(Distributed on the cover CD of Computer Shopper magazine, issue 108, coverdate 1997 February.)
Welcome to the Prophet3 Demonstration Disc.
The only part of the full program which has been excluded is the save option.
The full version consists of the master disc (which includes various example files), a ringbound illustrated 240+ page manual which is enclosed in a presentation binder and slip case. The manual includes a full reference, tutorial, a hints & tips section and an extensive index. It is obviously impossible to include the complete text with this version due to disc space, but an overview, brief tutorial and summary follows.
Accounting: an overview
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The word 'Account' is a very liberal word when applied to a business. It can refer to a book in which you write your income and expenditure, a monetary account (such as a bank, cash, or building society account), a list of transactions pertaining to a particular person (such as a supplier or customer account), or a list of transactions pertaining to an object or objects such as a capital account (which records the buying and selling of major items eg. a motor vehicle) or an expense account (which refers to items associated with the general running or overhead costs of your business eg. postage).
An 'Account' therefore can consist of many individual accounts of the types mentioned above. This is why a record of the income and expenditure of a business is often referred to as a 'set of accounts' or a 'set of books'.
There are only two main reasons for keeping a set of accounts. The first is to help you analyse your business so you can maintain or increase profitability, keep track of your money and produce reports such as VAT returns. The second is for use by an accountant or the Inland Revenue who will then be able to calculate your tax liability (if you don't keep a set of books for your business, your tax bill will be estimated and you may end up paying more tax than you need to).
These 'accounts' of your business can be written manually into a book or ledger, or alternatively entered into a computer program such as Prophet3.
The advantages of using a computer to keep your accounts are many, but the main advantage has to be the computer's ability to total your transactions automatically. Incorrect addition of entries is one of the most common faults found in a set of manually written accounts. Prophet3 is the result of many years' experience of both accounting and computers and the aim has always been to make both user-friendly -- especially to non-accountants.
To this end Prophet3 is somewhat different to the 'average' accounts program which is usually a traditional 'double-entry' system where an account has to be set up for each type of transaction and every credit has a corresponding debit and vice-versa, 'Audit Trails', 'Trial Balances', 'Contra' and 'Journal' entries are the norm as is the ruling off or closing down of your accounts on a regular basis which makes it impossible to correct even the simplest of mistakes. If you are confused by any of the jargon used in this paragraph or are simply fed up with double-entry accounting systems in general then Prophet3 will come as a breath of fresh air:
Rather than opening an 'account' for each aspect of your business, Prophet3 uses analysis headings which show you at a glance exactly how your business is doing. Your transactions are entered one after another into fully editable scrolling windows. There are three such entry windows (or ledgers) named the Sales (and income) Ledger (1), the Purchase (and expenditure) Ledger (2) and the Bank Ledger (3).
(1) ALL YOUR INCOME (and credit sales), whether they are from selling a product or service, receiving money in the form of a loan or interest, or selling a capital item (such as a motor vehicle) are recorded in the Sales/Income Ledger.
(2) ALL YOUR EXPENDITURE (and unpaid bills), whether they are for paying for goods or services, paying off a loan, buying capital items or drawing money for your wages are entered in the Purchase/Payment Ledger.
(3) The Bank Ledger is used to record all transfers of money. This includes your bank receipts (what you pay into the bank) and paying off credit card accounts as well as transfers of money from your bank to a petty cash or deposit account.
You can view, edit and produce reports on any aspect of your business whenever you want and for any period. If you want a sales report you only need open the sales ledger and click on the 'Report' option -- you do not need to go through dozens of different sales accounts. The same applies to the purchase/expenditure side of your business. By utilising Prophet3's user-definable 'analysis headings' you will also be able to see an instant up to date summary of your business at the click of an icon.
To see how all this comes together a slightly more in depth view of Prophet3 and accounting is necessary.
The idea of analysis headings is very simple. On the Income or sales side, typical headings would be 'Work Done' and 'Others'. 'Work Done' means what it says -- income resulting from work you have done. 'Others' refers to money received from some other source such as a bank loan. The difference is that entries marked as 'Work Done' refer to taxable or earned income and 'Others' refers to non-taxable or unearned income. It is important to make the distinction when entering money earned or received in the sales ledger.
On the Expenditure or purchase side, it is just as, if not more important to break down your entries into certain categories or headings. (The tutorial in the full version gives you many examples.) The reason for breaking down your payments in this way is twofold. Firstly it will help you analyse the overheads or costs of your business and secondly it will help you compile your final or end-of-year accounts more easily.
