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******** CheckMate Plus (tm) ******** Introductory User's Guide First Edition -- January 1991 Copyright 1991 by Custom Technologies All Rights Reserved ------------------------------------------------------------------- Custom Technologies is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals ------------------------------------------------------------------- Warranty and License Agreement CheckMate Plus (tm) is a trademark of Custom Technologies. Warranty CheckMate Plus is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. CUSTOM TECHNOLOGIES SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES. IN NO EVENT SHALL CUSTOM TECHNOLOGIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. License The CheckMate Plus software is the property of Custom Technologies. You are granted a license to use this software for a limited time for the specific purpose of evaluation before purchase. If you use CheckMate Plus on a continuous basis, please register your copy to obtain a permanent license. You are free to make as many copies as you wish and may distribute CheckMate Plus freely (in its original form, including disk-based documentation). Recipients of copies you make are granted a limited license to use CheckMate Plus on a trial and evaluation basis. If the recipient wishes to use CheckMate Plus on a continuous basis, he should register his copy. You may not sell or ask any consideration for this product. SIGs and BBSs may ask a nominal fee to cover their copying and distribution costs. OEMs wishing to bundle CheckMate Plus with other products should contact Custom Technologies for details. This User's Guide, however, may NOT be reproduced in any form or for any reason without the expressed written consent of Custom Technologies. Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 3 1.1 About Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2 About this Introductory User's Guide . . . . . . . 4 1.3 About CheckMate Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.3.1 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.4 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.5 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.5.1 If you got CheckMate Plus from a Disk Vendor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.5.2 If you got CheckMate Plus from a BBS . . . . 8 1.6 Upgrading from CheckMate and CheckMate-GL . . . . 8 1.7 Running CheckMate Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1.8 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 2 Things You Need to Know 11 2.1 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.2 The "Bottom Line" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.3 The "Top Line" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.4 Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.5 The Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.6 Special Keys and Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.7 Data Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.8 Date Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2.9 Using a Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2.10 The Built-In Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2.11 The "Search and Filter" Window . . . . . . . . 17 2.11.1 Saving Filter Definitions . . . . . . . . 19 2.11.2 Retrieving Filter Definitions . . . . . . 20 2.11.3 Deleting Filter Definitions . . . . . . . 20 Chapter 3 Accounts 21 3.1 Types of Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.1.1 Checking Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3.1.2 Other Detail Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3.1.3 Summary Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.2 Entering Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.3 Editing Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 3.4 Selecting Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 i 3.5 Account Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Chapter 4 Transactions 27 4.1 Types of Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.1.1 Transactions for Checking Accounts . . . . 27 4.1.2 Transactions for Other Accounts . . . . . . 28 4.2 Entering Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.2.1 Primary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4.2.2 Splitting the Transaction . . . . . . . . . 30 4.2.3 Check Stubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 4.2.4 Attaching Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 4.2.5 Saving the Transaction . . . . . . . . . . 32 4.2.6 Picking from the Menu . . . . . . . . . . . 32 4.2.7 Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 4.3 Editing Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 4.3.1 Moving Through the Data . . . . . . . . . . 34 4.3.2 Primary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 4.3.3 Splitting the Transaction . . . . . . . . . 36 4.3.4 Check Stubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 4.3.5 Attaching Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 4.3.6 Saving Your Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 4.3.7 Deleting the Transaction . . . . . . . . . 37 4.3.8 Picking from the Menu . . . . . . . . . . . 37 4.3.9 Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 4.4 Automatic Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4.4.1 On the Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4.4.2 Date Activated Transactions . . . . . . . . 41 4.4.3 Running Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 4.5 The Browse Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 4.6 Closing Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Chapter 5 Reports 49 5.1 The Transaction Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 5.2 General Ledger Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 5.2.1 The Ledger Activity Report . . . . . . . . 50 5.2.2 The Ledger Transaction Report . . . . . . . 51 5.2.3 The "Chart of Accounts" Report . . . . . . 52 5.3 Summary Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 5.3.1 The Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 5.3.2 The Income Statement . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Chapter 6 Report Printing Options 57 6.1 Report Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 6.1.1 Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 6.1.2 "Print To" Options . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 6.1.3 Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 6.1.4 Footer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 6.1.5 The "Utility" Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 ii 6.2 Report Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 6.2.1 Saving Report Parameters . . . . . . . . . 61 6.2.2 Retrieving Report Parameters . . . . . . . 62 6.2.3 Deleting Report Parameters from Disk . . . 62 6.3 "Search and Filter" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Chapter 7 Designing Custom Reports 63 7.1 Report Definition Format . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 7.1.1 Account Balances . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 7.1.2 Budget Information . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 7.1.3 Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 7.2 Tips on Designing Reports . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Chapter 8 Reconciling Checking Accounts 71 Chapter 9 Printing Checks 75 9.1 Printing Your Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 9.2 Selecting a Check Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 9.3 Designing Your Own Check Layout . . . . . . . . 77 9.4 The Check Layout Language . . . . . . . . . . . 78 9.4.1 Reserved Words and Variables . . . . . . . 78 9.4.2 Command Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 9.4.3 A Simple Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 9.4.4 Layout Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 9.4.5 Built-in Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 9.4.6 Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Chapter 10 Graphics 95 10.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 10.2 Graphic Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 10.3 "One Account" Graphics Reports . . . . . . . . 96 10.3.1 Account Activity Graphics Report . . . . . 96 10.3.2 Budget Analysis Graphics Report . . . . . 96 10.4 "Ledger" Graphics Reports . . . . . . . . . . . 96 10.4.1 Expenses vs Income Graphics Report . . . . 96 10.4.2 Expenses by Month Graphics Report . . . . 97 10.4.3 Income by Month Graphics Report . . . . . 97 10.4.4 Detailed Expense Graphics Report . . . . . 97 10.4.5 Detailed Income Graphics Report . . . . . 97 10.4.6 Debt to Equity Graphics Report . . . . . . 97 10.4.7 Debt to Assets Graphics Report . . . . . . 98 Chapter 11 Rebuilding and Repairing 99 11.1 Rebuilding the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 11.2 Rebuilding the Index File . . . . . . . . . . . 100 11.3 Rebuilding Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 iii Chapter 12 Financial Calculations 103 12.1 Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 12.2 Regular Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 12.3 Compounding a Fixed Sum . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Chapter 13 Setup and Options 105 13.1 Fiscal Year Information . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 13.2 Protecting Your "Audit Trail" . . . . . . . . . 106 13.3 The Screen Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 13.4 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 13.5 Special Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 13.6 Video Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 13.7 Password Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 13.8 File Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 13.9 General Setups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 13.10 Report Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 13.11 Report Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Appendix A An Accounting Primer 115 A.1 What is Accounting? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 A.1.1 What are ASSETS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 A.1.2 What are LIABILITIES? . . . . . . . . . . . 116 A.1.3 What is EQUITY? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 A.1.4 The Accounting Equation . . . . . . . . . . 116 A.1.5 What are REVENUE and EXPENSES? . . . . . . 117 A.2 How does it all work in real life? . . . . . . . 118 A.2.1 What are ACCOUNTS? . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 A.2.2 What are DEBITS and CREDITS? . . . . . . . 121 A.3 Accounting Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 A.3.1 The Trial Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 A.3.2 The Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 A.3.3 The Income Statement . . . . . . . . . . . 130 A.4 Where does it all end? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 A.5 Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Appendix B Ordering Checks 135 Appendix C How and Where to get Help 137 C.1 Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 C.2 Association of Shareware Professionals Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Index 139 iv Figures Figure 7.1: A "Test" Custom Balance Sheet . . . . . . . .65 Figure 7.2: A "Test" Custom Balance Sheet with Account Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Figure A.1: Chart of Accounts for XYZ Shoes, Inc. . . . 121 Figure A.2: Sample Transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Figure A.3: Sample Sales Transaction . . . . . . . . . . 123 Figure A.4: Sample COGS Calculation . . . . . . . . . . 124 Figure A.5: Trial Balance for XYZ Shoes, Inc . . . . . . 127 Figure A.6: Balance Sheet for XYZ Shoes, Inc. . . . . . 130 Figure A.7: Income Statement for XYZ Shoes, Inc. . . . . 131 v vi Tables Table 2.1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Table 2.2: Editing Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Table 2.3: Editor Editing Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Table 2.4: Search and Filter Operators . . . . . . . . . .18 Table 3.1: Top Level Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Table 9.1: Check Layout Language Reserved Words . . . . .78 Table 9.2: Check Layout Language Built-in Variables . . .79 Table 13.1: Color Toggle Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Table 13.2: Video Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Table A.1: Assets of XYZ Shoes, Inc as of Mar 1, 1987 . 118 Table A.2: Liabilities of XYZ Shoes, Inc as of Mar 1, 1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Table A.3: Equity of XYZ Shoes, Inc as of Mar 1, 1987 . 119 vii Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 About Shareware CheckMate Plus, like many other fine "shareware" products, has been released by its authors to the public for evaluation. We allow and encourage free copying and distribution of the program (in its un- altered original form). We are committed to supporting and improving CheckMate Plus, as well as developing additional products. If you find CheckMate Plus useful, you should register your copy. The shareware concept is meant to provide a full working copy to the user for evaluation, and NOT to give away the author's hard work. If you choose not to register, then erase or pass your copy on to someone else. You can register by sending $60.00 (plus $5 shipping and handling). When you register, you will be placed on our mailing list and will receive a new set of disks and a complete, 208-page illustrated User's Guide. The User's Guide is 7"x9", glossy covered, typeset, offset press printed, and perfect bound. You will also receive the latest version of CheckMate Plus on disk, a special "utilities" disk (including a program convert CheckMate and/or CheckMate-GL data to CheckMate Plus format), some special offers, and one year of technical support (by phone, fax, mail, or CompuServe). We also offer low cost upgrades and discounts on future products to registered users. We accept checks, money orders, CODs, MasterCard, and VISA. Make checks payable to Custom Technologies. All payments must be in U.S. funds drawn on U.S. or Canadian banks. Colorado residents please add 3% sales tax. Send your registration and all other correspondence to: Custom Technologies PO Box 62118 Colorado Springs, CO 80962-2118 (719) 260-0402 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 3 You may also order our products (charge cards or COD) by calling TOLL FREE: 1-800-541-6234 (Orders Only) If you are outside the United States or Canada and can't call toll free, you may reach our order line at: (719) 260-0486 (Orders Only) You may also FAX your order to: (719) 260-0543 (9600 bps, Group 3) If you have want to make a quantity or dealer purchase, or if you need support, call: (719) 260-0402 Thank you for your support! *** NOTE: One problem with shareware is that we can't completely control distribution of older files. Consequently, our address and/or phone numbers are subject to change over time and the ones listed above may not be correct. Although not planned at the moment, we may relocate our business as we continue to grow. Our "800" order line should remain in effect wherever we set up business. If you attempt to reach one of our commercial lines and find them no longer in service, call our 800 line for current phone numbers. If you can't call toll-free, then write to us (we'll keep our PO box open and arrange forwarding of the mail). 1.2 About this Introductory User's Guide This Introductory User's Guide fully documents all the features of CheckMate Plus. Keep in mind, however, that CheckMate Plus is a VERY complex program with many, many features and a disk-based manual is only of limited use (since we can't include figures and samples). None the less, we've tried to make this guide as complete and easy to follow as possible. Registered copies of CheckMate Plus come with a 200+ page, 9"x7", perfect bound, professionally typeset manual complete with illustrations and index. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 4 1.3 About CheckMate Plus Thank you for evaluating CheckMate Plus... true "double-entry" accounting that's easy enough for home use and powerful enough for business! In 1986, Custom Technologies released CheckMate, an easy to use checkbook manager with a delightful user-interface. CheckMate redefined what a checkbook database should be. CheckMate Plus is a natural and powerful descendent of CheckMate. We've combined checkbook management, budgeting, accounting, and graphics into a highly polished and consistent interface. To start, CheckMate Plus helps you easily and accurately maintain your checking accounts (including simplifying regular monthly transactions and printing out your checks). You can "pre-define" checks that you write often, and even have CheckMate Plus "remind" you when they're due. Print the ones you want, or write them by hand. (You can freely mix the two methods). When your statement arrives, CheckMate Plus will even help you reconcile your account! You can split each check twelve ways. Attach notes. Even "customize" the check stub. Print reports at any time. CheckMate Plus has many standard reports (which you can customize or completely redesign!). Preview your reports on the screen, write them to disk, or send them to the printer. And CheckMate Plus has powerful "search and filter" functions to let you zero in on key data. Since CheckMate Plus is a real double-entry accounting system, you can generate balance sheets, income statements, and budgeting reports. And don't forget the high resolution color graphics. Whether you're tracking a family budget or launching a business, you'll have complete financial control effortlessly. The best feature? EASE OF USE. CheckMate Plus sports pull-down menus, pop-up windows, and context-sensitive help. 1.3.1 Features o Real "double-entry" accounting that's truly easy enough for home and powerful enough for business CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 5 o Up to 200 accounts o Checking accounts support checks, deposits, withdrawals, debits, credits, and ATM transactions o Attach "notes" and "stubs" to each transaction o Prints checks (computer form, laser, or right out of your checkbook!) o Helps reconcile your checking accounts o Many powerful and flexible reports (including standard accounting reports) o Powerful "search and filter" functions o Reports can go to the printer, disk, or the screen o Financial Calculator (Loans, Deposits, and Compounding) with full amortization reports o High resolution color graphics! o Multiple ways to view your data ("full screen" & "browse" modes) o Pop-up context-sensitive help o Pull-down and Pop-up menus throughout o Pop-up Calculator with rolling tape o Password Protection o "Budgeting" capabilities o Automatic Transactions (pick from a menu or have CheckMate Plus "remind" you when they're due!) o "User-Defined" Reports o One year of technical support (by mail, phone, fax, or on-line with CompuServe!) o Much, much, more! CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 6 1.4 System Requirements CheckMate Plus requires and IBM PC, PS2, or compatible computer running MSDOS 3.0 or above. You must have at least 640K bytes of memory. If you have less memory, you may be able to run CheckMate Plus, but you may find some features are restricted. We recommend a hard disk for using CheckMate Plus, but it will run on a floppy-only system as long as you have at least two drives. CheckMate Plus supports CGA, EGA, VGA, Hercules, and text-only displays. If you want to display graphics, you must have a CGA, EGA, VGA, or Hercules adapter and a compatible monitor. CheckMate Plus will support virtually any printer without any special setup. You can pass control codes to the printer in several ways for special configurations. CheckMate Plus does not support PostScript printers at this time. CheckMate Plus recognizes the MicroSoft, Logitech, Mouse Systems, or any compatible mouse as an input device. You must load your "mouse driver" before running CheckMate Plus. See the documentation that came with your mouse for more information. 1.5 Installation 1.5.1 If you got CheckMate Plus from a Disk Vendor If you got CheckMate Plus from a disk vendor, bought the shareware disks directly from us, or if you got it from a friend, follow these instructions for installing CheckMate Plus. Place the CheckMate Plus "program" disk in a floppy disk drive. Then "log on" to that drive (that is, if you place the disk in drive "A" then type "A:" to log on to drive "A"). Now, type INSTALL <CR> The <CR> means press "carriage return" (often called "enter" on your keyboard). Answer the questions as the INSTALL program directs. It's that simple! CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 7 1.5.2 If you got CheckMate Plus from a BBS If you got CheckMate Plus from an electronic BB, follow these instructions for installing CheckMate Plus. Place the following files on a floppy disk (or in a subdirectory on your hard drive): CMPLUS.LZH INSTALL.EXE LHARC.EXE Log on to the correct or directory. Now, type INSTALL <CR> The <CR> means press "carriage return" (often called "enter" on your keyboard). Answer the questions as the INSTALL program directs. It's that simple! 1.6 Upgrading from CheckMate and CheckMate-GL We've developed a special program to convert existing CheckMate and/or CheckMate-GL data to CheckMate Plus format. The "UPGRADE" program is available only to registered users, however. When you register CheckMate Plus, you'll receive a "utilities" disk with the UPGRADE program. If you registered CheckMate or CheckMate-GL prior to January 1, 1991 and would like to try CheckMate Plus as shareware before upgrading, send us a self-addressed, post-paid diskette mailer ALONG WITH YOUR CHECKMATE OR CHECKMATE-GL REGISTRATION NUMBER and we'll send you a copy of the utilities diskette. 1.7 Running CheckMate Plus To run CheckMate Plus, go to your CheckMate Plus directory (where you told INSTALL to put the program). For instance, if you installed CheckMate Plus on drive "C" in a directory called "CMPLUS" you would type: CD \CMPLUS CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 8 To get to the CheckMate Plus directory. Once there, type: CMPLUS <data file path> to run CheckMate Plus. The <data file path> entry is optional and tells CheckMate Plus where to look for (or create) its data files. Suppose, for example, that you keep your data in a subdirectory (called "DATA") of the "CMPLUS" directory. To run CheckMate Plus, type: CMPLUS C:\CMPLUS\DATA and CheckMate Plus will open its data files in the "C:\CMPLUS\DATA" directory. Likewise, typing: CMPLUS B: tells CheckMate Plus to look on drive "B" for data. You can maintain multiple "sets of books" by placing separate data files in different directories or on different disks. If you don't specify a data file path, CheckMate Plus will open its files in the same directory as the program files. + TIMESAVER: If you need to maintain many sets of books and don't want to remember a bunch of directory names, then create little batch files to call CheckMate Plus with the correct directories (see your MSDOS manual for more information). You could also use a "menuing" package such as Custom Technologies' "Magic Menus" to automate the selection of files. Contact Custom Technologies for more information on "Magic Menus". 1.8 Getting Started When you first run CheckMate Plus, you'll have a "clean" system. That means you'll have to define some accounts before you can start making entries. You'll do this under the "Accounts" menu. (You can also define accounts "on the fly" while entering transactions, so there's no need to complete your Chart of Accounts up front). After you've entered at least one account, you've got to select a "control" account before entering any transactions. You'll want to pick the account you'll use the most (probably your primary checking account). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 9 After selecting a control account, you're ready to use CheckMate Plus! You can start entering checks and other transactions immediately. Take your time and explore CheckMate Plus while you use it. Remember that instant help is available at the touch of the [F1] key! + IMPORTANT: CheckMate Plus really is a full-fledged "double-entry" accounting system. If you're unfamiliar with basic accounting principles, read over appendix A ("An Accounting Primer") for an introduction. For many of you, that's all the information you'll need to effectively use CheckMate Plus. If you have more specialized needs, you may want to get a good book, take a class, or talk to a CPA. Also, CheckMate Plus isn't going to "force" anyone to do strict accounting! If all you want to do is track your checkbook, that's no problem. In fact, you can use CheckMate Plus as just a checkbook program now and expand into partial or full accounting at any time! This User's Guide holds a wealth of valuable tips and timesavers. As you become comfortable with CheckMate Plus' primary features, study this guide and you'll be able to draw maximum productivity from CheckMate Plus! CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 10 Chapter 2 Things You Need to Know 2.1 Menus CheckMate Plus uses the popular "pull-down" menu system as its primary user interface. After your start CheckMate Plus, you'll see a row of "choices" to choose from. You may select any of the choices in one of two ways: first, by moving the high-lighted bar to the item of your choice (using the left or right arrow keys or the mouse) and then pressing "return" (which we will also refer to as [CR]), or, by pressing the starting letter of your choice. Either method will instantly produce a secondary menu (with a bar that moves up and down instead of left to right). Select individual functions in the same manner. Many other menus in CheckMate Plus will "pop-up" as you need them. They work the same as the pull-down menus. You can exit any menu without action by pressing the [ESC] key. 2.2 The "Bottom Line" As you run CheckMate Plus, the bottom line of the screen summarizes many of the functions available to you. It is always present, and should speed your use of the program as you become familiar with its many capabilities. Most of CheckMate Plus' functions are activated by the PC's function keys. The bottom line identifies the operation of these keys (and some others). You should be aware, however, that CheckMate Plus has a lot of capability, and there simply is not enough room to list all available functions on the bottom line. We've listed those we think are most useful. Refer to the online help and this User's Guide for others! CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 11 2.3 The "Top Line" The right side of the top line of the screen displays the status of your keyboard (CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK, SCROLL LOCK). It also indicates whether you're in insert or overwrite mode (for text entry), and whether you've activated the "search and filter" function (FILT). [alt-F] toggles the filter flag. The left side of the top line is reserved for working messages. Don't be alarmed if they flash by too fast to read... that simply means your computer is fast! 2.4 Online Help CheckMate Plus has built in online, context-sensitive help. Just press [F1] at any time while running CheckMate Plus for instant help. Some help screens have multiple pages, so use [PgDn], [PgUp], the arrow keys, or the mouse to move through the message. The help screens are contained in the file "CMPLUS.HLP" and this file must be present in the program file path (the disk and directory with the CheckMate Plus program files) at runtime. 