About Plainledger
Last updated 19 October 2026
Plainledger is a free set of finance lessons that starts with the basics and builds up. It exists because most finance teaching either assumes you already know the words, or stays so general that you never see a real company's numbers.
Who it is for
Anyone who wants to understand how businesses are measured and reported without already being an accountant: students, people moving into a finance role, founders who want to read their own accounts, and curious readers who want to follow a company's results. The lessons start from nothing and say so when they borrow an idea from an earlier lesson.
How a lesson is built
Each lesson has the same shape. It states what you will be able to do by the end. It explains the idea with a small shop whose books you can change. It then reads the same idea in the published accounts of a real company, such as Titan or Info Edge, with every figure taken from the company's own filing. It ends with common mistakes, practice questions with worked answers, a glossary, answers to questions people ask, and the sources.
The shop is deliberately small so that every number can be followed by hand. The real company is there to show that the shop was not a simplification: the same lines, in the same order, in accounts worth hundreds or thousands of crores.
What you will not find here
- Stock tips, buy or sell views, or price targets. Real companies appear only because their accounts are public and well documented.
- Sponsored lessons or paid placements. Plainledger has no commercial relationship with any company it uses as an example.
- Numbers without a source. If a figure cannot be traced to a filing or a standard, it does not go in.
How it is funded
The lessons are free to read. The site may show advertisements served by Google AdSense. Ads never change what a lesson says, and the privacy policy explains what advertising cookies do and how to opt out.
Method and corrections
The method is set out in how we check numbers. If you find an error, please tell us through the contact page. Corrections are made in the lesson itself.