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Beancount Basics

FIREla is built on Beancount, a plain text double-entry accounting system.

What is Beancount?

Beancount is a text-based accounting format that:
  • Uses plain text files you can edit with any text editor
  • Supports double-entry bookkeeping
  • Is version-control friendly (Git)
  • Is human-readable and auditable

Basic Syntax

Account Declaration

1990-01-01 open Assets:Bank:Checking USD
1990-01-01 open Liabilities:CreditCard USD
1990-01-01 open Expenses:Food USD
1990-01-01 open Income:Salary USD

Transactions

2024-01-15 * "Grocery shopping"
  Expenses:Food:Groceries    50.00 USD
  Assets:Bank:Checking      -50.00 USD

Balance Assertions

2024-01-31 balance Assets:Bank:Checking 1000.00 USD

Key Concepts

Double Entry

Every transaction has equal debits and credits

Plain Text

Your data is readable, portable, and version-controllable

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