Monster Media 1993 #2

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M O N E Y C O N T R O L Assets and Accounts Management for The Private Individual Copyright E. John Ainsworth ■ 1993 CONTENTS Introduction 4 System Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Transaction Entry. . . . . . . . . 6 Account listings . . . . . . . . . 6 Reconciliation . . . . . . . . . . 6 Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Standing Orders. . . . . . . . . . 6 Print. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 GENERAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 GETTING STARTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 PERSONALISE HEADINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 CREATE DATA FILES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ACCOUNTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Receipts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Transfers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Transaction amendment. . . . . . . . . . . 16 REPORTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 List Income/Expenditure Balances . . . . . . . . . 18 List Asset/liability Balances. . . . . . . . . . . 19 Monthly Analysis of Income/Expenditure . . . . . . 19 List an Income or Expenditure Account. . . . . . . 19 List an Income or Expenditure Account - last page only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 List an Asset or Liability Account . . . . . . . . 20 List an Asset or Liability Account - last page only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Reconciliation - Enter presented cheques . . . . . 22 List unpresented cheques . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Audit list/Narrative search. . . . . . . . . . . . 23 BUDGET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Budget - setting or amending allowances. . 25 expenditure frequency indicator. . . . . . 25 STANDING ORDERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Pay Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 List Orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Create a Standing Order. . . . . . . . . . 28 Amend/delete an order. . . . . . . . . . . 29 PRINT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Analysis of Monthly Balances . . . . . . . . . . . 31 19.2 Current Balances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 19.3 Bank/Asset Account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 19.4 Income/Expenditure Account. . . . . . . . . . 31 19.5 Budget Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 19.6 Audit/Narrative search. . . . . . . . . . . . 32 CHARTS AND GRAPHS 32 BACK-UP DATA TO A FLOPPY DISC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 RESTORE FROM A FLOPPY DISC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 CHANGE TO ANOTHER SET OF ACCOUNTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 CARRY FORWARD BALANCES TO NEW SET OF ACCOUNTS. . . . . . . 33 UTILITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Sort Main File into Date Order . . . . . . . . . . 35 Reconstruct all Balances . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Reconstruct Index Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Change Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Change Accounts Start Date . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Amend Starting Balances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Stop Automatic Standing Order Prompt . . . . . . . 36 Change Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Shell to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 ASSETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Enter a new Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Amend or delete a record . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 View all records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 View records in a category . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 View all records - Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 View a category - Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Print a single record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Print all records - Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Print a single category - Table. . . . . . . . . . 43 Print Insurance list - Table . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Category selection - Table . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Return to Accounts Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 End and close files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 1.Introduction Many people these days have several bank and building society accounts, use one or more credit cards and have investments. It has become increasingly difficult therefore to keep track of all assets and liabilities. MONEY CONTROL will bring your financial affairs under the control you need. With it you will be able: i) to set budget amounts for up to 24 expenditure types and to monitor expenditure against the budget together with a crude forecast for the year; ii) to reconcile each of your bank, building society and credit card accounts; (up to 7 asset and 7 liability accounts) iii) to maintain detailed records of credit card expen- diture and the resulting liabilty. iv) to ensure that your account balances are updated each time a standing order/direct debit occurs. v) to view on screen, or print, account statements containing all transactions or summaries of balances both current and for each month. vi) to keep a detailed record of all assets ensuring adequate insurance cover is maintained. vii) to identify up to 6 different sources of income. All of this information will make completion of income tax returns a simple matter and will enable you to plan your expenditure from year to year. 2. System Outline Money control is a menu driven system designed to be "User Friendly" ie. as much guidance as possible is given on screen and prompts and error messages are specific and clear. It is designed to be used as an annual system but can accommodate longer periods if required - the number of transactions per account is limited only by disc size but very large numbers of transactions (several thousand) would require processors of at least 286 power in order to give reasonable access speed. Both the accounts and the assets modules can be tailored to suit your own circumstances and configured to your prefer- ences for colour and to your particular printer. Transactions are entered via a screen designed specifically for this purpose. It consists of date, description, amount and optional reference number. The number of income (6) and expenditure (24) types and the number of asset (7) and liability (7) accounts available is based on a combination of experience of average needs, the desire to keep reports simple and the constraints of an 80 x 25 character screen. As a result, it has been possible to present reports summarising your overall financial position on a single screen. Utilities are provided for the accounts module so in the event that balances or index files become corrupted they can be re-created from the transaction data within the main file. The index files are sorted so that transactions are presented in date order. There is a password facility and a utility to sort transactions in the main file in order to maximise performance. Entry of a transaction automatically updates all balances, including budget balances, and assigns the transaction to the appropriate bank account and income/expenditure account. Once a standing order has been set up, its posting is prompted automatically when the payment date arrives. The assets database assumes the same configuration as the accounts module. Purchase of an asset, recorded in the accounts system, can automatically update the assets data- base. System Requirements Money Control will run on any PC compatible machine with a hard disc system (1.5Mb available) and 512K of memory. 