>>>is something like this possible? I get an error, but I thought it should have worked:
>>>

>>>UPDATE EmpItems 
>>>    LEFT JOIN HistItems ON HistItems.eiKey = EmpItems.eiKey
>>>    WHERE HistItems.DelFlag = 0 
>>>    SET EmpItems.itOnPosted = 1, EmpItems.itBalAmt = HistItems.itBalNew + HistItems.itPostCalc
>>>

>>>Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
>>
>>The SET clause must be right after UPDATE.
>>

>>UPDATE EmpItems 
>>SET itOnPosted = 1, 
>>itBalAmt = HistItems.itBalNew + HistItems.itPostCalc
>>
>>FROM EmpItems
>>INNER JOIN HistItems ON HistItems.eiKey = EmpItems.eiKey -- no need to use LEFT JOIN
>>    WHERE HistItems.DelFlag = 0 
>>

>
>I was so used to flip that around in VFP!

Hmm, never tried flipping it around in VFP either. BTW, pay attention to other changes I made in your query.