Scutum ledger is an excel table with a lot of tabs. Each tab contains a table. In a table a column can contain data or formulas. The data columns are denoted by italic font and the formula columns with non-italic font.
For example, at the image above, Account Id is data column and Account is a formula column. The account name is determined based on the account Id.
Now let us see the tabs.
- Parameters
- Transactions
- Dates
- Accounts
- Transaction templates
- Instruments
- Periods
- Account periods
- Account period filenames
- Transaction type hints
- Account balances
- Account balance filenames
- Historic prices
- Investment values
- Period types
- History types
- Table types
- Category groups
- Category group crosses
If we have no financial instruments and we do not want to calculate balances then Transactions and Accounts would be enough. But we probably want to summarize our transactions for a month or for a quarter. The different period types are defined in the Period types tab. In the Dates tab important dates are set, for example the first day of every month. Now a period can be defined in the Periods tab by setting its type, its starting date, and its beginning date. The Id of the previous period from this type should be also given. The Periods tab contains a lot of summarization for the defined periods. The Account periods tab stores similar data but only for a given account. For example, what is the gross starting balance of account 12 in period 32.
If we have financial instrument, for example a car, then we need even more data. First, the instrument has to be defined in the instrument tab. Second, the price of the instrument must be given in each period. If you have shares, then its price can be checked easily at your broker. If you have a car, then you can check the price of similar cars which are on the market but you can just decrease the value of the car with a constant value in each month. The Instrument values tab shows how your instrument perform. For example you bought 10 shares of Tesla at June 12. A row shows what are the results at July 1, August 1, etc. A final row will show the final result when you sell these shares. There are similar rows for all the instruments.
Tags:
Ledger commander
