LedgerPDF

Open source · Local-first · Built by a practicing CPA

A workpaper binder built for tax and accounting professionals to use alongside AI agents.

Drag in tax-software PDFs, Excel trial balances, scans and phone photos. Build one ordered, bookmarked binder; tick it, tape it and tie it out yourself, or let an agent prepare it while you review the same file.

Get LedgerPDF See inside the app
LedgerPDF v0.2.1 with a synthetic 55-page tax binder open and the Review Center showing AI-created items, agent-run history and run-level undo.
Actual v0.2.1 app · synthetic data
One bounded workpaper workflow. Assemble pages, manage bookmarks, add review marks and calculator tapes, and prepare a portable PDF without stitching together a PDF editor and a separate accounting add-on.
New in v0.3.0 Links survive. Review habits stick.

Clickable connector and binder-tie links now survive save, reopen and export. LedgerPDF remembers placement size by mark, adds an attributed date stamp that agents cannot backdate, and waits for the binder window to be ready instead of making live agent work appear hung.

Read the release notes →

01 / Inside the app

The working binder, not a sales mockup

These are screens from the released desktop application working through a fictional tax engagement. The source documents, names and figures are synthetic.

See the whole engagement as one binder.

Bookmarks stay beside the document, thumbnails show page status and mark counts, and the center remains a familiar PDF—not a proprietary project view.

55 pages · organized in return order
LedgerPDF v0.2.1 binder overview showing a synthetic 55-page tax engagement with bookmarks, binder summary, page thumbnails and review counts
Synthetic brokerage statement in LedgerPDF v0.2.1 with foot marks, an agreed tick and three calculator tapes tied to figures on the page
Marks carry the work behind them.

Foot a schedule, tick the result and leave the addends on the page. Calculator tapes preserve every entry, so a reviewer can see how the total was built.

Standard PDF marks · exact whole-cent math
Exceptions look like exceptions.

Page status, crosses and notes make unresolved judgment visible in the binder and its thumbnail rail. Review Center gathers those open items into one queue with the page and supporting note beside it.

Open item · note attached · AI attributed
LedgerPDF v0.2.1 Review Center listing open items beside a synthetic tax document request page with a red cross and attached note

Actual LedgerPDF v0.2.1 screens · fictional Whitmore demonstration engagement · no real client information pictured

02 / Workflow

A binder, not a project file

The binder PDF is the document. Save overwrites it; an editable session rides inside the file itself. There is no separate project file to keep track of.

  1. 1 · Bring in the sourcePDFs, spreadsheets, scans, images and memos.
  2. 2 · Prepare and reviewOrder, bookmark, mark, tape, tie and resolve exceptions.
  3. 3 · Deliver one PDFA portable binder that opens in ordinary PDF readers.

Marks that survive

Tick marks, stamps, tapes, shapes and notes export as standard PDF annotations and render in Acrobat, Edge, Chrome and macOS Preview. Every mark's position is pixel-verified in two independent render engines.

Bookmarks that follow pages

Reorder anything; the outline moves with it. Drag a bookmark and its whole section of pages moves. Imported outlines nest and retarget instead of breaking.

Calculator tapes with addends

A ten-key adding machine on the page. Whole-cent arithmetic, never floating point, and a total always carries the entries behind it, so a reviewer sees the work, not just the answer.

Real inputs

PDFs, .xlsx / .csv, .md / .docx, and images. A spreadsheet becomes pages whose cells are real text, so a figure off a trial balance is read exactly rather than OCR'd and guessed.

Scans, read honestly

On-device OCR gives agents eyes on photographed documents, labelled as a machine reading with per-word confidence, never presented as the document's own text. Built in on macOS. On Windows today it needs Tesseract installed alongside, and says so rather than guessing.

One portable file out

Send a copy with the marks printed on permanently for whoever needs it. The working binder, with its editable session, stays yours.

03 / Agents

The agent preps. You review. Same binder.

Not a chat box bolted onto a GUI. Its MCP server uses the same binder engine as the app, so an agent works in the binder you have open and you can watch it happen.