3. Accounts The accounts module contains the following facilities: (The numbers relate to the menu position) Transaction Entry 1 Enter a receipt 2 Enter a payment 3 Enter a payment in respect of an asset purchase 4 Enter a transfer between asset and liability accounts (nominals) 5 Amend or delete a transaction Account listings 6 List current Inc/Exp balances on screen 7 List current Asset/liability balances 8 List income and expenditure totals on screen for a particular month List a year's analysis of total income and total expenditure, month by month. 9 List an income or expenditure account on screen, transaction by transaction. 10 List the last page of an income or expenditure account on screen. 11 List a nominal account on screen, transaction by transaction. 12 List the last page of a nominal account on screen. Reconciliation 13 Enter presented cheques or credit card payments and receipts. 14 List unpresented cheques or credit card payments and receipts. Show expected statement balance. 15 Audit listing/narrative search. Budget 16 Display table showing expenditure compared with budget allocation, balance remaining and forecast expenditure for year. 17 Set budget allocations for each of 24 types of expenditure. Standing Orders 18 Enter details of standing order (Receipt or payment) List orders Amend or delete orders Post orders Print 19 Most of the screen listings and reports have a corresponding printed report. GENERAL Pressing F1 or the mouse right button from any screen in the accounts system or assets database will return you to the sub menu above, or to the main menu. Exit from the activity menu to end use of the system can only be effected by choosing option 7. F1 also abandons entry or amendment of a transaction, however in a few places F1 is disabled to avoid causing data corrup- tion. Selection from the menus is either by cursor control using the arrowed keys, Pgup, Pgdn, Home and End, by entering the appropriate number or by mouse. Pressing the RETURN key (sometimes marked ENTER) or clicking on the mouse left button effects the choice. Throughout the system amounts in reports are colour coded so that if you have a colour monitor the default colours show debits as red on white and credits as black on white. Minus signs are shown as well so that monochrome monitors can be used. The maximum value of a single transaction is 999,999.99 and the total that one set of accounts can accommodate is 9,999,999.99 GETTING STARTED Make sure your machine is in the root directory (ie from the DOS prompt type CD\ followed by RETURN. Place disc 1 in drive A (or B) and type A: RETURN to change to drive A. Type INSTALL and press RETURN. , Follow the screen instructions. When installation is complete the final screen will advise you that it is necessary to re-boot your machine before using the Money Control system. To do this press the CTRL, ALT and DEL keys simultaneously. When you are returned to the C> prompt type MC [RETURN] to start the program. When the Money Control programs have been loaded you will be asked to enter a password - the program is supplied with a null password so just press RETURN. - You can add a password later if required. (see page 36) The next screen is a menu of the main Activities within the Money Control system viz: 1. Open money files 2. Open Assets Register 3. Open Charts 4. Back up data to floppy disc 5. Recover from floppy disc 6. Change to another set of Accounts 7. Carry forward to new set of a/cs 8. Personalise headings 9. Open new data files 10.Utilities 11.End and close files PERSONALISE HEADINGS The first 2 items of the main activities menu will form the basis of most of your use of the system but when setting up a new system you first need to personalise the headings within the system; so choose item 7 (ie move the cursor to item 7, or type 7, and press RETURN) You will now see a menu with the following choices: Banks etc 1 Income/expenditure 2 Asset categories 3 Return to Activity Menu 4 ASSET and LIABILITY HEADINGS - Banks etc Press RETURN with the cursor on the first item and the default asset and liability headings will be displayed. If you wish to change any, or all, of these headings just: edit the default heading and then press RETURN. The cursor can be set at the beginning of a heading by pressing the "Home" key; the "Ins" key will allow typeover mode to be set. Remember that the first 7 headings must be in respect of asset accounts eg bank and building society accounts, investment accounts or cash, and the second 7 must be in respect of liability accounts eg mortgage, loan and credit card accounts etc. If you wish to retain a default heading just press RETURN without entering any details. Headings that are not to be used can be blanked out or changed to "Spare ****" or something similar. If you wish to alter only one or two headings then pressing Pgup or Pgdn will move you around the list more quickly. The "up arrow" key can also be used to return to a heading above the cursor. When you reach the last heading you will be asked whether all details are correct, press Y to return to the menu, any other key to re-enter the headings. INCOME and EXPENDITURE HEADINGS These headings are personalised in exactly the same way as the asset and liability headings. The first 6 headings must be in respect of income (or unused) and the 24 remaining must be in respect of expenditure (or unused). ASSET HEADINGS These headings are amended in the same fashion but in addition you are asked to indicate those headings which apply to assets which need to be covered by your household insur- ance. If you are not sure at this stage, enter Y in all fields - they can be amended later. RETURN TO ACTIVITIES MENU When you have personalised all headings as required, choose option 4 from the menu (Or press F1) to return to the Activities Menu. CREATE DATA FILES The next step in opening a new set of accounts is to input your starting balances and create the data files. You will need to have starting balances available for all the asset and liability accounts. (If you wish to experiment with the system before entering actual balances then continue below). Choose option 8 from the activity menu and press RETURN. You will now be presented with a screen containing the year of the accounts, a start date and the personalised headings you have just entered together with fields for the entry of brought forward balances. Enter the appropriate year in the format shown eg 1992/93 or if preferred 1992/1993 - press RETURN. Enter the start date of the accounts in a DDMMYY format (eg 1st April 1992 = 010492). Now enter the start balances against the appropriate headings - for nil balances just press RETURN. The "up" arrow key will take you back to a previous entry if you wish to correct an error. If an asset account happens to be overdrawn then prefix the amount with a minus sign (-). In the unlikely but possible event that a liability account is in credit then prefix the amount with a plus sign (+). Otherwise just enter the values. There are various methods for entering a mortgage balance eg: a) Enter 0 As the year progresses this balance will then rep- resent payments made during the period but will not indicate your liability. b) Enter total liability as shown on last statement - less any payments made since. Credit all subsequent payments to this account, then charge interest to an expenditure sub-head each time a statement is received, debiting the mortgage account. c) Endowment - Enter total liability as originally borrowed Charge interest against an expense account, charge insurance premium against an expense account - could be the same or a separate account. The insurance premium represents, partly, the repayment of capital so the total liability could be reduced each year by the surrender value of the policy, if that is known. This would be done by posting a receipt to the mortgage account debiting the insurance expenditure category. When all values have been entered you will be asked to confirm that they are correct, if so: Press Y and you will be returned to the main activity menu Otherwise press any key and you will be returned to the "year" field and can move to the wrong amount by pressing the RETURN key, there is no need to re-enter correct amounts. ACCOUNTS Having personalised headings and entered start balances you are now ready to start using the accounts system. Choose option 1 from the activities menu After a few moments you will be presented with the main accounts menu. This is divided into 7 areas ie: Inputs Balance listings Account listings Reconciliation Budget Standing Orders Printing These will be explained in detail one at a time. Inputs The procedure for transactions input is basically the same for receipts, payments and transfers so receipts will be explained in detail followed by comments on payments and transfers. 