Transactions

This section explains how to use the Receipts & Sales, Payments & Purchases and General Journals and also how to enter cash and credit transactions.



Add a Transaction

You will use the "Transaction Entry" window to enter transactions. To enter a new transaction click the "Transaction" icon in the toolbar. Or, click the "Add Transaction" button at bottom of the transaction tab. The transaction entry window will appear.



The following sections describe how to use the Receipts & Sales, Payments & Purchases and General Journals and also how to enter credit sales and credit purchases.

Edit a Transaction

You can edit an existing transaction by highlighting the transaction in the "Transactions" tab and clicking the "Edit" button. Or, you can edit a transaction by double-clicking it. You can only edit a transaction if it is within a financial year that has not been closed.

Delete a Transaction

To delete a transaction highlight the transaction you want to delete in the "Transactions" tab and click the "Delete" button at the bottom of the window. You will only be able to delete a transaction if it is within a financial year that has not been closed.

Duplicate a Transaction

Control-click (or right-click) any transaction to duplicate the underlying transaction. A new transaction based on the duplicated transaction will appear in the transaction entry window.

Receipts and Sales Journal

Use the Receipts & Sales journal when you receive cash or make a sale. This includes recording all types of incom, sales revenue, commission revenue and also when you receive cash from the sale of assets.



Payments and Purchases Journal

Payments are usually the most common type of transaction.  Use the Payments & Receipts Journal when paying for items with cash or credit card and also when purchasing items on credit.



General Journal

Use the General Journal to enter transactions that do not involve a fund account, such as a depreciation transaction.

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Credit Sales

When you make a credit sale you will not receive cash. Instead you will need to record that someone (called a debtor) owes money to you. If necessary, create an account for the debtor. The account will be an asset account. Below we create a debtor account called "Debtor - CMS Projects".

Select the checkbox titled "Use account for receipts and payments" at the top of the account details window. This will make the account a fund account.

Check this box for debtors and creditors (and any accounts) that you want to appear in the popup button at the top of the "Receipts and Sales" and "Payments and Purchases" journals.



The following transaction records sales revenue owing from CMS Projects.



Receipts from Debtors

When a debtor eventually pays for an item originally purchased on credit, you will use the Receipts & Sales Journal to record the receipt of cash. At the top of the Receipts & Sales journal select the account that the money received will be deposited into. This will often be the "Cash at Bank" account. In the lower part of the journal enter the debtor's account and the amount received.

The following example records a payment received from a debtor called CMS Projects. CMS Projects is paying the widgets sold in the credit sales transaction above.



Invoices and Quotes

To print an invoice click the "Invoice" icon in the Transaction Entry window toolbar while the transaction is visible in the Transaction Entry window.

If you cannot see the Invoice icon in your Transaction Entry window toolbar, ensure the Transaction Entry window is the frontmost window and select "Customize Toolbar" from the "Window" menu. You can also customise any toolbar by control-clicking it.





Invoice Information

The information shown on invoices is sourced from three places:

1. The sales transaction itself provides the information specific to the invoice. This includes the "Invoice To" name, address, memo, date, invoice number, total amount and the individual invoice items. The text appearing in the "Details" column of the sales transaction will appear in the invoice's "Details" column.

To set or change the default invoice details for a particluar account, select the account in the "Accounts" tab, click the "Edit" button, and enter the default invoice information in the "Default Details" field.


2. The invoice title (eg., "Tax Invoice"), due days, and default terms can be customised in Account's Preferences window by selecting the "Sales" tab.



To produce quotes, change the "Sales Invoice Title" popup to "Quote".


3. Your business name, address and contact information are sourced from the file's Address Book Card. You can set the Address Book Card for the file in the "Contacts" tab.

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Credit Purchases

When purchasing an item on credit you'll need to enter a transaction to record the amount payable to the person providing the goods or services (ie, the creditor). To create an account for the creditor, select the "Accounts" tab and click "Add Account".



In the "Account Details" window above, the account is called "Creditor - OfficeWorks". Make the account a liability account. Also, select the "Use account for receipts and payments" checkbox to make the account a fund account. Fund accounts appear in "Debit" and "Credit" popup buttons at the top of the "Receipts & Sales" and "Payments & Purchases" journals.

The following screenshot shows a credit purchase using the creditor account created above.



Payments to Creditors

When paying a creditor for items purchased on credit, select the Payments & Purchases journal. From the "Credit" popup button select the account the money is being paid from. For example, the "Cash at Bank" account. In the details section (ie, the lower half of the transaction), enter the creditor's account and the amount being paid.



In the above example, we are paying OfficeWorks for supplies previously purchased on credit.

Purchase Orders

The process for creating purchase orders is similar to the creation of invoices.

The information shown on a purchase order is sourced from three places:

1. The "Payment & Purchase" transaction itself provides the information specific to the purchase order. This includes the supplier name, address, memo, date, purchase order number, total amount and the individual purchase items. The text appearing in the "Details" column of the purchase transaction will appear in the purchase order's "Details" column.


2. The purchase order title (eg, "Purchase Order"), due days, and default terms can be customised in Account's Preferences window by selecting the "Purchase" tab.


3. Your business name, address and contact information are sourced from the file's Address Book Card. You can set the Address Book Card for the file in the "Contacts" tab.

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Example Transactions

The Accounts Disk Image contains two sample files titled "BusinessDemo.acc" and "PersonalDemo.acc". You can explore the transactions in these files to become familiar with transactions.

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Last Update - 1 August 2005

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