2.5 The Calculator CheckMate Plus includes a pop-up financial calculator. Pressing [alt-C] anytime will pop the calculator up. The calculator has a rolling tape to help you keep track of your math, and you can even direct the output to the printer! You can scroll through the tape with the up and down arrow keys, [PgUp], and [PgDn]. The tape holds the last 100 lines entered. If you want to use the printer, make sure it is ready before you press [P]. The calculator will then echo all output to the printer. Also, CheckMate Plus automatically asserts the "NUMLOCK" when the calculator is invoked so you may use the numeric keypad on the IBM PC (or compatibles). You can "paste" your calculated results into any data field in CheckMate Plus by pressing [F2]. (Make sure the cursor is in the field you want to paste to BEFORE you activate the calculator). You CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 12 can only paste results after you "total" (i.e. when the "ENTER" block in the calculator in not reverse video). Press [ESC] to exit the calculator and return to CheckMate Plus. 2.6 Special Keys and Shortcuts 2.6.0.1 Shortcuts In an effort to make CheckMate Plus as "effortless" to use as possible, we have incorporated a number of handy "shortcuts" into CheckMate Plus' data entry fields. Some of the shortcuts are specific to an application (and we will describe them later), others are more general. For instance, any time you're entering dates, you may press the "+" key to increment the date by one day. Likewise, the "-" key will decrement the date by one day. Pressing "=" forces the date to be the default (DOS) date. Some of the fields requiring numbers (such as the Check Number and Account Number fields) will also increment and decrement as you press the plus and minus keys. CheckMate Plus also has "local menus" that give you choices for particular fields. The [alt-F10] key is CheckMate Plus' local menu key. When you're in such a field, press [alt-F10] to pop the menu up. (The [alt-F10] has no effect on "non-local menu" fields). Also, the middle button of a three button mouse will pop-up local menus. 2.6.0.2 Special Keys Here is a list of keys you should be familiar with while using CheckMate Plus: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 13 Key Function [alt-F] Toggles "Filter" flag [F1] Online help [alt-C] Pops up the calculator [alt-F10] Local menu key [alt-M] Memory status [INS] Toggle insert/overwrite []alt-A Pops up the Chart of Accounts Table 2.1: Special Keys 2.7 Data Entry CheckMate Plus' data entry fields are among the best in the business. As you enter data, you'll find each field "expects" a certain type of information and will filter what you type appropriately. Some of the fields have a limited number of valid choices. You can still type whatever you want in the field, and CheckMate Plus will attempt to match it to the valid options. If it doesn't match, CheckMate Plus will "pop-up" a menu of your choices! All of the data fields may be edited as you type. The following control-key combinations are defined within CheckMate Plus: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 14 Control Key Alternate Key Function Control-D right-arrow move one character right Control-S left-arrow move one character left Control-F move one word right Control-A move one word left Control-QD END move to end of text Control-QS HOME move to start of field Control-E up-arrow move up one field Control-X down-arrow move down one field Control-G DEL delete character at cursor Control-T delete word right Control-QY delete field right Control-Y delete entire field Control-H BACKSPACE delete character left Control-V INS toggle INSERT/OVERWRITE Table 2.2: Editing Keys 2.8 Date Formats Over the years, we've discovered that different people and different lands enter and display "dates" in many different formats. Fortunately, CheckMate Plus lets you pick from a wide variety of formats to use (under the Setup menu). CheckMate Plus also allows "free format" date entry in all of its date fields. This means you can enter dates in almost any format you want and CheckMate Plus will figure out what you mean. For instance, 2/12/90, 12 Mar 89, and Sept 10, 1987 are all legal formats to enter dates regardless of how you want the date displayed. You need only ensure you use some non-alphanumeric delimiter (such as a space or a "/") between the month, day, and year. You can even leave all or part of the date out and CheckMate Plus will use the defaults (from the DOS date). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 15 2.9 Using a Mouse If you have a Microsoft, Logitech, Mouse Systems, or compatible mouse, CheckMate Plus will recognize it as an input device. You must load your mouse driver BEFORE running CheckMate Plus (see the documentation that accompanies your mouse). In data entry fields, the mouse will "drag" the cursor around as you move it. The mouse moves the highlighted bar in menus and in the "virtual paper" mode. The left button acts like the [CR] key and the right button emulates the [ ESC] key. If you have a three button mouse, the middle button will activate local menus (just like [alt-F10]). 2.10 The Built-In Editor CheckMate Plus has a very simple built-in text editor. You'll use this editor when you're working with "stubs" or "notes" in transactions, or while defining custom reports or check layouts (for printing checks). The editor is not fancy, but it will get the job done. Many of the keys you can use while editing are the same you use in any of the data entry fields. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 16 Control Key Alternate Key Function Control-D right-arrow move one character right Control-S left-arrow move one character left Control-F move one word right Control-A move one word left Control-QD END move to end of line Control-QS HOME move to start of line Control-QR jump to top line Control-QC jump to bottom line Control-E up-arrow move up one line Control-X down-arrow move down one line Control-G DEL delete character at cursor Control-T delete word right Control-QY delete line right Control-Y delete entire line Control-H BACKSPACE delete character left Control-V INS toggle INSERT/OVERWRITE Control-KR read text file Control-KW write text file Table 2.3: Editor Editing Keys Although the editor has many basic editing keys, it doesn't have "cut and paste" features (yet). You can, however, export the text to a file (press control-KW and enter a filename). You can then use your favorite text editor to manipulate the data. Control-KR reads a file into the editor. BE CAREFUL! The file "overwrites" anything already there. 2.11 The "Search and Filter" Window At some times while running CheckMate Plus, you'll want to search for specific items and disregard others. At those times you'll be able to pop-up the "Search and Filter" window. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 17 You specify the items you want by setting up "equations". The "search and filter" window has six lines, each with five fields: Variable This first field is where you specify the particular variable you're trying to match. You can type the variable in yourself, or press [alt-F10] (the local menu key) or the middle mouse button to pop-up a menu of variables. OP In the second field, enter the "operator". For instance, if you want to exactly match the variable, enter a "=" here. This is also a menu field (and [alt-F10] will pop-up a menu of choices). Here are the operators and what they do: = Exact Match * "Any" Match > Greater Than < Less Than >= Greater Than or Equal To <= Less Than or Equal To <> Not Equal To Table 2.4: Search and Filter Operators Most of the operators are self-explanatory, but the "*" deserves more detail. You'll use this primarily when searching for text. Suppose, for instance, you want to find all checks written to "El Paso County". You could use the "=" sign and search for "PayTo = El Paso County", but you could also use the "*" and search for "Payto * County". In other words, when you use "*" instead of "=", CheckMate Plus will match any check with the word "county" in the payto field. When you use "=", you must type in the text to match EXACTLY. Note that "Payto * County" will match any check written to "El Paso County", but it will also match checks written to "Denver County", "County Line Barbecue", or any check with the word "county" in the payto field. Match #1 How this field behaves depends on the "variable" you choose (in the "Variable" field). In most cases you'll just enter text here. Some variables, however, require numbers, "YES/NO", or dates. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 18 And/Or You can "compound" the search for data with the And/Or field. As you may have guessed, you can enter either "AND", "OR", or nothing in the field. Here's how it works. Suppose you want to find all transactions between $100 and $200. You'd enter: Amount >= 100.00 And <= 200.00 See how you've specified a "range" of amounts? Similarly, suppose you wanted to find all checks with check numbers less than 500 and greater than 1000? You'd enter: Check Number < 500 Or > 1000 You can use these operators and specify "ranges" for virtually any variable (including straight text). If you leave the "And/Or" field blank, CheckMate Plus will ignore the second half of the match operation. OP This second OP field works like the first one above (but it's for the second half of the operation). Match #2 This second "Match" field works like the first one above (but it's for the second half of the operation). You can enter up to six operations. In order for a transaction to match, it must satisfy all of the lines you enter! Press [ESC] after you've entered your "filter definition" to return to your work. + IMPORTANT: Even though you've set the filter definition, it has no effect until you turn it "on". The [alt-F] key toggles the filter state on and off. When you see the word "FILT" on the top line of the screen, the filter definition is active. You can toggle it on and off at any time! 2.11.1 Saving Filter Definitions As you can see, you can get quite detailed in specifying match criteria. If you've entered a complicated sequence (and want to save it to use again later), press [F10] (while you're in the "Search and Filter Window") and CheckMate Plus will store it on disk. You'll have to enter a name for the "Filter Definition" so you can pick the one CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 19 you want later. You can have as many as forty definitions saved at one time. 2.11.2 Retrieving Filter Definitions To retrieve a definition you've saved, enter the "Search and Filter Window" and press [F9]. CheckMate Plus will pop-up a menu of definitions previously saved. Pick the one you want from the menu. 2.11.3 Deleting Filter Definitions To delete a definition (from the disk), pick the one you want to get rid of (as described above). Then press [F8]. CheckMate Plus will prompt you to confirm before actually deleting the definition. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 20 Chapter 3 Accounts 3.1 Types of Accounts CheckMate Plus focuses around checking accounts since practically everyone works through them (both home and business). But to accurately track the flow of money, you'll also need to work with some other types of accounts. CheckMate Plus defines three major categories of accounts: checking accounts, other detail accounts, and summary accounts. Checking accounts refer to your primary bank accounts (of course). The "other detail accounts" are your expenses, sources of revenue, liabilities (debt), assets other than checking accounts, and your equity. (If you have an accounting background, you no doubt recognize these categories). Summary accounts are actually "summations" of accounts (so you can group accounts into totals). You won't be able to directly access summary accounts. In order to "nicely" divide the different account types, accountants have (over the years) devised a more or less "standard" numbering convention. CheckMate Plus uses a form of that standard. 1 - 19999 Assets (Cash, Property, anything you have of value) 2 - 29999 Liabilities (Any debts that you owe) 3 - 39999 Equity that you hold 4 - 49999 Revenue (Pay, Interest, Sales, etc) 5 - 59999 Expenses (Utilities, Food, Rent, etc) All detail accounts (checking accounts and other detail accounts) have five digit account numbers (such as 10000 or 50015). Summary accounts have one to four digits and "sum together" the detail accounts that "fill out" the numbers. For example, the summary account "100" would be the sum of accounts 10000 through 10099. The summary account "1000" would only sum accounts 10000 through 10009, while the top level account ASSETS (account number 1) sums all asset accounts (10000-19999). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 21 When you run CheckMate Plus for the first time, it creates six special accounts. The first five are the top level summary accounts: Account Number Name 1 Assets 2 Liabilities 3 Equity 4 Revenue 5 Expenses Table 3.1: Top Level Accounts The last account CheckMate Plus automatically creates is a detail account. CheckMate Plus uses it to make sure your books are always in balance. We call this account "Non-Accounted for Funds" and its account number is 39999 (it is an EQUITY account). As you make entries in CheckMate Plus, any time you do not "balance" a transaction, CheckMate Plus automatically assigns the funds to this account. Remember, however, that you can always change the transactions later! CheckMate Plus won't let you modify or delete any of these six special accounts. 3.1.1 Checking Accounts Checking accounts are assets (since they represent money you have). They are also detail accounts (which means you can directly transfer money to and from them). Therefore, they can have account numbers between 10000 and 19999. CheckMate Plus treats checking accounts in a special way since you'll be doing much of your day to day business directly with them. CheckMate Plus builds in the capability to print checks (including addressing them for window envelopes), reconcile (with you bank statement), and track other types of transactions (such as deposits, services charges, and ATM transactions). 3.1.2 Other Detail Accounts You'll also be able to setup accounts to track your other assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. These accounts are also "detail" accounts and will have five digit account numbers (as described above). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 22 These accounts are more general, however, and you won't have (or need) as many options as you have with with checking accounts. 3.1.3 Summary Accounts You'll find "summary" accounts useful for assembling accounts together in logical groups. You may, for example, want to list accounts 10000 (Checking Account), 10001 (Savings Account), and 10008 (Petty Cash) under summary account 1000 (Cash Assets). 1000 Cash Assets 10000 Checking Account 10001 Savings Account 10008 Petty Cash You can direct CheckMate Plus to report the summaries (with customized reports) for a more general analysis of your financial condition. 3.2 Entering Accounts This section of the User's Guide describes how to set up the different accounts available in CheckMate Plus. You define accounts by selecting "Enter New Accounts" from the "Accounts" menu. You'll see a secondary menu asking whether you want to enter a checking account or an "other" account. If you select "other", you'll see a third menu from which you can select "summary" or other "detail" accounts. There are some subtle differences between the different types of accounts. All of the fields (in the "Enter Accounts Window") are explained below: Account Name The name for the account (such as "United Bank", "Mortgage", or "Utilities Expense". This name will appear on all account menus, account fields, and reports. Opening Balance Enter the "balance" of the account on the date you want to start tracking it. This may or may not be its current balance. It is a good idea to start an accounting system on January 1st, so you may want to CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 23 "back enter" the data back to the first of the year (or whenever your accounting year begins). After you enter the opening balance, you must tell CheckMate Plus on which date the balance applied. Remember you may enter the date in any format you choose. Next Check Number This field applies to checking accounts only. Enter the next check number you'll enter in CheckMate Plus. Address on Checks This field applies to checking accounts only. Enter "YES" if you want addresses to appear in the check entry form (and on the checks you print). Account Number CheckMate Plus fills this number in for you (but you may change it if you wish). This is the general ledger account number for the account you're entering. Remember that detail accounts must always have five digits. You may press the plus or minus keys in this field to increment or decrement the number. You may not have two accounts with the same number. Check Layout This field applies to checking accounts only. This is a "menu field", so you may either type in a defined check layout or press [alt-F10] to pop the menu up. CheckMate Plus comes with three predefined layouts, but you may also enter your own (discussed later in this User's Guide). Contra Account This field applies to all account types except checking. Contra accounts are special in accounting. If you don't know what contra accounts are, then leave this field "NO" (the default). If you do know, the field is self explanatory. Budget Information Press [F3] while entering the account to pop-up the "Budget Setup Window". Here you can enter budgeting data that CheckMate Plus uses in preparing reports. [ESC] returns you to the Account Entry Window. The "quarters" in the budget window are based on the start of your fiscal year (see "Fiscal Year Setup" CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 24 under the "Setup" menu). You can, for instance, choose to start your accounting year on October 1st (rather than January 1st). In this case, The 1st Quarter would include October, November, and December (instead of January, February, and March). After you set up the account, press [F10] to save the information and add the account to your Chart of Accounts. The window will clear and you can enter more accounts (or press [ESC] to return to the Accounts Menu). 3.3 Editing Accounts You can modify (or delete) accounts after you've entered them, but there are some restrictions. Select "Edit Accounts" from the "Accounts" menu. A secondary menu will appear which lists all existing accounts. Pick the account you want to edit from the list. You can change any of the fields in the "Edit Accounts Window" (the same fields you saw while entering the account). Press [F10] to save your changes, or press [F9] to delete the account. CheckMate Plus records account numbers in the transactions. You can change an account's number, but CheckMate Plus has to search completely through the data file and update each applicable transaction. This process can be time consuming (if you have a lot of transactions), but it is absolutely necessary. If you delete an account, CheckMate Plus will search the database and remove all references to the account. This could very likely leave a number of transactions out of balance! In this case, CheckMate Plus automatically assigns the debits and credits to the "Non-Accounted for Funds" account. Press [ESC] to return to the "Accounts" menu. 3.4 Selecting Accounts CheckMate Plus is transaction oriented, and you'll spend most of your time entering transactions. You can select which account CheckMate Plus will treat as the control account by activating "Select Control Account" under the "Accounts" menu. Pick the account you want to treat as the default for CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 25 transaction entry/edit, reports, printing checks, etc. The control account's name and number appear in the lower right hand corner of the screen. CheckMate Plus remembers your control account and will automatically select it the next time you run the program. We anticipate you'll spend most of the time with your primary checking account as the default. + NOTE: Only "detail" accounts will appear on the select menu since you can't post transactions directly to summary accounts! You'll automatically return to the "Accounts" menu when you select your control account. You can also press [ESC] to exit the "Select Control Account Menu" without changing the control account. 3.5 Account Status When you select "Account Status" from the "Accounts" menu, CheckMate Plus will pop-up your Chart of Accounts. Pick one from the menu and CheckMate Plus will display pertinent information about that account. The opening balance is the same as the one entered while defining or editing the account. The current balance is "as of" the date of the last transaction entered for that account. If the account is a "summary" account, the numbers CheckMate Plus displays are "summations" of the accounts underneath it. CheckMate Plus also shows the range of accounts beneath each summary account. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 26 Chapter 4 Transactions 4.1 Types of Transactions 4.1.1 Transactions for Checking Accounts Checking accounts are special in CheckMate Plus. Here is a list of transactions you can enter in checking accounts: Checks Checks will most likely be the most common transaction you'll enter. As you'll see below, CheckMate Plus includes a multitude of data fields to completely describe your checks. Each check is a credit (in accounting terms) to your checking account (which is an ASSET account). Withdrawals Withdrawals (other than checks or ATM withdrawals) will be rare in checking accounts, but we have included them for completeness. Withdrawals are credits to checking accounts. Deposits Deposits are money you put in the checking account. (CheckMate Plus has other transaction types you can use for bank credits, such as interest earned). Each deposit is a debit to your account. Bank Debit A "bank debit" is money the bank takes from your account (a service charge, for instance). If you have any accounting background, you'll realize that a bank debit is actually a credit to your checking account (which is an ASSET account). We call it a "bank debit" because that is usually what the bank calls it on your statement. Bank Credit A "bank credit" (which is actually a debit to your checking account) is money the bank puts into your account (such as interest earned). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 27 ATM Deposit An "ATM deposit" is simply a deposit you make at an automatic teller machine (ATM). There is nothing special about this type of deposit, we just added the "ATM" to the name since ATMs have become so common. An ATM deposit is a debit to your checking account. ATM Withdrawal Like the ATM deposit described above, an "ATM withdrawal" is just a withdrawal made at an automatic teller machine. An ATM withdrawal is a credit to your checking account. 4.1.2 Transactions for Other Accounts You can directly post transactions to other detail accounts, but you have (and need) only two options (either DEBIT or CREDIT). Debits A debit increases an ASSET or EXPENSE account and decreases LIABILITY, EQUITY, or REVENUE accounts. (This is standard accounting practice). CheckMate Plus helps you remember when to use debits (vs credits) with helpful menu descriptions as you make entries. Credits As you might expect, credits increase LIABILITY, EQUITY, and REVENUE accounts and decrease ASSET and EXPENSE accounts. Once again, CheckMate Plus helps you keep debits and credits straight with helpful menus. + NOTE: There is an exception the the above rules. Although ASSETS are ordinarily debit accounts (and debits INCREASE them), you can have a CONTRA ASSET account, which, while still an ASSET, is a CREDIT account. You may have contra accounts in any of the account categories except checking. Contra accounts are a more advanced accounting concept, and most of you will probably not need them. We have included the capability for those that do. 4.2 Entering Transactions The first menu on the menu bar is the "Transactions" menu (since you'll most likely spend much of your time in CheckMate Plus entering transactions). From the "Transactions" menu, select "Enter Transactions" to begin transaction entry. A menu with transaction choices will appear. Checking accounts have seven choices (check, withdrawal, deposit, bank debit, bank credit, CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 28 ATM deposit, and ATM withdrawal). All other accounts will have two choices (debit or credit). We'll concentrate on entering checks since they are the most complete. The other transaction types are similar, but have fewer data fields. 