It sounds like the cells in your transaction date column are not recognizing the date format until you double click on them. This can happen when Excel is not able to recognize the data in the cells as dates. Here are some steps you can take to fix this issue:

1. Select the entire column that contains the transaction dates.
2. Right-click on the selected column and choose "Format Cells" from the menu.
3. In the Format Cells dialog box, select "Date" from the Category list.
4. Choose the desired date format from the Type list.
5. Click "OK" to apply the date format to the selected column.

If the above steps do not work, you can try converting the text dates to Excel dates using the following steps:

1. Insert a new column next to the transaction date column.
2. In the first cell of the new column, enter the formula "
   Code:

   =DATEVALUE(A1)

   " (assuming the transaction date column is column A).
3. Copy the formula down to all the cells in the new column.
4. Select the entire new column and copy it.
5. Right-click on the transaction date column and choose "Paste Special" from the menu.
6. In the Paste Special dialog box, choose "Values" and click "OK".
7. Delete the new column that you inserted.

This should convert the text dates to Excel dates and allow you to format the cells as dates without having to double click on each cell.