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REFERENCE SECTION A COMMAND LIST This reference section gives a description of the commands in alphabetical order that are used in the ACCOUNTING, EDIT STANDARD TRANSACTIONS and SEARCH THROUGH MANY MONTHS sections of PC-ACCOUNT. Note that the range of commands on a page are listed in the top right corner of the page. The following is a complete list of the commands: A * DISPLAY ACCOUNTS B BUDGET C CHANGE DATE D DELETE A TRANSACTION E EDIT A TRANSACTION F * FIND ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR AN ACCOUNT G * GET ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR AN AMOUNT H * HELP I INSERT TRANSACTIONS J * SEARCH BY CHECK NUMBER L LAST TRANSACTION NUMBER M MOVE & SAVE DATA FOR A NEW PERIOD N NAME AN ACCOUNT O * MULTIPLE CONDITION QUERY P PRINT A CHECK Q SAVE DATA AND EXIT R * RETRIEVE TRANSACTIONS FOR A CODE S * SEARCH COMMENTS T * DISPLAY TRANSACTIONS U UPDATE FILES (SAVE DATA) V * VERIFY ACCOUNT TOTALS W REWRITE SCREEN X SAVE DATA AND EXIT Y * SKIP LINE OR PAGE Z DISPLAY STATUS DATA * DIRECTED OUTPUT Not all commands are available in each of the above sections. Those that are available are displayed in the help window. A - DISPLAY ACCOUNTS. This command will display whatever accounts you select to the output selected by function key 7. That is, the output will go to the screen, the printer, to a text file or to a file that can be imported by Lotus 1 2 3 (see appendix A). This is typical of all commands indicated in the table with an asterisk. Normally, to view the status of an account, you will use function key 1 or 2 to display the screen that maintains the account status. -47- REFERENCE SECTION B-E B - BUDGET. In the Edit Standard Transactions section of PC-ACCOUNT, you can create and edit three files of common transactions. This command selects one of these files and automatically reads transactions one at a time for input into the Insert Transactions routine. The Insert Transactions routine takes over and continues its normal processing by displaying the transaction and asking if it is OKAY. If you answer N for no, then the next transaction is read from the file. If you answer Y for yes, then the transaction is processed in the normal way, including the prompts for the check writing routine. This means that if you decide not to process a standard transaction, it can easily be skipped. Automatic transaction processing can be terminated by answering the OKAY prompt with a Q for QUIT instead of Y or N. The amount of the transaction for the current transaction can be changed by answering the OKAY prompt with an A. C - CHANGE DATE. This will change the date used by the program for dating the transactions, checks and reports. It is very useful if you did not enter the date into DOS when the system was booted. It can also be used to change the date to be printed on a check. When prompted for the new date, enter the month, day and year. The year is optional. All years, even after 1999, can be entered with just the last two digits. The current year is the default. These values must be separated by a comma, a space, a slash / or a dash. The same separation character must be used twice when a year is entered or the results are unpredictable. It must be a valid date. The DOS date is always displayed as the default date and can be selected just by entering RETURN. The new date will be displayed on the 25th line. D - DELETE A TRANSACTION. This action will prompt for a transaction number. Only one can be deleted at a time. The transaction will be displayed and you will be asked: DO YOU WANT TO DELETE THIS TRANSACTION [Y]? When the transaction is deleted, its action is backed out of the system. That is, a ghost transaction is processed with the first and second accounts switched. Then all of the transactions with transaction numbers higher then the one this transaction had are reduced by one so that there is no gap in transaction numbers. E - EDIT A TRANSACTION. This is a very useful feature. When errors are made in any field of a transaction, they can easily be corrected. Sometimes you will decide to change an account in a transaction. When this is done, PC-ACCOUNT backs out the original transaction and implements the new version. Naturally, the status -48- REFERENCE SECTION F-H display screens are also updated automatically. Remember, any field of a transaction can be changed. Note. As soon as you select the AMOUNT, or the IN or OUT account fields to change, the entire transaction is immediately backed out. So, if you use function keys 1 or 2 to view the accounts after this, the account data will have changed. As soon as the new data is entered, the changed transaction will update the account data. After a month has been closed (M command), you can not change the account numbers, the amount or the date, but all other fields can be changed. F - FIND ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR AN ACCOUNT. This command will prompt for an account number. It only needs one. But, if you enter two account numbers, it will find all of the transactions for the accounts in that range. The second account number must be higher than the first. If you want to see all the checks you wrote on a given checking account for example, use this command. And, if the output is directed to the printer, you will get a hard copy of the transactions. It is very useful when you want to check if a particular transaction has been entered this month. Just find the transactions for one of the accounts it uses. G - GET ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR AN AMOUNT. This will prompt for an amount, then search all transactions and display those that equal the amount. You may use a wildcard character to retrieve a range of amounts. The wildcard character is the asterisk. For example, if you entered 1*, you would get all the transactions with an amount from $10.00 to $19.99. If you entered 1*0, you would get all from $100.00 to $199.99. If you entered *0 you would get all transactions with an amount value from 0.01 to 99.99. Use the wildcard when you are not sure of the exact amount of the transaction you are looking for. The zero is a position holder. It can be any character, even another asterisk. H - HELP. When the output is directed to the screen, this command will toggle the HELP display on and off. When the output is directed to one of the other modes with function key 7, the list of help commands will be sent to that device. An asterisk in the display of a command indicates that the output can be directed to the screen, the printer, to a text file or to a file that can be imported by Lotus 1 2 3. Appendix A will discuss how to put this data into 1 2 3. -49- REFERENCE SECTION I I - INSERT TRANSACTIONS. PC-ACCOUNT has two different modes of entering transactions, Prompted and Free Form. The Prompted input mode prompts you for each data element, such as amount, account numbers, etc., and is recommended if you are just learning PC-ACCOUNT. The Free Form input mode is where most of the data is entered on a single line. It is used for ease and speed by those familiar with PC-ACCOUNT. You may easily switch from one input screen to the other while in the input mode. On each screen there is a reminder to enter an asterisk followed by a RETURN. PC-ACCOUNT will remember which screen type you used last and will present that screen the next time that you select INPUT. PROMPTED INPUT MODE This screen will respond with the prompt: ENTERING TRANSACTION # 20 ENTER * & RETURN TO SWITCH TO FREE FORM INPUT MODE or ENTER AMOUNT [QUIT]? -50- REFERENCE SECTION I We will enter the amount 123.45 and press RETURN. The next screen will be: ENTERING TRANSACTION # 20 $123.45 ENTER AN ACCOUNT NUMBER FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING 2 SETS OF PROMPTS: PRESS RETURN TO SKIP THE FIRST OPTION IN A SET ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? or ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO or ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM Note that the amount is now displayed on the top line. You are prompted to enter an account number for each of two sets of prompts. It clearly shows what type of account, asset or bank, it is looking for and the action it will take. To get to the second input line of a set, just press RETURN. There must be an entry for each set. Read the next part on the Free Form Input Mode to pick up where this part continues. FREE FORM INPUT MODE This command will respond with the prompt: $ ASSET AMOUNT IN OUT COMMENT | SEARCH CODE [QUIT]? _ BANK OUT IN ENTER * & RETURN TO SWITCH TO PROMPTED INPUT MODE -51- REFERENCE SECTION I The prompt reminds you of the order in which to enter data. Enter the amount first, then two account numbers, then the comment, then a delimiter followed by the search code and finally the RETURN. This will be better understood after you read the next page or two. The ASSET/IN OUT reminds you of the order in which to enter asset account numbers (1-60). The BANK/OUT IN reminds you of the order to enter bank account numbers (61-75). IN means that the transaction amount is going IN or being added to the account. OUT means that the transaction amount is coming OUT or being subtracted from the account. In comparison to the Prompted Input Mode described above, the first account number you would enter is the same as you would for the first set of prompts. The second account number you would enter is the same as you would for the second set of prompts. These prompts also work when asset and bank accounts are both in a transaction. If you are depositing money in a bank account, it must also go into an asset account (unless it is being transferred from another of your bank accounts). Enter the asset account number first and the