{"slug": "hledger", "name": "hledger", "category": "finance", "category_name": "Finance", "description": "Open-source, command-line plain-text double-entry accounting tool.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 7, "warners": 0, "score": 4.658, "rising": -1.64, "first": "2026-01-02", "latest": "2026-08-03", "why": "Liked for plain-text bookkeeping with automated bank CSV imports and categorization, easy custom import scripts for PDFs and other formats, and AI-assisted transaction entry with Claude.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 0, "compare": 2, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Replaces GnuCash", "Import automation"], "caveat": "No GUI", "short_quote": "it's exactly what I wanted all this time I just didn't know it.", "icon": true, "domain": "hledger.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://hledger.org", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["hledger"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for plain-text bookkeeping with automated bank CSV imports and categorization", "cites": [{"id": 775139936, "item_id": 48446246, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446246", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-06-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically imports the CSVs from my bank and categorizes transactions automatically", "excerpt": "Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically", "context": "Canadian with a handful of accounts", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design"}, {"id": 743435392, "item_id": 46464712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464712", "by": "dueyfinster", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also.", "excerpt": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also. Like the author - I started 10 years ago (mine from 2015). I use hledger mainly and also wrote converters for bank I use (xlsx to csv). It's crazy to see just how much money I've paid Netflix since 2015 (and I'm a sub since 2011). Or Starbucks (which I rarely go to). But it's very powerful. One thing I've long wanted is better visualizations.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"text": ", easy custom import scripts for PDFs and other formats", "cites": [{"id": 743452320, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's exactly what I wanted all this time I just didn't know it.", "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": "nearing retirement, writes Python import scripts", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 775139936, "item_id": 48446246, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446246", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-06-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically imports the CSVs from my bank and categorizes transactions automatically", "excerpt": "Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically", "context": "Canadian with a handful of accounts", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design"}]}, {"text": ", and AI-assisted transaction entry with Claude.", "cites": [{"id": 743489520, "item_id": 46468095, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46468095", "by": "shivekkhurana", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I cannot go back to traditional tools.", "excerpt": "I have been recording every txn with GnuCash for the last 8 years. I reached a point where I started writing scripts on top to support my multi-currency setup. Then Claude became a thing, and I thought what if I use Hledger and let Claude manage my books ? I was reluctant to migrate years of txns, so I started with an opening balance. This has been the highest leverage usage of Claude for me. I drop everything: bank ", "context": "multi-currency setup", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743464112, "item_id": 46466507, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466507", "by": "hasperdi", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "In 2025 I started managing my small business finances using hledger", "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": "small business accounting", "switched_from": "beancount", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is the lack of a GUI for non-technical users", "cites": [{"id": 775631152, "item_id": 48476947, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476947", "by": "coldpie", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is what I use & like as well", "excerpt": "This is what I use & like as well, but I definitely think there's space for a more GUI-focused option that isn't Quickbooks or Gnucash. It's not a good fit for me, though, I require my important tools to be open source. Closed source software has way too many misaligned incentives for me to use it for anything important.", "context": "requires important tools to be open source", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app"}, {"id": 743480241, "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"}]}, {"text": ", along with limited visualizations.", "cites": [{"id": 743435392, "item_id": 46464712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464712", "by": "dueyfinster", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also.", "excerpt": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also. Like the author - I started 10 years ago (mine from 2015). I use hledger mainly and also wrote converters for bank I use (xlsx to csv). It's crazy to see just how much money I've paid Netflix since 2015 (and I'm a sub since 2011). Or Starbucks (which I rarely go to). But it's very powerful. One thing I've long wanted is better visualizations.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Replaces GnuCash", "summary": "Several commenters moved from GnuCash or Quicken and prefer hledger's plain-text approach.", "quotes": [{"id": 743489520, "item_id": 46468095, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46468095", "by": "shivekkhurana", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I cannot go back to traditional tools.", "excerpt": "I have been recording every txn with GnuCash for the last 8 years. I reached a point where I started writing scripts on top to support my multi-currency setup. Then Claude became a thing, and I thought what if I use Hledger and let Claude manage my books ? I was reluctant to migrate years of txns, so I started with an opening balance. This has been the highest leverage usage of Claude for me. I drop everything: bank ", "context": "multi-currency setup", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743452320, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's exactly what I wanted all this time I just didn't know it.", "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": "nearing retirement, writes Python import scripts", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 775139936, "item_id": 