Copyright: Money Matters Help Copyright © P.G. Veale 1995
Citation: Copyright © P.G. Veale 1995


Contents
Money Matters Help Contents

Click on a topic below to see information on that topic. If you need information on using the Help system, select How to Use Help from the Help menu.

	Getting started Introduction to Money Matters. Creating new accounts and entering transactions.
	Categories and Groups Using categories and groups to provide a better understanding of your finances.
	Transfers Between Accounts Transferring payments from one account to another.
	Working with Budgets Creating a budget and using it to help track your finances.
	Using Graphs Using graphs to provide a pictorial view of your finances.
	Using Reports Using reports to view and analyse your finances in more detail.
	Printing Printing accounts, budgets, graphs, and reports.
	Reference Information Understanding the menu and toolbar commands.
	About GSP Click here for more information about the GSP product range.


Getting Started

Introduction

Using Money Matters you can keep an accurate track of all your finances, spot problems early, and plan for the future. All you have to do is to commit to enter details of all your transactions. In fact Money Matters can help here also by automating your regular payments.

Many of Money Matters' features can be seen by taking a look at the example data file supplied.

Starting a New Account

When you first run Money Matters you will see an empty desktop and an account bar with just a single scroll button.

As you open each account its name and button will be added to this account bar.

The following procedure is recommended when starting a new account. For this you will need your most recent account statement or equivalent, and a list of recent transactions (e.g. your cheque book).

1.	Note each transaction carried out on or before the statement date that does not appear on the statement.

2.	Note the date of the earliest of these transactions.

3.	  Click on the File|New account menu or the toolbar button.

4.	Enter details of the account in the Account Details dialog.

5.	In the New Account Opening Balance dialog Start Date enter the date noted in Step 2 above or the statement date, whichever is earlier. In the Opening Balance, enter the final balance from your statement. An Entry window containing an opening balance Entry will be displayed.

6.	Add the transactions noted in Step 1 to the Entry window.

Your account should now be correct to the statement date. Remember to regularly keep your account up to date with new Entries, not forgetting to include any interest payments or charges that may apply.

Add any further accounts in the same way (up to a maximum of 40). Remember Money Matters can automatically transfer between accounts so it's a good idea to set up all of your savings and credit card accounts as well.

When making entries you will normally fill in the date, description, and debit or credit fields as a minimum. The remaining fields allow you to use many of the more powerful features of Money Matters, and are optional. See the Account Entries topic for more information.

Automating Payments

Any regular payments that you have set up as standard orders or direct debits can be automated in Money Matters using the Standing Order facility.

Standing Orders can be used for all prearranged payments.

They always start on a specified date.

They can finish on a specified date or continue indefinitely.

You can choose from a range of payment intervals.

Saving Your Data

Before you exit Money Matters you must save your account data to disc.

Click on the File|Save as menu.

Select the directory you want.

Enter a file name for your data. The recommended file extension is ".MNY".

By default, the next time you run Money Matters this file will automatically be opened and the windows displayed as before.

  Changes to an existing file can be saved by clicking on the toolbar Save button.

See also

Example Files

Account Details Dialog

Account Entries

Standing Orders

Account Bar

Menu Commands

Toolbar Commands


Categories and Groups

Introduction

Categories and groups are fields in an Entry that you can use to provide more information about the entry. They are optional, but if used correctly they are a powerful tool for controlling the content of graphs and reports.

Categories

THE CATEGORY LIST

Using categories you can break down your expenditure or income into a number of areas. Typical examples might be:

Groceries	Electricity	Gas

Cash	Miscellaneous	Telephone

Clothes	Transport	Savings

Money Matters supplies a default list of categories whenever you start a new file. You should modify, delete, or add to these until you have a list that is right for you.

FILTERING

Categories allow you to filter Entries that are used in a graph or report.

For example, when filling in your tax return you may wish to produce a report that lists the interest earned and tax paid on all of your accounts for the past year. One way of preparing for this is to enter all interest payments using Split Entries as follows:

With interest set up as an income category and tax as an expenditure category, the Income and Expenditure Report with just these two categories included will separately list and total your interest payments and tax amounts.

BREAKDOWN BY CATEGORY

The Monthly Budget Comparison graph and report will total the value of Entries in each category so that you can see where your money goes and spot any trends.

Many of the graphs and reports are most useful when you also have a budget for each category. The amounts you enter in the Budget Spreadsheet can then be compared with your actual spending to provide an even clearer picture of your finances.

Groups

Groups offer another way of filtering Entries for inclusion in graphs and reports.

Money Matters supplies a default list with just two items - "Personal" and "Business". You can modify, delete, or add to this list as appropriate.

For example, consider someone who is self-employed and uses a single bank account for both business and personal transactions. By classifying each Entry as personal or business, these two groups can be separated when producing graphs and reports.

See also

Working with Budgets

Account Entries

Split Entries

Using Graphs

Using Reports

Using Memorised Lists


PFM Plus for the Atari ST

Money Matters can open account data files created by PFM Plus for the Atari ST. You must have the file on a DOS compatible disc, or on your PC hard disc.

Open the file as normal. Money Matters will display a message stating that an ST file is detected. The conversion is performed automatically as the file is loaded. You cannot save the data in ST format.

You may wish to make some modifications in the following areas to bring the data in line with the facilities of Money Matters.

Account names will be in upper case. These will take up more room and may appear truncated. You can edit the names in the Account Details dialog.

The default category list will have been replaced by the two character list from the ST file. You can edit these using the List commands to use more meaningful names and to assign them as expenditure or income categories.

You can copy account logos to the button faces.

Descriptions in the ST file are padded with extra spaces to around 30 characters in total. These spaces will also be copied to the list if you use the memorise command and will duplicate any otherwise identical descriptions that do not have these spaces. If this is a problem you can delete these spaces, although the process is tedious if there are many Entries.

When you have finished these changes, save your data to disc. To avoid accidentally overwriting the old file, Money Matters deliberately does not retain the old file name. Use the Save As command and a different file name.

See also

Example Files


Transfers Between Accounts

Introduction

Transferring money between accounts is needed in many situations:

Savings from a bank account to a building society or similar.

Payment of credit cards from a bank account.

Movement of funds from a savings account to a bank account to meet unexpected bills.

With Money Matters such transfers are particularly straightforward.

Making a Transfer

Simply complete the transaction as normal but also enter the name of the destination account in the transfer field. Note that you cannot transfer an Entry to the source account.

A copy of the Entry will automatically be added to the named destination account. All fields will be identical except that debits will become credits and vice versa.

Split Entries can be transferred in the same way. However you cannot view the splits from the destination account.

Modifying a Transferred Entry

You can change any part of the source Entry as normal.

All changes will be reflected in the destination Entry including a change to the account specified in the transfer field.

Changes to the flag field are not copied.

If you delete a source Entry, the corresponding destination Entry will also be deleted.

In general, you cannot modify a destination Entry directly.

You can only change the flag field in a destination Entry (the source Entry is not affected). This allows you to reconcile any account without restriction.

All other changes must be made by editing the source Entry.

You cannot move the cursor into a destination Entry. If you are using the cursor keys, the screen cursor will skip over any destination Entries.

You cannot select a destination Entry with the selection bar on the left of the window.

To delete a destination Entry, remove the account name from the transfer field in the source Entry.

Standing Orders

You can specify a transfer account name in a Standing Order just as you can in a normal Entry. This provides a powerful tool for automating regular payments such as savings. As each payment is made, a complementary transaction is added to the destination account. You need take no action at all.

See also

Transfer Field

Selecting Records

Delete Account

Flag Field


Working with Budgets

Introduction

Money Matters provides comprehensive budget facilities to help you avoid any unpleasant financial surprises.

A budget allows you to:

Plan and balance your finances for up to a year ahead.

Check on your actual situation so that you can spot problems early.

When you work on your budget you are normally also working with categories. These two topics are closely related and you should become familiar with both to make best use of the facilities Money Matters offers.

The Budget Spreadsheet allows you to assign a budget amount against each category for each month in the year. The categories are divided into two sections, one for expenditure and one for income. Each section also includes an "Uncategorised" row that can be assigned amounts in the usual way.

Working Without Categories

It is quite possible to create and use a budget even if you do not intend to assign categories to Entries.

In the "Uncategorised" income row, enter your anticipated income for each month.

In the "Uncategorised" expenditure row enter your expected total outgoings for each month.

The Spreadsheet will show the difference between your income and expenditure so you can balance your finances over the year.

This simple budget can be useful especially if your income or expenditure is likely to fluctuate from month to month.

Note The Budget Spreadsheet will include all memorised categories even if you do not use them. This is not a problem, but you can delete them if you wish.

Working with Categories

Categories allow you to break down your income and expenditure into particular areas. Some care however is needed when using these categories in a budget. For example, consider these expenditure categories:

Groceries	Clothes

Transport	Credit

You may pay for these goods by cash, cheque, or credit card, and you settle your credit card by cheque each month. Any budget amount assigned to "Credit" will have already been included in the other categories: in effect you will be "double dipping".

In this case you would still have a "Credit" category but it would not be assigned any budget amounts in the spreadsheet.

Including Credit Card Accounts

If you have a credit card account in your file, you may have entered a day of the month in the field "Move entries after day..." in the Account Details dialog. If so, your views and reports will be based on the date you are billed rather than the date of purchase.

For example:

Assume that you have spent 200 on clothes on 20th July.

You used cheques for 50 and the rest you charged to your credit card.

Also assume that your credit card statement stops at the 10th of the month.

Although these purchases were made in July, Money Matters will report your expenditure on clothes as 50 in July and show the credit card purchases of 150 delayed until August. This is shown in the following Income-Expenditure Graph.

You should therefore take your spending habits into account when producing a budget.

Creating a Budget

There are two ways to create a budget.

SEMI-AUTOMATICALLY using the Auto-set budget command. This produces a budget by analysing your existing accounts. To produce a budget for the year you must have at least a year of Entries to analyse. Such a budget should be taken as a starting point and modified to include the effects of inflation and changes in circumstances.

MANUALLY. Old cheque books, bills and statements can all provide useful information to build a budget from scratch.

Using your Budget

Having created a budget you can use it to monitor your finances with these views and reports:

The Net Income Comparison Graph compares the difference in actual income and expenditure with the the corresponding amounts calculated from the Budget Spreadsheet.

The Budget Comparison Graph and the Monthly Budget Comparison Report allow you to compare your spending in each category with your budget.

See also

Categories and Groups

Budget Spreadsheet

Account Details

Auto-set Budget

Fill Budget Row

Net Income Comparison Graph

Budget Comparison Graph

Monthly Budget Comparison Report

Using Memorised Lists


Using Graphs

Overview

Graphs provide a pictorial way of viewing the state of your finances, allowing you to spot trends and to make rapid comparisons.

Money Matters can display 6 types of graph.

The simplest of these is the Balance Graph that plots the balance of the selected account as a "staircase" over a chosen period of time.

The Net Worth graph looks at the balances in a number of accounts on a chosen date to provide a snapshot of your circumstances.

The Income-Expenditure Graph shows the total incoming and outgoing amounts for each month over your chosen range.

The Net Income Comparison Graph compares the difference in actual income and expenditure with the the corresponding amounts calculated from the Budget Spreadsheet.

The Budget Comparison Graph allows you to compare your spending in each category with your budget.

The Category Pie Chart shows how your income or expenditure is distributed amongst the categories.

All graphs automatically scale to fit the window size. The labels on their axes also change to make best use of the available space.

All graphs can be printed. Titles and headings are added to the printout.

All graphs can be copied to the clipboard. Both bitmap and Windows metafile formats are generated.

Setting Up a Graph

When you open a graph window Money Matters displays a Setup dialog. The exact appearance of this will vary according to the graph, but it will always allow you to specify a date range and which accounts to include. Most graphs also allow you to further restrict which Entries are included in the analysis by specifying particular groups and categories.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Printing

Balance graph

Net worth graph

Income-expenditure graph

Net income comparison graph

Budget comparison graph

Category pie chart


Reports
Reports Menu Commands

Click on a command listed below to see information on that report.

Net worth summary

Monthly budget comparison

Entry list

Income and expenditure detail

VAT detail

VAT summary


Printing

Any window that can be displayed by Money Matters can be printed.

Display the information you want to print in the top window.

Check your printer setup and make any necessary changes to the selected printer, paper size and orientation.

Make any necessary changes to the margins and fonts in the Page Layout dialog.

Select Print from the File menu or click on the print button in the toolbar.

Entry, Standing Order, and Budget Windows

These are printed as they appear on the screen but without shading. A title will be added to the printout.

Printing is restricted to the printable area defined by the paper size, orientation, and the settings in the Page Layout dialog.

Long printouts can be spread vertically over multiple sheets.

Wide printouts will be truncated at the right margin.

Entry window printouts display a dialog requesting a date range. The "to" date defaults to the date of the last entry in the account.

Some experimentation with margins and font sizes may be required to produce acceptable results.

Note The Budget Spreadsheet is intended to be printed in landscape page orientation. This setting must be made as required since it is not saved in any Money Matters file.

Graphs

Graphs are automatically scaled to fit the page.

In portrait orientation, graphs occupy approximately the top third of the paper to preserve aspect ratio.

In landscape orientation the whole of the printable area is used.

A title is added as the main heading and the date range is added as sub-heading. These are not displayed in the window.

Reports

Reports are printed as they appear in the window.

Printout is tiled both horizontally and vertically as required. Money Matters repeats the first column of a report on all subsequent horizontal sheets.

See also

Starting a printout

Printer setup

Page layout

Aborting a printout

Using Graphs

Using Reports


Reference Information

Click on a topic for more information.

Starting Money Matters

Menu commands

Toolbar commands

Account Bar

Status Bar


Balance graph
Balance graph Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Displays the balance in the selected account over a chosen period of time.

Money Matters will display a setup dialog to allow you to enter a date range.

The graph will automatically scale to fit the current window size. At very small sizes some loss of detail and shortening of text may result.

Different colours are used as the balance amount crosses the threshold values set in Account Details dialog (if colour highlighting is enabled).

You can customise these colours and the overall background colour as required.

The graph is updated as you enter new transactions or make changes to existing Entries.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Using Graphs

Account Details

Colour Selection


Net worth graph
Net worth graph Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Displays a monthly bar graph of your net worth over a chosen period of time.

Note This graph is based only on the balance in included accounts at the end of each month. The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is not used here.

You can enter a date range in the setup dialog.

You can specify which accounts are to be included by clicking on the button "Select accounts to include" and making your selection in the Include dialog.

To view the value of a bar numerically, move the mouse over the bar so that the cursor shape changes to a magnifying glass and then press the left mouse button. Money Matters will display a small window containing the value.

The graph will automatically scale to fit the current window size. At very small sizes some loss of detail and shortening of text may result.

Different colour bars are used for positive and negative amounts. You can customise these colours and the overall background colour as required.

The graph is updated as you enter new transactions or make changes to existing Entries.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Using Graphs

Colour Selection


Income-expenditure graph
Income-expenditure graph Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Displays a monthly bar graph of your income and expenditure over a chosen period of time.

Note The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is active in this graph.

You can enter a date range in the setup dialog.

You can specify which accounts are to be included by clicking on the button "Select accounts to include" and making your selection in the Include dialog.

You may also choose which categories and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons and making your selections in the Include dialog.

An Entry is treated as income if you assign an income category to it. Similarly expenditure Entries are those that have been assigned expenditure categories. Where no category has been assigned, debit Entries are treated as expenditure and credit Entries as income.

To view the value of a bar numerically, move the mouse over the bar so that the cursor shape changes to a magnifying glass and then press the left mouse button. Money Matters will display a small window containing the value.

The graph will automatically scale to fit the current window size. At very small sizes some loss of detail and shortening of text may result.

Different colour bars are used for income and expenditure amounts. You can customise these colours and the overall background colour as required.

The graph is updated as you enter new transactions or make changes to existing Entries.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Using Graphs

Categories and Groups

Account Details dialog

Colour Selection


Net income comparison graph
Net income comparison graph Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Displays a monthly bar graph of your budgeted and actual net income over a chosen period of time.

Note The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is active in this graph.

In each month the right hand bar represents the difference between your total income and total expenditure.

The left hand bar shows the same calculation based on your Budget Spreadsheet.

Budget amounts above the zero baseline show a planned surplus for the month. Amounts below the baseline show a planned shortfall.

Where an actual amount is more positive than its corresponding budget amount, your finances have performed better than planned (see March, April, July, and August below).

Where the actual amount is more negative, your finances are worse than expected (see May and June below).

You can enter a date range in the setup dialog.

You can specify which accounts are to be included by clicking on the button "Select accounts to include" and making your selection in the Include dialog.

You may also choose which categories and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons and making your selections in the Include dialog.

An Entry is treated as income if you assign an income category to it. Similarly expenditure Entries are those that have been assigned expenditure categories. Where no category has been assigned, debit Entries are treated as expenditure and credit Entries as income.

To view the value of a bar numerically, move the mouse over the bar so that the cursor shape changes to a magnifying glass and then press the left mouse button. Money Matters will display a small window containing the value.

The graph will automatically scale to fit the current window size. At very small sizes some loss of detail and shortening of text may result.

Different colour bars are used for budget and actual amounts. You can customise these colours and the overall background colour as required.

The graph is updated as you enter new transactions or make changes to existing Entries.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Using Graphs

Working with Budgets

Categories and Groups

Account Details dialog

Colour Selection


Budget comparison graph
Budget comparison graph Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Displays a bar graph of budget and actual totals for selected categories over a chosen period of time.

Note The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is active in this graph.

For each category the right hand bar shows the total value of all Entries in that category over the chosen period.

The left hand bar shows the same calculation based on your Budget Spreadsheet.

For expenditure categories, where an actual amount is higher than its corresponding budget amount, you have spent more than planned (see Miscellaneous below). Similarly an actual amount lower than budget means that you have spent less than planned (see Groceries below).

For income categories, an actual amount higher than budget means you have earned more than planned, and vice versa.

You can specify the date range of Entries to total in the setup dialog.

You can specify which accounts and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons and making your selections in the Include dialog.

You may also choose which categories are to be included by clicking on the button "Select categories to include" and making your selection in the Include dialog. Only selected categories will appear in the graph.

To view the value of a bar numerically, move the mouse over the bar so that the cursor shape changes to a magnifying glass and then press the left mouse button. Money Matters will display a small window containing the value.

The graph will automatically scale to fit the current window size. At very small sizes some loss of detail and shortening of text may result.

Different colour bars are used for budget and actual amounts. You can customise these colours and the overall background colour as required.

The graph is updated as you enter new transactions or make changes to existing Entries.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Using Graphs

Working with Budgets

Categories and Groups

Account Details dialog

Colour Selection


Category pie chart
Category pie chart Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Displays a pie chart that shows the relative size of the totals in each selected category over a chosen period of time.

Note The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is active in this graph.

Income categories are shown separately to expenditure categories.

In each of these two cases, the total of the selected categories is taken as adding up to 100%.

If no income categories are selected, only the expenditure chart is shown, and vice versa.

If both income and expenditure categories are shown, the chart with the fewest selected categories is drawn on top.

You can specify the date range of Entries to total in the setup dialog.

You can specify which accounts and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons and making your selections in the Include dialog.

You may also choose which categories are to be included by clicking on the button "Select categories to include" and making your selection in the Include dialog. Only selected categories will appear in the chart.

The chart will automatically scale to fit the current window size. At very small sizes some loss of detail and shortening of text may result.

Different colour segments are used for each category. These are taken from the Money Matters palette in a fixed order. However you can customise these colours if required.

The graph is updated as you enter new transactions or make changes to existing Entries.

Note Money Matters cannot display the chart if an expenditure category total shows a net income or if an income category total shows a net expenditure. An error message will displayed in these cases. However, if the overall total for expenditure or income categories is affected in this way, a chart will be displayed but the category proportions will show 0.0%.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Using Graphs

Categories and Groups

Account Details dialog

Customising Colours


Net worth summary report
Net worth summary Command (Reports Menu)

The Net Worth Summary Report shows the balance in each selected account on the specified date, the total of these balances, and the date of the last Entry included in the report. If the start date of an included account is after the date of the report, the "Last Entry Date" and "Balance" columns contain "-----".

Note The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is not used here.

In the setup dialog:

You can specify which accounts are to be included by clicking on the button "Select accounts to include" and making your selection in the Include dialog.

Enter a report date.

If you want this date to be saved for future Net Worth Reports check the "Save date as default" button.

Dates can be moved one month at a time in either direction by clicking on the buttons provided.

Note If the date entered is later than the 28th of the month, the moved date will be changed to the 28th of the next (or previous) month. This is to prevent problems due to the varying number of days in a month.

Click on OK and Money Matters will display the report in a window.

See also

Using Reports

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Account Details dialog

Page Layout

Printing


Monthly budget comparison report
Monthly budget comparison Command (Reports Menu)

The Monthly Budget Comparison Report shows the monthly total value of all Entries in each category, against its corresponding budget value.

Categories are separated into an expenditure section and an income section.

Overall totals for the period are also shown.

Note The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is active in this report..

In the setup dialog:

You can specify which accounts and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons in the "Included entries" section and making your selection in the Include dialog.

You may also choose which categories are to be included by clicking on the button "Select categories to include" and making your selection in the Include dialog. Only selected categories will appear in the report.

Enter a date range.

If you want these dates to be saved for future Monthly Budget Comparison Reports check the "Save date as default" button.

