United Public Domain Gold 2

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ United Public Domain Gold 2 / United Public Domain Gold 2.iso / business / pb030.dms / pb030.adf / document < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-01-27 | 23KB | 677 lines

The Money Program v1.5 ---------------------- Written by Alan Bilsborough. Requires 1Mb Memory ************************************************************************ ** ** ** This a SHAREWARE product (Details at the end of this Text) ** ** ** ** Many thanks to Registered Users for their continued support. ** ** ** ** Apologies to recipients of a crippled version of "The Money ** ** Program" (limited to 100 transactions). I couldn't see any other ** ** way of releasing latest versions to PD libraries and at the ** ** same time remain loyal to Registered Users. ** ** ** ************************************************************************ SUMMARY OF MAIN CHANGES FROM VERSION 1.01 to VERSION 1.2 -------------------------------------------------------- 1) Hard Disk Support 2) Printer Support 3) Time/Date/Alarm Preferences 4) Limited Colour Changes 5) Account/Budget Graph Bugs corrected -------------- Two bugs have been corrected. The day on February during a non Leap Year now scrolls round 28 to 1. Also, cancelling a note or reminder when the note/reminder file is full does not result in a crash any more. SUMMARY OF MAIN CHANGES FROM VERSION 1.2 to VERSION 1.5 ------------------------------------------------------- 1) Maximum number of Accounts increased to 60 2) Maximum number of Groups increased to 60 3) Maximum number of Direct Payments increased to 40 4) Preferences added 5) Optional time scale for Budget Comparison & Account Graph 6) Keyboard Shortcuts 7) Input Transaction - Transfer between accounts now possible 8) Reconciliation Mode added 9) Utility Page added 10) Transaction Ticks No bugs found or reported - I find that hard to believe as well! GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS -------------------- The following text gives a brief description on how to set up and use this program. However, if while reading, you get confused or think I`m waffling on a bit, then run the program and load the Example File (under the LOAD/ SAVE MENU). I know most programmers think that their programs are easy to use, but this program was written to be User-Friendly and most people should be able to find their way around the program fairly easily. 1.0 Introduction ---------------- The Money Program is a Home Accounts utility program which allows the user to keep track of up to 60 accounts simultaneously. These accounts are stored as one file allowing quick and flexible interaction between different accounts. All transactions are also related to user-defined groups ( i.e. Electicity Bill, Wages etc. ) enabling budgets and expenditure to be carefully monitored. There is one MAIN MENU in this program from which four sub-menus can be accessed :- |------ VIEW/EDIT OTHERS MENU | MAIN MENU -------------- CREATE MENU | |------ LOAD/SAVE/PRINTER MENU These four menus and their options shall now be described in more detail. ******************************** 2.0 MAIN MENU ------------- As well as accessing the above menus the MAIN MENU also has five additional options which the author felt would be the most frequently used options :- 1) Input Transaction 2) View/Edit Account File 3) View/Edit Group File 4) View Account/Group Graph 5) Budget Comparison Note : To EXIT Program, press Esc button whilst in Main Menu. 2.1 Input Transaction --------------------- Hopefully this will be your most used option. The more transactions you enter the greater your ability to monitor expenditures (as well as keep your accounts up to date). A total of 2500 transactions can be input. All transactions have seven elements :- 1) Date 2) Account 3) Group 4) Description (Optional) 5) Cheque Number (Optional) 6) Amount 7) Reconciled/Unreconciled Note : No Transactions can be input until at least ONE account and ONE group has been created as they are integral parts of the transaction. If a second account is specified then the program will create two transactions. The second transaction is a duplication of the first, EXCEPT that the account will be the specified second account and the amount will be the opposite of the specified amount (i.e -£50 if the original was +£50). This allows the user to perform transfers between accounts more easily. Unreconciled transactions are not used by the program when it calculates account totals, account graphs etc.. Such a transaction is stored awaiting reconciliation but will be ignored until then. Editing of transactions is very easy, so don`t worry about making mistakes as they can be rectified later. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following view options (account, group, complete transaction file etc.) all have a Transaction Tick Option - for want of a better name! This option simply allows the user to tick off transactions while, for instance, checking against a bank statement. To tick off a transaction press the right mouse button while over the transaction. Transaction Ticks can be saved with the file or erased each time the user enters the view options. To enable/disable this option, see the Preferences program and/or Utility Page (described later). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2 View/Edit Account File -------------------------- This option allows you to view an entire account file. NOTE : All View/Edit Options allow you to edit transactions by clicking on their button. An edited transaction may disappear from your view page depending on your edit (i.e. changing account while viewing another). Don`t worry about this as you can only delete a transaction completely by choosing the CANCEL option, and you can`t do that by mistake. 2.3 View/Edit Group File - View and/or Edit an entire Group File. ------------------------ 2.4 View Account/Group Graph ----------------------------- To view exact dates and amounts along the line of a graph, use mouse and left button at the required point. To view over a different time period (the program defaults to the first and last transaction dates found), click (using left mouse button) on the date button and enter new dates. To reset back to first and last dates use the right mouse button to click on the date button. Right mouse button (except on date button) to exit. 2.5 Budget Comparison --------------------- This option allows the user to see at a glance the percentage of budget spent to date. Group Budgets are specified at the Create Group option (described later). To view exact figures click on the group bar. Use of date button is as described above in Account/Group Graph. ********************************* 3.0 VIEW/EDIT OTHERS MENU ------------------------- This menu has 3 lesser used View/Edit Options :- 1) View/Edit Complete Transaction File 2) View/Edit Filtered Transaction File 3) View/Edit Cheque file and, 4) Time/Date Preferences 5) Utility Page 3.1 View/Edit Complete Transaction File - Self Explanatory --------------------------------------- 3.2 View/Edit Filtered Transaction File --------------------------------------- This option was introduced to produce a more flexible option for the user to view/edit any combination of accounts and/or groups. The first option screen allows any number of accounts to be specified (ranging from none chosen to all chosen). The second option screen allows any number of groups to be combined with your choice of Account(s). The group option screen allows the chosen groups to be either added to the chosen account(s) file or taken away. This is probably best illustrated by a few examples :- A) View Main Current Account plus all other Electicity Bills B) View Main Current Account except Uncleared Cheques C) View No Accounts but View Car, Car Loan, Car petrol, Car Mileage Income All these examples will allow the user to view accounts/groups with a "What If ?" question applied and total different combinations of accounts/ groups. 3.3 View/Edit Cheque File - Any specified cheques will be displayed. ------------------------- 3.4 Time/Date Preferences ------------------------- This option enables the user to change the current date, view the current time, and set the alarm. It could also be used as a calendar as the option can be exited without any changes saved. If the date IS changed and SAVED the program will ask you if you want to adjust the transaction file to suit the new date. For instance, if the date has been turned back, then the program will ask if you want to ignore,delete or unreconcile the transactions found after the date. Alternatively, if the date has been turned forward, you will be asked if you want the relevant Direct Payments to be added to the file. The time span within which the program will add direct transactions is from the day after the last date (the date before entering Time/Date Preferences) and up to including the newly saved date. This option should enable the user to forecast future budgets and view what the account totals will look like at say, the end of the month. Note: Users without a Battery-Backed up clock will have to set the time externally, as the time cannot be changed within the program. 3.5 Utility Page ---------------- The Utility Page has various options which the user may find useful from time to time. Version 1.5 has the following utilities :- a) Delete Account/Group and associated transactions. b) Reconcile/Unreconcile transactions (date to date) c) Delete Transactions (Date to Date) d) Automatically Balance Account Total e) Match Account Total to Target Balance f) Change Volume Name g) Automatic clearing of Transaction Ticks h) Swap order of 2 Accounts / 2 Groups i) Mouse Pointer Speed (Keyboard) j) Keyboard / Mouse Input Response a) Delete Account/Group and associated transactions --------------------------------------------------- This option will delete an account or group. It should be noted that all transactions which refer to the chosen account/group must also be erased as a transaction MUST be related to one account and one group. Note: An Account/Group cannot be deleted if it is refered to in an existing Direct Payment. Such a Direct Payment must be deleted or changed before deletion of the Account/Group. b) Reconcile/Unreconcile transactions (date to date) ---------------------------------------------------- To