1. Receipts This option is used for the direct entry of any monies received, (eg salary, interest, dividends, rents, sale of goods etc.) With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN. You will be presented with a menu of the income and expendi- ture headings that you previously defined. Move the cursor to the appropriate heading (eg Salary) and press RETURN You will now be presented with a second menu, this time of asset and liability headings. Move the cursor to the appropriate heading (eg Bank) and press RETURN A transaction input screen will now appear with the inc/exp account and asset/liability account that you chose showing at the top. The cursor will be in the date field. Enter the date the transaction occurred, in the DDMMYY format. (eg 1st April 1992, enter 010492) Press RETURN Type a description of the transaction. Press RETURN Enter the amount of the transaction (a decimal point must be input if the amount includes pence, the maximum allowed is 999,999.99). Press RETURN Enter a 4 digit reference number for the transaction. Press RETURN. You will now be asked to verify that all details are correct - with various options for continuing; eg enter another transaction, return to menu or edit transaction. Move the cursor to the appropriate choice and press RETURN. Apart from the 'edit' choice the transaction will be saved and you will be moved on to the screen appropriate to the choice made. The 'edit' choice will return the cursor to the date field and amendments can be made to the transaction details. Just press RETURN for fields that do not require amendment, there is no need to re-enter the details. 2. Payments This option is used for all purchases against the 24 expendi- ture headings and may also be used in conjunction with the income headings to record refunds of overpaid receipts. Payments are entered in exactly the same manner as receipts. 3. Payment in respect of Purchase of an Asset This option is used for purchases where the item purchased has resaleable value and therefore becomes an asset, particu- larly items that require cover under your household insur- ance. Eg Furniture, TV, Hi-fi, camera, kitchen equipment. These payments are entered in exactly the same manner as receipts with the exception that after the selection of the appropriate Bank or credit account you will be presented with a menu containing the asset headings. Choose the appropriate heading and press RETURN. 4. Transfers This option is used to transfer funds between the asset and liability accounts or from one asset account to another or one liability account to another. Eg from bank to building society; from bank to credit card organisation etc. Transaction entry is as before but instead of choosing an income/expenditure heading you will be presented with the asset/liability menu twice. On the first occasion choose the account from which the funds are to be transferred and on the second choose the account to which funds are to be trans- ferred. The menu is headed accordingly. 5. Transaction amendment or deletion This option can be used to change the details of any transac- tion, including transfers, that have previously been entered. The identity of the transaction is always relative to the bank or credit account under which it is entered so make sure you know this, if necessary by listing accounts, before proceeding. On choosing the amendment option you will be presented with a screen with three further options for identifying the transaction you wish to amend: 1. List all transactions in the account 2. List only the last page of the account 3. Do not list account The transaction is identified by a reference number that appears on the left hand side of the transaction in an account listing. If you do not know the reference number of the transaction and it is not a recent transaction then choose item 1. If you do not know the reference number of the transaction and it is a recent transaction then choose item 2. If you have already listed the account and know the reference number then choose item 3. Whichever option is chosen you will next be asked to identify the appropriate account from the usual assets/liabilities menu. If items 1 or 2 (above) were chosen a listing will appear. From this identify the transaction reference and when the listing ends press F1 to proceed. To shortcut a long listing you can press F1 as soon as the transaction to be amended has been identified. If you chose to list only the last page and the transaction is not on that page you can "page up" as necessary until it is found. After F1 has been pressed, enter the transaction number, press RETURN and the details of the transaction to be amended will appear on screen. You are first asked whether you wish to delete the transac- tion, if you do, enter "Y", you are now asked to confirm the deletion if certain, enter "Y" again and the transaction will be logically deleted and you will be returned to the main menu. Any other key will place the cursor in the date field. Amend as necessary or press RETURN to move on to the descrip- tion, amount or reference fields and edit them. After pressing RETURN from the amount field you will be asked to confirm that details are correct; if they are, enter Y and press RETURN to return to the main menu. If you wish to amend the Asset/liability account or the income/expenditure sub-head then press any other key. The asset/liability menu will be displayed followed by the income/expenditure menu, in both cases the cursor will reside on the previous selection so if this is not to be changed it is necessary only to press RETURN. If the transaction you are amending is a transfer then only the asset/liability account will be displayed and after confirming that the transaction details are now correct you will be asked whether you also wish to amend the contra posting. If you have amended the amount of one half of a transfer transaction then you MUST also amend the amount of the contra posting, otherwise your accounts will go out of balance. Amendments to the date or description are not as important but usually these would be kept in step, amendment of the asset/liability account does not affect the contra. If the contra posting is to be amended type Y and press RETURN. Amend the details of the contra posting as above. Confirm the correctness of the details and you will be returned to the main menu. REPORTS 6. List Income/Expenditure Balances With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN. This report shows each of the 6 income and 24 expenditure headings with the total received and paid shown against each head as appropriate. Total receipts and total payments are also shown together with the net effect of the receipts and payments. Pressing any key will take you automatically to the asset/liability balances report. Press F1 to return to menu. 7. List Asset/liability Balances With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN. This report shows brought forward and current balances for each of the 14 asset and liability accounts. Also shown are total assets, total liabilities and the net difference between them both for the start of the period and for the current position. This last figure represents your total liquidity position. Pressing any key will take you automatically to the income/expenditure balances report. Press F1 to return to menu. 8. Monthly Analysis of Income/Expenditure With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN and a sub-menu will appear. This report allows you to display an individual month's income and expenditure