Shareware Overload

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Shareware Overload / ShartewareOverload.cdr / busi / pc_ledgr.zip / MANUAL < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1987-12-22 | 121KB | 2,463 lines

CHARTER SOFTWARE'S PC - GENERAL LEDGER - Version 1.4 (Copyright 1984 - 1987 Gerald V. Fricke) USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE This program is being distributed under the `FREEWARE' concept developed by Andrew Fluegelman. The idea is that an individual or a company using a program and finding it of value will compensate the author by voluntarily sending him a nominal fee. You are encouraged to copy this program and give it to others who may have a use for it. The only restriction is that you do not change any of the code and that you do not charge anything for the programs. If you are using this program and find that it has value, your contribution of $50.00 would be appreciated. Upon receipt of your contribution, you will be become a registered owner of PC - GENERAL LEDGER. You will receive copies of the latest programs and manual and be entitled to telephone support, and notices of all updates and enhancements as they become available. The registered name will appear on the initial screen and at the top of various reports. Note: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN VERSION 1.4 USING DATA FILES CREATED BY PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THE PROGRAM OR YOU WILL LOSE YOUR EXISTING DATA. SEE APPENDIX C FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO CONVERT EXISTING FILES. NOTE: IF YOU HAVE JUST RECEIVED YOUR REGISTERED COPY AND HAVE CREATED DATA WITH SOMEONE ELSE'S COPY OF VERSION 1.4 AND YOU WANT TO SAVE THAT DATA, DO THE FOLLOWING: 1. If you are working with a floppy disk system, put your existing `A' disk in drive A and the registered disk you just received in drive B. 2. At the DOS A> prompt, type COPY B:*.EXE 3. If you have a hard drive, put the new disk in drive A, and at the DOS prompt for your hard disk, type COPY A:*.EXE 4. Your working disks now have the new programs and are ready to go. CHARTER SOFTWARE P.O. Box 70 Monticello, IL 61856 217-762-7143 PC - GENERAL LEDGER Version 1.4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Getting Started Hard Disk System 1 Double Floppy System 1 Single Floppy System 2 Customizing the Program to Your Operations 3 Using the Program 6 Sample Entry 6 General Information Prior to Using the Program 9 Start-up Procedure When Ready to Enter Live Data 9 Backups 10 General Introduction 11 Account Numbers 11 Data Entry 11 Disk Space Usage 13 Highlighting and Color 13 Summary of Monthly Routine 14 General Ledger - Overview 15 Starting the General Ledger Program 16 Making Entries - General 17 Header Information 18 Account Numbers and Amounts 19 Making Changes or Corrections Before Accepting Entry 20 Editing Entries 20 Viewing Entries 21 Writing and Printing Checks 22 Cash Receipts 23 Journal Entries 23 General Ledger Posting Screens 24 Using Posting Screens 25 Printing Entries in the Transaction File 26 General Ledger and Trial Balance Print-outs 27 Financial Statements 28 Month or Year End Close 29 Chart of Accounts 30 Add New Account 30 Delete Account 31 Change Account Name 31 Print Chart of Accounts 31 Utility Programs 32 Change Base Information 32 Change from Floppy to Hard Disk 32 Change from Hard Disk to Double Floppy 33 Change to a Single Floppy System 33 Multiple Bank Accounts 34 Change Department Information 34 Clear All Balances 34 Creating a DIF File 35 Erase Year to Date Detail 35 Vendor Maintenance 36 Errors 37 Checking the Integrity of Your Files 39 Recovery from Power or Disk Problems 40 Backup Procedures 40 Floppy Disk Backup 41 Hard Disk Backup 42 Restoring Data to Your Hard Disk 42 Double Entry Bookkeeping APPENDIX A Opening Entries APPENDIX B Conversion from 1.3 or 1.3a APPENDIX C Sample Entries APPENDIX D Version 1.4 improvements APPENDIX E HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS PC - General Ledger will run on the IBM-PC, XT, AT, and PC-Jr. It will also run on most IBM Compatibles such as Compaq, Tandy 1000, 1200, 3000, Leading Edge, Zenith, and most IBM clones. Any version of PC-DOS or MS-DOS will work. A minimum of 128K memory is required. The programs will work on a single floppy, double floppy, or hard disk system. Either an 80 column or 132 column printer is required. YOU CAN GET REGISTERED COPIES FOR RELATED COMPANIES BY SENDING A A CHECK FOR $10.00 FOR EACH COMPANY ALONG WITH THE NAME AND ADDRESS FOR EACH. AN ACCOUNTANT'S VERSION OF THE PROGRAM (VERSION 2.4) IS AVAILABLE WHICH ALLOWS FOR MULTIPLE CLIENTS/COMPANIES. THE COST IS $100.00 ($50.00) IF YOU ARE ALREADY A REGISTERED OWNER OF ANOTHER VERSION OF THE PROGRAM. WARRANTY CHARTER SOFTWARE WARRANTS THAT DISKS PURCHASED FROM CHARTER SOFTWARE ARE NOT DEFECTIVE, THAT THE MANUAL ON THE DISK IS SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE, AND THAT THE PROGRAM PERFORMS ESSENTIALLY AS INDICATED IN THE MANUAL. CHARTER SOFTWARE EXCLUDES ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OTHER THAN THE PROGRAM'S USE AS A SIMPLE BOOKKEEPING SYSTEM. IN NO EVENT WILL CHARTER SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE PROGRAM. CHARTER SOFTWARE LIMITS ANY REMEDY TO REPLACEMENT OF THE DISK OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE. CHARTER SOFTWARE P.O. Box 70 Monticello, IL 61856 217-762-7143 1 GETTING STARTED NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN THE MASTER DISK. ONLY USE IT TO MAKE WORKING COPIES OF THE PROGRAMS. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN THESE PROGRAMS WITH DATA CREATED BY VERSION 1.3a OR OTHER EARLIER VERSIONS. IF YOU HAVE DATA CREATED BY VERSION 1.3a OR VERSION 1.3, SEE APPENDIX C. In order to get the system up and running, follow the step by step instructions. Please read each step carefully so that you will know exactly what to do. The steps are very easy to follow and you should not have any problems if you follow them exactly. The whole procedure to set up the working disks should take less than 10 minutes. HARD DISK SYSTEM 1. Set up a separate sub-directory if you want to. However, this step is not necessary for the operation of the programs. 2. At the DOS prompt, ( usually C> ), put the master disk in drive A and type: COPY A:*.EXE COPY A:*.FIL 3. After the files are copied, refer to Page 3. DOUBLE FLOPPY SYSTEM NOTE: IN A DOUBLE FLOPPY SYSTEM, BOTH DISKS WILL HAVE DATA ON THEM. THEREFORE, MAKE SURE THAT YOU WHEN YOU MAKE BACKUPS THAT YOU BACK UP BOTH DISKS AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE THEY ARE INTER- RELATED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN DIFFERENT B DISKS WITH A SINGLE A DISK. 1. Format two disks. Label them PROGRAMS-DATA (A) and DATA (B). 2. If you want the A disk to be a bootable disk, make sure that you use DOS to put a system on it. 3. Get to the A> prompt using a DOS disk. 4. Put the PROGRAMS-DATA (A) in the A drive. 5. Put the master disk in the B drive. 2 6. Type: COPY B:*.EXE COPY B:*.FIL 7. After the files are copied to the A disk, remove the master disk from the B drive and put it in a safe place. 8. The second disk that you formatted will be used during the initialization procedure. Now refer to page 3. SINGLE FLOPPY SYSTEM PC - GENERAL LEDGER will run on a single floppy system. However, you will be limited in the number of entries that you can enter. 1. Format a blank disk. Do not put a system on it, since that will be an additional limitation on the number of entries. 2. Get to the A> prompt using a DOS disk. 3. Put the formatted disk in the A drive. 4. Type: COPY B:*.EXE COPY B:*.FIL and follow the instructions for copying. 5. Put the master disk away in a safe place and refer to page 3. 3 CUSTOMIZING THE PROGRAM TO YOUR OPERATIONS The following will set up the programs to run on your particular hardware and customize them for the type of business that you have. The procedure is very simple and all you need to do is to follow the instructions on the screen. A couple of comments, first: - Press the `ENTER' or `RETURN' key after you make any menu selection or type information in response to an entry. - ALWAYS LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN. IT ALMOST ALWAYS WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO NEXT. - If you type something wrong, you will hear a tone and a message at the bottom of the screen will tell you what the problem is. - The message `ENTER TO CONTINUE' means to press the `ENTER' or `RETURN' key. - When you are instructed to use `ESC', this refers to the ESCAPE key, which has the letters Esc on it. - WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED WITH THE PROGRAM, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU EXIT THE PROGRAM IN THE NORMAL MANNER (SELECTING OPTION 9 - END OF SESSION FROM THE MAIN MENU). IF YOU TURN OFF THE COMPUTER OR REMOVE DISKS BEFORE DOING THIS, YOU MAY LOSE ALL OF YOUR FINANCIAL INFORMATION. When you exit the program on a floppy disk system, and your `A' disk is not a system disk, you will see a message to `Insert a disk with Command.Com' on it. When you see this message, put a copy of a DOS disk in drive A and press any key. This will bring back the A> prompt. DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS 1. If you are using a floppy system, put your PROGRAMS-DATA (A) disk in drive A and your DATA (B) disk in drive B. If you are using a hard disk and have set up subdirectory, make sure that you are in that subdirectory. 