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PC-AP Version 1.3 Copyright 1988, Jerry Medlin PROGRAM DESCRIPTION PC-AP is an accounts payable program for small and medium size businesses. The program runs on a IBM PC or compatible computer with one disk drive and at least 256k memory. PC-AP is a ShareWare program. You are encouraged to give copies to anyone who might use it. If you like the program and find it useful, please contribute $35 to: Jerry Medlin P.O. Box 357 Napa, Ca. 94559 You will receive the latest version of the program and a telephone number for telephone assistance should you require it. You will also receive a program which will allow you to customize some features of PC-AP. A complete description of the customizing program is contained at the end of this manual. The program makes liberal use of the PC's numeric key pad both for numbers and commands. You should have the Num Lock on all the time. PC-AP is designed to work hand in hand with version 3.2 or higher of PC-GL, a General Ledger Accounting Program. Each invoice entry must be assigned an expense code or account number and those account numbers must correspond to the account numbers in the PC-GL chart of accounts. You must have the chart of accounts file from PC-GL on the data disk at all times in order for PC-AP to function. The file name of the PC- GL chart of accounts file is PC-GL.COA. To run the program, simply type "PC-AP". If you want to specify a drive and path for your data just add the drive and path description after the program name. i.e. type "PC-AP B:" to use the B drive for data files. A menu is then displayed for operator selection: Enter or Change Vendors Enter, Change or Select Invoices Print Checks For Invoices Selected Print Check Listing Print Invoice Listing Print Vendor Activity Report Print Mailing Labels Print Vendor Listing Start a New Accounting Period Export Vendor Data to ASCII File Save Data and End When inputting information, the plus <+> key has the same effect as the return or enter key. Numerical information is entered "calculator style". The decimal point is placed automatically. The minus <-> key enters a negative number. This makes using the numeric key pad even easier. PC-AP is fast because it works with data in random access memory, but the capacity is limited by available memory. Available memory is shared by the data. With more vendors on file, fewer invoices can be entered and vice-versa. PC-AP allows a maximum of 1500 vendors and 1500 invoices per accounting period with 512k of memory. With 256k the capacity is reduced to about 300 vendors and 300 invoices. Each time the menu is displayed, the number of invoices that can be added is printed at the bottom of the screen. This number may be limited by either memory size, available disk space, or to an absolute maximum of 1500. Since a power interruption will result in loosing all the data currently entered into the program, you should occasionally save your data back to the disk. This is done by selecting End Processing from the menu. The current data will be saved to the disk then you will be asked "Do you want to end ?". Just answer with an "N" and you may resume processing. THE PROCESSING CYCLE As you receive invoices or statements to pay during the month, enter them into the program. When you receive an invoice from a vendor not on file, you must go to "Enter or Change Vendors" and enter that vendor's information before you can enter the invoice. When you are ready to pay bills, select the invoices to pay, then print the checks. The invoices selected for each vendor will be combined and a single check printed for each vendor. The check number and check date will be added to the invoice, indicating that it has been paid. At the end of the processing period (usually a month) you should print reports to retain a permanent record of the month's activity. Reports may be printed in any order and as often as desired. If you discover an error in any of the reports you may correct the problem and reprint the report. Once you are satisfied that the monthly information is correct, you should start a new accounting period and send the invoices to the PC-GL General Ledger program by using the START A NEW ACCOUNTING PERIOD selection from the menu. Paid invoices (checks) will be added to a file on the data disk named AR_TO_GL.TRN. This file may be read into the PC-GL General Ledger program from the command mode of the ENTER OR CHANGE TRANSACTIONS selection. The choice "<R> Read PC-AP transactions" will only appear if you have transactions to read. Only paid invoices (checks) will be posted, if you need accrual accounting, the program can be modified to post on an accrual basis. All of the paid invoices (checks) will also be saved in a file so that they may be reviewed by the PRINT VENDOR ACTIVITY REPORT. The unpaid invoices will be carried over into the next accounting period. To complete the posting process, you must make an offsetting entry in PC-GL for the total amount of checks or invoices posted. If you are on a cash basis, that entry would be to Cash in Bank, if you are on an accrual basis, that entry would be to Accounts Payable. ENTER OR CHANGE VENDORS Vendor information is entered and changed using this selection from the menu. The following information is entered for each vendor: Vendor name - Two lines of 31 characters each are available. If you only want a single line for the name, leave line two blank. The blank second line will be omitted from mailing labels and checks. When