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Text File | 1990-01-24 | 16.0 KB | 401 lines

****** ***** ****** ** *** *** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** *** ** ** *** ** **** ***** ***** ** ***** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ***** *** ***** ****** **** **** **** **** *** *** * ***** **************************************************** ** ** **************************************************** ***** Release 2.2 Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990 -- Brad Strausbaugh All Rights Reserved PCBilling v2.2 Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990 -- Brad Strausbaugh All Rights Reserved INTRODUCTION PCBilling is an easy-to-use invoicing system designed for the small business person who relies on billing clients to collect revenue. It runs on any IBM/PC, XT, or AT with at least one floppy disk drive and a printer that uses standard 9-1/2 by 11 continuous feed computer paper. The only other supply you will need are #10 window envelopes commonly found in most stationary stores. THE SHAREWARE CONCEPT If you find PCBilling a helpful tool in managing your business, please fill out the registration form at the end of this document and send it, along with $25 to the author. You will receive all major PCBilling upgrades as they are published. WHAT PCBilling DOES PCBilling has three primary functions that free you from some of the clerical tasks in running a small business. Invoicing: Using a simple data entry screen PCBilling lets you enter billing information -- who your clients are and what they are being billed for -- and prints off their invoices. Monitoring: Once an invoice is sent PCBilling remembers it. If payment is not received within 30 days, it prints off a past-due notice automatically, and if there is no payment after 60 days a delinquent notice is printed. Reporting: You can instruct PCBilling to report on outstanding bills or to summarize receipts or receivables or bad debts. It's just a matter of selecting the report you want from the Report pull-down menu. Page 2 HOW PCBilling FILES YOUR INVOICES PCBilling maintains three data files, the invoice file where information on outstanding invoices is monitored, the receipts file where receipt and bad debt information is kept for historical reporting, and the header file where PCBilling keeps system information. The important thing to remember is that PCBilling puts each new invoice in the invoice file, then moves it to the receipts file only when payment is received or when you flag it as a bad debt. Key In Invoices | | V _____ / \________________ | | | Invoice File | | | | | ---------------------- | V Payment Received or Flagged as Bad Debt | V _____ / \________________ | | | Receipts File | | | | | ---------------------- In the receipts file bad debts are distinguished from received invoices by having no Date Received. The various reports will select only the invoices relevant to that report. GETTING STARTED After you've extracted BILL22.ARC you should have the following files. BILL.EXE The PCBilling program BILL.DOC This documentation file BRUN30.EXE Run-time module used by BILL.EXE HEADER.DAT PCBilling system information Page 3 INVOICE.DAT The invoice file RECEIPTS.DAT The receipts file Put the BILL22.ARC diskett in a safe place and use only these extracted files from now on. THE SYSTEM DATE PCBilling relies on your PC's system date to assign invoice dates. You may have a PC that maintains a current system date even when it is turned off. If you do not, please set the system date with the DOS DATE command before you run PCBilling. GETTING AROUND IN PCBilling To use PCBilling just put the diskett with the extracted files on it in dive A, and enter the following command. A> BILL The PCBilling banner will appear. Just press any key to continue. The banner will disappear and the first item on the menu bar at the top of the screen will be highlighted in reverse video. Notice too that a brief help line appears at the bottom of the screen. A help line will always be present there and it will change automatically as needed. You can change the highlighted menu bar item by pressing the left or right arrow key on the numeric keypad (with the Num-Lock key off) or by pressing the first letter of the item you want. When the desired menu item is highlighted press the Enter key and that item will be invoked. Selecting the Report, PrintBills or Setup menu bar option results in the appearance of a pull-down menu. Like the menu bar, the current item on the pull-down. menu is highlighted in reverse video. You can change it with the up and down arrow keys on the numeric keypad or by pressing the first letter of the item you want. When the desired item is highlighted press Enter to select it. To exit from a pull-down menu and "stepback" to the menu bar press the Escape key. THE DEMO DATA For the purpose of illustration, your PCBilling system Page 4 disk comes with the invoices and receipts of a ficticious computer system consultant. This example will be helpful when you first go through these instructions. You can run reports, update invoices, etc, without fear of losing important data. Remember, you can always create a new copy from your original BILL22.ARC diskett. Later, when you are ready to enter your own invoices, you can invoke the Setup option from the menu bar to clear the demo data from the PCBilling database. Just how to do that will be explained in the Setup section. REPORTS PCBilling comes