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**********************************************************************
-> This file introduces BANK-PLAN, explains how to get started
etc. It should be read by all first-time users.
-> The file has been supplied as an integral part of the shareware
version of BANK-PLAN, a cashflow planner for small businesses,
specially developed for use on a 'try-before-you-buy' basis
by Invest-Tech Limited. For contact details, see end of this file.
-> To print this file, type "PRINT README.TXT" at the DOS prompt.
**********************************************************************
CONTENTS
========
This file (README.TXT) covers the following topics in separate
sections below:
1. WELCOME
2. SUPPLIED FILES
3. GENERAL INTRODUCTION
3.1 System requirements & set up
3.2 Features - BANK-PLAN
3.3 Features - CASH-PLAN
3.4 Help system
3.5 System requirements
3.6 Registration
3.7 Invest-Tech
4. HOW TO RUN BANK-PLAN
5. WHAT IS SHAREWARE ?
6. USER LICENCE AGREEMENT
7. SOFTWARE REVISIONS
**********************************************************************
The supplied file VENDINFO.DIZ also contains important information.
It can be accessed by entering READ_ME.BAT at the DOS prompt.
**********************************************************************
1. WELCOME
===========
BANK-PLAN (r3.3) is an easy-to-use software package for preparing
monthly cashflow forecasts and projections of bank balances for a
small or medium-sized business for a year ahead. It helps a manager
to project cash inflows & outflows; to plan and control the
business's net cashflows; and to determine its likely cash
position/requirements over the coming twelve months.
This version of BANK-PLAN is shareware and has been developed for
use on a 'try-before-you-buy' basis. If found useful, users may
register to acquire the complete version of BANK-PLAN or one of our
other packages for preparing financial projections.
BANK-PLAN is NOT free software. If you continue using it after
a 30-day trial period, you must register with the author, Invest-Tech.
In return for registering, you will receive a copy of the latest
release of BANK-PLAN with its printing and file options fully
enabled, a spiral-bound 90-page manual incorporating tutorial exercises
etc. and access to full support.
Registration only costs 50 pounds (sterling or Irish) plus VAT,
or US$70. Further details are contained in the REGISTER.TXT file.
BANK-PLAN is fully protected by copyright. However, the shareware
version may be copied in its entirety and without modification for
FREE distribution to friends and, subject to the conditions set out
in the VENDINFO.DIZ file, by shareware libraries, BBSs etc.
BANK-PLAN was developed by Invest-Tech in association with the
Small Business Development Programme of the Irish Management
Institute (IMI) in Dublin, Ireland.
Good luck with BANK-PLAN.
Brian Flanagan, Invest-Tech Limited
**********************************************************************
2. SUPPLIED FILES
==================
See VENDINFO.DIZ.
**********************************************************************
3. GENERAL INTRODUCTION
========================
BANK-PLAN is a powerful and easy-to-use software package specifically
developed by Invest-Tech Limited to help small and medium-sized
businesses to forecast their short-term funding requirements on the
basis of cashflow projections, prepared on a monthly basis, for up
to a year ahead. It can handle the wide range of variables and
functions normally encountered during the preparation of cashflow
forecasts and bank projections.
BANK-PLAN can also be used by professional advisers, consultants,
training organisations and financial institutions. It is suitable
for businesses engaged in manufacturing, distribution or services.
Based on your forecasts and assumptions, BANK-PLAN compiles
detailed cashflow projections for twelve months ahead. It also
produces reports detailing all the underlying assumptions.
BANK-PLAN incorporates facilities for graphing key results; for
undertaking 'what-if' analysis; and for 'rolling-forward' assumptions
and projections one month at a time.
BANK-PLAN is very suitable for users with limited or no prior
experience of computers or financial planning as well as for
more experienced users who do not wish to go to the very considerable
trouble, or waste valuable time, developing their own planning
system on a spreadsheet. Bear in mind that BANK-PLAN involved many
hundreds of hours of development and years of "know-how".
While BANK-PLAN is aimed at smaller businesses (typically with annual
sales in the range of 50,000 to 2,000,000 pounds/dollars), a more
powerful version, CASH-PLAN, is available for small- to medium-sized
businesses and subsidiaries of larger companies. Instead of
registering BANK-PLAN, a user can opt to register for CASH-PLAN.