The analysis headings given here are only examples, and you can use other names instead to suit your type of business. For instance the 'Others' heading used in the sales ledger could be changed to 'Bank Loan'. The point being that it is fairly obvious that this is money received which is not connected with WORK you have DONE.
As long as you make entries in the Sales Ledger for all money you have received or are owed, and entries in the Purchase Ledger for all money you have spent or owe you will be 'accounting' for your business.
You will know how much you have taken, how much you have spent and therefore whether or not you are making a profit. You can print your account summaries and even calculate your tax liability thus enabling you to present your accounts direct to the Inland Revenue.
As already mentioned Prophet3 has many features which will not only help you compile your accounts but also make your business easier to run. After a short while, using Prophet3 should become second nature, and we hope, even enjoyable.
BRIEF TUTORIAL : ACCOUNTS Income/Sales
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All your income is entered into the Sales Ledger. It can be entered via the Retail Sales option (not covered here), the Invoicing option, directly into the sales ledger or any combination of the three.
Before entering any data you should set up the Sales analysis headings with suitable descriptions. The most common headings are 'Work Done' and 'Others' or something similar. Basically any income you receive from selling something or carrying out a service should use the 'Work Done' heading and any other income such as a loan or interest from a deposit account should use the 'Others' heading. The reason for using two or more income headings is to differentiate between income which is taxable and income which is not. The income analysis headings can be found by clicking on the 'Sales Headings' option under 'Sales/Income' in the main menu.
There are 96 headings in all and assuming you have opened the window, you will be looking at main heading 'A' which includes 8 sub-headings marked from 'a' to 'h'. The heading 'Work Done' can be typed into the 'a' sub-heading and 'Others' into the 'b' sub-heading.
Returning to the Sales Ledger again, each entry should also have an account associated with it. The account should be called 'Cash in Hand'. This account serves two purposes. Firstly it is used in the Profit & Loss figures at year end, and secondly it will tell you how much money you should have 'floating' around which is either ready to be banked or used for another purpose. If you always bank all you receive you will find this account very useful.
To set up a 'Cash in Hand' account, select the 'Bank Accounts' option under 'Bank/Summaries' in the main menu, and name account 'L' as 'Cash in Hand'. Whilst in this section, name any other monetary accounts you may have as well (such as Bank, Building Society, Petty Cash or Credit Card Accounts). There are 12 available.
Any PAID entries you make in the sales ledger will then show up as a total in the 'Cash in Hand' account. The sales analysis headings will also show the total as well, but this time split up under different headings.
Therefore the 'Bank Accounts' window shows your current financial position, and the 'Sales Headings' window shows where this money came from.
If you open the Sales Ledger (under 'Sales/Income' in the main menu), you can enter a transaction and if you leave the headings and bank accounts windows open you will also see the immediate effect the entry has on your balances.
To make a sales entry, type in the date (using a full stop to differentiate between day, month and year eg. 21.11.1996). Pressing the RETURN key without entering a date will insert the current date, or copy the previous entry's date if there is one. Prophet3 has many automatic features like this within it to speed up entries. Prophet3 is date-intelligent and will automatically correct any wrong dates such as the 31st April to, in this case, the 30th. Semi-completed dates will be corrected using the current or previous entry's date as a template, so to enter transactions on different days of the same month only the day need be typed in (don't forget to press the RETURN key afterwards).
All entries, incidentally, can be entered in any order you like.
The next field, the tax point, will be entered for you. It is used in the VAT return, and having a separate tax point allows you to alter the main date without fear of the entry being included on more than one return. This has specific use for credit (ie. unpaid) entries, where, on being paid, the entry's original date will be updated to the paid date. If you use the 'Cash Accounting' scheme, there is an option in another part of the program to use the main date instead. If you are not VAT-registered then you can largely ignore the tax point.
There are 3 ways of entering a customer in the next field. If you do not want to use the customers database then simply enter the customer's name direct into the sales ledger.
If you do want to make use of the database (select 'Customers' under 'Sales/Income' from the main menu and type in your customers' details) then an abbreviation of the name can be used. In fact the search is called an in-string search, which means it will try to find any match (typing in 'smith' will find and insert customers from the database called 'John Smith' or 'Smithsonian Institute' or 'Blacksmith & Co' etc). The more of the name you type in the more likely you are to find the customer first time. Alternatively, click the menu mouse button in the field and select the customer directly from the menu which appears.
The customer-name field can be used as a description instead (eg. 'Takings') -- it all depends on your type of business.
