[ Previous Section ]     [ Next Section ]

Shortcuts

Moneydance contains several shortcuts. These are designed to make entering transactions easier and more efficient. The shortcuts fall into several different categories.

General shortcuts:

These are shortcuts that can be found scattered throughout the application.

1. Date Fields:

By using the plus and minus keys while in the data field for example, you can advance or retard the date one day at a time or you can scroll forward or backwards by holding either key down.

Listed below are additional shortcuts:
+ or =Advance or "spin" the date forward
- or _"spin" the date backward
t (lower case)Go to the current date
m (lower case)Go to the first day in the month
h (lower case)Go to the last day in the month
y (lower case)Go to the first day in the year
r (lower case)Go to the last day in the year


2. Amount and Rate Fields:

In the amount and rate fields, when dealing with currencies and currency exchange rates, you can enter complex math expressions and they will be automatically evaluated when you move to the next field. For example, if you enter the following:

100 X (12 + 4)     this will be evaluated as 1600.

In addition, you can specify currency ID's of the amount that you are entering and it will be translated using the current exchange rate into the currency of the field that you're entering.

For example:

If you are entering transactions in your US Bank Account and you want to enter a purchase that you made in Italy for 200,000 Lire, just enter the following:

200,000 ITL     this will automatically be converted to U.S. dollars: $99.69
(Please note: the exact amount will vary with the exchange rates.)

3. Check Number Fields:

When entering transactions it is possible to speed up the entry process for check numbers by using the following keys:

+ or ="spin" the Check Number up
- or _"spin" the Check Number down


For example, pressing the plus key in an empty check number field automatically calculates the next check number based on past transactions.

Account Edit Panel:

The account edit panel is what is displayed when you have opened an editable account. This panel displays all of the transactions contained in the account, the balances (cleared and uncleared), and a panel used to edit the selected transaction (if any).

If you are the type of person that does not like to use the mouse, then by simultaneously pressing the control key and the N key will allow you to create a new transaction.

Transaction Entry:

The transaction entry panel is used to edit transactions. It is displayed at the bottom of the edit account panel when a transaction is selected from the list of transactions.

Moneydance has an auto completion feature for transactions. Transactions can be auto completed simply by typing in the payee field. With each keystroke, past transactions are searched for the payee's name that begin with the text already entered in the payee field for the current transaction. If a matched transaction is found, the rest of the current payee field is filled in with the matched payee value. At this point you can either continue to type, or use the TAB key to continue to the next field. Using the TAB key in the payee field after an auto-completion on a new transaction will automatically fill in the rest of the transaction field with the values of the matched transaction.

Final Note on Shortcuts:

You can quickly set the tax date to equal the date field by simply pressing control and the Y key. This of course must be done in one of the date fields.