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Transactions

Transactions are the core of Ledgerly. Every financial event is recorded as a transaction with multiple entries.

What is a Transaction?

A transaction is a record of a financial event that affects your accounts. Every transaction must have:

  • Date: When the transaction occurred
  • Description: What the transaction is about
  • Entries: At least 2 entries (debits and credits that balance)

Transaction Structure

Transaction
├── Date: 2026-01-15
├── Description: "Bought groceries"
├── Notes: "Weekly shopping at Whole Foods"
├── Tags: ["groceries", "food"]
└── Entries:
    ├── Debit: Expenses:Food & Dining → $50.00
    └── Credit: Assets:Cash → $50.00

Creating a Transaction

Step 1: Basic Information

  • Date: When did this happen?
  • Description: What is this transaction? (e.g., "Bought groceries", "Received salary")
  • Notes: Optional additional details
  • Tags: Optional labels for categorization

Step 2: Add Entries

You must add at least 2 entries. Each entry has:

  • Account: Which account is affected?
  • Side: Debit or Credit
  • Amount: How much?
  • Currency: Which currency? (usually your base currency)

Step 3: Balance Check

The system automatically validates that: - Total Debits = Total Credits - You cannot save an unbalanced transaction

Common Transaction Patterns

1. Expense Payment

Example: Paying $50 for groceries with cash

Debit:  Expenses:Food & Dining    $50.00
Credit: Assets:Cash               $50.00

2. Income Receipt

Example: Receiving $3000 salary

Debit:  Assets:Bank:Checking       $3000.00
Credit: Income:Salary             $3000.00

3. Account Transfer

Example: Transferring $200 from checking to savings

Debit:  Assets:Bank:Savings        $200.00
Credit: Assets:Bank:Checking      $200.00

4. Paying Off Debt

Example: Paying $500 credit card bill

Debit:  Liabilities:Credit Cards   $500.00
Credit: Assets:Bank:Checking      $500.00

5. Investment Purchase

Example: Buying $1000 worth of stocks

Debit:  Assets:Investments:Stocks  $1000.00
Credit: Assets:Bank:Checking       $1000.00

6. Multi-Account Transaction

Example: Paying $1200 rent (split: $1000 rent, $200 utilities)

Debit:  Expenses:Housing:Rent      $1000.00
Debit:  Expenses:Utilities         $200.00
Credit: Assets:Bank:Checking      $1200.00

Transaction Validation

Ledgerly enforces these rules:

  1. ✅ Minimum 2 entries: Every transaction must have at least 2 entries
  2. ✅ Balanced: Total debits must equal total credits
  3. ✅ Valid accounts: All accounts must exist
  4. ✅ Valid amounts: Amounts must be positive numbers
  5. ✅ Valid currency: Currency must exist

Editing Transactions

You can edit transactions after creation:

  • Change the date
  • Modify the description or notes
  • Add or remove entries
  • Update amounts

Important: The transaction must remain balanced after editing.

Deleting Transactions

Deleting a transaction removes all its entries. This is useful for:

  • Correcting mistakes
  • Removing test transactions
  • Cleaning up duplicate entries

Warning: Deleted transactions cannot be recovered.

Transaction Tags

Tags help categorize and filter transactions:

  • Examples: "groceries", "work", "personal", "tax-deductible"
  • Use cases: Filtering, reporting, finding related transactions
  • Best practice: Use consistent tag names

Notes vs Description

  • Description: Brief summary (e.g., "Bought groceries")
  • Notes: Detailed information (e.g., "Weekly shopping at Whole Foods. Bought organic produce and dairy products.")

Use notes for additional context that might be useful later.