SeroBooks forms are built to be filled in from the keyboard, as QuickBooks Desktop forms are. This article explains the kinds of field you will meet on almost every form: dates, amounts, and the search fields for customers, vendors, items and accounts.
Moving between fields
- Tab moves to the next field and Shift+Tab to the previous one. Tab stays inside the form you are in; it does not wander into the menus or into the window beside it.
- In Write Cheques, Enter Credit Card Charges, Make Deposits and Make General Journal Entries, Enter also moves to the next field. A search field uses Enter to pick the highlighted entry and then moves on by itself; a memo of several lines uses Enter for a new line.
- Esc in a filled box leaves the box or empties a search; it never deletes what you typed in an ordinary field. See Escape, Back and closing forms.
Date fields
A date field shows the date as MM/DD/YYYY and has a small calendar button at its right.
- Type a date. Click in the field (or Tab into it), select what is there, and type. Press Tab or click elsewhere to accept it; you do not need to press Enter.
- Pick a date. Click the calendar button (Pick a date) and choose from the calendar. Tab skips this button.
- Hover over the field to see a reminder of the keys.
What you can type
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
t | Today |
+ | One day after the date in the field (++ two days, +++ three) |
- | One day before (-- two days) |
m | The first day of that month |
h | The last day of that month |
y | The first day of that year |
r | The last day of that year |
w | The first day of that week (weeks start on Sunday) |
k | The last day of that week |
21 | The 21st of the month in the field |
9/21 | 21 September of the year in the field |
9/21/26 or 9-21-2026 | 21 September 2026 (two-digit years mean 20xx) |
092126 or 09212026 | 21 September 2026, typed without separators |
2026-09-21 | 21 September 2026 |
Dates are read month first, as they are shown. If SeroBooks cannot read what you typed, or it is not a real date (13/40), the field goes back to the date it had rather than guessing.
Some roles may not change a document's date. The date field is then greyed out and says "Your role cannot change the invoice date" (or "…the bill date"). A date in a closed period is refused when you save; see Set Closing Date and Year-End.
Amount fields
Type an amount as a plain number, such as 125 or 125.50. Money is shown to the cent, and the form's totals update as you type. A negative amount is allowed only where it makes sense (a journal line, for example).
Customer and vendor fields
The Customer, Vendor, Payee and Name fields are search fields. You never have to scroll a long list:
- Click in the field and start typing any part of the name. You can also type part of the company name, a phone number, an email address, a street or a city.
- A list opens under the field, as wide as it needs to be. Each row shows:
- the name, and beside it in grey the other name (the company for a person, or the person at a company);
- the address on one line;
- the phone number and email;
- at the right, in SeroBooks, the balance: what the customer owes you or what you owe the vendor. Parties with nothing open show no balance, so the ones that owe stand out.
- Use ↓ and ↑ to move through the list and Enter to choose, or click a row.
- Esc closes the list without choosing.
Once a customer or vendor is chosen, the form shows their balance in their ledger's terms:
| Shown | Meaning |
|---|---|
| $1,234.56 Dr in red on a customer | The customer owes you this (a receivable). |
| $1,234.56 Cr in red on a vendor | You owe the vendor this (a payable). |
| An amount in green | A credit in your favour: a customer's credit (Cr) or a vendor who owes you (Dr). |
If SeroBooks cannot read the balance at that moment, it shows nothing rather than a zero. See A customer's ledger and balance (Dr / Cr).
Account fields
Wherever a form asks for an account (an expense line on a bill, a journal line, a deposit's From Account), the field is a search too:
- Type part of the account's name, its number or its type (for example
bank,6100ortelephone). - The list under the field shows each account's number and name, with its QuickBooks-style type (Bank, Accounts Receivable, Other Current Asset, Expense and so on), in chart of accounts order.
- Use ↑ ↓ and Enter, or click. The cursor then moves on to the next field.
- To take the account off a line, empty the field and leave it.
Some screens open a separate account picker window instead, with a Search name, code or type… box, the accounts grouped by type, and a count of matches. If nothing matches it says "No account matches ..." and you can change what you typed.
Item fields
On invoices, bills and orders, add lines from the item search at the top of the lines. Type part of an item's name or SKU, or scan its barcode, and press Enter to add the line. See Invoice lines and Bill lines.
Drop-down lists
Short fixed lists (terms, payment methods, classes, ship via) open as a normal drop-down when you click them. Lists you can add to, such as Terms, are kept under Lists ▸ Customer & Vendor Profile Lists. See Lists in SeroBooks.
When a form will not save
SeroBooks tells you what is missing in a message at the bottom of the screen, in the words of the form. For example, "Pick the vendor first." or "Every Expenses line needs an account." Fix what it names and save again. The form is not saved until the problem is fixed.
Copying from the screen
Text on any SeroBooks screen can be selected with the mouse and copied with Ctrl+C: an invoice number, an address, an amount.