4.2.1 Primary Data The first thing you'll see when you select "Check" from the "transaction type" menu is the primary data entry screen. Check Number CheckMate Plus automatically assigns each check with the "next check number". You can override CheckMate Plus' choice by pressing the up-arrow key (to move up to the check number). Pressing the plus and minus keys will increment and decrement the check number respectively. Date The date of the transaction. The default is the system (DOS) date. Remember that you can press the plus and minus keys to increment or decrement the date (or you can enter it free format). Amount The next field is the "amount" field (which, of course, is the amount of the check). After you enter the amount, the "spelled out amount" will appear and the current account balance will update. TO The "TO" field is who you're writing the check for (the Payee). Address If you told CheckMate Plus that you wanted to print addresses on the checks (while you were defining the account), you'll have three lines to enter the Payee's address under the Payee's name. For This is the "memo" or "for" line on the check. You can enter a short note here. Vendor Acct # Many vendors want you to write your account number on the checks you send them so they can properly credit your account. That's what this field is for. Comments You have 67 characters to enter miscellaneous comments about the check in the "comments" field. Tax Ded This is a YES/NO flag you can use to designate checks as tax deductible. Marking checks in this way makes CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 29 it easy to generate a report of tax deductions at year's end. Marked Like the "Tax Ded" flag, you can "mark" a check with this YES/NO flag. This is a general purpose field, that is, you can use it for whatever you want. Printed If you're using CheckMate Plus to print checks, CheckMate Plus will mark this field for you when you print the check. If you mix writing checks by hand and printing them, be sure and mark this field for the checks you write out (otherwise CheckMate Plus will want to print them). If you're not printing any checks, you don't need to bother with this field. Cleared CheckMate Plus marks this field during the reconciliation process. Be careful if you mark this field yourself, since the "Date Cleared" should match the statement date on which the check cleared. Date Cleared If the transaction has cleared, this field holds the statement date (from the bank statement that the check appeared on). CheckMate Plus maintains this date so it can completely re-create a statement at any time. You should never have to enter this date manually as CheckMate Plus enters it during the reconciliation process. 4.2.2 Splitting the Transaction The transaction itself is only half of the story. CheckMate Plus lets you "split" the transaction twelve ways to account for the flow of money. Press [F3] while in the "primary data" screen and the "split transaction" window will appear. You'll notice that CheckMate Plus fills in the first line of the transaction for you (in fact, you can't edit the first line in the "split" window!). CheckMate Plus knows whether to enter a debit or a credit and positions the cursor on the next line in the "account number" field. Acct# Enter an account's number here. If you can't remember the number of the account you want, press the local menu key ([alt-F10]) or press the middle button on the mouse to pop-up a pick list. You can also use the plus and minus keys to scroll through the numbers and search for the right account. The CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 30 account's name will automatically appear to the right of the number. Description The "description" field is for you to enter notes to yourself (so that the ledger transaction and activity reports will make sense to you later). CheckMate Plus fills the first description in for you (a check number or the "Memo" from other types of transactions). + TIMESAVER: Many times the "description" that you want to enter will be the the payee's name (that you entered on the check). Press [F3] while in any "description" field and CheckMate Plus will "paste" the payee's name directly in. Debit/Credit Enter an appropriate debit or credit in the next two fields. You can have either a debit or credit (but not both on the same line). CheckMate Plus totals the transactions as you enter the amounts. When the transaction is in "balance" (i.e. when debits=credits"), the "Unaccounted For" field will be zero. + TIMESAVER: At ANY time while you're "splitting" the transaction, you can "force" the transaction to "balance" by pressing [ PgDn]. When you do this, CheckMate Plus will adjust the debit (or credit) on the line the cursor is on to make the transaction balance. You'll find this key most useful while entering the "last" line of a transaction. You can return to the primary data entry screen by pressing [ESC]. 4.2.3 Check Stubs While entering checks, you can press [F4] to pop-up the "Stub" window. This is a text "pad", and you can use CheckMate Plus' built in editor to type in text that you can print on check stubs later. (See "Things That You Should Know", chapter 2 for information on using the editor). The "stub" pad has 20 lines and 130 columns. + NOTE: The "stub" is available for all transactions, not just for checks. You can't print them for other transaction types, but you can use them for additional notes. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 31 4.2.4 Attaching Notes If you need space for additional comments or notes, press [alt-F4] to pop-up the "Notes" window. Like the check stub, this window is a text "pad" and you can use CheckMate Plus' built in editor to enter your notes. The "notes" pad has 10 lines and 70 columns. 4.2.5 Saving the Transaction Once you've entered the transaction, press [F10] to save it and update all the proper account balances. You may press [ESC] to abort saving. (CheckMate Plus will prompt you to confirm as this will cause you to lose the data you've entered). 4.2.6 Picking from the Menu You've probably noticed that many of the checks you write from month to month "repeat". For instance, you probably write either a mortgage payment or a rent check each month, as well as utilities, telephone, newspaper, etc. CheckMate Plus lets you define checks (and other transactions) and add them to a menu. While you're entering checks you can pop this menu up with [alt-F2] and "pick" the transaction you want. This is a tremendous timesaver! You can define as much or as little of the transaction as you like, and fill in the rest as you actually enter the check. If the amount of the check changes each time you write it (such as your utility bill), you can even have CheckMate Plus "jump" to the amount field after you pick the transaction from the menu! The menu may have more entries than can show on the screen at one time. Use the arrow keys, [PgUp], [PgDn], or the mouse to scroll through the choices. 4.2.7 Utilities While you're entering transactions, you can press [F2] at any time to pop-up the "Utilities" menu. The options available on the menu will depend upon the type of transaction you're entering. Here are the choices you may see: Add Account You may find you want to add accounts while "splitting" the transaction. From the "Utilities" menu, select "Add Account" and you'll be able to add CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 32 as many accounts as you wish. [ESC] returns you to the transaction you're entering. Edit Transactions If you want to "edit" old transactions while you're entering a new one, select this option from the "Utilities" menu. Memorize Select "Memorize" from the "Utilities" menu if you want to add this transaction to the pop-up menu (so you can repeat it later) or if you want to add it to the menu or date activated list. Stub Layout This option applies only to checks, and will determine how to print the stub while printing the check. When you select this option, another menu appears. Automatic Select This is the default stub layout. In the automatic mode, CheckMate Plus determines whether to print the "Accounts Payable" stub (which is a list of accounts that you've split the check across) or the custom stub (which you enter by pressing [F4]). CheckMate Plus looks at the custom stub first. If the first line of the stub is blank, it prints the automatic stub. Otherwise it will print the custom stub. No Stub If you choose "No Stub", CheckMate Plus will not print a stub when you print the check (even if the check layout calls for one). If necessary, CheckMate Plus will print blank lines on the stub (to keep the check alignment correct). Custom Stub This option forces CheckMate Plus to print the custom stub (which you enter when you press [F4] ) even if it is empty (in which case CheckMate Plus will print blank lines). Accounts Payable If you choose this option, CheckMate Plus will always print the "Accounts Payable" stub even if the custom CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 33 stub is filled in. The accounts payable stub looks a lot like the "split transaction" screen (that is, it is a list of the accounts that you're "splitting" the check across). Print the Check You can print the check you're entering as you enter it. Just select "Print Check" from the "Utilities" menu. Be sure that your check is in the printer and ready before you select "Print Check", however, since CheckMate Plus will print the check immediately. Rebuild Account This option will only appear on the menu if the control account needs to be "rebuilt" to update the running balances. 4.3 Editing Transactions Editing transactions is much like entering transactions, but there are some substantial differences. This section documents those differences. 4.3.1 Moving Through the Data When you select "Edit Transactions" from the "Transactions" menu, you'll enter the "Edit Transactions Window". The transaction you see will depend on two things: o The current control account o Whether or not the "Filter Flag" is set CheckMate Plus only displays transactions for the control account, and starts with the last transaction entered. If the "filter flag" is set, then the transactions displayed must also match the "search and filter" pattern you've set up (provided that the filter flag is active). [alt-F] toggles the filter flag. While the filter is active, the word "FILT" appears on the "top line" of the screen. While you're editing, you can use the following keys to move through the data file: [F7] This key moves backwards one transaction. If the filter flag is set, then CheckMate Plus keeps moving backward until a match is found. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 34 + SPECIAL NOTE: CheckMate Plus has a special feature we call "field integrity". This means that you'll stay on the same field as you move through the database. For instance, if you're on the "check number" field and press [F7], CheckMate Plus will skip over any transactions that don't have a check number (such as deposits or withdrawals). [F8] This key moves forward one transaction. The action is the same as the [F7] key discussed above. [F5] This key "jumps" to the first transaction of the control account. If the filter flag is set, it searches for the first "matching" transaction. Field integrity is not preserved when you use this key. [F6] This key "jumps" to the last transaction of the control account. If the filter flag is set, it searches for the last "matching" transaction. Field integrity is not preserved when you use this key. [alt-J] This is a special search key. When you press [alt-J] you'll see a window appear where you may enter a "date to jump to". Enter a date and press [CR]. CheckMate Plus will jump to that date (or as close as it can get). The cursor jumps to the date field (field integrity is not preservered), and the transaction does not have to match the "search and filter" pattern! CheckMate Plus checks to see if the current transaction has been modified before it will move forward or backward through the file. If you've made any changes, CheckMate Plus prompts you to save your changes before proceeding. 4.3.2 Primary Data There is very little difference between editing a transaction and entering a transaction (discussed above). Those changes are documented here: Balance While entering transactions, the balance CheckMate Plus shows is the account's current balance. While editing, CheckMate Plus shows the account's running balance (that is, the balance of the account when the transaction was originally entered). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 35 It's not an easy thing to keep this running balance correct. If you change the amount or date of a transaction (or any amounts or accounts in the transactions "split" window), you may disturb the accuracy of the running balance. When this happens, CheckMate Plus will make the balance "blink" while you're editing. As you exit the editing function, CheckMate Plus will ask if you want to "rebuild" the account (and fix the "blinking"). If you choose not to rebuild it, CheckMate Plus will continually ask over and over (at strategic times in the program). Remember, you may also change other accounts (in the split window). If CheckMate Plus determines that one of these is out of balance, it will warn you when you next "select" that account as the control account (and ask you if you want to rebuild it). Rebuilding any account fixes all of them. 4.3.3 Splitting the Transaction Press [F3] to "split" the transaction. The biggest difference between "editing" and "entering" in the split window is that you'll be restricted somewhat while "editing". As when entering, you can't edit the first line of the transaction (you can do this in the "primary data" window). Also, you won't be able to change the Account Number of the account that "owns" the transaction. (The account that "owns" a transaction is the account that was the control account when you entered the transaction). 4.3.4 Check Stubs Press [F4] to edit the "stub". Remember that each transaction has only one stub (regardless of how many accounts you've split the transaction across). So if you edit the stub (and the control account doesn't "own" the transaction), you'll see the stub that you originally entered. Any changes you make will appear in the other accounts as well. 4.3.5 Attaching Notes Press [alt-F4] to edit the "notes". Like the "stub" (discussed above), each transaction has only one note pad. Any changes you make to the note pad will appear for all the accounts in the transaction. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 36 4.3.6 Saving Your Changes After you've made your changes, press [F10] to save them (or [ESC] to abort). If you try to abort changes (with [ESC] or by "moving" to another transaction), CheckMate Plus will ask you to confirm your intentions before you lose your edits. 4.3.7 Deleting the Transaction You can delete a transaction by pressing [F9]. CheckMate Plus will prompt you to confirm before actually deleting the transaction. You can delete a transaction even if the current control account doesn't "own" the transaction. The transaction will "disappear" from ALL of the accounts in the transaction, and all of the accounts will need to be rebuilt. When you press [ESC] to exit the edit mode, CheckMate Plus will ask you if you want to "rebuild". CheckMate Plus rebuilds all accounts at once, so you won't have to rebuild each account individually. We don't do it automatically since you may be doing a lot of editing and each rebuild can take several minutes (if you have a very large data file). YOU CAN'T RECOVER A TRANSACTION AFTER DELETING IT! 4.3.8 Picking from the Menu You can "pick from the menu" by pressing [alt-F2] while editing any transaction. Bear in mind, however, that picking a menu transaction will completely replace the current transaction, including the "split" accounts! Remember that you can press [ESC] to abort your edits (as long as you haven't pressed [F10]) if you change your mind about the menu choice. 4.3.9 Utilities While you're editing transactions, you can press [F2] to pop-up the "Utilities" menu. The options available on the menu depend upon the type of transaction you're editing, and whether or not you need to "rebuild" the control account. Add Account You can add accounts while editing by selecting this option from the "Utilities" menu. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 37 "Search and Filter" Select this option to define the "search and filter" pattern you want to match (as you move through the database). Memorize You can add transactions to the menu or "date activated" list by "memorizing" the transaction. Select this option from the "Utilities" menu and follow the menus. Stub Layout (Checks only). See "Entering Transactions" for a complete description of the "stub layouts" available to you. Print the Check (Checks only). Pick this option to immediately print the check. May sure that your check is in the printer and ready before you select this option! Rebuild Account This option will only appear on the menu if the control account needs to be "rebuilt" to update the running balances. 4.4 Automatic Transactions This section discusses how to enter and edit "automatic" transactions (transactions that appear on the menu or date activated transactions). 4.4.1 On the Menu Automatic transactions that are "on the menu" are those that appear when you press [alt-F2] while entering or editing transactions. 4.4.1.1 Defining Menu Transactions There are two ways to add a transaction "to the menu". One method is to "memorize" transactions as you enter or edit them (see the above sections about the "Utilities" menu). The other way is to select "Enter Auto Transactions" from the "Transactions" menu. You'll see another menu appear asking whether you want to add "menu" transactions or "date activated" transactions. Select "menu" (since we are defining "menu" transactions here). Next you'll see a familiar menu (asking for a transaction "type"). These are the same options you have while entering "regular" transactions. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 38 The "Enter Automatic Transactions" form is only slightly different than the "Enter Transactions" form: Check Number There is no field to enter a check number, since CheckMate Plus will assign one when you pick this transaction off the menu. Date You can't enter a date, since you'll assign a date when you select the transaction. Amount This is a special field for "automatic transactions". + TIMESAVER: If the amount for this transaction will routinely change (your utilities bill, for example), leave the amount zero and CheckMate Plus will automatically jump to the amount field when you select this transaction from the menu! Marked There is no "marked flag" for automatic transactions. Printed There is no "printed flag" for automatic transactions. Cleared There is no "cleared flag" for automatic transactions. Cleared Date You can't enter a cleared date, since "automatic transactions" can't "clear" until you pick them from the menu. Name At the bottom of the primary data entry screen, you can (and must) enter a "Name" for this automatic transaction. This Name will appear on the menu in alphabetical order. You may not have duplicate names! Important! Each "automatic transaction" is specific to the control account you have selected when you enter it. Each "automatic transaction" is also specific to the "transaction type" you're entering. You can have duplicate names as long as the duplicates are not in the same account and the same transaction type! This means, however, that an "automatic transaction" you put on the menu for one account WILL NOT appear on the menu for any other account. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 39 + SPECIAL NOTE: CheckMate Plus orders the "names" alphabetically, but the names are CASE SENSITIVE. This means that "Tom" will appear BEFORE "anna" (since an upper-case "T" is alphabetically before a lower-case "a"). "Anna", however, will come before "Tom" (as long as "Anna" begins with a capital "A"). CheckMate Plus also displays a highlighted bar at the bottom of the screen to remind you that you're entering an "automatic transaction" (versus a regular one). Remember you can also predefine the "split" (press [F3]), the "stub" (press [F4]), and the "notes" (press [alt-F4]). + TIMESAVER: You can "pop the menu up" while entering "automatic transactions" (just as you can while entering "regular" transactions). Just press [alt-F2]. This can save you time if you're entering multiple (but similar) automatic transactions. The "Utilities" menu is available while entering "automatic transactions". Press [F2] to pop it up. Press [F10] to save the automatic transaction after you've finished entering your data. It will now appear "on the menu" for this account and transaction type. Press [ESC] to abort saving. 4.4.1.2 Editing Menu Transactions If you want to "edit" your menu transactions, select "Edit Auto Transactions" from the "Transactions" menu, and then select "menu" from the next menu that pops up. CheckMate Plus will take you to the first "menu transaction" that you've defined for this account. Just as while editing "regular" transactions, you have the following "movement" keys available to you: [F7] This key moves backwards one transaction. [F8] This key moves forward one transaction. [F5] This key "jumps" to the first automatic transaction. [F6] This key "jumps" to the last automatic transaction. Since "menu transactions" don't have "dates" associated with them, CheckMate Plus orders them alphabetically by name. CheckMate Plus also orders them by transaction type. This means that all checks will appear first, followed by withdrawals, deposits, etc. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 40 You can edit the menu transaction just as you do "regular" transactions. The "stub", "notes", and "split" windows are all available. You can also pop-up the "menu" with the [alt-F2] key, and the "Utilities" with the [F2] key. Press [F10] to save your changes, or [ESC] to abort. You may delete the transaction altogether by pressing [F9]. If you've made changes and attempt to abort or move to another transaction (without saving the changes), CheckMate Plus will prompt you to confirm before letting you loose your work. 4.4.2 Date Activated Transactions "Date Activated" Transactions are transactions you "program" to to notify you when they need to be entered. This is really a slick feature, and one that we think you will greatly appreciate. CheckMate Plus will NOT activate ANY transaction unless you want it to! "Date activated" transactions simply "remind" you when they're due and help you enter the data. They will not become "real transactions" without your confirmation. You have several options while programming these entries. Obviously, you can enter a "date" on which the transaction will become "active" (that is, when it's due). But you can also set the transaction to "repeat" after you enter it. For instance, suppose you set up a "date activated transaction" to remind you to pay your rent on June 26th. Since you pay rent every month, you can tell CheckMate Plus to automatically set the rent payment to recur on July 26th (and then August 26th, September 26th, etc). This would be "monthly" repeat. CheckMate Plus has six "repeat options". They are: o Never (Use once, and then ERASE the automatic transaction) o Monthly (Repeat on the same date every month) o Weekly (Repeat on the day every week) o Bi-Weekly (Repeat on the same day every two weeks) o Quarterly (Repeat on the same date every three months) o Yearly (Repeat on the same date every year) CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 41 Repeat options have two basic types: "day" repeats (weekly and bi- weekly) and "date" repeats (monthly, quarterly, and yearly). "Day" repeats are "day" sensitive (Monday, Tuesday, etc) while "date" repeats are day of the month sensitive (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc). + NOTE: Remember that some months have more "days" than others! If you want CheckMate Plus to remind you of a transaction on the last day of each month, be sure and enter "31st" even if the first month you enter doesn't have 31 days! In other words, it is perfectly legal to enter "Feb 31, 1990" as the date to activate a transaction. CheckMate Plus knows that February really doesn't have 31 days, and will "remind" you of this entry on the 28th. After you actually enter the transaction at the end of February, CheckMate Plus will update the activation date to "Mar 31, 1990". "Date activated transactions" are similar to "menu transactions". You have the same options while entering or editing them. Remember that if the "amount" changes from entry to entry, leave that field "zero" and CheckMate Plus will jump to it automatically (so you can enter the actual amount). + TIP: If you have a transaction that occurs "semi-monthly", make TWO monthly entries. For instance, members of the Armed Forces are paid twice a month (on the 1st and 15th). This is NOT the same as "bi- weekly". To make this work, enter TWO monthly transactions, the first one to activate on the 1st and the second one on the 15th. 4.4.2.1 Defining Date Transactions Just as with "menu transactions", there are two ways to enter a "date activated transaction". One method is to "memorize" transactions as you enter or edit them (see the above sections about the "Utilities" menu). The other way is to select "Enter Auto Transactions" from the "Transactions" menu. You'll see another menu appear asking whether you want to add "menu" transactions or "date activated" transactions. Select "date activated". Next you'll see a familiar menu (asking for a transaction "type"). These are the same options you have while entering "regular" transactions. The "Enter Automatic Transactions" form is only slightly different than the "Enter Transactions" form: Check Number There is no field to enter a check number, since CheckMate Plus will assign one as you pick this transaction off the menu. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 42 Date You can't enter a date, since the date will depend upon when you elect to activate the transaction. Amount This is a special field for "automatic transactions". + TIMESAVER: If the amount for this transaction will routinely change (your utilities bill, for example), leave the amount zero and CheckMate Plus will automatically jump to the amount field when you select this transaction from the menu! Marked There is no "marked flag" for automatic transactions. Printed There is no "printed flag" for automatic transactions. Cleared There is no "cleared flag" for automatic transactions. Cleared Date You can't enter a cleared date, since "automatic transactions" can't "clear" until you activate them. Repeat At the bottom of the primary data entry screen, you can enter a "repeat option". The different options are discussed above. This is a menu field. You can type the option in, or press [alt-F10] (or the middle button on the mouse) to pop the menu up. Important! Each "automatic transaction" is specific to the control account you have selected when you enter it. This means a "date activated" transaction will only activate for the account that is the control account when you enter it. CheckMate Plus also displays a highlighted bar at the bottom of the screen to remind you that you're entering an "automatic transaction" (versus a regular one). Remember you can also predefine the "split" (press [F3]), the "stub" (press [F4]), and the "notes" (press [alt-F4]). + TIMESAVER: You can "pop the menu up" while entering "automatic transactions" (just as you can while entering "regular" transactions). Just press [alt-F2]. This can save you time if you're entering multiple (but similar) automatic transactions. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 43 The "Utilities" menu is available while entering "automatic transactions". Press [F2] to pop it up. Press [F10] to save the automatic transaction after you've finished entering your data. CheckMate Plus will now "remind" you when it is due. Press [ ESC] to abort saving the automatic transaction. 