Personal Finance Manager Help/FAQ

JDM Software

Transactions

The "Transactions" tab is where most of your regular interaction with the program occurs. Even if you do not wish to use the other tabs, you can simply use this page as an electronic checking or savings register. Then you can sort and filter transactions in the same tab, or view summaries of your income and spending on the "Summary" tab.

A "Previous Balance" and ending "Balance" are displayed at the top of the tab in the information bar. These indicate the amounts at the beginning and end of the period selected (either for the entire year or a particular month).

Topics

Entering New Transactions
Editing Transactions
Removing Transactions
Split Transactions
Recurring Transactions
Views, Sorts, and Balances
Cleared Button

Entering New Transactions

Whenever you spend or make money or transfer money between accounts (cash included), enter the amount into the "Amount" field, and select the transaction date beside it. You can select the "Calendar" icon to choose a date graphically, or you can enter the date manually by typing valid dates directly into the entry field.

Next, select which account you received income into, withdrew money from, or transferred from. Select the type of transaction (i.e. "Deposit," "Withdrawal," "Transfer," etc.). Based on the transaction type, certain categories will be available to select. For any positive transactions, only "Income" or "<SPLIT>" can be used as categories. The exception is the "Credit / Refund" type, which acts like a positive cash-flow for the account but allows the income to be credited towards expense categories. For "Transfer" types, only "Transfer" is available as a category. All negative transactions show the expense categories and "<SPLIT>".

Select a category and a subcategory. Enter a description if desired. A special box exists for the "Check" type of transaction. This will allow you to associate check numbers with your checking transactions. They will automatically increment to the next check number, but you can override this value by selecting the up or down arrows in the "Check #" box or by entering a number manually.

Select "Add" to add the transaction. Note that if the "Year" or "Month" in the upper-right corner of the tab or the tab selected does not match the date or the type of the transaction entered, you may not see the transaction listed when add it. Generally, it is a good idea at first to select the "Annual" view from the "View" menu before entering transactions so you will see them as they are entered.

Note: A "Transfer" type of transaction will create two distinct but linked items. One is the "Transfer From" item and the other is the "Transfer To" item. No net balance changes occur for transfers.

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Editing Transactions

To edit a transaction, double-click the row in the spreadsheet you wish to edit. If it is a valid row to edit, the row should become highlighted and the current values in that row will be displayed in the "Transaction Options" area. Make changes to any fields, and then select the "Edit" button.

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Removing Transactions

To remove a transaction, double-click the row in the spreadsheet you wish to delete. The row, if it contains data, should become highlighted. Select the "Rem" button to remove the item.

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Split Transactions

Split transactions are used to break up a single transaction into multiple components. This will preserve the accuracy of the account's register while allowing you to classify the components of the transaction correctly. For instance, if you wish to enter your salary deposit, but this single transaction actually consists of a gross income amount with taxes and other things deducted to yield the net amount, it would provide greater budgeting accuracy to use the "<SPLIT>" category.

When entering a "<SPLIT>," just enter the total amount as you would a normal transaction. Select the "Type" that corresponds to the type of the net transaction. Then hit "Add" and a smaller spreadsheet will pop up. Use the editor above the spreadsheet just like you would in the main "Transactions" tab. The only difference is that you will not be able to change the date or account, which should be constant for the split.

All of your split entries must add up to the net amount you entered, displayed as the "Transaction Total" on the infobar. You are free to enter any type of transaction available for the specified account, but the "Remainder" must read $0.00 to close the window. If the remainder is not $0.00 and you attempt to close the split editor, you will be asked if you want to adjust the "<SPLIT>" total if the sign for "Transaction Total" and "Allocated" are the same. You cannot enter a net positive transaction and allocate a negative sum in the split editor (and vice-versa).

If you wish to edit a "<SPLIT>" transaction, double-click on the row in the spreadsheet, and the program will ask if you wish to modify the components of the split. If so, the split editor will be invoked. If not, make any changes to the net "<SPLIT>" transaction other than "Account" (which cannot be edited for a "<SPLIT>") and hit "Edit." You will be asked if you wish to preserve the split components or cancel the transaction. Note that if you wish to change the "Account" for a "<SPLIT>" transaction, you must remove the entire transaction and build a new one.

To remove a "<SPLIT>" transaction, double-click the row in the spreadsheet and select "Rem". Doing so will remove all the split components of the net split.

If you have the "Expanded Split" view selected from the "View" menu, the "<SPLIT>" items will not be displayed, but their components will. You cannot directly add, modify, or remove a split component from the "Transactions" tab. If you select one, you will be asked if you wish to open the split editor to make the modification. The split components will always assume the Account, Date, and Cleared status of their parent "<SPLIT>" entry.

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Recurring Transactions

By right-clicking the "Add" button, you can create multiple, identical, linked transactions that occur from the date specified in the "Date" entry until some future date.

A window will pop-up presenting you with options for the transaction frequency and end date. Once these values are selected and you hit "Ok", the transaction specified in the "Transaction Options" will be duplicated at the interval selected until the end date. This is a quick and convenient way to generate transaction entries that occur on a regular basis. The information only has to be entered one time.

If you ever wish to edit or delete a recurring transaction, you can do so by using the same "Edit" and "Rem" buttons as for normal transactions. Select the transaction at a date you wish to modify by double-clicking it in the spreadsheet. You will then have the option of changing the single transaction selected or all future transactions as well. Note that the dates of recurring transactions cannot be modified once set. Also note that "<SPLIT>" transactions cannot be recurring.

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Views, Sorts, and Balances

To change the information displayed, use the "View" menu option on the top menu bar. There are three distinct viewing filters that can be set to your preference.

First, select either "Annual" or "Monthly" from the top two choices in the menu. The first displays all transactions made within the entire year selected. The latter filters the information to display only one month at a time. You can change the year by selecting the up or down arrows beside the "Year" spinner in the upper right hand part of the window. If "Monthly" view is selected, a month spinner will appear, allowing you to cycle through the months of the year selected in a similar manner.

Next, select either "All Transactions," "Categories," or "Accounts" from the middle three choices in the menu. The "All Transactions" option allows you to view all transactions made within a year or month (depending on the selection made above). The "Categories" option filters the transactions to display all of the transactions made within a single category during the month or year. Similarly, the "Accounts" option filters the transactions to transactions made in different accounts for the month or year.

Finally, select either "Collapsed Splits" or "Expanded Splits" from the bottom two choices in the menu. "Collapsed Splits" displays any "<SPLIT>" item as the net transaction total as it would appear in your account statement. "Expanded Splits" displays all the components of these transactions, which are not modifiable from the "Transactions" tab. See the section on "Split Transactions" above for more details.

The "Accounts" view can be used effectively as a register for any financial account you have (e.g. as a checking register). The "Categories" view displays not only expenses, but also any income allocated to these categories if you are using the "Income Allocation" tab for your budget.

You can sort the information (ascending or descending) by virtually any field in the menu with the "Sort" menu options.

Using the "Balance" menu, you can select whether the balance figure displayed in the information bar reflects "Cleared" or "Posted" data. Posted balances include the net sum of all transactions shown. Cleared balances only include those transactions you have checked in the "Cleared" column (as well as any income allocations in the "Categories" view - refer to "Income Allocation" for more detail).

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Cleared Button

A "Cleared" check-button is available for any transaction. It is located in the center column of the Transactions spreadsheet. Simply click the mouse in the box on the transaction line desired, and this will select the transaction as "Cleared." This option is provided for record-keeping purposes. If you wish to see your cleared balance, select "Cleared" from the "Balance" menu.

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