Type in the account in the next field ('L' for 'Cash in Hand' if you are following our guidelines) and then a reference (this could be an invoice number for instance). Clicking the menu button in the account field will show a menu reminding you of the codes and clicking SELECT on one of them will place it in the field. Make sure the mouse pointer is in the correct entry before clicking the menu button.
The total is next. This is the total including VAT. If you don't know what the VAT amount is, Prophet3 can calculate it for you. Enter the total followed by the VAT code and press the RETURN key -- eg. '117.5A' you will see the total being formatted to 117.50, followed by the VAT code A being inserted into the next column, the VAT amount will also be inserted in the following column and the caret will move directly to the 'Paid' field.
If you do know the VAT amount then this can be entered directly into the 'Cd' and 'VAT' fields. If you're not VAT-registered then the fields can be ignored.
If the entry is paid, there is no need to type the amount in again, simply type in 'P' into the 'Paid' field and press RETURN. If it is unpaid, leave it blank. This is known as the entry's status. It can be in one of 3 main states: Reconciled, Paid or Unpaid. The entry's status appears in full in the last field to remind you. There are two further statuses which are 'part-paid' and 'over-paid'.
Reconciled simply means that you have double-checked the entry, usually against a statement of some kind, ie. it is not only Paid but has been confirmed as going through the account since it appears on a bank statement. A typical example would be income paid by direct debit to your bank account.
Prophet3 has very comprehensive reconciling facilities and to make the best use of them, all entries which WILL NEVER appear on a statement supplied by a third party (ie. 'Cash in Hand' entries) should be marked as 'Reconciled' immediately on entry assuming it is paid. In fact ALL PAID SALES entries which are going to the Cash in Hand account can be reconciled immediately on entry (since you won't be receiving a statement to check them against). To reconcile an entry, type in an 'R' in the PAID field instead of the 'P' and press RETURN.
Many people do not bother checking (or 'Reconciling') their bank statements with their accounts until the year end, which can cause major headaches and many hours of wasted time. By doing it regularly with Prophet3 you will find your end-of-year finalising is greatly speeded up. The rule is: whenever you receive a statement, check it immediately with the books. Tick the items on the statement that match with the books and mark the entries in the books with an 'R' status. If the account balance (select 'Bank Accounts' under 'Bank/Summaries' in the main menu) does not agree with the statement then produce a report from the account searching for all 'Paid' (ie. un-reconciled) entries and the mistake(s) will be obvious and can then be rectified. Leave the bank accounts window open while reconciling and you will see the statement balance changing as you alter the status of each entry.
There is an option available in the Accounts window for reconciling an account called 'Reconcile'. This will automatically open each ledger in turn ready for the next entry to be checked, you can then either 'Reconcile' it or 'Ignore' it.
The next field in the sales ledger is the heading. If this is earned income then use the 'Work Done' heading you previously set up by typing in the analysis code ('AA'). If it is unearned income (eg. a loan) then use the 'Others' heading ('AB'). Again, click the menu button in this field to select from the menu which appears if you can't remember what the codes are.
Finally enter a comment if you wish to clarify the entry further.
Now open the sales ledger report window (click on 'Reports' in the top section of the ledger). Ignore all of the options for now except for the 'Screen' option which you can click on. This is the simplest way of seeing a report on screen. You will almost certainly need to adjust the window size as Prophet3 makes use of the !Edit application, built into RiscOS, to display reports and has no control over the initial size of the window which appears. Another way of seeing the report is to export it into your favourite word processor or DTP application where you can add or delete or alter its format. To do this, run your word processor, then drag the 'Text' icon from Prophet3's report window into your word processor. Clicking on the 'Tabbed' icon will help as you can then adjust the column widths to suit. Another way is export the report into a spreadsheet by dragging 'CSV' icon instead.
You can also print the report direct from Prophet3 with options to print it sideways and in your choice of font.
Another option in the sales ledger is 'Find'. This can be used to locate and go directly to specific entries.
The sales ledger can opened to any size and the column widths can be adjusted by holding down the mouse Select button and dragging left or right. You can also sort the ledgers on any column (just double-click on the desired column).
The different colours displayed in the ledger can be altered to suit yourself by clicking Menu on the relevant colour button at the top right of the ledger's button bar.
If you are looking at an earlier entry and want to insert a new one, the 'Insert' key will take you directly to the next free entry.
Your entries can be inserted in any date order, and anywhere within the ledgers. They will be sorted automatically when the window is closed (as well as immediately if you double-click on whichever column you need to sort on).
Other facilities included in the ledgers are the ability to automatically insert and increment cheque and invoice numbers in the reference field simply by pressing RETURN if the field is blank (it will copy and increment any number which appears in the first previous entry which uses the same account -- even if the number is within a reference which contains text).