Dates can be moved one month at a time in either direction by clicking on the buttons provided.

Click on OK and Money Matters will display the report in a window.

See also

Using Reports

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Account Details dialog

Page Layout

Printing


Entry list report
Entry list Command (Reports Menu)

The Entry List Report contains a list of all included Entries over the specified date range.

All fields except Balance and VAT are shown.

The Description field is truncated to around a half of the maximum length.

Each Entry includes the name of its account.

Split Entries are shown expanded.

Note This report is based only on Entry dates. The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is not used here.

In the setup dialog:

You can specify which accounts, categories, and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons in the "Included entries" section and making your selection in the Include dialog.

By default where a transfer between accounts is involved, the report includes only source Entries. To also include destination Entries, check the button "Include incoming transfers".

Enter a date range.

If you want these dates to be saved for future Entry List Reports check the "Save date as default" button.

Dates can be moved one month at a time in either direction by clicking on the buttons provided.

Click on OK and Money Matters will display the report in a window.

See also

Using Reports

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Account Details dialog

Page Layout

Printing


Income and expenditure detail report
Income and expenditure detail Command (Reports Menu)

The Income and Expenditure Detail Report contains a list of all included Entries over the specified date range.

All fields except Balance and VAT are shown.

The Description field is truncated to around a half of the maximum length.

Each Entry includes the name of its account.

The report is divided into an expenditure and an income section. Each section ends with the total value of all Entries listed in that section.

An Entry is treated as income if you assign it an income category. Similarly expenditure Entries are those that have been assigned expenditure categories. Where no category has been assigned, debit Entries are treated as expenditure and credit Entries as income.

Split Entries are shown expanded with each category included in the correct section.

Note This report is based only on Entry dates. The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is not used here.

In the setup dialog:

You can specify which accounts, categories, and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons in the "Included entries" section and making your selection in the Include dialog.

By default where a transfer between accounts is involved, the report includes only source Entries. To also include destination Entries, check the button "Include incoming transfers".

Enter a date range.

If you want these dates to be saved for future Income and Expenditure Detail Reports check the "Save date as default" button.

Dates can be moved one month at a time in either direction by clicking on the buttons provided.

Click on OK and Money Matters will display the report in a window.

See also

Using Reports

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Account Details dialog

Page Layout

Printing


VAT detail report
VAT detail Command (Reports Menu)

The VAT Detail Report contains a list, over a specified date range, of all included Entries that have been assigned a VAT rate mnemonic.

The following information is shown for each Entry:

The report is divided into an Outputs (sales) section and an Inputs (expenses and purchases) section. Each section ends with the overall totals for Net Amt, VAT, and Gross Amt in that section.

Each section is further divided into months with sub-totals shown for each month.

Split Entries are shown expanded with each category included in the correct section.

The Entry debit or credit amounts are always considered gross amounts. The Net Amt and VAT figures are then calculated from these gross amounts and the VAT rates assigned to each Entry.

Note This report is based only on Entry dates. The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is not used here.

In the setup dialog:

You can specify which accounts, categories, and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons in the "Included entries" section and making your selection in the Include dialog. This report will be produced correctly whether or not the VAT columns are shown in accounts.

Enter a date range.

If you want these dates to be saved for future VAT Detail Reports check the "Save date as default" button.

Dates can be moved one month at a time in either direction by clicking on the buttons provided.

Click on OK and Money Matters will display the report in a window.

See also

Using Reports

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Account Details dialog

Page Layout

Printing


VAT summary report
VAT summary Command (Reports Menu)

The VAT Summary Report summarises your VAT position in a form suitable for completion of your VAT return.

The first part of the report is divided into an Outputs (sales) section and an Inputs (expenses and purchases) section.

Each section is further divided into months.

For each month, the report shows the following totals.

Overall totals for the Outputs section and Inputs section are shown.

The final part of the report presents these overall totals and calculates the total amount of VAT to pay or claim. This format is similar to the layout of the VAT return form.

Note This report is based only on Entry dates. The "Move entries after day..." field in the Account Details dialog is not used here.

In the setup dialog:

You can specify which accounts, categories, and groups are to be included by clicking on the appropriate buttons in the "Included entries" section and making your selection in the Include dialog. This report will be produced correctly whether or not the VAT columns are shown in accounts.

Enter a date range.

If you want these dates to be saved for future VAT Summary Reports check the "Save date as default" button.

Dates can be moved one month at a time in either direction by clicking on the buttons provided.

Click on OK and Money Matters will display the report in a window.

See also

Using Reports

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Account Details dialog

Page Layout

Printing


Page layout
Page layout Command (File Menu)

Displays a dialog that allows you to control the margins and font settings for all printed output.

Settings made in this dialog are actioned only when the OK button is clicked or Return key pressed. Clicking on Cancel will lose all settings just made.

Report type

Each report type has its own layout settings.

The initial type selected will correspond to the current top window.

You may select alternative types at any time.

If there is no window open then all fields will be blank. In this case you must select a report type before you can alter any settings.

Margins

Enter the value of each margin in the appropriate units. The sample view will update as you enter the values.

When the dialog is closed Money Matters will display a message if the resulting margins overlap each other.

Printer fonts

These buttons allow you to set the type face, point size, attributes, and colour of the fonts used in your printout. The following example shows how these three styles are typically used in a report.

Defaults

Click on this button to restore default settings to the currently selected report type only.

The default settings are designed to produce acceptable results in most cases without further attention. Some adjustment may however be necessary to meet individual printer characteristics or personal preferences.

See also

Printing

Printer Setup

Restore Defaults


Aborting a printout

Money Matters handles the printing process in two stages.

1.	A spool file is constructed that contains all of the information to be sent to the printer.

2.	The spool file is sent to the printer.

During the first stage the abort dialog is displayed.

This dialog provides information on the printer selected, the report being printed, and the progress so far.

You may abort the print at any time whilst the dialog is displayed by clicking on the Cancel button.


Setting up Graphs and Reports

All graphs and reports need some setup information before they can be displayed. This is entered in one of a number of setup dialogs. This dialog is also used by the Auto-set budget command.

The most common setup dialog with all of the controls visible under "Included entries" is shown below.

Only the controls that are available in a particular graph or report will be visible. The Balance Graph and Net Worth Report use slightly different setup dialogs although much of the following description still applies.

Include entries from...

You can enter start and end dates in the form Month/Year. Entering dates here will blank the "Float to last..." field.

Float to last...

You can select a number of months from the drop-down list. The graph will always cover this number of months ending at the last included Entry. The resulting dates will be shown in the "Include entries from..." fields and will change as Entries are added to the accounts.

Move dates by 1 month

Click on one of these buttons to move the dates forwards or backwards by one month at a time. The resulting dates will be fixed and the "Float to last..." field will be blanked.

Save as default date range.

Any changes to the date range will apply to the current graph or report window only. The next time the setup dialog is displayed it will use the default values. To make the current date range the default, check this box.

Included entries

Click on one of these buttons to display the Include dialog. This allows you to choose which accounts, categories or groups you want to include in your graph or report.

To change the items included:

Select the items you want to change using the mouse. You can make multiple selections by dragging, or by using the Shift or Ctrl keys with the mouse.

Click on Yes or No to include or exclude the items from the graph or report. These will initially be set to the current state of the selected items.

The "Include all" and "Include none" buttons offer a fast way to clear any previous selections.

Note If you click on OK then your selections will be remembered even if you then click on Cancel in the setup dialog.

Include incoming transfers

Check this box if you want to include the destination Entries of a transfer in your graph or report. See Including incoming transfers for more information.

See also

Using Graphs

Using Reports

Using Memorised Lists


File
File Menu Commands

Click on a command listed below to see information on that topic.

New

Open

Save

Save as

Passwords

New account

Print

Page layout

Printer setup

Exit


Starting Money Matters

Money Matters is normally run by double clicking on its icon. Default settings will be used until you change them and the new settings can be saved.

The main program window size will be determined by Windows.

Money Matters' own default colour scheme will be used in views and reports.

Default screen fonts, printer fonts and page margins for printed output will be used.

Status bar and toolbar help messages are enabled.

Backup account files are automatically created.

The desktop is saved on program exit and restored when Money Matters is next run.

The last used account file is automatically opened when Money Matters is run.

Date formats of DD/MM/YY and DD Month Year are used.

Numbers are displayed in the form 1,234.56.

It is recommended that Money Matters is used with its main program window maximised so that the toolbars are completely visible and views and reports are more readable. When you exit Money Matters its actual size and position on the screen are saved and restored the next time it is run.

See also

General Options

Colour Selection

Fonts

Page Layout


Views
Views Menu Commands

Click on a command listed below to see information on a particular view.

Account entries

Standing orders

Budget spreadsheet

Balance graph

Net worth graph

Income-expenditure graph

Net income comparison graph

Budget comparison graph

Category pie chart


Menu commands

Click on a menu title to see a list of the commands in that menu.

File

Edit

Views

Lists

Reports

Tools

Options

Window

See also

Toolbar Commands


Status Bar

The status bar occupies a fixed position at the bottom of the main window and is divided into five display panes.

Active Account

Displays the name of the currently active account. This pane is blank if any non-account specific window is top.

Final Balance

Displays the final balance of the currently active account. This pane is otherwise blank.

Selected Items

Displays the number of selected Entries or Standing Orders in the top window. This pane is blank if there are no selected items.

Data Modified

Displays a message if there are unsaved changes in any aspect of the data. Otherwise the pane is blank.

Options Modified

Displays a message if there are unsaved changes in any of the options. Otherwise the pane is blank.

The status bar is also used to display temporary messages:

If you hold down the left mouse button whilst over a toolbar button, the status bar displays the function of that button. If you do not want to carry out that command, move the mouse away from the button before releasing it.

Certain lengthy operations, such as loading or saving a file, display a message until complete.

See also

Selecting Records


Lists
Lists Menu Commands

Click on a command listed below to see information on a particular memorised list.

References

Groups

Descriptions

Categories

VAT


Toolbar commands

The toolbar occupies a fixed position immediately below the menu.

All toolbar commands can also be accessed from the menus.

Buttons that have a sculptured appearance are disabled. This generally means that you must first carry out some other operation, such as opening a window, before you can use it.

Holding the left mouse button down over a toolbar button causes the status bar to display help information on that button.

If toolbar QuickHelp is enabled (see General Options dialog), brief help information is displayed in a small window whenever the mouse is moved over a button.

Click on a toolbar button to see more information on the function performed.

Displays the File Open dialog and allows you to open an existing account data file.

Saves account data to the currently named file. If no name is defined, opens the File Save As dialog and allows you to enter a file name for the saved data.

Creates a new account within the current file.

Deletes the selected items and places them on the clipboard.

Copies selected items to the clipboard

Pastes items on the clipboard into the destination window.

If possible, undoes all changes just made to the current Budget field, Entry, or Standing Order.