checks or invoices are posted from PC-AP to PC-GL, the first line of the vendor name is used for the description. Since descriptions for the PC-GL General Ledger program are limited to a length of 21 characters, only the first 21 characters of the vendor name will be posted to PC-GL. The small down arrow indicates the position of the 21st character so you may choose to keep the first line of the vendor name short and use the second line for the remainder of the vendor name. Vendor Code - A ten character code that will be used to sort vendors and also to post invoices and checks to the vendor's account. In most cases you will want to enter the vendor's last name, followed by as much of the first name as will fit in the remaining characters. For instance, if the vendor's name is Jerry Medlin, the vendor code would be MEDLINJERR. Notice that all capital letters are used. If you enter lower case letters they will be changed to upper case automatically. Also, notice that no spaces are included. The program will prevent you from entering a previously used vendor code. Street Address - Up to 31 characters for the street address. City State & Zip - Up to 31 characters for the city, state and zip code. Auto Invoice Amt - An amount entered here can be entered each month as an amount due to this vendor. This is where you would enter fixed monthly payments such as a loan payment. If the amount is different each month just enter a zero. Default Acct No. - This is the account number from PC-GL that payments to this vendor are generally posted. It is also the account number used for automatic posting. If you use a number of different account numbers for this vendor, leave the default account number blank. Auto Invoice Date - The day of the month the Auto Invoice Amount is due. This can be a number between 1 and 31 and will be used as both the invoice date and due date for the invoice generated by the "auto invoice" feature. YTD Invoices & YTD Checks Written - These numbers are maintained by the program and are printed here for your information. You can change them using the <C> Change option if you desire. At the beginning of the year, you should set these numbers to zero using the <Z> Zero YTD Balances. Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the previous field. Pressing the Escape key at the first name entry takes you to the command mode. The command mode allows you to scroll up and down through the vendor names, delete vendors, change vendor information and do a quick check on the balances for a vendor. Pressing the Escape key from command mode takes you back to the menu. The available commands are listed at the bottom of the screen. ENTER, CHANGE OR SELECT INVOICES This selection allows you to enter invoices and select them for payment. Each invoice entry also includes the check number and date of the check used to pay the invoice. If the invoice is unpaid, the check number and date are blank. Since a single check can be used to pay more than one invoice, the same check number may appear with several invoices. The check amount is the total of all of the invoices with that check number. Invoice amounts are entered as positive numbers using the plus <+> or enter key and discounts and adjustments are entered as negative numbers using the minus <-> key (enter the number then press then minus key). The following information is entered for each invoice: Vendor Code - The 10 character code previously entered for each vendor is used to post an invoice. You need enter only as much of the vendor code as necessary to distinguish it from any other code. In other words, if only one vendor has a vendor code beginning with MEDL then you need only enter MEDL to post to this vendor. The vendor's name will be printed at the bottom of the screen so you can be sure you are posting to the correct vendor account. If all you know is that the vendor code begins with ME then just enter ME and the program will print all of the vendor codes beginning with ME at the bottom of the screen. Invoice Date - Enter the date on the invoice as MODA form. The date of June fourth would be entered 0604 with no dash or slash. Due Date - Enter the date payment is due. Invoices can be sorted by due date if desired. Invoice number - Up to 14 characters for the invoice number. Alphabetic characters are allowed, so you can use this field for a short description if you like. Account Number - Enter the account number that this invoice will be charged to. The account description will then be printed at the bottom of the screen. Account numbers come from the PC-GL program. If you don't remember the account number, enter the number 999. The program will then allow you to use the arrow keys to search through the possible account numbers. When the desired account number appears just press return to enter it. Amount - Enter the amount of the invoice. The number is entered "calculator style" with the decimal point automatically placed at two decimal places. Pressing the return key on any entry except the amount, defaults to the previous value. This allows you to make multiple entries for an invoice with the same vendor, date and invoice number by just pressing return three times. To enter a discount, make an entry with the same invoice number and date with the discount amount entered as a negative number. Negative numbers are entered by first entering the number and then pressing the minus <-> key. To partially pay an invoice, you must break the invoice into two invoices. Enter one invoice for the amount you want to pay, and another invoice with the same invoice number and date for the remainder of the total invoice amount. Then pay the first invoice. Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the previous field. Pressing the Escape key at the first entry position takes you to the command mode. The command mode allows you to scroll up and down through the entries and delete and change entries. From the command mode you may press the <A> Auto Invoice key to automatically post the amount entered for each vendor as an auto invoice amount. The <S> Sort Invoices command will quickly sort all of the invoices. You may choose to sort by vendor code, invoice date, due date, invoice number, account number, check number or check date. Or, of course, you can do no sorting at all. The program doesn't require any sorting and doesn't care which order the invoices are in. But, if you want to sort by due date, for instance, it would make it easier to choose which invoices to pay. You can start at the top of the invoice listing and pay bills starting with the oldest until you run out of money. Once invoices are sorted, they will stay in that order until you sort them again in some other order. So, if you want invoices to remain in the original order, don't sort them. Pressing the Escape key from command mode takes you back to the menu. All the available commands are printed at the bottom of the screen and may be chosen by a single keystroke. SELECTING CHECKS FOR PAYMENT Before a check can be written to pay an invoice, it must be marked for payment. This is done by using the up and down arrows to find the invoice and then pressing the asterisk <*> key. The word" pay " will appear in the check number field for that invoice indicating that it has been marked for payment. The <T> Total command will print the total of all invoices paid, unpaid and marked for payment. You should check this total before printing checks to see that you haven't selected more invoices for payment than you have money in the bank. You can also print the invoice listing to get a printed listing of invoices selected for payment. The <V> Vendor Total command will total invoices for only one vendor. PRINT CHECKS FOR INVOICES SELECTED This menu selection prints a check for each vendor with unpaid invoices marked for payment. All of the invoices for each vendor will be combined and paid with a single check. Before printing begins, you will be asked for a beginning check number. That number will be used on the first check written, and subsequent checks will be numbered sequentially. The check date will be the same as the system date. That is the date you enter when your computer starts up. If you want postdate checks, you must exit the program and change the system date. Checks are printed on a common pre printed accounts payable check from New England Business Services (NEBS). The checks should be ordered pre printed and numbered. You will need to send a voided check with your account number, your company name and address and the beginning check number to: NEBS, 500 Main Street, Groton, MA 01470. You can get pricing and order information by calling NEBS at 800-225-9550. The form number is 9020 and the catalog code number is 03897. Set the printer to begin printing just under "DATE" on the first page of the check form. The APCONFIG program allows you to choose two other check styles, including the same check form used by the PC-PR payroll writing program. (NEBS form number 9022). The APCONFIG program is provided to all registered users. Additional information about the APCONFIG program is provided at the end of this manual. PRINTING REPORTS The first time you choose a printed report from the menu you will be asked to enter a report date. This date will be used on all reports. If you want to change the report date you must end processing and start over, otherwise the same report date is used on all reports printed during a posting session. On some reports you will be asked to enter a vendor code. This is the starting vendor for printing. Press return to start at the first vendor. You will then be asked how many to print. Enter the number of vendors you want, starting at the selected vendor, or press return to print from the starting vendor to the end of the list. This feature allows you to print partial reports or to print a report for only a single vendor. If you want to print reports for all vendors starting at the first vendor just press return twice. Next, you will be asked to choose if you want to print the report to the printer <P>, to the screen <S> or to a file <F>. If you choose to print to a file you will be asked for a file name. The report will then be saved as an ASCII file. These files are not readable by PC-AP, but can be viewed and changed with a text editor and used by other programs that can read ASCII files. Since the report is printed to a file exactly as it would be printed to a printer, if you use LPT2 for a file name, the report would be printed to your second line printer. PRINT CHECK LISTING To provide an adequate audit trail, this report should be printed and retained before closing out the month. It will list all the checks written by the program or entered manually for the accounting period. You will be given an opportunity to sort the checks before printing. Sorting in check number order makes the listing more useful but is not required. PRINT INVOICE LISTING You may print all of the invoices or just unpaid invoices. This report should also be printed and retained at the end of the processing period. You can print the invoice listing before printing checks to get a summary of how many checks are to be printed. This helps avoid the embarrassment of printing more checks than you have money in the bank. Before printing you may sort the invoices if you wish. PRINT VENDOR ACTIVITY REPORT This report is a summary of activity for a vendor for the last 6 accounting periods. If you choose to print the report for all vendors, you can expect the report to take a considerable amount of time to print. A more practical way to use this report is to print it for a single vendor as needed to resolve problems. The number of accounting periods saved can be changed using the APCONFIG program. The maximum is 16 months. PRINT MAILING LABELS As long as you have all of this vendor information on your computer, you might as well use it to print mailing labels. You can print labels for all the vendors or only one vendor. Labels are printed on standard 15/16ths peel off labels with one inch spacing between labels. To align the printer, use the selection process to print a single label. PRINT VENDOR LISTING Occasionally, you will want to print a listing of all of the vendors on file. The report includes all of the vendor information on the "Enter or Change Vendors" input screen. START A NEW ACCOUNTING PERIOD When you have printed all the reports you need and all is in order you can complete the accounting period. All of the paid invoices will be saved to a file for use with the Print Vendor Activity Report. Paid invoices for the last 6 accounting periods will be saved on the data disk in a series of files. The most current paid invoices will be saved in the file named AP1.TRN and the next most current in AP2.TRN The oldest paid invoices will eventually be saved in the file named AP6.TRN. All unpaid invoices will be carried over to the new month. All paid invoices (checks written) will also be saved to a file named AP_TO_GL.TRN. This file can then be read into the PC-GL General Ledger program whenever you wish. When you run PC-GL, you will have a new menu item in the command mode of ENTER OR CHANGE TRANSACTIONS: <R> Read PC-AP Transactions. Selecting <R> will transfer all of the transactions into the PC- GL program just as if they had been typed from the keyboard. So, to post PC-AP transactions to PC-GL you must: 1) Start a new period with PC-AP. 2) Run PC-GL and select ENTER OR CHANGE TRANSACTIONS. 3) Press Escape to get to the Command Mode. 4) Select <R> for Read PC-AP Transactions. Remember that only the checks are posted to PC-GL. For double entry accounting, you must complete the operation by entering a credit <-> to the CASH IN BANK account for an amount equal to the total of all checks posted from PC-AP to PC-GL. If you don't, the PC-GL ledger will be out of balance by that amount. The program assumes you are on a cash basis of accounting, so only the invoices actually paid during the month are posted. If your accounting is on an accrual basis you may modify the program using the APCONFIG program so that all of the invoices ENTERED for the month are posted to PC-GL. In that case, the offsetting credit must be made to the ACCOUNTS PAYABLE account for the total of all invoices posted from PC-AP to PC-GL. In addition, you must make two more entries in PC-GL to reflect the payment of invoices during the month: A debit <+> to ACCOUNTS PAYABLE and a credit <-> to CASH IN BANK. The amount for that entry should be obtained from the PC-AP Check Listing report. Just because your business is on an accrual basis doesn't mean that you must choose the accrual method for posting PC-AP transactions to PC-GL. Most businesses on an accrual basis still post transactions on a cash basis and only make an accrual adjustment at the end of the year. EXPORT VENDOR DATA This selection will create a file on the logged disk drive and subdirectory called PC-AP.PRN which can be read by programs like Lotus 123 and Reflex. Textual data in the vendor file will be surrounded by quotation marks. You can then read the data into Lotus 123 by using the /File/Import/Numbers command. Be sure that no names or addresses in your vendor file contain quotation marks before exporting vendor data. SAVE DATA AND END When processing is completed you must exit the program using this selection. Do not end processing by just turning off the computer, you will lose any data entered since the last save operation. If you just want to save the current data to the disk without ending, you may answer "N" to the question "Do you want to end processing?" and you will be returned to the menu. USING THE CONFIGURATION PROGRAM The configuration program (APCONFIG.EXE) is provided to all registered users. It allows you to change certain features of PC-AP. The APCONFIG.EXE program and the main program (PC- AP.EXE) should both be on the same disk drive when you configure your copy of PC-AP. Run the program by typing APCONFIG at the Dos prompt. Use the up and down arrows to move the pointer and then press <C> to change an item. You will be allowed to change the following information: Display Colors - If you have a color adapter and monitor, you can change the colors for borders, program prompts, data, and background. Allowable colors are from 0 to 15 except for background color which can only be from 0 to 7. The display will be instantly updated as you enter the new colors. Laser Printer? - You will also be able to change the way PC-AP starts a new page. Usually, PC-AP starts