Explanation of beancount.plugins.ira_contribs?

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lucas.sz...@gmail.com

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Mar 30, 2019, 5:25:08 PM3/30/19
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Hello,

I've been a happy user of Beancount so far, and track my IRA contributions without any plugins and with a virtual currency. Is there anywhere I could read an explanation or narration of what the ira_contribs plugin (https://aumayr.github.io/beancount-docs-static/api_reference/beancount.plugins.html#module-beancount.plugins.ira_contribs) does? I find the explanation in the documentation a bit hard to understand when it comes to how/why one would actually use the plugin.

Martin Blais

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Apr 3, 2019, 8:55:02 AM4/3/19
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Hi Lucas,
Did you look at the test?
Here:

You can diff the input and expected output and look at the what was modified / inserted.
That should give you a good idea.



On Sat, Mar 30, 2019 at 5:25 PM <lucas.sz...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,

I've been a happy user of Beancount so far, and track my IRA contributions without any plugins and with a virtual currency. Is there anywhere I could read an explanation or narration of what the ira_contribs plugin (https://aumayr.github.io/beancount-docs-static/api_reference/beancount.plugins.html#module-beancount.plugins.ira_contribs) does? I find the explanation in the documentation a bit hard to understand when it comes to how/why one would actually use the plugin.

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Lucas Szwarcberg

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Apr 3, 2019, 3:20:32 PM4/3/19
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Hello Martin,

Thanks so much for the reply. I think the thing that I am confused about is the interpretation of the accounts: why is the pretax 401k an expense in the present? It seems intuitive that it would be a liability, since the tax is deferred? I tried Googling around for an explanation of how to treat this sort of situation in double-entry accounting, but couldn't find a simple one.

Best,
Lucas

On Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 8:55:02 AM UTC-4, Martin Blais wrote:
Hi Lucas,
Did you look at the test?
Here:

You can diff the input and expected output and look at the what was modified / inserted.
That should give you a good idea.



On Sat, Mar 30, 2019 at 5:25 PM <lucas.s...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,

I've been a happy user of Beancount so far, and track my IRA contributions without any plugins and with a virtual currency. Is there anywhere I could read an explanation or narration of what the ira_contribs plugin (https://aumayr.github.io/beancount-docs-static/api_reference/beancount.plugins.html#module-beancount.plugins.ira_contribs) does? I find the explanation in the documentation a bit hard to understand when it comes to how/why one would actually use the plugin.

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Lucas Szwarcberg

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Apr 3, 2019, 3:43:18 PM4/3/19
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On second thought, I think I understand why you put it that way in terms of the expense. I would have just written the Asset line as a liability since it will always be negative.

Martin Blais

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Apr 3, 2019, 8:28:33 PM4/3/19
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On Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 3:20:32 PM UTC-4, Lucas Szwarcberg wrote:
Hello Martin,

Thanks so much for the reply. I think the thing that I am confused about is the interpretation of the accounts: why is the pretax 401k an expense in the present? It seems intuitive that it would be a liability, since the tax is deferred? I tried Googling around for an explanation of how to treat this sort of situation in double-entry accounting, but couldn't find a simple one.

The Assets:US:Federal:PreTax401k account is to be filled up at the beginning of the year to the quantity you're allowed to deduct throughout the year.
If you max out your contributions, that account should have zero after you're done contributing.
If not, it will contain the amount of remaining potential contributions you will forfeit for that year.

The Expenses:Taxes:TY2013:US:Federal:PreTax401k account tracks how much you've used.
It's a positive number.


On Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 8:55:02 AM UTC-4, Martin Blais wrote:
Hi Lucas,
Did you look at the test?
Here:

You can diff the input and expected output and look at the what was modified / inserted.
That should give you a good idea.



On Sat, Mar 30, 2019 at 5:25 PM <lucas.s...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,

I've been a happy user of Beancount so far, and track my IRA contributions without any plugins and with a virtual currency. Is there anywhere I could read an explanation or narration of what the ira_contribs plugin (https://aumayr.github.io/beancount-docs-static/api_reference/beancount.plugins.html#module-beancount.plugins.ira_contribs) does? I find the explanation in the documentation a bit hard to understand when it comes to how/why one would actually use the plugin.

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To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beancount/2971d105-82fc-478d-89dc-87677c61c15d%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

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