Newbie Split Transaction Problem

[John Ralls]

> On Dec 13, 2014, at 11:21 AM, Paul Warthe <warthes7 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I'm a newbie trying to work through the examples in the Help: Tutorial and
> Concepts Guide. I'm using version 2.6.3 built from git rev 166cbb7+ on
> 2014-04-01. 
> 
> My current problem is with split transactions. The program is not working
> the way it is described in the guide. Under the chapter "Transactions" "The
> Account Register" there is the example of entering a paycheck as a split
> transaction. Figure 4.1 shows: (my apologies in advance if the following
> doesn't line up in columns as does in the program.)
> 
> Description                               Tot Deposit  Tot Withdrawal
> Balance
> Employers R Us                                 670.00
> 1,624.79
>     After Tax        Assets: Checking         670.00
>     Federal Tx       Expenses:Taxes:Federal   180.00
>     Medicare         Expenses:Taxes:Medicare   90.00
>     Social Security  Expenses:Taxes:Social     60.00
>     Before Tax       Income:Salary                     1,000.00
> 
> 
> When I attempt to enter this information, being careful not to use the
> "Enter" key, I end up with:
> 
> Description                               Tot Deposit  Tot Withdrawal
> Balance
> Employers R Us                                 670.00
> 1,624.79
>     After Tax        Assets: Checking         670.00
>                      Imbalance                940.00
>     Federal Tx       Expenses:Taxes:Federal              490.00
>     Medicare         Expenses:Taxes:Medicare              90.00
>     Social Security  Expenses:Taxes:Social                30.00
>     Before Tax       Income:Salary                     1,000.00
> 
> Also, when I am entering my data, I see small, greyed out boxes with an "X"
> in them appear in the upper left corner of the cells. They disappear when I
> enter the transaction.
> 
> Can anyone suggest what I may be doing wrong?

You’re putting the expenses in the wrong column.

The little grey boxes are warning you that the transaction is out of balance; when you save it GnuCash creates the imbalance split to automatically balance it.

Regards,
John Ralls