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PTA Standards

Issue Draft: Close with Non-Zero Balance ​

Repository: pta-standards Labels: spec-clarification, beancount-v3, undefined

Title ​

[beancount-v3] Clarify: should closing account with non-zero balance produce error?

Body ​

Spec Reference ​

  • formats/beancount/v3/spec/validation/accounts.md - Account Close with Non-Zero Balance

Current Status ​

Marked as UNDEFINED in the spec.

Question ​

Should closing an account that still has a balance produce an error?

beancount
2024-01-01 open Assets:Checking USD

2024-06-15 * "Deposit"
  Assets:Checking  1000 USD
  Income:Salary

2024-12-31 close Assets:Checking
; Account has 1000 USD balance - what should happen?

Options ​

  1. Allow silently - No error or warning
  2. Warning - Allow but produce a warning
  3. Error - Must have zero balance to close

Python Beancount Behavior ​

Python beancount 3.2.0 implements Option 1:

  • Closing with non-zero balance is allowed
  • No error or warning is produced

Discussion ​

Which should be the normative behavior?

For allowing (Options 1-2):

  • User may have transferred funds elsewhere
  • Account might be intentionally abandoned
  • Balance may be tracked in a different system

For requiring zero (Option 3):

  • Catches mistakes (forgot to transfer funds)
  • Forces explicit handling of remaining balance
  • More rigorous bookkeeping

Resolution Needed ​

Once consensus is reached here, we will:

  1. Update the spec to document the normative behavior
  2. File upstream issue if clarification from beancount maintainers is needed