Displays the Entry window for the currently selected account.

Displays the Standing Order window for the currently selected account.

Displays the Balance Graph for the currently selected account.

Displays the Net Worth Graph.

Displays the Income-Expenditure Graph.

Displays the Net Income Comparison Graph.

Displays the Budget Comparison Graph.

Displays the Category Pie Chart.

Prints the contents of the currently top view or report on the selected printer.

Add the contents of the current field to a memorised list.

Create or edit a Split Entry.

Reconcile the currently active account against a known statement of balance.

Find a specified Entry in the active account.

Find the next occurrence of a specified Entry in the active account.

Show the cleared balances in Entry windows.

Show the toolbox containing the choice of account button logos.

See also

Menu Commands


Options
Options Menu Commands

Click on a command listed below to see information on a particular option.

General

Font

Colour selection

Customise colours

Show cleared balance

Show logo toolbox

Restore defaults

Load options

Save options

Save desktop


Edit
Edit Menu Commands

Click on a command listed below to see information on that topic.

Undo

Cut

Copy

Paste

Delete item

Delete account

Account details


Tools
Tools Menu Commands

Click on a command listed below to see information on a particular tool.

Memorise field

Split entry

Auto-set budget

Zero budget

Fill budget row

Find

Find next

Reconcile

Rollup entries

Loan calculator


Window
Window Menu Commands

The Window menu controls how the existing windows (views, reports, and icons) are arranged on the desktop. In addition, the names of each of these windows is added to the bottom of this menu. Clicking on one of these names will activate that window and bring it to the top of any other overlapping windows.

Click on a command listed below to see information on arranging windows.

Tile

Cascade

Arrange icons


New
New Command (File Menu)

Shortcuts

Keyboard:	Ctrl + N

Clears all account data from memory.

Money Matters prompts you if your existing data includes changes that have not been saved to disc.

All account buttons and names are removed from the account bars.

Memorised lists are set to their default contents.

Graph and report date ranges are set to default values.

Any existing passwords are cleared.

Note Opening an account data file automatically performs these operations before loading the new data.

See also

Opening a File

Saving a File


Open
Open Command (File Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + O

Displays the File Open dialog box and allows you to select a file to open.

Money Matters will load your account data and display the account buttons on the account bar.

If enabled, the desktop last used with this file will be restored.

If the file is protected you will be prompted for a password.

Any standing orders that have become due for payment since the last time the file was used will be executed.

File Name

Select the file you want to open from the list, or type the name into the file name box.

Directories

Displays the current directory followed by a list of available directories. Select the directory you want by double clicking on it or clicking once and selecting the OK button.

Drives

Displays a list of available disc drives. To change drives click on one from the list.

List Files of Type

By default, the list of files displayed includes only Money Matters Files (*.MNY). Alternatively, you may select All Files (*.*).

See also

General options

Passwords

PFM Plus for the Atari ST


Save
Save Command (File Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + S

Save the account data to the currently named file. If you started a new file and have not yet saved the data, Money Matters displays the File|Save As dialog to allow you to select a file name.

See also

Save as


Save as
Save as Command (File Menu)

Displays the File Save As dialog box and allows you to save your account data to a file name of your choice.

The file name displayed in the Money Matters window title bar will be updated if different to the previous file name.

The "Data modified" message will be removed from the status bar.

File Name

Select the file name you want from the list, or type the name into the file name box.

Directories

Displays the current directory followed by a list of available directories. Select the directory you want by double clicking on it or clicking once and selecting the OK button.

Drives

Displays a list of available disc drives. To change drives click on one from the list.

List Files of Type

By default, the list of files displayed includes only Money Matters Files (*.MNY). Alternatively, you may select All Files (*.*).

See also

Status bar


Passwords
Passwords Command (File Menu)

You can protect your account data files against unauthorised access by using a password.

Adding Password Protection

Select Passwords|Add protection from the File menu.

Enter any sequence of characters, making sure that you can remember them accurately.

Click on OK or press Return

Enter the same password again in the new box provided.

Click on OK or press Return.

If the two passwords match, Money Matters will display a message to confirm that protection has been added. This will only take effect after the data is saved to disc.

Removing Password Protection

Select Passwords|Remove protection from the File menu.

Enter the password currently in force.

Click on OK or press Return.

Money Matters will display a message to confirm that protection has been removed This will only take effect after the data is saved to disc.

Note Passwords are not case sensitive.


New account
New account Command (File Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + A

To create a new account in the current file.

Enter details of the account in the Account Details dialog.

Enter the starting date of the new account and the opening balance in the New Account Opening Balance dialog.

A blank button is added to the account bar and the name of the account appears below the button. An Entry window is opened showing the opening Entry.

Note that you cannot add Entries with dates earlier than this starting date, but you can change the starting date at any time.

See also

Account Details dialog

Show Logo Toolbox


Print
Print Command (File Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + P

Prints the contents of the top window. Note that the menu text changes according to the window type.

Before starting a print, ensure that the correct printer, paper size, and page orientation are selected. These settings can be altered in the Printer Setup dialog. The appearance of the printed output will also be affected by the margin and font settings in the Page Layout dialog

Money Matters will display the Print dialog.

Make any necessary changes to the settings and click OK or press Return to start the print.

See also

Printing

Printer Setup

Page Layout

Aborting a printout


Printer setup
Printer setup Command (File Menu)

The printer setup command displays the Print Setup dialog. This can also be accessed from the Print dialog.

When Money Matters is run, all settings in this dialog are copied from the Windows installed setup.

Any changes you make are only recognised by Money Matters and do not affect the Windows default or any other application.

These alternative settings remain in force until you quit Money Matters.

Default Printer

The default printer is the one defined in your Windows setup. Money Matters always selects the default printer when first run.

Specific Printer

Any printer currently installed under Windows may be selected as an alternative to the default.

Orientation

Selects portrait or landscape mode.

Paper

Selects the required paper size and source. The available sizes and sources depend on the particular printer selected.

Options

Displays a dialog that provides further control over your printout. The facilities available depend on the printer selected.

See also

Printing

Page Layout


Exit
Exit Command (File Menu)

You can quit Money Matters in three ways.

Select the Exit command in the File menu.

Click on the Close command in the Control menu (this is the menu that drops down when you click on the top left icon in the main window frame).

Double click on the Control menu icon.

Press Alt+F4 on the keyboard.

If you have made any changes to the data since it was last saved, Money Matters displays a warning message.

A warning is also displayed if you have made changes to any of the options.

Money Matters saves the following information when it exits.

Its last size and position on the screen.

The name of the current account data file.

The current desktop layout (if this option is enabled).

When Money Matters is next run:

It returns to its previous size and position.

It automatically opens the last known data file (if this option is enabled).

It restores the corresponding desktop layout (if enabled).

See also

General Options


Undo
Undo Command (Edit Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Alt + Backspace

Undo the last edit operation.

In the Entry, Split Entry, and Standing Order windows, Undo restores the entire record to its previous state.

In the Budget Spreadsheet window the current field is restored.

The Escape key also provides an "undo" function in these windows. It restores the contents of the current field.


Cut
Cut Command (Edit Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + X

Places the selected items on the clipboard and deletes them from their original location.

See also

Copy

Paste

Using the Clipboard


Copy
Copy Command (Edit Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + C

Copies the selected items onto the clipboard. The original items are not affected.

See also

Cut

Paste

Using the Clipboard


Paste
Paste Command (Edit Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + V

Inserts the items currently on the clipboard into the chosen window. If the destination window contains selected items, these will first be deleted and the clipboard contents then added.

See also

Cut

Copy

Using the Clipboard


Delete item
Delete item Command (Edit Menu)

Shortcuts

Keyboard:	Ctrl + Del

Deletes the selected Entries or Standing Orders.

If one or more records are selected, they will be deleted.

If there are no selected records, the record at the current cursor position will be deleted.

If there are no selected records and no edit cursor present then this command does nothing.

Deleted records cannot be recovered.

See also

Account Entries

Standing Orders

Selecting records


Delete account
Delete account Command (Edit Menu)

This command deletes the account whose account button is currently selected.

All Entries, Split Entries, and Standing Orders under that account will be removed.

The account button and name are removed, often leaving a gap on the account bar. This will disappear when the account data file is next opened.

Transferred Entries

For source Entries in the deleted account:

The corresponding destination Entries in the remaining accounts are converted to source status.

All references to the deleted account are removed.

For destination Entries in the deleted account:

All references to the deleted account are removed from source Entries in the remaining accounts.

See also

Account Entries

Transferring between Accounts


Account details
Account details Command (Edit Menu)

The Account Details dialog is used both to edit an existing account or enter information on a new account.

Account name

Enter a unique name of up to 10 characters. This is used to identify accounts in views, reports, and Entry transfers.

Account details

Enter any information that you feel will be useful. The list box will scroll vertically and horizontally if necessary. There is an overall limits of 256 characters. This information is for reference only; Money Matters does not use it in any way.

Low balance level 1 & 2

You can optionally enter balance levels that represent warning thresholds for the account. When the balance falls below the highest threshold the colour of the balance figures in the Entry window changes. When the lower threshold is crossed the colour changes again. These colours are also shown as bands in Balance Graph windows. The colour used may be altered using the Colour Selection dialog.

Move entries after day.....

This feature is aimed mainly at credit card accounts where you should enter the day of the month that is the normal cutoff date for that month's transactions. In certain views and reports Money Matters treats Entries after this day as part of the following month for analysis purposes (see Working with Budgets). A zero value disables the feature.

Show colour highlights

Check this box to enable colour highlighting in Entry and Standing Order windows. It also enables warning level colours in Balance Graphs.

Show VAT column

Check this box to add a VAT column to Entry, Split Entry, and Standing Order windows for this account.

See also

Selecting colours

Working with budgets

Account Entries

Split Entries

Standing Orders


Account entries
Account entries Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:	or

Account bar:	+ right mouse button

Opens an Entry window on the selected account. Each account may only display one Entry view at a time. If one already exists, this command instead makes it top window.

The Entry window is central to Money Matters. It is where you enter most of your transactions and where you can immediately see the state of your account. It also contains more features then any other window, deserving more explanation.

Entry Fields

You must enter a valid date into the Date field.

All other fields are optional although the Description and Debit or Credit fields would normally be entered.

The remaining fields have specific purposes and are used when required.

Not all fields can be edited. The balance fields are never editable, but this can on occasion extend to other fields. You cannot move the cursor into an non-editable field.

When working with Entry transfers, only the flag field is editable in the destination Entry.

Click on a title in the Entry window headings below to see information about that field.

Adding New Entries

Position the cursor in the Date field of the first blank Entry by clicking the left mouse button anywhere below the existing Entries.

Type the Entry date.

Enter information into the remaining fields as required. You can use the mouse or keyboard to move fields.

Many of the fields automatically check your typing against memorised lists, looking for possible matches. Alternatively these lists can be displayed using the right mouse button, and used directly to enter information into the field.

