Ledger Ease Of Use Tips

Ledger is a computer program used to maintain a general ledger. It is designed to be easy-to-use rather
than easy-to-learn. Because of this a few of its features are not obvious to the new user and as a
consequence we have compiled this list to enable you to get the best use of Ledger.
Multiple Accounting Entities
Ledger allows you to maintain ledgers for multiple accounting entities. (For brevity these entities are
referred to as companies.! "owever Ledger only allows you to wor# with one company at a time.
$hen you first use Ledger it is set to wor# with the default company. $hen you create and switch to
another company the name of this company will appear in the title bar at the top of the main window
ne%t to the word Ledger.
&o switch to a different company go to the File menu and select 'onfigure. 'lic# on the $or#station
tab and select the company you wish to wor# with from the drop down list labelled (efault )ccounting
'ompany. &hen clic# on the *+ button. ,ou should see the name of the selected company appear in
the title bar.
&o quic#ly switch between companies you can select a different company directly from the 'ompany
menu. (&his feature is only available to registered users.!
Keyboard Entry
$hen entering large amounts of data on the -ntries screen you can avoid using the mouse by following
the method described in the ne%t two paragraphs. &his is useful for touch typists or data entry cler#s
who are used to using the #eyboard for data entry.
&o begin a new entry hold down the .)lt/ #ey and press 0. -nter the date and then press .-nter/.
&he cursor will move to the )ccount field. &ype the account abbreviation to select the account and
then press .-nter/. &he cursor will move to the (escription field. -nter the description and press
.-nter/. &he cursor will move to the )mount field. -nter the amount and press .-nter/. &he cursor
will move to the (ebit1'redit field. 2se the left and right arrow #eys to specify debit or credit. &hen
press .-nter/. &he cursor will move to the )ccount field on the ne%t line. 3elect the ne%t account and
press .-nter/. &he cursor will move to the (escription field. (&he te%t in this field will default to the
description on the previous line but you can modify this if you wish.! &hen press .-nter/. &he cursor
will move to the )mount field. &he amount and the (ebit1'redit field will default to the values needed
to complete the entry however you can modify these if you wish.
*nce you have completed entering all the lines required for an entry on the -ntries screen press
.-nter/ again to go to the ne%t blan# line. &hen press .-nter/ once more on the blan# )ccount field
to bring up a prompt (o you wish to save this combined entry to the database4 (&his prompt will
only appear if the total debits equal the total credits.! 5ress .-nter/ a third time to save the entry to the
database.
Going To An Account
&o quic#ly go to an account first go to the Balance 3heet or Income 3tatement screen and double clic#
on the account name in the tree view. &his will ta#e you directly to the account on the )ccounts
screen.
Repeated Entries
*ften an entry will be similar to an earlier entry. Instead of entering it from scratch go first to the
earlier entry in the )ccounts screen. (ouble clic# on this entry to go to the -ntries screen and then
clic# on the (uplicate button. &his will create a new entry with identical data to the earlier entry. &he
date will default to the current date or the date of the lasted posted entry but you can edit this or any of
the other lines as required.
Cashbook Reconciliation
(ouble clic# on a cashboo# entry to toggle the *n 3tatement flag on or off.