On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 5:28 PM Will Middleton <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am brand new here and using ledger-cli to maintain the books for a new > non-profit that I am involved with: RadicalxChange.org > > I would like to know if anyone else out there is interested in developing a > repository that creates a standard Chart of Accounts (accounts.dat) for non > profits. Then we can create reports that map to the Form 990/990-EZ/990-N > Non-profit IRS tax filing forms. I think we might be able to gather some > grant support for such a project as well. > > I am going to start developing by myself using the only tools I know (bash, > python 3.5+). > > Would love it if some others want to join and/or know of some other projects > that are working on similar ideas. By the way, I love the tools here. > Originally I was trained an accountant, getting a MS in Accounting & > Information Systems then working internal audit at a bank. I started > developing in VBA during that job, then quit to pursue a MS Data Science > joined the blockchain world and now am rekindling an interest in accounting > after having found ledger-cli. I am very grateful for the tools here. > > -- Wilst developing a standard Chart of Accounts sounds like a great idea I would think that even in non-profits you will find variation. Me here - - - well - - - I'm using something that my wife thinks is insanely over complicated but business is business and my books are for me to analyze MY business.
Rather than trying to develop a list - - - why not start with a standard? GIFI (general index of financial information IIRC) are a set of codes recognized by the government. The codes are slightly different between Canada and the USA but that's sort of normal too. I started with that list and then upped the granularity (I went from 4 digits to 10 spaced like xxxx.xx.xx.xx) this enables me to track a lot of detail and yet the first 4 digits are the same as the related GIFI code. So the document I found (on a government website) was not too long. With my greater granularity I have about 38 pages in my list. (I'm not using all the codes but am likely using about 60% of them. The codes are made for business use so there may be a different list for charities. That's where I would start. Your list would then be quite connected to anything needed to file forms or any other document to the government.) Ledger is so flexible - - - you will be amazed at its flexibility yet its still very solid - - - I believe you will find Ledger time well spent. Regards Dee -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ledger" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
