Commodity Directive¶

The commodity directive declares a commodity and its display format.

Syntax¶

commodity SYMBOL
    [SUBDIRECTIVE...]

Examples¶

Basic Declaration¶

commodity $

With Format¶

commodity $
    format $1,000.00

Full Example¶

commodity USD
    format 1,000.00 USD
    note United States Dollar
    nomarket
    default

Stock/Security¶

commodity AAPL
    format 1,000.000 AAPL
    note Apple Inc. common stock

Subdirectives¶

format¶

Specifies how amounts should be displayed:

commodity $
    format $1,000.00

commodity EUR
    format 1.000,00 EUR

commodity BTC
    format 1.00000000 BTC

Format components: - Position of symbol (prefix or suffix) - Thousand separator (, or . or space) - Decimal separator (. or ,) - Decimal precision (number of places shown)

note¶

Adds a description:

commodity JPY
    note Japanese Yen

nomarket¶

Excludes from market value calculations:

commodity POINTS
    note Loyalty points - no market value
    nomarket

default¶

Sets as the default commodity:

commodity $
    format $1,000.00
    default

; Amounts without commodity use default
2024/01/15 Test
    Expenses:Food    50.00    ; Interpreted as $50.00
    Assets:Checking

alias¶

Creates alternative names:

commodity $
    alias USD
    alias US$

Commodity Symbols¶

Currency Symbols¶

commodity $     ; US Dollar
commodity €     ; Euro
commodity £     ; British Pound
commodity ¥     ; Yen
commodity ₹     ; Indian Rupee

Currency Codes¶

commodity USD
commodity EUR
commodity GBP
commodity JPY

Custom Commodities¶

commodity AAPL          ; Stock
commodity "MUTUAL FUND" ; Quoted (spaces allowed)
commodity BTC           ; Cryptocurrency
commodity miles         ; Loyalty/reward

Display Format Examples¶

US Currency¶

commodity $
    format $1,000.00

Displays: $1,234.56

European Currency¶

commodity EUR
    format 1.000,00 EUR

Displays: 1.234,56 EUR

Cryptocurrency¶

commodity BTC
    format 1.00000000 BTC

Displays: 0.12345678 BTC

Shares¶

commodity AAPL
    format 1,000.000 AAPL

Displays: 100.000 AAPL

Precision¶

The format directive controls display precision:

commodity $
    format $1,000.00    ; 2 decimal places

; Internal: $33.333333...
; Display:  $33.33

Implicit Declaration¶

Commodities are implicitly declared on first use:

; USD is implicitly declared
2024/01/15 Transaction
    Expenses:Food    50.00 USD
    Assets:Checking

Display format is inferred from usage.

Multiple Commodities¶

A journal can use many commodities:

commodity $
    format $1,000.00

commodity EUR
    format 1.000,00 EUR

commodity AAPL
    format 1.000 AAPL

2024/01/15 Mixed transaction
    Assets:Brokerage    10 AAPL
    Assets:EUR         100 EUR
    Assets:Checking   $-1500.00