  • An agent reads the actual pages, including embedded text, exact cell values and OCR'd scans, then finds a figure by name and marks it where it sits.
  • It has the whole toolbar, not a subset: ticks, stamps, calculator tapes and notes, plus rectangles, ellipses, arrows, highlights and text boxes. Anything you can draw, it can draw.
  • Its marks are outlined on the page, so an agent's first pass and your own review read apart at a glance. Agent-added marks, tapes, shapes and bookmarks are removable by run; structural page changes stay journaled but are not automatically undone.
  • Agent file access is off by default and scoped to folders you name. Approved-folder access persists until you withdraw it, including when live access is off or the app is closed. The tool never decides what an agent may read. You do.
  • Uses standard MCP and is tested with Claude Code, against a live window or headless.
14:32:07 AI Imported 12 file(s) from “2025 Binder” 14:32:19 AI Bookmarked 12 sections by document type 14:32:31 AI Tied W-2 wages to the summary — agrees 14:32:31 AI Placed tick on p.4 at 84,200.00 14:32:44 AI Flagged p.9: interest differs by 80.00 14:35:02 ABC Reviewed p.9 — adjustment posted

04 / Your data

What this software does, and what it does not do

No claims here about what any of that means for your obligations. The regimes further down are raised because a tax or accounting professional will have to think about them, not because a PDF tool can settle them. Whether this application fits a given standard in your practice is your call, made against your own policies.

What it does

  • LedgerPDF itself makes no application network requests. No telemetry, no accounts, no cloud service, no auto-update.
  • Keeps binders, working copies and recovery files in the engagement folder you chose, not a temp directory or a vendor's storage. Owner-only on macOS and Linux; on Windows they inherit that folder's permissions.
  • Opens your source documents read-only and records a SHA-256 of each, checked again on reopen and around every export.
  • Attributes every agent action to the AI and journals it in order. Agent-added annotations and bookmarks can be removed by run; structural changes remain in the journal.
  • Publishes the application source under GPL-3.0, so its documented behavior can be inspected instead of taken on trust.

What it does not do

  • Encrypt your files, enforce a retention schedule, or guarantee secure erasure.
  • Provide role-based access control, firm-wide engagement locking, reviewer sign-off, an immutable audit log, or any central administration. Its local writer lock protects file integrity; it is not a firm permissions system.
  • Decide what an agent may read. Agent file access stays off until you name folders yourself, and reads outside them are refused. Folder approval persists until you withdraw it, even when live access is off or the app is closed.
  • Control what your AI client does with what it reads. That program is separate, and under your control rather than ours.
  • Make any determination about §7216, your WISP, Circular 230, or anything else you answer to. It cannot, and does not try.

Where content can leave the machine

LedgerPDF itself does not send it. If you connect an AI client, that separate program can receive page content and send it wherever you configure it to. A client using only a local model can keep processing on the machine; a hosted model generally does not. Review the provider, consent requirements and your firm's policies before enabling agent access.

Professional-use questions still belong to the firm

Depending on the engagement, consider IRC §7216 and §6713, the FTC Safeguards Rule and your WISP, Circular 230, the AICPA Code, state rules and your engagement terms. LedgerPDF makes no compliance determination. Its storage, agent-disclosure boundaries and known limits are documented in DATA-FLOW.md and its security policy so your firm or IT reviewer can evaluate the facts.

05 / Download

Get LedgerPDF

LedgerPDF v0.3.0 is available now, free and open source under GPL-3.0, published by Ledger Labs LLC. It is alpha software: expect rough edges, keep another copy of engagement records, and use the newest release for security updates.

Before using LedgerPDF with client data: LedgerPDF is software, not accounting, tax, legal, investment, audit, assurance, or other professional advice. You remain responsible for verifying source documents and outputs, supervising agent work, protecting client information, and maintaining independent backups. The app, official builds, documentation, and site are provided as-is. Review the Disclaimer, Privacy & Data Practices, and Terms before proceeding.
Windows

Windows 10 or 11, x64. Per-user installer; no administrator access needed. Not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may appear.

Download v0.3.0 .exe
macOS

Apple silicon build, signed with a Ledger Labs LLC Developer ID, notarized by Apple and stapled.

Download v0.3.0 .dmg
Release details

Read what changed, download the signed macOS ZIP, or verify any installer against its published SHA-256 checksum.

View v0.3.0 release

Before installing: verify the release against the published SHA-256 checksums. macOS should open without an unidentified-developer warning. Windows builds are currently unsigned and may trigger SmartScreen; that is a reputation warning, not proof of either harm or safety. Read the Windows installation guide before deciding whether to proceed. A signed macOS ZIP is also available on the release page, and the public source remains available for inspection or local builds.