Printing transaction details raises an interesting question/problem - what are the detail columns? There are many types of transactions, each with different distribution details.
There are currently 7 types of transactions:
And the union off all possible postings from these 7 types is a list of 12 postings:
Each of the 12 postings needs a minimum of 5 columns to display:
Adding 60 new columns (12 times 5) to the current list of available columns is "column-blowout".
The challenge is to present all transaction types in one, simple column layout. The solution is to "overload" all possible cases into a simple list of 8 columns.
The rules for selecting the detail information are as follows:
| Detail Column - Rules | |
| /SALES | the item sold, with taxes |
| /PURCHASE | the item purchased, with taxes |
| /BANK/DEPOSIT | who the money was received from |
| /BANK/PAYMENT | what the money paid for |
| /GENERAL | the opposite of the header posting, or the credit posting for simple items |
| /PAYROLL/PAYCHECK | what the money paid for |
| /PAYROLL/TIMECARD | what the time was charged to |
The only remaining problem is the plus/minus display of the quantity and amount. The current rules mostly respect the normal balances of the accounts posted to. In virtually all cases it is intuitive and obvious.
NOTE: Selecting the detail columns for display/print is separate and disconnected from the option Print Transaction Details. For example, if you select detail columns and set Print Transaction Details to no, you get simple ledger output - with more columns of useful information.