The new Entry will be sorted into the correct date order when you move the cursor to another Entry.

Changing an Existing Entry

Position the cursor in the field you wish to change.

Enter the new contents.

If you make a change to the Date, Debit or Credit fields, the full effects of the changes will be displayed when you move the cursor to another Entry.

Date Scrolling

The vertical scrollbar allows you to look at any part of your account. To help you keep track when dragging the scroll box, Money Matters continuously displays the date of the first Entry that would appear at the top of the window.

This date window disappears when you release the mouse button.

Selecting Entries

One or more Entries may be selected using the vertical selection bar at the left of the window.

See also

Using Memorised Lists

Selecting Records

Finding Entries

Split Entries

Cleared Balance

Transfers Between Accounts

Deleting Entries

Printing


Standing orders
Standing orders Command (Views Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Opens a Standing Order window on the selected account. Each account may only display one Standing Order view at a time. If one already exists, this command instead makes it top window.

You can enter details of any regular payments set up on your account. Typically these will be standing orders and direct debits.

The majority of the fields are common to the Entry window.

Standing Orders may be used for debits or credits and may include transfers to other accounts.

The Split Entry feature cannot be used in a Standing Order.

Standing Orders are checked when the account file is opened and whenever a Standing Order is changed. These are then executed according to the date each is next due to be paid.

The date fields are colour coded (if colour highlighting is enabled) to distinguish between 3 possible states:

1.	Never executed.

2.	Some payments made. Future payments still due.

3.	Last payment made. No outstanding payments due.

When a Standing Order is executed, all common fields are copied to a new Entry in the account. The execution date becomes the Entry date.

Standing Order Fields

You must enter a valid date into the Start field.

The Interval field must contain one of the preset values.

All other fields are optional although the Description and Debit or Credit fields would normally be entered.

The remaining fields have specific purposes and are used when required.

Click on a title in the Standing Order window headings below to see information about that field.

Adding New Standing Orders

Position the cursor in the Start field of the first blank record by clicking the left mouse button anywhere below the existing records.

Type the date of the first payment you want made.

Enter information into the remaining fields as required. You can use the mouse or keyboard to move fields.

Many of the fields automatically check your typing against memorised lists, looking for possible matches. Alternatively these lists can be displayed using the right mouse button, and used directly to enter information into the field.

If you enter a Start date before today's date, Money Matters will warn you that payments are now due. You have the option to continue or to make further changes.

Standing Orders remain displayed in the order they are entered.

Changing an Existing Standing Order

Position the cursor in the field you wish to change.

Enter the new contents.

You cannot change the Start date if the Standing Order has ever been executed.

If you change the Start field to a date before today's date, Money Matters will warn you that payments are now due. You have the option to continue or to make further changes.

The changes will first appear the next time the Standing Order is executed.

Selecting Standing Order

One or more Standing Orders may be selected using the vertical selection bar at the left of the window.

See also

Using Memorised Lists

Selecting Records

Transfers Between Accounts

Deleting Standing Orders

Printing


Budget spreadsheet
Budget spreadsheet Command (Views Menu)

Displays the Budget Spreadsheet window. Only one such window can be open at a time.

All categories are separated under expenditure and income headings, and are listed in the left-most column.

Monthly budget amounts can be entered against each category for each month of the year.

Columns are summed to show monthly expenditure and income totals.

Rows are summed to show yearly totals for each category.

The difference between income and expenditure is also shown.

To enter or change a budget amount:

If necessary scroll until you can see the desired category and month. The expenditure and income categories scroll separately.

Place the cursor in the appropriate field and enter the budget amount.

Note Initially the window has no cursor. You can create one by clicking the mouse in a field. Alternatively, pressing the TAB key will place a cursor in the first expenditure field; pressing Shift+TAB places it in the first income field. You can use the mouse or keyboard to move fields.

The totals will update when you move the cursor to another field.

Note On occasions the totals may appear to be summed incorrectly. This is because the amounts are truncated to whole currency units.

See also

Working with Budgets

Using Graphs

Using Reports

Printing


References
References Command (Lists Menu)

Displays a dialog listing memorised references.

The list is divided into two columns:

The left column shows the memorised field contents.

The right column displays any notes you may have added. You can use these notes as a reminder or to provide further information. They are not used by Money Matters in any way.

The special sequence number feature described in the topic on the reference field is not part of the normal memorised list and is not displayed in the dialog.

See also

Memorised List Dialogs

Using Memorised Lists

Reference Field


Groups
Groups Command (Lists Menu)

Displays a dialog listing memorised groups.

The list is divided into two columns:

The left column shows the memorised field contents.

The right column displays any notes you may have added. You can use these notes as a reminder or to provide further information. They are not used by Money Matters in any way.

See also

Memorised List Dialogs

Using Memorised Lists

Group Field


Descriptions
Descriptions Command (Lists Menu)

Displays a dialog listing memorised descriptions.

See also

Memorised List Dialogs

Using Memorised Lists

Description Field


Categories
Categories Command (Lists Menu)

Displays a dialog listing memorised categories

The list is divided into four columns:

Type	Displays "Exp" to indicate an expenditure category, and "Inc" to indicate an income category.

Category	The field contents.

Notes	Additional information or reminders.

VAT	The VAT rate mnemonic assigned to the category. This is selectable from a drop-down list in the Category Edit dialog. VAT rates must have already been set up.

If "Auto-insert VAT rate" is checked, then entering a category in an Entry or Split Entry will automatically insert the VAT rate assigned to that category into the VAT field. This options is only active with accounts that show the VAT column.

See also

Memorised List Dialogs

Using Memorised Lists

Category Field


VAT
VAT Command (Lists Menu)

Displays a dialog listing memorised VAT rates

The list is divided into three columns:

Code	The field contents.

Rate%	The numeric VAT rate as a percentage.

Notes	Additional information or reminders.

See also

Memorised List Dialogs

Using Memorised Lists

VAT Field

VAT Rates

VAT Amounts


Memorise field
Memorise field Command (Tools Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Alt + M

Adds the contents of the current field to the appropriate memorised list.

Note This command is only available in the Entry window.

If successful Money Matters will beep. Otherwise, if the list already contains an exact copy of the text, Money Matters will display a message.

If you want to memorise a new Group, Category, or VAT field, you must use the command before you move the cursor to another field or the contents will be lost.

New categories created with this command will be expenditure categories by default.

Modifications to list items can be made using the commands in the Lists menu.

See also

Using Memorised Lists

Memorised List Dialogs

Account Entries


Split entry
Split entry Command (Tools menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Alt + S

Converts the Entry containing the cursor into a Split Entry. If the record is already a Split Entry, this command opens the Split Entry window for edit.

Split Entries allow you to divide the total value of an Entry amongst more than one category. For example, many supermarkets offer cash withdrawal facilities to those shopping in the store. Split Entries can also be used where different VAT rates apply to different elements of the Entry.

The cursor may be anywhere in the Entry when the Split entry command is used.

The text "--Split--" is added to the category field and the whole Entry is shown as selected.

The Split Entry window is displayed in the bottom right corner of the Entry window. You use this window to enter details of the Split Entry.

The Category field behaves in exactly the same way as in the Entry window. For example, clicking the right mouse button in the field will display its memorised list.

You can add explanatory notes in the Notes field if required. This field does not have a memorised list. Notes text appears indented under the Description heading in reports that expand Split Entries.

Enter the amount to be assigned to each category in the Amount field. Note You must include a minus sign if the amount is a debit.

If the VAT column is shown in the Entry window for this account, then a VAT column will also be shown to the right of the Amount column in the Split Entry window.

Whenever you move the cursor to another record, the Total Amount box at the bottom of the window will display the total value of the Entry so far.

You can split an Entry over any number of categories.

When the information is complete and correct click on the "Done" button. The Split Entry window will be removed and the Entry deselected.

Note You cannot edit the Debit or Credit fields of a Split Entry in the Entry window. These changes can only be made using the Split Entry window. Clicking in the Category field of an existing Split Entry will open the Split Entry window.

Modifying Split Entry Information

Move the cursor to any field and enter the new information.

The Total Amount will update when you move to another record.

Click on the "Done" button when complete.

Deleting Parts of a Split Entry

To delete a record in the Split Entry window, place the cursor in the record and click on the "Del" button.

Click on the "Done" button when complete.

If you delete all records, the Entry will no longer be Split.

Converting a Split Entry to a Normal Entry

To remove all records in the Split Entry window click on the "Clear" button.

Click on the "Done" button.

The Entry will no longer be Split and you can edit the Category and Debit or Credit fields as normal.

See also

Account Entries

Using Memorised Lists

VAT Amounts


Auto-set budget
Auto-set budget Command (Tools Menu)

This command analyses existing account Entries and uses the result to fill the Budget Spreadsheet. It is therefore only useful where account data has been maintained over a reasonable period of time, preferably at least 12 months.

Money Matters displays a setup dialog. This dialog is also used when setting up many graphs and reports.

Choose which accounts you want included in the analysis by clicking on the "Select accounts to include" button and making your selection in the Include dialog.

Similarly, select which groups and categories are to be used.

Choose a date range for the analysis, normally a 12 month period. If a shorter period is used a portion of the spreadsheet will remain empty. If a longer period is selected then amounts will be accumulated in duplicated months. For this reason it is recommended that the period covers 12 months or a multiple of 12 months.

The resulting Budget Spreadsheet will normally be a starting point for a new budget. All amounts should be reviewed and updated to reflect inflation and anticipated changes in spending patterns.

See also

Setup Dialogs

Working with Budgets

Budget Spreadsheet


Zero budget
Zero budget Command (Tools Menu)

Clears all amounts from the Budget Spreadsheet.

See also

Budget Spreadsheet

Working with Budgets


Fill budget row
Fill budget row Command (Tools Menu)

This command copies the amount in the Budget Spreadsheet field containing the cursor to all other fields in the same row. Any existing data in the row will be overwritten.

Use this command to speed up entry of regular budget amounts that are the same each month.

See also

Budget Spreadsheet

Working with Budgets


Find
Find Command (Tools Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keyboard:	Ctrl + F

Allows you to search the active account for a particular Entry based on field contents.

Money Matters displays the Find dialog.

Search direction

Select direction of search before entering any other information.

Find entry by...

You can select any Entry window field from the drop down list.

All searches are made on a single field.

The caption for the control to the right will vary according to the field selected. Similarly the type of control will also vary.

Field	Caption	Search Text
Date	"on or after the following..."	You must enter the text in the control (date).
Reference Description	"that contains the following..."	You can enter text or select from the memorised list by clicking on control.
Group Category Transfer Flg VAT	"that matches the following..."	You can only search on text selected from the memorised list. Click on the control to make your selection.
Debit Credit Balance Cleared	"that matches the following..."	You must enter the precise value to be found.
If the search is successful the window will scroll to place the found Entry at the top. If no match is found Money Matters displays a message. In this case the window scroll position is not affected.

