# ledger-pyreport

ledger-pyreport is a lightweight Flask webapp for generating interactive and printable accounting reports from [ledger-cli](https://www.ledger-cli.org/) data.

## Reports

* Trial balance, and comparative trial balance
* Balance sheet, and comparative balance sheet
* Income statement, and comparative income statement
* Cash flow statement, and comparative cash flow statement (direct and indirect methods)
* General ledger
* Account transactions, with or without itemisation of commodities
* Transaction detail, with or without itemisation of commodities

## Features

* Correctly values:
	* assets/liabilities at fair market value (cf. [AASB](https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB9_12-14_COMPdec17_01-19.pdf)/[IFRS 9](http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/bnstandards/en/IFRS9.pdf) ¶4.1.4, [AASB 121](https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB121_08-15_COMPfeb16_01-19.pdf)/[IAS 21](http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/bnstandards/en/IAS21.pdf) ¶23) or historical cost (cf. [AASB 102](https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB102_07-15_COMPdec16_01-19.pdf)/[IAS 2](http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/bnstandards/en/IAS2.pdf) ¶9), as applicable
	* income/expenses at historical cost (cf. [AASB 121](https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB121_08-15_COMPfeb16_01-19.pdf)/[IAS 21](http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/bnstandards/en/IAS21.pdf) ¶21)
* Correctly computes unrealised gains ([even when Ledger does not](https://yingtongli.me/blog/2020/03/31/ledger-gains.html))
* Accounts for both profit and loss, and other comprehensive income
* Simulates annual closing of books, with presentation of income/expenses on the balance sheet as retained earnings and current year earnings
* Can simulate cash basis accounting, using FIFO methodology to recode transactions involving liabilities and non-cash assets
* Extensible through custom programming hooks

## Background, demo and screenshots

See [https://yingtongli.me/blog/2020/03/31/ledger-pyreport.html](https://yingtongli.me/blog/2020/03/31/ledger-pyreport.html) for further discussion.

## Usage

Install the dependencies from PyPI, optionally in a virtual environment: (Commands presented for Linux/Mac)

```
virtualenv venv
. venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

Copy *config.example.yml* to *config.yml* (or set the *LEDGER_PYREPORT_CONFIG* environment variable to the path to the config file).

Run as per a usual Flask app, for example:

```
FLASK_APP=ledger_pyreport python -m flask run
```

## Notes on Ledger setup

ledger-pyreport expects each of assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses to be setup in Ledger as a separate top-level account. These accounts should contain a zero balance, with all transactions in child accounts.

Additionally, ledger-pyreport expects the next level of assets and liabilities to be categories of asset and liability (e.g. *Assets:Current*, *Liabilities:Non-current*). These, too, should contain a zero balance.

Ledger-pyreport by default observes the convention that positive amounts in Ledger represent debits, and negative amounts in Ledger represent credits.

A commodity which has *any* price data in Ledger (including those specified through `@` or `@@`, or explicitly through `P`) will be regarded as a commodity measured at fair market value, and automatically revalued accordingly. A commodity which has *no* price data in Ledger (i.e. lot prices through `{…}` or `{{…}}` only) will be regarded as a commodity measured at historical cost, and will not be subsequently revalued.

## Caution on standards compliance

ledger-pyreport is developed with reference to the [AASB Australian Accounting Standards](https://www.aasb.gov.au/Pronouncements/Current-standards.aspx) and [IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards](https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/), and we prefer compliance with those standards whenever practical. (We do not specifically consider United States FASB GAAP compliance.)

However, strict compliance with AASB/IFRS is not always practical, and ledger-pyreport departs from AASB/IFRS in a number of material ways – for example, the statement of cash flows generated by ledger-pyreport does not show the detailed subclassifications required by AASB/IFRS, nor does ledger-pyreport produce a statement of changes in equity. In both cases, the background information required to produce the reports accurately is beyond the scope of ledger-pyreport.

Other aspects of AASB/IFRS requirements are the user's responsibility – for example, the selection of an appropriate chart of accounts and appropriate recognition of transactions in those accounts.