Neither BANK-PLAN nor CASH-PLAN are suitable for producing business
plans, compiling financial projections beyond one year or for preparing
comprehensive financial plans. Instead, a user should enquire about
our EASI-PLAN range of fully-integrated 3-year planners which can
produce P&Ls, balance sheets, ratios and cashflows on a monthly basis
for the first year and quarterly for the full three years.
3.1 System Requirements and Set Up
-----------------------------------
To run either BANK-PLAN or CASH-PLAN you need the following system:
* Industry-standard PC with DOS 3.30 or higher and a hard disk.
* Conventional memory of 640k.
* VGA, GCA, mono, Hercules or LCD display (or equivalent).
Please check the VENDINFO.DIZ file for latest information.
A printer (dot-matrix, ink-jet or laser) is desirable. If you wish,
you can run BANK-PLAN as a DOS program within Windows (an icon,
BANKPLAN.ICO has been supplied).
BANK-PLAN needs 500k, or more, of 'free' conventional memory. This
should not present any problem as it is well within the capacity of
most PCs with 640k of RAM. If, for any reason, BANK-PLAN runs short
of memory, it will use any expanded memory which might be available
or it will create some 'virtual' memory on the hard disk.
If you are using a PC with a Hercules display, you will not be able
to view BANK-PLAN's graphs unless you run the supplied utility,
MSHERC.COM, before you run BANK-PLAN.
If you are running BANK-PLAN on a portable PC with a LCD display,
you will probably need to change BANK-PLAN's video setting once it
has loaded in order to clearly distinguish the rectangular cursor
which appears when you are viewing reports on the screen. To do this,
press I (for Initialise) at the Main Menu, V (for Video) and L (for
LCD/B&W). The Manual accompanying the full version of BANK-PLAN
explains how to make these changes permanent.
If a laser printer is being used, BANK-PLAN must be set up to allow
its monthly reports to be printed correctly. To do this, access the
S (for Strings) option within the I (for Initialise) menu and enter
the appropriate printer string. If the correct string is not
available and the printer can be set to emulate a HP LaserJet
printer, use the following string for 16 cpi, 8 lines per inch and
landscape:
\027&l1o8D\027(s16.66H
This string must be entered exactly as indicated ("0" is the digit
zero, "l" is the lower case letter L, "1" is the digit one and "o"
is the lower case letter O as in oh!). In addition, the page length
should be reduced to 58 lines per page by selecting the P (for Page)
option. As an alternative to entering a string, erase any existing
string and use the printer controls to print using condensed pitch
and landscape orientation. Printer set up is explained in greater
detail in Section 4.3 the Manual (MANUAL.TXT) and in the "online"
help (press F1).
If, when using BANK-PLAN, the £ pound symbol fails to print, i.e
(000) appears instead of (L£000), or is replaced by another character
e.g. #, you can make it appear simply by changing the character or
symbol set being used by your printer to an IBM Extended Character
Set. If the pound sign is missing, you may notice that some rows get
slightly knocked out of vertical alignment. If using a HP LaserJet or
compatible laser printer, the default symbol set (e.g. HP Roman-8)
may not print the pound sign. Check the printer manual and use the
control panel to switch to another symbol set, for example, HP IBM-US
or PCMultilingual. If using a dot-matrix printer, check the manual
for guidance and use the control panel or dip switches to alter the
character set being used. If you change the symbol or character set
you may be able to keep the new settings as your permanent or default
settings without upsetting any of your other software.
3.2 Features - BANK-PLAN
--------------------------
BANK-PLAN can handle a very wide variety of variables and financial
functions. These include the following:
- Sales forecasts for six product/market groups defined by the
user
- Purchases of materials or goods can be entered as absolute
amounts or as percentages of sales for up to four months ahead
- Direct labour inputs and several other user-definable categories
of direct expense payments
- Numerous categories of overhead expense payments which can be
defined by the user
- Purchases of fixed assets, lease/HP payments and asset disposals
- Variable VAT rates for sales and facilities for specifying
varying rates for inputs; accounting for VAT on a cash received
or invoice basis; and flexible VAT payment dates
- Variable interest rates for cash deposits and overdraft
- Facilities for increasing long-term debt and making loan
repayments
- Share issues, dividends, corporation tax and grants/subsidies
- Phasing-out opening debtor and creditor balances
- Facilities for handling current-year materials/goods creditors
and trade debtors with the distribution of payment terms
extending up to four months.