2. Type GLMENU and press ENTER 4 3. The first screen you will see looks like this: Address: City State Zip: Fiscal Year: 0 Sound (H)igh or (L)ow: H Credit Entries: 1 (1 = Auto 2 = Manual) Date Format: 1 (1 = US 2 = Europe) Password Protection: 1 (1 = Off 2 = On) 4. Type in your address, city, state, and zip on the first two lines. 5. Type in the number for the month that your fiscal year ends. December is 12, September is 9, etc. 6. You have the choice of a high or low tone for the sound you hear when the program wants to get your attention. The program alternates between these two tones until you select either H for high or L for low. 7. Standard accounting practice requires that credit entries be entered with a minus sign. All accounts in the 2000 through 4999 series are normally credit balance accounts. If you select option 1, the program will automatically change amounts entered for those accounts to a credit amounts. If you choose the manual option, you will have to enter a minus sign for credits to those accounts. IF YOU ARE NOT AN ACCOUNTANT, WE SUGGEST THAT YOU USE THE AUTOMATIC OPTION. See Appendix A for additional information on accounting conventions and how this program works with them. 8. Some countries use a different date format than the United States. Option 1 will format December 31, 1986 as 12-31-86 while option 2 will format it as 31-12-86. 5 9. You can have password protection if you want to limit access to your accounting records. You can use any 5 letter word as the password. DO NOT SET UP A PASSWORD UNLESS YOU NEED IT. ONCE YOU SET UP A PASSWORD, YOU WILL NEED TO TYPE IT EACH TIME YOU ENTER THE PROGRAM AND YOU MUST KNOW THE PASSWORD TO EITHER CHANGE OR DELETE IT. The next screen sets up the program for your particular hardware. You need to make a monitor selection and a drive selection. MONITOR SELECTION: 1 = Monochrome Monitor 2 = Color Monitor 3 = Compaq DRIVE SELECTION: 4 = Single Floppy Drive 5 = Double Floppy Drives 6 = Hard Drive 7 = ALL DONE If you have a color monitor, you will have the option of selecting the colors that are used to highlight certain areas of the screen. The next screen displays two possible formats for the Statement of Income. The format on the left (FORMAT 1) is normally used by retail, wholesale, or manufacturing businesses. The one on the right (FORMAT 2) is usually used by service and professional businesses and for personal books. Select whichever format is best suited for you. After making this selection, the program will take you back to DOS. 6 USING THE PROGRAM WHILE IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO READ THIS ENTIRE MANUAL TO USE THE PROGRAM, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THE FOLLOWING TO GET A GOOD UNDERSTANDING ON HOW ENTRIES ARE MADE. The program is a traditional accountant's double entry bookkeeping system. However, we've made it easy to for a non-accountant to use it. To get an understanding of how debits and credits work in a double entry bookkeeping system, see Appendix A. SAMPLE ENTRY In order to understand how the system works, particularly if you are not familiar with bookkeeping, we suggest that you follow the steps below to see how entries are made. Once you understand how entries are put into the system, the rest of the program is almost automatic. 1. At the DOS prompt, type GLMENU and press ENTER. 2. You will see the following at the top of the screen: Type posting DATE (MMDDYY) ...... 3. Type the date using six digits without any spaces, dashes, or slashes. For instance, January 8, 1987 is entered as 010887. The program will format it to 01-08-87 and bring up the Main Menu. The Main Menu looks like this: 1 = POST Entries or WRITE CHECKS 2 = CHART of Accounts or VENDOR Maintenance 3 = Print ENTRIES 4 = Print GENERAL LEDGER or TRIAL BALANCE 5 = Print FINANCIAL Statements 6 = Month or Year End CLOSE 7 = ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE 8 = UTILITY Programs 4. Select option 1 - (POST Entries) 7 5. The next menu is: ADD, EDIT, OR VIEW ENTRIES: 1 = CASH Receipts 2 = CHECK STUBS 3 = JOURNAL Entries etc. 6. Assume that you are entering information from your check stubs. The first check is for your monthly rent as follows: Number 1221 Payee ABC Rental Agency Date Jan 23, 1987 Amount $425.50 Since you want to enter a CHECK STUB, select option 2 from the menu. 7. The next screen lets you select whether you want to add a new entry, edit an old one, or just view what is on file. Select A to Add New Entries. 8. The next screen looks like this: CHECK STUBS Last Chk: 0 Adding New Entry Check No.____ Description _______________ Date _______ Line Account Account Title Amount ____________ Bank Balance $ 0.00 Entry Balance 0.00 TYPE CHECK NUMBER `ENTER' FOR CHECK 1 `ESC' WHEN DONE 9. Type the check number - 1221 - in the Check No field and press ENTER. 10. Type the payee - ABC Rental Agency - in the Description field. 8 11. Type the date - 012387 - in the Date field 12. The following message will now be at the bottom of the screen: `A' TO ACCEPT HEADER `T' TRY AGAIN `P' FOR POSTING SCREEN 13. Type A to accept what you have done so far. 14. Since the program knows that you are working on your check stubs, it puts the checking account number and account name on line 1. 15. The cursor is waiting for you to type in the amount of the check. Type 450.25 and press ENTER. Again, since the program knows that you are posting check stubs, it automatically shows the amount as a minus, thereby reducing your bank balance accordingly. 16. The program is now waiting for you complete the other side of the double entry. 17. Type in the account number for the Rent Expense - 6010 -. The program puts the title of the account on the screen. 18. You can now press ENTER with the cursor at the Amount field and the program will complete the entry by charging the rent expense for 450.25. 19. When the Entry Balance amount is zero, the following message will be at the bottom of the screen: TYPE `A' TO ACCEPT AMOUNT (`ENTER' TO MAKE CHANGES) YOU CANNOT COMPLETE AN ENTRY UNLESS THE `ENTRY BALANCE' AMOUNT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN IS ZERO. THIS HAPPENS WHEN ALL OF THE DEBITS (POSITIVE AMOUNTS) AND ALL OF THE CREDITS (MINUS AMOUNTS) OFFSET TO ZERO. 20. Type - A - to accept the entry. 21. The screen then clears and sets up for next entry. 22. To get back to the menu, press the ESC key when the cursor is at the Check No. field. This completes a sample entry. All entries are made in the manner. The screens for Cash Receipts and Journal Entries are identical and work the same way except for the header information. 9 GENERAL INFORMATION PRIOR TO USING THE PROGRAMS - The program has 15 sample general ledger accounts set up. You can print the chart of accounts by selecting option 2 from the Main Menu and then option 4 from the next menu. - WE SUGGEST THAT YOU MAKE PRACTICE ENTRIES PRIOR TO STARTING TO ENTER ACTUAL DATA. THE PROGRAM HAS A FEATURE THAT LETS YOU ERASE ANY PRACTICE ENTRIES THAT YOU MAY MAKE. START-UP PROCEDURE WHEN READY TO ENTER LIVE DATA 1. If you have made any practice entries, erase them. See page 34. 2. Set up your chart of accounts and change or delete any of the existing ones. See page 30. WE SUGGEST THAT YOU DO NOT DELETE ACCOUNT 1010 (Checking Account). SIMPLY CHANGE THE DESCRIPTION TO THE NAME OF YOUR BANK. 3. If you have more than one bank account, set them up. See page 34. 4. If you have several operating departments in your business, and you want to keep their income and/or operating expenses segregated, set up the appropriate department numbers and names. See page 34. 5. If you are not familiar with double entry bookkeeping read Appendix A. 6. Load your beginning balances. See Appendix B. 7. Read the following section on BACKUPS. 10 BACKUPS People, computers, and power failures can cause loss of important information. While hardware and software failures are rare, they do happen. The biggest potential for problems is power fluctuations. If there is a thunderstorm in the area, turn off the computer after exiting the program in the normal manner. Because things can happen that are outside of your control, it is important to backup your files on a regular basis. IF YOU ARE USING A DOUBLE FLOPPY DISK SYSTEM, IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU BACKUP BOTH DISKS AT THE SAME TIME SINCE THEY ARE INTER-RELATED. You should maintain two sets of backup disks. One set is made at the end of each day (or more often, if desired). Make another set of backups at month end after you have completed the month end close. That way, if anything happens to your working disks and your daily backups, the worst that can happen is that you will have to re-do only one month's work. The point in time when you make your daily backups is important. If something does go wrong, you will need to be able to remember where your work left off. See page 40 for details on how to back up your system. See page 42 for details on how to restore your files after any problems have occurred. 11 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Charter Software's programs are easy to use and we have done our best to see that you can't get into trouble. However, we can't detect typing errors such as `10.00' when you mean `100.00' or `espense' when you mean `expense'. The programs do provide two important safeguards: 1. All entries must balance. You will not be able to post an entry that does not. 2. There is a complete audit trail. Amounts cannot be posted to the General Ledger until the details have been printed on the printer. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED WITH THE PROGRAM, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU EXIT THE PROGRAM IN THE NORMAL MANNER (SELECTING OPTION 9 - END OF SESSION FROM THE MAIN MENU). IF YOU TURN OFF THE COMPUTER OR REMOVE DISKS BEFORE DOING THIS, YOU MAY LOSE ALL OF YOUR FINANCIAL INFORMATION. ACCOUNT NUMBERS If you are using departments, there is a short cut in typing account numbers. You can stop typing if the digits after the decimal point are zeros. For instance, typing 5200 is the same as typing 5200.0 or 5200.00. Typing 4000.2 is the same as 4000.20. The program supports the printing of up to eight departments which you have selected. (see page 34) Other department numbers are allowed, but departmental statements cannot be printed. DATA ENTRY When the program is waiting for you to type something, there is a row of `dashes' or a line for you to type on. The number of dashes or the length of the line indicates the maximum amount of characters for that entry. If you want to change what you have typed, you can use the arrow keys to move back and forth through in order to make corrections. New characters can inserted using the `Ins' key and characters deleted by using the `Del' key. 12 In addition to using the backspace key to make corrections, you can also use the left and right arrow keys to move the cursor as well as the `Del' and `Ins' keys to delete and insert characters. On the keyboard, there is a key called `Num Lock' above the numeric keypad. Pressing this key will change the status of the numeric keypad. It will operate either as an adding machine keyboard or as arrow keys. Pressing `Num Lock' switches the functions back and forth. When typing amounts, you do not have to put in the decimal point if it is a round dollar amount. For instance, if you type 10 for 10 dollars, the program will automatically format and display it as 10.00. Entering 9.5 will result in 9.50. This can save a lot of keystrokes. Do not put in commas when typing numbers. The program, however, will automatically put them in. If you are entering a negative number, you can put the minus sign either before or after the number. IF YOU HAVE SELECTED THE `AUTOMATIC' CREDIT FEATURE, ANY AMOUNTS ENTERED FOR ACCOUNTS 2000 THROUGH 4999 WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE CHANGED TO A NEGATIVE OR CREDIT AMOUNT. IF YOU WANT TO `DEBIT' AN ACCOUNT IN THIS RANGE, USE THE MINUS SIGN AND THE PROGRAM WILL CHANGE THE AMOUNT TO A POSITIVE OR DEBIT AMOUNT. The program will accept individual entries up to 9,999,999.99 and print values up to 99,999,999.99. Dates are entered either in the format MMDDYY or MM-DD-YY. For instance you can enter May 9,1986 as either 050986 or 05-09-86. Using 050986 is usually easier to type and the program will automatically reformat it to 05-09-86. NOTE: THE PROGRAM DOES NOT USE THE POSTING DATE THAT YOU ENTER TO SEPARATE TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN MONTHS. THEREFORE, DO NOT MAKE ENTRIES IN A NEW MONTH UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE ALL POSTINGS TO THE OLD MONTH AND COMPLETED A MONTH END CLOSE. Messages about what to do or type next are almost always on the bottom line of the screen. The program will `beep' if it wants to get your attention because you have typed something wrong, or about to do something that requires confirmation before proceeding. Again, there will be a message at the bottom of the screen. If in doubt as to what to do next, always look at the bottom of the screen. There is always an `escape route' if you make a mistake. Pressing ENTER or the ESC key will normally take you back to a point where you can recover and start again. Before any significant item gets entered or changed, you will get a chance to change your mind. 13 DISK SPACE USAGE NOTE: THE PERCENTAGE SHOWN ON THE BOTTOM OF THE MAIN MENU FOR FLOPPY SYSTEMS WILL NOT BE ACCURATE IF YOU HAVE PROGRAMS AND FILES NOT RELATED TO PC - GENERAL LEDGER ON THE A OR B DISKS. See page 32 for list of files related to these programs. If you are working with a double floppy disk system, the bottom of the screen at the Main Menu will show the approximate amount of disk space used on the DATA disk in the B drive. See page 35 for information if the percentage exceeds 90%. For a single floppy system, the percentage reflects space left on that disk. On a hard disk, the number shown reflects the number of mega- bytes that the programs and data currently are using. HIGHLIGHTING & COLOR If you are using a monochrome monitor, some words should be highlighted. If not, adjust the knobs on the monitor. If you are using a color monitor, some words will be in color. If you want to change colors, select option 3 from the Utility Programs menu. 14 SUMMARY OF MONTHLY ROUTINE The best way to visualize how these programs work is to remember that instead of writing entries in ledgers or on columnar pads, you will be posting the amounts on the screen. The major difference is that you do not have to add the columns, balance the pages, or post the totals to the General Ledger. The program takes care of that automatically. The timing of your daily, weekly, and monthly postings is up to you. You will probably find that you can make entries to the programs using pretty much the same schedule that you are now. NOTE: THE PROGRAM DOES NOT USE THE POSTING DATE THAT YOU ENTER TO SEPARATE TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN MONTHS. THEREFORE, DO NOT MAKE ENTRIES IN A NEW MONTH UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE ALL POSTINGS TO THE OLD MONTH AND COMPLETED A MONTH END CLOSE. - Cash receipts can be posted at any time. - Checks are posted as you print them or by entering the information from the check stubs. - Journal entries are used for depreciation, corrections, payroll summaries, etc. - Entries which use the same accounts over and over again are best handled using the Posting Screens set up. See page 24. - Entries made with the program are held in a transaction file until you want to update the General Ledger. Entries in the transaction file can be printed, viewed, or edited, then updated to the General Ledger. - The General Ledger can be updated at any time. However, you will probably only want do it at month end. - Once all entries have been posted to the General Ledger, the trial balance and financial statements can be printed. 15 GENERAL LEDGER - OVERVIEW The General Ledger system consists of several segments: ADD, EDIT, AND VIEW ENTRIES This is the main part of the General Ledger program. You can make entries into the cash receipts journal or the general journal. You can either print checks on the printer or post check stubs to the check register. Mistakes can be corrected by editing or deleting entries. PRINT ENTRIES This part of the program enables you to print the entries that you have made. After printing the entries, the trial balance and General Ledger can be updated. GENERAL LEDGER AND TRIAL BALANCE This will print entries that have been made to each account. The program maintains two detailed ledgers. One is for the month to date and the other for the year to date. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS This enables you to print the Balance Sheet and Statement of Income with month and year to date totals. MONTH AND YEAR END CLOSE This lets you close the books at month and year end in order to start the next accounting period. UTILITY PROGRAMS Allows you to set up for more than one bank. There is also a section in case you have a color monitor and want to change colors or you change hardware, such as adding a hard disk. VENDOR FILES If you use the program to write checks you can create and maintain a file of names and addresses for those people that you write checks to on a regular basis. CHART OF ACCOUNTS This enables you to add new accounts to the General Ledger, change the name of an existing account, or delete an account. 16 STARTING THE GENERAL LEDGER PROGRAM In order to start the program, type GLMENU at the DOS prompt. The first thing that you have to do is to enter the date. Enter all dates as 6 digits such as 010485. The program will automatically format it to read 01-04-85. NOTE: THE PROGRAM DOES NOT USE THE POSTING DATE THAT YOU ENTER TO SEPARATE TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN MONTHS. THEREFORE, DO NOT MAKE ENTRIES IN A NEW MONTH UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE ALL POSTINGS TO THE OLD MONTH AND COMPLETED A MONTH END CLOSE. After you have entered the date, the Main Menu will appear: 1 = POST Entries or WRITE CHECKS 2 = CHART of Accounts or VENDOR Maintenance 3 = Print ENTRIES 4 = Print GENERAL LEDGER or TRIAL BALANCE 5 = Print FINANCIAL Statements 6 = Month or Year End CLOSE 7 = ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE 8 = UTILITY Programs 9 = END of Session Each of the above functions is explained in detail on the following pages. 