bank account number second. See, it fits the rule displayed by the prompt. The reverse is true for a withdrawal. The bank account is entered first and the asset account second, because both are OUT accounts. The only required fields for a valid transaction are the amount and the two account numbers. The | is the delimiter that signifies that the next value is a search code. You can have either a comment or a search code or both. If you use a search code you must use the |, otherwise leave it out. This command uses free form input. That means there are many variations on how the data can be entered. For example: 75 15 25 Theater Tickets|1 75.001525Theater Tickets|1 75.00 15 25Theater Tickets |1 75.0 1525Theater Tickets | 1 75 15 25 Theater Tickets | 1 75 1525Theater Tickets 75 1525|1 These transaction inputs are all equivalent and valid. The last two examples leave out the comment or search code to illustrate that either can be omitted. Both can also be omitted. The amount for this transaction is 75 dollars. The IN account is 15. The OUT account is 25. The comment is Theater Tickets. The search code is 1. Spaces are not required when you enter two decimal digits in the amount or when the first account number is two digits. If either -52- REFERENCE SECTION I case is not true, a space must follow the short entry. You may wish to enter a space after each value to make the entry clear to you, such as in the first line of the above example. Commas must not be used in any value except in the comment. If you enter a double quote (") in the comment field, PC-ACCOUNT will change it to a single quote ('), which is also acceptable. This is because the comment field is delimited by double quotes in the disk file. The search code is any integer number in the range from -32768 to 32767 that you wish to use for your reference. The R command will retrieve all transactions that have the same code. PC-ACCOUNT will display your list of search codes at the bottom of the screen. These can be scrolled using function keys 9 and 10, or jump scroll with the ALT key in combination with the A, S, Z, or X keys. The A and S keys scroll by page and the Z and X keys jump to the beginning or end. The S and X keys are on the right and move the data in the same direction as the Function 10 key does. Try it. Just remember to press the ALT key while doing it. When RETURN is pressed, PC-ACCOUNT will decode the input line and display it for verification. For example, the above transaction will be displayed as: $75.00 ENTER INTO 15 AMER EXP 10/26/85 WITHDRAW FROM 25 RECREATION SEARCH CODE 1 Miscellaneous Theater Tickets IS THE TRANSACTION OKAY [Y]? The 75.00 is the amount. 15 is the IN account and 25 is the OUT account. PC-ACCOUNT added the date, the account names and the search code nomenclature. The last field is the comment. There is no limit on the length of the comment field. If the first account number is between 61 and 75 inclusive, and you have designated the account as a checking account by creating a check format with the Setup Check Format program, PC-ACCOUNT will ask: DO YOU WANT TO PRINT A CHECK [Y]? If you respond in the affirmative, you will be prompted by the check printing routine. Otherwise, you will be asked for the check number. It will provide the next check number as a default. If the transaction is a bank finance charge or some other non check withdrawal, enter a zero for the check number. This will not affect the check number remembered by PC-ACCOUNT. The same number -53- REFERENCE SECTION I will be the default the next time. However, if you enter another number, the system will set its check counter to that number. The last check number for each checking account is retained in the file named CONTROL. The program will then prompt for another transaction. If there is none, enter return and the ENTER COMMAND prompt will return. If the transaction is not correct, respond to the OKAY [Y] prompt with an N or n and PC-ACCOUNT will forget all about it. If you want to print a check, PC-ACCOUNT will ask: MAKE THE CHECK PAYABLE TO (= to Search)? The list that you created with the Edit Check Payees section will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Use function keys 9 and 10 to scroll the list of payees if you have more than nine. You can also use the ALT A, S, Z, or X to jump scroll. Select the number of the payee you want at the prompt. There are two types of answers to this question. The first is to enter the sequence number of the payee. You may have remembered it or found it on the list. So, if the payee is on the list, enter the payee number. If your list of payees is long, PC-ACCOUNT will search the names for you. Enter a search string that consists of a few characters anywhere in the name. Case is not important. When a matching string is found, that payee will be at the top of the list and you will be asked if that is the correct