SmartLedger™ Reports: Getting Subtotals by Category

The Reports button at the top of the main screen gives you options for printing or viewing your entries subtotaled by category. You can choose to show all details of each transaction or show only the subtotals.

Here's what you see when you click the Reports button and choose the option to show all details and notes (please scroll down to see another example).

Here's what you get (below) when you click the Reports button and choose the option to show only the subtotals.

The Reports button evaluates only the entries you are viewing at the moment. Gather up in advance the records you want by using the Accounts button or the Find button, and then click on Reports. If you want to include all entries, choose the command Show All under the Records menu before running your report.

To put a title on your reports, click the highlighted link at the bottom of the main screen, or choose the command Print Titles & Reminders under the SmartLedger Menu.

There's really no setup involved. SmartLedger creates your list of categories on the fly, as you work.

The first time you use a particular word as a category, you simply type it into the Category field.

Thereafter it shows up in the category pick list whenever you click on the Category field. Each new term you use gets added to the list. This makes for consistent data entry and saves time, allowing you to choose a category with the mouse rather than type it again.

If an accountant prepares your tax returns, ask him or her to give you a list of the totals he needs, and enter the appropriate term in the Category field for each of your entries.

If you prepare your tax returns yourself, use any terms in the Category field that make sense to you — ordinary words that correspond to the blanks you fill in on your particular tax forms.

You don't have to use the Category field at all, but the Reports button will not be very useful without any categories. SmartLedger uses categories as the basis for getting subtotals when you run a report.

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