diff --git a/src/optional/swig/examples/scan-acct.pl b/src/optional/swig/examples/scan-acct.pl
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..bccebc2034
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/optional/swig/examples/scan-acct.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl -w
+
+# gnucash perl demo:
+#
+# This file demonstrates how to open an acount file and print 
+# the names and balances of the top-level accounts in the file.
+#
+# use lib '../swig/perl5/';
+use lib '../perl5/';
+use gnucash;                                           
+package gnucash;
+
+die "Usage: $0 <filename>" if $#ARGV < 0;
+print "its $ARGV[0]\n";
+
+$sess = gnucash::xaccMallocSession ();
+$grp = gnucash::xaccSessionBeginFile ($sess,$ARGV[0]);
+$numacc = gnucash::xaccGroupGetNumAccounts ($grp);
+print "Loaded $numacc accounts\n\n";
+
+for ($i=0; $i<$numacc; $i++) {
+   $acct = gnucash::xaccGroupGetAccount ($grp, $i);
+   $acctname = gnucash::xaccAccountGetName ($acct);
+   $baln = gnucash::xaccAccountGetBalance ($acct);
+   print "\tAccount: $acctname \tBalance: $baln\n";
+}
+
+gnucash::xaccSessionEnd ($sess);