaking), or you can compile them (for speed and
|
|
robustness).
|
|
|
|
#### accountnames.hs
|
|
|
|
Prints all account names in the default journal.
|
|
|
|
#### balance-csv.hs
|
|
|
|
Like the balance command, but with CSV output.
|
|
|
|
#### equity.hs
|
|
|
|
Like ledger's equity command, this prints a single journal entry with
|
|
postings matching the current balance in each account (or the
|
|
specified accounts) in the default journal. An entry like this is
|
|
useful to carry over asset and liability balances when beginning a new
|
|
journal file, eg at the start of the year.
|
|
|
|
You can also use the same entry with signs reversed to close out the
|
|
old file, resetting balances to 0. This means you'll see the correct
|
|
asset/liability balances whether you use one file or a whole sequence
|
|
of files as input to hledger.
|
|
|
|
#### print-unique.hs
|
|
|
|
Prints only journal entries which are unique (by description).
|
|
|
|
#### register-csv.hs
|
|
|
|
Like the register command, but with CSV output.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- unmaintained:
|
|
|
|
#### chart
|
|
|
|
The chart command (provided by the hledger-chart package) saves an image
|
|
file, by default "hledger.png", showing a basic pie chart of your top
|
|
account balances. Note that positive and negative balances will not be
|
|
displayed together in the same chart; any balances not matching the sign
|
|
of the first one will be ignored.
|
|
|
|
chart-specific options:
|
|
|
|
-o/--chart-output=IMGFILE output filename (default: hledger.png)
|
|
|
|
You can specify a different output file name with -o/--output. The data
|
|
currently will always be in PNG format.
|
|
|
|
--chart-items=N number of accounts to show (default: 10)
|
|
|
|
The number of top accounts to show (default is 10).
|
|
|
|
--chart-size=WIDTHxHEIGHT image size (default: 600x400)
|
|
|
|
You can adjust the image resolution with --size=WIDTHxHEIGHT (in pixels).
|
|
|
|
To show only accounts above a certain depth, use the --depth option;
|
|
otherwise the chart can include accounts of any depth. When a parent and
|
|
child account both appear in a chart, the parent's balance will be
|
|
exclusive of the child's.
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger chart assets --depth 2
|
|
$ hledger chart liabilities --depth 2
|
|
$ hledger chart ^expenses -o balance.png --size 1000x600 --items 20
|
|
$ for m in 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12; do hledger chart -p 2009/$m ^expenses --depth 2 -o expenses-2009$m.png --size 400x300; done
|
|
|
|
#### vty
|
|
|
|
The vty command (provided by the hledger-vty package) starts a simple
|
|
curses-style (full-screen, text) user interface, which allows interactive
|
|
navigation of the print/register/balance reports. This lets you browse
|
|
around and explore your numbers quickly with less typing.
|
|
|
|
vty-specific options:
|
|
|
|
--debug-vty run with no terminal output, showing console
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger vty
|
|
$ hledger vty -BE food
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Common options
|
|
|
|
The following common features and options work with most subcommands.
|
|
|
|
### Queries
|
|
|
|
Part of hledger's usefulness is being able to report on just a precise subset of your data.
|
|
Most commands accept an optional query expression, written as arguments after the command name,
|
|
to filter the data by date, account name or other criteria.
|
|
|
|
The query syntax is similar to a Google search expression: one or
|
|
more space-separated search terms, optional prefixes to match specific
|
|
fields, quotes to enclose whitespace, etc.
|
|
A query term can be any of the following:
|
|
|
|
- `REGEX` - match account names by this regular expression
|
|
- `acct:REGEX` - same as above
|
|
- `code:REGEX` - match by transaction code (eg check number)
|
|
- `desc:REGEX` - match transaction descriptions
|
|
- `date:PERIODEXPR` - match dates within the specified [period](#period-expressions)
|
|
- `date2:PERIODEXPR` - as above, but match secondary dates
|
|
- `tag:NAME[=REGEX]` - match by (exact, case sensitive) [tag](#tags) name, and optionally match the tag value by regular expression
|
|
- `depth:N` - match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this [depth](#depth-limiting)
|
|
- `status:1` or `status:0` - match cleared/uncleared transactions
|
|
- `real:1` or `real:0` - match real/virtual-ness
|
|
- `empty:1` or `empty:0` - match if amount is/is not zero
|
|
- `amt:N` or `amt:=N`, `amt:<N`, `amt:>N` - match postings with a
|
|
single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or greater than
|
|
N. (Multi-commodity amounts are always matched.) Be warned, the
|
|
match is sensitive to the sign of N - this can be used to search for
|
|
inflows or outflows.
|
|
- `sym:REGEX` - match postings or transactions including any amounts
|
|
whose commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (For a partial
|
|
match, use `.*REGEX.*`). To match the dollar sign (`$`): you
|
|
need to prepend `\` so it's not interpreted as a regular
|
|
expression metacharacter, at the command line you need one more level
|
|
of quoting to hide it from the shell, so eg do: `hledger print sym:'\$'`.
|
|
To strictly limit reports to a single commodity, it may work better
|
|
to exclude the others, eg: `hledger bal not:sym:'(EUR|¥|£)'.
|
|
- `not:` before any of the above negates the match
|
|
|
|
<!--
|
|
- `TAGNAME:[TAGVALUEREGEX]` - match a tag name exactly, and optionally
|
|
the value by regular expression.
|
|
- `code:CODEREGEX`
|
|
- `type:regular|virtual|balancedvirtual`
|
|
- `comment:COMMENTREGEX`
|
|
- `amount:AMOUNTEXPR`
|
|
- `commodity:COMMODITYSYMBOLREGEX`
|
|
Any of these can be prefixed with `not:` or `!` to negate the match.
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
Multiple query terms will select transactions/postings/accounts which match
|
|
(or negatively match)
|
|
|
|
> *any of the description terms AND*
|
|
> *any of the account terms AND*
|
|
> *all the other terms*
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
With the [print](#print) command, they select transactions which
|
|
|
|
> *match any of the description terms AND*
|
|
> *have any postings matching any of the positive account terms AND*
|
|
> *have no postings matching any of the negative account terms AND*
|
|
> *match all the other terms*
|
|
|
|
Many of the query terms above have equivalent command-line flags which predate them.
|
|
You can mix and match query arguments and flags, just note that a
|
|
[period expression](#period-expressions) overrides any other date terms.
|
|
|
|
The same query syntax should work in both the command line and [web](#web) interfaces.
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Smart dates
|
|
|
|
Unlike the journal file format, hledger's user interface accepts flexible
|
|
"smart dates", for example in the `-b` and `-e` options, period
|
|
expressions, display expressions, the add command and the web add form.
|
|
Smart dates allow some natural english words, will assume 1 where
|
|
less-significant date parts are unspecified, and can be relative to
|
|
today's date. Examples:
|
|
|
|
- `2009/1/1`, `2009/01/01`, `2009-1-1`, `2009.1.1` (simple dates)
|
|
- `2009/1`, `2009` (these also mean january 1, 2009)
|
|
- `1/1`, `january`, `jan`, `this year` (relative dates, meaning january 1 of this year)
|
|
- `next year` (january 1, next year)
|
|
- `this month` (the 1st of the current month)
|
|
- `this week` (the most recent monday)
|
|
- `last week` (the monday of the week before this one)
|
|
- `today`, `yesterday`, `tomorrow`
|
|
|
|
Spaces in smart dates are optional, so eg `-b lastmonth` or `date:fromlastmonth` are valid.
|
|
|
|
### Period expressions
|
|
|
|
hledger supports flexible "period expressions" with the `-p/--period`
|
|
option to select transactions within a period of time (eg in 2009) and/or
|
|
with a reporting interval (eg weekly). hledger period expressions are
|
|
similar but not identical to ledger's.
|
|
|
|
Here is a basic period expression specifying the first quarter of 2009.
|
|
Note the start date is always included and the end date is always excluded:
|
|
|
|
-p "from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"
|
|
|
|
Keywords like "from" and "to" are optional, and so are the spaces. Just
|
|
don't run two dates together:
|
|
|
|
-p2009/1/1to2009/4/1
|
|
-p"2009/1/1 2009/4/1"
|
|
|
|
Dates are [smart dates](#smart-dates), so if the current year is 2009, the
|
|
above can also be written as:
|
|
|
|
-p "1/1 to 4/1"
|
|
-p "january to apr"
|
|
-p "this year to 4/1"
|
|
|
|
If you specify only one date, the missing start or end date will be the
|
|
earliest or latest transaction in your journal:
|
|
|
|
-p "from 2009/1/1" (everything after january 1, 2009)
|
|
-p "from 2009/1" (the same)
|
|
-p "from 2009" (the same)
|
|
-p "to 2009" (everything before january 1, 2009)
|
|
|
|
A single date with no "from" or "to" defines both the start and end date
|
|
like so:
|
|
|
|
-p "2009" (the year 2009; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2010/1/1")
|
|
-p "2009/1" (the month of jan; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2009/2/1")
|
|
-p "2009/1/1" (just that day; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2009/1/2")
|
|
|
|
The `-b/--begin` and `-e/--end` options may be used as a shorthand for `-p
|
|
'from ...'` and `-p 'to ...'` respectively.
|
|
|
|
Note, however: a `-p/--period` option in the command line will cause any
|
|
`-b`/`-e`/`-D`/`-W`/`-M`/`-Q`/`-Y` flags to be ignored.
|
|
|
|
### Reporting interval
|
|
|
|
Period expressions can also begin with (or be) a reporting interval, which
|
|
affects commands like [register](#register) and [activity](#activity).
|
|
The reporting interval can be `daily`, `weekly`, `monthly`, `quarterly`, `yearly`,
|
|
or one of the `every ...` expressions below, optionally followed by `in`.
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
-p "weekly from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1"
|
|
-p "monthly in 2008"
|
|
-p "bimonthly from 2008"
|
|
-p "quarterly"
|
|
-p "every 2 weeks"
|
|
-p "every 5 days from 1/3"
|
|
-p "every 15th day of month"
|
|
-p "every 4th day of week"
|
|
|
|
A reporting interval may also be specified with the `-D/--daily`,
|
|
`-W/--weekly`, `-M/--monthly`, `-Q/--quarterly`, and `-Y/--yearly`
|
|
options. But as noted above, a `-p/--period` option will override these.
|
|
|
|
### Display expressions
|
|
|
|
A [period expression](#period-expressions) or other [query](#queries)
|
|
selects the transactions to be used for calculation. A display
|
|
expression, specified with `-d/--display`, selects a more limited
|
|
subset of transactions to be displayed in the report output.
|
|
|
|
This useful, say, if you want to see your checking register just for
|
|
this month, but with an accurate running balance based on all
|
|
transactions. Eg:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger register checking --display "d>=[1]"
|
|
|
|
meaning "make a register report of all checking transactions, but
|
|
display only the ones with date on or after the 1st of this month."
|
|
Any [smart date](#smart-dates) can appear inside the brackets.
|
|
|
|
The above the only kind of display expression we currently support:
|
|
transactions before or after a given date.
|
|
|
|
### Depth limiting
|
|
|
|
With the `--depth N` option, reports will show only the uppermost accounts
|
|
in the account tree, down to level N. See the [balance](#balance),
|
|
[register](#register) and [chart](#chart) examples.
|
|
|
|
### Custom output formats
|
|
|
|
The `--format FMT` option will customize the line format of the balance
|
|
command's output (only, for now). `FMT` is a C printf/strftime-style
|
|
format string, with the exception that field names are enclosed in
|
|
parentheses:
|
|
|
|
%[-][MIN][.MAX]([FIELD])
|
|
|
|
If the minus sign is given, the text is left justified. The `MIN` field
|
|
specified a minimum number of characters in width. After the value is
|
|
injected into the string, spaces is added to make sure the string is at
|
|
least as long as `MIN`. Similary, the `MAX` field specifies the maximum
|
|
number of characters. The string will be cut if the injected string is too
|
|
long.