17 MAKING ENTRIES - GENERAL The procedure for entering transactions is essentially the same whether you are doing cash receipts, posting check stubs or journal entries. There are only minor differences in the screen layout and how data is entered. Each entry is a two step process. First you type in the header information such as the check number, date, payee, etc. The second part is entering account numbers and amounts. If you make a mistake there is a simple procedure to correct or change an entry so that you do not have to start over. You can have up to 15 lines in a single entry. Near the bottom of the screen is the Entry Balance figure. The program updates this amount after every line is entered and shows how much the entry is out of balance at that point. See Appendix D for samples of completed and balanced entries. Until you are familiar with the program, the key to making entries is to keep an eye on the message line at the bottom of the screen. It will prompt you as to what is expected next. The menu for the posting entries is shown below. You can choose to enter cash receipts, check stubs, journal entries, or enter checks to be printed. ADD, EDIT, OR VIEW ENTRIES: 1 = CASH Receipts 2 = CHECK STUBS 3 = JOURNAL Entries When you select one of the above, you will see the following: `A' to Add new entries `E' to Edit Existing `V' to View You have the option of adding new entries to the system, editing or changing existing entries, or simply viewing the entries that are on file. From the view screen, you can also select entries to edit or delete. If you have more than one bank account designated, the program will show you the bank account numbers, bank names, and the current balance in each account. One of the accounts is highlighted, indicating that it is the current or active bank account. 18 The next section deals with adding new CHECK STUB entries. However, cash receipts and journal entries are entered in much the same way. HEADER INFORMATION The screen layout for entering checks stubs looks like this: POST CHECK STUBS Last Check: 121 Check No .... Description ......................... Date ..... Line Acct Account Title Amount ----------- Cash Balance: Entry Balance `ENTER' FOR 122 OR TYPE CHECK NUMBER `ESC' WHEN DONE The program shows your present cash balance for the current bank account in the lower left hand corner of the screen. It is automatically updated every time you make an entry to that account. For reference purposes, the last check number you entered is in the upper right hand corner of the screen. You can type in a check number or press ENTER and the next check number (based on the upper right hand corner) will be automatically displayed. For the Description, you will normally type to whom the check was written. You can type in the date at the date field or press ENTER and get the start up date. Whatever information that you type into the header will show when you print the entries and will be posted to the General Ledger. 19 After typing in the date or pressing ENTER at that field, you will see the following message at the bottom of the screen: `A' TO ACCEPT `T' TO TRY AGAIN OR POSTING SCREEN NUMBER If you are satisfied with the Header information, type A. Otherwise type T and you can start entering the header information again. (See page 24 for explanation of POSTING SCREENS) ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND AMOUNTS Once you have accepted the header, it is time to enter account numbers and amounts. The entry can be up to 15 lines. The program puts the current bank account number and its description on line 1, then waits for you to make an entry in the Amount column. (Remember, you do not have to enter the decimal point if it is a whole dollar amount). Type in the amount. Since the program knows that you are posting check stubs, it automatically changes it to a credit amount, displays it, and updates the Entry Balance amount. Then line by line, finish the accounting distribution. First type either the account number or up to four letters of the account name. If you enter the account number, the program will automatically display the account description. If you type RENT the program will search for the first account having `RENT' in the description and display the account number and account description. If you are looking for `RENT EXPENSE' and the first account with `RENT' is `RENTAL INCOME', the program will display that one first. However, pressing ENTER again will find the next account with `RENT' in it. You can continue to press ENTER until you find the right account or reach the end of the account number file. If you type in an account number and that account is not on file, the program will ask you whether you want to add that number to the file. The following message will appear at the bottom of the screen: NUMBER NOT ON FILE. TYPE `A' TO ADD `T' TO TRY AGAIN 20 If you want to add that number to the chart of accounts, type A and you will see the same screen that is used to set up new accounts in the Chart of Accounts section of the program. All you need to do is type in the description of the account and you will be taken back to where you were in the entry. The new account has been added to the chart of accounts and will be displayed on the line on which you were working. Once you have the proper account, the next step is to enter the amount. If it is a simple two line entry, pressing ENTER will automatically display the offsetting amount from line 1. Otherwise, you will have to type in the amount. IF YOU HAVE SELECTED THE `AUTOMATIC' CREDIT FEATURE, ANY AMOUNTS ENTERED FOR ACCOUNTS 2000 THROUGH 4999 WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE CHANGED TO A NEGATIVE OR CREDIT AMOUNT. IF YOU WANT TO `DEBIT' AN ACCOUNT IN THIS RANGE, USE THE MINUS SIGN AND THE PROGRAM WILL CHANGE THE AMOUNT TO A POSITIVE OR DEBIT AMOUNT. As you enter amounts line, the Entry Balance amount will be updated. When that amount is zero, the entry is in balance and the following message is at the bottom of the screen: TYPE `A' TO ACCEPT (`ENTER' TO MAKE CHANGES) If you type A, the entry is added to the transaction file, the data is cleared from the screen, and you are ready for the next entry. (At that point, if you are done posting check stubs, pressing ESC at the Check Number field to return to the menu.) MAKING CHANGES OR CORRECTIONS BEFORE ACCEPTING THE ENTRY If you need to make changes to the entry that you were working on and pressed ENTER instead of A, then you have the opportunity to change any of the lines in the entry or to add additional lines. This saves having to re-do the entire entry. The program will ask you for the line number to be changed. That line will be erased and you then enter a new account number and amount. You can continue in this manner until you have the changes made and the entry balances. Type A to accept to move to the next entry. EDITING ENTRIES After an entry is made, it is stored in a transaction file until you update the General Ledger. While entries are in the transaction file, they can be edited, deleted, or viewed. If you select E to edit an entry, the program puts the entry form on the screen. If you are editing a check stub that has been entered, you type in the number of the check. The program will find that entry and then display it. You can then change any part of that entry, including the payee, account numbers, amounts, etc. 21 VIEWING ENTRIES If you select V to view entries, the program will display all entries for the type of entry you select. For instance, if you are working on check stubs, the program will display the first check with the following message at the bottom of the screen: `ENTER' FOR NEXT `B' TO BACKUP `E' TO EDIT `D' TO DELETE Pressing ENTER will let you proceed from entry to entry until you reach the end of the file. Typing B will take you backwards in the file one entry. Typing E will let you edit that entry. Typing D will let you delete that entry. After typing D for delete, the program will ask you confirm that you want to delete that entry. 22 WRITING AND PRINTING CHECKS If you wish to use the program to print checks, they can be ordered from Colwell Systems, 201 Kenyon Road, Champaign, IL 61820. Toll free telephone is 800-248-7000. (800-233-7777 in Illinois). The check is form 9045 (Source Code 340) and should be ordered without pre-numbering as the program will number the checks. Using the check printing option enables you to print checks on the computer instead of writing them by hand, and then making an entry for the check stubs. You can mix check stub entries and actual check printing without causing any problems. The program maintains a file of up to 200 names and addresses to make it easier to print checks. The program puts a picture of a blank check on the screen and all you have to do is fill in the blanks. By pressing ENTER at the date, the start-up date will be entered. Pressing ENTER at the check number will automatically insert the next check number. If you are using the same designated account number for cash receipts and disbursement, your present bank balance is shown on the left, above the check outline. When you type the payee name, the program checks to see whether or not that payee's name and address is in the file. If it is, the program displays it. If the name is not on file, the program gives you the option of adding that name and address to the file. See page 36 for details on how the program searches for names. After entering the payee, amount, and address, you can get a message printed on the check stub by typing something on the `For' line. After completing the check form and typing A to accept, the screen will change so that you can enter the various accounts and amounts in order to complete the accounting entry. This segment is the same whether you are entering check stubs or actually entering checks to be printed. The program saves all of the check information so that they are all printed at one time. You print checks by selecting `Print CHECKS' under the PRINT PROGRAMS menu. You can print a test check to make sure that the check forms are lined up properly prior to printing the actual checks. 