Share Gallery 1

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

/ Share Gallery 1 / share_gal_1.zip / share_gal_1 / BF / BF035.ZIP / PCDOC220.EXE / lha / PART2 < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1988-09-25 | 64KB | 1,358 lines

TUTORIAL DISK SETUP This is a step by step guide on how to use the tutorial for the PC-ACCOUNT accounting system. The PC-ACCOUNT distribution disk has three months of test data that you can use to become familiar with PC-ACCOUNT. However, you should never run programs from the PC-ACCOUNT distribution disk, but from a work disk. That way, you will always have the data files in the original, unchanged condition. First you will set up a tutorial work disk or directory for the tutorial programs and data files. Then NEWTUTOR.BAT will copy the necessary files and programs from the PC-ACCOUNT distribution disk. SETUP FOR TUTORIAL ON A FLOPPY DISK Format a new disk on which you will use the TUTORIAL. See the FORMAT command in your DOS manual. If you intend to use the TUTORIAL in drive A, copy COMMAND.COM from your DOS disk to the newly formatted disk. Place a write protect tab on the PC-ACCOUNT distribution disk and insert it into drive A. Place the formatted disk into drive B. Make drive B the default drive. You should have the B> prompt. Enter the command: A:NEWTUTOR NEWTUTOR will copy programs and data files from the PC-ACCOUNT distribution disk in drive A to your TUTORIAL disk in drive B. SETUP FOR TUTORIAL ON A HARD DISK Place a write protect tab on the PC-ACCOUNT distribution disk and insert it into drive A. Create a new directory on your hard disk for the TUTORIAL with the DOS command: MKDIR name Make this directory the default directory with the CD command. See the DOS manual for the description of these commands. Enter the command: A:NEWTUTOR NEWTUTOR will copy programs and data files from the PC-ACCOUNT distribution disk in drive A to your hard disk. -6- TUTORIAL TUTORIAL GUIDELINES The tutorial uses the actual PC-ACCOUNT program. You will not be restricted in what you can do. You can skip around and try features of PC-ACCOUNT in any order. The tutorial procedures will be in this text only, not in the program. However, PC-ACCOUNT has a built in help facility to remind you of the commands available in each section. You may also wish to refer to the PC-ACCOUNT reference card at the end of this manual. The tutorial does not have to be completed in one session or in sequence. You may skip to sections that interest you. You may exit the program at any time, and restart where you left off or anywhere else. This tutorial will demonstrate how to start PC-ACCOUNT, how to display the account and calendar screens, and how to use many of the features of this system. STARTING THE PROGRAM Make the drive that has the tutorial work disk the default drive. Start the program by entering the command GO After you have read the title screen, press any key and PC-ACCOUNT will display the main menu for the ten major sections. Note the statement above the menu: PRESS FUNCTION KEY 4 FOR LIST OF FUNCTIONS. Press function key 4 now, and the screen will display: FUNCTION KEY ASSIGNMENTS 1 - DISPLAY ACCOUNTS 1 TO 40 2 - DISPLAY ACCOUNTS 41 TO 75 3 - DISPLAY CALENDAR 4 - DISPLAY FUNCTION KEY LIST 5 - SPECIAL EXIT MODES 6 - CHANGE SCREEN COLORS 7 - TOGGLE OUTPUT - SCREEN, PRINTER, FILE, 123.PRN 8 - TOGGLE STATUS LINE ON/OFF 9 - SCROLL WINDOWS DOWN 10 - SCROLL WINDOWS UP If you want to print a copy of this list, turn your printer on and press the SHIFT PRTSC keys. You may do this at anytime to print any screen. When you are in a function key routine, none of the -7- TUTORIAL other function keys are operative. Touch the space bar now to return to the main menu. If you would like to change the color combination of the display, or you cannot read the text on the screen, press function key 6 for the routine to change the display colors. If you have a monochrome monitor, select 7 for the foreground and 0 for the background. Experiment with the colors to find what you like. White on blue (7 and 1) is a pleasant combination. Whatever combination you select will be recorded in the file named CONTROL so that the next time you run PC-ACCOUNT, it will use your selected colors. Press function key 3. This displays four months of the calendar. The month in today's date is always the top month on the right. Touch the space bar to return. Press function key 8 twice to activate the status information on the 25th line. Look at the 25th line of the screen. The month spelled out is the accounting month that is the current month saved in the Control file or the month that is currently being processed. It is December 1985 for the test data. When searching through many months, that value will change as each month is processed to indicate which month is being searched. The numeric