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55 lines
2.5 KiB
55 lines
2.5 KiB
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN">
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>Using the Double Entry Feature</title>
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</head>
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<body bgcolor=#eeeeee>
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<h2>What is Double Entry?</h2>
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Double entry is an accounting methodology used by professionals
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to make sure that all accounts are properly balanced. When accounts
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balance, the likelihood that a data-entry error has been made is much
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less. For large, complex accounts with many transactions, it is easy
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to make errors that might go undetected for a long time. Double-entry
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is a crucial technology for catching those errors.
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<p>
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A double-entry transaction is a transaction that appears in two
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accounts. One account is debited by an amount exactly equal to
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what the other is credited. Thus, all transactions are always
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transfers between two accounts. Since they always appear with
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a plus sign in one account, and a minus sign in the other, the
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total over all accounts will always be zero, and thus, balanced
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accounts are guaranteed.
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<p>
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Double-entry is already familiar to most people as a transfer
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from one bank account to another, where money is withdrawn from
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one and deposited in another. Far less familiar is the idea that
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double entry can be used to track income and expenses as well as
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bank transfers. See the
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"<a href="xacc-expense.html">Income/Expense</a>" help window
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for more information.
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<h2>Using Double Entry</h2>
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To use the double entry, click on a box in the column marked
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"Transfer From" on the left-hand side of the register. A menu
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will drop down, listing all of the accounts from which a transfer
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may be made. Select one. When you record the transaction,
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the double-entry will automatically be made, and the transaction
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automatically appear in all windows showing the transfered-from
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and the transferred-to accounts.
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<p>
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To change a double-entry transaction, edit it in any window in
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which it appears. Any changes made will be automatically
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reflected in both accounts and all windows displaying the
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transaction. Similarly, when a double-entry transaction is
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deleted, it is deleted from both accounts; balances are
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automatically recalculated for both accounts.
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<p>
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To change the transfer account, simply select a new account
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from the pull-down menu. When you record the transaction,
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it will automatically be selected from the old account, and
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inserted into the new account.
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</body>
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</html>
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