There is also a facility to automatically increment voucher numbers using the comments field. 'Voucher Numbers' can be used to tie up invoices and receipts with your entries.
The account and heading fields also have a similar (but non-incrementing!) feature. This makes it very easy to enter a number of related items (ie. entering cheques from the same account in the purchase ledger -- simply press RETURN in a blank 'account' field and the previous account will be copied for you).
You can also go directly to any related windows or documents by clicking Adjust in any field. For instance, click on the heading column and the analaysis headings window will open at the correct place. The same applies to a reference number where it relates to an invoice created by Prophet3(in this case the original invoice will be displayed ready for re-printing).
Entries can be also be locked against accidental deletion or editing. These facilities are available in the Preferences window (Ctrl+Shift+F11) -- or click on the button third from the right at the top of the main menu window.
Looking at the sales headings analysis window will give you an immediate view of your current state of affairs regarding the money received and the amount owing to you. Looking at specific customers in the database will also show the aged debt of that particular customer (and how much they have spent in total). A summary of all monies owing by age and customer can also be generated from the customer database.
The NET figures in the analysis headings represent this years figures. The 'Opening' fields are for the previous year's unpaid figures.
There is another column to the right of the NET column. This is used to give the headings a 'Type'. This information is used by Prophet3 to produce a profit & loss and balance sheet automatically. Click the mouse on the 'Type' field of the analysis headings you have entered until it shows 'Sales/Work'. Or click the mouse menu button and select from the menu.
Payments and purchases are entered in the 'Purchase Ledger' (select 'Purchase Ledger' under 'Purchase/Expenses' from the main menu). All monies spent whether to buy stock, pay for services or pay wages and personal drawings are entered in the purchase ledger.
It is almost identical to the sales ledger and has the same features and a similar set of analysis headings (select 'Purchase Headings' under 'Purchase/Expenses' from the main menu).
Your payments can be broken down (in the same manner as the sales ledger) by filling in the analysis headings. Typical headings are 'Stock', 'Expenses', 'Capital' (such as 'Fixtures & Fittings' and 'Motor Vehicles'), 'Wages' and 'Drawings'. Use the main headings to group related subheadings. So your 'Expenses' main heading can consist of subheadings entitled 'Postage', 'Stationery', 'Electric/Gas', 'Rent/Mortgage', 'Insurance' and so on. You have 8 subheadings per main heading, so use two or more main headings with the same name if you need more subheadings.
Under which headings you put your payments has a direct affect on your final accounts, so do not mix purchases of stock with expense payments such as stamps. A word with a friendly accountant will be worthwhile if you're not sure about this, but using the suggested headings above will help (the full manual goes into far more detail on breaking down your payments into useful headings).
Looking at the purchase headings analysis window will show how much you have spent and how much you owe your creditors. Like the sales ledger, the suppliers database (select 'Suppliers' under 'Purchase/Expenses' in the main menu) can be used for the purchase ledger and from there you will be able to further break down and produce a creditors listing by amount and age.
The purchase headings window also contains a 'Type' column (and a further column for splitting headings into private/business use and capital depreciation which is beyond the scope of this tutorial). If you enter a heading such as 'Electricity', then being an 'expense' item give it an 'Expense' type. If you give all your headings 'Types' like this then Prophet3 will be able to produce your final account summaries for you automatically.
The last ledger is the bank ledger (click on 'Bank Ledger' under 'Bank/Summaries' from the main menu). This is used for all transfers of money between one account and another. A typical transfer is a bank receipt entry. When you pay money INTO the bank you will be transferring money from your 'Cash in Hand' account to your bank account, so the entry will be FROM account 'L' going TO account 'A' (if you have named account 'A' as your bank account), and a look at the bank account window will confirm the transaction by debiting 'Cash in Hand' and crediting your bank account.
Other typical transfers include paying off a credit-card account and transferring money into a deposit or building-society account.
This ledger, although slightly different in layout to the other two, has similar features and find and report options. Lookalike individual bank statements can be produced which include bought and carried-forward figures (bought and carried-forward figures are included in the sales and purchase ledger reports too). The bank-ledger report window also has the facility to report on all 3 ledgers within the same report so cash flows can be produced.
If you were to make use of the comments field within any entries that pertain to a particular project then an individual cash flow for that project could be produced by telling the report window to search on the comments field.
By looking at the sales and purchase analysis heading windows and the bank accounts window an exact appraisal of your current financial situation can be seen. Like most windows in Prophet3 the figures can also be printed, exported to another application or simply shown as a report on screen.
