<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>
