On Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at 6:12:47 AM UTC+10:30 [email protected] 
wrote:

in practice users often import some accounts frequently while updating 
others only periodically

This is the main use case for me personally. For most accounts, I only 
update them when I'm send a statement. That means I'll update one bank on 
the 1st (they have fast computers?), another bank on the 5th, my credit 
card statement always comes on the 25th, etc. I've also done international 
wire transfers between my accounts which can (depending on the countries 
and correspondent banks involved) can take anywhere from 6 hours to 6 days.

I'm fine with that "eventual consistency" approach and I think most users 
probably are. If I do an international wire transfer for a house deposit, 
it is in some sense accurate to treat that as my net worth dropping by 
several hundred thousand dollars until it eventually arrives in another 
account. After all, I have seen wire transfers go astray (wrong 
instructions, bank mistakes, etc) so it isn't really "mine" until it 
reappears. But it also feels like making things far too complicated in the 
name of chasing perfect fidelity.

That said, I'm definitely sympathetic to the thought that this is such a 
common use case it (along with the similar but slightly different 
effective_date plugin) is functionality that probably ought to be a core 
part of an accounting system, instead of the current (nearly universal, not 
just in beancount) fiction that transactions are instantaneous and nothing 
is ever pending.

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