diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 User-visible changes appear in hledger's change log.
 
 
+0.25.1 (2015/4/29)
+
+- support/require base-compat >0.8 (#245)
+
 0.25 (2015/4/7)
 
 - GHC 7.10 compatibility (#239)
diff --git a/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs b/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs
--- a/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs
+++ b/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs
@@ -64,11 +64,10 @@
 )
 where
 
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<*))
-#endif
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat
 import Control.Monad
-import Data.List
+import Data.List.Compat
 import Data.Maybe
 #if MIN_VERSION_time(1,5,0)
 import Data.Time.Format hiding (months)
diff --git a/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs b/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs
--- a/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs
+++ b/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE FlexibleContexts #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 module Hledger.Data.OutputFormat (
           parseStringFormat
         , formatsp
@@ -9,10 +8,9 @@
         , tests
         ) where
 
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat
 import Numeric
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<*))
-#endif
 import Data.Char (isPrint)
 import Data.Maybe
 import Test.HUnit
diff --git a/Hledger/Data/TimeLog.hs b/Hledger/Data/TimeLog.hs
--- a/Hledger/Data/TimeLog.hs
+++ b/Hledger/Data/TimeLog.hs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 import Hledger.Data.Transaction
 
 instance Show TimeLogEntry where
-    show t = printf "%s %s %s" (show $ tlcode t) (show $ tldatetime t) (tlcomment t)
+    show t = printf "%s %s %s  %s" (show $ tlcode t) (show $ tldatetime t) (tlaccount t) (tldescription t)
 
 instance Show TimeLogCode where
     show SetBalance = "b"
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
     | odate > idate = entryFromTimeLogInOut i o' : timeLogEntriesToTransactions now [i',o]
     | otherwise = [entryFromTimeLogInOut i o]
     where
-      o = TimeLogEntry (tlsourcepos i) Out end ""
+      o = TimeLogEntry (tlsourcepos i) Out end "" ""
       end = if itime > now then itime else now
       (itime,otime) = (tldatetime i,tldatetime o)
       (idate,odate) = (localDay itime,localDay otime)
@@ -84,20 +84,22 @@
             tdate2       = Nothing,
             tstatus      = True,
             tcode        = "",
-            tdescription = showtime itod ++ "-" ++ showtime otod,
+            tdescription = desc,
             tcomment     = "",
             ttags        = [],
             tpostings    = ps,
             tpreceding_comment_lines=""
           }
-      showtime = take 5 . show
-      acctname = tlcomment i
       itime    = tldatetime i
       otime    = tldatetime o
       itod     = localTimeOfDay itime
       otod     = localTimeOfDay otime
       idate    = localDay itime
+      desc     | null (tldescription i) = showtime itod ++ "-" ++ showtime otod
+               | otherwise              = tldescription i
+      showtime = take 5 . show
       hours    = elapsedSeconds (toutc otime) (toutc itime) / 3600 where toutc = localTimeToUTC utc
+      acctname = tlaccount i
       amount   = Mixed [hrs hours]
       ps       = [posting{paccount=acctname, pamount=amount, ptype=VirtualPosting, ptransaction=Just t}]
 
@@ -122,18 +124,18 @@
          assertEntriesGiveStrings name es ss = assertEqual name ss (map tdescription $ timeLogEntriesToTransactions now es)
 
      assertEntriesGiveStrings "started yesterday, split session at midnight"
-                                  [clockin (mktime yesterday "23:00:00") ""]
+                                  [clockin (mktime yesterday "23:00:00") "" ""]
                                   ["23:00-23:59","00:00-"++nowstr]
      assertEntriesGiveStrings "split multi-day sessions at each midnight"
-                                  [clockin (mktime (addDays (-2) today) "23:00:00") ""]
+                                  [clockin (mktime (addDays (-2) today) "23:00:00") "" ""]
                                   ["23:00-23:59","00:00-23:59","00:00-"++nowstr]
      assertEntriesGiveStrings "auto-clock-out if needed"
-                                  [clockin (mktime today "00:00:00") ""]
+                                  [clockin (mktime today "00:00:00") "" ""]
                                   ["00:00-"++nowstr]
      let future = utcToLocalTime tz $ addUTCTime 100 now'
          futurestr = showtime future
      assertEntriesGiveStrings "use the clockin time for auto-clockout if it's in the future"
-                                  [clockin future ""]
+                                  [clockin future "" ""]
                                   [printf "%s-%s" futurestr futurestr]
 
