# Reading your budget Every command opens your budget's local copy, fetching the latest changes from the server first. Reading never changes anything. ## Accounts ```bash fob-actual accounts list # open accounts (--all includes closed ones) fob-actual accounts show Checking fob-actual accounts balance Checking --as-of 2026-06-30 ``` ```text ID NAME BALANCE OFFBUDGET CLOSED ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4d61a451-07d6-4b44-ac58-92644ec1f883 Checking 6,735.77 no no 76cfdef5-4a5b-41f9-a14e-dd1e783370fb Credit Card -512.99 no no ``` Anywhere a command takes an account, you can give its **name** (any capitalisation) or its ID. If two accounts share a name, fob-actual asks for the ID instead of guessing. ## Transactions ```bash fob-actual transactions list --account Checking # the last 30 days fob-actual transactions list --account Checking --from 2026-09-01 --to 2026-09-30 ``` ```text DATE PAYEE CATEGORY NOTES AMOUNT ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2026-09-15 Employer Inc — Salary 3,500.00 2026-09-05 Corner Grocery Groceries — -84.23 2026-09-01 Landlord Rent September rent -1,800.00 ``` `--account` is required: transactions are listed one account at a time. To search across accounts, use [Query](/docs/actual/cli/query). ## The monthly budget ```bash fob-actual budgets months # every month the budget covers fob-actual budgets month 2026-09 # one month, by category group ``` ```text Month: 2026-09 Budgeted: 0.00 To budget: 0.00 Total spent: -1,947.22 … --- Monthly Bills --- CATEGORY BUDGETED SPENT BALANCE ----------------------------------------- Groceries 0.00 -147.22 -147.22 Rent 0.00 -1,800.00 -1,800.00 ``` ## Budget files ```bash fob-actual budgets list # every budget this token can see fob-actual budgets show "Household Budget" ``` `budgets list` works before a profile is bound to a budget, which is how you find a sync ID. ## Categories, payees, tags, rules and schedules ```bash fob-actual categories list fob-actual category-groups list fob-actual payees list fob-actual tags list fob-actual rules list fob-actual schedules list ``` Each also has `show `. Rules and schedules are complex objects; `show --json` prints the full structure, which is also the format their `create` and `edit` commands take ([Changing your budget](/docs/actual/cli/writing-data#rules-and-schedules)). ## Server ```bash fob-actual server info # server URL and Actual version fob-actual auth status # is the token valid, and which budget is bound ```