date on the 25th line is the date that PC-ACCOUNT obtained from the DOS. You may change it by using a command we will see laterin the ACCOUNTING section. If you do not like to see this line, function key 8 will turn it off for you. Try it. Press function key 8 again, and the line comes back. For now, make sure that status line is on for the next activity. Since PC-ACCOUNT is a data base, you will be retrieving transaction data to use later. The output produced by some commands can be directed to the screen, the printer, an ASCII file or to a file readable by Lotus 1-2-3. Appendix A clearly explains how to get Lotus 1-2-3 to read this data. Press function key 7 four times and watch line 25. This is how to direct where the output will go. A blank space on the 25th line where the TO PRINTER was indicates that the output is directed to the screen. CAUTION: Your printer must be turned on and on-line whenever you issue a directed command and TO PRINTER is selected. Otherwise, the system may lock up and you may have to reboot. If this ever happens and you cannot turn the printer on, wait about a minute and the error may time out and return to the program. Press function key 5. This is the Special Exit Modes function. By entering Q, you will QUIT PC-ACCOUNT without saving data that has not yet been written to disk. This is an emergency exit to prevent saving bad data. Or you may return to DOS by entering D, which will leave PC-ACCOUNT resident. Or resume PC-ACCOUNT by entering R. -8- TUTORIAL Press R now. A word about defaults. When PC-ACCOUNT prompts for data, it sometimes presents what it expects that you will want to enter (this is called the default value), or another option such as QUIT, in brackets []. It may also display a range of acceptable values in parens (). To chose the default value, press the return key. Notice that QUIT is the default for the prompt of the main menu. This is the normal way to exit PC-ACCOUNT and many of its routines. Note, to select QUIT, you must only press RETURN and not enter the word QUIT. PC-ACCOUNT lets you create files of check payees and a directory of search codes with names. When you have the need to see either of these lists, PC-ACCOUNT opens a window to display them. Function keys 9 and 10 then become operative to scroll the lists in the windows. Function keys 9 & 10 are used instead of the up and down arrows because you will be using the numeric keypad to enter numbers. PC-ACCOUNT automatically turns the NumLock ON for you when it starts, and then turns it OFF when you exit. That takes care of all but the first two function keys. They are inoperable now because they only work in the ACCOUNTING, EDIT STANDARD TRANSACTIONS, and SEARCH THROUGH MANY MONTHS sections. You can press them now, but nothing will happen. You may use any of these function keys at any time. When you use a function while in the process of entering data, you will return to the exact place from where you left. Any data entered before pressing the function key will still be there and need not be entered again. This feature is very useful for viewing account data while entering transactions. The normal way to leave PC-ACCOUNT is to take the default option [QUIT] from the main menu and press RETURN. Do not do it now unless you want to quit PC-ACCOUNT. Notice the cursor. It is a full rectangle. Sometimes it will be only a line. The full rectangle cursor is a signal to you that as soon as you enter a character, PC-ACCOUNT will act on it. You do not have to press the return key. This will be demonstrated in a moment. When the cursor is a line, you can press more keys or you must press the return key to enter the data. Also note that when entering a command letter or answering a yes or no question, PC-ACCOUNT will accept either upper or lower case letters. PC-ACCOUNT was designed for ease of use. Since this is an accounting system, you will want to use the numeric keypad on the right side of the IBM keyboard. PC-ACCOUNT sets the NumLock ON when it starts, so the numeric keypad is always ready for you to enter -9- TUTORIAL numbers. When you exit PC-ACCOUNT, the NumLock is turned OFF. PC-ACCOUNT does not use any of the cursor positioning keys. So get in the habit of making all menu selections and entering all numbers with your right hand on the numeric keypad. The following is the main PC-ACCOUNT menu. 1 - ACCOUNTING 2 - EDIT CHECK PAYEES 3 - EDIT STANDARD TRANSACTIONS 4 - SEARCH THROUGH MANY MONTHS 5 - CHECKBOOK ANALYSIS 6 - SETUP CHECK FORMAT 7 - DELETE DIRECTED FILES 8 - EDIT SEARCH CODES 9 - PRINT REGISTRATION FORM I - INITIALIZATION PARMAETERS ENTER SELECTION [QUIT]? This menu indicates the major sections of PC-ACCOUNT. The cursor on your screen is a rectangle. This means that as soon as you enter a digit from 1 to 9 or I, PC-ACCOUNT will immediately proceed to that section. If you