Blank values in bookings of some accounts

[David Cousens]

Dear  Sir_Robin 

How are the entries shown in your attachment  created in your expense and
cash account.

I have found the following ways to create a similar entry:

1.
When you are in the Cash account register if you set the date of the entry
(if not the current date then  enter  a description of the transaction in
the Memo field and hit enter, Gnucash will open up another row with an entry
specifying  the account ,i.e.  Cash.. You then enter the transaction 
Amount  e.g. $23.98 into the credit field then hit enter. The next row will
open with $23.98 in the debit field automatically. You then select your
expense account in the Account field in this new row by clicking on it,
clicking  the dot in the square icon which appears in the field then
selecting the required expense account from the drop down list. If you then
select the next blank row a popup window appears and you select Record
Changes to record the transaction. Works OK on Version 2.4.13 on Windows 8.

2.
Alternatively you can use the Actions->Transfer to process it as a cash
payment and enter a description in the description field in the window which
opens up and select  the Expense account for  debiting and your Cash account
for  crediting by the transaction amount.  This also works fine in 2.4.13 on
Windows 8.

3.
 If you are creating a bill( Business->Vendor->New Bill) (e.g. you receive a
bill and record it when received and then  pay it at some later date),
Gnucash will automatically place the matching credit entry into your
Accounts Payable and the debit to the selected  expense account.  You will
then have to process a payment for that bill (Business->Vendor->Process
payment) which will debit Accounts Payable and credit your Cash account.
This works OK in version  2.4.13 on Windows 8. This requires setting up a
Vendor and creating a bill which is generally overkill for a cash payment
but if you have repeated payments and you want to associate the with a
specific vendor for reporting purposes it may be useful .

Hope this helps

David Cousens