reconcile/unreconcile a batch of transactions. c) Delete Transactions (Date to Date) ------------------------------------- Delete a batch of transactions d) Automatically Balance Account Total -------------------------------------- This option will ask which account is to be balanced and the total which it should have. The program will then present the user with the appropriate transaction which if saved will balance the account. To save the transaction click on the "SAVE & EXIT" OR "QUIT" button. If the user decides not to use the transaction click on the "CANCEL" button. e) Match Account Total to Target Balance ---------------------------------------- This option is best explained by an example. Say you receive a bank statement with a total which doesn't match your account total in "The Money Program". This option will try to work out why your current computer total doesn't match your bank statement. It does this by trying to find a transaction which, if excluded, would produce matching totals. If such a transaction doesn't exist then a search will be made for a combination of 2 transactions which again, if excluded, produces a match. If 1 or 2 transactions ARE found then you will be asked if you want to unreconcile them. It should be noted that if a match is found then the computer will only refer to the latest transaction(s) found. f) Change Volume Name --------------------- Allows the user to change the Volume Name to one of three names :- Money_Vol: Money_Vol2: Postponed: This allows Hard Disk owners to have 2 (or 3 I suppose!) destinations for your data files. The name "Postponed:" can be used as a destination or, as intended, as a way of ensuring that the program does not automatically save to your Hard Disk - i.e. similar to taking a floppy disk out of your internal/external drive. Note: The program defaults to "Money_Vol:" g) Automatic Clearing of Transaction Ticks ------------------------------------------ If this option is set to YES then any transaction ticks (in the View/Edit Pages) will clear automatically every time the user enters these pages. If the option is set to NO then any transaction ticks will be saved with the transaction file. Changing this option through the Utility Page is a temporary change. To save and permanently change this option, please see the Preferences program. h) Swap Order of 2 Accounts / 2 Groups - Self Explanatory -------------------------------------- i) Mouse Pointer Speed (Keyboard) --------------------------------- This option affects the speed of the mouse pointer when moved via the keyboard cursor keys. To increase the speed use the left mouse key and to decrease use the right mouse key. It should be noted that the user can also use the shift/alt keys while pressing a cursor key to speed up/slow down the pointer. j) Keyboard / Mouse Input Response ---------------------------------- This option affects the speed at which the program responds to key / mouse input. Change the response by using the left/right mouse button as described above. ******************************** 4.0 CREATE MENU --------------- This menu creates the framework for your transactions and has options to create five different items:- 1) Accounts 2) Groups 3) Direct Payments 4) Reminders 5) Notes 4.1 Create Accounts ------------------- Allows up to 60 accounts and their starting totals to be defined. TIP : Create an extra account called (for instance) "Miscellaneous Expenses". This account could then be used to store expenses which would normally be hard to keep track of. The running total of this account would not be important but it`s contents would be. This method allows the user to store only the relevant transactions in your main accounts (i.e. ones which would appear in your bank statements such as cash withdrawals & cheques) 4.2 Create Groups ----------------- Allows creation of up to 60 groups. If required, the user can also define a budget for each group. This budget can then be compared to the actual amount spent using the MAIN MENU option - "Budget Comparison" 4.3 Create Direct Payments -------------------------- Direct Payments are regular transactions which are automatically added to your transaction file when the correct date is reached. This date must be AFTER the last date that your data was saved and ON or BEFORE Todays Date. As well as the start and end dates of the Direct payment, the user must also specify how often the transaction should be added (Monthly Frequency) and the day of the month that the transaction is to be added. The Monthly Frequency is a number between 1 and 12, where 1 would add a transaction every month and 12 would add a transaction every year. The Day of Payment is a number between 1 and 31. If the day of payment is 31/30 and the month of payment has less than 31/30 days then the transaction will be added on the last day of that month (30/29/28). A total of 40 Direct Payments can be defined. 4.4 Create Reminders -------------------- Reminders can be used to (you`ve guessed it) remind you of forthcoming events i.e. Birthdays, Car Service Due etc. They consist of one line of reminder text and the reminder date. The reminders are displayed in the scroll line. A total of 20 Reminders can be defined. 