Welcome to Ledger

Ledger is a powerful, double-entry accounting system that is accessed from the UNIX command-line. This may put off some users, as there is no flashy UI, but for those who want unparalleled reporting access to their data, there really is no alternative.

For those just joining us, please check out the page on basic Terminology, which will help you if you ever try to read the source .

Also, there have been several Ports of the Ledger architecture to other languages. Check those out, if you have a linguistic preference!

Features

Here are some of the features of Ledger which set it apart from other accounting systems:

• Ledger never creates or modifies your data. Your entries are kept in a text file that you maintain, and you can rest assured, no automated tool will ever change that data.

• Ledger is 100% currency-agnostic. You can store multiple currencies in any account, convert between them, or even pay in one currency and receive change in another.

• Ledger is international. UTF8 is accepted anywhere in data files, Ledger uses ISO format dates, attaches no meaning to the naming of accounts, and can accept data in either US or European decimal formats. It will report currencies back to you following the manner of your own entries.

• Ledger uses a simple set of base commands which can be extended in countless ways. You can create monthly reports, average reports, check account balances, reconcile accounts, keep track of capital gains on stocks, etc.

Getting started

To get started with Ledger, you must manage a text file in Ledger’s own textual format. Here’s what an entry might look like:

2006/10/15 Exxon
    Expenses:Auto:Gas         $10.00
    Liabilities:MasterCard

The amount of data required by Ledger is minimal. It figures out from looking at your data what you mean by it and how you want it reported back to you. Accounts are created as they appear; currencies are created as they’re referenced. Anywhere that a value can be calculated, you can leave it out — such as the balancing $-10.00 in the above entry.

Ledger is a double-entry accounting tool, meaning that all entries must balance. If an entry does not balance, it will cause an error and the report will not be generated. Ledger is always checking the accuracies of your entries at every run; you won’t ever run into problems with “unaccounted” sums in an account.

Mailing list

There is a forum/mailing-list for the discussion of issues pertaining to ledger. Please join and contribute! Google Groups also supports RSS, if you prefer that.

Or, if you’d rather read your messages over NNTP using a News Reader like Gnus, visit the Gmane mirror .

Tips and Tricks

• OnReconciling
• Various tools at http://joyful.com/Ledger

IRC

Usually the fastest way to get your questions answered is to visit us on IRC, where I can usually be found most days. We are on the server irc.freenode.net . My nick is “johnw”.

Visit the Wiki

There is a collaborative Wiki for Ledger, which I encourge you to become a part of. As time goes by I hope to collect know-how from the community of Ledger users so that we may all benefit from wisdom others have gleaned from its use. At the moment the Wiki is just starting, but this is only the beginning.

Reporting bugs

Ledger uses org-mode for bug tracking, located in the planning branch, in a file named TODO. If you encounter new bugs, please submit them to the forum/mailing-list . Your other option is to just send me an e-mail , and I will enter a bug on your behalf.

Getting the source

Development for Ledger is hosted here at GitHub , where you can browse the source, or fork your own path of new development. If you do fork, just let me know so that I can access your changes and possibly integrate them into the next release.

Platform binaries

Several people in the Open Source community have spent time creating Ledger distributions for specific platforms. Below is a list of the ports I know of; if you discover others, please let me know. If you would like to host a binary on this server, please send me an e-mail .