23 CASH RECEIPTS The program assumes that you have already made a deposit and are entering an accounting summary of that deposit. The header information is slightly different from the cash disbursements entries. Refer ...... Description ................. Date ...... The Reference and Description fields can contain whatever information you want to describe the transaction. Pressing ENTER at either field will leave blanks in the print-outs and General Ledger for those fields. You can type the date or press ENTER to get the start up date. The cash receipts account that you designated when first setting up the program is automatically displayed on line 1. Enter accounts and amounts in the same way as described in the section on entering Check Stubs. JOURNAL ENTRIES Again, the procedure is essentially the same as cash receipts or checks written with minor changes in the header. Also, no account number or description is automatically displayed on the first line. Enter accounts and amounts in the same way as described in the section on entering Check Stubs. 24 GENERAL LEDGER POSTING SCREENS You have the ability to design up to 30 posting screens to make it easier to post entries that use the same accounts each time. For instance, payroll checks have certain accounts that are always used, such as the checking account number, FICA deductions, withholding deductions, etc. You can set up a posting screen so that the accounts are automatically put on the screen and all you have to do is enter the amounts. For entries that are the same each month such as depreciation, you can also set up the amounts ahead of time. Once you have set up a posting screen, the program keeps track of it for easy recall and use no matter whether you are posting check stubs, journal entries, or cash receipts to the General Ledger. In order to set up posting screens, choose option 2 from the Main Menu and then option 6 from the Chart of Accounts and Vendor Maintenance Menu. The Posting Screen Menu is as follows: 1 = Set up NEW Posting Screen 2 = DELETE Posting Screen 3 = CHANGE Posting Screen 4 = DISPLAY Individual Screen 5 = Return to previous MENU After selecting option 1, you will first identify the number to be used (any number 1 through 30) and then type the description of the screen. The description should identify the purpose of the screen, such as `Monthly Sales Summary' or `Payroll check'. After that, you identify the account numbers and the amount (if any) to be debited or credited to each account. If the amounts change from entry to entry, enter a zero in the amount column. If the amounts for an entry are the same each month, such as in a depreciation entry, you can put in dollar amounts. If there are amounts involved, you must balance the posting screen before the program will save it on disk. Option 2 allows you to delete screens that you no longer need. Option 3 will allow to make changes in screens that you have previously set up. Option 4 will display a screen, showing all of the account numbers, account names, and posting amounts for that screen. 25 USING POSTING SCREENS In order to use one of the posting screens, you type P when you see the following message at the bottom of the screen after typing in the header information: `A' TO ACCEPT `T' TO TRY AGAIN `P' FOR POSTING SCREEN If you type P, the program will display the titles of the posting screen. You then select the posting screen number and press ENTER, the account numbers and amounts (if any) will be displayed. All you have to do is go down the right hand column and enter the appropriate amounts for each account. If the posting screen has amounts pre-defined, you can change these amounts for that particular entry and it will not affect the posting screen that is saved on disk. 26 PRINTING ENTRIES IN TRANSACTION FILE Prior to updating the General Ledger, you will have to print out the entries. This provides a good audit trail and you should save these transaction print outs. Make sure that you have made any corrections or deletions, prior to printing out anything in the transaction file. You have the option of printing the entries or displaying them on the screen. After a print-out is finished, the following message is at the top of the screen: Type `U' to UPDATE General Ledger and delete these entries from the transaction file. (`ESC' to exit). If you type U, the printed entries will be posted to the General Ledger. A message will print at the bottom of the page indicating that the entries have been posted in detail to the General Ledger. The entries are then removed from the transaction file. You will not get the update option if you display the entries on the screen. You have to decide whether to update the General Ledger at the end of any transaction print-out. CONSIDERATIONS 1. Financial Statements - The General Ledger, Statement of Income, and Balance Sheet will only be updated when the transactions are printed and the `U' option used. 2. Printed Reports - Updating the General Ledger several times during the month will mean having your check register, for instance, on several pieces of paper rather than on one print-out. Updating only at month end makes each print-out a `complete' one. 3. Disk Usage - Updating the General Ledger may free up disk space. Note: If you are continuously having a problem with disk space (in excess of 80% usage), the best alternative is to erase the year to date detail in the General Ledger. See page 35 for more details on how to do that. 27 GENERAL LEDGER DETAILS AND TRIAL BALANCE PRINT-OUT You have three options with respect to the details in the General Ledger: 1. Print a complete General Ledger 2. Print a group of accounts. 3. Print a single account. You have the option of printing the month to date or year to date General Ledger detail for any or all accounts. The complete General Ledger prints the number of the account, its name, the beginning balance, all entries posted to that account during the month (or year to date), and the ending balance. For profit and loss accounts, the year to date ending balance is shown also. If there are any entries in the transaction file, you will receive a message to that effect before the complete General Ledger is printed. The print-out can be stopped at any time by pressing ESC. The final line on the complete print-out shows a proof amount. It should show `zero'. However, the BASIC language that was used in writing this program will not always do its math properly. Any errors that occur are normally less than a penny. The point to remember is that if the General Ledger and/or financial statements are off by a penny or two, it was not caused by your entries. It is the fault of the programming language and you should not be concerned about it. Another option besides a complete General Ledger print-out is selecting any individual account. In this instance, you will be given the choice of displaying all activity for that account on the screen or printing it on the printer. Any entries in the transaction file that have not been updated, will be included in a lump sum amount on the last line. Another option allows you print out a group of accounts. The program asks you for beginning and ending account numbers. You can also print a Short Form trial balance. This lists the account name, account number, month to date balance, and year to date balance. No detailed entries are shown. 28 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS You can print the Balance Sheet or Statement of Income at any time. However, they will not include any entries that are still in the transaction file. If you are set up for DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTING, you have several choices when printing the Statement of Income. The menu selection is shown below: COMPLETE STATEMENT OF INCOME 1 = All accounts DETAILED 2 = All accounts CONSOLIDATED DEPARTMENTAL STATEMENTS 3 = G & A (10) 4 = Sales (20) 5 = Parts (30) 6 = Service (40) Note: The department names and numbers be different depending on your operations. Option 1 will print all of the accounts in the Statement of Income section of the chart of accounts. For instance, if you have account 6800 (Telephone) set up for three departments, all three will print. Option 2 will print all Statement of Income accounts, but will consolidate the amounts for each income and expense account. For instance, the TELEPHONE expense will be totalled for all departments and the amount shown on one line. (Note: The account description printed will be the first one within that group of accounts). In each of the first two options the final Income or Loss amount will be the same and represents the month and year to date total corporate profit or loss. If you choose one of the options for departmental statements, the program will print income and expense items for the individual department only, and show the income or loss for that department. Remember, departments numbered other than those that you have set up (see page 34) cannot be printed. There is no option for printing Departmental Balance Sheets. Again, you can stop any print-out at any time by pressing ESC. 29 MONTH OR YEAR END CLOSE When all transactions for the month have been posted to the General Ledger, and you have made all print-outs that you want, you are ready to close the General Ledger for the month. You will not be able to close out if any there are in entries in the transaction register. The month end close changes all of the monthly Statement of Income accounts to zero and updates all of the year to date totals. It also adds the month to date General Ledger detail to the year to date detail. The year end close is the same except that it also zeros out the Statement of Income year to date amounts, erases the year to date General Ledger detail, and automatically updates the Retained Earnings account with the annual profit. 