4.4.2.2 Editing Date Transactions If you want to "edit" your date activated transactions, select "Edit Auto Transactions" from the "Transactions" menu, and then select "date activated" from the next menu that pops up. CheckMate Plus will take you to the first "date activated transaction" that is scheduled to activate for the control account. Enteries are sorted first by transaction type (check, deposit, etc) and then by "activation date", so the first transaction you see may not actually be the next one to activate. Just as while editing "regular" transactions, you have the following "movement" keys available to you: [F7] This key moves backwards one transaction. [F8] This key moves forward one transaction. [F5] This key "jumps" to the first automatic transaction. [F6] This key "jumps" to the last automatic transaction. You can edit the menu transaction just as you do "regular" transactions. The "stub", "notes", and "split" windows are all available. You can also pop-up the "menu" with the [alt-F2] key, and the "Utilities" with the [F2] key. Press [F10] to save your changes, or [ESC] to abort. You may delete the transaction altogether by pressing [F9]. If you've made changes and attempt to abort or move to another transaction (without saving the changes), CheckMate Plus will prompt you to confirm before letting you loose your work. 4.4.2.3 Automatic "Reminder" CheckMate Plus automatically searches for due (and overdue) transactions each time you start the program. It will pop up the "Reminder Window" if it finds any. The "Reminder Window" lists the account with transactions due (or overdue) and asks you whether or not you want to process the transactions on the spot. Just answer YES or NO. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 44 A separate "Reminder Window" will appear for each account that needs processing. If you select "YES", CheckMate Plus will run the date activated "script". You'll see each due transaction appear one at a time. You may modify them if you wish. Press [F10] to save each transaction (and CheckMate Plus will update its "activation date"), [F7] to "skip" a transaction (if you do this, CheckMate Plus will NOT update its "activation date"), or [ESC] to stop running the script. Once you've gone through all of the due transactions (or have pressed [ ESC]), CheckMate Plus will automatically return to the main menu. If you opt NOT to process the transactions, CheckMate Plus will continue to "remind" you every time you run the program until you either process the transactions, change their activation date, or delete them (see "Editing Date Transactions" above). 4.4.2.4 "AUTOEXEC.BAT" Reminder Registered copies of CheckMate Plus come with a small "command line" utility called "REMINDER.EXE". REMINDER scans your CheckMate Plus index file (CMPLUS.IX) looking for any transactions that are due and will display a simple screen message (and pause) if it finds any. If you place REMINDER in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, it will remind you when you have transactions due every time you turn your computer on (without having to run CheckMate Plus). Remember, this utility comes on a bonus disk when you REGISTER your copy of CheckMate Plus! 4.4.3 Running Scripts You can run the "menu" and "date activated" transactions as "scripts". Scripts "move through the list of entries" one by one. You may modify each transaction as you go. Press [F10] to save the transaction, [F7] to "skip" this transaction, or [ESC] to stop running the script. Once you've gone through all of the due transactions (or have pressed [ ESC]), CheckMate Plus will automatically return you to the "Transactions" menu. 4.4.3.1 Menu Script Select "Run Automatic Scripts" from the "Transactions" menu, and then select "menu". CheckMate Plus will step you through all of the menu transactions for the control account. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 45 4.4.3.2 Date Script Select "Run Automatic Scripts" from the "Transactions" menu, and then select "date activated". CheckMate Plus will step you through all of the "date activated" transactions that are due (or overdue) for the control account. If you press [F10] to save the transaction, CheckMate Plus will update its "activation date" (see "Date Activated" transactions above. 4.5 The Browse Window CheckMate Plus has a "browse" feature which lets you view your transactions in a "check ledger" format (one line per transaction). Select "Browse Transactions" from the "Browse" window. 4.5.0.1 Activating the Browse Window Before you can start browsing, CheckMate Plus presents you with a "Browse Setup Window". You can do two things in this window: set browse dates and the "search and filter" pattern. Browse Dates You can enter the "starting" and "ending" browse dates before browsing. CheckMate Plus sets up the browse window by searching through the database for "matches" (see below). Setting the date boundaries can significantly reduce the file accesses that CheckMate Plus has to make and speed things up significantly. If you leave the dates blank, CheckMate Plus will search the entire file. Search and Filter Press [F2] in the "Browse Setup Window" to activate the "search and filter" window. You can enter a pattern here (every transaction the browser presents must match this pattern). Remember that the "search and filter" pattern is not active unless you turn it on ([alt-F] toggles the "filter flag"). While the filter is active, the word "FILT" appears on the "top line" of the screen. Once you've set up for the browse, press [F10]. CheckMate Plus will search the database and then open the "Browse Window". CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 46 The "Browse Window" lists each transaction on a single line. The following keys will move you around in the window: Up Arrow Move up one transaction. Down Arrow Move down one transaction. [PgUp] Move up on screen. [PgDn] Move down one screen. [Home] Move to first transaction. [End] Move to last transaction. The mouse will also move you through the transaction list. You can press the [SPACE BAR] while browsing to "mark" transactions. CheckMate Plus actually sets the "marked" flag to YES when you do this. This is useful if you want to mark transactions for a report (using the "search and filter" to only print "marked" transactions). If you press [ESC] in the "Browse Window" CheckMate Plus will return you to the "Transactions" menu. 4.5.0.2 Editing while Browsing At any time while you're browsing, you can press [CR] (or the left button on the mouse) to edit the currently highlighted transaction. The "Edit Transaction Window" will appear. Press [ESC] to return to the browser. 4.6 Closing Transactions CheckMate Plus lets you maintain active transactions indefinitely. Over time, however, CheckMate Plus' performance will decrease as it constantly has to search an ever larger database. As the necessity to maintain "old data" decreases (the data may be several years old, you may want to "close" the older transactions. Select "Close Transactions" from the "Transactions" menu to pop-up the "Close Transactions Window". You have a single option here (the PURGE date). Enter a date here and press [F10]. Since you can't reverse this procedure, CheckMate Plus CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 47 won't accept a default date (you must enter a valid date) and will prompt you to confirm your intentions before proceeding. The purge will erase all transactions prior to the "purge date". CheckMate Plus then updates the opening balance and opening dates of all accounts. If you have "closing" accounts (for REVENUE and EXPENSES) specified (see "Fiscal Year Information" in chapter 13), CheckMate Plus will transfer all REVENUE and EXPENSE balances to them as it purges the transactions. This procedure affects ALL accounts, not just the control account! It would be a good idea to make a backup before you proceed! CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 48 Chapter 5 Reports CheckMate Plus has many reports and many options for each report. Some of these options (such as margins, page size, printer setups, etc) are common for all and are discussed in the next chapter, "Report Printing Options". In this chapter, we'll describe most of the general purpose reports you can print and zero in on their unique options. 5.1 The Transaction Report The "Transaction Report" is account specific. This is what you'd call your checkbook ledger (for checking accounts... you can print this report for other accounts as well). This report acts on the control account only. Select the account you want to report on (from the "Accounts" menu) before printing. Select "Transaction" from the "Reports" menu. CheckMate Plus will present another menu with some "date range" options. Month Select "Month" to limit the report to a specific month and year. You can specify a particular month before printing. Year This option will print all transactions within an accounting (or fiscal) year. You set the fiscal year in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. You can change the year before you print. 1st-4th Quarter Select any of the four quarters to limit the report to a specific three month period within the current fiscal year. You set the fiscal year in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 49 Between Any Two Dates Select this option if you want to specify the range of dates that will appear on the report. This is the most flexible option. After you've selected a "date range", CheckMate Plus will take you to the "Transaction Report Window". Set any options you wish, and then print the report by pressing [F10]. See the next chapter "Report Printing Options" for much more information about the options available. 5.1.0.1 Customizing CheckMate Plus lets you "customize" the Transaction report to some degree. Press [F3] while you're in the "Transaction Report Window" and CheckMate Plus will pop up the "Customize Transaction Report Window". Here you can specify the fields you want to appear on each line and how much space each field will take. If you don't want a particular field to appear, set its length to "zero". Amounts are "right- justified" in their fields. CheckMate Plus computes the characters per line you'll need for the report. Make sure you set the "Report Parameters" correctly (see next chapter, "Report Printing Options"). Press [F10] to save your customizations to disk. [ ESC] takes you back to the "Transaction Report Window". 5.2 General Ledger Reports Unlike the "Transaction" report discussed above, the "General Ledger Reports" present information on ALL (detail) accounts you've defined. When you select "Ledger" from the "Reports" menu, you'll see another menu with three choices: The "Ledger Activity" report lists each account and its activity for the specified period. The "Ledger Transaction" report displays each transaction in ledger form (much like the "Split" window you see while entering transactions). The "Chart of Accounts" menu is simply a listing of all your ledger accounts (in logical order). 5.2.1 The Ledger Activity Report After you pick "Activity Report" from the Ledger Reports menu, you'll be prompted to specify a "date range" for the report. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 50 Date Ranges: Month Select "Month" to limit the report to a specific month and year. You can specify a particular month before printing. Year This option will print all activity within an accounting (or fiscal) year. You set the fiscal year in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. You can change the year before you print. 1st-4th Quarter Select any of the four quarters to limit the report to a specific three month period within the current fiscal year. You set the fiscal year in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. Between Any Two Dates Select this option if you want to specify the range of dates that will appear on the report. This is the most flexible option. After you've selected a "date range", CheckMate Plus will take you to the "Ledger Activity Report Window". You can also limit the range of accounts that will appear on the report. + NOTE: CheckMate Plus must search the database (between the date ranges) once for each account to be printed. If you have a lot of accounts and a lot of transactions, CheckMate Plus may have to work a long time to set up the report. Narrowing both the date range and the account range can speed things up considerably. Set any options you wish, and then print the report by pressing [F10]. See the next chapter "Report Printing Options" for much more information about the options available. 5.2.2 The Ledger Transaction Report After you pick "Transaction Report" from the Ledger Reports menu, you'll be prompted to specify a "date range" for the report. Date Ranges: Month Select "Month" to limit the report to a specific month and year. You can specify a particular month before printing. Year This option will print all transactions within an accounting (or fiscal) year. You set the fiscal year CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 51 in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. You can change the year before you print. 1st-4th Quarter Select any of the four quarters to limit the report to a specific three month period within the current fiscal year. You set the fiscal year in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. Between Any Two Dates Select this option if you want to specify the range of dates that will appear on the report. This is the most flexible option. After you've selected a "date range", CheckMate Plus will take you to the "Ledger Transaction Report Window". Set any options you wish, and then print the report by pressing [F10]. See the next chapter "Report Printing Options" for much more information about the options available. 5.2.3 The "Chart of Accounts" Report Pick "Chart of Accounts" from the Ledger Reports menu to print a listing of all your accounts (including summary accounts). Each account's number and name are listed in this report (and also whether the account is a "debit" or "credit" account). Set any options you wish, and then print the report by pressing [F10]. See the next chapter "Report Printing Options" for much more information about the options available. 5.3 Summary Reports "Summary" reports "summarize" the activity of all your accounts into two specific reports: o Balance Sheets o Income Statements "Balance Sheets" are like a "snapshot" of your account balances on a specific date. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 52 "Income Statements" (also called "Profit/Loss Statements") show the change in your account balances between two dates. Income statements are generally only concerned with REVENUE and EXPENSE accounts. Select "Summary" from the "Reports Menu". You can then pick either "Balance Sheet" or "Income Statement". 5.3.1 The Balance Sheet When you pick "Balance Sheet" from the Summary Reports menu, CheckMate Plus gives you yet another menu with three choices, a "standard" balance sheet, a "custom" balance sheet, and a "trial balance". 5.3.1.1 The Standard Balance Sheet CheckMate Plus will generate a "textbook" balance sheet when you pick this option. You'll see the "Balance Sheet Report Window" and will have two specific options (in addition to the ones common in all reports). First, you must specify a date for the balance sheet (remember, this is a "snapshot" of account balances on that date!). You can also have CheckMate Plus display account numbers (before each account name) on the report. Press [F10] to print the report. See the chapter "Report Printing Options" for more information on formatting and controlling the report. 5.3.1.2 Customized Balance Sheets If you prefer to design your own balance sheet, you can do so in CheckMate Plus. (See chapter 7, "Designing Custom Reports"). In fact, you can design up to forty different balance sheets. Selecting "Custom" from the Balance Sheet menu will pop up a menu of balance sheets you've defined. Pick the one you want, and you'll find yourself in the "Custom Report Window". See chapter 6 ("Report Printing Options") for a complete discussion on printing and formatting the report. [F10] prints the report, [ESC] backs you up one menu. + NOTE: Even though we call these "custom BALANCE SHEETS", you can really design any type of report you wish. The difference between a "balance sheet" and an "income statement" is primarily the calculation that take place. Balance sheets report balances on a specific date, while income statements report activity (or the change in balance) between two dates. When you design your custom reports, keep this distinction in mind, and select the model that fits your requirement. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 53 5.3.1.3 The Trial Balance Select "Trial Balance" from the Balance Sheet menu to print a "textbook" trial balance. The trial balance simply lists ALL (detail) accounts and their balance (as of the date you enter). Since the purpose of the trial balance is to make sure that debits=credits for all accounts, CheckMate Plus omits account number 39999 (Non-Accounted for Funds) from this report. Press [F10] to print the report. 5.3.2 The Income Statement When you pick "Income Statement" from the Summary Reports menu, CheckMate Plus gives you yet another menu with two choices, a "standard" income statement or a "custom" income statement. 5.3.2.1 The Standard Income Statement As with the balance sheet (above), CheckMate Plus will generate a "textbook" income statement when you pick this option. Since income statements report balance changes between two dates, CheckMate Plus will ask you for a "date range" (by popping up the "date range" menu). Date Ranges: Month Select "Month" to create an income statement for a specific month and year. You can specify a particular month before printing. Year This option will print an income statement for an entire fiscal year. You set the fiscal year in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. You can change the year before you print. 1st-4th Quarter Select any of the four quarters to limit the report to a specific three month period within the current fiscal year. You set the fiscal year in the "Fiscal Year Setup Window" under the "Setups" menu. Between Any Two Dates Select this option if you want to specify the range of dates for the income statement. This is the most flexible option (but you can't generate any budget information). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 54 Once you've picked a "date range", you'll see the "Income Statement Report Window" and will have some specific options (in addition to the ones common in all reports and the specific date range). First, you can have CheckMate Plus display account numbers (before each account name) on the report. You can also tell CheckMate Plus to display "budget information". The "budget information" CheckMate Plus displays is the ratio of the account's ACTUAL balance versus its BUDGETED balance (for the same "date range"). You enter the budget information while you define or edit each account (under the "Accounts" menu). Press [F10] to print the report. See Chapter 6, "Report Printing Options", for more information on formatting and controlling the report. 5.3.2.2 Customized Income Statements If you prefer to design your own income statement, you can do so in CheckMate Plus. (See chapter 7, "Designing Custom Reports"). In fact, you can design up to forty different income statements. Selecting "Custom" from the Income Statement menu will pop up a menu of income statements you've defined. Pick the one you want, and you'll find yourself in the "Custom Report Window". See chapter 6 ("Report Printing Options") for a complete discussion on printing and formatting the report. [F10] prints the report, [ESC] backs you up one menu. + NOTE: Even though we call these "custom INCOME STATEMENTS", you can really design any type of report you wish. The difference between a "balance sheet" and an "income statement" is primarily the calculation that takes place. Balance sheets report balances on a specific date, while income statements report activity (or the change in balance) between two dates. When you design your custom reports, keep this distinction in mind, and select the model that fits your requirement. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 55 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 56 Chapter 6 Report Printing Options This chapter details the options you have for formatting and generating reports. For specifics on the reports themselves, see the previous chapter ("Reports"). 6.1 Report Options Every report you can generate in CheckMate Plus has an "options" window associated with it. Among other report specific options (discussed along with the reports themselves), here are the general options you'll have available: o Report Date o Print to Screen, Printer, or File o Report Title o Report Footer Let's take a closer look at these different options... 6.1.1 Date The "Report Date" is the date CheckMate Plus will print on the title line of the report. It has nothing to do with the data in the report! It is simply meant to show when the report was generated. The default is the current (DOS) date. 6.1.2 "Print To" Options CheckMate Plus lets you print your reports to the screen (which we call "virtual paper"), your printer, or to a disk file in ASCII format. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 57 To select your printing option, move the cursor to the "Print To" field and type "Screen", Printer", or "File". This is a "menu field", so you can also press [alt-F10] (or the center button on the mouse) to pop the menu up. 6.1.2.1 To the Screen One problem with printing reports to the screen is that the screen is often too narrow to show the complete report. CheckMate Plus uses Virtual Paper to display reports on the screen. When you select printing "to the screen", CheckMate Plus formats the report exactly as if you were printing to the printer (including titles, footers, and margins). CheckMate Plus then opens the "Virtual Paper" window, and writes the report there. Virtual Paper displays as much of the report as it can (in the window). If each line is longer than you you can see on screen, you can scroll the window (with the left/right arrow keys, the TAB keys, or the mouse). You can also scroll the window up and down with the up/down arrow keys, [ PgUp], [PgDn], [Home], [End], or the mouse. CheckMate Plus presents the "highlighted bar" as a straight edge for your use while viewing the report. Virtual Paper is a marvelous tool for viewing reports prior to spending lots of time (and money) printing them to paper. The only drawback is memory usage. In order to allow forward and backward scrolling, CheckMate Plus must store the entire report in memory. This can take lots of your precious RAM! Fortunately, CheckMate Plus uses on the fly "run length encoding" of white spaces to dramatically reduce the memory requirements for most reports. Also, CheckMate Plus releases memory that it doesn't need (in fact, CheckMate Plus is constantly allocating and deallocating memory throughout the program operation). Obviously, the more RAM available to CheckMate Plus the less likely you'll see CheckMate Plus complain. But even with as little as 512K bytes available, CheckMate Plus should be able to handle all but the largest reports in Virtual Paper. 6.1.2.2 To the Printer Select "Printer" in the "Print To" field to generate a hard copy of your report. You can change the printer port (LPT1, LPT2, COM1, and CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 58 COM2) in the "Report Parameters" window (see next section, "Report Parameters"). + NOTE: If you tell CheckMate Plus to print to a printer that is off, off-line, or doesn't even exist, what will happen next depends on YOUR COMPUTER and your ROM BIOS. Some computers will return execution to CheckMate Plus. CheckMate Plus then displays an appropriate message and stops trying to print. Other computers will simply "hang" until you fix the problem (i.e. turn on the printer, etc). You may have to "reboot" your system if your computer does this (and there is NOTHING that CheckMate Plus can do about it!). 6.1.2.3 To a File If you want to write the formatted report to a disk file in ASCII format, enter "File" in the "Print To" field before you start printing. You'll have to enter a legal DOS filename in the "File Name" field. You can specify the entire name, including a "path" (in the space you have available). CheckMate Plus will promptly notify you if it can't create the report file. 6.1.3 Title The report "Title" appears on the title line (just below company/personal information and on the same line as the report date). You can enter this title in the "Report Title" field. Some reports "pre-initialize" the title. If so, you can change it before you start printing. 6.1.4 Footer The report "Footer" appears at the bottom of every page (on the same line as the page number). You can customize the footer in the "Report Footer" field. 6.1.5 The "Utility" Menu While you're setting your report options (before you print the report), you can pop a "utility" menu up by pressing [F2]. The "utility" menu has two options: "Set Report Parameters" and "Set Search and Filter". These options are discussed in detail in the following sections. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 59 6.2 Report Parameters When you select "Set Report Parameters" from the "Utilities" menu, the "Report Parameters Setup Window" will appear. The "Report Parameters" let you set items such as margins, line lengths, the printer port, and any setup or exit control strings you want to send to your printer. We put these items in a separate (less accessible) window since we anticipate you won't be changing them very often. You can set default values for all these fields (see the chapter "Setup and Options"). Margins You can set the "margins" (top, bottom, left, and right). Express the top and bottom margins as a number of lines, and the left and right margins as a number of characters. + NOTE: CheckMate Plus assumes that you're using "fixed width" fonts for your reports (rather than proportionally spaced fonts). Most printers do use (or at least have the option to use) fixed width fonts. CheckMate Plus does not support "postscript" printers at this time. Paper Sizes Paper size is a function of the number of lines per page you can print and the number of characters on each line. These numbers are absolute (i.e. they include margins). Most printers put 66 lines on a page. Many laser printers, however, require built-in top and bottom margins. The Hewlett Packard LaserJet, for example, can only print 60 lines per page. The number of characters per line you print will usually be determined by either the width of the paper (most paper is 8.5'' wide) or by the "pitch" of the print. For instance, if your printer has a "compressed" mode (17 characters per inch), you can print 132 characters on a standard letter-sized sheet of paper. + NOTE: You can use the "Printer Setup Strings" (discussed below) to "command" your printer into compressed mode. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 60 Page Control You can tell CheckMate Plus to "pause" after each page to let you feed paper (if you're not using a laser printer or continuous feed paper). Printer Port CheckMate Plus lets you direct your printed reports to LPT1, LPT2, COM1, or COM2. Set your printer port in the "Printer Port for Reports" field. (This is a "menu field", so press [alt-F10] or the center mouse button to "pop" the menu up). Setup Strings CheckMate Plus lets you define printer "setup" and "exit" strings to control such things as margins, character pitch, attributes, etc. CheckMate Plus sends the "setup" strings to your printer before it starts the report and the "exit" strings after the report is completed. For instance, you may want to "command" your printer to print 17 characters per inch for some of the reports. You would enter the proper "control codes" in the "Printer Setup Strings" field. You'll probably want to use the "exit" strings to reset your printer (for normal operation). The printer control codes can be found in your printer manual. The format for entry is \<decimal code>\<decimal code>\.... The back-slashes delimit the codes. Here is an example: \27\85 This string represents an <ESC> 'U'. (That's an escape-capital-U). This is a popular means of defining printer codes. 6.2.1 Saving Report Parameters Press [F10] while in the "Report Parameters Setup Window" to save your setups for later use. CheckMate Plus will ask you for a name (to associate with the setups). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 61 6.2.2 Retrieving Report Parameters To retrieve a set of previously defined parameters, press [F9] while in the "Report Parameters Setup Window". If you've previously saved any setups, CheckMate Plus will present you with a menu to select from. 6.2.3 Deleting Report Parameters from Disk To delete a setup you've previously saved, first "retrieve" the desired setup (as described above). Then press [F8]. CheckMate Plus will prompt you to confirm your intentions before actually deleting the setup. 6.3 "Search and Filter" Many reports search the transaction database. You can limit the search by setting a "search and filter" pattern for each transaction to "match". Select "Set Search and Filter" to pop-up the "Search and Filter" window. Remember that the "search and filter" pattern doesn't have any effect unless the "filter flag" is set. (The word "FILT" will appear on the "top line" of the screen when the filter flag is active. Press [alt- F] to toggle the filter flag on and off. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 62 Chapter 7 Designing Custom Reports CheckMate Plus has a host of built-in reports. You may, however, wish to customize some of them to meet your specific needs. You may customize your summary reports. These are the reports that show account balances and activity. In particular, you can customize two specific types of reports: balance sheets and income statements. You select the type of report you want to customize from the "Maintenance" menu. Pick either "Define Custom Balance Sheets" or "Define Custom Income Statement". Both selections will pop-up another menu with two options: "Enter new Report Definitions" or "Edit existing Report Definitions". If you select "edit", CheckMate Plus will present a menu of previously defined reports (if any exist). Select the report you want. + NOTE: Even though we call these "BALANCE SHEETS" or "INCOME STATEMENTS", you can really design any type of report you wish. The difference between a "balance sheet" and an "income statement" is primarily the calculation that takes place. Balance sheets report balances on a specific date, while income statements report activity (or the change in balance) between two dates. When you design your custom reports, keep this distinction in mind, and select the model that fits your requirement. You'll enter and edit your report definitions with CheckMate Plus' built in editor. (See Chapter 2 for more details). When you're done with your entries, press [F10] to save your definition to disk. Press [F9] to delete a definition that you're editing. The rest of this chapter is devoted to the actual report definition format. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 63 7.1 Report Definition Format We've made every possible effort to make the report definition format as simple as possible in CheckMate Plus. We realize that a feature is not really useful unless people use it. We think you'll find CheckMate Plus' report definition format very easy to master. + NOTE: In any definition language, you must "trade off" flexibility with ease-of-use. In order to make the report definition language truly easy to use, we've restricted its flexibility somewhat. We hope we've hit the optimum balance. The report definition format is very simple. Essentially, all you have to do is type the report just as you want it to appear when you print it. Look at this example: This is a Test Balance Sheet. ASSETS Cash Checking Account Building -- etc -- LIABILITIES Accounts Payable Salaries Payable -- etc -- EQUITY -- etc -- .end Here's how the report will look when CheckMate Plus prints it: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 64 ------------------------------------------------------------------ XYZ Shoes, Inc PO Box 0000 Anytown, USA (555) 555-5555 "Our Shoes Smell Good" ------------------------------------------------------------------ Jul 5, 1990 ------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Test Balance Sheet. ASSETS Cash Checking Account Building -- etc -- LIABILITIES Accounts Payable Salaries Payable -- etc -- EQUITY -- etc -- Page 1 Figure 7.1: A "Test" Custom Balance Sheet While you define the report, keep in mind that CheckMate Plus will put the text on the same lines and in the same columns as you enter them. It's that simple. Notice that we ended the report definition with ".end". The ".end" command tells CheckMate Plus when to end the report. You must place the command in column one. The ".end" won't show up on the report when you print it. 7.1.1 Account Balances Of course, the reports won't be of much use if you can't print actual values. CheckMate Plus makes this easy, too. To print an account's "balance" enter the account's number within brackets, like this: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 65 {#1} or {#10000} The first expression will cause CheckMate Plus to print the balance of account #1 (ASSETS). The second expression prints the balance of account 10000. Notice the pound sign ("#") preceding the account's number. The "balance" will take up as much space as you allow with the brackets. If you want the balance to take up twelve spaces, for instance, enter the balance as such: {#1 } The number will be right-justified in the field (so you can line up columns of numbers) and will include commas and two digits after the decimal point. The length CheckMate Plus will print includes the brackets. (This makes it easy to design the report. Everything prints exactly as it appears while you enter it). Let's expand our earlier example to include the balances: This is a Test Balance Sheet. ASSETS {#1 } Cash {#10000 } Checking Account {#10001 } Building {#10002 } -- etc -- LIABILITIES {#2 } Accounts Payable {#20000 } Salaries Payable {#20001 } -- etc -- EQUITY {#3 } -- etc -- Here's how our ammended report will look when CheckMate Plus prints it: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 66 ------------------------------------------------------------------ XYZ Shoes, Inc PO Box 0000 Anytown, USA (555) 555-5555 "Our Shoes Smell Good" ------------------------------------------------------------------ Jul 5, 1990 ------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Test Balance Sheet. ASSETS 145,732.35 Cash 1,685.11 Checking Account 1,642.69 Building 101,987.88 -- etc -- LIABILITIES 89,038.05 Accounts Payable 1,345.00 Salaries Payable 3,150.00 -- etc -- EQUITY 54,430.43 -- etc -- Page 1 Figure 7.2: A "Test" Custom Balance Sheet with Account Values See how CheckMate Plus let's you line up the columns? + NOTE: Remember that the value CheckMate Plus will print depends upon the type of report you define. "Balance Sheets" will print the actual balance of the account (on the balance sheet date). "Income Statements" will print the change in the balance of the account between two dates. 7.1.2 Budget Information You can also have CheckMate Plus print budget information on the report. The format is identical to the "balances", except use a "%" instead of a "#" inside the brackets. For example, {%10000} CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 67 will CheckMate Plus to print budget information for account number 10000. CheckMate Plus prints the budget information as a percentage of the actual balance over the same period of time. The budget information really only makes sense for "Income Statements". 7.1.3 Calculations At times, you'll need to perform some calculations before printing. CheckMate Plus lets you "embed" calculations in the report. Suppose, for instance, that you need to calculate PROFIT for your Income Statement. Since PROFIT=REVENUE-EXPENSES, you can't derive profit from any one account's balance. If you start a line in the report definition with a period ("."), CheckMate Plus will treat that line as a calculation line (it won't print in the report). They work like this: .Profit=#4-#5 "Profit" becomes a variable. Here we have assigned it the value of account number 4 (REVENUE) minus the value of account number 5 (EXPENSES). You can then use "Profit" inside the braces (just like balances and budget information). Hence, these lines in the report will print the profit: .Profit=#4-#5 Profit = {Profit } You can embed the "calculation lines" anywhere in the report, so long as column 1 has a period! The variables may be reused. You can even include numbers in the calculations. For example: .Total=100+#1-300/2 This is a valid calculation line. The calculations can include multiplication ("*"), division ("/"), addition ("+"), and subtraction ("-"). The standard mathematical order of precedence applies, and you can use parentheses in the expression. 7.2 Tips on Designing Reports If you think about designing your reports for a minute, you can see how much flexibility you really have. You can enter any text you CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 68 want, and arrange the values to print alongside it. This means you can "summarize" the report as you see fit. Here's where "summary" accounts are particularly useful. Suppose, for instance, you have three bank accounts (numbered 10000, 10001, and 10002). You can define a summary account number 1000 and call it "Cash in Banks". Then you can define an report that would print out like this: 10000 First Bank 1,232.12 10002 Second Bank 756.55 10003 Third Bank 2,334.00 Total 4,322.67 Here's what the actual definition would look like: 10000 First Bank {#10000 } 10002 Second Bank {#10001 } 10003 Third Bank {#10002 } Total {#1000 } + IMPORTANT: Remember that for the above example to work properly, you can't have any accounts numbered 10003 through 10009! Refer to Chapter 3 for more information on "summary" accounts. You could also do the above summation with variables and calculation lines (see above). You can see that with a little imagination, you can design some very powerful and useful reports. You can create up to 40 "balance sheets" and up to 40 "income statements" for a total of 80 custom report definitions. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 69 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 70 Chapter 8 Reconciling Checking Accounts One of CheckMate Plus' most useful features is checking account reconciliation. CheckMate Plus goes beyond most checking account programs in that it can completely re-create bank statements at any time! CheckMate Plus does this by recording the date each transaction clears (and it does this automatically). Select "Reconcile" from the "Reports" menu to start reconciling (this option only appears on the menu if the current control account is a checking account). Checking account reconciliation is a four step process: o Enter the "statement" date from your bank statement. This is important! o Enter any "new" transactions (interest earned, service charges, or transactions you "missed" during the month). o Mark transactions that have cleared on this statement. o Print the "Reconciliation Report". 8.0.0.1 Your Statement Date Your first step is entering the statement date (from your bank statement). This is important because CheckMate Plus will save this date (in the "date cleared" field) for every transaction on the statement. The statement date should be clearly marked as such on your bank statement. Enter the date, and move on to step two (monthly events). 8.0.0.2 Monthly Events "Monthly events" are those transactions that appear on your statement every month (such as interest earned or service charges). After you've entered your "statement date", press [F3] to enter these CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 71 transactions (if you have any). CheckMate Plus pops up the familiar "enter transactions" form for you. You have all the features normally available (including the "pop-up menu" and "utilities"). + IMPORTANT: Be sure and enter the correct date for these transactions! The date must be on or before the "statement date" or the transactions won't appear while "clearing" (see below). Repeat this step for each "monthly event" you need to enter. Then proceed to step three (clearing transactions). 8.0.0.3 Clearing Transactions Press [F4] to "clear" transactions. At this point, CheckMate Plus will search through the data file looking for transactions that have not cleared (dated before the statement date) and transactions that have already cleared on the statement date. Keep in mind that you may have transactions from long ago that have either not cleared (or have cleared on this date). If you have several years worth of data, be patient as CheckMate Plus searches the file! It's absolutely necessary. Once CheckMate Plus is done scanning the file, the "Reconcile Window" will appear. (This window is very similar to the "Browse Window). Each transaction takes one line. Transactions that have "cleared" are marked with "arrows" at each end. You should also check to see if any of the transactions on the statement come after that date. (Sometimes banks will show service charges or interest on the day following the statement date). If this is the case, then mark those transactions as occurring on the statement date. 8.0.0.4 The Reconciliation Report After you've marked every "cleared" transaction, you're ready to print the "Reconciliation Report". Because CheckMate Plus records the "date cleared" for every transaction, this report should have exactly the same information as your bank statement. Press [F10] to start the report process. CheckMate Plus has to search the entire file (from start to statement date) looking for transactions that may have "cleared" on this statement. If you have several years worth of data, this could take a few minutes. After CheckMate Plus has searched the file, the "Reconciliation Report Window" appears. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 72 Set any options you wish and then press [F10] to print. The report should list all transactions that cleared on this bank statement. At the bottom of the report, CheckMate Plus will list six additional items: Balance Last Statement Balance This Statement Number of Checks and Debits Number of Deposits and Credits Total of Checks and Debits Total of Deposits and Credits Most bank statements also include these lines. If all is well, the numbers on the report should match you statement exactly. If not, carefully compare the report to the statement to track down the error. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 73 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 74 Chapter 9 Printing Checks In this chapter, we'll discuss how to use CheckMate Plus to print your checks. You can use pin-feed checks, laser checks, or even "single" checks right out of your checkbook! + NOTE: Before you can print any checks, you must have assigned a "check layout" to the account you're using. You do this while entering (or editing) accounts under the "Accounts" menu. You don't have to print every check. Many CheckMate Plus users print some checks and write others by hand. This is easy to do in CheckMate Plus... just make sure you manually set the "PRINTED" flag while you're entering (or editing) the checks you write by hand. + TIMESAVER: If you're not printing any checks (that is, you're writing them all by hand), just "ignore" the "PRINTED" flag! You don't have to set it to "YES". 9.1 Printing Your Checks You can print your checks at two different times: while you're writing them (one at a time) or in "batch". In either case, you'll have to properly align the check in the printer before printing. This may seem difficult at first (especially with individual checks), but it becomes second nature with a little practice. + SPECIAL NOTE: Most dot-matrix printers have "pull tractors", which means you have to feed and extra check up to the tractor each time you print. This means you must discard one check each time you print, and could mess up the check "numbers". If you're buying pin-feed checks for CheckMate Plus, we suggest you order them without preprinted check numbers (and let CheckMate Plus print the number on the check). You can only print checks from the currently active control account. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 75 9.1.0.1 Printing while Editing At any time while you're entering (or editing) a check, you can print it by popping up the "utilities menu". The "print check" option appears. Select it to print your check immediately. Make sure your printer and check are ready before you select this option! CheckMate Plus prints the check immediately. After printing, CheckMate Plus will mark the check's "PRINTED" flag to "YES". 9.1.0.2 Printing in "Batch" If you so choose, you can have CheckMate Plus print all your checks at one time (in batch). Select "Print Checks" from the "Reports" menu. (The "Print Checks" option will only appear if the current control account is a checking account). CheckMate Plus will display the first check to print. At this point, you have some options. You may print each check (one at a time) by pressing the [SPACE BAR]. CheckMate Plus will pause between each one. (This is the way you'll want to print checks if you're feeding them into your printer one at a time). If you want to print all the checks one after another (without pausing between each one), press [F10]. You can press [F10] anytime, even if you've already printed some checks with the [SPACE BAR]. If you discover you've already written a check that's to be printed, you can press [F2] to have CheckMate Plus mark it as printed without actually printing it! We added this feature in case you're mixing writing checks by hand and printing them. We suggest you manually mark the check as printed while you enter it. But if you forget, you can correct it here. Before CheckMate Plus can print any checks, it must "parse" the check layout and make sure there are no "syntax" errors. CheckMate Plus' check writing language is by far the most powerful in the industry, with many features and maximum flexibility. (See "Designing Your Own Check Layout" for more information). If CheckMate Plus finds an error in your check layout, the "Error in Check Layout" window appears (with an error message and error location). At this point you have two options. Press [F2] to immediately enter the "Editing Check Layout" window. CheckMate Plus will jump to the error. Make your corrections, press [F10] to save them, and CheckMate Plus returns to the task of printing your checks. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 76 You can repeat this "loop" as many times as necessary to perfect your layout. Pressing any other key in the "Error in Check Layout" window causes CheckMate Plus to abort printing checks and return to the menu. Press [ESC] to abort printing checks. After CheckMate Plus has printed all your checks, you automatically return to the "Reports" menu. 9.2 Selecting a Check Layout Before you can print checks with CheckMate Plus, you must tell CheckMate Plus how your checks are "laid out". You can have up to 40 unique check layouts. CheckMate Plus comes with three layouts preinstalled: o NEBS 9025 (pin-feed check with stub) o NEBS 9027 (laser printer check with stub) o NEBS 9029 (pin-feed check without stub) These checks are manufactured by New England Business Service, INC (NEBS). You received a package with this User's Guide containing information and an order form. If you didn't get one or you've misplaced it, call us at (719) 260-0402 and will send the complete package to you. You can modify these definitions, and even create your own! (See "Designing Your Own Check Layout" below). You may have up to 40 definitions. You "assign" a check layout to each checking account while you enter (or edit the account). See "Chapter 3: Accounts" for more information. 9.3 Designing Your Own Check Layout To design or modify a check layout, select "Define Check Layout" from the "Maintenance" menu. You'll see another menu with two options: "Enter new Check Layout" or "Edit existing Check Layout". CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 77 If you select "edit", CheckMate Plus will present a menu of previously defined layouts (if any exist). Select the layout you want. You'll enter and edit your check layouts with CheckMate Plus' built in editor. (See Chapter 2 for more details). When you're done with your entries, press [F10] to save your layout to disk. Press [F9] to delete a layout you're editing. The rest of this chapter is devoted to the check layout "language". CheckMate Plus' layout language is modeled after the "PASCAL" programming language. If you have any programming experience, you should have no trouble mastering the layout language. If you're a novice, or if you're uncomfortable with programming, you may want to find a more experienced friend to help you (or consider using one of the NEBS checks discussed above). 9.4 The Check Layout Language Defining a check layout is considerably different than designing a custom report. We wanted to give the user an unparalleled capability for spacing lines, changing fonts, and manipulating text and values as the check is being printed. To be able to do these types of things, you have to be able to issue "commands" to the printer rather than simply drawing a "template" of the check. 9.4.1 Reserved Words and Variables Let's start with a list of "reserved" words. These are the actual commands that CheckMate Plus expects in your layout. We'll detail each of these in subsequent sections. Begin End Page Pause NewCheck FillersOn FillersOff CommasOn CommasOff Column SkipLines Write Writeln Stub Variable PrintTo Input PrinterString Table 9.1: Check Layout Language Reserved Words You also have access to these built-in variables for each check. Again, we'll elaborate on each one later: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 78 Date Check Number PayTo For Vendor Acct# Comments Amount Tax Ded Marked Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Amount String Table 9.2: Check Layout Language Built-in Variables 9.4.2 Command Sequence The check layout language is a "free format language". The only ordering requirement is that each layout starts with the "begin" keyword and ends with the "end" keyword. begin . . (your layout here) . . end Notice that the "end" doesn't require a "." before it (as the report definitions do). In between the "begin" and "end", you can enter commands in any order you desire. You can have more than one command on a line. All commands are separated by semicolons (";"). Here's an example: begin SkipLines(8); column(10); FillersOn; write(Amount String,L,61,0); FillersOff; end; (We'll discuss what the actual commands do shortly). You can also embed comments in the layout. The comments are for your benefit -- (they don't print or affect the printer in any way). Enter comments between braces ("{" and "}"). All comments must fit on a single line. begin SkipLines(8); {Start on line # 9} CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 79 column(10); {Start in column 10} FillersOn; write(Amount String,L,61,0); {write the spelled out amount} FillersOff; end; 9.4.3 A Simple Example Now let's generate a very simple example layout. Let's assume that our checks have the date on line 3 in column 55. We want to print the payee's name on line 6 in column 4 (and we have 40 spaces available to print in). After the payee's name (also on line 6) is the dollar amount of the check, starting in column 58 with 13 spaces available. Finally, we want to print the "spelled out amount" (such as Ten & 45/100 ***** dollars) on line 8. We'll start in column 4 and we have 64 spaces available. Here's the layout: begin SkipLines(2); {Start on line 3} column(55); writeln(Date,L,12,0); {Print the date} writeln; {Go to line 5} writeln; {Go to line 6} column(4); write(PayTo,L,40,0); {Write payee} FillersOn; column(58); write(Amount,R,13,0); {Write the amount} writeln; {Go to line 7} writeln; {Go to line 8} column(4); write(Amount String,L,64,0); FillersOff; SkipLines(6); {Eject the check} NewCheck; {Set up for next check} CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 80 end Now let's discuss each of the command: SkipLines(2) This command tells CheckMate Plus to skip the first two lines of the check and start on line 3. column(55) Now we're telling CheckMate Plus to advance to column 55 of the current line. writeln(Date,L,12,0) The "writeln" command instructs CheckMate Plus to write the date at the current column. The "12" means we have twelve spaces available in which to print the date. The "L" means to left-justify the date in the 12 character field. Finally, the "0" is an "option number". This number will have different meanings for different variables. Every time we do a writeln, we go to column one of the next line. writeln Next we did two writeln's (without any parameters). This just means that we'll skip two lines (we could also have used the "SkipLines" command again). column(4) Now we advance to column 4 to print the payee's name. write(PayTo,L,40,0) Like the "writeln" command, the "write" command prints the variable. But unlike the writeln, we do not advance to the next line after we're done! This command tells CheckMate Plus to print the payee's name left-justified in a 40 column field. FillersOn This command tells CheckMate Plus to "fill" blanks with asterisks ("*"). You'll see why when you look at the next two commands. column(58) Advance to column 58. We're still on the same line with the payee's name. write(Amount,R,13,2) This command writes the amount of the check. The "R" means right-justified in a 13 character field. Since fillers are on (see above), and leading blanks are converted to asterisks while it's printed. For example, "100.00" would appear as "*******100.00". CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 81 The "2" (in the options field) tells CheckMate Plus to print two digits after the decimal point. writeln Now we do two more writeln's to advance to line 8. column(4) Go to column 4. write(Amount String,L,64,0) This writes the "spelled out amount". The fillers are still on, so the asterisks will fill in all trailing blanks. FillersOff Turn fillers off for the next check. SkipLines(6) Push the current check out. NewCheck This command resets CheckMate Plus' internal counters for the next check. Are you getting the idea? Now let's look at CheckMate Plus' layout commands in more detail. 