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Text File | 1990-02-15 | 48KB | 921 lines

╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ THE LITTLE GUY'S SENSIBLE RENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ╠════════════════════════════╡ Version 2.0 ╞══════════════════════════╣ ║ ║ ║ ██████ █ █ █ ██ ██ █ █████ ██████ ████ ║ ║ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ ║ ║ ██████ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ ██████ █ █ ║ ║ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ ║ ║ █████████ █████ █████ █ █ █████ █████ █ █ ████ ║ ║ tm ║ ║ "AS-EASY-AS" (tm) SPREADSHEET RENTAL MANAGEMENT WORKSHEETS ║ ║ Track up to eight buildings of up to eight units each ║ ║ ─────────────────── ║ ║ By Henry B. Baker ║ ║ ─────────────────── ║ ║▒▒▒ SINGLE-ENTRY ▒ MENU-DRIVEN ▒ FAST ▒ RELIABLE ▒ EASY TO LEARN ▒▒▒▒║ ╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ 761 San Carlos Dr. ■ Fort Myers Beach, Fla. 33931 ■ (813)463-2111 ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ AS-EASY-AS is a trademark of Trius Inc. - CONTENTS - Registration...................................Page 2 History and Background.........................Page 3 Introduction and Overview......................Page 5 Description of Each File in the Archive........Page 7 Installation...................................Page 8 Menu Structure Flowchart.......................Page 9 Menus and Worksheets...........................Page 10 Main Menu.................................Page 10 Bldg. Menu................................Page 10 Ledger....................................Page 11 Income Tax Sheet..........................Page 11 Tenants Database..........................Page 12 Expenses Database.........................Page 12 Other Menu Selections..........................Page 12 View and View/Edit........................Page 12 Data Form.................................Page 12 Save and Rtrn/Save........................Page 13 Print.....................................Page 13 Quit......................................Page 13 Customizing the Worksheets and Menu Macros.....Page 13 Customizing the Worksheets................Page 13 Customizing the Menu Macros...............Page 14 Beginning a New Year with Clean Worksheets.....Page 15 Locked Headers and Left Column.................Page 15 My System and Work Flow........................Page 16 Versions.......................................Page 17 - PAGE 2 - ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ REGISTRATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ -------------------------------------------- And now, here's a word from our sponsor... -------------------------------------------- Many, many, many hours went into the creation and checking of these worksheets and their menu macros. If you like them and continue to use them, they obviously have some value to you. I think they should be worth about ten bucks to anyone who uses them regularly, but if you can't afford that (kick out those deadbeats and get some quality tenants), any amount will make me real proud and happy. Registration couldn't be simpler, once you've made the decision to part with the bucks. Just get your printer and paper all cranked up and aligned then run the file REGISTER.COM. When the registration form comes up, hit the "t", and follow the prompts. Fold the mailer on the dotted lines, put cash, check or money order inside, staple or tape the thing shut, stick a stamp on it, drop it in a mailbox and your government will do the rest (which is to say, I may or may not get it). What's your reward? How about a great little rental management system and a clear conscience? Please feel encouraged to distribute the program to bulletin board systems, your friends, enemies, neighbors, relatives, girlfriends, boyfriends, former favorite teachers, your boss, your employees, random acquaintances, people you meet on the street, and anyone else you think might benefit from it. All I ask is that you keep all the files intact as distributed in the original archive. Also, if you use the system and find bugs crawling around anywhere I'd like to be informed of their whereabouts. Or if you have any suggestions on improvements, add-ons or whatever, I'll always be receptive, not to mention eternally grateful. I can be contacted at the address and phone number in this manual, or messaged on the EXEC-PC BBS, 414-789-4210. Thanks, Hank - PAGE 3 - ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ WHAT'S IN A NAME? ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ First off, let's get this business of the name out of the way. I've been in the penny ante rent racket about 20 years now and all my alleged friends long ago took to calling me "The Slumlord." Admittedly, none of my properties is going to win any community beautification award, but I myself wouldn't exactly call them slums. I like to think of them as working folks' housing. Nevertheless, I kind of liked the moniker and when I couldn't find another name for this collection of worksheets that someone else hadn't already glommed onto I thought, what the hell, why not "Slumlord." You've got to admit, it's a better than middling attention grabber. The only possible problem might arise from the fact it sounds like some perverted form of Monopoly game. Take my word for it, it ain't. What it is is a highly effective, yet amazingly simple and easy system for keeping all the records any small-time landlord needs to bother with. My entire knowledge of and concern with bookkeeping consists of this and nothing more: You take in X amount of money in a business and you spend X amount of money operating the business. Subtract what you spend from what you took in and, bingo, you've got the bottom line -- profit or loss, champagne or beer. Simple as that. Why complicate things -- that's what you pay your tax preparer for. And if you're bored with life to the extent that you do your own taxes, I think you'll find these worksheets make even that ridiculous form of amusement immensely easier. I designed the original worksheets several years ago after I mysteriously came into possession of some disks which contained a rather famous spreadsheet program which, owing to the questionable circumstances under which I acquired it, will herein remain unnamed. But there was always one big problem with them: The authors of that much vaunted program apparently never came down from their ivory tower long enough to notice that other spreadsheets were linking files all over the place. Therefore, my original worksheets had no file linking capability, which caused a great deal of duplicated effort. And the program's combine feature seemed too much of a bother to fool with. This, of course, led my normally lazy nature right down the path of destruction. In short, I got bored real soon with entering all those numbers two or three times and finally just quit doing it, which caused huge amorphous piles of unrecorded receipts to accumulate about the house. - PAGE 4 - Next, I started playing around with the few shareware rental programs in circulation. Most of them were either extremely cumbersome or had a deadly tendency to go totally and inexplicably insane after you'd fed a few months of numbers into them. When a program locks up on me more than twice, I lose interest in it real quick. I even bought one that seemed to make some sense, only to discover that in the registered version every time you changed tenants you had to change the damned number of the building or unit. Having to use numbers for buildings and units at all is hard enough on my sieve brain, but to have to change them just because some tenant moves is patently unacceptable. Tenants, you know, have a tendency to move -- often. And I never liked the fact that your data disappears into the bowels of those programs and you're at the mercy of reports to find out what's been going on with your business. I always liked the spreadsheet, which shows you at a glance what's going on. I just couldn't discipline myself into entering the same stuff two or three times. Then one day I was browsing through an article about that famous spreadsheet program's finally discovering file linking. One sentence jumped right out at me: "Linking has long been a staple of other spreadsheets..." My God, I thought, if that's true what if there's a good little shareware spreadsheet out there somewhere that DOES IT. Then I remembered playing around with something called As-Easy-As a year or so ago, but dismissing it out of hand because, after all, I had the Big Guy -- why bother with the amateurs. So I started frantically searching through my EXEC-PC file lists and found it -- Version 4.00 -- the latest. I downloaded it immediately and sure as hell, there it was -- FILE LINKING. But I couldn't figure out from its cryptic help file how to link more than one file. So I called their number on a Saturday morning and -- would you believe it? -- got the author himself, David Schulz. In about two minutes, he told me how to link multiple files and I ordered the program right then and there. At fifty bucks, this great spreadsheet not only is As-Easy-As, it's a helluva lot Cheaper-Than, and I suspect it's even Better-Than or at least As-Good-As the biggie's new file linking release, which