payee, or to continue searching, or to quit the search. The search is made in the payee name field only, not the reference field. If the payee is not on the list, then enter the name exactly as you want it to appear on the check. This response is followed by the request: ENTER REFERENCE? This reference will be printed on the Memo or For line of the check. PC-ACCOUNT will then prompt with: MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: Payee name REMARKS ARE: Reference for this payee OKAY (Enter R to change the REMARKS) [Y]? If you respond with N, the program will go back to the question of do you want to print a check. If you enter R, you can then change the remarks. If you enter return or Y or y, the process will continue. If you had entered a payee name you will be prompted: -54- REFERENCE SECTION J-M DO YOU WANT THIS PAYEE ENTERED INTO THE PAYEE FILE [Y]? This is an alternate way of entering payee data into the PAYEE file. In either case you will then see the following prompt: ENTER CHECK NUMBER [437]? The number selected for the default is one greater than the last check written on this account. You may enter return to take the default, or enter another number. For any number other than zero, PC-ACCOUNT will remember that number and use it as the basis for the next default. If 0 (numeric zero) is entered, the current default will remain. Use 0 for the case when there is a bank charge against the account for which no check is written. The next prompt will be: INSERT CHECK.... Your check alignment instructions HIT RETURN WHEN READY The phrase, 'Your check alignment instructions', will be replaced with the instruction that you want to remind you how to align the check in the printer. You will have entered this message when you set up the check format for this bank. You can have a different message for each bank. When the check is aligned in the printer, and the printer is on line, enter return and PC-ACCOUNT will print your check. The program will then prompt for another transaction. If there are none, enter return and the ENTER COMMAND prompt will return. J - SEARCH BY CHECK NUMBER. This command will prompt for a bank account number and then for a check number. It only needs one check number. But, if you enter two check numbers, it will find all of the transactions that have check numbers in that range. The second check number must be higher than the first. L - LAST TRANSACTION NUMBER. There are times when you want to look at the last few transactions just entered. Or maybe you just want to see where you left off the last session. L displays how many transactions there are. M - MOVE AND SAVE DATA FOR A NEW PERIOD. When you have completed all of the transactions for a month, use this command to close out the files and create new files for the next month. This does not have to be done on the last day of a month. It can be in -55- REFERENCE SECTION N-O the middle of the next month or before the end of the current month, whenever is convenient to you. That is why the current accounting month is displayed along with the current date on the 25th line of the screen. The current accounting month displayed may be June and the date may be July 7. Here is precisely what M does. First, all accounts and transactions are written to the disk files. Then the account values from this month are copied into the account values for the past month on the account display screens. A new account file and a new transaction file are created. The current month is changed and the transaction counter is set to zero. Then you are ready to continue. The accounts and transactions for any closed month are available whenever the Accounting mode is selected and you are asked for what month you want the files. However, the data is marked closed and the account number, the amount and the date can not be changed. You may use all of the commands that search and view the closed data, but you may only make changes in the fields not mentioned above. N - NAME AN ACCOUNT. Account names can be up to 11 characters in length. They can include any displayable characters and the space. For example, W & L is a valid account name. Account names are not required. They can be changed or deleted at any time. This command does not affect the account balance. When invoked, this routine prompts for the account number and then the name. If you want to delete a name, just enter return for the name. The account status screens are immediately updated to reflect the change. O - MULTIPLE CONDITION QUERY. This is used for searching for transactions. It displays the following screen: MULTIPLE CONDITION QUERY Enter values ONLY for the conditions desired. Press RETURN to SKIP to the next entry. Press RETURN to ENTER a new value. Press the ESC key to QUIT this command. Enter | to DELETE a value. Enter \ to START the search. AMOUNT ? FIRST ACCOUNT SECOND ACCOUNT SEARCH CODE SEARCH TEXT