Invoice for use with PTA software like hledger and Tackler.
When trying out plain text accounting (PTA), I needed a way to create pdf invoices. I stumbled on Typst and here is the result.
For PTA I currently use hledger. My plan is to switch to Tackler due to its journal data auditing features, which allows it to cryptographically prove the data has not changed. But for now the Tackler features for this invoice may not be quite up to date.
The address placement hopefully fits a C5 envelope with an h2 "window". So far I haven’t had to print the invoice so it is not tested.
Read more about PTA - Plain Text Accounting.
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clients.toml
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static_data.toml
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2 json / csv files containing the balance and register, the path and file names and are specified in static_data.toml. If the file is a csv it is inferred it is exported from Hledger with a similar command to the one below. If json, Tackler.
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VAT: with Tackler the accounts in the exported register can be used. With Hledger you can set the hledger_account_name_for_vat which adds the hledger_vat_text.
Generate the csv with something like:
Register export (revenue only - for invoice line items):
hledger register -f div/.hledger.example.journal --invert date:2025-03-03 desc:x revenue -O csv > exported-from-pta/register-exp-hledger.csv
Balance export (revenue + VAT - for invoice totals):
hledger balance -f div/.hledger.example.journal --invert date:2025-03-03 desc:x revenue liabilities:vat:sales -O csv > exported-from-pta/balance-exp-hledger.csv
The register export contains only revenue accounts for detailed line items, while the balance export includes revenue and VAT accounts. The CSV total row provides the invoice total.
Generate the json with something like:
tackler --config journal/conf/tackler.toml --output.dir . --output.prefix report