goes for more than $350 even from the mail order discounters. If you've downloaded this set of worksheets out of sheer curiosity and don't have As-Easy-As, you should get it immediately. It's available on many bulletin boards or from the company, Trius Inc., 231 Sutton St., Suite 2D-3, North Andover, MA 01845. Their phone number is 508-794-9377. It's an easy system to learn, and if you've used Lotus 1-2-3 you already know how to use As-Easy-As, since they're amazingly compatible. If you think I'm touting As-Easy-As pretty hard, you're right. If you don't have AEA you can't use my worksheets. But aside from that, it's truly one of those great values in software. So without further ado let's get on with a few things you need to know about using this amazingly simple little system. - PAGE 5 - Of course, should the use of these worksheets burn up your computer or your house, kill your dog, cause your renters to form a tenants' union or otherwise wreak havoc in your life, I disavow any responsibility for such obviously chance events. Blame God or your wife or girlfriend -- not me. This brief manual assumes you have at least a rudimentary working familiarity with spreadsheet programs. If you do, this system may be self-explanatory. But I'm not about to leave it to such vagaries as that. Too much software, both commercial and shareware, comes down the pike with instructions Einstein couldn't understand. I don't intend to be accused of crimes of documentation. Therefore, if parts of this seem obvious to you, just browse over them. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ WHAT IT ISN'T ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ There are certain features large rental management programs offer that Slumlord doesn't and it's important for you to know what they are, since you may need them in your particular application. It does not: ■ Provide for detailed accounts of to whom, for what and the date every expenditure was made. It does, however, offer a database in which major expenditures can be listed. When you think about it, when was the last time you were seriously interested in exactly when and where you bought those cleaning supplies, locksets, miscellaneous screen, lumber, nails, etc.? ■ Feature elaborate reports on such items as past due rent, lease expiration dates, tenant phone numbers, expenditures, income, profit/loss. However, all of this information is available quickly from the databases or a fast glance at the worksheets. ■ Offer single pop-up entry screens for income and expenditures, using numbers for individual buildings and units. I hate numbers. WHAT IT IS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ What Slumlord does, quite simply, is offer a single-page accounting of income and expenses by the month for each of up to eight buildings of up to eight units each. It does this by utilizing a separate worksheet for each building, which includes rental income and expenses for that building, and one general ledger worksheet, which pulls together all the property worksheet figures through file linking for a combined report on all properties. All you need enter manually in the ledger worksheet are expenses pertaining to your rental business in general, not a specific property. - PAGE 6 - A third file-linked worksheet pulls all those figures together for a report to include with your federal income tax return. No need to enter anthing in this worksheet. Just print it and take it to your tax preparer or use it to do your own taxes. It does all this quickly, efficiently and reliably through a system of AEA's powerful menu macros built into each worksheet. Here are features you'll appreciate immediately: ■ Move from one worksheet to another at the touch of a single key. ■ See at a glance whose rent is paid and who's behind for what month. ■ See at a glance how much was paid in any of 21 expense categories for each month of the year. ■ See at a glance the bottom line profit/loss for any individual property or all properties combined. ■ Current worksheet is automatically saved when you retrieve another one or go to another area. - PAGE 7 - ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ FILES INCLUDED IN THIS ARCHIVE ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ PROP1.WKS <─────┐ ║ ║ PROP2.WKS │ ║ ║ PROP3.WKS │ ║ ║ PROP4.WKS │ Individual property worksheets ║ ║ PROP5.WKS │ ║ ║ PROP6.WKS │ ║ ║ PROP7.WKS │ ║ ║ PROP8.WKS <─────┘ ║ ║ ║ ║ LEDGER.WKS <───── General ledger worksheet linked to property worksheets ║ ║ ║ ║ TAXSHEET.WKS <─── Linked worksheet to include with income tax return ║ ║ ║ ║ EXPENSE1.WKS <──┐ ║ ║ EXPENSE2.WKS │ ║ ║ EXPENSE3.WKS │ ║ ║ EXPENSE4.WKS │ Major expenses database for each property worksheet ║ ║ EXPENSE5.WKS │ ║ ║ EXPENSE6.WKS │ ║ ║ EXPENSE7.WKS │ ║ ║ EXPENSE8.WKS <──┘ ║ ║ ║ ║ TENANT-1.WKS <──┐ ║ ║ TENANT-2.WKS │ ║ ║ TENANT-3.WKS │ ║ ║ TENANT-4.WKS │ Tenant database for each property worksheet ║ ║ TENANT-5.WKS │ ║ ║ TENANT-6.WKS │ ║ ║ TENANT-7.WKS │ ║ ║ TENANT-8.WKS <──┘ ║ ║ ║ ║ SL.BAT <───────── Batch file to start "Slumlord" ║ ║ ║ ║ BACKUP.BAT <───── Batch file to expedite backups to floppies ║ ║ ║ ║ NEW-YEAR.BAT <─── Batch file to expedite copying clean worksheets into ║ ║ your directory at the beginning of a new year. ║ ║ ║ ║ REGISTER.COM <─── Registration form in an easy-to-print mailer ║ ║ ║ ║ SLMLRD20.DOC <─── This file ║ ║ ║ ║ KEYFAKE.COM <───┐ Great little utility that automatically enters ║ ║ KEYFAKE.DOC <───┘ keystrokes in a program. It is called by SL.BAT ║ ║ to bypass AEA's opening screen. It must be in the ║ ║ same directory with SL.BAT or in a directory on the ║ ║ DOS path. ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ - PAGE 8 - ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ INSTALLATION ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ To run the worksheets, you must have Version 4.00 of the "As-Easy-As" spreadsheet program. Earlier versions of the program don't link files, the feature which makes Slumlord so convenient to use. As of February 1990, the latest version was 4.00j. Setup is simple: Just copy all the worksheet files into the directory where AEA resides. If you want all your worksheet files in their own directory, one of AEA's many command line switch options allows you to store your worksheets in another drive or directory. Therefore, if you have a dual floppy disk system you can have the AEA files in one drive and data files in the other. *********************** TWO VERY IMPORTANT POINTS *************************** ■ ALL THE WORKSHEET FILES MUST BE PRESENT IN THE SAME DIRECTORY, WHATEVER IT IS. Even if you don't own enough buildings to use all the PROP1-8.WKS files, they must all be present. This is because the linked cells in LEDGER.WKS and TAXSHEET.WKS look for these files and if they are not present you'll get error messages. ■ In order for Slumlord to open properly you MUST use SL.BAT to start the program. This batch file calls ASEASY.EXE with the command line switch to automatically load MAINMENU.WKS. Just type SL [enter] You may want to add some switches of your own, such as one to tell AEA to look for its data files in a different directory. ***************************************************************************** At this point, it might be a good idea to study the menu structure diagrams below, then run the program and play around with it awhile -- go through the menus and give the worksheets a good scrutiny. That might make the rest of these instructions easier to understand. Or better still, print this now and read it with the program up and running. Your printer must be set to handle the extended ASCII character set (IBM graphics) in order to print these fancy lines and headings, but if it won't that's no big deal, since the text will come out ok. - PAGE 9 - ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ MENU STRUCTURE ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Lowercase names in parentheses are the actual filenames of individual worksheets or sets of worksheets. MAIN OPENING MENU (mainmenu.wks) ╔═══════════╗ ┌───────────────────────╫─BLDG.MENU ║ │ ┌──────╫─LEDGER ║ │ │ ┌──╫─INCOME TAX║ │ │ │ ║ TENANTS───╫───────────────┐ │ │ │ ║ QUIT ║ │ │ │ │ ╚═══════════╝ │ MENU TO PICK │ │ MENU TO PICK INDIVIDUAL │ │ INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY │ │ TENANT DATABASE WORKSHEETS │ │ WORKSHEETS ╔═══════════╗ │ │ ╔═══════════╗ ║ 1 ║ │ └────────────────┐ ║ 1 ║ ║ 2 ║ │ │ ║ 2 ║ ┌──╢ 3 ║ │ │ ║ 3 ╟───┐ │ ║ 4 ║ │ │ ║ 4 ║ │ │ ║ 5 ║ │ │ ║ 5 ║ │ │ ║ 6 ║ │ │ ║ 6 ║ │ │ ║ 7 ║ │ │ ║ 7 ║ │ │ ║ 8 ║ │ │ ║ 8 ║ │ │ ║ Prev.Menu ║ │ │ ║ Prev.Menu ║ │ │ ╚═══════════╝ │ │ ╚═══════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ INDIVIDUAL GENERAL INCOME INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY LEDGER TAX TENANT D-B WORKSHEET WORKSHEET WORKSHEET WORKSHEET MENU MENU MENU MENU (prop1-8.wks) (ledger.wks) (taxsheet.wks) (tenant-1-8.wks) ╔═══════════╗ ╔════════════╗ ╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗ ║ VIEW/EDIT ║ ║ VIEW/EDIT ║ ║ VIEW ║ ║ DATA FORM ║ ║ SAVE ║ ║ SAVE ║ ║ SAVE ║ ║ SAVE ║ ║ PRINT ║ ║ PRINT ║ ║ PRINT ║ ║ PRINT ║ ║ BLDG.MENU ║ ║ INCOME TAX ║ ║ LEDGER ║ ║ RTRN/SAVE ║ ║ LEDGER ║ ║ BLDG.MENU ║ ║ BLDG.MENU ║ ┌───╢ TENANTS ║ ║ EXPENSES──╫────┐ ║ MAIN MENU ║ ║ MAIN MENU ║ │ ║ BLDG.MENU ║ ║ TENANTS───╫──┐ │ ║ QUIT ║ ║ QUIT ║ │ ║ MAIN MENU ║ ║ MAIN MENU ║ │ │ ╚════════════╝ ╚═══════════╝ │ ║ QUIT ║ ║ QUIT ║ └─┼────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝ │ INDIVIDUAL │ EXPENSE D-B │ WORKSHEET ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ MENU │ This flowchart shows │ │ (expense1-8.wks) │ the basic menu setup. │ │ ╔═══════════╗ │ │ │ ║ DATA FORM ║ │ A closer look at the │ │ ║ SAVE ║ │ individual menus shows │ │ ║ PRINT ║ │ how you can go directly │ │ ║ RTRN/SAVE ║ │ to many areas without │ └─────║ EXPENSES ║ │ returning to the Main │ ║ BLDG.MENU ║ │ Menu. │ ║ MAIN MENU ║ └─────────────────────────┘ ║ QUIT ║ ╚═══════════╝ - PAGE 10 - ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ MENUS AND WORKSHEETS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The macros built into each worksheet have nothing to do with the functions, formulas and calculations built into each worksheet, which operates on its own. And the only dependence of one worksheet on another is the file linking performed by ledger.wks and taxsheet.wks, which pull numbers from the various property worksheets. The macros do nothing except present the menus and offer options for doing various operations such as saving and retrieving files faster than you could manually with AEA's menus. Menus come up automatically when a worksheet is retrieved. To remove the menu and edit or move around the worksheet, select the VIEW or VIEW/EDIT option from the menu by putting the cursor on it and pressing the [enter] key or simply pressing the option's first letter. The [ESC] key also will remove the menu. What you're doing is simply stopping the menu macro. All menu options can be selected by entering the first letter or number. Any menu can be recalled from anywhere in any worksheet simply by pressing the ALT-M keys simultaneously. IMPORTANT SAFETY FEATURE: Your current worksheet is automatically saved when you retrieve another worksheet or go to another area. MAIN MENU (mainmenu.wks) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ The Main Menu does nothing except give you an initial choice of options when the program starts. It is necessary to return to it to select some worksheets whose options are not included in the individual menus. BLDG.MENU ■ Individual property worksheets (prop1-8.wks) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ You'll use one of these eight worksheets for each building. IMPORTANT: The worksheet number (prop1.wks, prop2.wks, etc.) will be that property's number throughout LEDGER.WKS, TAXSHEET.WKS and the menu macros. The file linking refers to specific worksheets for specific properties. For example, if you assigned No. 1 to a property at 235 Elm St. then you would use the PROP1.WKS worksheet for that property. A property at 365 Sycamore you decided would be No. 2 would use PROP2.WKS and so on. Each number designation must pertain to its property all through the system -- through ledger.wks, taxsheet.wks, expense1-8.wks and tenant-1 to -8.wks. - PAGE 11 - Each month you simply enter each tenant's rent and the various expenses for that month in each property's worksheet. A quick glance at any time shows what tenants are behind in their rent and for what month(s). REMEMBER: Even though you may not own enough buildings to use all these worksheets, THEY MUST ALL BE IN THE DIRECTORY ACCESSED BY AS-EASY-AS. The file linking of ledger.wks and taxsheet.wks looks for these files and the absence of any one of them will cause these worksheets to produce error messages. LEDGER ■ General ledger linked to property worksheets (ledger.wks) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This worksheet contains three sections: 1) Total RENTAL INCOME by property for each month; 2) Total RENTAL EXPENSES for all properties in each of the 21 categories by month; and 3) six OTHER EXPENSES categories by month. Each time this file is retrieved each linked cell in the first two sections through a series of AEA's @LINK commands pulls the data from the corresponding cells of each of the individual property worksheets. No data should be entered directly by you in either of these two sections. For example, here's the link command in cell C34: @LINK("Prop1.wks>c34")+@LINK("Prop2.wks>c34")+@LINK("Prop3.wks>c34")+@LINK("Pr op4.wks>c34")+@LINK("Prop5.wks>c34")+@LINK("Prop6.wks>c34")+@LINK("prop7.wks>c 34")+@LINK("prop8.wks>c34") In the RENTAL EXPENSES section there are 252 cells (21 categories times 12 months) containing these sets of commands and each is unique. Each set is linked to the corresponding cells in each of the individual property worksheets. Because of this