There is another window which resembles the sales & purchase ledgers. It is the standing-orders window (select 'Standing Orders' under 'Purchase/Expenses' from the main menu).
Standing orders or direct-debit templates are set up here. They can apply to income as well as payments and any period can be covered from once a day to once every 999 years.
Hopefully most of the fields are self-explanatory, but the main control field is headed 'NáPáF'. 'N' is the Number of insertions, 'P' is the Period -- D for days, M for months and Y for years, and 'F' is the Frequency. A monthly standing order lasting for 25 years would have this field set to 300M1 -- that is, 25 years at 12 payments a year=300, M for monthly and 1 for a frequency of once a month. A continuous weekly standing order would be '999 D 7'. An order which happens every 4 weeks for 12 insertions would be 12 D 28 (ie. once every 28 Days -- or 4 weeks).
The date field is the start date of the order. Standing orders can be made for income, payments and transfers between bank accounts. Because the standing orders are automatic (they are inserted every time you LOAD your file) you can use them for regular income or payments regardless of whether they are 'real' standing orders or direct debits. As soon as they have appeared in the ledgers you can edit the ledger entries as much as you like so it doesn't matter if the amount specified in the template is not correct or has changed (eg. a mortgage payment).
On the main menu to the right of the top field (where you can write something which pertains to this set of accounts such as 'Freelance Design Co. 1996-97') are five icons:
1. The 'Floppy disc' icon. Clicking on this opens up a typical RiscOS save window which you drag to a disc drive to tell Prophet3where to save your work (disabled in this demo version).
2. The 'Keyhole' or Lock icon. This lets you enter various passwords to stop prying eyes from editing your file. The main menu password in particular will stop unauthorised loading of the whole file.
3. The 'Options' icon. This opens a preference window where various aspects of the program can be configured. One option within this window is to set Prophet3 to save your work every xx minutes, it can also be set to save your work on quitting the program, and to be really safe a backup save can also be automatically implemented from here. This window also contains various entry limits so if you want to input or import a large amount of data such as 3000 customers in one go, you can tell Prophet3 to make sure enough memory is available before you run your file.
4. The 'Calculator' icon opens up what we call a line calculator. This lets you input a list of numbers such as cheques to be banked and adds them up for you. The difference between this and 'ordinary' calculators is that your actual sum is retained on view.
5. The 'Notes' icon. This opens a 'notes' file into which you can type notes and reminders to do with your work.
STOCK CONTROL
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Select the 'Stock' icon under the 'Purchase/Expenses' heading from the main menu. This opens the stock database window. Most of the fields should be self-explanatory. The window shows a single stock card, with all the relevant information relating to the product. This includes information on how well the product is selling -- see the 'Sold Current' and 'Sold Previous' fields. Obviously these will be blank until you start selling your products, but as time goes on they will give you up-to-date information on which items are doing well (and which are not!). Among the many options in the button bar of this window is one called 'Best' which compiles this information by quantity and profit across your entire range of products, giving invaluable information for future trends and growth.
Like the 'Sold' fields the 'Description' field also has an associated button-bar option -- 'Stock Index'. By including key words in related stock cards, the index can be used to compile instant lists of related products, and by clicking in the index the relevant stock card can be displayed showing full information. This is invaluable for comparing products and giving telephone quotes. The 'Location' field can be used to record the whereabouts of an item for instant retrieval (especially useful in a warehouse situation) and the re-order minimum and quantity levels will ensure you always have the stock available when used with the automatic re-ordering facilities within Prophet3.
Invoicing and purchase orders automatically relate directly to the stock database to keep it up to date.
INVOICE/PURCHASE ORDER DESIGN
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An important feature of Prophet3 is its use of the RiscOS printer drivers for printing. Purchase orders, Invoices, Statements, Credit and Delivery notes can be set up exactly as you want them. Each element can have a different font, font size, justification and position. Unwanted elements (such as VAT for non-registered users) can be turned off. Logos and other graphics can also be included in your design by dragging in a !Draw file.
Prophet3 can also print direct to your printer in text mode if necessary, so even though you wont have the control associated with using the RiscOS printer drivers, the speed will be very much quicker -- in fact as fast as your printer is capable of going.
The templates used for designing your invoices etc can be found logically by opening the associated database window (ie. customers for invoices and statements, suppliers for purchase orders). Therefore to have a look at and edit a purchase-order template, open the suppliers database and click on the 'Template' button.
