ENTERING AND MAINTAINING TRANSACTIONS > Copying, Cutting and Pasting Transactions

You can copy, cut or paste most transactions in a register window with the right-click menu options Copy Transaction, Cut Transaction, and Paste Transaction.

Another option that does somewhat the same thing is to use the right-click menu options in the register for memorized transactions. The difference between memorized transactions and the copy/cut/paste options are that memorized transactions persist after you close the program, whereas copied and cut transactions don't. You can also cut or copy and paste transactions between different accounts' register windows, whereas memorized transactions can only be re-inserted into the same account's register window.

Yet another related option is recurring transactions, which are memorized ones that you have set up a schedule for, so that they are automatically inserted (or prompted to be inserted) at a specified frequency.

The only register transactions you cannot cut, copy and paste are bills entered for later payment with Enter Bills or paid with Pay Bills, or your Opening Balances transaction.

You can cut, copy and paste Journal Entries that you view in the register window. When you paste them, if they were copied as opposed to cut, the journal entry number in the Number field will be cleared, then filled in with the next available journal entry number when you save the pasted transaction, for example by pressing Enter. Duplicate copies of journal entries, which you can then edit, can also be created from the Journal Entry List window, with its Duplicate button.

These menu options are useful for a few purposes. One would be to repeat an earlier transaction, such as a recurring direct payment that didn't use the special features for bills. (Don't forget to change the date after pasting it!) However, you can alternatively use the memorized transactions feature for that.

Another use of these menu options would be if you entered a transaction in the wrong register (say, the wrong bank account). To fix that, you could Cut it from the wrong register, close that register, open the correct register, and Paste it on top of the empty row at the bottom of that register, then press Enter to save it.

Here are the details of these menu options:

Copy Transaction

Copies the transaction to an internal "clipboard" in the program, which allows you to later use Paste Transaction in the same or a different register window to paste an exact copy of this transaction. (The copied transaction is only remembered until you exit the ACCOUNTS program.)

Cut Transaction

Prompts for whether it is OK to cut (delete) the current transaction, and if you answer Yes, deletes it, having first copied it to an internal "clipboard" in the program. That allows you to later use Paste Transaction, as described above under Copy Transaction.

Paste Transaction

Pastes a transaction that was previously cut or copied, on top of a blank transaction at the bottom of the register that you right-clicked on. (This option is greyed out - unavailable - if you right-click on an existing transaction rather than the empty one at the bottom of the register.)

The pasted transaction still needs to be saved normally, for example by pressing Enter, or clicking into a different row and answering Yes when asked whether to save the changes. Be sure to change any desired fields before saving it, such as the Date, Number etc.

The pasted Date will be empty for transactions that were copied, and the same as the original in transactions that were cut. The pasted Number will be blank, if you pasted it into a different account than the one it was cut from (or if it was copied) for you to fill in if it is a cheque. If a copied transaction was already reconciled, and/or matched to an imported online banking transaction, the pasted transaction will not be marked as reconciled or matched. If a cut transaction was already reconciled or matched, then if you paste it back into the same account, those values will persist, but if you paste it into a different account, they will be cleared.

The Paste Transaction menu option is only enabled if you have previously used Cut Transaction or Copy Transaction during this run of the ACCOUNTS program.

This topic was last edited on Mar 23, 2023