See also

Find Next


Find next
Find next Command (Tools Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Searches for further occurrences of an Entry.

You must have already specified search criteria using the "Find" command.

If the search is successful the window will scroll to place the Entry at the top. If no match is found Money Matters displays a message. In this case the window scroll position is not affected.

See also

Find


Reconcile
Reconcile Command (Tools Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

This command attempts to automatically reconcile the active account against information you provide from an account statement. See also the alternative manual method.

Before using this command you should ensure that all transactions have been accurately entered into the account.

Check your statement for interest entries or charges and enter any that are missing from your account.

Use the Reconcile command and Money Matters will display the Reconcile dialog.

Enter the final balance and date from your statement. Be sure to include the minus sign if needed.

Start Button

Starts the reconcile process. The "working" icon and message will appear and a red bar will move to indicate progress.

The Entry window will show all Entries dated after the statement date in a different colour and with the Flag field showing "nc" (meaning "not cleared").

Money Matters will search for a match against your statement on a trial and error basis, and this can be a lengthy operation. During this search you can work with Money Matters as normal and carry out any command. For obvious reasons it is recommended that you do not make any changes or additions to the active account as this could confuse the Reconcile function!

Reconcile correctly recognises Entries that are already marked as "clr" or "hid" in the Flag field.

Money Matters limits the number of Entries examined by Reconcile. If no match is found when this limit is reached, the "No match found" icon and message are displayed.

If a match is found, all Entries that Reconcile believes have not cleared are flagged with "nc" in the Flag field.

If the results appear correct you should click on the Accept button.

If the results appear incorrect, you have three choices:

1.	Click on the Next button to search for an alternative match.

2.	Make any changes needed and start Reconcile again.

3.	Click on Cancel and use the manual technique.

Next Button

If a match with your statement is achieved this button continues the search for an alternative match.

Stop Button

Stops the Reconcile process. You can stop the command at any time without losing the statement information. The "Reconcile stopped" icon and message are displayed.

You can restart from the beginning using the Start button.

Accept Button

This button is only enabled if a match is found.

All Entries that have not been flagged with "nc" are now flagged with "clr" to indicate "cleared".

All "nc" flags are removed.

Cancel Button

All "nc" flags are removed. Entries will be restored to their original state.

Why Reconcile May Not Find a Match

There is an error in one or more of the Entry amounts.

There are Entries missing from the account.

There is an uncleared Entry outside the scope of Reconcile. Money Matters only examines the last 20 Entries before the statement date.

See also

Cleared Balance

Manual Reconcile

Flag Field


Rollup entries
Rollup entries Command (Tools Menu)

Over a period of time, your accounts will grow in size as the number of Entries increases. Large accounts can slow Money Matters down and take up a lot of memory. Using Rollup you can reduce the size of your accounts by discarding old Entries.

Money Matters displays the Rollup dialog.

Decide which Entries you want to keep in the current file and which can be discarded or saved to another file. Enter this rollup date in the dialog.

If you wish to save these old Entries to another file check the "Save rolled-up entries" button.

Click on OK or press Return.

Money Matters then deletes all Entries and Split Entries on or before that date. The opening balance in each account is then modified to compensate for the lost Entries. All other balance figures are therefore unchanged.

Note You cannot undo the effect of Rollup. If you don't save deleted Entries to another file then they will be lost. Check your settings before clicking on OK.

If you checked the "Save rolled-up entries" button, Money Matters displays the File Save As dialog. You should enter a new file name for the archived Entries. This new file contains the deleted Entries and Split Entries in their accounts, the Budget Spreadsheet for reference, and all memorised lists. No Standing Orders are saved since these would no longer be valid. The file also inherits the existing password (if any). It may be opened in the same way as any other data file and the Entries viewed as necessary.

When Rollup is complete save the new account data. You can continue with the existing file name as long as it is different to the file used for archiving the deleted Entries.


Loan calculator
Loan calculator Command (Tools Menu)

The Loan Calculator dialog will work out the repayments on a loan, or calculate the amount that you can borrow for a given regular payment.

To Calculate the Repayment

This example shows a mortgage loan

Enter the amount of the loan.

Enter any additional charges and the time interval for paying these. In the example these could be annual house insurance payments.

Enter the interest rate as a percentage.

Enter the period of the loan and the units, in this case 25 years.

Enter how often the repayments are to be paid, in this case monthly.

Click on the "Payment per period" button. The repayments will be shown in the highlighted box.

To Calculate How Much You Can Borrow

Again a mortgage example.

Enter anticipated details of the loan as before, starting with the additional charges and ending with the amount of the repayments you wish to make.

Click on the "Loan amount" button. The amount of the loan will be shown at the top of the dialog in the highlighted box.

Note The raised highlight indicates that this amount has been calculated. The highlight will disappear if any of the details are changed, and will reappear when a new amount is calculated. All calculated amounts are approximate.

If you have installed Loan Analyst, also from the GSP STAR Collection, then this can be run by clicking on the button "Run Loan Analyst". If you have installed this product to a directory other than C:\LOANCALC, Money Matters will display a dialog to allow you to enter the full directory name.


General
General command (Options Menu)

The General Options dialog allows you to change a variety of options.

Short date format

Sets the format used to display dates in Entry, Split entry, and Standing Order windows, and against Entries in reports.

Long date format

Sets the format used to display the date in the Net Worth Summary report sub-title.

Number format

Sets the thousands separator and the decimal separator characters. A sample of the format is updated as you change either of the characters.

File options

If "Auto-load account file" is checked, the account file last used before you exit is automatically opened when Money Matters is next run.

If "Create backup files" is checked, each time you save your data, the old data file on disc is renamed with the extension ".BAK"

Desktop

If "Save on file close" is checked, then the current desktop is saved whenever you open a different account file or exit Money Matters. The desktop includes the size and position of all windows and icons open in the Money Matters working area, and the positions of their scroll bars.

If "Load on file open" is checked, the saved desktop is automatically loaded whenever the account file is opened.

Miscellaneous

If "Auto-insert VAT rate" is checked, then entering a category in an Entry or Split Entry will automatically insert the VAT rate assigned to that category into the VAT field. This option is only active with accounts that show the VAT column.

If "Toolbar Quickhelp" is checked, a small window will appear next to a toolbar button whenever the mouse is moved over the button. The window displays a short help message on the function of the button.


Font
Font Command (Options Menu)

The font options allow you to select the fonts that are displayed in all Money Matters windows except those displaying reports.

Money Matters displays the Fonts dialog:

Font

Select a font from the list by clicking on it. The list should include all fonts installed on your computer.

Font Style

Select any special attributes you require. The usual selection here is "Regular".

Size

Select the point size required. The default is 8 point and this is optimum for standard VGA and SVGA screens. Larger sizes may be useful when working with higher resolutions.

See also

Page Layout


Colour selection
Colour selection Command (Options Menu)

Selects the colours that are used to display various parts of a view.

To Change the Colour of an Item

Click on the name of the item whose colour you wish to change in the "Graph plots and bars" or "Miscellaneous items" sections.

Click on the new colour in the "Colour palette" section. This colour will appear next to the name.

Click on "OK" to accept the new colours.

You can click on "Apply" to see the effect of the colour change in the windows currently open. If you then decide to abandon the changes you can click on "Cancel" and the original colours will be restored.

Colour palette

Displays the Money Matters palette. These colours may be modified using the Customise colours command.

Graph plots and bars

The "Positive" colour is used in the Balance Graph for normal balances, and in the Net worth Graph for credit amounts.

The "Negative" colour is used by the Net Worth graph for debit amounts.

The "Left" and "Right" colours are used in graphs that display bars in pairs (Budget/Actual or Income/Expenditure).

Miscellaneous items

These are generally self-explanatory, but note the following:

"Low balance 1" and "2" are used to display balance amounts in the Entry window that are below the limits set in the Account Details dialog. They are also used to display these balance levels in the Balance Graph.

"Flagged entries" are those highlighted as "nc" (not cleared) by the Reconcile command.

The "Headings" colour is also used by the Budget Spreadsheet background and the selection bars.

Note Colours selected from the Page Layout dialog are not affected by this command.

See also

Account Details

Using Graphs

Customising Colours


Customise colours
Customise colours Command (Options Menu)

Allows colours in the Money Matters palette to be modified. This palette is used to determine the colour of all views.

The colour used in reports is set by the font options selected from the Page Layout dialog and is not affected by changes in the palette.

To Change a Colour

Click on the colour you wish to change in the "Colour palette" section.

Using the scroll bars, alter the RGB values until the desired colour is seen in the "Colour" sample box. The RGB values are displayed below the scroll bars.

Clicking on the "Default" button restores the default Money Matters palette without affecting any other options.

Note Colours set from the Page Layout dialog are not affected by this command.

See also

Colour Selection

Restore Defaults

Page Layout


Show cleared balance
Show cleared balance Command (Options Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Controls the display of the cleared balance field below the normal balance field in the Entry window. The button and the menu entry toggle the display on/off.

Colour highlighting of cleared Entries is used in the same way as for the balance field.

Uncleared or hidden Entry amounts are shown in grey.

See also

Balance Field

Flag field

Manual Reconcile


Show logo toolbox
Show logo toolbox Command (Options Menu)

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Toggles the display of the account logo toolbox on/off. This toolbox allows you to customise the account buttons by copying a design from a selection of images. These designs include UK banks, building societies, and credit cards, together with a number of general images.

To Copy an Image to an Account Button

Click on the account button to select it.

Click on the chosen design in the Logo Toolbox to select it.

Note Both sets of buttons toggle on/off, and must be on for this command to work.

Click on the Copy button in the toolbox.

Account button designs may be changed any number of times.

If you have access to a suitable resource editor you can customise the bottom row of buttons to your design. These can then be used in your account files.

See also

Account Bar

New Account


Restore defaults
Restore defaults Command (Options Menu)

Restores default values to the following options:

Option	Default Value
Screen font.	MS Sans Serif 8 point
Cleared balance field.	Off
Logo toolbox.	Not visible
Colour palette.	Money Matters default
Colour selection.	Money Matters default
Margin measurement units.	Windows setup default
Margins.	Left: 0.75" or 20mm Top: 1.00" or 25mm Right: 0.50" or 15mm Bottom: 1.00" or 25mm
Printer fonts.	Titles: Times New Roman 14 point Bold Italic Headings: Arial 8 point Bold (graphs & net worth report 10 point) Body: Arial 8 point (graphs & net worth report 10 point)
Auto-load last account data file.	Yes
Auto-load desktop.	Yes
Save desktop on close.	Yes
Backup files.	Yes
Auto-insert VAT from category.	Yes
Toolbar QuickHelp.	Yes
Date formats.	DD/MM/YY (short) DD MONTH YEAR (long)
Number format.	1,234.56


Load options
Load options Command (Options Menu)

Loads any options settings that have been previously saved to disc. This also occurs automatically each time Money Matters is run.

All displays are automatically updated.

See also

Save Options

Restore Defaults


Save options
Save options Command (Options Menu)

Saves the current options settings to disc. These are saved in a file named "mmopt.cfg".

The Restore Defaults topic lists the items covered under the subject of options.

See also

Load options

Restore Defaults


Save desktop
Save desktop Command (Options Menu)

Shortcuts

Keyboard:	Alt + D

Saves the current desktop to disc. A desktop is always associated with its account data file and carries the name of that file with the extension ".WLD".

The following data is saved:

A list of views and reports currently open, and the order in which these appear on the screen..

For each window the desktop file records:

Its size and position.

The position of the scroll bars.

Key information to allow Money Matters to recreate its contents.

Note You should ensure that any unsaved changes to the accounts are saved when you save the desktop. If this is not done, when Money Matters is next run the desktop may attempt to display information no longer in the accounts.

See also

General Options


Tile
Tile Command (Window Menu)

Resizes and positions view and report windows to fill the workspace in a tiled manner. A sub-menu with further options for window tiling is displayed

Horizontal

This maximises window width, and stacks vertically.

Vertical

This maximises window height, and stacks horizontally.


Cascade
Cascade Command (Window Menu)

Arranges windows in the workspace in a staggered overlapping sequence.


Arrange icons
Arrange icons Command (Window Menu)

Arranges any view and report icons in rows at the bottom of the workspace.


Account Bar

The account bar is positioned immediately below the toolbar and is used to select the account with which many of the menu or toolbar commands operate.

Money Matters supports up to 40 separate accounts. Each account bar can display up to 10 account buttons so there can be up to 4 account bars.

Only one of these will be visible at a time. To display the next account bar click on the scroll button. Empty bars are not displayed.

Clicking on an account button will cause that button to stay selected and all others to be released. An account must be selected before any account specific windows may be opened.

Shortcut

Clicking on an unselected account button with the right mouse button will immediately open its Entry window.

See also

New Account

Show Logo Toolbox


Print Tiling

Tiling refers to the process of printing large documents on multiple sheets of paper that can extend both vertically and horizontally to form a grid.


Active Account

This is the account displayed in the top Entry, Standing Order, or Balance Graph window. If none of these windows is top then there is no active account.


cleared balances
Cleared Balance

The cleared balance appears immediately below the normal balance for each Entry. It is similar to the normal balance except that it only includes Entries that you have cleared (possibly against a known statement) by marking them clr in the Flg field.


Top Window

When more than one window is visible on the screen at the same time, the top window is active and appears in front of any other overlapping windows.


Record

A record is a complete Entry, Split Entry, or Standing Order.


Field

A field is a single cell within an Entry, Split Entry, Standing Order, or Budget Spreadsheet.


Using the Clipboard

The clipboard is a Windows facility that allows you to transfer information from one part of Money Matters to another, or between Money Matters and another application.

There are three types of information that you can transfer using the clipboard.

Text

You can move text between editable fields in any Money Matters window (except the Budget Spreadsheet) or to/from another application in either direction. Text to be copied or cut to the clipboard should first be selected with the edit cursor. When inserting text into a Money Matters field you must take care not to exceed the maximum length of text allowed in that field.

Records

You may cut or copy complete records to the clipboard by first selecting them with the mouse. Records may only be pasted into windows of the same type (e.g. Entries into Entry windows etc).

Exchange of records with other applications is not supported.

Graphics

You may copy any graph to the clipboard and paste it into another application such as a word processor or spreadsheet. The graph is stored on the clipboard both as a Windows Metafile and as a bitmap. No background colour is copied.

Graphs copied to the clipboard use the default Windows system palette instead of the custom Money Matters palette. This means that some colours that appeared solid in Money Matters may appear dithered when pasted into other applications.

 For graphs, the Cut menu command is disabled and the Cut toolbar button performs the same function as Copy. There is no corresponding facility to paste graphs into Money Matters.

See also

Account Entries

Standing Orders

Cut

Copy

Paste

Selecting Records


Date Field
Entry Date Field

Contains the date of the Entry.

You must enter the day and month in the order set by the short date format in the General Options dialog.

You may separate the day, month, and year with a minus "-", space, slash "/", or underscore "_" character. When you move the cursor to another field the separator character will change to that selected in the General Option dialog.

You do not always need to type the whole date.

You Enter	Date Used
20/11/94	20/11/94
20/11	20/11/this-year
20	20/this-month/this-year
If the selected date format places the month first and you enter just one number, Money Matters will take this as the day and will fill in the other numbers as before.

If an invalid or blank date is entered, the field will display "__/__/__".

See also

General Options


Reference Field

This field can contain any text up to a maximum of 8 characters. You would typically use this to record cheque number, invoice number or transaction type.

Money Matters maintains a list of memorised references that are checked for possible matches as you type into the field. Clicking the right mouse button in the field will display the list. See the section on memorised lists for more information.

 As a special feature Money Matters searches for the last Entry that has a number in the reference field. It then calculates the next number in the sequence and inserts it at the top of the memorised list. Any leading zeros are maintained.

For example, if the last cheque number used was 000318, pressing 0 in the reference field of your new Entry would automatically fill in 000319.

See also

Using Memorised Lists


Group Field

Using the group field you can classify Entries in an account into different types. This can be useful for example if you operate your own small business with the same account as your personal transactions.

Most graphs and reports allow you to choose which groups they include. Thinking about the reports that you would find most useful may help to decide the contents of the group field.

Money Matters maintains a list of memorised groups that are checked for possible matches as you type into the field. Clicking the right mouse button in the field will display the list. See the section on memorised lists for more information.

Note that the content of the group field is restricted to those items in the memorised list.

This field may be left blank, making the Entry "ungrouped". Ungrouped Entries may be specifically included or excluded in many graphs and reports.

See also

Using Graphs

Using Reports

Using Memorised Lists


Description Field

This field can contain any text up to a maximum of 60 characters on 2 lines. This would normally be a description of the Entry or the name of the payee.

The text will automatically wrap to the second line when it is too long to fit on one line.

To manually start a new line press either Shift+Return or Ctrl+Return.

Money Matters maintains a list of memorised descriptions that are checked for possible matches as you type into the field. Clicking the right mouse button in the field will display the list. See the section on memorised lists for more information.

See also

Using Memorised Lists


Category Field

This field allows you to label each Entry according to its area of expenditure or income. Typical categories include

Cash	Clothes

Groceries	Gas

Transport	Electricity

You can use categories to track your spending in more detail.

Using categories you can compare your spending against a budget.

You can generally choose which categories to include in graphs and reports.

Money Matters maintains a list of memorised categories that are checked for possible matches as you type into the field. Clicking the right mouse button in the field will display the list. See the section on memorised lists for more information.

If the record is a Split Entry, the field contents will be "--Split Entry--". In this case clicking on the field will open the Split Entry window.

Note that the content of the category field is restricted to those items in the memorised list.

This field may be left blank, making the Entry "uncategorised". Uncategorised Entries may be specifically included or excluded in many graphs and reports.

See also

Working with Budgets

Using Graphs

Using Reports

Using Memorised Lists

Split Entries


Transfer Field

This field is used when transferring an Entry to another account, and contains the account name.

Transfer direction icons are added to the field when the cursor is moved to another record. This example shows a transfer from "Bank" account to "Visa" account.

Source Entry in "Bank" account	Destination Entry in "Visa" account
The transfer field behaves in the same manner as other fields with memorised lists. As you type, Money Matters will look for a possible match against existing account names. Alternatively, you can click the right mouse button in the field to display a list of accounts. Clicking on a name from the list will add it to the field.

See also

Transfers Between Accounts

Using Memorised Lists


Flag Field

The flag field is used to mark Entries with special attributes.

By default this field is initially blank, but can have the following contents.

clr	Signifies that this Entry has been "cleared" against a known statement. The value of the Entry is included in the cleared balance field.

Flag may be toggled by clicking in the field with the left mouse button.

hid	Entry is hidden. A record of the Entry remains visible in the account but its value is not included in any balance figure or in any view or report. Hidden Entries are coloured (if colour highlighting enabled).

Flag may be toggled by clicking in the field with the right mouse button.

nc	Used by the Reconcile command to mark Entries that have not cleared against the known statement. This flag is always removed when the Auto-Reconcile dialog is closed.

See also

Show Cleared Balance

Reconcile


Debit and Credit Fields

This is where you type the Entry amount. Use the Debit field for Entries that decrease the balance and the Credit field for Entries that increase the balance.

The maximum amount that you can enter is limited to 9,999,999.99.

Money Matters will emit a beep and prevent you from typing more than 7 digits before the decimal point.

Sign characters will be ignored.

The first character entered in the Debit field will clear any existing amount in the Credit field and vice versa.

The balance fields will be updated when you move the cursor to another Entry.

See also

VAT Amounts


Balance Field

Displays the current balance in your account after the value of the Entry has been included (unless Entry is hidden).

When an Entry is changed, the balance is updated when the cursor is moved to another Entry.

The colour of the balance figure depends on its amount and the warning levels set in the Account Details dialog (if colour highlighting is enabled).

See also

Cleared Balances

Account Details


Using Memorised Lists

Using memorised lists you can store the contents of certain fields and quickly insert them into new Entries, so saving time.

Money Matters stores memorised lists for the following fields:

Reference

Group

Description

Category

VAT

There are two ways to use a list to fill a field.

Automatic Filling as You Type

As you type in a field, Money Matters looks for a match with any of the items in the relevant list. If one is found Money Matters automatically adds the remainder of the text and selects it. If more than one matching item is found, Money Matters uses the first match encountered.

If you continue typing this selected text will be removed and Money Matters will look for new matches. If none are found, no extra text will be added to the field.

You can stop typing as soon as you have the field contents you want.

Using the Mouse to Fill a Field

Click the right mouse button in the field to see the memorised list for that field.

Scroll the list if necessary to find the item you want.

Using the left mouse button, click on an item in the list to transfer it to the field.

The list will disappear when you click the left mouse button or move the cursor to another field.

Default Lists

When you start a new account file Money Matters supplies you with a default set of memorised lists for all of the above fields except "Description".

Customising a List

You can modify any existing item in a list, delete it, or add new items using the commands in the Lists menu.

You can add the contents of the field containing the cursor with the Tools|Memorise field command.

Note If you use this method to add to the category list, the new item will be an expenditure category by default. You can use the Lists menu commands to modify this if required.

See also

Reference List

Group List

Description List

Category List

VAT List

Memorise Field

Memorised List Dialogs


Selecting Records

Entry and Standing Order windows have a vertical selection bar on the left.

You typically select records when using the clipboard or the Delete Item command.

Selected records have a coloured background.

