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gnucash/doc/sgml/C/xacc-regwin.sgml

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<article id="xacc-regwin">
<title>The Account Register</title>
<sect1>
<title>Introduction</title>
<para>
The Account Register is probably the window you will see most often in
GnuCash. It is used to enter your financial transactions into GnuCash
and also print reports, checks and invoices. The Account Register has
three modes to enter transactions and is flexible in its configuration
so you can display the transactions in a way that suits you. In this
section we will describe its features and configuration and how to enter
transactions.
</para>
<sect2 id="basicledger">
<title>Basic Ledger Transactions</title>
<para>
Basic Ledger Mode is the default when you open the Account Register window
or when you select <menuchoice><guimenu>Register</guimenu><guimenuitem>
Style</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Basic Ledger</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
</para>
<figure>
<title>The Account Register - Basic Ledger</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Account Register - Basic Ledger</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="image/basicledger.png" srccredit="wilddev">
</imageobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<para>
When you first open the Account Register window the cursor
will be in the date field ready for you to enter a
transaction. All you need to do is tab to the next field and
enter the details of the transaction. If you have a number,
such as a check number, enter that in the next field then tab
again and enter a description of the transaction. The Transfer
field is where the double entry nature of GnuCash comes into
play as here you will assign the second part of the
transaction to another account. If you click on the right end
of the Transfer field an arrow box will appear that you can
use to select a drop-down menu of accounts to assign the
transaction to. As in the example below select the account to
assign the transaction to then fill in the amount. When you
press the enter key or click the enter icon the transaction is
added to the register and the entry field automatically moves
to the next transaction.
</para>
<figure>
<title>Basic Ledger - Transfer</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Basic Ledger - Transfer</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="image/basicledger-transfer.png" srccredit="wilddev">
</imageobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<para>
There are additional fields to the transactions that are accessed by
selecting <menuchoice><guimenu>Register</guimenu><guimenuitem>
Style</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Double Line</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
These fields let you add notes to your transactions and select the type
of transaction that you are entering. Any of these fields are editable
after you enter the transaction. The other half of the transaction is
automatically updated with the changed information.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="autosplit">
<title>Auto-Split Ledger Transactions</title>
<para>
Auto-Split Ledger Mode is selected by <menuchoice><guimenu>Register
</guimenu><guimenuitem>Style</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Auto-Split Ledger
</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. This mode lets you see both sides of the
transactions you are entering as well as split any part of the transaction
into several accounts. Below you see that we have split the previous
transaction into two to accurately reflect what the money was used for.
The parts of the split automatically disappear when you move to the next
transaction and you will just see <guibutton>-- Split Transaction --
</guibutton>
</para>
<figure>
<title>The Account Register - Auto-Split Ledger</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Account Register - Auto-Split Ledger</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="image/autosplitledger.png" srccredit="wilddev">
</imageobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="transjrnl">
<title>Transaction Journal</title>
<para>
Transaction Journal Mode is selected by <menuchoice><guimenu>Register
</guimenu><guimenuitem>Style</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Transaction Journal
</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. This mode lets you see both sides of all
transactions you have entered and the splits of those transactions.
When you enter transactions in this mode the previous transactions do not
have their parts hidden from view.
</para>
<figure>
<title>The Account Register - Transaction Journal</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Account Register - Transaction Journal</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="image/transactionjrnl.png" srccredit="wilddev">
</imageobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="xacc-register-sortorder">
<title>Sort Order</title>
<para>
The Sort Order for your transactions is selected by <menuchoice><guimenu>
Register</guimenu><guimenuitem>Sort Order</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
The default sort order is to sort by Date. Other sorting options are:
date of entry, statement date, Num, Amount, Memo and Description.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="xacc-daterange">
<title>Date Range</title>
<para>
GnuCash has the ability to show a selection of transactions with
Date Range. This is accessed through<menuchoice><guimenu>Register
</guimenu><guimenuitem>Date Range</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Set Range...
</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. Choose the range of dates you want to display
by selecting the <guibutton>Start date:</guibutton> and the <guibutton>End
date:</guibutton> and then click <guibutton>Set Date Range</guibutton> to
apply the date range. When you need to reset the display back to all the
transactions click <menuchoice><guimenu>Register</guimenu><guimenuitem>
Date Range</guimenuitem><guimenuitem>Show All</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="xacc-general-ledger">
<title>
The General Ledger
</title>
<para>
The general ledger is a special register which contains entries
for more than one, account. You can get a general ledger for
an account and its subaccounts by using the <guimenu>Open subaccounts</guimenu>
menu item on an account window, or a general ledger for <emphasis>
every</emphasis> account by selecting <guimenu>General Ledger</guimenu>
in the <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> main menu item.
</para>
<screenshot>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="image/general-ledger.png">
</imageobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>
General ledgers show the ledger entries in all the accounts
a transaction appears in, which you can edit directly. Note
that the general ledger window is more complicated and
harder to use than the individual account registers. The
general ledger window allows a more comprehensive overview
of accounts in a smaller and quicker-to-navigate (for
experienced users who know exactly what they are doing)
space. Because of its increased complexity, it use is
recommended only for accounting experts.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</article>