When the window has opened click the menu button anywhere in a BLANK area of the window. This brings up a menu, giving you control over the general layout (ie. paper size, default font etc). There is also an option in the menu for saving your design to disc. This can not be used in other applications, but is there so that you can try out different designs without overwriting any existing ones.
Clicking menu WITHIN an element in the template brings up an individual dialogue window from where the font, font size, justification and position of that individual item can be set. Your details (ie. company name and address etc) will be inserted as soon as you have filled them in in the 'User Details' window selected from the main menu (under 'Sales/Income').
Each element can also be dragged around the window by pressing and holding down the 'Select' mouse button then dragging the mouse and releasing 'Select'. The other templates can be found via the customer database.
The templates need be set up only once as they are saved with your file. However, although you cannot save a file with this demo version, you can still save out your design and reload it again later to continue experimenting with it. Also should you eventually order the full version you will be able to import your design back in again, so if you are serious about purchasing Prophet3 then your design work with this demo won't be wasted.
To reload a design, drag it from disc back into any of Prophet3's windows. (Note: please close any open template windows first, although you will be warned if you forget.)
Purchase-order and invoice numbers are automatically incremented and can include text as well as numbers, so generally speaking, once set, they can be ignored (they can of course be edited should you so wish).
INVOICING and STATEMENTS
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Prophet3 has the most extensive invoicing facilities of any computer program yet produced. At first sight this can seem quite daunting, but after a little practice it becomes second nature.
Open the customers database from the main menu (under 'Sales/Income')
Before producing an invoice you will need to either select an existing customer or type a new one in. If you have already typed some customers in, then open the Find window (either press the usual function key, F4, or click on 'Find' in the button bar).
To select a customer click menu in the Find window or type in the whole or part of the name and press RETURN. Remember, because of the in-string search routines used in Prophet3, typing in a single letter will find any customers name which contains it, therefore it is best to type in more than one character or use the menu. Assuming you have found a customer, click on the Invoice icon. This opens up a current invoice to this customer ready to go.
Both discounts and commission or royalty payments can be included on individual items within the same invoice, VAT rates can be mixed (and the resulting sales-ledger entries cope with it automatically), early settlement discounting and surcharging are provided for (with the option to exclude individual items -- particularly useful for excluding carriage charges from discounts). An overall discount can also be used by specifying the discount in the customer's record in the database.
You have the option to have the VAT calculated on the discounted value (as in the UK) or the full value and this option can be toggled off at any time (so any change in the UK rules can be reflected in the program without the need for an upgrade -- this naturally also applies to the VAT rates and VAT return -- currently set for the 1996 UK return -- Prophet3 can also produce EC sales lists if you export to the EC).
Items within an invoice can be selected directly from the stock database by record or stock number (with the sold figures updated there and then) or typed in without any relation to the stock database. The latter lets you issue invoices for services which can consist of lengthy multiple-line descriptions followed by a price. Both can be freely mixed in the same invoice and the invoice itself can be tailored to include only the elements you want printed and at the positions you want them printed -- from a full record to simply a description starting on the left with a price on the right (perfect for service or non-VAT businesses).
Prices selected from the stock database can be at 'Cost' 'List', 'Retail Exclusive' or 'Retail Inclusive' by clicking on the relevant icon. The three options can also be mixed within the same invoice. Alternatively, the price of an item can be typed in separately or altered. The 'Retail Inclusive' option can be very useful to service businesses such as hotels who generally quote VAT-inclusive prices. Because of VAT rounding, selecting 'Retail Inclusive' will force a final total to be inserted despite 'how many' of a certain item you are invoicing -- eg. 5 nights at ú20 inclusive (ú17.02 x 5 + VAT) will result in a total of ú99.99 because of VAT rounding, but using the inclusive price will give the correct result of ú100 (the extra penny is always allocated to the VAT amount to satisfy Customs & Excise).
Invoices can be printed individually or en-masse, and ALL your invoices are automatically saved COMPLETE for later reprinting, editing or viewing. Invoices can also be put on hold until a later date giving you the flexibility of entering an invoice but not printing it when doing an invoice run until the goods are ready for shipping.
Credit notes can be produced (with the values entered as positive figures -- unlike many programs which require a negative value invoice to be issued) and they can be included in a general invoice run as well if necessary. If you need to issue a credit note which relates directly to a previously issued invoice, the old invoice can be converted into a credit note by clicking on the INVOICE icon at the bottom right of the invoice window. Old invoices can be recalled for editing or reprinting by clicking the mouse button in the 'View' field. The list produced applies to the current customer.