totals for each of the 6 income and 24 expenditure headings (the detail provided is the same as for the current position - option 6 - but relates only to a single month) or you can display a summary of monthly income and expenditure totals for the year so far, including the net difference between all sources of income and all types of expenditure. Choose a month as required or the year's analysis (option 13). Pressing F1 or choosing option 14 from the sub-menu will return you to the main menu. 9. List an Income or Expenditure Account With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN and the list of income expenditure headings will appear. Choose the heading you wish to list. This report lists all transactions that have been entered under the chosen heading together with a running balance and total receipts and payments. The up arrow key allows you to scroll backwards, one transaction at a time, the PgUp key allows you to scroll backwards one page at a time. 10. List an Income or Expenditure Account - last page only With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN and the list of income expenditure headings will appear. Choose the heading you wish to list. This report lists the last page (17 transactions) that has been entered under the chosen heading. The report is useful when the set of accounts has been in use for several months and the number of transactions has reached several hundreds. Often you will only wish to look at the latest transactions entered, this option saves the need to scroll through months of earlier transactions to arrive at those you wish to see. Scrolling backwards is possible using the up arrow key and the PgUp key. Balances represent the position taking account of all transactions. 11. List an Asset or Liability Account With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN and the list of asset/liability headings will appear. Choose the heading you wish to list. This report lists all transactions that have been entered under the chosen heading together with a running balance. The up arrow key allows you to scroll backwards, one transaction at a time, the PgUp key allows you to scroll backwards one page at a time.. 12. List an Asset or Liability Account - last page only With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN and the list of asset/liability headings will appear. Choose the heading you wish to list. This report lists the last page (17 transactions) that has been entered under the chosen heading. The report is useful when the set of accounts has been in use for several months and the number of transactions has reached several hundreds. Often you will only wish to look at the latest transactions entered, this option saves the need to scroll through months of earlier transactions to arrive at those you wish to see. Scrolling backwards is possible using the up arrow key and PgUp key. Balances represent the position taking account of all transactions. 13. Reconciliation - Enter presented cheques This option is used when you receive a bank or credit card (etc) statement. It allows you to compare the entries on the statement with those you have entered in the system and to reconcile your system balances with your statement balances. With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN. Then choose the appropriate account from the assets/liabilities menu. A screen will appear with the cursor against the word "state- ment" Enter the reference number of the first item on the statement and press RETURN The reference number will be either the cheque number or a number derived in the same manner as when the transaction was entered. Enter the amount of the transaction, preceding debits (payments) by a minus (-) sign. If the system finds a matching transaction it will repeat the details below your entries against the word "ledger" and add the description of the transaction. If no match is found the words "Not found" will appear. If a matching reference is found but the amount does not match then you will be given the option to accept the match or to look further. Continue to enter items from the statement until all debits and credits have been recorded. Then against "statement" type the word "end". The system will now remove all matched entries from the unpresented cheques file and return you to the main menu. 14. List unpresented cheques This option lists all unpresented cheques, debits and credits for a particular account and provides a reconciliation statement. It is usually used immediately after entering presented cheques from a statement. With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN. The assets/liability list will appear and on choosing an account the unpresented items will be listed. If any items were "not found" when you entered them as pres- ented, scan the list for the item concerned and if you find it, check that the reference number is as expected; if not it will have to be re-entered under option 13 with the correct reference. If the item is not in the list then, if you agree it is a valid debit or credit, the transaction has either been overlooked and will have to be entered, or was entered without a reference. If you do not agree that it is a valid debit or credit then you will have to take the matter up with the bank or other organisation concerned. The total on this report represents the net difference of all transactions that have not yet been presented. Press any key and a reconciliation statement will appear. The amount shown as the statement balance should agree with the final balance on the statement you have received. If it does not then there must be items that have either not been entered, have been entered incorrectly, or were not given a reference when the transaction was entered so that they do not appear in the unpresented list. An account listing (Main menu option 11) may help to resolve this. Pressing the up arrow key will repeat the account listing. 15. Audit list/Narrative search This report has two functions; the first allows you to search for an item or series of items containing a certain word, part of a word, or group of words in its description. You will first be asked whether the report is to be based upon a search - answer Y and you will be prompted to enter the word(s) for which you are searching; the search is not case sensitive, so capitals are not necessary - if more than one word is entered then only transactions with exactly the same grouping will be found. On pressing RETURN a report of all transactions satisfying the criteria will be listed. The second function of this report results from answering N to the above, it allows you to view the last items entered, in the order in which they were entered, regardless of which accounts they were allocated to Descriptions and account headings are abbreviated in the subsequent listing to allow each transaction to occupy only one line. A net total is provided of those transactions listed. Enter a number and press RETURN Note: There are 17 transactions to a page so by entering 17 you will obtain a full page listing representing the most recent transactions - the "up" arrow key can be used to view earlier transactions, if necessary. This facility is useful if ever you feel a transaction has been entered but you cannot remember to which account it was allocated. In the right hand column, reference numbers of transfer contra postings are shown - these should always be consecu- tive. In the unlikely event that they are not then your data file has been corrupted but the only implication for these particular transactions is if you need to amend either of them, in which case amend them individually rather than via the automatic location of the contra (see page 14). 16. Budget Report This option displays a report showing expenditure against the previously set budget amounts (see 17 below). With the cursor highlight bar on this option press RETURN. The first half of the report shows: Budget allowance - amount spent - remaining balance Its use is self explanatory. The second half shows: Percentage of budget spent - forecast for the complete period The percentage of the period in terms of days passed is shown in the heading of the report and this can be compared directly with the percentage spent. The Forecast shown is a guide only to the expected expendi- ture for the total period. All forecasts depend on the pattern of the past being repeated in the future and this will often not be the case with personal expenditure. However used intelligently this feature can give an early warning that you are in an overspend situation. The accuracy depends quite heavily on the correct choice of indicator when setting up the budget amounts (see 17 below). Items where the forecast suggests an overspend situation are highlighted by an adjacent asterisk (*). 17. Budget - setting or amending allowances This option allows you to set up an allowance for each expenditure sub-head for the year. With the cursor highlight bar on the option press RETURN. A screen will appear showing the 24 expenditure headings together with provision for entering an amount against each of them and an indication of the frequency of expenditure. At the bottom of the first column is a repeat of the item where the cursor resides. This is useful when amending amounts as it shows the current value before amendment. At the bottom of the second column is a total; this value changes dynamically as values are entered or amended and allows you to monitor your setting of budgets against known total income. The expenditure frequency indicator needs some explanation. Some expenditure, such as food and provisions, is normally made on a very regular weekly basis; other expenditure is on a regular monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual basis eg standing orders, insurance premiums, subscriptions; and some occurs infrequently and at varying intervals, eg one-off purchases of furniture, kitchen appliances, TV etc. The forecast facility needs some indication of the pattern of expenditure for each sub-head in order to arrive at a more realistic estimate and this is derived from the frequency indicator. When setting this indicator therefore, if all expenditure under the sub-head: is regular and often, set the indicator to "R" if mainly once a month set "M" if quarterly or only 3 or 4 expenses per annum set "Q" if only two or three times a year set "H" and if only once a year set "A". It could be argued that if a sub-head is only used once a year then it should be combined under another heading, however another use of the "A" setting is when you know that there will be no more expenditure under a particular sub-head for the rest of the year, amending the indicator to "A" will freeze the forecast at the amount actually spent. Enter amounts and set indicators as required. Pgup, Pgdn and the "up" arrow keys can be used to move through the list more quickly when amending. When completed, the system will ask for confirmation and then display the budget report so that you can inspect the effect of the allowances against the current position. 18. Standing Orders This option takes you to a sub-menu which deals with all aspects of standing orders. With the cursor highlight bar on the option press RETURN. The sub-menu will appear with the following options: 1. Pay orders and post receipts 2. List orders and receipts 3. Create orders and receipts 4. Amend/delete orders and receipts 5. Return to Main menu The creation of a standing order record enables you to ensure that automatic debits and credits to any of your asset or liability accounts are posted in the system when the appro- priate date arrives or when option (1), to record payment, is chosen from the Standing Orders menu. The system keeps a record of the earliest of all the payments or receipts to be made, and when Money Control is used, on or after that date, you will be asked whether you wish to post the orders that are due, before the main menu is presented on screen. If the system date is correct enter "Y" to run the posting process any other key will take you directly to the main menu and the standing orders will not be processed. However, unless the system clock is altered or the standing order dates are amended you will be re-prompted each time you use Money Control until the orders are processed. 18.1 Pay Orders This option allows you to post standing orders up to a particular date - eg. before going away on holiday you may wish to post all orders that will come into effect while you are away so that you are aware of net account balances before you go. With the cursor highlight bar on the option press RETURN. You will be asked to enter a date (in the format DDMMYY) up to and including which you wish orders to be posted. Enter the date and press RETURN. The system will now list on screen each order that is being posted. When completed press any key to return to the sub- menu. After posting, the dates of orders are re-set to the next payment date and completed orders are removed from the file. All orders are then sorted into date order so that when orders are listed - see List orders below - the next payment due will always be at the top of the list and the rest will follow in order of payment. 18.2 List Orders This option allows you to list the details of all current standing orders on screen in next payment date order. With the cursor highlight bar on the option press RETURN. When you have finished studying the list of orders press any key to return to the sub-menu. Note: Transaction descriptions and other headings are abbreviated in this report. 18.3 Create a Standing Order This option is used to create a standing order/receipt. With the cursor highlight bar on the option press RETURN. A screen will appear asking whether the order is a transfer (ie. a regular transfer of monies between your asset accounts - eg. bank to building society savings account- or between an asset account and a liability account - eg. bank to building society mortgage account.) Enter Y or N as appropriate and another screen will appear requesting the order details: The cursor will be in the first field. This indicates whether the order is in respect of a receipt or a payment Enter R if a receipt, P if a payment and press RETURN. The next field requires the due date of the next payment/- receipt. Enter the date in the DDMMYY format and press RETURN. The next field indicates whether the frequency of payment/- receipt is weekly or monthly. If weekly enter W otherwise enter M. The next field indicates the frequency of payment/receipt. If weekly enter 1, fortnightly enter 2 .. up to 4 weekly. If monthly enter 1, bi-monthly enter 2, etc ... up to annually enter 12. The next field denotes the number of payments/receipts that are to be made eg. poll tax will usually be 10 payments (sometimes 9 at one value and 1 at another, in which case either create 2 orders or enter the single payment manually on the appropriate date.) If a payment is on-going then set this field at 99. Enter the appropriate number and press RETURN. The next field is for a description of the transaction. Enter a description and press RETURN. The last field is the amount field. Enter the amount - include a decimal point if the amount includes pence - and press RETURN. The maximum amount that can be entered is 99,999.99 amounts larger than this will result in the message "Invalid amount". You will now be asked to confirm that all details are correct, Enter Y to continue, any other key to move the cursor back to the first field and amend as required - just press RETURN to leave values unchanged. When you confirm that all details are correct you will be presented with the asset/liability accounts menu. Choose the account from which the payment is to be made or to which the receipt is to be credited. (If the order is a transfer, choose the account from which the transfer is to be made.) Unless the order is a transfer you will now be presented with the income/expenditure menu - choose the heading which is to be debited or credited by the order. (If the order is a transfer you will be presented with the asset liability menu again - this time choose the account to which the transfer is to be made.) Creation of the order is now complete and you will be returned to the sub-menu. 18.4 Amend/delete an order This option allows you to amend the details of, or to delete, an order. Before using this option it is necessary to identify the reference number of the order to be amended/deleted by listing the orders (option 2 above) and noting the reference in the left hand column of the order to be amended/deleted. With the cursor highlight bar on the option press RETURN. You will be asked to enter the reference number of the order to be amended/deleted. Enter the reference number previously identified and press RETURN. You will now see basically the same screen as used to create an order but with the details of the order to be amended or deleted completed; plus two extra fields showing the asset/liability account and the income/expenditure account or an indication that this is a transfer record. You will first be asked whether you wish to delete the record, if so enter Y, you will then be asked to confirm this action - if so, enter Y again and you will be returned to the sub-menu. Any other key will place the cursor in the first field of the record. Move through fields that are to remain unchanged by pressing RETURN. When you press RETURN after the amount field you will be asked whether all details are correct, if they are enter Y to return to menu. Press any other key if you wish to change the asset/liability account or the income/expenditure heading. Choose as appropriate and then you will be returned to the sub-menu. 18.5 Return to Main Menu Option 5, or press F1, will return you to the main menu. 19. Print This option takes you to a sub-menu of printed reports. With the cursor highlight bar on the option press RETURN. The sub- menu will appear with the following options: Analysis of Monthly Balances 1 Current Balances 2 Bank/Asset Account 3 Income/Expenditure Account 4 Budget Report 5 Audit/Narrative search 6 Outstanding cheques 7 Return to Main menu 8 Each report is selected by moving the cursor highlight bar to the appropriate heading and pressing RETURN. You will be asked to confirm that your printer is connected and switched on and after confirmation the report will be printed as follows: 19.1 Analysis of Monthly Balances This report replicates the "Year" option under item 8 of the main menu but includes a full analysis of all income and expenditure types for each month together with totals and sub-totals. The option is given for first six months, second six months or full year. 19.2 Current Balances This report combines the screen reports under items 6 and 7 of the main menu and lists brought forward balances followed by income and expenditure totals and the resulting carry forward balances. 19.3 Bank/Asset Account This report replicates the screen listing of transactions for an individual bank or other asset account. 19.4 Income/Expenditure Account This report replicates the screen listing of transactions for an individual income or expenditure asset account. 19.5 Budget Report This report replicates the screen budget report available under item 16 of the main menu. 19.6 Audit/Narrative search This report replicates the screen audit list/narrative search - option 15 on the main menu - it allows you to print a report resulting from a search OR to print the last items entered in the order in which they were entered regardless of which accounts they were allocated to. In the latter case you will be asked to enter the number of transactions you wish to print. This facility is useful if ever you feel a transaction has been entered but you cannot remember to which account it was allocated. It represents an audit listing. If searching you will be prompted to enter the search word(s). 19.7 Outstanding Cheques This report replicates the screen report available under item 14 of the main menu and prints a list of outstanding credits and debits for a particular account. CHARTS AND GRAPHS This facility provides bar and pie charts of income and expenditure in various combinations, and of Asset values - its use is self explanatory - just select from the menus as required. BACK-UP DATA TO A FLOPPY DISC This facility allows hard disc users to back-up data files to floppy discs. Choose the option and you will be asked to enter the target floppy drive (A or B); enter as appropriate and place a floppy disc in that drive and follow the prompts. RESTORE FROM A FLOPPY DISC This facility allows you to restore the files previously saved by backing-up. Choose the option and you will be asked to enter the drive in which your back-up disc will be placed (A or B); enter as appropriate and follow the prompts. NOTE: Because backing-up saves only the main data files and not the index files this facility automatically recreates indexes after the main files have been restored. CHANGE TO ANOTHER SET OF ACCOUNTS This facility is used from the second year onwards to access earlier sets of accounts without the need to leave Money Control and change directory. Choose the option and a list of data directories will appear bearing the names you have given them. Choose the directory you wish to change to; and press RETURN. CARRY FORWARD BALANCES TO NEW SET OF ACCOUNTS This facility is provided under option 6 on the activity menu. (The activity menu is the menu which appears after entering the password or to which you return after pressing F1 from the main menu). The facility creates a new directory for the new set of accounts, copies the current files across and then converts carry forward balances on the current set to brought forward balances on the new set of accounts, it deletes all transac- tions, zeros income and expenditure balances, deletes all outstanding cheque details but maintains standing order details of those orders still in force. It then creates a batch file and puts this in the root directory. Before the program can be run you will be asked to enter your password (if you have not used a password, just press RETURN). This is to prevent unauthorised, computer literate, users from running this program directly. You will then be asked to give a name for the new directory:- enter an appropriate name, up to 8 characters, eg. YEAR2 or 1993_94. If a directory already exists with this name you will be asked to enter a different name. The program then creates the directory, copies the current files across to it and then performs the "Carry forward" pro- cesses. When these are complete you will be asked to enter the year that the set of accounts applies to, and the start date; enter these as appropriate, in the formats shown. Finally you will be asked to give a name for the batch file which will run the accounts programs against this new set of accounts. If you remember, the batch file created by the install program was MC.BAT, therefore, for a second set MC2.BAT could be appropriate. (Note: Do NOT enter the extension .BAT). The program will create the batch file and then take you to the main Money Control menu for the NEW set of accounts UTILITIES Utilities are available from item 9 in the Activity menu. Choose the option by placing the cursor highlight bar over it and pressing RETURN; a sub-menu will appear listing the following utilities. Sort Main File into Date Order........1 Reconstruct all Balances..............2 Reconstruct Index Files...............3 Change Password.......................4 Change Accounts Start Date............5 Amend Starting Balances...............6 Stop automatic standing order prompt..7 Change Configuration..................8 Shell to DOS..........................9 Return to Activity Menu...............10 IMPORTANT: The first three utilities involve the program reading right through the main transaction file, therefore to anticipate the possibility of corruption of this critical file during these operations it is essential that a backup is taken before running these options. 