o=o=o=o=o=¢ ¢ CREDIT CARD SUMMARY FOR BCALC¢ ¢ By Frank Walters¢ ¢ CREDIT.BC is a template file for¢ BCALC spreadsheet. BCALC, by Barry¢ Kolbe and Bryan Schappel, was¢ published in ANALOG magazine, issue¢ 63, August 1988.¢ ¢ PURPOSE OF CREDIT.BC:¢ ¢ Used to summarize all your credit¢ card information in one document. It¢ provides useful information about¢ current balances and phone numbers¢ to report lost or stolen cards. When¢ a statement is received, you can¢ compare it to the data printed from¢ this template. After entering any¢ current interest charges a new¢ balance is computed. Recent charges¢ not yet billed will also appear in¢ this summary. When you decide the¢ amount to pay, you enter it in the¢ "Paid" column and it computes the¢ remaining balance for you. You may¢ find other useful features.¢ ¢ DESCRIPTION:¢ ¢ A full printout of this template¢ requires the printer to be in¢ condensed pitch. I have included the¢ printer codes for Epson compatibles¢ in cell AA01. You can change them¢ for other type printers.¢ ¢ AB02 displays filename. AB03 has¢ the last date of entry, which you¢ should update each time you add¢ information and save to disk. The¢ remainder of column AA and AB¢ contains credit card name and¢ number. Below the main plate this¢ information is repeated for¢ information only and includes¢ expiration date and phone numbers to¢ report lost or stolen cards.¢ ¢ Column AC of the main template¢ lists the current balances of all¢ your cards. It is the SUM of all¢ cells from AD through AM, Previous¢ Balance to item #8.¢ ¢ AD shows previous balances of¢ cards where you did not pay the full¢ amount due. AE is to enter interest¢ or fees due, entered after you¢ receive your credit card statement.¢ It will update your current¢ balance.¢ ¢ AF-AM are individual entries for¢ charges made thoughout the month.¢ AF-AI are formatted for charges¢ under $100.00, AJ-AL accept up to¢ 999.99 and AM is for big items under¢ $10,000.00. Larger cells will accept¢ any entries under the maximum limit,¢ even one cent.¢ ¢ AN is where you enter amount paid¢ each month. After recalc, it is¢ subtracted from AC, Current Balance¢ and remainder is displayed in AO,¢ New Balance.¢ ¢ AC13 shows total of all card¢ balances and it is repeated in AB13¢ so it is displayed on 40 column¢ screen with cursor in column AA.¢ ¢ CUSTOMIZING TEMPLATE:¢ ¢ Edit column AA to show names of¢ all your credit cards instead of the¢ sample ones. Enter numbers in column¢ AB. Do this in both blocks 05-10 and¢ 17-22, which are duplicates. You can¢ use CTRL-C, the copy command, to¢ copy a block from AA05-AB10 to AA17,¢ if you prefer. Finish with the¢ expiration dates and phone numbers¢ in the lower section. Save to disk¢ with SELECT and type D:FILENAME. DO¢ NOT SAVE OVER ORIGINAL CREDIT.BC¢ TEMPLATE. That is your backup copy.¢¢¢¢ USING BANKS.BC:¢ ¢ Column AC, Current Balance, is a¢ formula. Do not enter numbers in¢ this column. Enter zeros in those¢ cells from AD to AM that have sample¢ entries.¢ ¢ Using your unpaid credit card¢ receipts, enter the amount of each¢ one in the appropriate row of¢ columns AF through AM. Amounts over¢ $99 should be entered in AJ-AM.¢ ¢ Use CTRL-A twice to recalculate¢ all cells. That should reflect¢ current balances except for any¢ unpaid balances from previous¢ statements. If you have these¢ amounts, enter them in column AD and¢ recalc twice.¢ ¢ Save your credit card receipts and¢ update your template periodically¢ with new charges. When receiving¢ your next statement, it is time to¢ make use of CREDIT.BC for real.¢ ¢ RECORDING PAYMENTS IN CREDIT.BC:¢ ¢ First enter any interest or fees¢ in column AE (Int). If you have both¢ interest and fees, use AE for¢ interest and any other empty cell¢ from AF-AM for the fees. It doesn't¢ matter since they are all added¢ together to make up the Current¢ Balance. Recalculate twice and¢ compare Current Balance with balance¢ on statement. Now the balance in¢ your spreadsheet should equal the¢ balance on your statement, except¢ for outstanding recent charges that¢ have not yet been billed to you.¢ Your spreadsheet shows your actual¢ debt, in this case. The charges will¢ show up next month.¢ ¢ Enter amount of payment in column¢ AN (Amount Paid) and recalculate¢ twice. Column AO reflects your new¢ balance, after payment. Since AO¢ includes the remainder of Current¢ Balance, it therefore includes all¢ items from AD through AM.¢ ¢ Cursor to column AD and enter the¢ amount from AO, in Previous Balance.¢ Then cursor right to enter zeros in¢ AE (Int) and all items from AF-AM,¢ since they are already included in¢ the New Balance. Finally, enter a¢ zero in AN, Amount Paid. Recalc¢ twice to see updated Current¢ Balance. It should include the¢ unpaid amount after a partial¢ payment plus any recent un-billed¢ credit card charges. Edit the date¢ in AB03. Save changes to your¢ working disk.¢ ¢ PRINTING YOUR CREDIT CARD DATA:¢ ¢ Remember to edit the printer codes¢ in cell AA01 for condensed pitch if¢ your printer does not use Epson¢ codes.¢ ¢ CTRL-H homes cursor to AA01.¢ CTRL-P for print command. Return to¢ enter upper-left cell of block.¢ Cursor to lower-right cell of block¢ and press Return to print.¢ ¢ If you want the entire template,¢ including the information and phone¢ numbers in the lower section, use¢ cell AO22 for the lower-right block.¢ If you just want the recent update,¢ use cell AO12 as lower-right.¢ ¢ I hope you may find this BCALC¢ template useful. Try it out.¢ ¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢
