The Bean Ledger

A .beancount file is a stream of directives — dated instructions that either record that something happened or assert that something is true.

The Problem of Non-integer Shares Open a modern brokerage account and you own fractional shares almost before you mean to.

It’s payday.

Here’s a scene from my ledger that happens a few times a year.

You sign for a new car, and 30,000 USD leaves your checking account in a single transfer to the dealer.

Introduction Tax accounting is one of the most crucial aspects of personal and business bookkeeping, yet it can be intimidating for newcomers to double-entry accounting systems like Beancount.

Introduction Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are a common part of compensation packages in tech and other industries.

Introduction Tracking your investments can easily become a mess of PDFs, spreadsheets, and inconsistent brokerage exports.

Accounting for health-related expenses in the U.S. is slightly different from typical expense tracking because it usually involves insurance.

One of the first steps to mastering Beancount is designing a clean, flexible, and future-proof Chart of Accounts (CoA).

Introduction In the United States, retirement accounts are specialized investment vehicles designed to support long-term financial security during post-employment years.

Managing real estate investments involves tracking numerous financial activities, including property purchases, rental income, and eventual sales.

Understanding the foundational principles of Beancount is essential for effective personal finance management.

As your financial records grow, maintaining clarity and efficiency becomes paramount.

In an age of overly complex personal finance tools, Beancount offers a refreshing alternative: a simple, transparent, and programmable plain-text accounting system.

In a landscape dominated by opaque financial tools and cloud-dependent apps, Beancount emerges as a refreshing alternative—a plain-text, open-source accounting system that prioritizes transparency, control, and extensibility.