1. Sort Main File into Date Order Take a back-up of your data before running this program. It is only necessary to run this program if there are many deleted transactions, or to improve performance in listing accounts when transactions have been entered in consistently random date order. The program sorts all transactions into date order and at the same time physically deletes all transactions that have been logically deleted - ie. when a transaction is deleted from within the main Money Control program it is flagged as deleted but remains in the file. This program removes it completely. During the sort process all index files are first deleted and then at the end of the sort re-created. Messages appear on screen to inform you of the process in progress. The time taken to carry out this sort will vary according to the number of transactions and the particular computer processor you are using but typically it will take 20 minutes for 200 transactions on an 086 processor, much less on a 286 or 386. 2. Reconstruct all Balances Take a back-up of your data before running this program. The program deletes and then re-constructs asset and liabil- ity, income and expenditure and individual month balances. It is only used if balances have become corrupted as a result of, for instance, switching off your machine without exiting from Money Control. The program will usually take only a few seconds to run. You are given the option to maintain or replace starting balances - if you intend to choose the latter, have the start balances ready before running the program. 3. Reconstruct Index Files Take a back-up of your data before running this program. The program deletes and re-constructs all index files. It is only used if the indexes have become corrupted as a result of, for instance, switching off your machine without exiting from Money Control. The program will usually take only a minute or two to run. 4. Change Password This program is used to change the password. It is necessary first to enter the current password (nul if creating your first password - ie. just press RETURN) and then to enter the new password and confirm that it is correct. The pass- words appear on screen when they are entered (unlike when entering Money Control) so do not use this utility when anyone is looking on who you do not wish to know the pass- word. Up to 8 alphanumeric characters can be entered. IF YOU FORGET your password you will not be able to access the system so, if you are likely to have difficulty remembering it, write it down and store it in a safe place - away from your computer. 5. Change Accounts Start Date This utility allows you to change the accounts start date. It would normally only be used if you realise you made a mistake when opening the accounts. 6. Amend Starting Balances This utility is similar to the Create Opening Balances program but allows amendment of the opening balances after you have entered transactions into the accounts. It is used if you discover that an opening balance is not correct. 7. Stop Automatic Standing Order Prompt When a subsequent new set of accounts is started the standing order details are preserved in the previous years set. This means that whenever you refer back to the old set of accounts you will be advised incorrectly that standing orders need to be posted. To prevent this happening; whenever a set of accounts is completed run this utility against it. If the utility is run accidentally against a current set of accounts the prompt can be re-instated by paying the standing orders manually - once only - by choosing option 1 from the standing orders menu. 8. Change Configuration This utility allows you to personalise the screen colours, to select or create a printer driver file, to switch off the mouse and to identify the directory where the Money Control programs are held on a hard disc. 8.1 Screen colours Selection of this option displays a screen showing colours, identified by numbers, selected for each aspect of the display. At the top of the screen is a row of all available colours and their respective numbers. If you wish to change a colour then press RETURN for each colour that is to remain unchanged until the cursor is against the colour to be changed then enter the appropriate number. When RETURN is pressed after the last option the screen will refresh, taking account of the changes to colours you have made. You can press F2 at any time to save changes, or press F1 to abandon changes, and return to the configuration menu. 8.2 Printer Drivers Two drivers are provided plus the facility to edit a driver so as to create your own. The standard drivers are Epson FX80 and compatibles and Hewlett Packard Laser Jet and compatibles. These two will satisfy most requirements. The package is supplied with the Epson as the default; if you wish to change to the Hewlett Packard then choose the Printer option from the configuration menu. This will result in a sub-menu showing the two standard drivers and an Edit option. Choose the Hewlett Packard option and press RETURN. After a second or two the computer will beep and display a message to the effect that the HP driver has been loaded. Now choose the option to return to the configuration menu. If your printer is not compatible with either of the drivers provided then you will need to create a bespoke driver by editing the default version. To do this you will need to refer to your printer manual under the section dealing with program codes. From the printer menu choose the edit option. A screen will be displayed showing the codes of the default driver and what they refer to eg. bold print, underline etc. The first item refers to the cha- racter set - if your printer supports the IBM character set then this should be set at Y. All other codes are derived from your printer manual but their entry must conform to Money Control syntax ie. there must be a comma between each element of a code and a tilde (~) after the last element of the code. The codes are in decimal form ie "escape" = 27. The exception to this is the PAGE LENGTH which is entered as the number of inches. 8.3 Switch off Mouse This option allows mouse functioning to be switched off - pressing "RETURN" while the cursor is on this option polls between "on" and "off". 8.4 Program Directory The last configuration item - program directory - is necessary to allow Money Control to find the utility programs when they are called and afterwards to return to Money Control. If you are not familiar with the path concept, refer to your DOS manual for an explanation. It is only necessary to change this item if for any reason you have changed the direc- tory in which the Money Control programs are held. Examples: If you called your directory "FINANCE" then you would enter: C:\FINANCE\ If you created a directory as a sub-directory of say a "PERSONAL" directory and called it "FINANCE" then you would enter: C:\PERSONAL\FINANCE\ Note, in both cases, the final "\" - this must not be omitted. 9. Shell to DOS Choice of this option will allow you to access DOS commands - type 'exit' to return to Money Control. 10. Return to Activity Menu Select this option to return to the Money Control Activity menu, alternatively press F1 ASSETS Option 2 from the activity menu takes you to an assets database program. This program allows you to store informa- tion about all of your property, information such as descrip- tions, serial numbers (if any), number of items, dates of purchase, cost price, today's price, and resale value. With the cursor highlight bar on option 2 of the activity menu press RETURN. You will be presented with the main menu of the assets database system, which includes the following items; Enter a new record ................... 1 Amend or delete a record ............. 2 View All records - individually . 3 A single category " ..... 4 All records - Table ..... 5 A single category - Table ..... 6 Print A single record ............... 7 All records - Table ........... 8 A single category - Table ........... 9 Insurance list - Table .......... 10 Category Selection - Table .......... 11 Return to Accounts Menu ............. 12 End and Close files ................. 