[braho]

Not only is Martin Blais' explanation very helpful, his software, Beancount, is also very suitable for any personal finance projects, especially if you have a background as Developer.

Personally, I combine beancount with fava and find it much better than e.g. GnuCash.

[neolog]

Is beancount the kind of tool that's mostly useful if you put a lot of time into it, like Emacs? Or is it immediately useful with even small investments of time?

[hesk]

I found ledger-cli (upon which beancount is based) immediately useful. However, since you mentioned Emacs, I should say that I use ledger-mode in Emacs to add entries. But I do most of my reporting directly on the command line.

[eginhard]

I found it easy to get started with the very basics (e.g. recording of simple transactions) and I'm just reading up more over time on how to handle more complex things like splitting expenses with a partner or investments. Thanks to Python I was also able to customise my setup almost right away. There is also an Emacs mode for those who have already made that investment.

[Tijdreiziger]

If you're familiar with double-entry bookkeeping, I found it very easy to get started. If you're not, it will take some time to familiarize yourself with that concept.

[Tijdreiziger]

Beancount+Fava is awesome if you're a developer who understands double-entry accounting.