  ]
diff --git a/Hledger/Data/Types.hs b/Hledger/Data/Types.hs
--- a/Hledger/Data/Types.hs
+++ b/Hledger/Data/Types.hs
@@ -155,7 +155,8 @@
       tlsourcepos :: SourcePos,
       tlcode :: TimeLogCode,
       tldatetime :: LocalTime,
-      tlcomment :: String
+      tlaccount :: String,
+      tldescription :: String
     } deriving (Eq,Ord,Typeable,Data)
 
 data HistoricalPrice = HistoricalPrice {
diff --git a/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs b/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
--- a/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
+++ b/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
@@ -20,15 +20,14 @@
   tests_Hledger_Read_CsvReader
 )
 where
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<$>), (<*))
-#endif
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat hiding (getContents)
 import Control.Exception hiding (try)
 import Control.Monad
 import Control.Monad.Except
 -- import Test.HUnit
 import Data.Char (toLower, isDigit, isSpace)
-import Data.List
+import Data.List.Compat
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Ord
 import Data.Time.Calendar (Day)
@@ -50,7 +49,6 @@
 import Text.Printf (hPrintf,printf)
 
 import Hledger.Data
-import Prelude hiding (getContents)
 import Hledger.Utils.UTF8IOCompat (getContents)
 import Hledger.Utils
 import Hledger.Read.JournalReader (amountp)
diff --git a/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs b/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
--- a/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
+++ b/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
   datetimep,
   codep,
   accountnamep,
+  modifiedaccountname,
   postingp,
   amountp,
   amountp',
@@ -45,14 +46,13 @@
 #endif
 )
 where
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<*))
-#endif
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat hiding (readFile)
 import qualified Control.Exception as C
-import Control.Monad
-import Control.Monad.Except
+import Control.Monad.Compat
+import Control.Monad.Except (ExceptT(..), liftIO, runExceptT, throwError, catchError)
 import Data.Char (isNumber)
-import Data.List
+import Data.List.Compat
 import Data.List.Split (wordsBy)
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Time.Calendar
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@
 
 import Hledger.Data
 import Hledger.Utils
-import Prelude hiding (readFile)
 
 
 -- standard reader exports
diff --git a/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs b/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs
--- a/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs
+++ b/Hledger/Read/TimelogReader.hs
@@ -47,9 +47,12 @@
   tests_Hledger_Read_TimelogReader
 )
 where
-import Control.Monad
-import Control.Monad.Except
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat
+import Control.Monad (liftM)
+import Control.Monad.Except (ExceptT)
 import Data.List (isPrefixOf, foldl')
+import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
 import Test.HUnit
 import Text.Parsec hiding (parse)
 import System.FilePath
@@ -58,7 +61,7 @@
 -- XXX too much reuse ?
 import Hledger.Read.JournalReader (
   directive, historicalpricedirective, defaultyeardirective, emptyorcommentlinep, datetimep,
-  parseJournalWith, getParentAccount
+  parseJournalWith, modifiedaccountname
   )
 import Hledger.Utils
 
@@ -104,8 +107,9 @@
   code <- oneOf "bhioO"
   many1 spacenonewline
   datetime <- datetimep
-  comment <- optionMaybe (many1 spacenonewline >> liftM2 (++) getParentAccount restofline)
-  return $ TimeLogEntry sourcepos (read [code]) datetime (maybe "" rstrip comment)
+  account <- fromMaybe "" <$> optionMaybe (many1 spacenonewline >> modifiedaccountname)
+  description <- fromMaybe "" <$> optionMaybe (many1 spacenonewline >> restofline)
+  return $ TimeLogEntry sourcepos (read [code]) datetime account description
 
 tests_Hledger_Read_TimelogReader = TestList [
  ]
diff --git a/hledger-lib.cabal b/hledger-lib.cabal
--- a/hledger-lib.cabal
+++ b/hledger-lib.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:           hledger-lib
-version: 0.25
+version: 0.25.1
 stability:      stable
 category:       Finance, Console
 synopsis:       Core data types, parsers and utilities for the hledger accounting tool.
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
                   Hledger.Utils.UTF8IOCompat
   build-depends:
                   base >= 4.3 && < 5
-                 ,base-compat >= 0.5.0
+                 ,base-compat >= 0.8.1
                  ,array
                  ,blaze-markup >= 0.5.1
                  ,bytestring
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
   default-language: Haskell2010
   build-depends: hledger-lib
                , base >= 4.3 && < 5
-               , base-compat >= 0.5.0
+               , base-compat >= 0.8.1
                , array
                , blaze-markup >= 0.5.1
                , cmdargs