Re: Question Regarding Creating Workflow For Automatic Formulas For Finance Based Org Spreadsheet

[Detlef Steuer <steuer@hsu-hh.de>]

Am Mon, 10 Jan 2022 08:04:20 +0100
schrieb Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl>:

> On 2022-01-10, at 04:42, Samuel Banya <sbanya@fastmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Ah, Ledger is way too complicated for what it's worth. I've seen
> > videos on YouTube about it, and every person who's praised it is
> > pretty much too smart enough to be able to explain it in simple
> > terms.  
> 
> Interesting - I've been using Ledger for many years now, and while
> I agree that it has its dark corners, it's much like Org in that
> respect
> - you are not forced to use them at all.  And the "core" is IMHO
> /very/ simple - you just record your "transactions" (e.g., using the
> very nice Emacs ledger-mode) and look at a report.
> 
> I basically use just one kind of report - the balance report, both to
> reconcile my ledger file with my cash and bank and to see the
> current/previous month's income and expenses.
> 
> Before I started using Ledger, I used GNUcash (on and off for a few
> years, too) - I can't say a bad word about it, but it's not
> Emacs-based, so you know.  Also, it's not exactly text-based (AFAIR,
> it uses XML, so it "kind of" is, but...) - a big advantage of Ledger
> is that I can keep my books in Git.  (Of course, using Org would have
> the same advantage.)
> 
> Also, if you don't insist on Ledger, https://plaintextaccounting.org/
> has a comparison of other text-based accounting tools.
> 
> I'm wondering if your opinion about Ledger isn't influenced by the
> fact that it uses basic accounting principles, like the idea of
> double-entry accounting.  For me, it's /very/ simple and intuitive,
> but I graduated in economics many years ago and had a (basic, but
> still) course on accounting.  If that is your problem, I'd suggest
> spending some time on understanding that - even if you don't end up
> using Ledger but some other software, you might find learning about
> accounting useful.  (Also, it's fascinating.  No, really!  It's an
> extremely clever abstract system with a real-life use-case.)
> 
> That said, there are people who just use a regular spreadsheet for
> their personal/household finance, and it seems to work for them.  Go
> figure. (Now that I think of it, I'll have to ask someone who does
> how they manage that.)
> 
> Having said all that, would someone be interested in a blog post(s)
> with a Ledger basics crash course?

Yes.

Detlef

> 
> Hth,
>