larzpdf

Money-native PDF documents in pure Python. Zero dependencies.

A from-scratch PDF writer with one thing it's genuinely great at: financial documents. Generating an invoice or a receipt — line items, exact decimal totals, tax, clean right-aligned money columns — should be a few lines, not a graphics project. No reportlab, no font files, no C extensions.

from larzpdf import Invoice

inv = Invoice("INV-1001", date="2026-07-27",
              seller={"name": "Acme Co", "email": "billing@acme.com"},
              buyer={"name": "Ada Lovelace"}, currency="$")
inv.item("Consulting", qty=10, price="150.00")
inv.item("Hosting", qty=1, price="29.99")
inv.tax(0.0825)
inv.save("invoice.pdf")

What makes it different

Most pure-Python PDF libraries are general drawing tools, and general drawing tools make invoices tedious. larzpdf inverts that: the invoice/receipt is the first-class feature.

• Money done right. Totals use exact Decimal math (no float cents drifting), formatting groups thousands and rounds HALF_UP, and money columns are right-aligned in a monospaced font so they line up perfectly.
• Accepts real money objects. Pass plain numbers, strings, or larzmoney Money objects — it formats and totals them correctly either way.
• Zero dependencies. A complete, spec-valid PDF writer in a few hundred lines — correct cross-reference table and byte offsets, standard built-in fonts (no embedding). It opens in any reader.

Underneath there's a general Document (headings, wrapped text, tables, rules, auto page breaks) and a low-level PDF canvas, but the money documents are the point.

Install

pip install larzpdf

Invoices & receipts

from larzpdf import Invoice, Receipt

inv = Invoice("INV-42", date="2026-07-27",
              seller={"name": "Acme", "address": "1 St", "email": "b@acme.com"},
              buyer={"name": "Ada", "email": "ada@ex.com"},
              currency="$", notes="Payment due in 30 days.")
inv.item("Design work", qty=8, price="120.00")
inv.item("Revisions", qty=2, price="90.00")
inv.tax(0.08, label="VAT")

inv.subtotal()     # Decimal('1140.00')  — exact
inv.tax_amount()   # Decimal('91.20')
inv.total()        # Decimal('1231.20')
inv.save("invoice.pdf")

receipt = Receipt("R-100", buyer={"name": "Bo"}, currency="$", paid=True)
receipt.item("Coffee", 2, "3.50")
receipt.save("receipt.pdf")

General documents

from larzpdf import Document

doc = Document()
doc.heading("Monthly Report")
doc.text("A paragraph that wraps automatically and paginates as needed. " * 10)
doc.hr()
doc.table(
    [["Widgets", "1200", ("money", "9999.50")],
     ["Gadgets", "340",  ("money", "1210.00")]],
    headers=["Product", "Units", "Revenue"],
    widths=[0.5, 0.25, 0.25],
    align=["l", "r", "r"],
)
doc.save("report.pdf")

A cell written as ("money", value) is formatted and right-aligned in a monospaced column automatically.

Low-level canvas

from larzpdf import PDF

p = PDF()
p.text(72, 720, "Hello", font="Helvetica-Bold", size=18)
p.line(72, 710, 540, 710)
p.rect(72, 600, 200, 80, fill=(0.95, 0.95, 0.95), stroke=(0, 0, 0))
p.add_page()
p.save("out.pdf")

Scope

larzpdf targets clean, text-and-table business documents (invoices, receipts, statements, reports) with the standard PDF fonts. It doesn't embed custom fonts or draw images — if you need rich graphics, that's a different tool. For getting correct, good-looking money documents out the door with zero dependencies, it's exactly enough.

Tests

python -m unittest discover -s tests -v   # 20 tests incl. a PDF xref validator

The Larz stack

Pure-Python, zero-dependency building blocks: larz · larzchain · larzmoney · larzcrypt · larzdb · larzagent · larzchart · larzmark · larztask · larzvault · larzvm · larzcache · larzvalidate · larzid · larzrpc · larzstate · larzhttp · larzconf · larzcron · larzlimit · larzlog · larzcli · larzretry · larztime · larzpdf

License

MIT © larz-scripter