beancount/fava

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

slifty: re question 1, why not put the project names at level 2

1 reply

Assets:ProjectA:MyBank:... etc.

(I would put them at level 1, but I think beancount won't allow it)

can't you run a report including MyBank:Checking across all projects ?

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

or equivalently, you can keep your current structure and report on ProjectA across all Assets, Liabilities etc.

this is easy in h/ledger and beancount must have a way too

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

I should probably learn what running a report is 😅

I think your second suggestion (running the report on the internal abstraction / on the project, rather than the external structure / the account) would be easier to swing simply because when I'm ingesting data from my bank account (e.g. for the example vendor payment above) the account the statement / data is related to is Assets:MyBank:Checking, not broken down by project.

(ty by the way, I'll check this out!)

Would metadata be a reasonable solution to this? E.g. being able to tag transaction legs with project: MyProjectA or whatever (I can't tell if this would get super tedious, or if this is simply the intention of metadata... I truly truly wish I could use #tags since it seems the fava interface treats tags as a first class piece of metadata in its UX)

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

yes tags can be useful when you have crosscutting account hierarchies like this, but they are often used unnecessarily. Here you can simply match on the existing account name

1 reply

"ProjectA"

(when I say "running a report", that means running some command in the terminal to see just the numbers I want - most of us non-fava users do this. I'm not sure how you use beancount/fava)

1 reply

when tracking finances for multiple entities in a single file, it's important to keep things clear of course. Wouldn't you want to divide up income/expenses by project as well ?

I assume so too, but I'm really confused about beancount's CLI, sorry

gary

@garyp:matrix.org

[m]

slifty: for question 1, I would probably add the project as metadata on the individual posting rather than sub-accounts for each project. I think you should then be able to write a beancount query using the metadata in order to get a balance for just a specific project even across multiple bank accounts. And you can put the metadata on your Accounts Payable/Receivable postings too.

slifty: for question 2, why do you need the separate sub-account for each vendor? I would just put them all in one account and do a report by payee to see each vendor's balance.

1 reply

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

@gary I am storing invoices alongside my ledger; do you know if it's possible to maintain a document structure that doesn't mirror accounts directly (e.g. if I track vendor using the Payee model)? With sub-accounts I had each invoice in a ./Liabilities/AccountsPayable/VendorNameHere which aligned with the account. Fava seemed opinionated about that file structure, but I'm wondering if maybe I'm not so locked in.

(or, alternatively maybe I keep the AP sub-accounts but ditch the expense sub-accounts. food for thought.)

I know I'm saying thanks a lot but why stop now: thank you so much for the advice

simonmic:matrix.org @simonmic:matrix.org would stick with accounts for such an important subdivision that needs to be reliable

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

but, YMMV! whatever works

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

sm: ah! Are you talking about for vendors or the project concept (or both)?

Now that you mention that, I do think the reason I was worried about relying on Payee was the potential for typos -- whereas with accounts I'd get an error if I screw it up

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

right. I was responding to "why do you need the separate sub-account for each vendor"

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

sm: Got it -- point well taken; and to that end where I might wind up is "sub accounts for AP" (which addresses my document problem too), but NO sub-accounts for the expense.

Once this is all done maybe I'll write a blog post to share what I've learned in case it helps others in future...

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

when you find you need to report things separately, that's the time to add separate accounts for them, usually

until then, less is more!

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

sm: I like that rule of thumb

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

the fewer moving parts, the better. Finances get complex enough already

that's my motto

my PTA survival tip :)

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

nice: https://github.com/isabekov/beancount-multiperiod-reports

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

Nuts, wish Fava could let me visualize by payee -- that's one big downside to not using vendor sub-accounts (e.g. being able to have my TreeMap show me which vendor is being paid the most, rather than one big Wages block)

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

Update: oh yay beancount/fava#756

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

I see fava has "fava.plugins.link_documents" as a listed plugin, but the documentation doesn't make it too clear if this is enabled by default or if I have to do something to make it work... Anybody here know how I can have documents appear as linked to my transactions?

slifty

@slifty:matrix.org

[m]

Looks like I just have to type plugin "fava.plugins.link_documents" in my ledger (btw what is the "noun" for a beancount document? is it ledger? recordset?)

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

journal I usually call it, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_journal

Rudde

@Rudde

Are there no offical fava docker?

Vlad Rafeev

@dandaka

Hey everyone! Is it possible to get an account statement? I am looking for a basic report, that will include
— opening balance
— closing balance
— all transactions between

3 replies

one-validr

@one-validr

Hello, how to bind fava to https?
I think I shall put fava under a reverse proxy.
Other suggestion?

yusf

@yusf:gottsnack.net

[m]

@one-validr: there are various implementations on Docker Hub 🙂

one-validr

@one-validr

Ok, i'll check ;)

simonmic:matrix.org @simonmic:matrix.org would try caddy

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

how would you convert to cost or value with Beancount, like Ledger's -B or -V/-X ?

Alan Hawrylyshen

@muonzoo

Inventories are held at cost. You can write a query that uses your price data to show value.

I'm pretty sure there's and example query in the docs and if not check the pta wiki?

If not I can dig up an example of you ping the thread again and I'm on my laptop

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

muonzoo (Alan Hawrylyshen) or anyone - a sample command line would be most welcome. There are a ton of docs

saharshtapi

@saharshtapi

Hey Admin,
Can you please look into the GitHub issue beancount/fava#1427

Alan Hawrylyshen

@muonzoo

@sm if you have a sample file that works with hledger I can whip up the corresponding beancount example(s)

putzwasser

@putzwasser

Is there an ETA for beancount3 ?

@simonmic:matrix.org

[m]

@muonzoo: here's an example, I'm wondering how to show cost and market value like this:

P 2022-01-01 A 3C

2022-01-01
    (a)        1A @ 2B

comment

$ hledger bal -N
                  1A  a
$ hledger bal -N -B
                  2B  a
$ hledger bal -N -V
                  3C  a

no, @putzwasser

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