48446246, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446246", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-06-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically imports the CSVs from my bank and categorizes transactions automatically", "excerpt": "Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically", "context": "Canadian with a handful of accounts", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design"}]}, {"label": "Import automation", "summary": "Bank CSVs import and categorize automatically, and users write scripts or converters for PDFs and spreadsheets.", "quotes": [{"id": 775139936, "item_id": 48446246, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446246", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-06-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically imports the CSVs from my bank and categorizes transactions automatically", "excerpt": "Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically", "context": "Canadian with a handful of accounts", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design"}, {"id": 743452320, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's exactly what I wanted all this time I just didn't know it.", "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": "nearing retirement, writes Python import scripts", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743435392, "item_id": 46464712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464712", "by": "dueyfinster", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also.", "excerpt": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also. Like the author - I started 10 years ago (mine from 2015). I use hledger mainly and also wrote converters for bank I use (xlsx to csv). It's crazy to see just how much money I've paid Netflix since 2015 (and I'm a sub since 2011). Or Starbucks (which I rarely go to). But it's very powerful. One thing I've long wanted is better visualizations.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "AI-assisted entry", "summary": "Users have Claude enter transactions from statements and receipts and check that the books balance.", "quotes": [{"id": 743489520, "item_id": 46468095, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46468095", "by": "shivekkhurana", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I cannot go back to traditional tools.", "excerpt": "I have been recording every txn with GnuCash for the last 8 years. I reached a point where I started writing scripts on top to support my multi-currency setup. Then Claude became a thing, and I thought what if I use Hledger and let Claude manage my books ? I was reluctant to migrate years of txns, so I started with an opening balance. This has been the highest leverage usage of Claude for me. I drop everything: bank ", "context": "multi-currency setup", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743464112, "item_id": 46466507, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466507", "by": "hasperdi", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "In 2025 I started managing my small business finances using hledger", "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": "small business accounting", "switched_from": "beancount", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "Spending insight", "summary": "Years of records reveal long-term spending patterns, which one commenter calls very powerful.", "quotes": [{"id": 743435392, "item_id": 46464712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464712", "by": "dueyfinster", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also.", "excerpt": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also. Like the author - I started 10 years ago (mine from 2015). I use hledger mainly and also wrote converters for bank I use (xlsx to csv). It's crazy to see just how much money I've paid Netflix since 2015 (and I'm a sub since 2011). Or Starbucks (which I rarely go to). But it's very powerful. One thing I've long wanted is better visualizations.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "Open source", "summary": "Chosen by a commenter who requires important tools to be open source.", "quotes": [{"id": 775631152, "item_id": 48476947, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476947", "by": "coldpie", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is what I use & like as well", "excerpt": "This is what I use & like as well, but I definitely think there's space for a more GUI-focused option that isn't Quickbooks or Gnucash. It's not a good fit for me, though, I require my important tools to be open source. Closed source software has way too many misaligned incentives for me to use it for anything important.", "context": "requires important tools to be open source", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "No GUI", "summary": "Commenters see room for a GUI option and worry about non-technical bookkeepers entering data.", "quotes": [{"id": 775631152, "item_id": 48476947, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476947", "by": "coldpie", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is what I use & like as well", "excerpt": "This is what I use & like as well, but I definitely think there's space for a more GUI-focused option that isn't Quickbooks or Gnucash. It's not a good fit for me, though, I require my important tools to be open source. Closed source software has way too many misaligned incentives for me to use it for anything important.", "context": "requires important tools to be open source", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app"}, {"id": 743480241, "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"}]}, {"label": "Manual PDF imports", "summary": "Brokerage and paystub PDFs need self-written import scripts.", "quotes": [{"id": 775139936, "item_id": 48446246, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446246", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-06-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically imports the CSVs from my bank and categorizes transactions automatically", "excerpt": "Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically", "context": "Canadian with a handful of accounts", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design"}, {"id": 743452320, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's exactly what I wanted all this time I just didn't know it.", "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": "nearing retirement, writes Python import scripts", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "Weak visualizations", "summary": "A long-time user wants better visualizations.", "quotes": [{"id": 743435392, "item_id": 46464712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464712", "by": "dueyfinster", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also.", "excerpt": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also. Like the author - I started 10 years ago (mine from 2015). I use hledger mainly and also wrote converters for bank I use (xlsx to csv). It's crazy to see just how much money I've paid Netflix since 2015 (and I'm a sub since 2011). Or Starbucks (which I rarely go to). But it's very powerful. One thing I've long wanted is better visualizations.