You may enter one or any combination of five transaction fields for searching. They are amount, first and second account numbers, search code or text in the comment. You are prompted for a value for each field. If you do not want to use a value in a field, just enter -56- REFERENCE SECTION P-T RETURN to advance to the next field. After the fifth field, it cycles back to the first. To delete a value that you previously entered in a field, enter |. To start the search, enter \ as the only input to a prompt. An example when this is useful is when you want to find all the deposits to a checking account. To do this, enter the O command. Press RETURN twice to skip the amount and first account number fields. Enter the checking account number as the second account and press RETURN. Then enter \ and press RETURN. P - PRINT A CHECK. This routine works exactly like the check printing feature in the Insert Transactions routine. It asks for an account number to acquire the check format parameters. It also asks for an amount to be put on the check and it uses the data on payees. It does not change any files. It just prints the check. Q - SAVE DATA AND EXIT. Use this command to return to the master menu when you are finished with the sections that have this command. Do NOT use function key 5 unless you do NOT want to save the transactions and the changed accounts from this session. Q will cause the account, transaction and control file to be written to the disk if the data has changed. PC-ACCOUNT will then return to the master menu. Q performs the exact same function as the X command. R - RETRIEVE TRANSACTIONS FOR A CODE. This is similar to the F and G commands except that it searches for the search code that you used to mark your transactions for your application. S - SEARCH TRANSACTION COMMENTS. This command prompts for a string of characters. It then searches the comments of every transaction and displays those that have a match on the selected output device. It must be an exact match. Case and position in the comment are not important. A string entered in upper case will select a record where the string is in lower case or vice versa and located anywhere in the comment. The wildcard character ? can be used in text search strings. This command is used to search the Transaction Comment. Only the ? can be used. This differs from the search without wildcards in that it must match from the first character of the comment. For example, the search string '???ABC??4' would match the comment 'BTYABC004A SDF' and '923ABCZZ4X9 QWER'. But it would not match the string 'Z2396ABC004TY UIOP' because the string 'ABC004' does not start on the 4th character of the comment, as is indicated by the first three ?. T - DISPLAY TRANSACTIONS. This command will display whatever transactions you select to the output selected by function key 7. When the output is directed to the printer a heading is printed that includes the date. It will start a new page with a new heading after -57- REFERENCE SECTION U-Z printing 56 transactions. So be sure to start at the top of the page and have the printer's top of page parameter set. Any transaction or sequence of transactions may be selected. There is a display at the bottom of the screen when the transaction records are displayed that displays the number of transactions displayed and the sum of the amounts. It will also print this data on your printer. This option can be turned on or off with the parameter selection in ACT_INIT.EXE. U - UPDATE FILES (SAVE DATA). This causes the account and transaction data to be written to the disk, as in the Q and X commands, but PC-ACCOUNT stays in the accounting section. V - VERIFY ACCOUNT TOTALS. This will display the sums of accounts just like it does on the last line of the function key 2 display. Its main purpose is to direct this information to the printer, etc. W - CLEAR SCREEN. This will rewrite the command screen if system error messages ever write over part of it. X - SAVE DATA AND EXIT. X performs the exact same function as the Q command. Y - SKIP LINE OR PAGE. This command is used to advance the page on the printer or in the file ACTLIST. It prompts if you want to skip a line or skip to the top of the next page. If you select line, it ask how many lines. If you have not selected TO PRINTER or TO FILE before entering Y, it will give you a message and quit. Z - DISPLAY STATUS DATA. This displays to following information at the top of the screen: FILE NAMES: C:\ACTDATA\A03.87 C:\ACTDATA\T03.87 THE CURRENT ACCOUNTING PERIOD IS March, 1987 THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF RECORDS FOR: TRANSACTIONS IS 320 PAYEES IS 300 SEARCH CODES IS 300 FREE SPACE IS 27486 In this example the data files are on drive C: in the directory called ACTDATA. The account file names start with the letter A and the transaction file names start with the letter T. The next two digits of