extensive file linking, the ledger worksheet takes about a minute and a half to load. (I guarantee you it took a helluva lot longer than that to enter them all in. That alone should be worth the ten bucks registration if you like and use the system.) The third section, OTHER EXPENSES, contains six categories of expenses which apply not to any specific property but your rental business in general. You should enter these expenses here. Any of these expense categories can be changed to meet your specific needs, but -- AND THIS IS VITALLY IMPORTANT -- if you change one, you MUST change it also IN THE SAME PLACE wherever else it appears. This is because each category appears in the same place everywhere else and the file linking DEPENDS TOTALLY on this. INCOME TAX ■ Linked worksheet to include with tax return (taxsheet.wks) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This worksheet simply organizes the data a little differently. Instead of listing income and expenses by the month, it lists them by the property, still providing a breakdown of expenses by category. - PAGE 12 - This worksheet, like the ledger worksheet, pulls its data from the linked cells of the property worksheets and also from the ledger worksheet. Therefore, no data need ever be entered in it. It pulls RENTAL INCOME and RENTAL EXPENSES from the Totals columns of the individual worksheets and OTHER EXPENSES from the totals columns of the ledger worksheet. This one sheet is all that should be necessary to include with your federal tax return so far as income from rents is concerned. TENANTS ■ Tenant databases for each property (tenant-1 to -8.wks) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This utilizes AEA 4.00's new Data, Input, Form commands. It provides a database in which to keep important information on your tenants. The TENANTS option in the Main Menu brings up a sub-menu from which you can select any of the eight tenant databases for each property. The TENANTS option in each property worksheet menu takes you straight to that property's tenant database. Once in the database menu, the DATA FORM option brings up the database form. After you've entered your records, ESCAPE takes you out of the form. Alt-M brings up the database menu again. The RTRN/SAVE option saves your records and returns you to the property worksheet. EXPENSES ■ Major expenses database for each property (expense1-8.wks) ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Same as the tenant databases. This one provides a place to keep information on major purchases or work, such as furniture and appliances or remodeling. Each one is accessed directly from its property worksheet menu. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ OTHER MENU SELECTIONS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ VIEW ■ VIEW/EDIT ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Stops the menu macro so you can review or edit or enter data into a worksheet. ESCAPE does the same thing. DATA FORM ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Brings up the data form in the Major Expenses and Tenant databases. - PAGE 13 - SAVE ■ RTRN/SAVE ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ SAVE simply saves your worksheet and RTRN/SAVE saves your worksheet and returns you to the property worksheet. PRINT ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ The print option is set up to print emphasized condensed on an Epson printer. If this won't work on your printer, simply enter whatever setup and codes are necessary for yours. Because these worksheets are 132 characters wide, whatever your printer, your AEA printer setup MUST provide for LEFT MARGIN 0, RIGHT MARGIN 132, PAGE LENGTH 66, TOP 0, BOTTOM 0, TYPE No-Form. They must be printed with CONDENSED type in order to fit on standard 8½ X 11 paper. These are the defaults that should be in the worksheets when you receive them. NOTE: The print option on the two databases will prompt you for a print range. This is necessary because the depth obviously changes as you enter records. Just hit the period (.) and move the cursor to define the range, then hit enter. BE SURE YOUR PRINTER IS ON. In width, the expense database goes to Col. G and the tenant database goes to Col. M. QUIT ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Quits the program and takes you to the DOS command prompt. Your worksheet is automatically saved. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓ CUSTOMIZING THE WORKSHEETS AND MENU MACROS FOR YOUR PROPERTIES ▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ What we're about to do now may appear at first to be a helluva lot of work. Trust me, it's not. It may take an hour or so, but once it's done you'll have a clean set of worksheets containing your property names, which you can copy into your directory at the beginning of each year and have ready to use for the new year in a few minutes. Make the changes described in the following subsections and then follow the instructions in BEGINNING A NEW YEAR. CUSTOMIZING THE WORKSHEETS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ------------- PROP1-8.WKS ------------- Make a list of your properties and assign each one a number from one to eight. - PAGE 14 - Once you've assigned a property to each prop1-8.wks, edit the name or address of the property in the area PROPERTY: YEAR: but leave YEAR: blank. This is because once you get your worksheets and menu macros customized for your properties, you'll need to save that set as clean worksheets with no year or data in them so you can reuse them at the beginning of each new year. Leave the UNIT AND TENANT area alone for now also unless you think you'll have the same tenants in future years. ------------ LEDGER.WKS ------------ Leave the area YEAR: blank for now. Edit the name of each of your properties into the PROPERTY listings. PROPERTY #1 PROPERTY #2 etc. -------------- TAXSHEET.WKS -------------- Edit your name and social security number into those areas. Leave the current year blank in the box for now. Edit shortened names for each property into PROPERTY #1, PROPERTY #2, etc. in the line RENTAL PROPERTY: CUSTOMIZING THE MENU MACROS ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ As you customize each worksheet heading you should also go to the menu macros and edit your property names into them. Slumlord's menus operate exactly like AEA's. As the cursor moves from one option to another the IDENTIFICATION LINE above describes what each option does. The ID line is always the second line in a menu macro. It is simply a matter of editing this line to reflect your individual properties. Just replace Property No. 1, Property No. 2, etc. with the names of your properties to which you've assigned those numbers. Here's a list of the worksheets and the cells that begin each row in the menus and submenus you'll need to change: MAINMENU.WKS -- B32 and B36 LEDGER.WKS -- B97 TAXSHEET.WKS -- B88 PROP1.WKS through PROP8.WKS -- B79 EXPENSE1.WKS through EXPENSE8.WKS -- Q11 and Q22 TENANT-1.WKS through TENANT-8.WKS -- O11 and O22 Obviously, you need only change those cells for which you have properties. - PAGE 15 - If you wanted to be a bit more elaborate, you could also edit the menu option lines above the ID lines to include a brief name. But leave the number intact so you can always just hit the number to go to a particular worksheet. (If you have duplicate first letters or numbers, AEA will only act on the one appearing first in the menu when you hit the letter or number.) ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ BEGINNING A NEW YEAR WITH CLEAN WORKSHEETS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Now that you have your properties entered into the worksheets and menu macros, you need to save them all on their own floppy disk. You can do this easily by just inserting a new disk in the A:\ drive and running BACKUP.BAT, which will copy all the worksheet files to that disk. Label the disk something like, SLUMLORD: CLEAN NEW YEAR WORKSHEETS. Copy the batch file NEW-YEAR.BAT to that disk and use it at the start of each new year to copy your clean worksheets into your Slumlord directory, if that's the name of the directory where your worksheet files reside. If not, edit the batch file for whatever directory you're using. NEW-YEAR.BAT does not replace your tenant database worksheets with clean ones, since it's assumed you want to keep a record of all your current and past tenants. If not, edit the batch file to include those filenames. Now you can go back through ledger.wks, taxsheet.wks and each property worksheet and edit in the current year and tenants. You'll be surprised at how little time this takes and it's all you'll need to do at the beginning of each new year. After you do this final editing in each worksheet, you'll want to lock its header and left column, which is explained in the next section. At the end of each month or whenever you think it's necessary, you can use BACKUP.BAT to copy your current files onto a disk in the A:\ drive. Label that disk with the year. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ LOCKED HEADERS AND LEFT COLUMN ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ A terrific feature of AEA is the ability to lock row(s) and column(s) so that they remain stationary as you move around the worksheet. If you've not been using this feature, now's the ideal time to start. If you lock the header at the line under the months (Jan., Feb., etc.) and lock the extreme left column containing the property names and expense categories, you can move to any cell in the worksheet and always have the properties and expense categories in view on the left and the dates in view at the top. This eliminates the big problem of having to go to a category, cursor across, scroll up to find the month (which has rolled off the top of the screen), then scroll back down and hope to hell you're on the right cell (since the left column by now has probably disappeared off the left side of the screen). - PAGE 16 - The reason I haven't already done this for you is that you need to be able to get into the header and left column to edit in your property information. But after you've done this, you should lock the headers and left column. It's an easy chore. To do it, you use the Worksheet, Border, Both options. You should do it in the ledger, taxsheet and each property worksheet. Simply go to each one and do this: LEDGER: Place the cursor in Cell B10 and do /wbb. TAXSHEET: Place the cursor in Cell B13 and do /wbb. EACH PROPERTY WORKSHEET: Place the cursor in Cell B10 and do /wbb. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ MY SYSTEM AND WORK FLOW ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Since I'm inherently a lazy person, I spend a lot of time figuring ways to reduce my daily chores. I hate rote work and unless I systemize it somehow so that it almost takes care of itself it won't get done. Handling and filing receipts is a chore I particularly loathe. I learned a long time ago that if you don't have a predesignated place for every one of them, they get lost real easy. Here's how I partially solved those problems. (The only way to solve them entirely is to hire someone else to do them, a nicety I've unfortunately found to be cost-prohibitive.) Since I do most of my own maintenance, I accumulate a lot of receipts during various trips around town buying material. As soon as I get a receipt I write on it what it's for and what property it pertains to. Then I put it under a big spring clip on my sun visor. In my office I have two sets of file folders. One set consists of three folders for each property. These folders are labeled Repairs, Utilities and Miscellaneous. I separate the receipts from the sun visor and the bills that come to the house into these folders throughout the month. I keep these folders on my desk in a vertical file holder with a slot for each property (three folders). I have another set of folders in a file cabinet next to my computer. This set consists of one folder for each property. At the end of the month I take the contents of the desk folders to the computer, spread them out on a little table and separate them into piles coinciding with whatever of the 21 categories they fall into. Then I add up all the receipts in each category and enter those figures into the worksheets. When everything is entered I stack up all the receipts for each building, write the month on a slip of paper on the top and staple it all together. Each stapled stack goes into its property folder in the file cabinet by the computer -- hopefully never to see the light of day again unless I get audited. - PAGE 17 - At the end of the year I put the 12 months of stapled receipts for each building into a plain brown envelope with the property name on it, put the envelope into a box and pray to God I never have to look at it again the rest of my life. When I've made the final entry of the year in the worksheets, I print the tax sheet and take it to my accountant along with all the other evidence of how little money I made during the year. I make myself a printout of each property worksheet, the ledger sheet and the tax sheet and put them into a loose-leaf folder with separators for each year. Then I copy all my worksheet files for the year onto a new disk, write the year on the label and file it. Finally, I copy clean worksheets into the computer, enter the dates and tenants into them and I'm all ready for the new year. It's the best little system I've found so far. I hope you find it as useful as I have. Enjoy, Henry B. Baker 761 San Carlos Dr. Fort Myers Beach, Fla. 33931 (813) 463-2111 Feb. 16, 1990 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ VERSIONS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 11-23-88 v1.0 Worksheets only. 02-16-90 v2.0 Converted to "As-Easy-As" spreadsheet program. Added file linking, menu macros and tenant and major expense databases.