What

Generic account objects that can be used and shared in arbitrary ways.

Setup

This is a Python/Django project.

• make sure you have the following python tools installed: pip (the python package manager), virtualenv, and virtualenvwrapper

  • these will install new commands accessible from the command line, so make sure you have re-sourced your .bashrc/.zshrc file as directed in the above installation process, or the commands won't be accessible.

• create a virtual environment for this project, eg, mkvirtualenv bank, then "enter" the virtual env: workon bank.

• install the project requirements: pip install -r requirements.txt

• set up the database and run migrations with the command: ./manage.py migrate. you will see some output confirming various tables created.

• create a superuser so you can login: ./manage.py createsuperuser

• runserver: ./managy.py runserver <port>

• go to /admin and set up a few things:

  • create a currency
    • this automatically creates system DEBIT and CREDIT accounts for that currency.
  • create one or more additional user accounts
  • still in the admin interface, create an initial balance in one or more user accounts by creating a transaction from the system DEBIT account of the appropriate currency, to the user account. (system DEBIT accounts are constrained to have a balance < 0. I am not convinced this is 100% necessary but we can revisit later if needed).

• visit /accounts/list to see your accounts.

• transfer money between accounts on the list page

• view account transactions on the account detail page.

Basics

• currencies
• system accounts
• owners, admins
• transfers

Use Cases

• Liability tracking
• Solidarity Fund
• Savings Pool
• Pooling money for a purchase (using promises)
• A custom mutual credit system
• Time bank
• RV Food/maintenance account
• Event costs tracking and transparency
• Reimbursement Management