Changing From Hledger to Beancount

And why it doesn’t matter which PTA app you choose

TL;DR: Keeping records in plain text makes it easy to leverage the features of a variety of apps, on the same data. Beancount is better than hledger at tracking investments.

Three weeks ago I changed from hledger to Beancount for my Plain Text Accounting (PTA) financial records. I’ve finally realised that the latter is better suited to the way my finances are structured. To all the people recommending Fava for Beancount to me over the past couple of years, you were right! It’s wonderful.

I have my non-negotiable plain text data input, and I have a pretty and practical user interface!

(If PTA and Fava are new to you, it’s a way of tracking finances with an easy to use graphical interface, run from transactions entered in human readable text.)

The best thing about this change is how simple it was. All I had to do was export my hledger file into Beancount format and it was ready to go!

Here’s the Terminal export command: hledger -f myfile.journal print -o myfile.beancount

Beginning on a firm foundation

I’d like to go on record saying I’m truly glad I started this journey with hledger rather than Beancount, as it gave me a deeper understanding of what goes on under the hood of the GUI of prettier apps. I left it most reluctantly. The clincher was the way Beancount handles lots for tracking investments.

PTA truly has increased my financial intelligence. The auto-didact in me almost gave up several times because the learning curve was so steep, but that had more to do with gaps in my accounting knowledge than any difficulty with PTA apps.

I’ve recently learned how to structure my text file to mimic the envelope budgeting method, without plugins. I’ve followed these instructions to divide the funds in one bank account into multiple budget categories. Each pay day the new funds are added to those categories, known in budgeting-speak as sinking funds.

Lessons from the past

If present me could visit past me with advice at the beginning of this journey, she would say that the most important thing is to learn the principles of double entry accounting and get your data recorded accurately. Be consistent with the PTA format you choose, knowing that it can be converted later.

She would also say—

• Set aside time to update records daily
• While bulk import of data is possible, manual data entry is the best way to become more aware of and intentional with your spending
• Always enter transactions in order of date!
• Take the time to make your PTA data file exactly reflect each bank transaction
• There’s no need to use a text expander to enter long account names; apps like VS Code are great at completing the names (e.g. :1 successfully expands to Assets:UP:1-Float)
• When money transferred from one account appears in the target account on a different date, use an Assets:Transit account to hold money until it clears
• Create separate files for different financial institutions can make it easier to identify errors in data entry. Use an Assets:Transit account to move money between institutions, making note of the destination

Present me would also tell past me that eventual consistency is okay, too!

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