13 1. Enter a new Record On choosing this option you will be presented with an input screen. The first field will be completed by the system with a sequential reference number and a list of categories will be displayed from which you must choose the category that suits the item which you are adding to the assets database. Move the cursor to the appropriate category and press RETURN. The category list will disappear and the appropriate heading will appear in the record category field. The cursor will now be in the item description field. Type in an appropriate description and press RETURN. If the item has a serial no. then type this in otherwise press RETURN to skip this field. The next field is for the number of items; this will often be 1 but can be more, for instance 6 dining chairs. Type in the number [RETURN]. Now type in the date of purchase This is not a validated field so any convenient format will do. The last 3 fields relate to values - in whole pounds only. The first is for the original cost of the item(s) (total cost, if more than one item), the second is for the (total) current replacement cost and the last is for an estimate of the (total) resale value of the item(s). When entering a newly purchased item the first two values will usually be identical - the third value should probably be set at 50% of the cost, unless the asset is expected to appreciate in value rather than depreciate eg antiques. (Items entered automatically from an accounts payment input adopt the 50% practice but can be amended if necessary via option 2 in the assets module.) As time passes replacement costs and resale values will need to be updated to take account of price changes. Note: The replacement cost is valuable in assessing the amount of insurance cover required on "replace as new" terms. The resale value is mainly only of interest but does repre- sent the approximate value of liquifiable assets should the need arise to raise capital. 2. Amend or delete a record Selection of this option results in the need to enter the reference number of the record you wish to amend/delete. To obtain this number, if not already known, use options 3,4,5 or 6 to list the records on screen (see below) and identify the appropriate number. Enter the reference number and press RETURN. You will now see a screen identical to that used for entry of a record but with the details of the particular record chosen completed. You are first asked whether you wish to delete the record, if so, key Y and when asked to confirm this action, key Y again. Any other key will move the cursor to the record category field and the pull down menu of categories will appear. The cursor will be against the category of the particular record. Move through all fields making changes as required - all fields can be left unchanged by just pressing RETURN. After entering the last field you will be asked to confirm that all details are correct - enter Y to confirm and return to menu; any other key will repeat the above process. 3. View all records This option displays all records on screen, one at a time, in the entry format and in the order in which they were entered into the database. Pressing space bar moves on to the next record, pressing the up arrow moves back to the previous record. Pressing F2 gives the option to jump forwards and backwards within the database. To go to the end of the database therefore, press F2 and enter a number greater than the known number of records (eg 999). Pressing F3 whilst viewing a record will take you to the amendment screen for the particular record. 4. View records in a category This option is the same as 3 above except that it is limited to records in a specific category. You are asked to choose the category from the pull down menu before display of the records starts. F2 and F3 function as for all records. 5. View all records - Table This option list records, one category at a time, in an abbreviated format, 17 to a screen. The details shown are Ref. No., Description, Original Cost, Cost now and value now. Also shown, at the bottom of the screen, are Category and Grand totals. It is possible to go straight from this listing to the amendment facility by pressing F3 - note the reference number of the record to be amended first. 6. View a category - Table This option is the same as 5 above except that it is limited to records in a specific category. You are asked to choose the category from the pull down menu before listing of the records starts.It is possible to go straight from this listing to the amendment facility by pressing F3 - note the reference number of the record to be amendeed first. 7. Print a single record This option allows the details of a single record to be printed in the format of the entry screen. 8. Print all records - Table This option prints a listing of records in a similar format to the screen option 5 above but with the addition of serial number details. 9. Print a single category - Table As 8 above but for a single category. 10. Print Insurance list - Table This option prints, in the same format as 8 and 9, all those categories which were identified as requiring insurance cover when you personalised the category headings. If this was not done when the accounts were first opened then it can be done at any other time, simply by choosing the Personalise Headings option from the Money Control Activity menu. Categories that do not require insurance are such as - Credit cards (you may choose to keep a record of credit card numbers in this category in case of loss); Insurance (you may keep details of your policy numbers and amount of cover in this category); Motoring (your car(s) will not require cover on your household policy) etc.. 11. Category selection - Table This option is similar to 10 above but allows selection of any number of categories to be printed together on a one off basis. You will first be presented with a screen listing all categories from which to select. Enter a Y against those to be printed press RETURN to skip a category. When your selection is complete either press RETURN repeatedly until the last category is reached or press F2 to move straight to the end. Enter Y to confirm selection is correct any other key to amend selection. 12. Return to Accounts Menu This option will return you to the Money Control Activity menu. (Pressing F1 has the same effect) 13. End and close files This option will end use of the Money Control system and return you to DOS. Index Account listings (6) ACCOUNTS (14) Amend Starting Balances (36) Amend/delete an order (29) Amendment (16) transfer (18) ASSET (11) ASSET and LIABILITY (11) Assets (16), (40) Amend or delete a record (41) Category selection - Table (43) End and close files (43) Enter a new Record (40) Print a single category - Table (43) Print a single record (42) Print all records - Table (43) Print Insurance list - Table (43) purchase (16) Return to Accounts Menu (43) View a category - Table (42) View all records (42) View all records - Table (42) View records in a category (42) Audit list (23) Back-up copies (4) BACK-UP DATA TO A FLOPPY DISC (32) Budget (4), (6) Budget - setting allowances (25) Budget Report (24) Carry forward (33) Change Accounts Start Date (36) Change Configuration (37) Change Password (36) CHANGE TO ANOTHER SET OF ACCOUNTS (32) Configure (5) Create a Standing Order (28) Expenditure frequency indicator (25) GETTING STARTED (9) INCOME and EXPENDITURE (11) Inputs (14) INSTALL (9) Invalid amount (29) Key F1 (8) List an Inc or Exp A/c (19), (20) List Asset/liability Balances (19) List Inc/Exp Balances (18) List Orders (28) List unpresented cheques (23) Monthly Analysis of Inc/Exp (19) Mouse (7), (38) Pay Orders (27) Payments (16) Personalise (10) Print (7), (31) Analysis of Monthly Balances (31) Bank/Asset Account (31) Budget Report (31) Current Balances (31) Income/Expenditure Account (31) Last 'n' Items Entered (32) Printer Drivers (37) Program Directory (38) Receipts (14) Reconcile (4) Reconciliation (6) Reconciliation - Enter presented cheques (22) Reconstruct Current Balances (35) Reconstruct Index Files (36) RESTORE FROM A FLOPPY DISC (32) Screen colours (37) Shell to DOS (39) Sort Main File into Date Order (35) Standing Orders (6), (26) Stop Automatic Standing Order Prompt (36) System Requirements (5) Transaction amendment amendment (16) Transaction Entry (6) Transfers (16) Utilities (5), (35)