The number of selected records is displayed on the status bar.

Selection Areas

To select a record click on its selection area.

To select multiple individual records click on their selection areas with the Ctrl key pressed.

To select a range of records select the first record and then with the Shift key pressed select the last. All intervening records will be selected.

Alternatively, hold down the mouse button over the first record's selection area and drag the mouse up or down to add more records to the selection. The window will scroll if necessary provided some mouse movement is maintained.

Cancel

Clicking on this area cancels all record selections and removes the edit cursor from the current window.

Clicking on an editable field also cancels any current selections.

Making a new selection automatically cancels any existing one.

See also

Using the Clipboard

Delete Item

Status Bar


VAT Field

This field is used to display the VAT rate that applies to the Entry.

VAT rates are displayed as a mnemonic of up to 7 characters (e.g. "Std" for "Standard"). Money Matters maintains a list of memorised rates that are checked for possible matches as you type into the field. Clicking the right mouse button in the field will display the list. See the section on memorised lists for more information.

This field is only visible if "Show VAT column" is enabled in the Account Details dialog. Disabling this option does not affect any VAT rates already entered.

If the record is a Split entry and at least one of the splits is assigned a VAT rate, then this field will display "--Split--".

VAT rates may also be linked to categories. When such a category is entered, the corresponding VAT rate is automatically inserted provided that the VAT column is enabled. The field may be further edited if required.

See also

Account Details

Using Memorised Lists

Split Entries

VAT Rates

VAT Amounts


Start Date Field

Contains the date of the first regular payment.

You must enter the day and month in the order set by the short date format in the General Options dialog.

You may separate the day, month, and year with a minus "-", space, slash "/", or underscore "_" character. When you move the cursor to another field the separator character will change to that selected in the General Option dialog.

You do not always need to type the whole date.

You Enter	Date Used
20/11/94	20/11/94
20/11	20/11/year now
20	20/month now/year now
If the selected date format places the month first and you enter just one number, Money Matters will take this as the day and will fill in the other numbers as before.

If an invalid or blank date is entered, the field will display "__/__/__".

You may not change the Start date after the first payment has been executed.

You are free to use any valid date as a Start date including those of the 29th, 30th, or 31st of the month; Money Matters will handle the actual payment dates intelligently. For example, a Start date of 31st January will also be payed on 28th February, 31st March, 30th April, and so on.

See also

General Options


Finish Date Field

Contains the date of the last regular payment.

You can leave this field left blank. If no date is entered payments will continue indefinitely.

You must enter the day and month in the order set by the short date format in the General Options dialog.

You may separate the day, month, and year with a minus "-", space, slash "/", or underscore "_" character. When you move the cursor to another field the separator character will change to that selected in the General Option dialog.

You do not always need to type the whole date.

You Enter	Date Used
20/11/94	20/11/94
20/11	20/11/year now
20	20/month now/year now
If the selected date format places the month first and you enter just one number, Money Matters will take this as the day and will fill in the other numbers as before.

If an invalid date is entered, the field will be blanked.

See also

General Options


Interval field

Contains the interval between payments.

Money Matters maintains a list of memorised intervals that are checked for possible matches as you type into the field. Clicking the right mouse button in the field will display the list. See the section on memorised lists for more information.

You may only select intervals from the memorised list

The default interval is 1 month.

If the interval "Single" is selected, only one payment will be made on the Start date. A finish date is unnecessary.

See also

Using Memorised Lists


Moving Fields

You can move the cursor to between fields by clicking with the mouse or by using the keyboard.

Tab or Return	Move to next field

Shift+Tab	Move to previous field

Up Arrow	Move to same field in previous record

Down Arrow	Move to same field in next record

If necessary, the window will automatically scroll to bring the new field into view. Note that the cursor will skip non-editable fields.


Using Reports

Overview

Reports allow you to examine your finances in a more detailed numerical way, allowing you to identify problem areas and causes.

Money Matters can generate 6 types of report.

The simplest of these is the Net Worth Summary that lists the balance in each account on a particular date and shows the overall total.

The Monthly Budget Comparison totals the value of your transactions in each category and compares this against the corresponding budget amounts.

The Entry List produces a consolidated list of Entries across any number of accounts, and also allows you to filter those Entries you want to see by category and group.

The Income and Expenditure Detail provides all of the facilities of the Entry List report but also separates Entries into expenditure and income sections and provides totals in each case.

The VAT Detail lists Entries that have VAT rates assigned to them and shows net, gross, and VAT amounts. Entries are separated into "outputs" and "inputs" and are sub-totalled monthly.

The VAT Summary shows the monthly totals under each VAT rate for "outputs" and "inputs", together with overall totals information. This report is designed to help when filling in a VAT return form.

You can scroll reports horizontally and vertically if required. The report title and sub-title are always centred in the window.

The fonts and colours used in the window are the same as those used when printing. These can be modified using the Print Layout dialog.

Reports can be quite large both horizontally and vertically, depending on the information included, font size, and paper size. When printing, Money Matters will if necessary tile the printout over several sheets of paper. The title and sub-title will only appear on the first page.

Setting Up a Report

When you open a report window Money Matters displays a setup dialog. The exact appearance of this will vary according to the report but it will always allow you to specify a date range and which accounts to include. Most reports also allow you to further restrict which Entries are included in the analysis by specifying particular groups and categories.

See also

Setting up Graphs and Reports

Printing

Net worth summary report

Monthly budget comparison report

Entry list report

Income and expenditure detail report

VAT detail report

VAT summary report


Memorised List Dialogs

All memorised list dialogs share the same controls.

Close	Closes the dialog.

Use	Inserts the currently selected list item into the Entry or Standing Order field containing the cursor.

New	Opens the Edit dialog to add a new item to the list.

Edit	Opens the Edit dialog to modify the currently selected list item.

Delete	Deletes the currently selected list item.

List items are always displayed in alphabetical order.

List Edit dialogs are specific to the list type. Each has controls that allow you to enter text or select options to define a list item.

Edit dialogs are displayed with all controls cleared in response to a "New" command.

Edit dialogs are displayed with controls set to the currently selected list item in response to an "Edit" command.

Click on OK to action an edit or to add a new item. Click on cancel to abandon the action.


Manual Reconcile

You can rapidly reconcile an account against a statement directly in the Entry window.

Turn on the Cleared balance field by clicking on the menu command or the toolbar button.

Ensure that the cleared balance currently shown matches the opening balance on your statement. This should be correct if you have reconciled the previous statement. If not, you must work through previous statements until the amounts correspond.

Work through each transaction in your statement and find the corresponding Entry in the account.

Click in the Flag field with the left mouse button to mark the Entry "clr". You will see that the amount of the Entry is now included in the Cleared balance figures.

Add any missing Entries as they are discovered. Don't forget to flag them as cleared.

When all statement entries have been checked the final cleared balance should agree with your statement.

See also

Automatic Reconcile

Cleared Balance

Flag Field


VAT Amounts

For accounts that show the VAT column:

By default, all amounts entered are assumed to be inclusive of VAT. These are the gross amounts in VAT reports. VAT and net amounts are calculated from these gross amounts when the report is produced.

You can enter net amounts at any time by typing the letter "n" immediately before the number. When you move the cursor to another record the amount entered is replaced by the gross amount based on the current VAT rate. This means that you must already have a VAT rate entered for that record.

For example:

becomes

These features are available in the Debit and Credit fields in Entry windows, and in the Amount field in Split Entry windows. In the Split Entry window the letter must precede any sign, e.g. "n-100".

See also

VAT Rates

VAT Field


Icons

An icon is a small movable image displayed when a window is minimised.


Filter

Filtering is the process of including certain Entries in a graph or report and excluding others.


Example Files

Money Matters is shipped with two example files:

example.mny

This contains a typical current bank account, savings account, and credit card account. These demonstrate the use of Split Entries, transfers, and Standing Orders. There are sufficient Entries to produce representative views and reports.

exmpl_st.mny

This is a copy of the example file supplied with PFM Plus for the Atari ST, and is in ST format. The only change is that standing orders have been given finish dates.

This can be used to demonstrate the conversion of ST files into Money Matters format.


VAT Rates

VAT amounts appear in Entries, Split Entries, and Standing Orders as a names of up to 7 characters. Typical examples include:

Std	Exempt	Zero

Changing the VAT Name

Using the List VAT command select the VAT rate to change and click on the Edit button.

In the Edit dialog type the new name in the Code field.

The new name will appear wherever the old name was used. This will not alter the numerical VAT rate.

Changing the VAT Rate

Using the List VAT command select the VAT rate to change and click on the Edit button.

In the Edit dialog type the new rate in the Rate% field.

The new rate will be used in all calculations for VAT reports.

Changing a VAT Rate from a Date

If you change the rate associated with a VAT name then all occurrences of that rate will change. If you want to change a rate without affecting existing records (e.g. to accommodate changes in legislation)

Using the List VAT command click on the New button.

Enter details of the new rate in the dialog

Use this new rate as required in future records.

If you want to use the old name for the new rate you must rename the old rate before you enter the new rate.

Tip If you rename the old rate to be its numeric value, you will be able to identify it easily in Entry windows and reports.

See also

Using Memorised Lists

VAT List


Including incoming transfers

By default, graph and reports do not include the destination part of a transferred Entry. In most cases however, you can choose to include these by checking the button "Include incoming transfers" in the Setup dialog.

If incoming transfers are included and the graph or report includes both the source and destination accounts, then both the expenditure amount and an identical income amount will be included in the analysis. These may appear separately (e.g. as in an income-expenditure report) or they may simply cancel each other out (e.g. as in a budget comparison graph).

A graph or report that includes incoming transfers can differ significantly from one that does not. Both can be valid; the choice depends on how you run the accounts and how you wish to analyse the data. These comments also apply to the Auto-set budget command.

Consider these two examples.

Example 1

You have a current account and a savings account.

Each month you transfer a fixed sum from your current account to your savings account.

Most transactions are paid out of the current account.

Special purchases are sometimes paid out of the savings account.

You have created a budget for your current account that includes the regular savings amount.

You want graphs and reports to include both accounts.

Your main interest is in the current account. By not including incoming transfers you can compare actual spending against budget (if incoming transfers were included the savings amounts would appear to be zero). Any activity in the savings account would also appear in the graph or report.

Example 2

You again have two accounts.

You actively use both accounts for everyday transactions.

You occasionally transfer funds from one account to the other to avoid charges.

In this case the accounts are effectively treated as one. You prepared a budget on this basis and include both accounts in graphs and reports with no particular significance attached to transfers. Incoming transfers should be included here so that source and destination Entry amounts cancel.

Special Cases

If one of the accounts in a transfer has a day set into its "Move entries after day..." control in the Account details dialog, then the two parts of the transfer may be separated in time. For example, a payment made to pay off a credit card will show as an expenditure in one month but may not appear as a corresponding credit until the next month.