{"slug": "beancount", "name": "beancount", "category": "finance", "category_name": "Finance", "description": "Open-source plain-text double-entry accounting tool, often paired with the Fava web interface.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 11, "warners": 1, "score": 4.593, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2026-01-02", "latest": "2026-08-07", "why": "HN commenters like Beancount for keeping finances in plain-text files that AI agents can work with, and as a replacement for proprietary tools like QuickBooks and Aplos.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 2, "compare": 3, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Plain-text files", "AI agent friendly"], "caveat": "Large ledgers", "short_quote": "You should check out plain text accounting software Beancount.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://beancount.github.io/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["beancount", "Beancount"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like Beancount for keeping finances in plain-text files", "cites": [{"id": 787484658, "item_id": 49217791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217791", "by": "abound", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to plaintext accounting (Beancount)", "excerpt": "I don't disagree with anything you said here, but I find auto-mode is too permissive on the reading side of things. I used Claude this morning to convert the financial books for my nonprofit from some export of a proprietary software (Aplos) to plaintext accounting (Beancount), and was surprised to find it had found my personal Beancount ledger elsewhere on my hard drive and modelled its plan on that. That was correc", "context": "", "use_case": "plaintext accounting", "switched_from": "Aplos", "story": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode"}, {"id": 781620768, "item_id": 48851298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851298", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-07-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount.", "excerpt": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount. Then I have mercury CLI access with a read token to my business bank account, and I have my emails fully synced in there as well via IMAP. Claude Code with Opus just seamlessly hooks everything up so my accounts are up to date. At the end of the year, I used that information to prepare my tax returns for the business and then later the part that fl", "context": "business owner", "use_case": "business accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GLM 5.2 is nearly as accurate as a human book keeper"}, {"id": 743439424, "item_id": 46464964, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464964", "by": "nelup20", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I think I'll finally give PTA and beancount a go this year.", "excerpt": "For anyone else wondering which PTA solution to try/choose, I found this summary: https://plaintextaccounting.org/FAQ#which-pta-app-should-i-choose I think I'll finally give PTA and beancount a go this year. I'm tired of changing and re-learning tools due to enshittifcation, so I heavily prefer those that use open formats / plaintext. I use Obsidian for my notes, specifically because it's just Markdown files. Since I", "context": "", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"text": " that AI agents can work with", "cites": [{"id": 787484658, "item_id": 49217791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217791", "by": "abound", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to plaintext accounting (Beancount)", "excerpt": "I don't disagree with anything you said here, but I find auto-mode is too permissive on the reading side of things. I used Claude this morning to convert the financial books for my nonprofit from some export of a proprietary software (Aplos) to plaintext accounting (Beancount), and was surprised to find it had found my personal Beancount ledger elsewhere on my hard drive and modelled its plan on that. That was correc", "context": "", "use_case": "plaintext accounting", "switched_from": "Aplos", "story": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode"}, {"id": 781620768, "item_id": 48851298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851298", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-07-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount.", "excerpt": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount. Then I have mercury CLI access with a read token to my business bank account, and I have my emails fully synced in there as well via IMAP. Claude Code with Opus just seamlessly hooks everything up so my accounts are up to date. At the end of the year, I used that information to prepare my tax returns for the business and then later the part that fl", "context": "business owner", "use_case": "business accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GLM 5.2 is nearly as accurate as a human book keeper"}, {"id": 747593536, "item_id": 46724596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46724596", "by": "faxmeyourcode", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You should check out plain text accounting software Beancount.", "excerpt": "You should check out plain text accounting software Beancount. I've built a skill for this here https://github.com/ouachitalabs/skills/blob/main/beancount/SKILL.md and I use it for my custom personal finance agent.", "context": "", "use_case": "personal finance accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can AI Do My Bookkeeping?"}]}, {"text": ", and as a replacement for proprietary tools like QuickBooks and Aplos.", "cites": [{"id": 766441792, "item_id": 47902612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902612", "by": "epistasis", "date": "2026-04-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier.", "excerpt": "It's fun to see a plaintext accounting view as the example... I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier. I've added a text-based simple invoice system, a text-based vehicle mileage tracker, and have validators that ensure that every expense with a tax status has a document attached to it. It's far easier and faster to use than QuickBooks, I don't have to put", "context": "sole proprietor", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "QuickBooks", "story": "\"Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay.\" \u2013 Unsung"}, {"id": 787484658, "item_id": 49217791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217791", "by": "abound", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to plaintext accounting (Beancount)", "excerpt": "I don't disagree with anything you said here, but I find auto-mode is too permissive on the reading side of things. I used Claude this morning to convert the financial books for my nonprofit from some export of a proprietary software (Aplos) to plaintext accounting (Beancount), and was surprised to find it had found my personal Beancount ledger elsewhere on my hard drive and modelled its plan on that. That was correc", "context": "", "use_case": "plaintext accounting", "switched_from": "Aplos", "story": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode"}]}, {"text": " The most cited caveat is performance with large ledgers", "cites": [{"id": 743423440, "item_id": 46463965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463965", "by": "djhworld", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything.", "excerpt": "I've been beancount'ing for years now As we've crossed into the new year I've switched to a similar directory setup as the OP with 1 file per year. Previously I just had one file that was from 2022 which ended up being like 2 million lines of text, which was starting to bog down the emacs plugin. What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything. Investments, pensions, R", "context": "", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743452323, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I chose hledger (because of possible performance issues with beancount).", "excerpt": "I started decades ago using Quicken. Then had to re-enter all my data when a new version came out and support for the old version was EOLed. So I switched to GNU Cash and re-entered everything again. Then there were migration issues with GNU Cash. Finally I discovered PTA. I chose hledger (because of possible performance issues with beancount). I learned double-entry bookkeeping (it's pretty simple, honestly). I writ", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"text": ", along with confusion over missing packages in the new version and doubts about use by non-technical bookkeepers.", "cites": [{"id": 743464113, "item_id": 46466507, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466507", "by": "hasperdi", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "started with beancount, but got confused with missing packages in the new version", "excerpt": "In 2025 I started managing my small business finances using hledger (started with beancount, but got confused with missing packages in the new version). I use Claude Code to help me enter transactions eg from pdf receipts and to ensure the books are balanced. It's quite a pleasant experience I must say, as I find accounting tedious / not my cup of tea", "context": "small business owner", "use_case": "accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743480240, "item_id": 46467515, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46467515", "by": "bzmrgonz", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I am currently poking my head into beancount, hledger, and the new kid on the block, DIGITS", "excerpt": "This is a very detailed document. Thank you for that. I am currently poking my head into beancount, hledger, and the new kid on the block, DIGITS(which aims to take on quickbooks head-on. I love the PTA philosophy, but I worry about catering to the non-tech data entry personnel(bookkeeping), is there a gui for these folks to enter the day to day? Essentially I would love to have the back-end be PTA and GIT for full c", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743444353, "item_id": 46465272, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465272", "by": "mfro", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I have looked at beancount and a few other double entry systems several times over the years.", "excerpt": "I have looked at beancount and a few other double entry systems several times over the years. None of the applications I've found except for Microsoft My Money (Sunset Deluxe) has felt intuitive and not wasted my time. One of my accounts can't be imported via csv but other than that it is painless. I recommend it to people who just want a quick, free program for simple reporting.", "context": "", "use_case": "accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Plain-text files", "summary": "Books live in plain-text files that users control, which commenters see as protection against tool churn and lock-in.", "quotes": [{"id": 743439424, "item_id": 46464964, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464964", "by": "nelup20", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I think I'll finally give PTA and beancount a go this year.", "excerpt": "For anyone else wondering which PTA solution to try/choose, I found this summary: https://plaintextaccounting.org/FAQ#which-pta-app-should-i-choose I think I'll finally give PTA and beancount a go this year. I'm tired of changing and re-learning tools due to enshittifcation, so I heavily prefer those that use open formats / plaintext. I use Obsidian for my notes, specifically because it's just Markdown files. Since I", "context": "", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 781620768, "item_id": 48851298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851298", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-07-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount.", "excerpt": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount. Then I have mercury CLI access with a read token to my business bank account, and I have my emails fully synced in there as well via IMAP. Claude Code with Opus just seamlessly hooks everything up so my accounts are up to date. At the end of the year, I used that information to prepare my tax returns for the business and then later the part that fl", "context": "business owner", "use_case": "business accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GLM 5.2 is nearly as accurate as a human book keeper"}, {"id": 787484658, "item_id": 49217791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217791", "by": "abound", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to plaintext accounting (Beancount)", "excerpt": "I don't disagree with anything you said here, but I find auto-mode is too permissive on the reading side of things. I used Claude this morning to convert the financial books for my nonprofit from some export of a proprietary software (Aplos) to plaintext accounting (Beancount), and was surprised to find it had found my personal Beancount ledger elsewhere on my hard drive and modelled its plan on that. That was correc", "context": "", "use_case": "plaintext accounting", "switched_from": "Aplos", "story": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode"}]}, {"label": "AI agent friendly", "summary": "Commenters use Claude Code and custom agents to import transactions and keep Beancount ledgers up to date.", "quotes": [{"id": 781620768, "item_id": 48851298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851298", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-07-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount.", "excerpt": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount. Then I have mercury CLI access with a read token to my business bank account, and I have my emails fully synced in there as well via IMAP. Claude Code with Opus just seamlessly hooks everything up so my accounts are up to date. At the end of the year, I used that information to prepare my tax returns for the business and then later the part that fl", "context": "business owner", "use_case": "business accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GLM 5.2 is nearly as accurate as a human book keeper"}, {"id": 787484658, "item_id": 49217791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217791", "by": "abound", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to plaintext accounting (Beancount)", "excerpt": "I don't disagree with anything you said here, but I find auto-mode is too permissive on the reading side of things. I used Claude this morning to convert the financial books for my nonprofit from some export of a proprietary software (Aplos) to plaintext accounting (Beancount), and was surprised to find it had found my personal Beancount ledger elsewhere on my hard drive and modelled its plan on that. That was correc", "context": "", "use_case": "plaintext accounting", "switched_from": "Aplos", "story": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode"}, {"id": 747593536, "item_id": 46724596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46724596", "by": "faxmeyourcode", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You should check out plain text accounting software Beancount.", "excerpt": "You should check out plain text accounting software Beancount. I've built a skill for this here https://github.com/ouachitalabs/skills/blob/main/beancount/SKILL.md and I use it for my custom personal finance agent.", "context": "", "use_case": "personal finance accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can AI Do My Bookkeeping?"}]}, {"label": "Replaces QuickBooks", "summary": "Users who moved from QuickBooks and Aplos find it faster and free of ads.", "quotes": [{"id": 766441792, "item_id": 47902612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902612", "by": "epistasis", "date": "2026-04-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier.", "excerpt": "It's fun to see a plaintext accounting view as the example... I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier. I've added a text-based simple invoice system, a text-based vehicle mileage tracker, and have validators that ensure that every expense with a tax status has a document attached to it. It's far easier and faster to use than QuickBooks, I don't have to put", "context": "sole proprietor", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "QuickBooks", "story": "\"Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay.\" \u2013 Unsung"}, {"id": 787484658, "item_id": 49217791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217791", "by": "abound", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to plaintext accounting (Beancount)", "excerpt": "I don't disagree with anything you said here, but I find auto-mode is too permissive on the reading side of things. I used Claude this morning to convert the financial books for my nonprofit from some export of a proprietary software (Aplos) to plaintext accounting (Beancount), and was surprised to find it had found my personal Beancount ledger elsewhere on my hard drive and modelled its plan on that. That was correc", "context": "", "use_case": "plaintext accounting", "switched_from": "Aplos", "story": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode"}]}, {"label": "Tracks everything", "summary": "One long-time user tracks investments, pensions, RSUs and bank accounts in one place.", "quotes": [{"id": 743423440, "item_id": 46463965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463965", "by": "djhworld", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything.", "excerpt": "I've been beancount'ing for years now As we've crossed into the new year I've switched to a similar directory setup as the OP with 1 file per year. Previously I just had one file that was from 2022 which ended up being like 2 million lines of text, which was starting to bog down the emacs plugin. What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything. Investments, pensions, R", "context": "", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "Extensible", "summary": "One user added text-based invoicing, mileage tracking, document validators and git-based attestation.", "quotes": [{"id": 766441792, "item_id": 47902612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902612", "by": "epistasis", "date": "2026-04-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier.", "excerpt": "It's fun to see a plaintext accounting view as the example... I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier. I've added a text-based simple invoice system, a text-based vehicle mileage tracker, and have validators that ensure that every expense with a tax status has a document attached to it. It's far easier and faster to use than QuickBooks, I don't have to put", "context": "sole proprietor", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "QuickBooks", "story": "\"Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay.\" \u2013 Unsung"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Large ledgers", "summary": "A 2-million-line file slowed the Emacs plugin, and one commenter chose hledger over possible performance issues.", "quotes": [{"id": 743423440, "item_id": 46463965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463965", "by": "djhworld", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything.", "excerpt": "I've been beancount'ing for years now As we've crossed into the new year I've switched to a similar directory setup as the OP with 1 file per year. Previously I just had one file that was from 2022 which ended up being like 2 million lines of text, which was starting to bog down the emacs plugin. What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything. Investments, pensions, R", "context": "", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743452323, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I chose hledger (because of possible performance issues with beancount).", "excerpt": "I started decades ago using Quicken. Then had to re-enter all my data when a new version came out and support for the old version was EOLed. So I switched to GNU Cash and re-entered everything again. Then there were migration issues with GNU Cash. Finally I discovered PTA. I chose hledger (because of possible performance issues with beancount). I learned double-entry bookkeeping (it's pretty simple, honestly). I writ", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "Version upgrade", "summary": "One user switched to hledger after getting confused by missing packages in the new version.", "quotes": [{"id": 743464113, "item_id": 46466507, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466507", "by": "hasperdi", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "started with beancount, but got confused with missing packages in the new version", "excerpt": "In 2025 I started managing my small business finances using hledger (started with beancount, but got confused with missing packages in the new version). I use Claude Code to help me enter transactions eg from pdf receipts and to ensure the books are balanced. It's quite a pleasant experience I must say, as I find accounting tedious / not my cup of tea", "context": "small business owner", "use_case": "accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "Non-technical users", "summary": "Commenters question whether non-technical bookkeepers can use it, and one did not find it intuitive.", "quotes": [{"id": 743480240, "item_id": 46467515, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46467515", "by": "bzmrgonz", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I am currently poking my head into beancount, hledger, and the new kid on the block, DIGITS", "excerpt": "This is a very detailed document. Thank you for that. I am currently poking my head into beancount, hledger, and the new kid on the block, DIGITS(which aims to take on quickbooks head-on. I love the PTA philosophy, but I worry about catering to the non-tech data entry personnel(bookkeeping), is there a gui for these folks to enter the day to day? Essentially I would love to have the back-end be PTA and GIT for full c", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743444353, "item_id": 46465272, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465272", "by": "mfro", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I have looked at beancount and a few other double entry systems several times over the years.", "excerpt": "I have looked at beancount and a few other double entry systems several times over the years. None of the applications I've found except for Microsoft My Money (Sunset Deluxe) has felt intuitive and not wasted my time. One of my accounts can't be imported via csv but other than that it is painless. I recommend it to people who just want a quick, free program for simple reporting.", "context": "", "use_case": "accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household"}]}], "who": [{"by": "arjie", "context": "business owner", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851298", "date": "2026-07-09"}, {"by": "epistasis", "context": "sole proprietor", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902612", "date": "2026-04-25"}], "tags": ["for personal finance", "for small businesses", "for nonprofits", "for AI agent workflows"], "use_cases": ["plain-text accounting", "accounting", "plaintext accounting", "business accounting", "personal finance accounting", "plain-text double-entry accounting"], "compared": [{"slug": "hledger", "name": "hledger", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "claude-code", "name": "Claude Code", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "claude", "name": "Claude", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "gnucash", "name": "GnuCash", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463644", "title": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files", "mentions": 6}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49214994", "title": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48850414", "title": "GLM 5.2 is nearly as accurate as a human book keeper", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47897681", "title": "\"Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay.\" \u2013 Unsung", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46724509", "title": "Can AI Do My Bookkeeping?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463407", "title": "One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 2, "compare": 3, "warn": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 787484658, "item_id": 49217791, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217791", "by": "abound", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to plaintext accounting (Beancount)", "excerpt": "I don't disagree with anything you said here, but I find auto-mode is too permissive on the reading side of things. I used Claude this morning to convert the financial books for my nonprofit from some export of a proprietary software (Aplos) to plaintext accounting (Beancount), and was surprised to find it had found my personal Beancount ledger elsewhere on my hard drive and modelled its plan on that. That was correc", "context": "", "use_case": "plaintext accounting", "switched_from": "Aplos", "story": "Claude Code: Starting August 14, auto mode will be the default permission mode"}, {"id": 781620768, "item_id": 48851298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851298", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-07-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount.", "excerpt": "I just have a folder on my computer where I keep things in beancount. Then I have mercury CLI access with a read token to my business bank account, and I have my emails fully synced in there as well via IMAP. Claude Code with Opus just seamlessly hooks everything up so my accounts are up to date. At the end of the year, I used that information to prepare my tax returns for the business and then later the part that fl", "context": "business owner", "use_case": "business accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GLM 5.2 is nearly as accurate as a human book keeper"}, {"id": 766441792, "item_id": 47902612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902612", "by": "epistasis", "date": "2026-04-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier.", "excerpt": "It's fun to see a plaintext accounting view as the example... I just switched from QuickBooks to Beancount+Fava for my sole proprietorship, and couldn't be happier. I've added a text-based simple invoice system, a text-based vehicle mileage tracker, and have validators that ensure that every expense with a tax status has a document attached to it. It's far easier and faster to use than QuickBooks, I don't have to put", "context": "sole proprietor", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "QuickBooks", "story": "\"Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay.\" \u2013 Unsung"}, {"id": 747593536, "item_id": 46724596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46724596", "by": "faxmeyourcode", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You should check out plain text accounting software Beancount.", "excerpt": "You should check out plain text accounting software Beancount. I've built a skill for this here https://github.com/ouachitalabs/skills/blob/main/beancount/SKILL.md and I use it for my custom personal finance agent.", "context": "", "use_case": "personal finance accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can AI Do My Bookkeeping?"}, {"id": 743480240, "item_id": 46467515, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46467515", "by": "bzmrgonz", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I am currently poking my head into beancount, hledger, and the new kid on the block, DIGITS", "excerpt": "This is a very detailed document. Thank you for that. I am currently poking my head into beancount, hledger, and the new kid on the block, DIGITS(which aims to take on quickbooks head-on. I love the PTA philosophy, but I worry about catering to the non-tech data entry personnel(bookkeeping), is there a gui for these folks to enter the day to day? Essentially I would love to have the back-end be PTA and GIT for full c", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743464113, "item_id": 46466507, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466507", "by": "hasperdi", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "started with beancount, but got confused with missing packages in the new version", "excerpt": "In 2025 I started managing my small business finances using hledger (started with beancount, but got confused with missing packages in the new version). I use Claude Code to help me enter transactions eg from pdf receipts and to ensure the books are balanced. It's quite a pleasant experience I must say, as I find accounting tedious / not my cup of tea", "context": "small business owner", "use_case": "accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743452323, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I chose hledger (because of possible performance issues with beancount).", "excerpt": "I started decades ago using Quicken. Then had to re-enter all my data when a new version came out and support for the old version was EOLed. So I switched to GNU Cash and re-entered everything again. Then there were migration issues with GNU Cash. Finally I discovered PTA. I chose hledger (because of possible performance issues with beancount). I learned double-entry bookkeeping (it's pretty simple, honestly). I writ", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743448657, "item_id": 46465541, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465541", "by": "ekjhgkejhgk", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Beancount is both, but you can do either one or the other or both.", "excerpt": "A lot of people in this thread comingling \"plain text\" with \"double entry\". Beancount is both, but you can do either one or the other or both. In particular, you DONT need to learn double entry to do plain text accounting. Of course, you SHOULD learn double entry accounting because it's a great tool for organizing knowledge. Whether plain text is beneficial for accounting is less clear cut in my mind. I think plain t", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text double-entry accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743444353, "item_id": 46465272, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465272", "by": "mfro", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I have looked at beancount and a few other double entry systems several times over the years.", "excerpt": "I have looked at beancount and a few other double entry systems several times over the years. None of the applications I've found except for Microsoft My Money (Sunset Deluxe) has felt intuitive and not wasted my time. One of my accounts can't be imported via csv but other than that it is painless. I recommend it to people who just want a quick, free program for simple reporting.", "context": "", "use_case": "accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household"}, {"id": 743439424, "item_id": 46464964, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464964", "by": "nelup20", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I think I'll finally give PTA and beancount a go this year.", "excerpt": "For anyone else wondering which PTA solution to try/choose, I found this summary: https://plaintextaccounting.org/FAQ#which-pta-app-should-i-choose I think I'll finally give PTA and beancount a go this year. I'm tired of changing and re-learning tools due to enshittifcation, so I heavily prefer those that use open formats / plaintext. I use Obsidian for my notes, specifically because it's just Markdown files. Since I", "context": "", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743423440, "item_id": 46463965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463965", "by": "djhworld", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything.", "excerpt": "I've been beancount'ing for years now As we've crossed into the new year I've switched to a similar directory setup as the OP with 1 file per year. Previously I just had one file that was from 2022 which ended up being like 2 million lines of text, which was starting to bog down the emacs plugin. What I appreciate the most about this approach to personal finances is it just tracks everything. Investments, pensions, R", "context": "", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}