4.5 Create Notes ---------------- Notes can be used to store any lines of text which the user may want to store i.e. bank addresses, telephone numbers or card numbers etc. They consist of two lines of text and are displayed in the scroll line. A total of 20 Notes can be defined. ****************************** 5.0 LOAD/SAVE/PRINTER MENU -------------------------- Data in this utility should be stored on a Data Disk. Users can save their data onto the Program Disk but please use a copy of the orginal Program Disk and be careful that you do not run out of disk space. If you want to start a new file, you will have to use a seperate disk as there are NO options to select and save seperate files. Experienced users could utilise seperate volume names (described earlier) to save more than one file onto a data disk. This menu has five options :- 1) LOAD from Data Disk 2) Load Example File 3) SAVE to Data Disk 4) Save for Next Period 5) * PRINTER MENU * 5.1 LOAD from Data Disk ----------------------- When selected, the program will look for data in drives Df0:, Df1:, Vol:, and if found, will automatically load the data. Note that if more than one file is found (i.e. in df0: and vol:) then the user will be asked which file is to be loaded. 5.2 Load Example File --------------------- This option will load the Example File which is supplied on the Program Disk. Please note that Data loaded from the Example File cannot be saved. 5.3 SAVE to Data Disk --------------------- Saves data to your Data Disk. The program will save to more than one disk at a time, so owners of a hard disk or an external drive can automatically save to their back-up disk as well. 5.4 Save for Next Period ------------------------ This is a special SAVE option which saves everything to a Data Disk EXCEPT the Transaction File. Also, the Starting Totals for each account will be updated to the up-to-date running total, so the new Data Disk is ready for immediate use. NOTE : The User will NOT be able to save this data to an existing Data Disk, so please prepare another Data Disk. 5.5 * PRINTER MENU * -------------------- *** Please note that external communication with Printers can cause software crashes, and this option should only be chosen once important data has been SAVED. *** The Printer menu has 6 sub-options, namely - a) Account b) Group c) Direct Payments d) Reminders & Notes e) Filtered Transaction File f) Cheques Options c) and d) will print all of the currently used direct payments, reminders or notes. The remaining options are similar to View/Edit File (described earlier) except that the file is sent to the printer. Once chosen the user will be presented with a Print Settings page. This page is designed to give full control over the final print output. The Date, Account, Group, Note, Cheque, Amount and Total can be included, excluded, trimmed etc. to achieve the desired result. The user (see the "Lines per Transaction" box) can hence, limit these attributes to 'squeeze' as much information into one line as possible. Note: The first 15 characters are displayed in the Trimmed mode. ------------------------- NOTE - ALL USERS ------------------------- Non-Printer users can output the above options to an ASCii file using the Destination option in 'Print Settings'. The title given to this ASCii file takes the form of a desription i.e. 'Main Current' followed by the days date. It should be noted that using this option many times in the same day may result in files being overwritten ******************************************************************** ******************************************************************** ******************************************************************** KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ------------------ Menu Buttons - Keys F1 to F8 to access options View Screen - Keys F1 to F8 to edit transactions Keyboard Pointer - Cursor Keys to move pointer, left shift key faster, Alt key slower Alert Window - Cursor keys to move pointer to each button Return Key - Same as Left Mouse Button Space Bar - Same as Right Mouse Button Various Keys - e.g. Input Transaction, shortcut indicated by underlined or highlighted character Left Mouse Key - acts as Return key when entering text ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* *** SHAREWARE *** The concept of Shareware relies on users supporting the programmer who should in turn support the program. If you would like to support this program, please see the Registration details below. In return for registering your name, you will receive future upgrades and/or a Registered Version of "The Money Program". Future Upgrades will be based on suggestions and requests from Registered Users. Registration for this program is Ten Pounds (to the following address). Mr Alan Bilsborough, Flat 5 7 Burnhill Quadrant, Rutherglen, Glasgow G73 1ER. Tel: 041 647-4872 This program may only be distributed if accompanied by this document file. The Author cannot accept responsibility for damage caused to any hardware or disks whilst using this program. The Money Program v1.5 was written using AMOS (Mandarin/Jawx). *************************** End of Text ****************************