each name are the number of the month. The two digits after the dot are the year number. For March 1987, the file names are A03.87 and T03.87. -58- REFERENCE SECTION This naming convention makes it easy to copy all of the data files from one year with the DOS command COPY *.87 B:. Or you may want to just copy the current months files with the DOS command COPY ?03.87 B:. There is one more file you must backup with the current data files. That file is named CONTROL. The system will not run without it. However, it must be on the same disk or in the same directory as PCACT.EXE. -59- MISCELLANEOUS TIPS This section will give examples of situations that you may encounter and ways to handle them. The accounts shown in figure 1 will be used in the examples. 1. Deposit a paycheck for $750 into CHECKING ACCOUNT #1 (account 61) and the asset account called CASH (account 1). Give it a search code of 3. The transaction would be entered as: 750 1 61 PAY CHECK|3 In this case the $750 is added to both accounts. Both are IN accounts and would be positioned as indicated in the prompt below. The amount is entered first. The IN asset account goes second and the IN bank account goes third. The PC-ACCOUNT insert screen would look like this: $ ASSET AMOUNT IN OUT COMMENT | SEARCH CODE [QUIT]? 750 1 61 Pay Check | 3 BANK OUT IN 2. Transfer $200 from your bank savings account (account #63) to checking account #1 (account #61). We do not want to change the amount in asset account #2, called Savings, because we still consider the $200 savings even though it will be in the checking account. This is a transfer from one bank account to another since both account numbers are above 60. The transaction would be entered as: 200 63 61 Transfer From Savings The position of the two account numbers follow the rule for bank account numbers as shown in the prompt display in example 1 above. The bank OUT account number is entered before the bank IN account number. 2A. If you also want to take the $200 in the above example out of the Savings asset account (account #2) and put it in your Vacation asset account (account #6), enter the following transaction: 200 6 2 Transfer Savings to Vacation -60- MISCELLANEOUS TIPS 3. Deposit three checks at once into one checking account with each check amount going into a different asset account. This is a common situation. It can be entered in three or four transactions. I suggest using four. If you only use three transactions, then each will show up as a deposit when reconciling your bank statement. However, your bank statement will only show one amount as the deposit, the total of the three. Using four transactions will make reconciling the bank statement easier. This is because only one deposit will be displayed by PC-ACCOUNT and it will match the one on the bank statement. Here is how to do it. Select an account that is not being used. For this example we will use account #33 and refer to it as temporary. First, enter the amounts into the three asset accounts that the money is going into and take all three of these amounts out of the temporary account #33. That will take three transactions. Then, with a fourth transaction, enter the total amount into the checking account and into the temporary account. The amount to deposit into these two accounts is the positive value of the negative amount in account #33. You can see the amount in account #33 by pressing function key 1 after entering the first three transactions. The four transactions will look like this: 95.45 1 33 Refund from store 50 9 33 Birthday gift received 67.32 5 33 Payment from medical insurance 212.77 33 61 Deposited 3 checks on Nov 15 Note that the first 3 transactions take a total of $212.77 out of account #33 and the fourth puts $212.77 into account #33 for a net change in account #33 of zero. Now, when you reconcile the bank statement for checking account #61, the displayed transaction amount will match the deposit on your bank statement. You could enter the total deposit transaction first, but by doing it the way shown, PC-ACCOUNT adds the amount of the three deposits in the temporary account for you. 4. Where to look for errors when a bank statement does not reconcile? This will happen when you or the bank has made an error. Most of the time the error will have been made by you. A word of advice. When reconciling a bank statement, always have the directed output set to the printer or a file so as to create a record of transactions that you checked as cleared on this run. The file ACTLIST can always be viewed with the DOS TYPE command or printed with the DOS command COPY ACTLIST PRN. -61- MISCELLANEOUS TIPS The first place to look is to see if you have checked off all of the transactions on the bank statement. If not, it means that the transactions not checked off were never entered into the computer, or you missed it on the first time through the PC-ACCOUNT