9.4.4 Layout Commands 9.4.4.1 Begin The "Begin" command takes no arguments. You must start each layout with a "Begin". Also, you don't place a semicolon after the "begin". Example: begin 9.4.4.2 Column(<column number>) The "Column" command takes one argument (the column you want to move to). Example: column(10); + NOTE: If you're already past the desired column, CheckMate Plus issues a carriage return without a line feed (to return to column 1) and then moves to the correct column. Some printers will automatically advance one line when they receive a carriage return without a line feed. Others printers will ignore the return and stay CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 82 at the same column. The best thing to do is avoid the circumstances that would cause CheckMate Plus to issue the carriage return. 9.4.4.3 CommasOff "CommasOff" takes no arguments. This command causes all subsequent numbers to be printed without commas. For instance, the number "1,454,778.45" would appear as "1454778.45". Example: CommasOff; 9.4.4.4 CommasOn "CommasOn" takes no arguments. This command causes all subsequent numbers to be printed with commas. Example: CommasOn; 9.4.4.5 End The "End" command takes no arguments. You must end each layout with the "End" command. The "End" command does not have a semicolon after it. Example: end 9.4.4.6 FillersOff "FillersOff" takes no arguments. This command causes all subsequent variables and text to be printed with "blanks" in the unused space. To better understand, look at "FillersOn" below. Example: FillersOff; CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 83 9.4.4.7 FillersOn "FillersOn" takes no arguments. This command causes all subsequent variables and text to be printed with asterisks ("*") in the unused space. You'll want to turn fillers on while printing the amount and amount string on the check (to make the check harder to modify). For example, "FillersOn" will cause the number "100.00" to print as "*****100.00" and "One Hundred & 00/100********". ALL text and variables are affected by "FillersOn". "FillersOff" (above) will turn the fillers off again. Example: FillersOn; 9.4.4.8 Input(<variable>,<prompt>,<response length>) The "Input" command requires three arguments: o A variable to assign the input to o A "prompt" message o The length of the input response When CheckMate Plus finds this command in the check layout, it will pause, display the "prompt message", and wait for you to enter the variable. You must have defined the variable with the "Variable" command before using it in an "Input" command. The variable can be any type, but it must be user-defined (as opposed to built-in). The "response length" is how much space CheckMate Plus will give you to enter the variable. The maximum length is 70 characters. Example: Input(Message,'Enter your message:',25); 9.4.4.9 NewCheck "NewCheck" takes no parameters. This command resets internal counters within CheckMate Plus. You should issue this command once at the end of the layout. Example: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 84 NewCheck; 9.4.4.10 Page The "Page" command takes no arguments. The "Page" command sends a form feed to the printer. You can use this to eject single checks or when printing laser checks. Example: Page; 9.4.4.11 Pause The "Pause" command takes no arguments. When CheckMate Plus encounters this command, it will display a "pause message" and wait for the [SPACE BAR]. This is very useful for printing individual checks (the ones you tear out of your checkbook). You can have CheckMate Plus pause to adjust the check or lower the paper bail bar. Example: Pause; 9.4.4.12 PrinterString(<decimal number>,<decimal number>,...) "PrinterString" takes multiple arguments (from one to as many that will fit on the line). This command lets you send control codes to your printer (to change the font, line spacing, pitch, or anything else your printer supports). You may, for instance, want to place the printer in "italic mode" to print the payee's name. Enter each character to be sent to the printer as a decimal number representing the ASCII code for that character. (You'll find these codes in your printer's manual). Separate each code with a comma. Example: PrinterString(27,15,45); + NOTE: If you use the "PrinterString" command to change the pitch or width of the characters, CheckMate Plus can't accurately keep track of the current character "column". You may have to "experiment" to place text and variables exactly where you want. We suggest issuing a "column(1)" command to send the current character position back to CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 85 column 1. Some printers can't properly handle the carriage return, however (see the "Column" command above). 9.4.4.13 PrintTo(<destination>) The "PrintTo" command requires a single argument: where you want to send the check output. The "destination" you enter is a text string up to 66 characters long. If your printer is LPT1, then enter 'LPT1' as your destination. Other choices may be LPT2, COM1, COM2, etc. You can also enter a filename with a complete file path (although we don't know why you'd want to print checks to a file). If you don't use the "PrintTo" command in your layout, CheckMate Plus will default the output to LPT1. Example: PrintTo('LPT1'); 9.4.4.14 SkipLines(<number of lines to skip>) "SkipLines" takes one argument: the number of lines you want to skip. CheckMate Plus issues a carriage return and line feed for each line, and sets the current column to 1. Example: SkipLines(5); 9.4.4.15 Stub(<left margin>,<chars/line>,<starting line>,<lines to print>) The "Stub" command takes four arguments: o The left margin (number of characters) o Characters per Line o Stub line to start printing o Total number of lines to print CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 86 The "left margin" is the number of characters CheckMate Plus will skip before printing each line. "Characters per Line" is the number of characters CheckMate Plus will print after the left margin. "Stub line to start printing" is the first line of the stub CheckMate Plus will print (that is, it "skips" the lines above it). Total number of lines to print is the number of stub lines CheckMate Plus will print. + IMPORTANT: CheckMate Plus lets you print a custom stub or an "accounts payable" stub. (See "Stub Layout" in Chapter 4 for more information). Most of the above parameters refer to the custom stub. The "accounts payable" stub recognizes only the "left margin". "Characters per Line" defaults to 75; "Stub line to start printing" defaults to 1, and the "Total number of lines to print" defaults to 15. If you're going to mix custom and accounts payable stubs, it would be a good idea to set the "stub" parameters with these defaults so the custom stub will exactly match the accounts payable stub. Example: Stub(3,75,1,15); 9.4.4.16 Write(<variable or text>,<justification>,<field length>,<option>) The "Write" command prints a variable or text string at the current column on the current line. The "Write" command takes three or four arguments (depending on what you're writing): o Variable or Text o Justification o Field Length o Option (for variables only) The first argument is either a variable or text. If the argument starts (and ends) with a single quote (') then CheckMate Plus treats it as a text string rather than a variable. You can "write" all the built in variables as well as any you define yourself (see the "Variable" command). "Justification" is how you want the text or variable to print in its field. Enter a "L" for left-justified, "R" for right-justified, and "C" for centered. For instance, if you wanted to print the word "Test" in a field 8 characters long, here's how it would appear (the CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 87 "|" character denotes the start and end of the field. It doesn't print): Left-Justified: |Test | Right-Justified: | Test| Centered: | Test | "Field Length" is how many character spaces the text or variable can occupy. The "option" argument is valid only for variables. In most cases, you'll leave this field a zero ("0"). For any "numeric" variables (such as "amount" or user-defined reals and integers, the "option" represents the number of digits to display after the decimal point (usually two). See "Built-in Variables" for more information. Examples: Write(PayTo,L,35,0); Write('This is a test',C,40); 9.4.4.17 Writeln(<variable or text>,<justification>,<field length>,<option>) The "Writeln" command is identical to the "Write" command, except that a carriage return and linefeed are sent to the printer at the end of the command (and the current column is reset to 1). You can also issue a "Writeln" command with no arguments (which forces the printer to advance on line and sets the column counter to 1). Examples: Writeln(PayTo,L,35,0); Writeln('This is a test',C,40); Writeln; 9.4.4.18 Variable(<variable name>,<type>,<size>) This command lets you define your own variables (for printing, inputting data, or for use in expressions). The "Variable" command takes two or three arguments, depending on the variable type: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 88 o Variable name o Variable type (string, real, or integer) o Variable size (string only) The variable "name" may be any combination of letters and numbers up to twenty characters long. You may also use any "printable" characters (including spaces) other than commas, semicolons, and the plus ("+") sign. Names are not case-sensitive. Each variable's name must be unique. You can define three types of variables: strings, reals, and integers. Strings are "text", reals are "floating point numbers", and integers are "whole numbers". "Variable size" is available only when you're defining a "string". Strings can be any length from 1 to 255 characters long. (Note, however, that CheckMate Plus will only print out to 132 columns). Examples: Variable(Total,real); Variable(Message,string,40); Variable(Number,integer); 9.4.5 Built-in Variables Here is a detailed list of the built-in variables you can print (and their associated "options" if any). Use the "options" with the "Write" and "Writeln" commands (see above). 9.4.5.1 Date The "Date" variable represents the transaction date. When you print the "date" (using "Write" or "Writeln"), you can affect the printing with the following "options" (see the "Write" command above): Options: o 0: displays the date as MMM DD, YYYY (i.e. Nov 25, 1990) o 1: displays the month and day as MMM DD (i.e. Nov 25) CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 89 o 2: displays the year as YYYY (i.e. 1990) o 3: displays the month as MMM (i.e. Nov) o 4: displays the day as DD (i.e. 25) o 5: displays the year as YY (i.e. 90) o 6: displays the month as MM (i.e. 11) o 7: displays the date as MM/DD/YY (i.e. 11/25/90) o 8: displays the date as MM/DD/YYYY (i.e. 11/25/1990) o 9: displays the month and day as MM/DD (i.e. 11/25) o 10: displays the date as DD/MM/YY (i.e. 25/11/90) o 11: displays the date as DD/MM/YYYY (i.e. 25/11/1990) o 12: displays the date as MMM DD, YYYY (i.e. Jan 25, 1990) o 13: displays the date (as you've set under "General Setups") 9.4.5.2 Check Number This variable holds the current "Check Number" (an integer). 9.4.5.3 PayTo The "PayTo" variable holds the name of the "payee" on the check. It is a string variable up to 35 characters long. 9.4.5.4 For The "For" variable holds the "For" field on the check. It is a string variable up to 25 characters long. 9.4.5.5 Vendor Acct# The "Vendor Acct#" variable holds the "Vendor Account Number" on the check. It is a string variable up to 30 characters long. 9.4.5.6 Comments The "Comments" variable holds the "Comments" on the check. It is a string variable up to 67 characters long. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 90 9.4.5.7 Amount The "Amount" variable holds the "amount" of the check. When you print the amount, the "option" field controls the number of digits displayed after the decimal point (usually 2). 9.4.5.8 Tax Ded The "Tax Ded" variable is YES or NO. It is a string variable up to 3 characters long. 9.4.5.9 Marked The "Marked" variable is YES or NO. It is a string variable up to 3 characters long. 9.4.5.10 Address 1 "Address 1" is the first address line on the check. It is a string variable up to 35 characters long. 9.4.5.11 Address 2 "Address 2" is the second address line on the check. It is a string variable up to 35 characters long. 9.4.5.12 Address 3 "Address 3" is the third address line on the check. It is a string variable up to 35 characters long. 9.4.5.13 Amount String The "Amount String" is the "spelled out amount". It is a string variable up to 130 characters long. 9.4.6 Expressions CheckMate Plus' layout language also permits you to enter "expressions" and assign the results to a user-defined variable. You can then further manipulate or print the variable. Here is the expression syntax: <user defined variable>=<expression>; CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 91 Notice that expressions also end with semicolons. The left side of the equation MUST be a user-defined variable (of any type). 9.4.6.1 Numeric Expressions If the variable on the left side of the equation is either an integer or a real, then the expression and all factors in it must be numeric. You can freely mix reals and integers in the expressions. The final result will be the same type as the variable you're assigning it to. You can use all standard operators (multiplication ("*"), division ("/"), addition ("+"), and subtraction ("-")) as well as parentheses to control the order of precedence. If you don't use parentheses, the order of precedence is: multiplication and division (in order of appearance), then addition and subtraction (in order of appearance). These are "standard" rules of precedence. Here's an example: variable(Number,real); Number=10+20/4; "Number" now holds the value "15". Here's a more complex example: variable(Number,real); variable(Total,real); Number=10+20/4; Total=(Number+3)*2; The variable "Number" now holds "15", while the variable "Total" holds "36". Remember you can include the built-in variables in the expression and you can use the "Input" (see above) command to assign values at print time. 9.4.6.2 String Expressions If the variable on the left side of the equation is a string, then all factors in the expression must be either string variables or text. String expression can use only on operator: concatenation ("+"). Here's an example: variable(Message,string,30); Message='Hi there'; The variable "Message" now holds the string "Hi there". Let's make the example a little more complex: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 92 variable(Message,string,30); variable(Name,string,20); Message='Hi there'; Name='John'; Message=Message+'! My Name is '+Name+'.'; Now the variable "Message" holds the string "Hi there! My Name is John." Remember you can use the "Input" command (see above) to assign text to variables at print time. You can also use "built-in" string variables in the expression. Can you see you can put together complex messages to print on the check? CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 93 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 94 Chapter 10 Graphics In addition to text reports, CheckMate Plus has a variety of graphic reports that can help you "visualize" your financial status. 10.1 System Requirements CheckMate Plus can display graphs on most PC graphics hardware. It supports CGA, EGA, VGA, and Hercules graphics. CheckMate Plus doesn't print graphs as of yet. If you need hard copies, use a "screen dump" utility (there are many available as commercial, shareware, and public domain utilities). 10.2 Graphic Reports The graphic reports in CheckMate Plus center around either a single or multiple accounts. When you first select "Graphics" from the "Reports" menu, CheckMate Plus will pop-up a menu asking which option you want: "One Account" or "Ledger". If you select "One Account", CheckMate Plus pops up yet another menu with two options: "Account Activity" or "Budget Analysis". Alternatively, selecting "Ledger" pops up a menu with these choices: Expenses vs Income Expenses by Month Income by Month Detailed Expense Detailed Income Debt to Equity Debt to Assets Let's examine each of the two menus one at a time. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 95 10.3 "One Account" Graphics Reports 10.3.1 Account Activity Graphics Report When you select this option, CheckMate Plus displays a window asking for a title, a starting month, and a "number of months" to display. This graph shows all "activity" (in the current control account only) over the range of months you specify. Press [F10] after you've entered your options and CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or line graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. 10.3.2 Budget Analysis Graphics Report After selecting this option, CheckMate Plus displays a window asking for a title, a starting month, and a "number of months" to display. This graph displays the "actual" activity of the control account next to the "budgeted" activity of the control account. Press [F10] after you've entered your options and CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or line graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. 10.4 "Ledger" Graphics Reports 10.4.1 Expenses vs Income Graphics Report This graph displays the total "revenue" next to the total "expenses" of each month you specify (for ALL accounts in your chart of accounts). Press [F10] after you've set your options. CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or line graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 96 10.4.2 Expenses by Month Graphics Report This graph displays the total "expenses" for each month you specify (for ALL accounts in your chart of accounts). Press [F10] after you've set your options. CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or line graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. 10.4.3 Income by Month Graphics Report This graph displays the total "revenue" for each month you specify (for ALL accounts in your chart of accounts). Press [F10] after you've set your options. CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or line graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. 10.4.4 Detailed Expense Graphics Report This graph displays each expense account for the month you specify (up to 32). Press [F10] after you've set your options. CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or pie graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. 10.4.5 Detailed Income Graphics Report This graph displays each revenue account for the month you specify (up to 32). Press [F10] after you've set your options. CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or pie graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. 10.4.6 Debt to Equity Graphics Report This graph displays your total debt ("liabilities") next to your total "equity" for each month you specify (for ALL accounts in your chart of accounts). Press [F10] after you've set your options. CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 97 bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or line graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. 10.4.7 Debt to Assets Graphics Report This graph displays your total debt ("liabilities") next to your total "assets" for each month you specify (for ALL accounts in your chart of accounts). Press [F10] after you've set your options. CheckMate Plus will pop up the "graph type" menu (in this case, you can display "3D" bar graphs, "plain" bar graphs, or line graphs). Make your choice and CheckMate Plus displays the graph. Press any key to exit the graph. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 98 Chapter 11 Rebuilding and Repairing We've tried hard to make CheckMate Plus as reliable as possible. There are times, however, that you may need to "rebuild" or "repair" CheckMate Plus' data files. In this chapter we'll discuss each of the rebuild options (and the circumstances under which you may want to use them). One of the three options under the "rebuild menu" should fix 99% of the problems you may encounter. If you still have difficulties, contact Custom Technologies directly. When you select "Rebuild the Database" from the "Maintenance" menu, CheckMate Plus pops up the "rebuild menu" with these options: Complete Rebuild Rebuild Index Keys Rebuild Accounts Now let's look at each option. 11.1 Rebuilding the Database The "Complete Rebuilt" option is the most robust rebuild feature available. This function actually creates a whole new file by scanning the original file from start to finish. It then generates a completely new index file. CheckMate Plus does this by first creating an empty "working" file and writing "active" records to it one by one. You can specify where this "working" file will be. (If you have a RAM disk, specify it for the "working" disk to greatly speed things up). In any case, you must have sufficient free space in your "working" directory to completely copy the data file. Once the "working" file is complete, CheckMate Plus erases the original file and copies the "working" file back to the original drive and directory. After the original file has been replaced, CheckMate Plus proceeds to regenerate every index key. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 99 + NOTE: This method of rebuilding, although somewhat slow, offers maximum safety in the event of an error, unexpected power loss, or lack of space. You'll want to use this procedure if you data file becomes corrupted for any reason. (DOS is a funny animal, and you never know what strange combination of events may cause you problems). This procedure also "compacts" the file (since it doesn't copy deleted records). If you've closed transactions or deleted a lot of records, this could significantly reduce the disk space you data file consumes. + NOTE: CheckMate Plus reuses deleted records before it expands its data file size, so you don't necessarily need to run this procedure after you delete or close transactions. After you've entered the "working" file path, press [F10] to begin the rebuild. 11.2 Rebuilding the Index File CheckMate Plus also lets you rebuild your "index" file at any time. This rebuild is less robust but much faster than the "complete rebuild" (and requires far less disk space). What CheckMate Plus does here is erase the index file and scan the data base, adding an index entry for each record. Use this procedure if transactions seem to appear more than once while editing, browsing, or printing reports. It may also find transactions that appear to be missing. Press [F10] to start the procedure. 11.3 Rebuilding Accounts The "Rebuild Accounts" option works on the account values (rather than the data file structure). This procedure computes the running balance, the last cleared transaction, and some other account specific values for all accounts in your data file. CheckMate Plus will automatically ask to run this routine any time it thinks it needs to, but you run it manually here. You'll usually need to run this procedure if you add, delete, or modify transactions out of date sequence. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 100 Press [F10] to start the rebuild. Remember this procedure affects all accounts, not just the current control account. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 101 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 102 Chapter 12 Financial Calculations CheckMate Plus has some very useful routines for doing financial calculations. They're unrelated to CheckMate Plus' primary functions, but we think you'll appreciate their availability. When you select the "Finance" menu, you'll see three choices: Loans, Regular Deposits, and Compounding. The financial calculation windows are "calculation independent". That means that given all but one of the primary variables, CheckMate Plus can calculate the last one. While you're in the windows, leave one of the variables "zero" and fill in the rest. Press [F4] and CheckMate Plus will display the missing value! You may also press [F5] to "amortize" the calculation (and print an amortization report). 12.1 Loans Select "Loans" from the "Finance" menu to open the "Loan Calculation" window. Enter all but one of the of the "numbered" fields and press [F4] to calculate the last one. Press [F5] to open the "Loan Amortization Report Window". (You have the same formatting options here that you have for any report in CheckMate Plus. See "Report Printing Options", chapter, for more information). You can also specify the "payment range" you want to print. Press [F10] to start printing after you've setup your options. + NOTE: The "total Interest paid" value in the amortization report may differ slightly from the "Loan Calculations Window". This is because the amortization report can "adjust" the final payment slightly to exactly "pay off" the loan. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 103 12.2 Regular Deposits "Regular Deposits" are savings accounts, regular bond purchases, or any savings program where you deposit a set amount of money at set intervals. For instance, you may be contributing $100 per month for 30 years as a retirement plan. Select "Regular Deposits" from the "Finance" menu to open the "Regular Deposits" window. Just as in the "Loan" window, enter all but one of the of the "numbered" fields and press [F4] to calculate the last one. Press [F5] to open the "Deposit Amortization Report Window". (You have the same formatting options here that you have for any report in CheckMate Plus. See "Report Printing Options", chapter, for more information). You can also specify the "deposits range" you want to print. Press [F10] to start printing after you've setup your options. 