Did you know that it is actually possible to update a transaction in Microsoft Office Accounting (also known as Small Business Accounting)? It is!
While I’m still not sure if I like the product, I have to say that it’s actually not bad. It is more of a true ledger system than something like Quicken. In Quicken, for example, you can go in and edit to your heart’s content – even after posting. Not so in Microsoft. You post it, you’ll have to void and re-enter. That’s more of a true accounting product. It’s a pain, but it means you can’t just go and change stuff after you have posted it. I respect the decision, but there are times I want to get around it, you know?
So how do you update transactions? Well, you’ll need to have a query analyzer – some form of SQL will work, and then you just need to edit the database. The problem is finding your transactions. I won’t go so far as to say that the data is truly relational, as there are a ton of tables, and they are scattered everywhere.
For instance, to edit a transaction, it seems you need to edit the accountregisterlinetable, documentlinetable, documenttable, postingtable and transactiontable. I don’t know if this is all the tables, but these seem to do it – your transaction is updated, as well as all the other relevant information (accounts, balances, etc). It’s quite possible that something else is affected, but all that balances that I’ve looked at seem to be okay. Your own mileage may be different.
Update: Naturally, it seems that Microsoft has decided that they should get out of some businesses. It’s about time. They have discontinued their accounting product. Looks like it’s all Quicken now.