enter any other key, other than a function key or return, nothing will happen. ACCOUNTING Enter 1 to select ACCOUNTING from the master menu. PC-ACCOUNT immediately acts on it. Press RETURN to accept the positive default to the question about the December files. (Note, for this prompt and this prompt only, you may enter the number 1 for yes instead of the letter Y. This makes it easy to select the current accounting period directly from the title screen by entering 111.) You are now looking at the screen from which you will use PC-ACCOUNT the most. In the center of the screen is the prompt ENTER COMMAND? In the lower part of the screen is the list of the commands that can be executed in this section. Use Function keys 9 and 10 to scroll through this list. The top of the screen is the work area. The test data for the tutorial is from the last three months of 1985. That is why you will see December 1985 as the accounting month at the beginning of the screen and the current date to the right of it. Ignore this for now and it will be discussed later. -10- TUTORIAL Before we try any of the commands, I know you want to try the first two function keys. Go ahead, press function key 1. You will see the data for the first 40 accounts. Only a few are being used. For each account, the account number, account name, last months balance and the current balance are displayed. Press the space bar to return to the command screen, and then press function key 2. Here are accounts 41 through 75 and two special accounts. Account 76 is the sum of the first 60 accounts which are referred to as ASSET accounts. Account 77 is the sum of accounts 61 through 75 and are called BANK accounts. The sum of the asset accounts will always equal the sum of the bank accounts. Press the space bar to return to the command screen. Look at the help display. There are two columns of commands. Enter the letter to select the command. Some commands have an asterisk between the letter and the command function. Press function key 10 to scroll to the bottom of the Help list. At the bottom of the right hand help list is the statement * DIRECTED OUTPUT. This means that for commands with the asterisk, the output can be directed to the screen, the printer, an ASCII file or a 1-2-3 file. The direction is selected by function key 7 as stated earlier. The following is a complete list of the commands: A * DISPLAY ACCOUNTS B BUDGET C CHANGE DATE D DELETE A TRANSACTION E EDIT A TRANSACTION F * FIND ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR AN ACCOUNT G * GET ALL TRANSACTIONS FOR AN AMOUNT H * HELP I INSERT TRANSACTIONS J * SEARCH BY CHECK NUMBER L LAST TRANSACTION NUMBER M MOVE & SAVE DATA FOR A NEW PERIOD N NAME AN ACCOUNT O * MULTIPLE CONDITION QUERY P PRINT A CHECK Q SAVE DATA AND EXIT R * RETRIEVE TRANSACTIONS FOR A CODE S * SEARCH COMMENTS T * DISPLAY TRANSACTIONS U UPDATE FILES (SAVE DATA) V * VERIFY ACCOUNT TOTALS W REWRITE SCREEN X SAVE DATA AND EXIT Y * SKIP LINE OR PAGE Z DISPLAY STATUS DATA * DIRECTED OUTPUT -11- TUTORIAL At the end of this manual there are reference pages that contain the main menu, this list of commands and other information. Notice that the cursor is a full rectangle. Only a single character can now be entered. If the character entered is not a command character or a function key, nothing will happen, except that there will be a beep and any data in the top portion of the screen will be erased. Sometimes it is convenient to erase the top of the screen just by touching the space bar. The command letter can be entered in either upper or lower case. To exit this section, you will enter a Q or an X. Do not do it now unless you want to quit. When you do enter a Q or X, PC-ACCOUNT will save the transactions and accounts if any data has been added or changed. The tutorial will take you through the commands in the order of increasing complexity. Press L. That displays the last transaction number so you know how many transactions you have entered this month. The A command appear to be trivial because the same information can be found quicker with function keys 1 and 2. However, the output can be directed elsewhere, which makes this command very useful. Try it now. Press A. PC-ACCOUNT asks for the account number. Enter a single account number (1-75) if you only want one account, or enter two account numbers, separated by a space or a comma, to display a range of accounts. The lowest number must be entered first. This prompt must be terminated with the return key. The T command works just like the A command. Try it and display transaction 7. You do not have to know the number of the last transaction to print to the end of the transactions. If you enter a number higher than the number of transactions, like 999, PC-ACCOUNT will substitute the number of the last transaction. 