reconciling routine. To find this transaction, use the Search Through Many Months routine for this amount or account. If it is not there, enter a new transaction into PC-ACCOUNT for it. Common transactions missed are finance charges, bank charges for checks and other miscellaneous bank charges. After entering these transactions, rerun the PC-ACCOUNT check reconciling routine again to pick up the new entries. If you accidentally select a transaction as cleared and it has not, you can edit it with the E command in the Accounting section, even if the month is closed. The second place to look for an error is in the actual amount on the bank statement and in your transaction. Use the directed output from the reconciling routine to double check the transaction amount with the bank statement amount. It is very easy to transpose two digits and not see the error when quickly going through the reconciling routine. That is why the reconciling routine has the amount double underlined, to remind you to double check the amount on the bank statement with the amount in the PC-ACCOUNT transaction. I had a situation where the bank keyed in an amount different than that on the check. The bank had to look at a microfilmed copy of the check to confirm that they made an error. It was a very neat check printed by PC-ACCOUNT on a daisy wheel printer, so that the amount on the check was clear and easy to read. A third place to look for an error is in months previous to the month that you started the reconciling routine. Sometimes a check that you wrote gets lost and is never deposited or someone takes a long time to use the check. PC-ACCOUNT starts the reconciling routine with the bank account balance at the beginning of the starting month that you select. If there is an uncleared check in a month before this, the reconciling routine does not know it. The reconciling routine assumes that all previous transactions have cleared. If you know of one that has not cleared, you can enter it in the adjustments routine at the end of the reconciling routine. To avoid this error, it is a good practice to start two or three months before the month you think has the first uncleared transaction and let the reconciling routine look for you. -62- MISCELLANEOUS TIPS 5. BACKUP YOUR DATA. Make it a habit to copy your working disk to another disk at least once a month. The best time to do it is right after starting a new accounting month. I suggest making two backup disks. Keep one at home and the second in another building, such as your office. You can always replace stolen or burned equipment and programs, but data is often irreplaceable, or very difficult to recreate. You may want to back up only the files that changed after each session. This can be done by just copying three files to another disk. These would be the current transaction and account files and the CONTROL file. The transaction and account files look like T01.87 and A01.87. The numbers reflect the accounting period. Also copy any other files you created or changed, such as PAYEES, a check format file or a standard transaction file (TRANSCKS, TRANSDIS and TRANSOTR). It is a good practice to print the transactions from each session and save the printouts until the end of the month. This is for reference when your computer is off and also serves as backup during the month. I also suggest that at the end of each accounting month, and before starting the next accounting month, you print all the accounts and all the transactions from that month. Keep these printouts in a notebook or file for quick reference when the computer is off. Use the following procedure. Turn the printer on and align the printer to the top of the page. Set the top of page marker on your printer (turn the printer off then on if you do not have a Set Top of Form button to do this). Get into the Accounting Section. Direct the output to the printer with function key 7. Skip eight lines from the top of the page with the command: Y L 8 RETURN Enter the command: A 1,99 RETURN to print the 75 accounts (99 is easier to enter than 75 and only 75 accounts will print). Then enter V to have the totals printed. Align to the top of the next page with the command: Y RETURN -63- MISCELLANEOUS TIPS Then enter the command: T 1,999 RETURN to print all of the transactions. 6. FLOPPY DISK OPERATION. If you want to store much more than twelve months data on a floppy disk, you will have to use two disks and place all of the account and transaction files on the second disk. Use the CHANGE PROGRAM PARAMETERS section of ACT_INIT to set the path to the B: drive. Using the DOS PATH command to do this will NOT work for data files. When operating from a floppy disk, always have an empty formatted floppy on hand. If the data floppy is full when PC-ACCOUNT writes transaction or account files to it, you will get one chance to insert a new floppy to save your data on it. -64-