30 CHART OF ACCOUNTS The chart of accounts numbering system has been pre-set as shown below. You are limited to 500 different account numbers. You can allocate them between the various categories such as assets, liabilities, income, etc. however you wish. The original disk has 15 sample accounts on it. You should delete any of those accounts that you do not want. It will reduce the number of pages in the General Ledger, since all accounts are printed, whether they have activity or not. The chart of accounts maintenance menu looks like this: CHART OF ACCOUNTS: 1 = Add NEW Account 2 = DELETE Account 3 = CHANGE Account Name 4 = PRINT Chart of Accounts OTHER: 5 = VENDOR Maintenance 6 = POSTING Screens Note: Vendor Maintenance is covered on page 36. Posting Screens are on page 24. ADD NEW ACCOUNT The screen for adding new accounts is shown below: Account Number ........ Description ....................... 1000 - 1499 Current Asset 1500 - 1899 Fixed Asset 1900 - 1999 Other Asset 2000 - 2699 Current Liability 2700 - 2999 Long Term Liability 3000 - 3999 Equity 4000 - 4999 Revenue 5000 - 5999 Cost of Sales 6000 - 6999 Expenses 7000 - 9999 Other Income/Expense Note: Accounts 5000 through 9999 will be in different categories depending on which Statement of Income Format you are using. When you enter a new account number, the program checks whether or not the number has already been used. If not, the type of account is highlighted at the bottom of the screen and you can then type in the name of the new account. 31 The following message will appear at the bottom of the screen: TYPE `A' TO ACCEPT `T' TO TRY AGAIN. If you haven't made any errors, type A and the account will be added to the chart of accounts. Typing a T will allow you to start over. When you are finished adding accounts, pressing ENTER at the account number field will take you back to the menu. You can also add new accounts as you make entries. If you type in the number of an account that is not on file, you will get the opportunity to add the account at that time. The screen that you will see and the procedure is the same as when you are adding an account in the Chart of Accounts section of the program. DELETE ACCOUNT This option enables you get rid of an account you are no longer using. In order to safeguard the system, you can only delete an account when: - The month and year to date balances for that account are zero. and - There are no entries in the transaction register for that account. and - There are no posting screens using that account. When you type in the account number the program checks all of the above. If all the conditions are met, the program then displays the account name and asks you to confirm that you want to make the deletion. Type D to delete the account or N for no delete. CHANGE ACCOUNT NAME This option lets you change the name of the account in order to better describe it or to correct spelling errors. PRINT CHART OF ACCOUNTS You can display the current chart of accounts on the screen or print them on the printer for easy reference. The print shows the account number, description and type of account (asset, liability, etc.) 32 UTILITY PROGRAMS The menu for the Utility Programs is shown below: 1 = Change BASE Information 2 = Change BANK and Other Accounts 3 = Change HARDWARE Configuration 4 = Change DEPARTMENT Information 5 = CLEAR All Balances 6 = Create DIF File 7 = Select INCOME STATEMENT Format 8 = ERASE Year to Date Detail When you first started up your system, you made selections for item one above. This part of the program allows you to make changes in those selections whenever it is appropriate to do so. See page 4 for details on how to make changes. Option 2 - This allows you to designate up to five different accounts as bank accounts for ease in making entries when you have more than one bank account. See page 34. Option 3 - This allows you to tell the programs that you have changed monitors or to change the colors displayed if you are using a color monitor. After the system is operating you can also change from a floppy drive system to a hard drive system if you add a hard drive at a later date. You can also change from a hard disk to a floppy system. NOTE: MAKE SURE THAT YOU MAKE AN EXTRA SET OF BACKUPS BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO MAKE ANY DISK DRIVE CHANGES. CHANGE FROM FLOPPY SYSTEM TO HARD DISK 1. Set up a sub-directory for the programs if desired. 2. Copy all files from both floppy disks to the hard disk, using the DOS COPY command. 3. Type GLMENU and immediately select option 8 from the Main Menu to get to the Utility Programs Menu. 4. Select option 3 from the Utility Programs Menu and then option 6 from the next menu. 33 NOTE: WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT RUN THESE PROGRAMS USING RAM DISKS. CHANGE FROM A HARD DISK TO A DOUBLE FLOPPY SYSTEM Copy files from the hard disk to a set of blank formatted floppy disk using the DOS COPY command. 1. The following files must be on the A drive disk: GLMENU.EXE GLCHART.EXE GLENTRY.EXE GLTRIAL.EXE GLUTIL.EXE GLCHECKS.EXE GLSTATE.EXE BASRUN.EXE GLCTRL.FIL 2. The following files must be on the B drive disk: GLTB.FIL GLDATA.FIL GLTRAN.FIL GLVEND.FIL GLRECUR.FIL Note: Depending on your particular application, all of the files listed for the B disk may not exist. If they are not on your hard disk, you do not need them on the B disk. If a file called GLERROR.FIL exists, ignore it. 3. Get to the A> prompt. 4. Type GLMENU and select option 8 from the Main Menu. 5. Select option 2 from the Utility Programs Menu. 6. Select option 5 from the next menu. CHANGE TO A SINGLE FLOPPY SYSTEM 1. Copy all of the files listed above to a single floppy disk. 2. Get to the A> prompt. 3. Type GLMENU and select option 8 from the Main Menu. 4. Select option 2 from the Utility Programs Menu. 5. Select option 4 from the next menu. 34 MULTIPLE BANK ACCOUNTS You can designate up to five accounts as bank accounts. The program will keep track of the balance in each account and display it in the lower left hand corner of the entry screens. Whenever you select either to make a cash receipts or cash disbursement entry, the program shows you which account is current. You can change the current account by selecting option 9 from the Entry Menu. Option 2 from the Utilities Menu lets you to designate which account numbers are bank accounts. CHANGE DEPARTMENT INFORMATION Option 4 allows you add new departments or change the name of existing departments. Some businesses have multiple departments for sales analysis or expense control. You can create up to eight different departments that you number and name yourself. For instance, you can use departments for job cost purposes by setting up a department number for a specific job. You can then credit all receipts to a revenue account with that department number and charge costs to expense accounts with that department number. Printing a Statement of Income for that department will provide you with a summary of income and expenses for that job. Similarly, if you have several apartments, you can set up a department number for each one. Department numbers can be any two digits between 10 and 99. Account numbers that use departments are entered as `####.##' such as 4000.10 or 5060.70, etc. with the last two digits indicating the department number. You cannot use department numbers with Balance Sheet accounts (1000 through 3999). If you are using department numbers, you can print a Statement of Income which will show only those accounts that have a specific department number. CLEAR ALL BALANCES Option 5 allows you to clear all of your balances without affecting the chart of account numbers, or names in the vendor file. This option lets you `play' with the system by setting up your regular chart of accounts, make practice entries, and then erase all entries when you are ready to start entering real data. 35 CREATING A DIF FILE Several spreadsheets, including Lotus 1-2-3 have the ability to read `DIF' files and bring that data into their work area. DIF stands for Data Interchange Format. You can create DIF files by choosing option 6 from the UTILITY Programs Menu. You can transfer all or some of the following information: Account Number Account Name Month Balance Year to Date Balance The information when read by the spreadsheet will be in column form. For instance, you could transfer the account number and year to date balance for all accounts to two side by side columns in the spreadsheet. The program will ask you to identify the information you want to transfer. You can select any or all of the above four items and in any columnar order. You can also select which accounts you want to transfer: FILE NAME CREATED All accounts PCGENALL.DIF Balance Sheet only PCGENBAL.DIF Income Statement only PCGENINC.DIF The files created by the program will be on the A disk for floppy system or in the current directory of a hard disk. You will then need to use the DOS COPY command to transfer them to your spreadsheet work disk. Consult your spreadsheet manual on how to convert a DIF file to one that your spreadsheet can read. ERASE YEAR TO DATE DETAIL This option is offered in order to free up space on your floppy disks if you are at 80%+ usage and still have more than one month to go before year end. Important: Be sure to print the year to date General Ledger detail before you erase it. (The complete General Ledger print-out is Option 4 on the Transaction File and General Ledger Menu) Erasing the year to date detail does not affect any balances. It simply means that you will no longer be able to display or print all entries that have been made to the various accounts. 36 VENDOR MAINTENANCE The program provides a simple and easy way to maintain up to 200 names and addresses of people you write checks to on a regular basis. Choose option 2 from the Main Menu. This will take you to the Chart of Accounts and Vendor Maintenance menu. Choose option 5 from that menu and you will see the following: 1 = Add NEW Vendor 2 = CHANGE Vendor Data 3 = DELETE Vendor 4 = Print Vendor LISTING No vendor numbers are needed or used. All selections are done by typing a few letters of the company name. If there are several vendors having similar letter combinations, simply typing a `N' for next will find the next match. For instance, typing CO will find the following names: COLORADO MAGAZINE ABC COMPANY INTERCONTINENTAL MOTORS If you are adding a new name you will have to type in the name, street address, and city, state, and zip. Four lines are provided. The screen to add new names looks like this: Vendor Name: ..................... Vendor Address: ..................... Vendor Address: ..................... Vendor City & State: ..................... After filling in the blanks, you will be given an opportunity to make any corrections. The name is then added to the file. The screens to Change Data and Delete Vendors are identical. You locate the vendor you want by typing a few letters of the name and then either make changes or delete the name from the file. Deleting names makes space for additional names, up to 200 total at any one time. You can also add names to the file while you are writing checks. See page 22. Option 4 will give you an alphabetic listing (either on the screen or printer) of all vendors on file. 37 ERRORS IMPORTANT: AFTER RECEIVING AN ERROR MESSAGE, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU CHECK THE INFORMATION ON YOUR DISKS. SEE PAGE 39. HOWEVER, READ THE FOLLOWING FIRST. There are two types of errors. The first is a DOS or System error and was not caused by the programs. It normally occurs because you have a defective disk or the floppy disk is not in the drive properly. If it does occur, you will probably see it while `Programs Changing. Please Wait' is on the screen or while you are making backups. The error will read something like the following: Data error reading (or writing) drive A (or B or C) Not ready error reading (or writing drive A (or B or C) Abort, Retry, Ignore? If you see either of the above errors, try opening the drive door, taking out the disk, replacing it, closing the door and typing R. If that does not solve the problem, follow the instructions above. The second type of error occurs because of something happening during the running of one of the programs. It could be an actual programming error, but most likely it is caused by printer or the disk drive problems. If you run into this type of error, the screen will clear and you will get a message something like the following: (The error number and line number will probably be different.) PROGRAM ERROR NUMBER 71 IN LINE 15010 CHECK YOUR MANUAL FOR POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS BEFORE CONTINUING MAKE A NOTE OF THE ABOVE Do not make any backups until you have checked the integrity of your files. See your manual. Making backups may write bad data over good. If you have any questions about error messages, please call. See the next page for some of error numbers that you may be able to do something about. 38 Some of the errors that may be listed in the error message are shown below: Error 24 There is a problem with the printer. It is either not turned on or the cable is not connected properly. Error 25 Same as above. Error 27 Printer is out of paper. Error 52 The wrong disk is probably in the B drive. Error 61 There is no more room on the disk. You need to clear some files from the disk, such as the year to date detail in the General Ledger or detailed customer entries on the Accounts Receivable disk. YOU MAY HAVE FILES ON THE A OR B DISK THAT ARE NOT RELATED TO PC - GENERAL LEDGER. SEE PAGE 32 FOR A LIST OF FILES. If your percentage disk space usage is not above 90%, this error could mean the same as Error 71 or 72. Error 70 There is a write protect tab on a disk. Error 71 The floppy disk is not inserted properly or the disk drive door is open. TRY OPENING THE DRIVE DOORS, TAKING OUT THE DISKS, PUTTING THEM BACK IN, AND CLOSING THE DRIVE DOORS. Error 72 There is something physically wrong with one of the floppy disks. Go immediately to your backups and prepare new working disks. Destroy the old working disks. If you have a hard disk, and get this message you may have to re-format your hard disk. When you re-format your hard disk you loose all data on the disk. That is why backups are so important. If you get an error number than those above, please call us immediately. We need to know what part of the program you were in and circumstances under which the error occurred. 39 CHECKING THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR FILES You can check out the integrity of the information in your files by printing various reports and doing the following steps: 1. Select option 3 (Print Entries) from the Main Menu. 2. Print the transaction registers on the printer to see if they reflect the most recent entries that you have made. 3. Print the month to date General Ledger. It should show Zero Proof at the end. If it is off a penny or two, ignore that. See page 27. 4. Look at the General Ledger. Review the accounts that were most recently updated (the last time you typed `U' to update after printing a transaction register) to make sure that the entries printed within an account relate to that account. 5. Go to the Financial Statements Menu. 6. Print the Statement of Income and Balance Sheet. Make sure that the year to date profit on the Statement of Income agrees with the year to date profit on the Balance Sheet. If all of the above checks out, your books are probably in balance and you can continue. IF IN DOUBT, USE YOUR BACKUP DISKS TO RESTORE THE BACKUP INFORMATION TO YOUR WORKING FLOPPY DISKS OR HARD DISK. THEN RE DO WHATEVER WORK YOU HAVE DONE SINCE THE BACKUP DISKS WERE MADE. 40 RECOVERY FROM POWER OR DISK PROBLEMS DO NOT, AT ANY TIME, ATTEMPT TO OPERATE OFF OF YOUR BACKUP DISKS. THEY ARE ONLY USED TO CREATE NEW WORKING DISKS OR TO RESTORE YOUR HARD DISK INFORMATION. If power outage or fluctuation occurs while the computer is at the DOS prompt, there has probably been no damage done. However, there is always the possibility of problems. If you have any question about the integrity of your data, refer to the section of manual called CHECKING THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR FILES. (See page 39) If you have a power problem while in the middle of the program, the computer will probably come back to the DOS prompt when the power comes back. At that point, do not attempt to continue with the programs. Go immediately to your back up disks and copy them onto your working disk. If you have a floppy disk system, reverse the backup procedure, putting your backup disks in drive A and your working disks in drive B. If you have a hard disk system, see page 42. Before making entries on the `new' disks, check their integrity. See page 39. Then, re-do whatever work occurred between the time you last backed up and the time of the power problem. BACKUP PROCEDURES DO NOT MAKE BACKUPS OF YOUR FILES IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED AN ERROR MESSAGE OR IF YOU HAVE HAD POWER PROBLEMS. YOU MAY DESTROY YOUR BACKUP INFORMATION. WHEN IN DOUBT AS TO THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR INFORMATION, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON PAGE 39. People, computers, and power failures can cause loss of important information. While hardware and software failures are rare, they do happen. The biggest potential for problems is power fluctuations. If there is a thunderstorm in the area, turn off the computer after exiting the program in the normal manner. Because things can happen that are outside of your control, it is important to backup your files on a regular basis. If you are using a double floppy disk system, it's extremely important that you back up both disks at the same time since they are inter-related. 41 You should maintain two sets of backup disks. One set is made at the end of each day (or more often, if desired). Make another set of backups at month end after you have completed the month end close. That way, if anything happens to your working disks and your daily backups, the worst that can happen is that you will have to re-do only one month's work. The point in time when you make your daily backups is important. If something does go wrong, you will need to be able to remember where your work left off. FLOPPY DISK BACKUP MAKE SURE THAT YOU BACKUP BOTH YOUR A AND B DISK AT THE SAME TIME AS THEY ARE INTER-RELATED. Complete instructions for copying disks is included in the operating manuals for your computer. The easiest way to backup your disks is as follows: 1. Make sure that you have marked your disks as to the drive that they are used in as well as whether they are your working disks, daily backups, or monthly backups. 2. At the A> prompt, put your DOS disk in the A drive. 3. Type DISKCOPY A: B: 4. The program will ask you to confirm that the source disk (PROGRAMS-DATA) is in drive A and the destination disk (backup disk) is in drive B. 5. When you are sure that you have the right disks in the right drives, press any key. 6. The program will automatically copy the information on the disk in drive A to the disk in drive B. The disk in drive B becomes an exact duplicate of the one in drive A. 7. Follow the same procedure for your B disks, placing the DATA- B in drive A and the backup disk in drive B. The procedure is the same for your monthly backups. Don't forget to make those backups after you have completed the month end close each month. 