a new page by counting lines until the page total equals 66 lines. If you enter a "Y" for the laser printer question, PC-AP will start a new page by issuing a form feed command. This would work just fine on most other printers too, but requires that you set the top of form before you start printing. Disk Drive and Path - Enter a drive and path designation for PC-AP data. If you want the program to read data from the B drive just enter B:. Accounting Method - This determines how invoices are posted to PC-GL. The allowable answers are "C" for cash basis accounting and "A" for accrual basis accounting. A "C" answer means that any invoices paid during the month will be posted to PC-GL. An "A" answer means that all invoices actually entered during the month will be posted to PC-GL. Months to Save - The PC-AP program saves paid invoices on your data disk for later review with the Vendor Activity Report. Normally the paid invoices for the previous six months are saved. You may modify this number to be anywhere from zero to 16 months. Remember, the more months of data you save, the more room you need on the data disk and the more time it will take to review a vendor's activity. Top or Bottom Stub Check - PC-AP normally prints on a check form with the stub on the top. Enter a "T" for top stub or a "B" for bottom stub. Check Number Printed on Check? - Enter "Y" for yes or "N" for no. See below for the check forms supported. Long Laser Check? - If you have a laser printer you can choose the new 11 inch long laser checks. You will not be asked this question unless you answer "Y" for laser printer. When you have finished making your changes, press the escape key to exit the program. You will then be asked if you want to save the changes. If you answer with a Y, both the configuration program and PC-AP will be changed until you run the configuration program again. CHECKS SUPPORTED Normally, PC-AP prints on NEBS check form 9020 which is a top stub check with the check number printed on the check. By combining the Top/Bottom choice with the Yes/No choice for "Check Number Printed on Check", you can choose from a variety of different check styles. Use this chart to configure the PC- AR program for the proper check. NEBS Form Number Stub Location Num on Check? Long Check? ============================================================= 9020 Top Yes * 9022 Bottom No * 9024 Top No * 9027 Top No No 9215 Bottom Yes * 9039 Top No Yes * Not normally used on laser printers HELPFUL HINTS Transactions from PC-AP are not immediately posted to PC-GL each month. You must read the transactions into PC-GL by going to the ENTER OR CHANGE TRANSACTIONS section of PC-GL and selecting the <R> Read PC-AP transactions selection appearing at the bottom of the screen. To read the transactions created by PC-AP, you must use version 3.2 or higher of PC-GL. Earlier versions will not read the transactions created by PC-AP. The escape key is always used to go back to the previous operation. From anywhere in the program if you continue to press the escape key you will eventually return to the main menu. When printing reports you may pause the printing by pressing any key. To resume printing press any key again. To quit printing press the escape key after pausing. Each vendor must have a unique vendor code for posting. If you insist on using numbers, the program won't object. You should at least try the method suggested earlier in the manual. Use a vendor code made up of the vendor's last name plus as much of the first name as the 10 character limit will allow. Jane Smith would then have a code of SMITHJANE (Notice that there are no spaces). This method allows rapid posting of invoices without looking up vendor numbers. The searching method allows you to quickly examine the codes for all of the Smiths by just typing SMITH when asked for a code. The first 6 times you start a new accounting period more disk space is required for historical files. If you have a large business and you are using floppy disks for data storage, you could run out of disk space. Check available disk space with Dos's DIR command occasionally. ADDING COLORS The configuration program available to registered users will allow you to specify a data path and colors for PC-AP. You may also specify the desired data path and colors by adding them to the command line separated by blank spaces. The commands should be in the following order: DATA PATH, BORDER COLOR, DATA COLOR, PROMPT COLOR AND BACKGROUND COLOR. For example, if you run PC-AP by typing: PC-AP B: 3 14 10 1 That will tell the program to look for data on the B: drive and use Cyan borders, Yellow data, Light Green prompts with a Blue background. THE KEYBOARD The programs make liberal use of the PC's ten key pad for both numbers and commands, so your Num Lock will be turned on automatically at the beginning of each program. You should leave the Num Lock on all the time even when using the arrow keys for commands. If you should turn the Num Lock off for some reason, the 5 key on the 10 key pad will not work on some computers. Just turn the Num Lock back on to correct this problem. Your Num Lock will be turned off when exiting the program. ORDERING INFORMATION To order PC-AP please send $35 to: Jerry Medlin P.O. Box 357 Napa, Ca. 94559 Or, to charge using Master Card or Visa, call (707) 255- 4475 between the hours of 8AM to 6PM, Pacific time. You will receive the latest version of the program, the APCONFIG program and a telephone number for limited telephone assistance.