account Liabilities:Credit Card:Visa

    note Visa Credit Card account for entire organization

    assert commodity == "$"

; Organizational accrual accounts

account Accrued:Accounts Receivable:Main Org

    note Accrued receivables for Main Org

    assert commodity == "$"

account Accrued:Accounts Payable:Main Org

    note Accrued payables for Main Org

    assert commodity == "$"

; Organizational Expense Accounts

; NOTE: the payee =~ test is *not* included herein and must be cut-and-pasted

;       to the assert in every Expense account because of the following bug:

;               http://bugs.ledger-cli.org/show_bug.cgi?id=953

define expenseChecker() = (tag("Receipt") !~ /^\s*$/ or tag("Invoice") !~ /^\s*$/ or tag("Statement") !~ /^\s*$/) and tag("Program") !~ /^\s*$/

; or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    assert expenseChecker() or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    note Main Organization's Office Supplies and Sundries

    assert expenseChecker() or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    note Main Organization's Staff Salaries

    assert expenseChecker() or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    note Main Organization's Staff Benefits

    assert expenseChecker() or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    note Main Organization's Phone Expenses

    assert expenseChecker() or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    note Main Organization's Network Hosting Provider services

    assert expenseChecker() or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    note Main Organization's software development expenses

    assert expenseChecker() or payee =~ /NEVER CHARGED/

    note Main Organization's Occupancy for Office Space and the like

; Organizational Income Accounts

define incomeChecker(amt) = (tag("Entity") !~ /^\s*$/ or (amt > -800.00 and amt < 800.00)) and tag("IncomeType") !~ /^\s*$/ and tag("Program") !~ /^\s*$/

account Income:Main Org:Donations

    assert incomeChecker(amount) and tag("IncomeType") =~ /^Donations$/

    note Donation income to the Main Org.

; -*- ledger -*-

; -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

!include ../config/config-npo.ledger

2012-02-05 Office Supply Galore - Online Order

        ;Receipt: accounts/documentation/org/receipts/2012-02-05_office-supply-galore.txt

        ;Program: Main Org:Overhead

    Liabilities:Credit Card:Visa             $-35.00

2011/05/28 My Bad Billing Hosting - NEVER CHARGED

    Liabilities:Credit Card:Visa            $-100.00

        ;Program: Main Org:Overhead

2012/01/01 My Bad Billing Hosting - REVERSAL - NEVER CHARGED

    Liabilities:Credit Card:Visa             $100.00

        ;Program: Main Org:Overhead

2012-05-03 Sir Moneybags

        ;Entity: Sir-Moneybags

        ;Invoice: accounts/documentation/org/invoices/2012-05-30_moneybags-invoice_as-sent.txt

    Accrued:Accounts Receivable:Main Org  $100,000.00

    Income:Main Org:Donations            $-100,000.00

        ;IncomeType: Donations

        ;Program: Main Org:Direct Fundraising

2012-07-05 J. Developer

        ;Entity: Developer-J

        ;Invoice: accounts/documentation/org/expenses/developer/2012-07-05_developer-invoice.txt

    Accrued:Accounts Payable:Main Org  $-5,000.00

        ;Program: Main Org:Software:Internal

        ;Statement: accounts/documentation/org/expenses/developer/2012-07-05_developer-report.txt

2012-08-03 (1) J. Developer

        ;Entity: Developer-J

    Accrued:Accounts Payable:Main Org  $5,000.00

        ;Invoice: accounts/documentation/org/expenses/developer/2012-07-05_developer-invoice.txt

    Asset:Checking                    $-5,000.00

        ;TaxImplication: 1099

Many accounting tutorial materials will note that loans, accounts receivable

and other receivables are assets as well.  Most accountants will

say that they are, but with regard to accounts called "Assets", this system

uses the account hierarchy `Assets:` only for tangible, liquid,

cash and/or cash-equivalent assets.  You'll find that account hierarchy

commonly in the examples herein.

### Liabilities Accounts

Similar to assets, most accountants will point out that any amount owed to

someone else is a liability, and that is of course accurate.  Like with the

`Assets:` hierarchy, this system uses `Liabilities:` hierarchy only to refer

to formalized accounts, such as credit cards, where a monthly statement is

sent and have an ongoing liability relationship with the organization.

### Accrued Accounts

For items that are receivable or payable, this system uses `Accrued:`

hierarchy.  Under this top-level account, you'll find accounts payable,

accounts receivable, loans payable and loans receivable.

### Expense Accounts

These accounts contain any expense of the organization, and all begin with

### Income Accounts

These accounts contain any income of the organization, and all begin with

`Income:`.

### Unearned Income Accounts

`Unearned Income:` accounts are used to refer to revenue that is currently

received for services which have not yet been delivered.  The most typical

and common place an NPO encounters this type of income is for conference

registrations.  Since conference registrations arrive in advance of the

conference, it is not proper under accrual accounting to call it income until

such time as the conference successfully completes.

### Reporting The Chart of Accounts

The

[`general-ledger-report.plx` script in the `non-profit-audit-reports` Ledger CLI contrib directory](https://github.com/ledger/ledger/blob/next/contrib/non-profit-audit-reports/general-ledger-report.plx)

will generate a file called `chart-of-accounts.csv`, which is the chart of accounts.

The main command-line program though, that generates the chart of accounts

looks like this:

    $ ledger -f accounts/main/books.ledger -V -F "%-150A\n" -w -s -b 2012/01/01 -e 2013/01/01 reg

            ;IncomeType: Donations

The portion of the transaction that credits the `Income:Main Org:Donations`

has three tags: [`Entity`](#entity-tag), [`Invoice`](#invoice-tag) and

[`IncomeType`](#income-type).  The `Entity` and `Invoice` tags, since they're

listed at the top of the transaction, propagate through and apply to both

sides.  But, the `IncomeType` tag, which has no meaning for `Accrued:`

accounts, so it is applied only to the `Income:Main Org:Donations` part of

the transaction.