7 152.00 61 43 12/18/85 23 338 PAID VISA The above is the display format for the transaction record. It is used throughout PC-ACCOUNT and will be the output of several commands. PC-ACCOUNT creates it in the input routine, which you will see soon, and adds the transaction number (7), the date (12/18/85) and the check number (338). The other items are what you enter. 152 is the amount, 61 and 43 are the account numbers and 23 is the search code. It is cryptic like this so that it fits on one line. These items will be explained in more detail shortly. Do you want to try the printer? If so, turn your printer on. Press function key 7 once to toggle TO PRINTER on the status line. This can be done anytime before the return key is pressed. Try the A -12- TUTORIAL or T command. Press function key 7 three more times to toggle back to space on the status line that indicates TO SCREEN. You may also want to try putting something in the ASCII and 1-2-3 files. The C command will change the date the program is using and displays on the status line. It is very useful if you did not enter the date into DOS when the system was booted. It can also be used to change the date to be printed on a check. Only the last 2 digits of the year need to be entered, even for years after 1999. If the new date is in the same year as the default date, you only have to enter the day and month. Try it now. When prompted for the new date, enter the month, day and year. These values must be separated by a comma, a space, a dash or a slash /. The same separation character must be used twice or the results are unpredictable. It must be a valid date. The new date will be displayed on the 25th line. Now you will name an account. First press function key 1 and note that account 39 does not have a name. Return to the command screen and enter N. Then enter 39 (no return) for the account number. Enter TRAVEL or any name for this account. Here case is observed. The maximum length is 11 characters. Press RETURN to enter a name less than 11 characters. Press function key 1 to see what happened. To erase a name, use the same procedure, but just press RETURN when prompted for a name. This name function does not affect the amount in the account and can be used at any time. The name will be saved in the account file when you exit the accounting section. We will now get to the heart of this financial system, the commands to add, change and delete transactions. First try the delete a transaction command. Enter the command D, then enter the transaction number 7. The transaction to be deleted will be displayed to make sure that you are deleting the right one. Before you press RETURN to delete this transaction, note the amount and account numbers. Press function key 2 and note the current amount, right column, in accounts 43 and 61 (961.95 and 1,112.24) to compare after the delete. Press the space bar to return to the work screen. Press RETURN to enter the default answer and delete the transaction. Return to the account data screen using function key 2 and compare the values now in the accounts affected by deleting the transaction. Because a transaction that paid a bill was deleted, $152 was added to both the VISA and CHECKING accounts for new totals of 1,113.95 and 1,264.24. All transactions with a transaction number higher than the one deleted are now one transaction number lower. Press L to see the total number of transactions. -13- TUTORIAL Next, you will edit a transaction. This is a valuable feature since there occasionally is some change to be made. Enter the command E and select a transaction by number. Select the item that you wish to change and you will be prompted to enter the new value. You may wish to check the account screen before and after making a change. Remember, you may use the function keys anytime. For the edit command, however, check the account screens to inspect balances before selecting items 1, 2 or 3. Because, as soon as you select item 1, 2 or 3, the transaction is backed out and the account balances are changed immediately. Press RETURN to quit the edit mode. Now, the most important part of all...entering a transaction. Enter the command I for Insert transactions. You will now be working on the Prompt Mode Insert screen. This screen will respond with the prompt: ENTERING TRANSACTION # 19 ENTER * & RETURN TO SWITCH TO THE FREE FORM INPUT MODE or ENTER AMOUNT [QUIT]? Ignore the line that refers to the FREE FORM INPUT MODE. That mode is for advanced users of PC-ACCOUNT. It is explained under the Input Command in the reference section of this documentation and in a tutorial in appendix D. We are going to enter a transaction for the purchase of four new tires which we charged on our Sears credit card. The tires cost $225.57. The account number for Sears is 42. The account we enter car expenses against is number 3. We will put $225.57 into the the