complete with six standard reports. To create a report just invoke the Report option from the menu bar and select the report you want from the pull-down menu. The year-to-date reports will prompt you for an "As of" date. Enter the date in mm/dd/yy format. PCBilling will generate the report and display it on the screen. You can send the report to your printer by pressing the P key, or return to the Reports pull-down menu by pressing the Escape key -- remember the help line at the bottom of the screen. All other reports are sent directly to your printer. Go ahead and run these reports with the demo data. UPDATE You can use the Update option to key in a new invoice, or to move and invoice from the invoice file to the receipts file. You can also modify or delete invoices. The invoice file can contain up to 200 outstanding invoices. Each invoice is uniquely identified by its Invoice Number. When an invoice is moved to the receipts file or deleted, that number is opened up for a new invoice. When you select the Update option from the menu bar, the invoice update screen is pulled down and it prompts you for an Invoice Number, If you want to create a new invoice, just press the Enter key and the next available Invoice Number will be assigned. Notice also that PCBilling automatically fills in the Date of Bill with today's date, the Date Due with the date 30 days hence, and the Date Delinquent with the date 60 days hence. The column of dates just to the Page 5 right labeled Date Logged will contain blank dates. These are filled in later by PCBilling to log when invoices and notices are printed off in the PrintBills menu bar option. So all you have to do is enter your client's name and address and the items he or she is being billed for. If you want to call up and existing invoice, enter its Invoice Number. If it exists it will be called up and PCBilling will ask whether you want to mark it Payment Received or Bad Debt and move it the the receipts file, or whether you want to modify or delete it. If it does not exist PCBilling will accept data entry just as though it had assigned the Invoice Number itself. PRINTING BILLS With the PrintBills menu bar option you can align the paper in your printer, printoff invoices, past-due notices, and delinquent notices, and log the invoices and notices sent so they won't be repeated. To print invoices and notices PCBilling scans the invoice file and checks each invoice's Date of Bill, Date Due, and Date Delinqent to determine if an invoice or past-due notice or delinquent notice should be sent. Then it prints the appropriate document. The client's name and address is always positioned on the invoice or notice to be visible throught the window of a #10 envelope when folded in three sections. If your printer jams, or fails for any reason to print ALL appropriate invoices and notices, just re-run the print option. Only after printing is successful, go to the Log Invoices/Notices Option. THE LOG INVOICES/NOTICES OPTION IS VERY IMPORTANT. It scans the invoice file just like the print option did, but instead of printing, it logs today's activity on the selected invoice records, so that, in the future, PCBilling will not print duplicate bills and notices. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS RUN THIS OPTION IMMEDIATLY AFTER SUCCESSFULLY PRINTING INVOICES AND NOTICES. SETUP You can use the Setup menu bar option to do three things; (1) set the header that appears at the top of printed invoices and notices; (2) clear the entire PCBilling database; and (3) set the system date. When you select the Set Header option, a window will Page 6 prompt you for the name, address and phone number you what to appear at the top of invoices and notices. If you are using printer paper with your letterhead pre-printed at the top, just fill in this window with blanks. The Clear Entire Database option will clear all invoice, receipt, and header information from the entire PCBilling database. Its main purpose is to clear the demo data when you are ready to start entering your own invoices, If you use it for any other reason, please exercise caution. The Set System Date option lets you change the system calendar clock to the current date. This is the date PCBilling uses to assign the invoice dates. Your system may have an internal clock that maintains the current date even when your machine is turned off. If it does not, use this option to set the current date, or use the DOS DATE command before you run PCBilling. QUIT The Quit menu bar option simply terminates your PCBilling interactive session and returns you to DOS. Page 7 REGISTRATION FORM PCBilling v2.2 If you find PCBilling helpful in managing your business and would like to receive all major program upgrades as they are published, please fill out this registration form and send it, along with $25 to... Brad Strausbaugh 350 E. Del Mar Blvd #311 Pasadena, Ca 91101 Name: _______________________________________ Street: _______________________________________ City/State/Zip: _______________________________________ Phone: _____________________ Where did you get your copy of PCBilling? _______________________________________ I have taken great care to insure that PCBilling performs as described above. Be advised, however, that by using PCBilling, you agree the author shall not be held legally liable for the program's behavior. Please use the rest of this page (and the back if needed) to jot down any comments you have about PCBilling. Your feedback is most welcome.