ShareWare OnLine 2/ShareWare OnLine Volume 2 (CMS Software)(1993).iso/finance/cm_12.zip/CM.DOC

Text File | 1993-02-26 | 13KB | 220 lines

Documentation : CHECK-MATE Version 1.2 by John P Corea  -  Feb 93

               CHECK-MATE is a checkbook program with many advanced
        features like POPUP CALENDAR, POPUP CALCULATOR, EXPORT, PAYEE
        and MEMO LISTS, KEY-FREE RECONCILIATION, TAG n TOTAL (with
        average) to name a few. CHECK-MATE offers Microsoft compatible
        MOUSE SUPPORT !


START :
    When you first run CHECKMATE (CHECKM.EXE) you are asked to
        "Enter Opening Balance : " The OPENING BALANCE must be a
        reconciled amount in order for you checkbook to reconcile
        properly each month when you get  your bank statement. If
        your checkbook is properly reconciled already you may start
        CHECK-MATE with your current balance or at any point where
        you desire. For instance, you might want to start checkbook
        with the balance indicated in your checkbook for the day
        closest to the beginning of the year. Of course, you would
        then enter all the transactions listed in your current check
        register (or program). With CHECK-MATE's Tag n Total feature
        you can go back and tag various transactions and receive a
        total and an average for the tagged transactions. NICE !!!


USING CHECKMATE :


CHECK :

        Enter a check transaction by selecting CHECK from the main
        menu. You may select CHECK by pressing the highlighted letter
        or by using the CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT keys and pressing ENTER or
        you may CLICK the LEFT MOUSE BUTTON on check. (MONOCHROME
        USERS : Make sure your brightness and contrast controls aren't
        too high or you wont be able to distinguish between HIGHLIGHT
        and REGULAR). After selecting CHECK and pressing ENTER or
        CLICKING the LEFT MOUSE BUTTON a blank check will popup and
        the EDITING CURSOR will appear in the CHECK NUMBER FIELD.
        If this is the first time you are using CHECK-MATE the number
        will be 1. You may edit this number to whatever number you
        choose (up to 4 digits). From then on when you select CHECK
        the check number which appears will automatically be incremented
        from the last check number. In other words, if you enter check
        number 148 as your first check then the next time you select
        check the number 149 will appear. Just press ENTER to accept
        the number which appears or edit it if you desire. After
        entering or accepting the check number the editing cursor will
        appear in the PAYEE field. In this field you enter the name
        of the person or company or whoever you are writing your check
        to. The payee field can be up to 35 characters in length.Here
        comes one of the great features of CHECKMATE. After entering
        the payee , but before you press enter , press F3 and the name
        or company or whoever you have entered in the payee field will
        be added to a PAYEE LIST if you desire. IF you are writing checks
        to the same companies each month (like everyone does) this is
        a feature you'll really like. Answer Yes by pressing Y and the
        PAYEE is added to the PAYEE list. The next time you write a check
        press F2 and the PAYEE LIST will appear from which you can select
        instead of having to type the same thing over and over. The same
        option applies for the MEMO (or category) field. There too you can
        enter up to 35 characters and by pressing F3 you can add to the
        MEMO list. Similarly, the next time you write a check you can
        press F2 and select from the MEMO list ! These two features make
        entering transactions in CHECK-MATE a breeze. In fact, since most
        checks are written to the same companies each month (Electric,
        phone, gas, mortgage, etc) you will only have to actually type
        the amount. The rest can be selected from the LISTS ! Isn't that
        terrific ? Yes it is !!!  You may add as many items to the PAYEE
        and MEMO lists as you desire, but I recommend only adding those
    which you write checks to each month. After you are done entering
    in the PAYEE field you are given a POPUP CALENDAR with the current
        date (system date) displayed. All you need to do here is press return
    and the current date is entered in the DATE field. If you desire to
    enter a date other than the current date you can move around the
    calendar with the CURSOR KEYS, one day at a time, or with PAGE-
    UP / PAGE-DOWN one month at a time or CNTRL-PAGE-UP/DOWN one year
    at a time or you can click on the + - pointers with the LEFT
    MOUSE BUTTON or click on the DATE. Press enter after the date
    shown in the CALENDAR is the correct date. Nice feature , isn't
        it ?               NEXT you are moved to the amount field. This
    is where you enter the amount of the check. Just enter the amount
    (commas disallowed). BTW, if for some reason you need a calculator
        to calculate the amount just press F4 at any time while your
        entering a check and up pops a CALCULATOR. Perform the calculation
    and press ESC when finished and the result of the calculation is
    automatically entered in the AMOUNT FIELD.  NEXT you are moved to
    the MEMO (or category) field. Enter a memo or category (Electric,
    phone, heat, etc) and add it to the MEMO list by pressing F3 or
    select from the list by pressing F2. In the beginning (when there
    is nothing in the list) nothing will happen when you press F2, but
    once you use the ADD to LIST feature it will popup. Make it a habit
    to use the F2 -Pick from List feature each time you write a check.
    BTW, if you should select F3 - Add to List with a PAYEE or MEMO
    that is already in the list you will be informed automatically !
    If you make any mistakes along the line you can TAB through the
    fields or just keep pressing ENTER and you will move around the
    fields or press PAGE-UP and you are moved to FIELD ONE (Check #)
    or PAGE-DOWN and you are moved to the last field (MEMO) or
    SHIFT_TAB moves backward one field at a time. it's easiest to
    just keep pressing ENTER and cycle through the fields. When you
    are certain everything is correct, PRESS F5 - SAVE and that's
    it ! You have entered your first transaction. Wasn't that simple
    enough ?

