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Using the register
Registers are the road maps of transactions recorded in QuickBooks, and see heavy use.
The register in your bank account will differ from these registers in one important particular: your account will
not have as many transactions (now) as the illustrations. To see a full register, open the sample data company.
Learning the depth of the registers, as well as the surface, gives you more ready access to your accounting
entries. The first displayed is the “latest and best,” QuickBooks 5, with the title bar, control buttons, and menu
bar of Windows 95. The second is from QuickBooks 4, under the controls of Windows 3.1. Most earlier
registers are quite similar to the register of version 4. You may have a different combination of versions of
QuickBooks and Windows, but should have no problem in recognizing them. The discussion will apply to
either illustration.
TIP
If you have any problem finding a control which should be visible, run with the program maximized and with
the currently active function maximized. This is described in Chapter 23 (Windows 95) or Chapter 24
(Windows 3.1.)
Register features
carry a wealth of information.
Date
column is always (you guessed it) in order by date. Within one date, there is some protocol
. Transactions are in order by number. If deposits have no number, they will be ahead. Typically, this will put
on-line payments below written checks.
Number
may contain a number, or it may say To
Print or SEND
(online transactions.) It will contain a
lightening bug where a transaction has been ordered through online service.
Type
lists the types of transaction. They are not as obvious as you might think.
CHK
includes ATM purchases or withdrawals, and it is easier to leave the number blank for these
transactions. Note that PAY CHK
and LIAB CHK
(payroll liabilities) are distinct types, generated by
Payroll.
BILLPMT
is a check generated by Pay Bills
in Accounts Payable.
DEP
only applies to deposits directly into the bank account. (See
PMT.)
PMT
is a payment received for an invoice or other sales document, and then deposited.
GENJNL
is a general journal transaction. Most are from
Enter Special Transactions.
Payee
is the name involved, if any. Deposits do not need names, because they are often from several
customers. If a name is used, it must be on the list. Any
CHK transaction needs a name.
Payment
column lists amounts coming out of the bank account, whether by ordinary checks, pay checks, bill
payments, or ATM transactions. Every register has a column corresponding to the
Payments, cleared, and Deposits
columns.
Cleared column ( b ) has four distinct states:
(Blank) as far as you know, the bank has not heard about this.
b Cleared and reconciled
* Cleared but not reconciled. (These transactions will show b in the reconcile window.) QuickBooks knows
this transaction is cleared, because you saw it on the bank statement (or otherwise know that the bank has
received it) and marked it as cleared.
Online transaction retrieved online through QuickStatement.
The states and symbols in the Cleared column are described further, in
Reconciliation, below.
Deposit
column is for deposits, that is, any transactions which increase the balance.
Balance
column displays the net sum of all transactions above this line. This number is calculated when the
register is displayed..
Account
is the other end of the double-entry transaction. It will never be XE "never" the same account as the
register you are working in. The entry
-split
- means that it is more than double entry, because two or more
accounts are involved on the other end.
Memo
is the memo, such as on the bottom of a check form, attached to this end of the transaction. The other
end of the transaction may have a separate memo.
Scroll bar
is on the right-hand edge of the register, if the account contains too many transactions to show at
once. Although the scroll bar is described in chapters 23, and 24, the views here show that the QuickBooks
scroll bar has an extra feature. If the mouse pointer is on the scroll button, and the mouse button is pressed, an
odometer-like dial appears, showing the date of the earliest transaction that would be accessed by scrolling to
this point.
Record
makes the transaction part of your permanent books of account (until such time as this transaction
might be deleted.)
Restore
reverses changes made in a transaction.
Edit
opens the transaction for observation or change.
Q-Report
generates a QuickReport on the name in the current transaction.
Splits
shows details of a transaction, four lines at a time, but
Edit usually shows more.
Go to
enables jumping to a specific transaction.
1-Line
displays more transactions, tersely. Try it, clicking several times, to see the register change between
the two modes. Most check boxes work like this.
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