21st Century Accounting Tutorials - System

Data Entry Shortcuts

F1 and Shift+F1: Help

Press F1 at any C21 field for information about the field. Press Shift+F1 in any C21 window for an overview of that function.

F2: Modify, Do, View, Select ...

Press F2 on a highlighted batch, entry, or component to open or select it for modification or review. When in doubt, press F2!

F9: Adding Entries and Batches

The multipurpose F9 function key (New entry, New batch, New account, New anything) puts you into "add" mode in all component management and data entry windows.

Example: You just opened the Bank Accounts/Configure/Bank Accounts window. Press F9 and the cursor moves to the first field in the data entry pane on the right, ready for you to add a new bank account.

Example: You just opened the Sales/Invoices window. Press F9, click OK in the Batch Options dialog, and the cursor moves to the first field in the data entry pane, ready for you to start a new batch of invoices.

NOTE: In Version 2.2A and later, the Batch Options dialog opens automatically when you open a data entry window.

F9: Adding on the Fly

Press F9 in fields where the drop-down selector is available if you want to add something on the fly.

Example: You're adding a customer and realize that the customer justifies adding a new category. Press F9 in the Category field in the Configure/Customers window to go directly into <new> mode in the Category window

Unique-Beginning IDs

Assign IDs with unique beginning characters. When you type one or two unique beginning characters in an ID field and press the key to move to the next field, the system completes the entry, validates the entry, and displays any defaults associated with it.

Example: If you have several bank accounts at Commercial Bank, give them IDs of 1Commercial, 2Commercial. In bank account ID data entry fields, when you enter 1 and press Tab or Enter, 1Commercial is entered in the field.

Example: Don't call your payment terms PaymentTerms1, PaymentTerms2. Call them Net30, Discount20. Then just enter n or d in the Customer Payment Terms field.

Evoking the Drop-Down Selector List

Type an asterisk (*) (or any character) in a Selector field to evoke the drop-down Selector List.

For items without unique beginning IDs, such as account IDs, type a letter or number in a field that is in the range of items you're looking for to open the drop-down list near the item you want.

Example: If you're looking for a sales account in the 4000s, but you aren't sure of the number, enter 4 in the Account ID field. The drop-down list opens with the first account in the 4000s highlighted. You can Down-Arrow to the account you want and press Enter or click it with the mouse.

Changing the Drop-Down Selector List Order

You can change the sort order of items in a drop-down list with headings, such as the Account ID list. Click the heading by which you want the list to be sorted in alphabetic or numeric order. Click again to sort in the reverse order.

Example: To view the Account ID selector list in account name order, open the list and click the Name bar at the top of the list.

Find

Press F3 or CTRL+F in drop-down selector lists to find items in long lists.

Example: You're entering vendor invoices and you want to distribute an amount to a sales expense account, but you can't remember the exact number or name. In the G/L distributions account field, open the account ID drop-down list. Press F3 or Ctrl+F, type sales in the Find what field, and click Find now or press F3 or Ctrl+F again.

Panes

Press F6 to move back and forth in data entry windows between the left pane and the right pane.

Calculator

Press F5 or, in a C21 numeric field, enter a number plus an arithmetic operator ( +, -, /, or *) to display the C21 Calculator. You can cut and paste from data entry windows into the Calculator, run calculations, and paste back into data entry windows. You can also run the Calculator from the numeric keypad or by clicking the numbers and the arithmetic operators and then insert the results into data entry windows.

Example: You're entering budgets in the General Ledger/Configure Budgets window. For Account XYZ, you want to spread an annual budget amount ($57,987) equally over 12 periods.
1. In the period 1 field for Account XYZ, enter 57987/12, and press Enter. The Calculator opens with 57,987 displayed on the tape as the dividend, 12 as the divisor, and 4,832 as the quotient.
2. Press the Insert key to paste 4,832 into the period 1 field in the Budgets window.
  (Then right-click and select "Fill row right" to paste 4,832 into the remaining 11 fields.)