The invoicing section can also be used for issuing Quotes & Estimates or general worksheets -- both of which can be converted into a real invoice whenever you want. The beauty of this is that you can send a quote, convert it to an invoice and even change it into a credit note having only ever entered the original details once, and since like everything else in Prophet3 it is always editable any mistakes can be rectified and the whole thing re-issued with very little fuss.
Statements can be produced individually or en-masse and they are compiled directly from the sales ledger, with control over your credit terms and automatic inclusion of user-definable overdue messages relating to the age of the debt. To update an unpaid invoice is simply a case of altering the entry in the ledger (there is no need to alter the original invoice). Clicking on the 'Account' icon in the customer's record in the database is another way of updating unpaid items and will also show you the customer's account details including how much they have spent and how much they owe.
Full debtor and creditor listings can be obtained either via the sales/purchase ledger report windows or via the customers/suppliers 'List' option in the databases. The latter produces aged debt/credit by customer/supplier.
In summary, and hopefully to clarify this very condensed and brief view of Prophet3's invoicing features, you can open an invoice any time you want to for any customer, add or edit it and then close it again without having to actually finish or print it. In short you can have as many active invoices as customers, print them individually when required or print the lot in one go. However it doesn't just stop there. At any time in the future you can recall not only 'current' invoices, but also 'old' invoices and not only reprint them again, but also edit and if necessary convert them into new invoices (this is a very useful feature for repeat invoices).
Another feature which we will not go into in this demo is Prophet3's ability to compile automatic invoice runs where a number of customers have all ordered the same item or items.
VAT RETURN
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This is extremely comprehensive. It is also programmable so changes to the rules can be implemented easily. As stated earlier Prophet3 comes ready set up for the latest UK VAT return including the two new EC boxes. All you may need to adjust are the start month and period to suit your own VAT return. Selecting 'VAT' under 'Bank/Summaries' in the main menu opens the window, and clicking on the 'Control' icon in the windows button bar opens up the control window where you can enter your VAT period, start date and 'Tax basis' (which is selectable for ordinary returns or if you are on the Cash Accounting scheme). You can view any particular period by selecting it in the VAT Return window and clicking on the 'Total' icon.
The actual return itself can be configured for many of the UK retail schemes and the full version includes two of the most popular ones set up in demo files which you can start using straight away.
VAT codes can also be changed here by clicking on 'Codes' and a full report can be sent to the screen, printed or exported into another application via the 'Report' icon.
Prophet3 has been approved by Customs & Excise for VAT purposes.
FINAL ACCOUNTS
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This is a little too involved to go into in any detail here, but assuming you have given your sales and purchase headings 'Types' (as described earlier) then you can now get Prophet3 to compile a trading and profit-and-loss account and balance sheet. Open the 'P&L/Bal Sheet' option in the main menu (under 'Bank/Summaries') and click on the 'Compile' option. There are 8 summary pages available and apart from the auto-compile option you can also edit them yourself. Prophet3 can also compile tax calculations and forecast any aspect of your file including simple things like what the expected profit will be for the whole year based on past performance. As all these options are entirely configurable you have complete control over the way Prophet3 will produce them.
One last point worth mentioning is the last main-menu option 'New File'. This option is used to create a new file for the following year and automatically carries forward account balances and everything else necessary for you to continue using Prophet3 year after year with the minimum of fuss. If you go past your year-end then this window can also be used to split the file in two (one for last year and one for next year).
To quit Prophet3, click the menu mouse button over Prophet3's icon on the icon bar and click on the quit option which appears in the menu.
In the full version you will be warned if you have added or altered any entries without saving the file before quitting. (Note that you can set Prophet3 to auto-save your work every x minutes and also save both it and a backup on exit -- open the Save window -- key shortcut is F3, as usual in RiscOS).
GENERAL NOTES
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All database and ledger data can be both exported and imported.
Prophet3 is unusual in that there is no need to set up an accounting period. ALL your entries are kept and all reports can be compiled at any time relating to any period. ALL input can be edited at all times, so you can correct a spelling mistake, or change an account or heading without the need for an extra correcting or journal entry. This is of major benefit, and few accounting programs allow this -- or, more to the point, can even handle this.
In view of this flexibility, Prophet3 also contains an 'undo' and 'redo' buffer. In short, if you accidentally delete something, simply press the usual function key F8 and it will be re-inserted. Pressing F8 repeatedly will step back through your work, and pressing F9 will restore it again. As mentioned earlier you can also lock entries before a tax point as well as locking all reconciled entries (via the Preference window).
Most of Prophet3 can also be password-protected, including locking the whole file.