The descriptions of many variables can be readily altered by the
user to suit their business.
BANK-PLAN incorporates a facility for preparing "rolling" monthly
cashflow forecasts which simplifies the task of preparing and
updating cashflow projections on a regular basis.
3.3 Features - CASH-PLAN
-------------------------
CASH-PLAN is a more powerful version of BANK-PLAN, suitable
for larger businesses. Its menus etc. are almost identical to
those in BANK-PLAN. However, it handles about double the number
of variables with more extensive features including the
following:
- Three user-definable sales groups for each of which separate
VAT rates, debtor terms etc. can specified. Each group breaks
down into three sub-groups defined by the user.
- Facility to forecast materials/goods purchases on the basis of
target raw material and finished goods stock levels for each of
the three main sales groups. VAT can be paid at point-of-entry
- Handles accrued interest more comprehensively and includes
provision for a category of long-term debt where interest is
calculated separately from capital repayments.
CASH-PLAN's additional facilities include the following:
- Special software for printing graphs
- Weekly cashflow projections for the first month
- Many calculated values contain "drill-down" facilities to enable
a user to quickly inspect their underlying assumptions
- All reports can be exported as a Lotus 1-2-3 compatible WK1 file.
A user who outgrows BANK-PLAN can upgrade to CASH-PLAN at a discount
to the normal price.
3.4 Help system
----------------
BANK-PLAN is entirely menu-driven and incorporates very
comprehensive context-sensitive help facilities. These include
extensive menu prompts, error trapping, on-line Help Pages, pop-up
Hint & Guidance Windows and annotated variable descriptions.
3.5 Specification
------------------
=================================================================
Number of reports 9 (10)*
Number of graphed variables 21 (21)*
Approximate maximum number of user assumptions 800 (1,300)*
Approximate total number of built-in formulae 1,700 (3,600)*
==================================================================
* Numbers for CASH-PLAN given in parenthesis
3.6 Registration
-----------------
BANK-PLAN is not FREE software. If you decide that you would like
to retain and continue to use BANK-PLAN after a 30-day trial
period, you must register with Invest-Tech, the author and
copyright holder.
In return for registering, you will automatically receive the
latest fully-operational version of BANK-PLAN with its 100-page
spiral-bound printed manual (incorporating tutorial exercises etc.)
and gain access to full support.
If you prefer, you can remotely upgrade the supplied version of
BANK-PLAN. Press U (for Upgrade) from BANK-PLAN's Main Menu for
details.
See the table below and REGISTER.TXT for further details about
registration.
===========================================================
Fee (IRL) Fee (stg) Fee (US$)
Pounds Pounds See
See Notes See Notes Notes
----------------------------------------------------------
BANK-PLAN 50 50 70
CASH-PLAN 95 95 150
Switch up to CASH-PLAN
from BANK-PLAN 70 70 110
----------------------------------------------------------
Note 1 Plus VAT at 21% for Irish customers and for purchasers
in other EU States who are NOT registered for VAT.
Note 2 No VAT applies to customers in other EU States who
are registered for VAT and who quote their VAT
number at time of ordering.
Note 3 No VAT applies to purchasers outside the EU.
Note 4 Users outside the UK and Ireland should add 10% to
cover additional post and packing.
Note 5 You can register BANK-PLAN (but not CASH-PLAN) through
"PsL" (Public software Library) or CompuServe
(see REGISTER.TXT for full details).
===============================================================
You can also upgrade and register directly with Invest-Tech via
our World Wide Web (WWW) site on the Internet using a credit
card and its special built-in forms. See bottom of file for
details of its location. Our Web site, called PlanWare,
contains downloadable versions of *ALL* our financial planners
for businesses and the home. It also offers useful advice in
the form of text files on such topics as business planning,
cashflow forecasting etc. as well as lots of other interesting
stuff.
