Price Directive¶

The P directive records historical market prices for commodities.

Syntax¶

P DATE COMMODITY PRICE

Examples¶

Basic Price¶

P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00

Currency Exchange Rate¶

P 2024/01/15 EUR $1.10
P 2024/01/15 GBP $1.27

Cryptocurrency¶

P 2024/01/15 BTC $42000.00

Multiple Prices¶

P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00
P 2024/01/16 AAPL $152.50
P 2024/01/17 AAPL $148.75

Components¶

Date¶

Standard Ledger date format:

P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00
P 2024-01-15 AAPL $150.00

Time (Optional)¶

Time can be included:

P 2024/01/15 12:30:00 AAPL $150.00

Commodity¶

The commodity being priced:

P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00
;            ^^^^ commodity

Price¶

The price in another commodity:

P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00
;                 ^^^^^^^ price (150 USD per share)

Price Database¶

Ledger builds an internal price database:

; Price history
P 2024/01/01 AAPL $145.00
P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00
P 2024/02/01 AAPL $155.00

; Position at cost
2024/01/15 Buy Apple
    Assets:Brokerage    10 AAPL @ $150.00
    Assets:Checking    $-1500.00

Market Value Reporting¶

With -V flag, Ledger uses prices for valuation:

ledger -V balance Assets:Brokerage

Uses most recent price before report date.

Exchange Rates¶

Prices define exchange rates between commodities:

P 2024/01/15 EUR $1.10
P 2024/01/15 GBP $1.27
P 2024/01/15 JPY $0.0067

; Ledger can convert between any currencies

Inverse Prices¶

Ledger automatically calculates inverses:

P 2024/01/15 EUR $1.10
; Implies: 1 USD = 0.909 EUR

Transitive Prices¶

Ledger calculates transitive conversions:

P 2024/01/15 EUR $1.10
P 2024/01/15 GBP £0.85

; Ledger can convert EUR to GBP via USD

Price Sources¶

Manual Entry¶

P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00

From Transactions¶

Prices are also derived from transactions:

2024/01/15 Buy at market
    Assets:Brokerage    10 AAPL @ $150.00
    Assets:Checking
; Implies: P 2024/01/15 AAPL $150.00

External Price Files¶

include prices.dat

Reporting Options¶

Current Value (-V)¶

ledger -V balance

Uses most recent prices.

Historical Value (--historical)¶

ledger --historical -V balance

Uses prices as of each transaction date.

Specific Date (--now)¶

ledger --now 2024/06/30 -V balance

Uses prices as of specified date.

Example: Investment Tracking¶

; Price history
P 2024/01/01 AAPL $145.00
P 2024/02/01 AAPL $155.00
P 2024/03/01 AAPL $160.00

; Transactions
2024/01/15 Buy Apple
    Assets:Brokerage    10 AAPL @ $148.00
    Assets:Checking    $-1480.00

2024/02/15 Buy More
    Assets:Brokerage    5 AAPL @ $157.00
    Assets:Checking    $-785.00

; Report market value
; ledger -V balance Assets:Brokerage
; Shows: 15 AAPL = $2400.00 (at $160/share)