New Beancount tutorial: The Zen of Balance

[Fang-Pen Lin]

Hi Beancount users,

I have been learning and using Beancount for a few years, and I've read many articles and documents introducing Beancount. However, sometimes, I felt confused by some new concepts, and not all articles explained things clearly. For example, I was initially confused about why income is negative. After quite some effort, I have a certain level of confidence to maintain my books with Beancount. I looked back and wondered if there was a book teaching Beancount in a more approachable way. Therefore, I spent some time thinking about how to explain Beancount and double-entry accounting concepts more intuitively.

Eventually, I came up with a diagram, which I call it pile-hole diagram. Imagine all the money flowing, like digging a hole in the ground and putting a pile of dirt on the side. Here's an example of how I explained income:

I think I should be able to visualize all kinds of money movements with a diagram like that. With the idea, I kick-started writing the book a few days ago, and it's free. You can read it here:

https://academy.beanhub.io

It's still working in progress, and any feedback is welcomed 🙌

[fin]

Fang-Pen Lin wrote:
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hi,

for my own purposes i found this very helpful:

https://martin.kleppmann.com/2011/03/07/accounting-for-computer-scientists.html

the reason that various accounts must be negative or
positive is just because of the nature of double entry
book keeping. if Assets are positive then to balance
the amounts coming in must be offset by a negative and
amounts going out must be offset by a positive.

fin


> Hi Beancount users,
>
> I have been learning and using Beancount for a few years, and I've read=20
> many articles and documents introducing Beancount. However, sometimes, I=20
> felt confused by some new concepts, and not all articles explained things=
>=20
> clearly. For example, I was initially confused about why income is=20
> negative. After quite some effort, I have a certain level of confidence to=
>=20
> maintain my books with Beancount. I looked back and wondered if there was a=
>=20
> book teaching Beancount in a more approachable way. Therefore, I spent some=
>=20
> time thinking about how to explain Beancount and double-entry accounting=20
> concepts more intuitively.
>
> Eventually, I came up with a diagram, which I call it pile-hole diagram.=20
> Imagine all the money flowing, like digging a hole in the ground and=20
> putting a pile of dirt on the side. Here's an example of how I explained=20

> income:
>
> [image: Assets is usually positive because it's something you have.]
>

> I think I should be able to visualize all kinds of money movements with a=
>=20
> diagram like that. With the idea, I kick-started writing the book a few=20

> days ago, and it's free. You can read it here:
>
> https://academy.beanhub.io
>

> It's still working in progress, and any feedback is welcomed =F0=9F=99=8C
>
> --=20
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "=
> Beancount" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an e=
> mail to beancount+...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/=
> beancount/00ad774a-2bbf-4f67-9563-2188e389c447n%40googlegroups.com.
>
> ------=_Part_68197_73804885.1722561477308
> Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> Hi Beancount users,<br /><br />I have been learning and using Beancount for=
> a few years, and I've read many articles and documents introducing Beancou=
> nt. However, sometimes, I felt confused by some new concepts, and not all a=
> rticles explained things clearly. For example, I was initially confused abo=
> ut why income is negative. After quite some effort, I have a certain level =
> of confidence to maintain my books with Beancount. I looked back and wonder=
> ed if there was a book teaching Beancount in a more approachable way. There=
> fore, I spent some time thinking about how to explain Beancount and double-=
> entry accounting concepts more intuitively.<br /><br />Eventually, I came u=
> p with a diagram, which I call it pile-hole diagram. Imagine all the money =
> flowing, like digging a hole in the ground and putting a pile of dirt on th=
> e side. Here's an example of how I explained income:<div><br /></div><div><=
> img src=3D"https://academy.beanhub.io/img/beancount/income-asset.svg" alt=
>=3D"Assets is usually positive because it's something you have." /><br /><b=
> r />I think I should be able to visualize all kinds of money movements with=
> a diagram like that. With the idea, I kick-started writing the book a few =
> days ago, and it's free. You can read it here:<br /><br /><a href=3D"https:=
> //academy.beanhub.io">https://academy.beanhub.io</a><div><div><br />It's st=
> ill working in progress, and any feedback is welcomed =F0=9F=99=8C<br /></d=
> iv></div></div>
>
><p></p>
>
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[Timothy Jesionowski]

Overall I really like it as an introduction, especially for non-technical friends and family. My one caveat is that the section on equity isn't terribly clear English. I think it gets the point across, but... "harder-to-understand" should be "hardest-to-understand", "could be equity" should be "is equity", and the next sentence should end "equity is usually the one that you want".

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[Fang-Pen Lin]

Thanks for sharing the article. I saw similar diagram before, and I think it definitely helps understanding double entry accounting. But I want to explain the concepts to non-technical audience as well, so I cam up with the idea of pile hole diagram to make it a bit imaginable with things we saw in the nature. 

[Fang-Pen Lin]

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I wan to write it in a way so that even non-technical readers can understand what's double entry how to bookkeep with beancount. Glad you like it. And pardon my English as I am not a native speaker, I tried my best to correct the grammr errors with Grammy, but it's still far from perfect. I guess I will hire a proofreader to help me on reviewing the articles at somepoint.