3.7 Invest-Tech Limited
------------------------
We are management consultants specialising in financial and
business planning software. Formed in 1983, Invest-Tech is a
Registered Practice within the Institute of Management Consultants
in Ireland and the UK. Our banker is Bank of Ireland, Dublin and our
auditors are Deloitte & Touche, Dublin.
In addition to BANK-PLAN and CASH-PLAN, our range of financial
planning software includes the following commercial products:
PERS-PLAN: A personal or household cashflow and financial
planner which can be used to plan 12 months ahead. It
accommodates a very wide range of income and expenditure
variables and can handle income tax, interest, credit
card calculations etc. Supplied with a 90-page manual.
Price: 29 pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT
(US$40). Available as shareware in a file called
PERSP*.ZIP.
YOUR-PLAN: Shareware version of PERS-PLAN available from good
libraries in the UK, US etc. Only covers a six month
period and handles fewer variables than PERS-PLAN.
Look for a file called YOURP*.ZIP.
EASI-PLAN: Range of comprehensive and fully-integrated financial
planners (P&Ls, cashflows, balance sheets, ratios etc.)
covering 12-months plus 8 quarters. To our best
knowledge, no other package even remotely offers the
same range of features or facilities for business and
financial planning. Runs 'stand-alone' with similar
general structure to BANK-PLAN.
A "MICRO" version for new and very small businesses (with
annual sales of up to 250,000 pounds). Price: 45
pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT (US$70).
A "LITE" version for new and small businesses (with
annual sales of up to 2 million pounds). Price: 75
pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT (US$120).
A "PRO" version for larger businesses and/or professional
advisers. Price: 145 pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding
VAT (US$230).
Note: These are shareware versions of EASI-PLAN Micro,
Lite and Pro. Look for files called EASI*.ZIP.
FIN-PLAN: Wide range of comprehensive and fully-integrated
financial planners (P&Ls, cashflows, balance sheets,
ratios etc.) covering 12-months plus 8/16 quarters.
Versions are available to run on Lotus 1-2-3 (any
release for DOS or Windows). Easily expanded by user.
Price: 95 pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT
(US$150).
Comprehensive descriptions, specifications and 'demos' are available
for each of the foregoing products.
**********************************************************************
4. HOW TO RUN BANK-PLAN
========================
Note that you can run BANK-PLAN as a DOS program within Windows.
Before exploring BANK-PLAN, you need to know that:
All commands are executable from a Main Menu, sub-menus
or function key menus. At any stage, the Main Menu can be
retrieved by pressing the F10 function key once. You can
access context-sensitive Help Pages by pressing F1 at any
time.
Whenever a report is being displayed on the screen, you can
use certain function keys to perform the actions explained
in the menu strip displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Additional function key commands can be used to navigate
around reports etc. These can be accessed by holding down
the CTRL key on the keyboard while tapping one of the
indicated function keys (press CTRL+F1 for help).
If you get lost at any stage, try pressing the function key F10
to return to the Main Menu. If a system error is encountered,
press the RETURN key (or CTRL+BREAK) and then F10. If a 'secured
cell' message is encountered, press RETURN to clear it.
The following guidelines assume that you have already installed
(i.e. copied, unzipped, unarchived, uncompressed etc.) the
complete set of BANK-PLAN files onto a hard disk.
a) Get into the sub-directory on your hard disk where you have
copied/installed all BANK-PLAN's files (for example if the
sub-directory BANK was used, type "CD BANK" and press RETURN
at the DOS prompt).
b) Run an introductory program called GO.BAT by typing "GO".
If your PC uses a very old type of display, do not select this
option - choose d) or e) below.
or
c) For guidance about the syntax for loading BANK-PLAN
etc. type "BP".
or
d) Type "BP MASTER" to load BANK-PLAN along with a set of
specimen assumptions in a file called MASTER.ASS.
Next, skip through the introductory screens, by pressing any
key, to reach BANK-PLAN's Main Menu.
Then, make a "working" copy of MASTER. From the Main Menu,
press F (for File), N (for New) and enter a file name (WORKING
is the recommended name).