Below you'll find detailed descriptions of all the possible tags that are

used in this system.  The actual declarations and enforcement of rules of

these tags can be found in the file `accounts/config/config-tags.ledger` in

this project.

### Documentation Tags

Documentation tags are tags that link to other backup documents that provide

evidence and details that justify a particular ledger entry.  The value of

the tag is a relative path name of a file elsewhere in the same repository

that documents the specific expense.  For example, an entry like this:

     2012-02-05 Office Supply Galore - Online Order

             ;Receipt: accounts/documentation/org/receipts/2012-02-05_office-supply-galore.txt

         Liabilities:Credit Card:Visa         -$35.00

shows that a purchase was made at Office Supply Galore's online store for

$35.00, and the file

`accounts/documentation/org/receipts/2012-02-05_office-supply-galore.txt`

contains the receipt from that purchase.

#### Receipt Tag

The `Receipt:` tag refers to receipt of some sort.  Typically, this is a

document that shows clear confirmation that the transaction has already

occurred.  The value of the `Receipt:` tag is always a valid pathname in the

repository to the document, [as described above](#documentation-tags).

Some examples of appropriate uses of the `Receipt:` are:

* a point-of-sale credit card receipt from a purchase, given by a cashier or

  sent via email after the purchase has occurred.

* a deposit slip given at the bank upon making an over-the-counter deposit of

  paper checks.

* a confirmation document showing an outgoing wire transfer made by a bank.

  1099 is required.

* `USA-501c3`, indicating that the NPO has established that the `Entity`

  has federal 501(c)(3) status in the USA, and therefore no 1099 is required.

* `Refund`, indicating that the amount is a refund owed to the `Entity` from

  an amount previously paid to the NPO.

* `Reimbursement`, indicating that the amount is a reimbursement of expenses

  incurred by the `Entity` and thus it is not income to the `Entity`.

* `Tax-Payment`, indicating this is a tax payment to a taxing authority (such

  as the state or federal government) (e.g., a unrelated business income tax

  payment).

* `USA-LLC-No-1099`, indicating that the `Entity` is an LLC, but not the type

  of LLC for which the USA requires issuing a 1099.

* `Loan`, indicating that the `Entity` is receiving these funds as a loan

  that is expected to be paid back.

#### Program Tag

The `Program` tag is used primarily to track program activity for `Income:`

initiated the income (e.g., a specific fundraising campaign) and/or what

particular program activity an expense is toward (e.g., funding travel to

some specific conference).

The Program tag is always a string with the same format as a Ledger CLI

account (primarily for use with Ledger CLI's `--pivot` and `--group-by`,

[as described later](#testing-program-success)).

### Account Type Documentation Requirements

Each account type has different documentation requirements.  Based on the

type of the account, it requires a different set of tags.

When Ledger CLI's `--pedantic` option is used, these rules are enforced by

ledger itself via the configurations found in `config-tags.ledger` and

`config-accounts.ledger`.

#### Expense Account Documentation

* One of: [`Invoice:`](#invoice-tag) [`Receipt:`](#receipt-tag), or

  [`Statement`](#statement-tag).  (The only exception to this rule: an entry

  does not need an `Invoice:`, `Receipt`, nor a `Statement` tag if the

  [payee was never charged](#never-charged-payee).)

* A [`Program:`](#program-tag) tag.

#### NEVER CHARGED Payee

The only exception to the standard tagging requirement is when the payee has

been modified to indicate that the expense was `NEVER CHARGED`.  This is an

historical special-case.  The solution was originally design for the

following scenario:

Suppose an expense was expected — for example, a situation where you

gave a credit card number to charge something and the charge never came

through — but it turns out the charge never happened.

The recommended way to resolve this problem in the system is to just delete

the entry entirely from the Ledger file, and allow the VCS to log the fact

that the charge was expected, but the vendor never billed the credit card.

The reason the `NEVER CHARGED` payee text was added was to handle the

* An [`Entity:`](#entity-tag) tag, *iff.* the Income for the transaction is

  for more than $800.

* An [`IncomeType:`](#incometype-tag) tag.

* A [`Program:`](#program-tag) tag.

Analysis of the Data

--------------------

If this methodology is followed, Ledger can be used to analyze the financial

data for the organization.

### Testing Program Success

If you use the [`Program`](#program-tag) tag effectively, you can easily test

the successes of various fundraising programs with a command like this:

    $ ledger -f accounts/books.ledger --pivot Program bal '/^Income/'

Meanwhile, using the  [`Program`](#program-tag) tag for Expenses can help

track what programs are costing with commands like these:

FIXME: example output

### Checking Integrity of a Tag

[As mentioned](#entity-tag), the `Entity:` tag is one example among many

where the value is a wide range, but since Ledger CLI isn't backed by a more

complete ERP system, it's possible during data entry for typos to make a

serious problem.  One work around to this flaw is to periodically run a

command like:

    $ ledger -f accounts/books.ledger -F '%(tag("Entity"))\n' reg|sort|uniq|less

which will show all unique `Entity:` values currently in use.

Copyright and License of This File

----------------------------------

This specific document, the README.md file for npo-ledger-cli, is copyrighted:

  Copyright © 2013, Bradley M. Kuhn

This document's license gives you freedom; you can copy, modify, convey,

propagate, and/or redistribute this software under the terms of either: