PMT – Personal Money Tracker -- Reference
Entering Transactions
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To enter a transaction, tap on New
at the Account List form. This brings up the Transaction Record Entry Form. Date: Tap on this field to change the date. A standard Date selection dialogue is presented. |
Reminder: if you check the box beside the alarm clock, a reminder
will be displayed for this transaction. An additional filed appears to enter
the number of days in advance you want the reminder (0 means you want it on the
date you entered for the transaction). This is used for transaction entered in
the future. For example, you might enter next month's rent today, and set an
alarm to remind you a few days before that you need to actually pay your rent.
Note that this field is only displayed if you have enabled reminders: see
Preferences below.
Repeat: Tap on this field to repeat this transaction; this brings you to a repeat specification screen. You can specify that a transaction should be repeated every 1-6 weeks or months, beginning with the date you specify for the transaction, up to the end date you specify on the repeat form (if no end date is specified, repeats go up to the end of the current year). Repeated transactions are linked to each other. They are entered as separate transactions according to your specification, but if you edit or delete a member of a repeat transaction group, a dialogue will ask if you want to process only the current transaction, or the current and all future transactions. Transactions from earlier dates are not modified: if you want to change them you first select the earliest instance you wish to process. Repeat transactions are indicated in the Details display with the repeat icon beside the date. If you enter a number in the Check Num field, it is incremented for each repeat transaction PMT enters (this is useful if you are writing a series of post dated checks). Note: in earlier versions of PMT, repeat transactions were not linked. This was enhanced in version 4.0.
Category: When you begin entering a transaction, this field may be blank. It
must be filled in before you hit Done. Tap the field to see the drop
down list of accounts and categories. For most transactions, the Category is
either an Income or an Expense account. The account you specify in Category
will be increased by the number you specify in Amount (or decreased if
the amount you specify is negative). Notice how once you select a category, the
Category and Account labels change to indicate the effect the transaction will
have. Also notice how, when the
Category list is displayed, you can enter graffiti characters to position the
list. Entering a letter will move the
list to the first entry beginning with that letter; entering a second letter
matches on those two letters, and so on.
Account: When you begin entering a transaction, this field is set to the
account displayed on the Account List form. To change it, tap the field to see
the drop down list of accounts and categories. For most transactions, Account
will be set to the account against which the transaction was done (the bank
account or credit card involved, or cash if it was a cash transaction). The
account you specify in Account will be changed by the number you specify in Amount.
Notice how the Category and Account labels change when you select different
categories and accounts. The changed text indicates what effect the transaction
will have on the selections you make in the Category and Account fields. Also
notice how, when the Account list is displayed, you can enter graffiti
characters to position the list.
Entering a letter will move the list to the first entry beginning with
that letter; entering a second letter matches on those two letters, and so on.
Description: As described in the Tutorial, you can use the
Description drop down to enter a description for the item; this is especially
useful for recurring descriptions (such as the name of a store you often shop
at), and for creating sub-categories of the main category for the item. Notice
how, when the Description list is displayed, you can enter graffiti characters
to position the list. Entering a letter
will move the list to the first entry beginning with that letter; entering a
second letter matches on those two letters, and so on.
Check Num: If a check was written, the Check Num field
can be filled in to record the check number (the Nxt Check button sets
the check number equal to one higher than the highest check number you have
previously entered for the Account selected).
Cleared: If the transaction you are entering has already cleared in the
specified Account, you can indicate this by checking this check box. Note: if
you are transferring funds from one account to another, the cleared flag
affects only the account from which the funds are being transferred, not the
account into which the funds are going.
Amount: You can enter the numbers on the graffiti area, or you can tap on the
corner of the graffiti area to bring up the keypad. Either enter a decimal
point (2. 2.0 or 2.00 all mean $2.00), or enter the amount in cents (i.e. 200
means $2.00). If the amount needs to be negative, begin it with a - sign. For
amounts in foreign currencies, see below.
Note: You can enter a note for the transaction. Up to 4 lines of 90
characters in total can be entered.
Done: When the entry is complete, tap Done.
Cancel: If you do not want to complete this transaction, tap Cancel.
Nxt Check: Tap this button to set the check number equal to one
higher than the highest check number you have previously entered for the
Account you have selected.
Account Transfers
As indicated above, most of the time the
Category field is used to select either an income or an expense category.
However, sometimes you need to make an entry that represents a transfer between
accounts. The two most common examples are when you withdraw cash from the bank
(transferring money from the bank account to the "cash account"), and
when you pay a credit card bill (transferring money from the bank account to
the credit card account).
To do this with PMT, just select the account
into which you are transferring the funds as the Category. When you do this,
notice the Category and Account labels change to indicate you are transferring
funds. For example, to enter a cash withdrawal, select the Cash account under
Category, and the bank account from which the withdrawal is being made under
Account.
To pay a credit card bill (or other liability, like a loan), select the credit card as the Category, and the account from which the bill is being paid as the account. Again, the Category and Account labels will change to indicate what is happening. Note: in previous versions of PMT, paying a liability required the amount to be entered with a minus sign. From version 3.5 on, this is no longer necessary.
Starting Entries
As described in the Tutorial, when you first
start using PMT, you already have some money in the bank, some cash in your
pocket, and perhaps owe something on your credit card. The starting entries for
these amounts (usually done on January first each year) are entered with the
account involved (bank account, credit card name, and so on) in the Category
field, and with the Account field set to Equity.
Split Transactions
Beginning with version 4.2, PMT supports
Split Transactions. Split transactions are entries where the account is an
asset or a liability, and more than one income or expense category applies. To enter
a split transaction, use the "Split Category" menu command. The
following screen appears:
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Enter up to 5 amounts and categories for your split category transaction. Tap the Total button to display the total entered so far. To cancel the split, tap the No Split button. Tap Done when you are finished. You cannot enter the total for a split transaction: it is totalled from your individual entries. |
Foreign Currencies
The currency for the transaction is set using
the drop-down list trigger next to the amount. When first using PMT, only your
local currency is defined. Tapping on the trigger, and then tapping on
"Add.." on the drop-down list allows you to create new currency
names. When you select a currency other than your local currency, an icon
appears to the right of the currency name to allow you to enter the exchange
rate.
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For example, if you create a currency name for Yen, and select it for your transaction, then your form will look like this. Notice the icon to the right of the yen symbol. Tapping this icon allows you to enter the exchange rate for this transaction, from Yen into your local currency. If you do not enter an exchange rate, then the most recent rate available that you have entered for a previous transaction will be used. |
Note that exchange rates are saved separately
for each transaction. Entering an exchange rate for one transaction does not
affect any other existing transactions. However, when new transactions are
entered, PMT always looks for an exchange rate previously entered for the
currency in question, closest to the date specified for the transaction being
entered. If you do not enter an exchange rate for the new transaction, this is
the rate PMT will use. If you do enter a rate, this is the rate PMT will
initially present to you when you tap on the rate icon. For transactions
entered in foreign currencies for local currency accounts, the original amount
in the foreign currency and the exchange rate are preserved (and displayed when
you show Details), but the transaction is converted into local currency for the
Account list.
Accounts may be kept in a foreign currency.
To do this, when you create the account (using the Edit Accounts menu command,
or tapping on "Edit…" from the Category or Account drop-down lists),
select the currency you want for the account. For accounts in a foreign
currency, transactions will automatically be put into that currency, and you
cannot change it: the currency name will be displayed without the selection
trigger. When you do this, the account list always shows the original currency,
but the balance sheet always converts the balance for this account into your
local currency. See the Balances View section for more details on how foreign
currency accounts are treated.
Note that you should enter the exchange rate
even for transactions for foreign currency accounts. This is because even
thought the account is being totalled in the foreign currency, PMT will use the
exchange rate you enter for its balance sheet and income/expense statement
calculations.
Changing your Base Currency
PMT uses the concept of a base currency. This is the default currency for your asset
and liability accounts, and the currency for all income and expense items. The change to the Euro currency may make it
desirable to change your base currency, and in the process convert all your
transactions to that currency. PMT
provides for this possibility with the ConvertBaseCurrency menu command
provided on the Edit Currencies panel.
This command allows you to covert your base currencies into one of the
other currencies you have defined. You
specify the conversion rate you want used, and PMT converts all your
transactions, making appropriate adjustments to other foreign currency
transactions.
Since this command may not always give the
results you desire, you are STRONGLY URGED to make a copy of your database and
try the command on the copy to ensure the result is what you expect (see below
for more details).
To use this command, use the EditCurrencies
menu command to bring up the Edit Currencies panel. Highlight the currency you wish to make your new base currency, and
then tap the menu icon. Your display
will appear something like the following:
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In this example, DM is the base currency,
and the user wishes to convert his data to make the Euro the base
currency. Tapping on the ConvertBaseCurrency
command begins the process. |
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PMT then prompts for the conversion
rate. This is the rate from your
current base currency (in the example, DM) into your new base currency (in
the example, the Euro). In this
example, the rate would be .51129.
PMT then prompts for a confirmation before proceeding with the
conversion. |
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Every transaction record in the database
must be processed, so the operation takes some time. As it proceeds, it displays the record it
is working on. When finished, the
Euro is the base currency, and DM is on the currency list where the Euro was,
and all transactions have been converted. |
Because currency rates fluctuate, and
different users and banks have adopted different approaches to preparing for
the change to the Euro, this conversion operation make not be appropriate in
all cases. It rounding may generate
results different from your bank statements, and conversion charges may also
affect the results. If the result is
close but not exact, you may want to go back and adjust individual
transactions, or you may want to enter “correction” transactions that adjust
your balance to correct for any conversion differences.
The Account List view shows you all the entries
for the account indicated in the top right of the widow. You can select which
account you want to see by selecting it using the trigger at the top right of
the window. This view shows you the date, category, and amount for each
transaction. At the far right the running balance for the account is displayed,
showing the effect of each transaction on the account balance. Scroll controls
appear at the bottom right of the window to scroll through account list
entries. To look at the description, check number, and cleared status of a
particular transaction, tap the line to highlight its date, and then tap the Details
button. You can also tap twice on the transaction you want to see, if the
button says Edit because the double tap preference is set to Details. Scroll
controls at the bottom right will allow you to move from one record to the
next. Tap the Done button when you are finished.
The Details display also shows foreign
currency information. For transactions entered in foreign currency, the Details
display shows the amount in the foreign currency, the exchange rate, and the
converted amount.
If a transaction is a member of a repeat
group, the repeat icon is displayed next to the date.
The Account List view shows you all the
transactions and the running balance for the selected account. Tapping the
Balances button brings you to the Balances view. This gives you a balance
sheet, that is a list of the balances for all the assets and liabilities, on
the displayed date. To change the date for this view, use the Menu Balances
Date command (see below for more details).
Tapping the Income/Expenses button displays
an Income and Expense statement: a summary of all Income and Expenses as of the
date selected for the report.
The Edit... entry of the Category and Account
dropdown lists, and the Edit Accounts menu command let you create and/or edit
your list of categories and accounts. You can enter a Budget Amount for the
year, which is ignored for Assets and Liabilities, but which is used for Income
and Expense categories with the Income/Expense statement. The amount displayed
in the 2nd column of numbers is the budget amount, pro-rated to the
end of the current month. So, for example, if your year starts January first,
and the date for the display is some time in June, then the budget amount
displayed will be one half the amount you entered for each category.
Note: the budget amount is pro-rated from the
start of your accounting period. Your last accounting period ended when you
used the Purge Transactions menu command (see below for details), or December
31st of last year if you haven’t used that command yet. So, for
example, if you want your accounting period to begin September 1st,
and have budget amounts prorated from that date, then use the Purge
Transactions command, specifying August 31st as the purge until
date. This will purge all transactions up to August 31st, create new
Equity totals for September 1st, reset the Surplus/Deficit back to
0, and pro-rate your budget amounts from September 1st.
Foreign Currencies
PMT supports the entry of transactions in
foreign currencies. For transactions entered in foreign currencies on accounts
which are in local currency, the effect on the Balance Sheet and Income/Expense
display are straightforward: PMT always uses the amount converted into your
local currency, using the exchange rate you enter for each transaction.
For accounts kept in a foreign currency, the
effect on the Balance Sheet and Income/Expense display is more involved. There
are three considerations you need to be aware of.
First, when you enter income or expenses for
a foreign currency account, the account is kept in the foreign currency, but
the income or expense is always converted into local currency for the Balances
view's Income/Expense statement. This is especially important to realize when
currencies are fluctuating significantly.
For example, if your local currency is US
dollars, and you have a credit card in British pounds, you can indicate this to
PMT by selecting pounds as the currency when you create the credit card
account. The Account list displays and totals for this credit card account will
be displayed in £. If you buy a restaurant meal for £5.00 at an exchange rate
of 1.62 to convert from £ to US$, then your credit card balance will go up by
£5.00, and your restaurant expense will go up by US$8.10. If the next day you
buy a meal for £5.00, but now the exchange rate has dropped to 1.4, then your
credit card balance will go up by another £5.00, but your restaurant expense
will only go up by US$7.00.
The second thing to know about PMT's handling
for foreign currency is how a foreign account balance is displayed on the
Balance Sheet. While the account balance is shown in foreign currency on the
Account List, it is converted to local currency for the Balance Sheet. The
conversion rate used is the most recent conversion rate available for the
Balances Date you are using. In the above example, if these were the only two
transactions on the credit card, then on the first day, the Balance Sheet would
show the credit card balance as US$8.10. On the second day, it would show it as
US$14.00 (i.e. £10.00 @ 1.4, the most recent exchange rate available). Notice
that the balance is not $15.10, even though that amount of expense has been
recorded.
Finally, as the above example shows, if you
hold accounts in foreign currencies, changes in currency exchange rates can
bring about gains or losses. For our hypothetical diner above, if he were using
a US dollar credit card, each transaction would be charged in US$ at the
exchange rate in effect for each transaction. So he would pay US$15.10 for the
meals when he pays his bill, no matter what subsequently happens to the
exchange rate. But since his credit card is in British pounds, if he pays off
his credit card when the rate is only 1.4, it will only cost him $14.00 -- a
gain of $1.10. On the other hand, if by the time he pays the bill the exchange
rate has gone up to 1.7, it will cost him $17.00 to pay the bill, a loss of
$1.90.
PMT tracks currency gains and losses
separately from regular income and expenses. By default, gains or loses caused
by holding accounts in foreign currencies are accounted for by adjusting the
amount reported as Equity: currency gains will make this amount go up, currency
loses will make it go down. If you want to have these gains or loses shown in
an account other than Equity, there is a preference setting which will let you
select the account you want to use (see below for details).
Any Asset or Liability account can be
reconciled to a bank statement with PMT. Select the account you want to
reconcile on the Account List view (using the selector trigger on the top right
of the window). Then tap on the Reconciliation Menu Command (by tapping the
menu icon on the silk screen to the left of the graffiti area, and then tapping
Reconciliation from the drop down menu). This brings up the Reconciliation
view, shown above.
This shows the transaction details, and a
check box for each transaction. For every item that has cleared on your bank or
credit card statement, check the check box (tap it again to clear the check if
you hit it by accident).
The Reconciliation form is positioned to the
first item that is not marked as cleared already. Use the Next button to
move to the next item after the current page that is not cleared.
If there are items on the statement missing
from your records, use the New button to add them. Then mark them as
cleared on the Reconciliation form. To edit an existing item, tap twice on it
(it will be highlighted after the first tap).
When you are finished, tap the Done
button. This will display the reconciled balance for the account, that is, the
balance considering only those items marked as cleared. If everything has been
done correctly, this should agree with the balance indicated on your statement.
Tapping Ok on the confirmation causes your cleared checks to be saved;
otherwise if you cancel out of the Reconciliation form your check box entries
will be discarded.
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For example, if the starting balance we entered was correct, and the bank statement has the Salary entry and one expense item cleared, then the bank statement balance will be $1400.00. PMT computes this and asks you to confirm it. If you tap OK, the cleared flags you set will be saved to the database. Tapping Cancel will bring you back to the Reconciliation form to make additional entries or corrections. |
If the account you have reconciled is a
Liability (e.g. a credit card), a new transaction entry is presented to you
that represents payment in full of the account. If you are paying the bill in
full, complete the form and it’s entered! If you are making a partial payment,
change the amount to reflect the amount you are actually paying. If you are not
paying the bill now, just tap Cancel (be sure to do this or you might enter a
transaction by accident).