By following the on-screen Hints and Guidance Notes and by accessing
Help Notes and Help Pages, have a go at building your first set of
projections. Good luck !
Running BANK-PLAN through Windows
---------------------------------
To set up BANK-PLAN to run within Windows, install it using the DOS
commands etc. before you load Windows.
Next, run the Windows Program Manager and proceed as follows:
1. Select the Applications Group which you want to contain BANK-PLAN.
2. Select File and New options from the Program Manager's menu.
3. When the New Program Object box appears, select Program Item
and OK.
4. When the Program Item Properties box appears, proceed as
follows:
- Type "BANK-PLAN" as the Description.
- Type "C:\BANK\BP X" as the Command Line. Make sure you enter
a single space between BP and X. This command assumes that
BANK-PLAN has been installed to the BANK sub-directory on
a hard disk called C.
- Enter "C:\BANK" as the Working Directory.
- Select Change Icon and select OK when the Change Icon message
box appears.
- When the next Change Icon box appears, enter
"C:\BANK\BANKPLAN.ICO" as the File Name and select OK.
- Once you return to the Program Item Properties box select
OK twice to complete installation.
To run BANK-PLAN within Windows, double-click on its icon and wait while
it loads. Press RETURN to ignore the 'File does not exist' message and
then use the cursor keys and RETURN to select the desired *.ASS file in
response to the instruction 'Enter Data File Name" which appears at the
top of the screen. If more than five such data files exist, press the F3
Function Key to display them in a larger window.
***** WATCH OUT ****
If you try to display graphs when running BANK-PLAN in a DOS Window (i.e.
less than full screen) when running in Enhanced Mode, the graphs may not
show and the display may lock. To unlock it, return to a full DOS screen
by pressing ALT+RETURN. Always use a DOS full screen when displaying
BANK-PLAN graphs.
Using a LCD display
-------------------
If you are running BANK-PLAN on a portable PC with a LCD display, you
will probably need to change BANK-PLAN's video setting once it has loaded
in order to clearly distinguish the rectangular cursor which appears when
you are viewing reports on the screen. To do this, press I (for
Initialise) at the Main Menu, V (for Video) and L (for LCD/B&W). The
Manual explains how to make these changes permanent.
Other Information
-----------------
The following text files contain more detailed information about
BANK-PLAN etc.:
Register.txt - Registration details, form etc.
Readme.txt - Extensive introduction to BANK-PLAN
Manual.txt - Comprehensive manual
To read a text file:
- Enter "TYPE *.TXT|MORE"
*or*
- Use DOS Edit or Windows Notepad.
**********************************************************************
5. WHAT IS SHAREWARE ?
=======================
"Shareware" is a method of software distribution designed to
give users a chance to test a package before purchase at a very
competitive price. Copyright rules apply to shareware and the
authors retain all the rights except as indicated in their
licence agreements.
********************************************************************
6. USER LICENCE AGREEMENT
==========================
See VENDINFO.DIZ
**********************************************************************
7. SOFTWARE REVISIONS
======================
r2.0 1-JAN-1994
-----------------
First shareware release of BANK-PLAN.
r2.1 10-JUL-1994
------------------
We added some extra rows for entering direct and overhead costs
and did some minor tidying up.
r3.0 26-JUN-1995
------------------
Added further rows for sales groups, direct and overhead cost
variables. Introduced facility for suppressing the printing of rows
with zero values. Added the remote upgrade facility.
r3.3 15-OCT-1995
-----------------
Minor changes. Inclusion of info about Web site etc.
**********************************************************************
BANK-PLAN (c) Copyright Invest-Tech Limited 1993-95
All Rights Reserved
Invest-Tech Limited
27 Ardmeen Park, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Irish Tel: 01-283 4083 UK Tel: 01232-315454
(Call 9 to 9 weekdays and 10 to 6 weekends - GMT/BST)
Fax: 278 2391
Fax codes: Irish:01- UK:00-353-1- Inter'l:+353-1-
CompuServe: 100606,2665
Internet: brianf@iol.ie
WWW URL: http://www.planware.ie/resource/planware
**********************************************************************
To print this file, type "PRINT README.TXT"
*** End of README.TXT file ***