Paisa

Paisa’s budget uses a periodic journal entry to describe the plan separately from actual spending. Record the planned category amounts, then enter real expenses and compare the available budget as the month progresses.

When an unexpected cost creates a deficit, adjust the planned categories instead of changing the historical purchase. Unspent budget can roll into the next month, with an option to disable rollover in Configuration. This workflow suits someone comfortable maintaining a structured financial journal.

A periodic entry begins with ~ and an interval, such as Monthly. Include that interval even for a plan with a start date: Paisa identifies a Ledger issue that prevents the shorter date-only form from working properly. The periodic entry is a forecast, so it does not represent a real purchase or deposit.

Local installation and access

Paisa is free under the GNU Affero GPL version 3 or later. Download the desktop build for Windows, Mac or Linux, or use the command-line version and open its local browser interface. The packaged downloads include Ledger. Journal and configuration files are stored in the paisa folder in Documents.

A username and password are optional for local use. Add them in Configuration, User Accounts if you want a login screen. Paisa explains that this protects the interface only: someone who can read the underlying journal folder can still read the financial records. Third-party hosted installations have their own charges and need access protection.