Note: the Reconciliation form shows the same
transactions listed in the Account List view.
Transaction not displayed because of the “List days” before and after
preference settings will also not be displayed in the Reconciliation form. If any older transactions that are not
displayed have not been marked as cleared, the Reconciliation process will
treat them as though they are cleared anyway.
To prevent this, be sure the combination of “List days” Preference
settings and your date choice with the “Balances Date” menu command are set so
that all past transactions which have not yet been marked as cleared are
displayed.
The Journal list is displayed using the
Journal List Menu command. Where as the Account List shows all transactions
associated with the selected account, the Journal List displays all
transactions associated with a specific Description, no matter what accounts
are used. Thus, the Journal list does not display a running account balance.
Instead, it displays the Category and Account entries for each transaction, and
the amount of the transaction. Selecting to display "All
Transactions" allows you to display all transactions for all accounts,
whether or not any description was entered. Note that the "Balances
Date" menu command is available: this will position the list to the first
date at or following the date you select. This allows you to see transactions
within your desired date range, without having to do a lot of paging of
transactions.
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Menu commands are presented in a context appropriate manner. Some forms have no menu commands at all; those that do have only those commands that are relevant to that form. Many menu commands have short cuts defined. |
Commands
Reconciliation: described above. Invoked from the Account List form,
this command allows you to reconcile the selected account.
Journal List: Displays the Journal List described above
Balances Date: Sets the effective or "as of" date for the
Balances view. Also used as the starting date for the first item displayed on
the Account List view. If the “List
days” before and after preferences are set, Account List transactions are shown
relative to this date.
Select Month: Selecting a display month using this command causes
balance sheet balances to be displayed as of the end of the selected month, and
causes Income/Expense totals to be only for the month selected. Selecting a new
effective date using the Balances Date command ends the month display mode.
Purge Transactions: All entries from the previous accounting period
(usually the previous year) are totalled, starting entries posted to Equity are
created for all Asset and Liability accounts for the start of the current
accounting period, and all entries from the previous period are deleted. This
command should be invoked sometime early in the new period, after all bank
statements that include the previous period have been reconciled. When you
invoke this command, a dialogue invites you to enter the date up to which you
wish to purge your transactions. December 31st of the previous year
is offered: tap the 31 to select it, or choose some other date if you want to
purge your transactions for an accounting period different from the calendar
year.
Export: Copy the currently displayed report to the Memo pad database. This
provides a way of sending this data to a non-Windows PC desktop computer. For
Account or Journal list reports, the report begins with the transaction
currently displayed at the top of the screen, a includes all subsequent
transactions in the report, to a limit of 4,000 characters in the memo pad
record.
Edit
Clear Nxt Check: This command will reset to 0 the check number
counter for the selected Account.
Copy: This command will copy the selected text to the clipboard. This
command is useful to copy amounts from one PMT form to another, and to copy
amounts between PMT and the calculator or other Palm OS® handheld programs.
Copy Amount: The amount of the highlighted or displayed transaction
is copied to the clipboard. This command is useful to copy amounts from one PMT
form to another, and to copy amounts between PMT and the calculator or other Palm
OS® handheld programs.
Copy Transaction: If a record is highlighted on the Account List view,
displayed using the Details button, or being edited, this command will make a
duplicate of it. This is useful when transactions have similar details: you can
copy the existing transaction using this command, and then edit the copy to
change the appropriate details. If you edit a transaction, make changes, and
then use this command, the changed version will be entered into the database,
and the original copy will remain as it was.
Cut:
This command will remove the selected text from the field, and copy it to the
clipboard. This command is useful to copy amounts from one PMT form to another,
and to copy amounts between PMT and the calculator or other Palm OS® handheld
programs.
Delete Transaction: If a record is highlighted on the Account List view,
or displayed using the Details button, this command will delete it (subject to
confirmation). If the record is a member of a repeat group, you will be asked
if you want to delete only the current record, or the current and all future
records. Past records are not deleted: if you want them deleted, go back and
highlight the earliest instance you want deleted first.
Edit Accounts: This command brings you directly to the Account Edit
dialogue. This is the same dialogue which is invoked when you select Edit...
from the Category or Account drop down lists for a new transaction entry.
Edit Currencies: This command brings you directly to the Account
Currencies dialogue. This is the same dialogue which is invoked when you select
Edit... from currency drop down list for a new transaction entry.
Edit Transaction: If a record is highlighted on the Account List view,
or displayed using the Details button, this command will allow you to change
the information for the transaction. If the record is a member of a repeat
group, you will be asked if you want to edit only the current record, or the
current and all future records. Past records are not edited: if you want them
edited, go back and highlight the earliest instance you want deleted first.
When editing a group, you cannot set the date (by definition the other records
all have different dates, the repeat status, or set the cleared flag. For any
field that you change, that field in all future records in the group will be
changed. Any fields you leave unchanged will not be copied into the other
records of the group.
Graffiti: This command will display Graffiti help information. The display
presented will be determined by the Graffiti shift state.
Paste: This command will insert text from the clipboard to the current
cursor location. If text is selected, it will be replaced. Otherwise, the text
is added to any other text already in the field, at the cursor. This command is
useful to copy amounts from one PMT form to another, and to copy amounts
between PMT and the calculator or other Palm OS® handheld programs.
Select All: This command will select all the text in the current
field (the one that contains the cursor).
Split Category: This command is used to enter split (i.e. multiple)
categories for transactions. See above for details.
Undo: This command will undo the last field menu command. It has no effect
if you have left the field in question.
Options
Lock: The Lock command brings you to a password screen that has a Proceed
button. The first time you do this, enter a password on the graffiti pad (not
on the keypad, only graffiti will work for passwords), and tap Proceed. After
you confirm it, this is your PMT access code. From then on, every time you
invoke Lock, you will then have to enter this code to get back into PMT (don’t
forget it!) Also, every time the system date changes, you will have to re-enter
your access code. This provides a limited access control for your financial
data, without password protecting the whole handheld.
NoLock: The NoLock command erases your access code (you will have to enter
one again the next time you want to use Lock), and disables the automatic
locking that occurs whenever the date changes. The default condition when you
first start PMT is NoLock.
Preferences...: The Preferences command brings up the Preferences
dialogue described below.
Select DB…: This command allows you to maintain up to 9 PMT
databases. It brings up the dialogue displayed below.
Free Mem: Displays the total unused memory in your Palm OS® handheld.
About: Displays PMT’s about screen. If you aren’t sure if you installed the
Shareware or Registered version, use the About command: the screen indicates
which version you have.
Preferences
The dates and numbers displayed by PMT are
formatted according to the handheld Format Preferences you have specified. The
Country specified in your Preferences determines the currency symbol displayed,
unless you use the Cur Sym field described below. If you want a different
format, change your preference settings. Thousands separators are not used
because display space is at a premium.
PMT also supports its own internal
Preferences. The Preferences dialogue is invoked using the Options/Preferences
menu command described above. Preferences are selected on more than one screen:
taping the up and down buttons at the bottom right of the screen allows you to
move from one to the other. When the Preferences menu command is invoked, the
following dialogues are displayed:
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Name: The name of the PMT database is displayed in this field. You can change
this to any name you choose. Any combination of characters and spaces are
valid. This name is displayed in the list of databases presented by the Select
DB command (described below).
Cur Sym: This field allows you to specify your currency symbol. This is useful
if your country is not on the handheld's country list in the Format
Preferences. Up to 4 characters may be entered for your currency symbol. PMT
uses this symbol in a few situations where a currency symbol is displayed.
Show after: Check this box if the currency symbol you entered
should be displayed following the amount; leave it unchecked if it should be
displayed before the amount. This checkbox has no effect if nothing is entered
in Cur Sym.
Amount Position: This field allows you to specify the position of the
amount column on the Account List view. Increasing this value moves the column
to the right, decreasing it moves the column to the left. The value must be
from 60 to 130.
List days: This controls the number of days before and after the
date set by the Balances Date menu command for which transactions are displayed
in an Account List. To see all transactions you have entered, leave the
defaults (999). Or, for example, to see transactions listed only 7 days into
the future, set the first value (“after”) to 7.
Scroll Lines: This controls the number of lines to scroll for the
Account and Journal views when the scroll button is tapped.
Find Disabled: If you do not want the handheld’s system Find command
to search the PMT databases, check this box. Use this option if you want to
skip the PMT database in your search, or if system Find causes problems with
PMT (problems have been reported for versions of PMT earlier than 2.0).
Backup Disabled: If checked, clears the backup setting for the PMTDB
database. With this preference checked, the standard backup conduit will NOT
create pmtdb.pdb in your backup directory when you perform a HotSync® function.
Use this setting if you do not want the pdb file created every time you Perform
a HotSync® function (to speed up the HotSync® function, for example). Be sure
to clear this preference when you want a backup copy made. This preference is
intended particularly for use with the PMT Conduit. When using the PMT Conduit,
a CSV file containing the PMT database entries is created on the host PC,
making the creation of the pmtdb.pdb file unnecessary.
Decimal Required: If checked, PMT will require the decimal point to be
entered in order to enter decimal values. When not checked, PMT will interpret
a numeric entry of 123 as 1.23. When checked, PMT will interpret a numeric
entry of 123 as 123.00; 1.23 with the . entered explicitly is required in order
specify a value of 1.23.
No Decimal Displayed: If checked, the decimal point will not be displayed
in PMT reports.
Show 0 Income/Expense: If checked, all accounts are shown on the
Income/Expense statement, even if their balance is 0.
Show Descr/Note: When this preference is not selected, the Account
List shows the Category account for each transaction. When this preference is
selected, the Description is displayed; if there is no Description (i.e.
"none"), the Note text is displayed; if there is no Note text, the
Category account is displayed. Description and Note text are clipped to fit the
available space on the display.
Double tap for: tapping twice on an item on an account list will
either display the details for the transaction, or invoke the edit function for
the transaction. This preference allows you to select which it will be.
Selecting Details will cause the button on the Account List to provide the Edit
function; while selecting Edit will cause this button to provide the Details
function.
Currency Change: changes in exchange rates for foreign currency
accounts cause gains and loses. If you want these reflected on the Balance
Sheet in an account other than Equity, use this preference setting to select
the account you want to use (see the section on the Balances View above for
more details on foreign currency handling).
Allow 0 amount: if checked, transactions can be edited with an
amount of 0. By default PMT requires transactions to have an amount different
from 0.
Display DB Name: if checked, displays the database name in some of the
dialogue headers. This makes it easier to remember which database you are using
when using the multi-database feature of PMT.
Show Cleared: if checked, displays the cleared flag for asset and
liability accounts on their account list.
Default Today: if checked, new transactions always have the date
defaulted to the current date. If not checked, new transactions default to the
current date for the first transaction of the day, but then subsequent
transactions default to the date of the previously entered transaction.
Enable Scroll Bar: if checked, a scroll bar is enabled for list
displays. If not checked, up and down buttons are used for scrolling, and more
space is available on the display.
Reminders Enabled: if checked, reminders are enabled. A field to enter
the time appears. The time is entered in hours and minutes using the 24-hour
clock (e.g. 2:15 p.m. is entered as 14:15). At this time each day, PMT will
check the primary database (additional databases do not support reminders) for
transactions that have a reminder set. An alarm sounds and a reminder is
displayed for any transaction with a reminder set for the current day. See
below for more details.
Overdraft Warning: If you enable reminders, then a checkbox appears to
enable overdraft warnings (described in detail below). If enabled, you can
enter the number of days in advance for which you want the warning, and the
amount below which a warning will be triggered.
Standard Balance Sheet: if checked, the Balances display shows the Balance
Sheet in "standard format." This means Equity is shown by itself
(Equity = Assets - Liabilities), and the Surplus is not displayed on the
Balance Sheet.
Journal Totals: if checked, the Journal List shows running totals
for the displayed transactions. The default Journal List shows the Category,
Account, and amount for each transaction. If this preference is checked,
instead of the Account, the amount shown represents the change to
surplus/deficit the transaction effects, and a running total column is
displayed. Transfers between accounts, for example, do not change the total,
because they have no effect on the surplus or deficit.
Show Password: if checked, the password will be displayed as you
enter it. By default, the password characters you enter are not displayed.
Use Priv. Rec. Security: if checked, PMT's own password functions are
disabled. Instead, the PMT database is considered "Private." If you
use the Security application and set "Private Records" to Show,
then the PMT database is displayed. If it is set to Hide, then if you
select PMT from the application menu, the PMT password screen will be
displayed, but with no Proceed button. The only way to access the database is
if "Private Records" is set to Show.
Show Alarm: if checked, transactions that have a reminder set
have the alarm icon displayed on the Account List view. The Transaction cleared flag takes
precedence over the reminder icon.
Show Repeat: if checked, transactions that are repeating have the
repeat icon displayed on the Account List view. The cleared and reminder flags take precedence over the repeat
icon.
Show Checks: if checked, transactions with a check number entered
are displayed with that check number in the Account and Journal List views,
instead of the category or description for the transaction. This preference takes precedence over the Show
Descr/Note preference.
Select DB
PMT supports the maintenance of up to 9 PMT databases.
When you tap the Select DB option command, the following dialogue is displayed:
All existing databases are displayed. If you
have renamed your database using the Name preference field, the name you
entered is displayed (the above screen shot shows 2 PMT databases, one which
was renamed to "Personal," the other renamed to
"Business").
Cancel: Exit this dialogue
Open: To select a database, highlight it, and tap Open. PMT will work with
this database until you select a different one. To create a new PMT database,
highlight one of the "empty" entries, and tap Open.
Delete: To delete a database, highlight it and tap delete. Note that you
cannot delete the database you are actively working with, and you cannot delete
the first PMT database.
Copy: To make a copy of a database, highlight it and tap Copy. The
highlighted database will be copied to the first empty slot. This feature can
be especially useful at the start of a New Year. Before purging your entries
from the previous year, if you want to save them, copy the database.
System Find
PMT supports the Palm OS® handheld system
find command. When you invoke find (by tapping the find icon on the silk screen
to the right of the graffiti area), PMT will search its current database in the
Note field and the Check Number field of each transaction for the text you
enter. The results dialogue will display the date of the transactions and the
start of the Note text. Tapping the line will cause the PMT Details form to
display the transaction specified. Tapping Done will bring you back to
the account list that was active before invoking the find request (which is not
necessarily the account to which the found item belonged). Tapping Switch
will switch you to the account list for the account of the displayed item.
Note that if you have more than one PMT
database, only the current or last one in use is searched by the find command.
PMT will not search the PMT database if it is
locked (the Find results display will indicate this). If you want Find to skip
the PMT database, use the Options/Preferences menu command to disable PMT’s
Find support.
Note: problems using Find with PMT and
versions of Palm OS® older than 2.0 have been reported. If you experience this
problem, use the Options/Preferences menu command to disable PMT’s Find
support.
Reminders
PMT supports reminders. Check the reminders
enabled preference (described above) to enable the reminder function. When this
has been checked, transaction entry and edit dialogues have the alarm icon
displayed as shown below:
If you check the alarm box (as shown above),
a field will appear to enter the number of days. When entered this way, an
alarm will sound and a reminder displayed for this transaction the number of
days you indicate before the date of the transaction. The alarm icon is also
displayed in the Details view of each transaction which has a reminder set. In
the above example, a reminder will be displayed on September 1st,
which looks like the example below:
Notice the Repeat button. This button
is displayed if the reminder is set for one or more days before the transaction
date. If you tap Repeat, the reminder will be repeated the next day.
Reminders also support overdraft warnings.
If the overdraft warnings preference is enabled (as shown above), PMT will
issue an overdraft warning for each asset account that has a balance less than
the warning amount, the number of days in the future you specify. The warning
looks like the example below:
© Copyright 2001 D. Joan McBride. All rights
reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced without the expressed
written consent of D. Joan McBride. PMT, Personal Money Tracker, and the PMT
Conduit are trademarks of D. Joan McBride. HotSync is a registered trademark, and
Palm is a trademark of Palm Inc. Third party brand and product names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.