"You dont even really need a total in the parent table. When you want to report on this data, you should use sql select to group as you please using calculated fields, but thats for another thread."

Carlos, thanks for your reply. What I was wondering, until you added the quote above, is why am I duplicating entries in the parent table and child table, ie if there is no split in the transaction then exactly the same information is being put in both tables. It appears, based on what you indicate above, that the parent table is not necessary. As long as the entries in the "child" table have the same transaction id per entry, then the parent table is not necessary.

Just comfirming that this is what you're saying. Thanks!

Paul