simonmichael · simonmichael · Aug 2, 2026 · Aug 1, 2026
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Roi.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Roi.hs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ roimode = hledgerCommandMode
   ,flagReq ["investment"] (\s opts -> Right $ setopt "investment" s opts) "QUERY"
     "query to select your investment transactions"
   ,flagReq ["profit-loss","pnl"] (\s opts -> Right $ setopt "pnl" s opts) "QUERY"
-    "query to select profit-and-loss or appreciation/valuation transactions"
+    "query to select profit-and-loss or appreciation/valuation transactions (optional)"
   ]
   cligeneralflagsgroups1
   hiddenflags
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ roi CliOpts{rawopts_=rawopts, reportspec_=rspec@ReportSpec{_rsReportOpts=ropts@R
     cantCompute msg = error' $ msg ++ " - will be unable to compute the rates of return"
 
   investmentsQuery <- makeQuery "investment"
-  pnlQuery         <- makeQuery "pnl"
+  pnlQuery         <- case maybestringopt "pnl" rawopts of
+                         Nothing -> return None
+                         Just _  -> makeQuery "pnl"
 
   when (pnlQuery == Any) $
     cantCompute "Need some transactions classed as investment and not pnl, but the pnl query matches any transaction"

diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Roi.md b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Roi.md
@@ -9,17 +9,18 @@ Flags:
                                 returns
      --investment=QUERY         query to select your investment transactions
      --profit-loss=QUERY --pnl  query to select profit-and-loss or
-                                appreciation/valuation transactions
+                                appreciation/valuation transactions (optional)
 ```
 
 At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an
-account name) to select your investment(s) with `--inv`, and another
-query to identify your profit and loss transactions with `--pnl`.
-
-If your investment's value changes are captured solely through price
-directives (rather than manual P&L journal entries), or if you do not
-need TWR, `--pnl` can be an empty query (`--pnl ""` or `--pnl STR`
-where `STR` does not match any of your accounts).
+account name) to select your investment(s) with `--inv`.
+
+An optional second query to identify your profit and loss transactions
+could be given with `--pnl`. If your investment's value changes are
+captured solely through price directives (rather than manual P&L
+journal entries), or if you do not need TWR, you can simply omit
+`--pnl`, and no transactions will be classed as profit and loss in
+this case.
 
 This command will compute and display the internal rate of return
 (IRR, also known as money-weighted rate of return) and time-weighted

diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Roi.txt b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Roi.txt
@@ -8,16 +8,16 @@ Flags:
                                 returns
      --investment=QUERY         query to select your investment transactions
      --profit-loss=QUERY --pnl  query to select profit-and-loss or
-                                appreciation/valuation transactions
+                                appreciation/valuation transactions (optional)
 
 At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an account
-name) to select your investment(s) with --inv, and another query to
-identify your profit and loss transactions with --pnl.
+name) to select your investment(s) with --inv.
 
-If your investment's value changes are captured solely through price
-directives (rather than manual P&L journal entries), or if you do not
-need TWR, --pnl can be an empty query (--pnl "" or --pnl STR where STR
-does not match any of your accounts).
+An optional second query to identify your profit and loss transactions
+could be given with --pnl. If your investment's value changes are
+captured solely through price directives (rather than manual P&L journal
+entries), or if you do not need TWR, you can simply omit --pnl, and no
+transactions will be classed as profit and loss in this case.
 
 This command will compute and display the internal rate of return (IRR,
 also known as money-weighted rate of return) and time-weighted rate of
@@ -30,22 +30,22 @@ Price directives will be taken into account if you supply appropriate
 
 Note, in some cases this report can fail, for these reasons:
 
-- Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
-  Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of investment
-  becomes negative at some point in time.
-- Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of
-  Return (IRR). Either search does not converge to a solution, or
-  converges too slowly.
-- Error (NotBracketed): Cannot compute window IRR. Possible cause:
-  investment balance becomes negative within that window.
-- Error (SearchFailed): Window IRR search did not converge.
+-   Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
+    Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of investment
+    becomes negative at some point in time.
+-   Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of
+    Return (IRR). Either search does not converge to a solution, or
+    converges too slowly.
+-   Error (NotBracketed): Cannot compute window IRR. Possible cause:
+    investment balance becomes negative within that window.
+-   Error (SearchFailed): Window IRR search did not converge.
 
 Examples:
 
-- Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks:
-  https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/main/examples/investing/roi-unrealised.ledger
+-   Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks:
+    https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/main/examples/investing/roi-unrealised.ledger
 
-- Cookbook > Return on Investment: https://hledger.org/roi.html