12.3 Compounding a Fixed Sum "Compounding a fixed sum" means depositing a lump of money once and letting it "grow" over time. Select "Compounding" from the "Finance" menu to open the window. Just as in the "Loan" window, enter all but one of the of the "numbered" fields and press [F4] to calculate the last one. Press [F5] to open the "Compounding Amortization Report Window". (You have the same formatting options here that you have for any report in CheckMate Plus. See "Report Printing Options", chapter, for more information). You can also specify the "compounding ranges" you want to print. Press [ F10] to start printing after you've setup your options. + NOTE: Daily compounding (i.e. compounding 365 times per year) is fairly common, but will result in a huge report. Compounding daily for twenty years, for instance, generates 7,300 lines! In these cases, CheckMate Plus will selectively print "intervals" (say, every fifth line). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 104 Chapter 13 Setup and Options In this chapter, we'll explore the many setups and options available to you for customizing CheckMate Plus. Select "Setup" from the main menu bar to pull-down the "Setup" menu. 13.1 Fiscal Year Information Pick "Fiscal Year" from the "Setup Menu" to open the "Fiscal Year Setup Window". Here you can set your current and past fiscal year(s). The first option you have is "Current Fiscal Year Start". You may start your "fiscal year" on the first day of any month and year. The month you enter here is important as CheckMate Plus uses this date while generating reports. You may change this date at any time without corrupting your data in any way, so you may change the date (and even go back to re-create past reports). One standard practice in accounting is to clear expense and revenue accounts at the end of each year (so you can start a new fiscal year with a clean slate). The balances of the expense and revenue accounts are transferred to an "equity" account, often called "Profit/Loss 1989", "Retained Earnings 1990", or the like. Once you choose to close a year, you can't go back and modify the numbers without making "reverse entries". You can do this with CheckMate Plus (see "Close Transactions" under the "Transactions" menu) or you can have CheckMate Plus "simulate" closing past years. The "Fiscal Year Setup Window" has space for 10 "past years". For each year you enter, CheckMate Plus lets you assign an "equity" account to clear all expenses and revenues to. IMPORTANT! CheckMate Plus only "simulates" clearing the values! This way, you can keep your transaction detail and the ability to modify past transactions for over ten years! The only time you'll see the balances transferred is when you print accounting reports (such as balance sheets and CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 105 income statements). You won't see them transferred when you look at account balances in the "enter" or "edit" features of CheckMate Plus. You enter "Past Years" as "years" only ("1989" for example). The starting and ending months depend upon the starting month of your "Current Fiscal Year Start". After you enter each year, you can specify the account you want to clear each year to. This must be an "equity account" (account numbers will range from 30000 to 39999). You must create these accounts before you can specify them here, and they must be detail accounts. + NOTE: You don't have to specify past years if you don't want to! CheckMate Plus will simply carry balances forward for any years not specified. What we've given you is maximum flexibility unparalleled in the industry. Also remember you can make the assignments permanent when you "Close Transactions" under the "Transactions" menu. When you do this, you'll no longer be able to view or edit those past transactions (since CheckMate Plus will erase them) but you will see the accumulated balances appear in the correct equity accounts. Press [F10] to save your "Current Fiscal Year Start" and all "past year" data. 13.2 Protecting Your "Audit Trail" Because CheckMate Plus allows you to retain many years worth of information, we included an "audit trail lock" which lets you assign a "password" to your audit trail. If you choose to activate the "audit lock", CheckMate Plus won't let you edit or delete any transactions or accounts entered before the current system date (unless you know the "audit lock" password). This password is completely separate from the system password (See "Password Setup" below). Select "Audit Lock" from the "Setup" menu to enter the "Audit Lock Setup Window". You have three options here. First, you have a YES/NO question asking you whether or not you want to lock data edit capability. The default is "NO". Next, you'll see the "Last Date Run". CheckMate Plus automatically updates this each time you run. You can't "fool" CheckMate Plus, however, because CheckMate Plus will never set this date "back" (so changing the DOS date won't help). We included the date here so you can manually set it back for a single session. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 106 The last item you can enter is the "audit lock password". You'll have to enter this password each time you try to edit or delete a transaction or account that was entered before the "Last Date Run". Once you enter this password and turn the "audit lock" on (by answering "YES" to the above question), press [F10] to save the configuration. + IMPORTANT!: Once you've turned the "audit lock" on, you won't be able to get back into the "Audit Lock Setup Window" unless you know the "audit lock" password! If you forget your password, you'll need to send your data files to Custom Technologies and we will manually change it for you. We charge a nominal fee for this service. Call (719) 260-0402 for more information. 13.3 The Screen Saver When you select the "Screen Saver" option from the "Setup" menu, the "Screen-Save Setup" window will appear. In this window, you can enable or disable the screen saver feature. You can also indicate how long that you want CheckMate Plus to wait before it will blank the screen, and customize the message that CheckMate Plus displays while the screen saver is active. Remember that the screen will only go blank if no keyboard activity is detected for the indicated length of time. + NOTE: Delay times are approximate, and can vary based on CPU speed. You must press [F10] to save your setup to the disk. After the screen blanks, CheckMate Plus will display a slow-scrolling message indicating that the screen save feature is active. Press any character key to restore the screen to normal operation. 13.4 Colors If you have a color monitor, you can customize the screen colors in CheckMate Plus. Select "Colors" from the "Setup" menu to enter the "Color Setup Window". Notice that CheckMate Plus displays a "sample" window (so you can see what your color choices will look like). The cursor will be in the "window colors to customize" field. When you first enter the "color CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 107 setup window", the window colors to customize will be the "Main Colors". If you want to change, say, the MENU colors, press [alt-F10] to pop-up the "window select" menu. Pick "Menu Colors" (and the "sample window" will change to reflect the current menu colors). You can modify each window's foreground (bright characters), midground (dim characters), background color, and "reverse" color. For example, to modify a window's background color, press [F5] (and CheckMate Plus will "toggle" the color). Keep pressing [F5] until you find the color you want. Here are the color toggle keys: [F3] Toggle Foreground Color [F4] Toggle Midground Color [F5] Toggle Background Color [F6] Toggle "Reverse" Color Table 13.1: Color Toggle Keys Once you've setup all the colors (in all the windows that you want to), press [F10] to save your choices to disk. [ESC] returns you to the "Setup" menu. 13.5 Special Effects CheckMate Plus has a lot of "bells and whistles" which are fun to watch and pleasing to use. Some people, however, would prefer to modify or turn off their operation. You can modify the way CheckMate Plus opens and closes "windows" by choosing "Special Effects" from the "Setup" menu. The "Special Effects Setup" window will appear. If you don't want CheckMate Plus to give an audible 'opening window" click, then set the "do you want sound effects" field to "NO". If you want the windows to "explode" and "implode", then leave the "do you want exploding windows" field "YES". Otherwise mark it "NO". CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 108 You can even set the speed for the exploding and imploding in the "speed for exploding windows". Set this field to "zero" for the fastest windows. Numbers 1 through 9 will gradually decrease the exploding speed. This field will have no effect if you have exploding windows turned off! Remember to press [F10] if you want to save your setups to disk. 13.6 Video Option CheckMate Plus can display some nice graphical reports (if you have a graphics display card in your computer). You tell CheckMate Plus the type of graphics you have when you install it (with the INSTALL command... see Chapter 1, "Introduction"). The five options you have correspond to the following display types: CGA 640 x 200 dots, 1 color EGA 640 x 350 dots, 16 colors VGA 640 x 480 dots, 16 colors Hercules 720 x 350 dots, 1 color (monochrome) No Graphics (no graphics card installed) Table 13.2: Video Options You can't change your video option here. When you run INSTALL, the INSTALL program unpacks the correct "video driver" for your system. If you need to change your video option, rerun the INSTALL program (See Chapter 1). Press [ESC] to return to the "Setup" menu. 13.7 Password Setup For security, you may password protect each CheckMate Plus data file you create. Select "Passwords" from the "Setup" menu to reach the "Password Setup" window. Enter the "password" you want in the "Password" field. It can be up to eight characters long and is not case sensitive. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 109 CheckMate Plus won't require a password unless you set the "Require Password at Program Start" to "YES" (and save your changes with [F10] ). Once you do this, CheckMate Plus will ask for your password before it will let you into the program. You'll also not be able to enter the "Password Setup Window" unless you know the password. + NOTE: CheckMate Plus associates the password with the data file, so reinstalling CheckMate Plus or erasing CMPLUS.OPT (the options file) WILL NOT defeat the security! If you forget your password, you'll need to send your data files to Custom Technologies and we will manually change your password for you. We charge a nominal fee for this service. Call (719) 260-0402 for more information. 13.8 File Paths Selecting "File Paths" from the "Setup" menu causes the "Data and Program Directories" window to appear. This window simply displays the currently active program and data file directories (you can't modify them here). The program file directory is the directory you were in when you started CheckMate Plus. You entered the data file directory on the command line when you started CheckMate Plus: cmplus <data file directory> <CR> 13.9 General Setups Select "General" from the "Setup" menu to pop-up the "General Setup Menu". Date Format You can pick from a variety of "date formats". CheckMate Plus will display all dates in this form. This is a "menu field", so you can press [alt-F10] or the middle button on the mouse to pop-up a menu of choices. You can enter free-format no matter which format you choose. CheckMate Plus will rearrange the date to match your format. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 110 Separator Some of the date formats have "separators". For instance, 7/05/90 uses a "/" for a separator. You can change that separator here. + NOTE: If you choose the minus sign ("-") as a separator, you won't be able to use the minus sign to "decrement" the date while you're entering or editing. Currency Symbol You may set CheckMate Plus' currency symbol here. You must enter this symbol as an ASCII decimal value. The value for a dollar sign ($) is 36. Numeric Format Accountants tend to avoid using the minus sign to represent negative numbers. They prefer to enclose the number in parentheses. CheckMate Plus let's you choose how you want to display negatives. The parentheses appear only on the reports (and not while entering data). After you've set the options, press [F10] to make your changes permanent. [ESC] returns you to the "Setup" menu. 13.10 Report Defaults CheckMate Plus has many options for controlling the output and format of printed reports. You can set these options at print time, but you can also define default settings (so you don't have to change them every time you print a report). Select "Report Printing" from the "Setup" menu to pop-up the "Default Report Parameters Setup Window". Margins You can set the "margins" (top, bottom, left, and right). Express the top and bottom margins as a number of lines, and the left and right margins as a number of characters. + NOTE: CheckMate Plus assumes that you're using "fixed width" fonts for your reports (rather than proportionally spaced fonts). Most printers do use (or at least have the option to use) fixed width fonts. CheckMate Plus does not support "postscript" printers at this time. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 111 Paper Sizes Paper size is a function of the number of lines per page you can print and the number of characters on each line. These numbers are absolute (i.e. they include margins). Most printers put 66 lines on a page. Many laser printers, however, require built-in top and bottom margins. The Hewlett Packard LaserJet, for example, can only print 60 lines per page. The number of characters per line you print will usually be determined by either the width of the paper (most paper is 8.5" wide) or by the "pitch" of the print. For instance, if your printer has a "compressed" mode (17 characters per inch), you can print 132 characters on a standard letter-sized sheet of paper. + NOTE: You can use the "Printer Setup Strings" (discussed below) to "command" your printer into compressed mode. Page Control You can tell CheckMate Plus to "pause" after each page to let you feed paper (if you're not using a laser printer or continuous feed paper). Printer Port CheckMate Plus lets you direct your printed reports to LPT1, LPT2, COM1, or COM2. Set your printer port in the "Printer Port for Reports" field. (This is a "menu field", so press [alt-F10] or the center mouse button to "pop" the menu up). Setup Strings CheckMate Plus lets you define printer "setup" and "exit" strings to control such things as margins, character pitch, attributes, etc. CheckMate Plus sends the "setup" strings to your printer before it starts the report and the "exit" strings after the report is completed. For instance, you may want to "command" your printer to print 17 characters per inch for some of the reports. You would enter the proper "control codes" in the "Printer Setup Strings" field. You'll probably want to use the "exit" strings to reset your printer (for normal operation). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 112 The printer control codes can be found in your printer manual. The format for entry is \<decimal code>\<decimal code>\.... The back-slashes delimit the codes. Here is an example: \27\85 This string represents an <ESC> 'U'. (That's an escape-capital-U). This is a popular means of defining printer codes. To save you default options to disk, press [F10]. [ESC] returns you to the "Setup" menu. 13.11 Report Headings When you select "Report Headings" from the "Setup" menu, CheckMate Plus opens the "Report Heading Setup Window". You can enter up to ten lines of information (and CheckMate Plus will center each line as you go). CheckMate Plus prints these lines at the top of the first page of each report (except for blank lines at the bottom). Press [F10] to save your headings, and then [ESC] to return to the "Setup" menu. Press [ESC] without pressing [F10] to abort the changes you've made. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 113 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 114 Appendix A An Accounting Primer This short tutorial is intended to give you a start into the world of classical accounting. It is by no means exhaustive, but it should get you going. If you run a small business, this primer will help, but you should still obtain a complete text or hire an accountant (or bookkeeper) to help you with some of the more difficult subjects. Since CheckMate Plus follows standard accounting rules, virtually any accounting text will be compatible. If you're a casual or home user, don't be frightened if this primer makes things seem complicated! For home use, the rules of accounting can be can be greatly relaxed. A.1 What is Accounting? Accounting is the term we apply to the discipline of maintaining complete and accurate financial data. Over the years, some well defined practices and conventions have developed. Adhering to these conventions will make your accounting data compatible with other people's data, and consequently it will be easier for others to understand. This is what we refer to as "classical" accounting. For business, proper accounting can spell the difference between success and failure. The fruits of the accounting system are the reports you can generate. These reports can help you analyze your cash flow and make decisions based on past and present performance. Having these reports available can you give you the competitive edge you need to succeed. Also, most banks, as well as the IRS, will want to see your balance sheet and income statements before doing business with you! To start, we must divide your holdings, debt, expenses and income. We will group these items under 5 categories: ASSETS, LIABILITIES, EQUITY, REVENUE, and EXPENSES. A.1.1 What are ASSETS? Assets are money, land, items, etc that you have in your possession. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 115 Essentially, they are anything that holds any value. You do not have to own something for it to be an asset. For instance, the bank may hold the deed to your home while you pay off the note. But since the use of the home is under your control, it is still an asset to you. We will see below how we can balance this asset with a corresponding debt (or liability). Assets can take many forms. If someone owes you money, for instance, then you have an asset in the form of a note or an IOU. A.1.2 What are LIABILITIES? Liabilities are any debts you owe. In the example above, we have an asset (our home). But we also owe money against the home, and that is a liability. Not all liabilities need be bank loans. In a business, money we owe to our employees (in the form of pay) is a liability. Income tax we owe the government is also a liability, as is rent due, etc. In short, any time we owe money or services we have a liability. A.1.3 What is EQUITY? Equity is the difference between our assets and our liabilities. The equity in your home, for example, is the difference between the value of your home (your asset) and the money you owe (your liability). Your total net worth, then, is the delta between all of your assets and the total of your liabilities. A.1.4 The Accounting Equation It is the above relationship that forms the principle behind classical accounting. We can state that relationship as such: ASSETS - LIABILITIES = EQUITY If we do a little math, we can rearrange the above equation: ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY This equation is referred to as the ACCOUNTING EQUATION. Remember it... it is important! The principle of this equation is clear. If you increase your assets, then something else has to change to keep the equation true. Let's say you buy a car, and hence increase your assets (you now have a car). To keep the above equation true, you must do one of three things: 1) Decrease another asset (pay cash or trade for the car) 2) Increase a liability (borrow the money for the car) CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 116 3) Increase your equity The first two options are straightforward and are easily understood. The last option is a little more difficult to understand until we further explore how we can make changes to equity. A.1.5 What are REVENUE and EXPENSES? The three categories we discussed above describe your financial status in a "static" way. There is no way to either increase nor decrease your net worth (equity) by merely adding assets or liabilities. Revenue and expenses provide this avenue. Revenue is money you take in, usually in exchange for goods or services. Revenue has the characteristic of INCREASING your equity. That is, an asset will increase (such as cash) with NO corresponding increase in a liability. Not all money you take in is revenue. Money you receive in payment of a debt, for example, increases an asset (cash) but also decreases another asset (the note you hold). The net effect is that your equity is unchanged. In the above example, you could obtain the new car by working for it, or maybe by winning it in a contest. In either case, we have increased our equity by the same amount we have increased our assets (the price of the car). Expenses reduce your equity. A good example is your power bill. You pay the bill with cash, and your assets are reduced. But you did not reduce a liability, and you did not increase another asset. The electricity was consumed! Whether or not goods or services are "consumed" is one good way to tell expenses apart from liabilities. In the case of a business or a corporation, you can increase or decrease the company's equity in another fashion. When you sell stock, you DIRECTLY increase the equity in the company. But it is not YOUR equity in the company that has increased, but the person who bought the stock. In fact, a company can have many, many owners. That is why we will often refer to equity as OWNER'S EQUITY. But lets' get back to revenue and expenses. There is yet another relationship we should document here. This one is more familiar: PROFIT (or LOSS) = REVENUE - EXPENSES Notice if expenses exceed revenue, we have incurred a LOSS. Let me take a minute to point out that (LOSS) here is in parentheses. Accountants typically do not like to use negative numbers, but rather indicate a negative amount by enclosing it in parentheses. In CheckMate Plus, we give you the option of using either convention. In either case, the difference between revenue and expenses will tend to CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 117 either increase or decrease our equity. Also notice if equity changes, then either assets or liabilities must change. Let's say we incur a loss, and equity decreases. To make the accounting equation remain true, we must either draw on assets (maybe take cash to pay the loss) or increase liabilities (perhaps borrow money to make up for the loss). Revenue and expenses are actually only extensions of equity. We give them their own categories since it is useful to treat them separately while computing profit or loss. A.2 How does it all work in real life? To try and tie the above principles together, let's hypothesize a small company, called XYZ Shoes, Inc. We will draw on this example throughout the remainder of this primer. A.2.1 What are ACCOUNTS? Accounts are the accountant's method of separating and detailing individual items under each of the above categories. You can think of an account as the dollar value of each item. We will give each account a descriptive name, as well as an account number. Accounts are logical entities, and it may be difficult to physically separate them from one another. This is OK, because we don't need to... we merely need to track the current value of each account. Things may be starting to seem confusing. An example here is in order. Consider our ASSETS category. We will use accounts to break down and detail the assets of the XYZ Shoe company: Cash: 1,485.11 Checking Account: 1,642.69 Building: 101,987.88 Inventory: 9,251.11 Pickup Truck: 13,000.00 Office Furniture: 4,400.00 Office Equipment: 7,550.85 Accounts Receivable: 2,264.76 Table A.1: Assets of XYZ Shoes, Inc as of Mar 1, 1987 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 118 Each item we listed has become an account. The total of all the listed accounts will be the total assets for XYZ. Now let's list the liabilities and equity accounts: Accounts Payable: 1,345.00 Salaries Payable: 3,150.00 Sales Tax Payable: 437.25 Income Tax Payable: 0.00 Mortgage: 84,055.80 Table A.2: Liabilities of XYZ Shoes, Inc as of Mar 1, 1987 Initial Capital: 54,430.53 Profit/Loss: 0.00 Table A.3: Equity of XYZ Shoes, Inc as of Mar 1, 1987 We are assuming (for the purpose of this example) that the above data was true on Jan 1, 1987. Profit/Loss is zero, since we have incurred no expenses nor made any revenue in the new year. We will follow the example and see how the profit builds. If you total the amounts above, you'll see the accounting equation is satisfied. But don't bother just yet... we will prove it in a minute. Now lets construct our "Chart of Accounts", which is simply a listing of all our accounts. We will also add our REVENUE and EXPENSE accounts while we are at it. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 119 ------------------------------------------------------------------ XYZ Shoes, Inc PO Box 0000 Anytown, USA (555) 555-5555 "Our Shoes Smell Good" ------------------------------------------------------------------ Chart of Accounts Report Mar 1, 1987 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 ASSETS 10000 Cash DB 10001 Checking Account DB 10002 Building DB 10003 Inventory DB 10004 Pickup Truck DB 10005 Office Furniture DB 10006 Office Equipment DB 10007 Accounts Receivable DB 10008 Purchases DB 2 LIABILITIES 20000 Accounts Payable CR 20001 Salaries Payable CR 20002 Sales Tax Payable CR 20003 Income Tax Payable CR 20004 Mortgage CR 3 EQUITY 30000 Initial Capital CR 30001 Profit/Loss CR 39999 Non-Accounted For Funds CR 4 REVENUE 40000 Sales CR 40001 Misc Income CR 5 EXPENSES 50000 Cost of Goods Sold DB 50001 Salary Expense DB 50002 Utilities Expense DB 50003 Interest Expense DB CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 120 50004 Misc Expense DB XYZ Shoes, Inc. Page 1 Figure A.1: Chart of Accounts for XYZ Shoes, Inc. We used CheckMate Plus to print the chart. See the account numbers? The five major categories are numbered '1' through '5', and each account under them begins with the same number. This is a common and logical way to number and group your accounts. The 'DB' and 'CR' stand for 'debit' and 'credit'... we are just about to get around to that... A.2.2 What are DEBITS and CREDITS? It makes sense when you use cash to pay a loan, you decrease an asset (cash) and decrease a liability (the loan). It is easy to visualize, but not so easy to document. Accountants use a system of 'debits' and 'credits' to document the flow of value. Also, remember accountants avoid the use of negatives wherever possible. Every account has a balance. We saw that the sum of the asset accounts must equal the sum of the liability and equity accounts. We will say, arbitrarily, that assets have DEBIT balances and both liabilities and equity have CREDIT balances. Therefore, the total debit balance equals the total credit balance. Whoa! You may well be wondering how we decided to assign "types" to the balances. It is strictly a way of looking at the data. If we say assets have debit balances and both liabilities and equity have credit balances, we have merely transformed the accounting equation into this form: DEBITS = CREDITS Take a minute and let this sink in. The concept is the same... we have just changed the notation. When you understand the difference between a debit and a credit, you'll be over a major hurdle in understanding the basic premises of accounting. Now lets transform this notation into practice. An asset carries a debit balance. This means that when we wish to INCREASE the asset we must DEBIT the account. So, if I start with $50 in an account, and I make a $100 debit, I now have $150 in the account. Most people unfamiliar with accounting may scratch their head at this point. Does it seem backwards? After all, when the bank DEBITs my CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 121 account, my assets DECREASE, not increase. True, BUT the debit is from the bank's point of view, not yours! The debit did increase the bank's assets (at your expense!). That is why we refer to the transaction types as BANK DEBITS and BANK CREDITS (in checking accounts), so there is no confusion on whose point of view is prevailing. Conversely, we will credit a liability or equity account to increase it. Can you see that when we want to DECREASE a liability we will debit it? Let's look at the payment of a loan again. We have two accounts... one called 'CASH' and one called 'LOAN'. CASH is an asset (debit) account and LOAN is a liability (credit) account. When we make payments on a loan, both accounts must decrease (cash is obviously less, and now we owe less). Let's see it work: Pay $50.00 cash (credit CASH $50) Lower loan $50.00 (debit LOAN $50) See what we have done? We have credited CASH and debited LOAN, and the sum of the debits ($50.00) equals the sum of the credits ($50.00). It may still not be crystal clear, but give it a little time. What we have documented above is a TRANSACTION. The transaction affects the balances of our accounts. As always, we MUST make sure the accounting equation is satisfied. To do this, the transaction must not disturb the overall balance of the equation. Hence, all debit entries in a transaction must equal all credit entries in the transaction! Incidentally, here is how CheckMate Plus would document the transaction. Notice that the sum of debits and credits do indeed equal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Jul 1, 1990 Acct# Account Name Description Debit Credit ----- ---------------- ----------------- ------------ ------------ 10000 Cash Payment to LOAN 50.00 20005 LOAN Reduce LOAN 50.00 ------------ ------------ 50.00 50.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure A.2: Sample Transaction The above transaction is a "double-entry" transaction since we made two entries (to show how the money flowed from one account to another). Now you can see why people call true accounting systems "double-entry" systems. In real life, however, money often flows CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 122 to and from many accounts in the same transaction. CheckMate Plus will let you make up to twelve entries per transaction. Let's see how this would work. Assume Mr. Jackson walks into XYZ's showroom and wants to buy a pair of alligator skin boots with inlaid gold and ruby trim. The price on the shoes (on sale) is $999.95. Mr. Jackson has good credit, and decides to pay $200 cash and make the rest in weekly installments of $50. How would this transaction be recorded? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mar 22, 1987 Acct# Account Name Description Debit Credit ----- ----------------- ---------------- ------------ ------------ 10007 Accounts Receivab On Credit 849.95 20002 Sales Tax Payable 5% Sales Tax 50.00 40000 Sales Mr. Jackson 999.95 10000 Cash Down Payment 200.00 ------------ ------------ 1,049.95 1,049.95 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure A.3: Sample Sales Transaction In a single transaction, we have made four entries. We have increased (debited) two assets, CASH and ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. We have also increased (credited) a liability (SALES TAX PAYABLE) and a revenue (SALES). Mr. Jackson has paid $200 and still owes $849.95 for a total of $1049.95 (including sales tax). You should take a moment to see how future transactions will develop. Every time Mr. Jackson makes a payment on his boots, we will debit (increase) CASH and credit (decrease) ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. Also, when we pay the state our sales tax due, we will credit (decrease) CASH and debit (decrease) SALES TAX PAYABLE. For you folks in business... notice how the sales tax never found its way into either revenue or expenses? It shouldn't, since the collection and paying of sales tax does not affect our profit or loss! Speaking of profit and loss... how much profit did we make when we sold the boots? Well, the cost of the boots falls into the account COST OF GOODS SOLD. But rather than calculate profit on every sale, XYZ uses the End-of-Period Adjustment method. At the end of each month, XYZ will take an inventory of all shoes in stock. The difference between the current (closing) inventory and last month's (opening) inventory is entered into the journal. As we make purchases during the month, we enter them into an account called PURCHASES. Since the change in inventory will include these purchases at month's CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 123 end, we must also "clear" our PURCHASES while we calculate the COST OF GOODS SOLD. The difference between the two is COST OF GOODS SOLD for the month. To illustrate, suppose XYZ had $9,251.11 worth of shoes at the end of February. At the end of March they had $9,145.00 worth of shoes in stock. During March, they bought $1,628.02 worth of new shoes. What is the COST OF GOODS SOLD during March? First, calculate the change in Inventory during the month of March. You do this by subtracting the balance of Inventory at the end of February from the balance of Inventory at the end of March: Inventory at end of February: 9,251.11 Inventory at end of March: 9,145.00 -------- Change in Inventory 106.11 Now, record the transaction as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mar 31, 1987 Acct# Account Name Description Debit Credit ----- ----------------- ---------------- ------------ ------------ 10003 Inventory Change in Inventory 106.11 10008 Purchases Clear Purchases 1,628.02 50000 Cost of Goods Sold For March 1987 1,734.13 ------------ ------------ 1,734.13 1,734.13 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure A.4: Sample COGS Calculation The COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) for March was $1,734.13. I realize this is kind of a whirlwind approach to accounting methods. Remember, this is a simple primer designed to get you started off. There have been entire volumes written on accounting, and we can't hope to cover all the subjects here. If you need to do serious business accounting, we heartily recommend that you get yourself a good book or an accountant to help you! Hopefully you now can visualize this subject of debits and credits. We also hope you have a grasp on the concepts of profit and loss. We will now pursue that topic in more detail. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 124 A.3 Accounting Reports At the end of each accounting period (usually a month or quarter), you'll generate a series of accounting reports. There are two general types of reports (ledger and summary). Ledger reports are very detailed. These are your ACTIVITY REPORT and your TRANSACTION REPORT. In short, the activity report lists all accounts sequentially and the debit and credit summary of each. If you make end-of-month adjustments (like the one discussed above for COST OF GOODS SOLD), this report will help you collect the figures you need. The other report, your TRANSACTION REPORT, details all entries for the month and serves as your permanent record that these entries were made. In a "manual" accounting system, you have to POST the each period's transactions before you can generate the "summary" reports. This involves transferring all debits and credits for each transaction to the corresponding accounts in the ledger. This can be tedious and long! Thank goodness the computer (and CheckMate Plus) will do it for us. CheckMate Plus actually posts "on the fly" as you create your summary reports. (This is a very powerful feature, as it let's you "backup" if you need to!). Now let's discuss the "summary reports" (which are the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement). These are the real fruits of all your effort in maintaining an accounting system! A.3.1 The Trial Balance In "manual" accounting systems, accountants generate a "trial balance" before they actually "post". Since CheckMate Plus let's you post "on the fly", you can generate this trial balance at any time! All a trial balance is is a list of detail accounts and their corresponding debit or credit balance. If everything's OK, the total of credits should equal the total of debits. Accountants use the trial balance to make sure no "balancing" mistakes were made while entering transactions. If the trial balance fails (i.e. debits<>credits), you've must find and fix the error before creating a final Balance Sheet and Income Statement. + NOTE: CheckMate Plus "forces" your books to balance by automatically "balancing" transactions that are not "balanced". It assigns excess CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 125 funds to a special account (Non-Accounted for Funds). CheckMate Plus will omit this account in the Trial Balance, however, so you can track down mistakes. Here's a sample Trial Balance for XYZ Shoes: CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 126 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- XYZ Shoes, Inc PO Box 0000 Anytown, USA (555) 555-5555 "Our Shoes Smell Good" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Trial Balance Mar 31, 1987 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Account Debit Credit -------------------------------- ------------- ------------- 10000 Cash 1,685.11 10001 Checking Account 1,642.69 10002 Building 101,987.88 10003 Inventory 9,145.00 10004 Pickup Truck 13,000.00 10005 Office Furniture 4,400.00 10006 Office Equipment 7,550.85 10007 Accounts Receivable 3,114.71 10008 Purchases 1,471.98 20000 Accounts Payable 1,345.00 20001 Salaries Payable 3,150.00 20002 Sales Tax Payable 487.25 20003 Income Tax Payable 20004 Mortgage 84,055.80 30000 Initial Capital 54,430.43 30001 Profit/Loss 40000 Sales 12,488.79 40001 Misc Income 320.00 50000 Cost of Goods Sold 10,537.13 50001 Salary Expense 1,200.00 50002 Utilities Expense 125.33 50003 Interest Expense 128.59 50004 Misc Expense 288.00 ------------- ------------- 156,277.27 156,277.27 ============= ============= XYZ Shoes, Inc. Page 1 Figure A.5: Trial Balance for XYZ Shoes, Inc CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 127 A.3.2 The Balance Sheet Remember the accounting equation? The way we prove we have followed all the rules is through our BALANCE SHEET. The balance sheet can be very detailed or very general. CheckMate Plus will generate a balance sheet that will list ALL of your asset accounts and show how they balance against ALL of your liability and equity accounts. This is a very detailed balance sheet. If we summarized the data (which you can do by customizing your reports), you could produce a general balance sheet. The balance sheet is a snapshot of the company's holdings and debt at a given instant. It does not reflect the passage of any time, but rather shows an entity's current worth. An example is worth a thousand words. Below is an example for XYZ Shoes. Notice the total of assets does indeed equal the total of liabilities and equity. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 128 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- XYZ Shoes, Inc PO Box 0000 Anytown, USA (555) 555-5555 "Our Shoes Smell Good" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Balance Sheet Mar 31, 1987 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BALANCE SHEET (as of Mar 31, 1987) * ASSETS 10000 Cash 1,685.11 10001 Checking Account 1,642.69 10002 Building 101,987.88 10003 Inventory 9,145.00 10004 Pickup Truck 13,000.00 10005 Office Furniture 4,400.00 10006 Office Equipment 7,550.85 10007 Accounts Receivable 3,114.71 10008 Purchases 1,471.98 -------------- Total Assets 143,998.22 ============== * LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Liabilities 20000 Accounts Payable 1,345.00 20001 Salaries Payable 3,150.00 20002 Sales Tax Payable 487.25 20003 Income Tax Payable 0.00 20004 Mortgage 84,055.80 -------------- Total Liabilities 89,038.05 Equity 30000 Initial Capital 54,430.43 30001 Profit/Loss 0.00 39999 Non-Accounted For Funds 0.00 plus REVENUE 12,808.79 less EXPENSES 12,279.05 -------------- CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 129 Total Equity 54,960.17 -------------- Total Liabilities + Equity 143,998.22 ============== XYZ Shoes, Inc. Page 1 Figure A.6: Balance Sheet for XYZ Shoes, Inc. A.3.3 The Income Statement The Income Statement, on the other hand, does reflect a change from earlier period to the present. It is simply the difference between REVENUE and EXPENSES for a given period. You can create monthly, quarterly, and yearly reports, and, like the balance sheets they may be very general or very specific. CheckMate Plus will let you automatically create very detailed monthly, quarterly, or yearly income statements. An example (for XYZ shoes) is presented below. The data is all hypothetical. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 130 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- XYZ Shoes, Inc PO Box 0000 Anytown, USA (555) 555-5555 "Our Shoes Smell Good" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Income Statement Mar 31, 1987 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INCOME STATEMENT (Mar 1, 1987 to Mar 31, 1987) * REVENUE 40000 Sales 12,488.79 40001 Misc Income 320.00 -------------- Total Revenue 12,808.79 * EXPENSES 50000 Cost of Goods Sold 10,537.13 50001 Salary Expense 1,200.00 50002 Utilities Expense 125.33 50003 Interest Expense 128.59 50004 Misc Expense 288.00 -------------- Total Expenses 12,279.05 -------------- Total Profit (Loss) 529.74 ============== XYZ Shoes, Inc. Page 1 Figure A.7: Income Statement for XYZ Shoes, Inc. These reports are produced at the end of an accounting PERIOD, usually a month, and are called End-of-Period Reports. You'll also want to create end-of-year reports, which are essentially reports created after your last month and BEFORE you do your end-of-year maintenance (discussed below). CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 131 These reports offer a wealth of information. As you produce reports each month, you can draw additional information by comparing new reports with old. These reports will also be helpful while filing taxes (or surviving an audit) and when negotiating with the bank for loans. Home users have the opportunity to see trends in their spending and to quantify their net worth. Few individuals or families REALLY know where they are financially. CheckMate Plus can help you make your dollars go farther by showing you where they went in the past! A.4 Where does it all end? We aren't quite finished yet. There is still one more topic to cover... ending the accounting year. At some point we want to consolidate cumulative data and "reset" our books. This is the end- of-year routine. We do NOT zero out our current balances at the end of a year. Rather, at the start of any year, our current balance for each account should equal the last year's balance for that account. This makes sense, when you think about it, but there is an exception. Remember REVENUE and EXPENSES are actually subsets of EQUITY? We keep them separate during the year so we can quickly assess our profit/loss picture. At the end of the year, however, we want to zero the revenue and expense accounts and start with a clean slate. Anytime we change an account's balance we must make a corresponding change to another account (remember the accounting equation!). In order to "zero" our revenue and expenses, then, we must make balancing entries to some other appropriate account. This balancing account is usually called "Profit and Loss" or "Retained Earnings." Since the profit (or loss) for the year is the difference between revenue and expenses, these names are both appropriate. For this discussion, lets call the account PROFIT/LOSS. This account, by the way, is an EQUITY account. So what do we do? Well, we simply transfer the balance of each revenue account to PROFIT/LOSS. Since revenue accounts are CREDIT accounts, we do this by DEBITING each revenue account and CREDITING PROFIT/LOSS. So debits and credits are equal, and all revenue accounts now have a current balance of zero. Now repeat the process with all expense accounts. Our debits and credits are reversed now, however, since expenses are DEBIT accounts. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 132 Can you see PROFIT/LOSS now holds the DIFFERENCE between revenues and expenses? CheckMate Plus automates the end-of-year routines as well. When you start a new accounting year, all you have to do is change the "Fiscal Year Start" and CheckMate Plus knows to treat EXPENSES and REVENUE as "clean" on that date. You can assign all previous profits (or losses) to a specific account under equity (for the balance sheet). Now we are ready for a new year and can track our profit and loss situation independently of previous years' data! A.5 Final Thoughts I certainly hope this primer has been of some use. It is not meant to be a substitute for formal education, since it is much to brief to cover many of the aspects of accounting you'll encounter as you run your home or business. It should give you a push, however, and perhaps make talking to your bookkeeper a little easier. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 133 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 134 Appendix B Ordering Checks CheckMate Plus automatically supports checks from NEBS Computer Forms. When you register, you'll receive a package containing ordering information along with the printed User's Guide. CheckMate Plus supports the following NEBS formats automatically: NEBS 9025 (multipurpose check with stub) NEBS 9029 (multipurpose check without stub) NEBS 9027 (laser check with stub) If you want to contact NEBS directly, call NEBS at 1-800-388-3810 *IMPORTANT!* You must give them this mail code number: 95024 They can send you information or take your order over the phone. We can also send you a sample package with complete ordering information. If you'd like to order checks before you register, call Custom Technologies at (719) 260-0402 and ask for the NEBS sample package. We'll gladly send it to you without any pressure to register (we want you to be completely satisfied with CheckMate Plus before you pay for it). BONUS! We've made a special arrangement with NEBS Computer Forms. When you register (or when you call us directly for check ordering information), we'll include a special coupon for 250 FREE "DU-O-VUE" window envelopes compatible with NEBS checks. That's an $18.50 value! You must include the coupon with your first order, so contact us before ordering (to take advantage of this special offer). This offer is subject to end without notice. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 135 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 136 Appendix C How and Where to get Help C.1 Technical Support Technical support by telephone, mail, or FAX is ordinarily reserved for registered users. We'll help you ONE TIME before you register to help install CheckMate Plus for evaluation or to answer general questions. If you have questions or require technical support, call our technical support line at (719) 260-0402. Do not call our toll-free order number with questions, as the operators there can't help you (they are completely unfamiliar with the program's operation). Our FAX number is (719) 260-0543. You may write us a letter if you wish, but we are often swamped with letters and it may be some time before you receive a reply. Custom Technologies PO Box 62118 Colorado Springs, CO 80962-2118 You can also reach us for technical support on CompuServe. We are topic 7 in the PC Vendor A Support Forum. Just type "GO PCVENA" at any CompuServe prompt. Technical support is available to all users (registered or not) on CompuServe with no time limit. If you're not a CompuServe subscriber and would like a FREE IntroPak, call 1-800-848-8199 and ask for operator 154. The IntroPak includes FREE sign-up and $15 online credit (so you can explore CompuServe without spending a dime!). This free offer is courtesy of CompuServe and Custom Technologies. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 137 C.2 Association of Shareware Professionals Statement This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you're unable to resolve a shareware- related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for member's products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at PO Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 138 Index [alt-C] 12, 14 audit lock 106 [alt-F] 12, 14 audit lock password 107 [alt-F2] 37 audit trail 106 [alt-F10] 13, 14 AUTOEXEC.BAT reminder 45 [alt-J] 35 automatic "reminder" 44 [alt-M] 14 automatic transactions 38 .end 65 [F1] 12, 14 B [INS] 14 Balance 35 (multiplication 92 balance sheet 127 Balance Sheets 52 A Bank Credit 27 account number 24, 118 Bank Debit 27 account status 26 bar graphs 96 accounting 115 Begin 78, 82 accounting equation 116, bottom line 11 122 browse 46 accounting reports 125 browse window 46 Accounts 21 budget 24, 67 accounts 118 built-in variables 89 deleting 25 editing 25 C accounts payable stub 34 calculator 12, 14 activation date 46 CGA 7, 95, 109 addition 92 Chart of Accounts 14, 119 Address 1 79, 91 check layout 24, 76, 77, Address 2 79, 91 78 Address 3 79, 91 designing 77 addresses 24, 29 language 78 alt-A 14 preinstalled 77 Amount 79, 91 Check Number 79, 90 Amount String 79, 91 check number 24, 29 ASCII 57, 59 check printing 34, 38, 75 ASP 138 checking accounts 21, 22 Assets 21, 115 CheckMate 8 Association of Shareware CheckMate-GL 8 Professionals 138 Checks 27 ATM Deposit 27 checks ATM Withdrawal 28 ordering 135 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 139 printing 75 EGA 7, 95, 109 Cleared 30 End 78, 83 clearing transactions 72 end-of-month adjustments colors 125 customizing 107 end-of-year routines 133 Column 78, 82 Equity 21, 116 COM1 86 exit strings 61, 112 COM2 86 Expenses 21, 117 CommasOff 78, 83 exploding windows 108 CommasOn 78, 83 expressions 91 Comments 79, 90 numeric 92 comments 29, 79 string 92 compounding a fixed sum 104 F CompuServe 137 FillersOff 78, 83 concatenation 92 FillersOn 78, 84 contra accounts 24, 28 filter definition 19 control account 10, 26 filter definitions cost of goods sold 124 deleting 20 Credits 28 retrieving 20 credits 121 saving 19 currency symbol 111 filter flag 12 custom reports 63 financial calculations custom stub 33 103 fiscal year 105 D floating point numbers 89 data entry 14 For 79, 90 data file path 9 Date 79, 89 G date 29 getting started 9 date activated graph type 96 transactions 41 graphics 95 Date Cleared 30 account activity 96 date format 110 budget analysis 96 Date Formats 15 debt to assets 98 dates debt to equity 97 entering 13 detailed expense 97 Debits 28 detailed income 97 debits 121 expenses by month 97 Deposits 27 expenses vs income 96 detail accounts 21, 22 income by month 97 directories 110 division 92 H double-entry 122 hard disk 7 headings E report 113 Editing Keys 15 help 10, 12, 14 editor 16 Hercules 7, 95, 109 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 140 I notes 32, 36 income statement 130 Income Statements 52 O Input 78, 84 operator 18 insert 12, 14 order of precedence 92 installation 7 overwrite 12, 14 integer 89 P J Page 78, 85 Justification 87 Page Control 112 page control 61 L Paper size 112 laser checks 75, 77 paper size 60 laser printers 112 parentheses 111 LaserJet 112 passwords 109 Last Date Run 106 past years 105 Liabilities 21, 116 paste 12 line graphs 96 Pause 78, 85 lines per page 60 pausing the printer 61 loans 103 PayTo 79, 90 local menu key 13 pin-feed checks 75, 77 local menus 13 PRINTED 75, 76 loss 118, 123 Printed 30 LPT1 86 printer 7 LPT2 86 Printer Port 112 printer port 60, 61 M printer strings 61, 112 margins 60 PrinterString 78, 85 mark 30 printing checks in mark transactions 47 "batch" 76 Marked 79, 91 printing to a file 59 Memorize 33 printing to the printer memory requirements 7 58 Memory status 14 printing to the screen 58 menu key 14 PrintTo 78, 86 menu transactions 38 profit 117, 123 Menus 11 Mouse 16 R mouse 7 real 89 mouse driver 7 rebuild 99 MSDOS 7 rebuild menu 99 multiple "sets of books" rebuilding 9 accounts 100 complete 99 N index 100 NewCheck 78, 84 reconciliation 30, 71 Non-Accounted for Funds repair 99 22, 25 repeat options 41 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 141 report date 57 split window 36 report footer 59 statement date 71 report headings 113 string 89 report parameters 60 Stub 78, 86 report title 59 stub 36 report utilities 59 Stub Layout 33 reports stubs 31 balance sheet 53 subtraction 92 chart of accounts 52 summary accounts 21, 23 custom balance sheet system requirements 7 53 custom income T statement 55 Tax Ded 79, 91 default parameters 111 tax deductible 29 designing 63 technical support 137 general ledger 50 top line 12 income statement 54 transaction report ledger activity 50 customizing 50 ledger transaction 51 transactions options 57 closing 47 printing 57 deleting 37 reconciliation 72 editing 34 summary 52 entering 28 transaction 49 trial balance 54, 125 trial balance 54 Revenue 21, 117 U reverse entries 105 upgrading 8 running balance 36 utilities menu 32, 37 running CheckMate Plus 8 report 59 running scripts 45 V S Variable 78, 87, 88 savings 104 variable 18 screen saver 107 variables 68 script 45 Vendor Account Number 90 scripts 45 Vendor Acct# 79, 90 search and filter 12 VGA 7, 95, 109 Search and Filter video 109 Operators 18 virtual paper 57, 58 Search and Filter Window 17 W setup strings 61, 112 whole numbers 89 SkipLines 78, 86 Withdrawals 27 sound effects 108 working messages 12 special effects 108 Write 78, 87 Special Keys 13 Writeln 78, 88 split 30, 36 CheckMate Plus Introductory User's Guide 142