|
|
|
|
- `%-(total) ` the total of an account, left justified
|
|
- `%20(total) ` The same, right justified, at least 20 chars wide
|
|
- `%.20(total) ` The same, no more than 20 chars wide
|
|
- `%-.20(total)` Left justified, maximum twenty chars wide
|
|
|
|
The following `FIELD` types are currently supported:
|
|
|
|
- `account` inserts the account name
|
|
- `depth_spacer` inserts a space for each level of an account's
|
|
depth. That is, if an account has two parents, this construct will
|
|
insert two spaces. If a minimum width is specified, that much space is
|
|
inserted for each level of depth. Thus `%5_`, for an account with four
|
|
parents, will insert twenty spaces.
|
|
- `total` inserts the total for the account
|
|
|
|
Examples:
|
|
|
|
If you want the account before the total you can use this format:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger balance --format "%20(account) %-(total)"
|
|
assets $-1
|
|
bank:saving $1
|
|
cash $-2
|
|
expenses $2
|
|
food $1
|
|
supplies $1
|
|
income $-2
|
|
gifts $-1
|
|
salary $-1
|
|
liabilities:debts $1
|
|
--------------------
|
|
0
|
|
|
|
Or, if you'd like to export the balance sheet:
|
|
|
|
$ hledger balance --format "%(total);%(account)" --no-total
|
|
$-1;assets
|
|
$1;bank:saving
|
|
$-2;cash
|
|
$2;expenses
|
|
$1;food
|
|
$1;supplies
|
|
$-2;income
|
|
$-1;gifts
|
|
$-1;salary
|
|
$1;liabilities:debts
|
|
|
|
The default output format is `%20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account)`
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Troubleshooting
|
|
|
|
Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger
|
|
(and remember you can also seek help from the
|
|
[IRC channel](irc://irc.freenode.net/#ledger),
|
|
[mail list](http://hledger.org/list) or
|
|
[bug tracker](http://hledger.org/bugs)):
|
|
|
|
#. **hledger installed, but running hledger says something like No command 'hledger' found**
|
|
cabal installs binaries into a special directory, which should be added
|
|
to your PATH environment variable. On unix-like systems, it is
|
|
~/.cabal/bin.
|
|
|
|
#. **hledger fails to parse some valid ledger files**
|
|
See [file format differences](FAQ.html#what-are-the-file-format-differences).
|
|
|
|
#. **hledger gives "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete multibyte or wide character" errors**
|
|
In order to handle non-ascii letters and symbols (like £), hledger needs
|
|
an appropriate locale. This is usually configured system-wide; you can
|
|
also configure it temporarily. The locale may need to be one that
|
|
supports UTF-8, if you built hledger with GHC < 7.2 (or possibly always,
|
|
I'm not sure yet).
|
|
|
|
Here's an example of setting the locale temporarily, on ubuntu gnu/linux:
|
|
|
|
$ file my.journal
|
|
my.journal: UTF-8 Unicode text # <- the file is UTF8-encoded
|
|
$ locale -a
|
|
C
|
|
en_US.utf8 # <- a UTF8-aware locale is available
|
|
POSIX
|
|
$ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # <- use it for this command
|
|
|
|
Here's one way to set it permanently, there are probably better ways:
|
|
|
|
$ echo "export LANG=en_US.UTF-8" >>~/.bash_profile
|
|
$ bash --login
|
|
|
|
If we preferred to use eg `fr_FR.utf8`, we might have to install that first:
|
|
|
|
$ apt-get install language-pack-fr
|
|
$ locale -a
|
|
C
|
|
en_US.utf8
|
|
fr_BE.utf8
|
|
fr_CA.utf8
|
|
fr_CH.utf8
|
|
fr_FR.utf8
|
|
fr_LU.utf8
|
|
POSIX
|
|
$ LANG=fr_FR.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print
|
|
|
|
Note some platforms allow variant locale spellings, but not all (ubuntu
|
|
accepts `fr_FR.UTF8`, mac osx requires exactly `fr_FR.UTF-8`).
|
|
|