+-   Cookbook > Return on Investment: https://hledger.org/roi.html
 
 Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl
 
@@ -73,23 +73,23 @@ sorted into two categories: "cash flow" and "profit and loss", as ROI
 needs to know which part of the investment value is your contributions
 and which is due to the return on investment.
 
-- "Cash flow" is depositing or withdrawing money, buying or selling
-  assets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity and
-  any other commodity. Example:
+-   "Cash flow" is depositing or withdrawing money, buying or selling
+    assets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity
+    and any other commodity. Example:
 
-  2019-01-01 Investing in Snake Oil
-    assets:cash          -$100
-    investment:snake oil
+    2019-01-01 Investing in Snake Oil
+      assets:cash          -$100
+      investment:snake oil
 
-  2020-01-01 Selling my Snake Oil
-    assets:cash           $10
-    investment:snake oil  = 0
+    2020-01-01 Selling my Snake Oil
+      assets:cash           $10
+      investment:snake oil  = 0
 
-- "Profit and loss" is change in the value of your investment:
+-   "Profit and loss" is change in the value of your investment:
 
-  2019-06-01 Snake Oil falls in value
-    investment:snake oil  = $57
-    equity:unrealized profit or loss
+    2019-06-01 Snake Oil falls in value
+      investment:snake oil  = $57
+      equity:unrealized profit or loss
 
 All non-investment postings are assumed to be "cash flow", unless they
 match --pnl query. Changes in value of your investment due to "profit
@@ -180,9 +180,9 @@ removes the distortion caused by investor cash flows.
 
 References:
 
-- Explanation of rate of return
-- Explanation of IRR
-- Explanation of TWR
-- IRR vs TWR
-- Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations of
-  both metrics
+-   Explanation of rate of return
+-   Explanation of IRR
+-   Explanation of TWR
+-   IRR vs TWR
+-   Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations
+    of both metrics
diff --git a/hledger/test/roi.test b/hledger/test/roi.test
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 2017-06-01 investment
    assets:cash  -$100
    investment
-$ hledger -f- roi --inv investment --pnl pnl -b 2017 -e 2018 -Y
+$ hledger -f- roi --inv investment -b 2017 -e 2018 -Y
 +---++------------+------------++---------------+----------+-------------+-----++-------++------------+----------+
 |   ||      Begin |        End || Value (begin) | Cashflow | Value (end) | PnL ||   IRR || TWR/period | TWR/year |
 +===++============+============++===============+==========+=============+=====++=======++============+==========+
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ $ hledger -f- roi --inv investment --pnl pnl -b 2017-06 -e 2018
 2019/11/01 Example
   Assets:Checking  1
   Income:Salary  -1
-$ hledger -f- roi -p 2019-11 --pnl "^$"
+$ hledger -f- roi -p 2019-11
 +---++------------+------------++---------------+----------+-------------+-----++-------++------------+----------+
 |   ||      Begin |        End || Value (begin) | Cashflow | Value (end) | PnL ||   IRR || TWR/period | TWR/year |
 +===++============+============++===============+==========+=============+=====++=======++============+==========+
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ P 2023-01-01 C 1B
 
 P 2023-12-31 C 2B
 
-$ hledger -f - roi --inv investment --pnl income --value='then,B' -b2023 -e2024
+$ hledger -f - roi --inv investment --value='then,B' -b2023 -e2024
 +---++------------+------------++---------------+----------+-------------+-----++--------++------------+----------+
 |   ||      Begin |        End || Value (begin) | Cashflow | Value (end) | PnL ||    IRR || TWR/period | TWR/year |
 +===++============+============++===============+==========+=============+=====++========++============+==========+
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ P 2019-06-28 "IE00B4L5Y983" 50.93000000 "EUR"
 
 P 2019-12-30 "IE00B4L5Y983" 56.59000000 "EUR"
 
-$ hledger -f - roi --value then --begin 2019 --end 2020 --inv investmen --pnl '"profit and loss"' -p 'every 2 quarters'
+$ hledger -f - roi --value then --begin 2019 --end 2020 --inv investmen -p 'every 2 quarters'
 +-------++------------+------------++---------------+------------+-------------+-----------++--------++------------+----------+
 |       ||      Begin |        End || Value (begin) |   Cashflow | Value (end) |       PnL ||    IRR || TWR/period | TWR/year |
 +=======++============+============++===============+============+=============+===========++========++============+==========+
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ P 2024-11-08 B 1 CHF
 
 P 2024-12-31 B 1.0018 CHF
 
-$ hledger -f - roi -M -b 2024-10-01 -e 2024-12-31 --value then,CHF --inv '"investments:"' --pnl STR 
+$ hledger -f - roi -M -b 2024-10-01 -e 2024-12-31 --value then,CHF --inv '"investments:"'
 +-------++------------+------------++---------------+---------------+---------------+------------++--------++------------+----------+
 |       ||      Begin |        End || Value (begin) |      Cashflow |   Value (end) |        PnL ||    IRR || TWR/period | TWR/year |
 +=======++============+============++===============+===============+===============+============++========++============+==========+
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ P 2024-07-30 BAR 1 GBP
   assets  £-90000.00
   investment
 
-$ hledger -f - roi -Y -b 2024 -e 2025 --inv 'investment' --pnl STR
+$ hledger -f - roi -Y -b 2024 -e 2025 --inv 'investment'
 +---++------------+------------++---------------+------------+-------------+-----++-------++------------+----------+
 |   ||      Begin |        End || Value (begin) |   Cashflow | Value (end) | PnL ||   IRR || TWR/period | TWR/year |
 +===++============+============++===============+============+=============+=====++=======++============+==========+