DEPOSIT :

    Entering a DEPOSIT is like entering a check only there is no
    check number . You may do everything you did  while entering
    a check including using the list. The first time you enter
    the Description "DEPOSIT" you might want to press F3- Add to
    list and add it to the PAYEE (or description) list. From then
    on when you enter a deposit just press F2- Pick from list and
    select DEPOSIT from the list.

MISC    :

    Miscellanious CREDITS would be Interest, ATM DEPOSITS, etc
    and misc DEBITS would be Check charges, ATM WITHDRAWALS, etc.
    Fill out a MISC transaction just like a deposit or check.
    AS before, press F5- SAVE when finished.

RECONCILE :

    I think you'll find reconciling your checkbook as easy as pie
    with CHECK-MATE ! Select RECONCILE from the main menu and a
    list of ALL transactions will appear. Transactions previously
    reconciled will have a √ mark in the  "R" column of the list.
    Simply look at your statement and go down the list and highlight
    those transactions which appear on the bank statement. Highlight
    an item by pressing the SPACE BAR or by clicking the LEFT MOUSE
    BUTTON. Use CURSOR UP/DOWN to move up and down on transaction
    at a time or use PAGE-UP/DOWN to move up and down one page at
    a time (21 transactions). Highlight all items which  appear
    on your statement and then press ENTER and WHAM !! Your recon-
    ciled balance will appear in a window. Easy as pie, just like
    I said. You can always correct a mistake here by going back
    (at any time) and selecting the erroniously reconciled item
    again and it will become an un-reconciled item. In other words,
    if an item has the check mark, which means it was reconciled,
    and you highlight it and press return it will become unreconciled
        and the checkmark will vanish and vice-versa ! **There is no
        mistake (other than export) which you can make which cannot be
        easily corrected ! The reconciled amount which appears in the
        reconcile window should exactly match the ending balance on
        your monthly bank statement. If the two do not match then you
        must go back and check over your entries and see if they match
        your bank statement. It is crucial that your OPENING BALANCE be
        accurate or you will never reconcile your checkbook.

VIEW /EDIT :

        If you make a mistake and save an entry which is incorrect you
        select this option from the main menu. You will be presented with
        the complete list of transactions (just like with reconcile) and
        you merely locate the transaction you want to edit and press ENTER.
        Then you edit it just as though it is a new entry and when you
        are through press ESC and then you will be asked whether you want
        to save the changes at which point you press Y for Yes or N for
        No.

TOTALS :

        Totals (or Tag n Total) allows you to select transactions (by
        highlighting them as you did in reconcile) and then press ENTER
        and you will receive the TOTAL amount of for those transactions
        as well as the average. This is useful for many purposes. Maybe
        you want to know ho much you spent on phone calls for the year and
        the average monthly bill. TOTAL allows you to select whatever you
        want. Just TAG n TOTAL !!


EXPORT  :

        Export is the only function which CANNOT BE UNDONE ! Once you export
        records they are EXPORTED FOR GOOD. The purpose for exporting records
        is to get rid of old records which serve no purpose (records over
        a year old which are reconciled). If you kept all records and never
        exported then the data file will eventually get too big for some
        functions (the list functions to work since you'll run out of memory).
        You will be warned automatically when you should export old records.
        You aren't required to do so, but it is recommended that you export
        records over 1 year old ! At this time CHECK-MATE can handle a little
        over 500 records before you'll get an "OUT OF STRING SPACE" message
        in the list modes. Of course, the RECONCILE LIST is crucial so export
        you must export records if your number of transactions is approaching
        500. Look on line 25 at the left hand corner to see how many trans-
        actions you have. I think 500 is more than the average person will
        ever need in a years time. I estimate an average of about 300 trans-
        actions a year  or so.. When you select EXPORT you will be warned
        that records exported cannot be imported. THey will not be complete-
        ly wiped out, however. They will be APPENDED to a file called
        "EXPORT.CHK". You can always view this ASCII file with any file viewer
         to look at old transactions. All future EXPORTS will be added to the
         end of the previous export and so you will always have a record of
         ALL transactions !
          I was going to make export an automatic function but I decided that
        you should decide which records to export and when. When you select
        export you will be given the COMPLETE LIST of transactions. Page back
        through the list (or press HOME which takes you to the first transaction)
        and highlight the record for which all previous transactions are to
        be exported. For instance, if you highlight record 50 , the previous
        49 records will be exported. IF you highlight more than on record, the
        earliest one highlighted will be the export point.


        For help with editing functions press F1 while entering or editing
        a transaction and you will be presented with all the  functions.


        If I find this program becomes popular , meaning I receive alot
        of registrations, I will improve upon it with EMS support, etc.
        Possibly even an import feature. Registration is the only criteria
        I have for determining whether improvement is warranted so  if you
        like CHECK-MATE and you use CHECK-MATE, register ! Please ? Included
        with this file is a registration form. Please take the time to fill
        it out and mail a check for $20.00 and become a registered user.