> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dualentry.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How to Assign Books to Records > Choose which Books a journal entry or other DualEntry record posts to, allow Book selection on more record types, and change the Books on existing records. This guide covers choosing the Books a record posts to and changing them later. Records you don't assign go to all active Books, so you only need these steps for records that belong in some Books and not others, such as a statutory adjustment. For the rules behind Book assignment, see [How records get their Books](./index#how-records-get-their-books). ## Before you start To follow these steps, you need the following: * **Two or more active Books**: with only the Primary Book active, no record shows a **Books** field. See [How to Set Up and Manage Books](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/platform-configuration/multi-book/set-up-books.md). * **The Book selection setting, for records other than journal entries**: invoices, bills, payments, contracts, and other records show a **Books** field only when **Allow Book selection on all records** is on. Only an Administrator can turn it on. ## Choose Books on a journal entry Journal entries always let you choose Books, whatever the organization setting. Use them for entries that belong in some Books only, such as an adjustment required by local statutory rules with no US GAAP or IFRS equivalent. 1. Navigate to **Accounting → Transactions → Journal Entries** and create a journal entry, or open a draft. 2. In the **Details** section, open **Books** and select each Book the entry belongs in. 3. Enter the lines and save or post the entry as usual. See [Your First Journal Entry](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/core-financials/general-ledger/first-journal-entry.md). Leave **Books** empty to post the entry to all active Books. After you post it, the entry appears in reports run for the Books you selected and nowhere else. ## Allow Book selection on other records Turn on **Allow Book selection on all records** when transactions other than journal entries need to differ between Books, for example invoices that belong only in a statutory Book. 1. Select your organization's name in the top-left corner and navigate to **Settings → General Preferences**. 2. In the **Books** section, turn on **Allow Book selection on all records**. 3. Save your changes. A **Books** field then appears on invoices, bills, customer and vendor payments, credits, refunds, prepayments, prepayment applications, deposits, cash sales, direct expenses, bank transfers, intercompany journal entries, allocation journals, amortizations, and contracts. Fixed assets and inventory transactions always post to all active Books. Turning the setting off again doesn't change the Books on existing records. While it's off, records other than journal entries keep the Books they have, and you can't change them to a different set. > [!WARNING] > > With the setting on, accounts receivable and accounts payable can differ between Books, and a payment must match every document it applies to. Turn it on only if your Books need different receivables or payables. ## Choose Books on a contract With **Allow Book selection on all records** on, a contract's **Books** field sits in its **Details** section. Everything the contract generates takes the contract's Books: invoices linked to it, customer credits, change orders, terminations, adjustments, and revenue recognition entries. 1. Create or edit the contract. See [How to Create a Contract](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/revenue-recognition/create-a-contract.md). 2. In **Details**, select the contract's **Books**, then save. Changing a contract's Books later changes the Books on every record it generated. Because of that, DualEntry blocks the change when a posted record outside the contract is linked to one of those records with different Books, such as a customer payment applied to a contract invoice. Draft linked records don't block it. Contracts created through the public API go to all active Books. You can change their Books afterwards in the app, or with `PUT /public/v2/contracts/{record_id}/` and its `book_ids` field. The revenue recognition record's **GL Impact** tab shows the Books its entries posted to. ## Change the Books on a record You can change the Books on a record after you save it, within the rules that keep each Book complete. 1. Open the record and edit it. 2. Change the selection in **Books**, then save. DualEntry checks two things when you save: * **Locked periods**: you can't change the Books on a posted journal entry dated in a [locked period](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/core-financials/close-management/period-locking.md). Unlock the period first. * **Linked records**: a record must have exactly the same Books as every posted record it's linked to, such as an invoice and the payment applied to it. Draft records aren't checked until they're posted. The change appears in the record's **Activity**, for example "Books from **Primary** to **Primary, Sweden Statutory**". ## Troubleshooting The table below lists the messages you might see when assigning Books and what to do about each. | Message or symptom | Cause and fix | | - | - | | `Select exactly the same books as every posted linked record.` | The record's Books don't match a posted record it's linked to, such as a payment and the invoice it pays. Select the same Books as the linked records. If a payment is applied to a journal entry tagged to only some Books while **Allow Book selection on all records** is off, the payment goes to all active Books and can't match; turn the setting on and select the journal entry's Books on the payment. | | `Book selection is disabled for this organization.` | **Allow Book selection on all records** is off, so only journal entries can change Books. Turn the setting on, or leave the record's Books as they are. | | `All selected books must be active and belong to this organization.` | One of the selected Books is inactive. Reactivate it or remove it from the selection. | | `Record is in the locked period (Other GL). Company:` followed by the company name | The record is dated in a locked period. Unlock the period, change the Books, and lock it again. The section in parentheses can also be AP, AR, or Non GL. | | A record has no **Books** field. | Only one Book is active, or the record isn't a journal entry and **Allow Book selection on all records** is off. Fixed assets never have a **Books** selector. | ## Related pages * [Multi-Book Accounting](./index): how Book assignment, inheritance, and matching work * [Books Reference](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/platform-configuration/multi-book/books-reference.md): which Books each record type posts to, and the `book_ids` API field * [Journal Entries Reference](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/core-financials/general-ledger/journal-entries.md): every journal entry field, including Books This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.