Account Directive¶

The account directive declares an account and its properties.

Syntax¶

account ACCOUNT_NAME
    [SUBDIRECTIVE...]

Examples¶

Basic Declaration¶

account Assets:Checking

With Subdirectives¶

account Assets:Checking
    note My primary checking account
    alias checking
    default

Full Example¶

account Expenses:Food:Groceries
    note Weekly grocery expenses
    alias groceries
    alias food
    payee ^(Whole Foods|Trader Joe|Safeway)
    check commodity == "$"
    assert amount < 500

Subdirectives¶

note¶

Adds a description to the account:

account Assets:Savings
    note Emergency fund - do not touch

alias¶

Creates a shorthand name for the account:

account Expenses:Transportation:Gas
    alias gas
    alias fuel

; Now you can use:
2024/01/15 Shell
    gas    $50.00
    Assets:Checking

Multiple aliases can be defined for one account.

payee¶

Associates payee patterns with the account:

account Expenses:Food:Restaurants
    payee ^(Chipotle|McDonald|Starbucks)

; Transactions with matching payees auto-categorize
2024/01/15 Chipotle
    Expenses:Food:Restaurants    $12.00
    Assets:Checking

check¶

Defines a validation check for postings:

account Assets:Checking
    check commodity == "$"
    check amount >= -1000

assert¶

Similar to check but causes an error if false:

account Assets:Savings
    assert amount >= 0  ; Must never go negative

default¶

Marks as the default account for unbalanced transactions:

account Assets:Checking
    default

; This transaction auto-balances to Assets:Checking
2024/01/15 Grocery Store
    Expenses:Food    $50.00

eval¶

Executes an expression when account is referenced:

account Assets:Brokerage
    eval print("Brokerage account accessed")

Account Types¶

Ledger recognizes these root account types:

Type	Description
`Assets`	Things you own
`Liabilities`	Things you owe
`Income`	Money received
`Expenses`	Money spent
`Equity`	Net worth adjustments

Custom root types are also allowed.

Implicit Declaration¶

Accounts are implicitly declared on first use:

; No explicit declaration needed
2024/01/15 Transaction
    Expenses:Food    $50.00
    Assets:Checking

However, explicit declaration enables: - Aliases - Validation rules - Documentation - Payee matching

Validation¶

With --strict or --pedantic flags, Ledger can require explicit account declarations.

ledger --strict -f journal.ledger balance