42 HARD DISK BACKUP To backup your hard disk, you need to have the DOS backup programs BACKUP.COM and RESTORE.COM on your hard disk. You will also need several formatted blank floppy disks labelled GL BACKUP 1, GL BACKUP 2, GL BACKUP 3. The following assumes that your General Ledger is in the Root Directory of your hard disk. At the DOS C> prompt, type: BACKUP GL*.* A: and press ENTER Use your numbered GL BACKUP disks. The program will prompt you to insert and change disks as necessary. RESTORING DATA TO YOUR HARD DISK The standard DOS restoration program is used to take information from your floppy backup disks and put it onto the hard disk. At the DOS C> prompt, type: RESTORE A: C: and press ENTER The program will prompt you to insert disks one at a time. APPENDIX A DOUBLE ENTRY BOOKKEEPING This program is based on the traditional double entry bookkeeping system used by accountants. However, you do not have to be an accountant to use this program. Below are a few simple rules that you need to know. 1. All entries must balance. That is, the debits (positive amounts) and credits (negative or minus amounts) must offset each other. 2. There can be more than two lines to an entry. The following is an example: 1010 Checking Account 345.32- 5010 Shipping supplies 233.21 5020 Office expense 112.11 Another example: 1010 Checking Account 100.00 4000 Rental Income 100.00- 3. The second example can be confusing to non-accountants, since an income account has a minus or negative amount. This illustrates one of the basic rules of accounting: IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE A REVENUE, LIABILITY, OR CAPITAL ACCOUNT YOU HAVE TO `CREDIT' THE ACCOUNT WITH A NEGATIVE AMOUNT. If you want to decrease any accounts in these categories, you must `DEBIT' the account with a POSITIVE amount. 4. In the Utility Programs, you have the option of having the program automatically make entries to the above accounts as credit amounts. For instance, if you enter 120.00 to account 4010, the program will change it to 120.00-. This will effectively increase the value in that account. Similarly, if you enter 120.00- to account 4010, the program will change it to 120.00 and reduce the value in that account. If you choose the manual option for entering entries, you will have to type the minus sign to get credit entries for accounts 2000 through 4999. See Appendix D for sample entries. APPENDIX B OPENING ENTRIES This section shows how to make your opening entries and bring the program in balance with your existing books. If you haven't already done so, bring up the Main Menu by typing GLMENU. When the posting date prompt appears, type in the date for your beginning balances. If you do not have any existing accounting balances and only want to set up the balance in one or more checking accounts, see the section BEGINNING BANK BALANCES ONLY on the next page. 1. If you have made any practice entries, go to the UTILITY Program menu, select option 5 (CLEAR all balances) and complete that function and return to the Main Menu. 2. Make sure that you have closed your manual books at a month end and that you have a balanced trial balance. 3. Select option 2 (Chart of Accounts). Set up the account numbers and account names that you will be using. Don't worry if you forget some, since you can add new accounts as you make your initial entries. Return to the Main Menu when finished. 4. Select option 1 (POST Entries or WRITE CHECKS) 5. Select option 3 (JOURNAL Entries) from the next menu. 6. Select A to Add new entries 7. At the Journal Number field, type 1 8. At the Description field, type OPENING ENTRY. 9. At the Date field, press ENTER for the start up date. 10. Accept the Header by pressing A. 11. For the first 14 lines, enter account numbers and the appropriate amounts. 12. At line 15, type 3999, the RETAINED EARNINGS account number. 13. For the Amount field, type in the amount necessary to balance the entry. (the amount showing as Entry Balance at the bottom of the screen) 14. Do not make an entry for the RETAINED EARNINGS account when you come to it in the trial balance. 15. Continue making entries in the manner described above until you have posted all year to date balances from your trial balance. 16. When you have typed in all of the balances, press ESC at the Journal Number field, and choose option 6 (Print ENTRIES). 17. Choose option 3 (Print JOURNAL Entries) from the next menu. 18. When the program asks whether or not to update the General Ledger, type U for Update. 19. Select option 6 (SHORT FORM) and print a trial balance. 20. Compare the printed trial balance with your manual trial balance to make sure that all entries have been made properly. If the Retained Earnings figure on the computer trial balance does not agree with your manual trial balance, you have made an error. 21. In order to help find any errors, you can get a detailed print-out of the General Ledger by selecting option 4 from the Transaction and General Ledger Menu. 22. Correct any errors by adding new journal entries and follow the same procedure to print the journal entries and trial balance. 23. When you are sure that everything is in balance, select option 6 (Month or Year End CLOSE) from the Main Menu and complete a month end close. BEGINNING BANK BALANCES ONLY This section is for setting up one or more beginning bank accounts and no balances in any other accounts. - Follow steps 4 through 10 on the previous page. - Type in 1010 (or whatever other bank account or accounts are appropriate.) - Type the amounts in the Amount field - Type 3999 (the Retained Earnings account number) on the next line. - Type the amount showing in the Entry Balance at the bottom of the screen in the Amount field. - Type A to accept. You can now start making entries. APPENDIX C VERSION 1.2 AND PRIOR Files created by Version 1.2 and prior cannot be converted to Version 1.4. Print a Short Form Trial Balance from Version 1.2 and use it to set up accounts and balances following the instructions in Appendix B. CONVERTING FILES FROM VERSION 1.3 OR 1.3a Version 1.4 uses a different file structure than previous versions, therefore you CANNOT RUN THESE PROGRAMS USING DATA CREATED BY PREVIOUS VERSIONS UNLESS YOU RUN A CONVERSION PROGRAM FIRST. MAKE COMPLETE BACKUPS OF ALL EXISTING PROGRAMS AND FILES BEFORE STARTING THE CONVERSION PROCEDURE IN CASE ANYTHING GOES WRONG, AND YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE OLD SYSTEM. You do not have to complete a month end close but YOU MUST UPDATE THE GENERAL LEDGER FOR ALL OPEN TRANSACTION FILES BEFORE ATTEMPTING THE CONVERSION. HARD DISK SYSTEM 1. Put the Version 1.4 disk in your floppy drive. 2. At the C> prompt, type COPY A:*.EXE and press ENTER. You should see the message: 9 file(s) copied. 3. Type GLRESET and press ENTER. You should see a message saying RESET SUCCESSFUL. 4. Type ERASE GLRESET.EXE and press ENTER. You should not see any message. 5. You can then type GLMENU and start using the program. DOUBLE FLOPPY SYSTEM 1. Put your current working A disk in the A drive. 2. Put the Version 1.4 disk in the B drive. 3. At the A> prompt type COPY B:*.EXE and press ENTER. You should see the message: 9 file(s) copied. 4. Replace the Version 1.4 disk with your working B disk. 5. Type GLRESET and press ENTER. You should see a message saying RESET SUCCESSFUL. 6. Type ERASE GLRESET.EXE and press ENTER. You should not see any message. 7. You can type GLMENU and start using the program. APPENDIX D SAMPLE ENTRIES Check to pay expenses for more than one account: 1010 CASH IN BANK - FIRST NATL 48.53- 5400 SUPPLIES & EXPENSE 35.37 5410 OFFICE SUPPLIES 13.06 Daily deposit for sales receipts: 1010 CASH IN BANK - FIRST NATL 1,200.21 4010 SALES - STATIONERY 312.10- 4020 SALES - BOOKS 800.12- 4030 SALES - MISC 87.99- Cash deposit for loan proceeds: 1010 CASH IN BANK - FIRST NATL 10,000.00 2020 NOTE PAYABLE - BANK 10,000.00- Payroll Check: 1010 CASH IN BANK - FIRST NATL 244.05- 6010 SALARIES AND WAGES 300.00 2010 FICA WITHHELD 21.45- 2020 FED TAXES WITHHELD 30.00- 2030 STATE TAXES WITHHELD 4.50- Mortgage Payment: 7010 INTEREST EXPENSE 233.45 2710 MORTGAGE PAYABLE 123.55 1010 CASH IN BANK - FIRST NATL 357.00- Depreciation: 5050 DEPRECIATION - AUTO 120.00 1750 ALLOW FOR DEPR - AUTO 120.00- APPENDIX E VERSION 1.4 IMPROVEMENTS - Error messages 63, 53, and 5 are probably gone forever. - Choice of two Statement of Income formats. Cost of Sales section is no longer is required. Option 7 - Utilities Menu. - Ability to edit, view, and delete entries on the screen prior to Updating. - Improved keyboard input. Prior entries can be edited using the arrow, insert, and delete keys. - Can handle up to five bank accounts. Option 2 - Utilities Menu. - Can handle up to eight departments for using in departmental expenses or job costing. Option 4 - Utilities Menu. - Enhanced Recurring Entries, now called Posting Screens. See page 24. - Option for automatic handling of credit entries to liability, capital, and revenue accounts. Option 1 - Utilities Menu. - Optional password protection. Option 1 - Utilities Menu. - Choose your own colors if you have a color monitor. Option 3 on the Utilities Menu. - Select either a high or low speaker tone. Option 1 - Utilities Menu. - Easy switching from floppy disk to hard disk or vice versa. - Can be run on a single floppy if you don't have a lot of transactions. - Four lines for the vendor name and address instead of three. Longer line for stub message on printed checks.