hledger is a plain text accounting tool and double-entry ledger manager that stores financial transactions in human-readable text files. It functions as a financial reporting engine for generating balance sheets and income statements, and as a multi-currency investment tracker for managing commodity lots and capital gains.
The project distinguishes itself by providing multi-interface data access, allowing users to interact with their financial data via a command line interface, a terminal user interface, and a web server. It features a market-price valuation system to calculate the current value of multi-currency holdings and uses a FIFO asset lot tracking system to determine realized capital gains and cost basis.
The system covers a broad range of capabilities, including financial planning and budgeting, investment performance analysis, and specialized time tracking for billable hours. It also includes data import utilities for CSV and other accounting formats, as well as auditing tools for journal integrity and balance reconciliation.
Users can manage their data through a terminal-based interface, a web-based application, or various third-party integrations.