If you are not a limited company (ie. you are a sole trader or partnership) Prophet3's final accounts section will enable you to draw up your accounts ready to be submitted directly to the Inland Revenue, cutting out the expense of using an accountant -- obviously this does depend a little on how complicated your tax affairs are, but if you have not dealt directly with the Inland Revenue before, Prophet3's manual goes a long way into explaining the procedures and reports you will need and how to compile them.
Many independent book-keeping services (and accountants) use Prophet3 as it has two main advantages over all other available accounting software for the Acorn range (and indeed most on other computing platforms): firstly, because your entries are editable at all times you can enter a complete year's-worth in any order and then edit any mistakes you subsequently find, and secondly you can run as many sets of accounts as you wish.
On the disc you will find a file called 'DemoFile'. Double-click on it as it contains a few entries and headings filled in to help you see how your data should be entered.
Of interest in the file is the P&L/Balance sheet summaries. These were automatically compiled by Prophet3 -- you don't need to know what all the codes mean, suffice to say that the full manual explains them in great detail in case you want to program or edit the summaries manually.
The summaries 'A' to 'G' have been used. Summaries 'D' to 'F' were programmed manually to produce tax figures for a partnership, and summary 'G' contains forecasting data.
Another area to look at is the invoice template. Open the customers database and click on the 'InvTemp' option in its button bar. The background to the template is an imported file from the !Draw application which is included in all Acorn machines. The drawfile can be exported direct to !Draw, edited then imported back in again by clicking Menu in a blank area of the window.
Hopefully you can see from this that you can include your own logos and invoice layout if you wish. You can also have as many template designs as you like.
We hope you enjoy this demo version of Prophet3. If you wish to get in contact, please telephone or fax us on: (01354) 68 0432 or write to:
Apricote Studios
2 Purls Bridge Farm
Manea, Cambs
PE15 0ND
PS -- If you are not an accountant you will be pleased to know that 'accounting lingo' in the manual has been kept to the minimum, and any such words that are used are explained IN ENGLISH.
A FEW KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:
Ctrl + A Select Calculator
Ctrl + C Copy previous record/entry (if current blank)
Ctrl + D Deletes current entry in a ledger
Ctrl + F Opens search/find windows
Ctrl + Q Swap adjacent characters
Ctrl + S Swap case of character at cursor
Ctrl + U Delete field contents
Ctrl + V Copies field above (all ledgers)
Home Go to first record databases/ledgers/find first match in any FIND window
Print Activate printer in any print page
Insert New sale in retail sales window
" New record in database
" New entry in ledgers
" New customer when invoicing
Delete Delete character to left of cursor
Copy Delete character to right of cursor (as usual in RiscOS)
Page Up Move back a record (databases), back a page (ledgers)
Page Down Move to next record (databases), next page (ledgers)
Ctrl+Page Up Any FIND window: previous match
Ctrl+Page Down Any FIND window:next match
Cursor left Move caret left one character
Cursor right Move caret right one character
Cursor up Move to field above
Cursor down Move to field below
Shift + left Move to field left
Shift + right Move to field right
Shift + Copy Copy single field from xxx to current record
Ctrl+Shift+Copy Copy complete record from xxx to current
Tab Move to next field
Shift+Tab Move to previous field
#+number Select supplier/customer by its record number (rather than name)
Escape Close current window/Abort printer or report operation
If you want to print this file, assuming you are viewing it in !Edit, simply press the Print key on the keyboard (make sure you have a suitable printer driver on the icon bar and also make sure your printer is turned on).
LIMITS AND SPEC OF PROPHET3
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Prophet3 is compliant with all versions of RiscOS from 3.10 onwards including the RiscPC. It is also StrongARM-compliant: if you have a RiscPC a StrongARM upgrade is highly recommended (most of the program runs at least 6 times faster than on an ordinary RiscPC -- and at least 30 times quicker than on ARM2 machines).
Although Prophet3 will run on a 2Mb machine, 4Mb is recommended as a minimum.
Prophet3's limits depend on available memory, so memory permitting you can have 10,000 customers, suppliers and stock items and 50,000 ledger entries -- though we wouldn't recommend using Prophet3 if you think you will reach these limits in a single financial year.
Prophet3 can handle a maximum turnover of plus or minus ú21,000,000.
There are 96 analysis headings available on each side of the accounts.
Up to 12 monetary accounts can be handled in a single file.
If you are unsure whether Prophet3 will meet your requirements we will be happy to discuss them with you. We pride ourselves on giving unbiased independent advice. To the best of our knowledge we do not have a single unhappy customer!
AWARDS
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Best Business Software runner-up 1994 (Acorn User)