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}, {"label": "Tracking focus", "summary": "One commenter describes it as built for tracking and display rather than capital allocation analysis.", "quotes": [{"id": 786634257, "item_id": 49164641, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164641", "by": "finscoio", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "compare", "quote": "hledger is more for tracking and display", "excerpt": "hledger is more for tracking and display, but finsco.io focuses on capital allocation audit with a TUI-style interaction.", "context": "", "use_case": "expense tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are you interested in a TUI-style financial analysis tool?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "coldpie", "context": "requires important tools to be open source", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476947", "date": "2026-06-10"}, {"by": "bregma", "context": "Canadian with a handful of accounts", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446246", "date": "2026-06-08"}, {"by": "shivekkhurana", "context": "multi-currency setup", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46468095", "date": "2026-01-02"}, {"by": "hasperdi", "context": "small business owner", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466507", "date": "2026-01-02"}], "tags": ["for personal finance", "for ex-GnuCash users", "for scripters", "for small businesses", "multi-currency"], "use_cases": ["plain-text accounting", "expense tracking", "plain text accounting", "plain-text personal accounting", "small business accounting", "personal finance tracking"], "compared": [{"slug": "gnucash", "name": "GnuCash", "co": 4, "switched_from": 3, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "beancount", "name": "beancount", "co": 3, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463644", "title": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164573", "title": "Ask HN: Are you interested in a TUI-style financial analysis tool?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476514", "title": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48444784", "title": "Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 4, "compare": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"compare": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 786634257, "item_id": 49164641, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164641", "by": "finscoio", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "compare", "quote": "hledger is more for tracking and display", "excerpt": "hledger is more for tracking and display, but finsco.io focuses on capital allocation audit with a TUI-style interaction.", "context": "", "use_case": "expense tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are you interested in a TUI-style financial analysis tool?"}, {"id": 775631152, "item_id": 48476947, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476947", "by": "coldpie", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is what I use & like as well", "excerpt": "This is what I use & like as well, but I definitely think there's space for a more GUI-focused option that isn't Quickbooks or Gnucash. It's not a good fit for me, though, I require my important tools to be open source. Closed source software has way too many misaligned incentives for me to use it for anything important.", "context": "requires important tools to be open source", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app"}, {"id": 775139936, "item_id": 48446246, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446246", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-06-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically imports the CSVs from my bank and categorizes transactions automatically", "excerpt": "Well, there is legislation before Committee to mandate open APIs that any accredited institution can use. As a consumer you will not be eligible, but you will be allowed to pay some third-party to pull your data from your bank and save it in their database, after which maybe they might allow you to download it in their proprietary format should they choose. Me, I use plain-text accounting (hledger) that automatically", "context": "Canadian with a handful of accounts", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design"}, {"id": 743489520, "item_id": 46468095, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46468095", "by": "shivekkhurana", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I cannot go back to traditional tools.", "excerpt": "I have been recording every txn with GnuCash for the last 8 years. I reached a point where I started writing scripts on top to support my multi-currency setup. Then Claude became a thing, and I thought what if I use Hledger and let Claude manage my books ? I was reluctant to migrate years of txns, so I started with an opening balance. This has been the highest leverage usage of Claude for me. I drop everything: bank ", "context": "multi-currency setup", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743480241, "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": 743464112, "item_id": 46466507, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466507", "by": "hasperdi", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "In 2025 I started managing my small business finances using hledger", "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": "small business accounting", "switched_from": "beancount", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743452320, "item_id": 46465770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465770", "by": "bregma", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's exactly what I wanted all this time I just didn't know it.", "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": "nearing retirement, writes Python import scripts", "use_case": "personal finance tracking", "switched_from": "GnuCash", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}, {"id": 743435392, "item_id": 46464712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464712", "by": "dueyfinster", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also.", "excerpt": "I'm a big fan of plain text accounting also. Like the author - I started 10 years ago (mine from 2015). I use hledger mainly and also wrote converters for bank I use (xlsx to csv). It's crazy to see just how much money I've paid Netflix since 2015 (and I'm a sub since 2011). Or Starbucks (which I rarely go to). But it's very powerful. One thing I've long wanted is better visualizations.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years of personal finances in plain text files"}]}