asset account named SEARS to have when the Sears bill comes. We will withdraw the same amount from the asset account named CAR. The first value to enter is the amount. Type 225.57 using the numeric keypad and press RETURN. The next screen will be: -14- TUTORIAL ENTERING TRANSACTION # 19 $225.57 ENTER AN ACCOUNT NUMBER FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING 2 SETS OF PROMPTS: PRESS RETURN TO SKIP THE FIRST OPTION IN A SET ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? _ or ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO or ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM Note that the amount is now displayed on the top line. You are prompted to enter an account number for each of two sets of prompts. It clearly shows what type of account, asset or bank, it is looking for and the action it will take. To get to the second input line of a set, just press RETURN. There must be one entry for each set. We are putting $225.57 into the the asset account named Sears to have when the Sears bill comes. Enter the Sears account number 42 on the first line as shown below. ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? 42 or ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? _ or ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM After pressing the 2, the cursor jumps to the first line of the second set of prompts. Since we are not using a bank account in this transaction, press RETURN to move to the next line. We will withdraw $225.57 from the Car asset account. Enter 3 where it is shown below and press RETURN. ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? 42 or ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? or ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM? 3 The screen will now look like this: -15- TUTORIAL ENTERING TRANSACTION # 19 $225.57 DEPOSIT INTO 42 SEARS WITHDRAW FROM 3 CAR ENTER A COMMENT? Enter the comment, 4 New Tires. We have designated a search code of 28 for car expenses. Find it at the bottom of the screen and enter it at the prompt: ENTER A SEARCH CODE? Press the return key. PC-ACCOUNT then responds with: $225.57 ENTER INTO 42 SEARS 6/26/86 WITHDRAW FROM 3 CAR SEARCH CODE 28 Car Expense 4 New Tires IS THE TRANSACTION OKAY [Y]? If the transaction is okay, press RETURN. If not, enter N and start over. Since a check is not being printed by this transaction, the screen will be erased and you will be prompted for the next transaction. When you are entering a transaction, PC-ACCOUNT displays your list of search codes in a window at the bottom of the screen. If you have more than nine, use the function keys 9 and 10 to scroll the list. It will look like this: Scroll Search Codes with FUNCTION KEYS 9 & 10 1 Miscellaneous 2 Medical Expenses 3 Income 5 Tax Deductible 20 Mortgage 21 Paid Gold VISA 22 Paid Master Charge 23 Paid VISA 28 Car Expense If there are a large number of search codes, the list can be jump scrolled with the ALT key in combination with the A, S, Z, or X keys. The A and S keys scroll by page, i.e. 9 lines at a time, and the Z and X keys jump to the beginning or end of the list. The S and X keys are on the right and move the data in the same direction as the Function 10 key does. Enter the same transaction again and try -16- TUTORIAL it at the search code prompt. Just remember to hold the ALT key down while pressing the A, S, Z, or X keys. Now we will print a check. Turn your printer on. Use the blank paper in your printer for this. We want to pay the Sears bill of $225.57. The check will be written on the checking account number 61. Enter 225.57 for the amount. Then enter the transaction as illustrated below. Remember to press RETURN to skip to the second line of each set. ENTER AN ACCOUNT NUMBER FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING 2 SETS OF PROMPTS: PRESS RETURN TO SKIP THE FIRST OPTION IN A SET ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? or ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM? 61 ENTER BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER (61-75) TO DEPOSIT MONEY INTO? or ENTER ASSET ACCOUNT NUMBER (1-60) TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM? 42 Money will be withdrawn from two accounts, the bank account named CHECKING, 61, and the Sears asset account, 42. Enter the comment, Paid Sears Bill. Leave the search code blank by pressing RETURN as shown below. ENTERING TRANSACTION # 21 $225.57 WITHDRAW FROM 61 CHECKING WITHDRAW FROM 42 SEARS ENTER A COMMENT? Paid Sears Bill ENTER A SEARCH CODE? Press the return key for the search code. PC-ACCOUNT then responds with: $225.57 WITHDRAW FROM 61 CHECKING 6/26/86 WITHDRAW FROM 42 SEARS SEARCH CODE Paid Sears Bill IS THE TRANSACTION OKAY [Y]? When you respond that the transaction is okay, PC-ACCOUNT will ask if you want to print a check. PC-ACCOUNT asks if you want to -17- TUTORIAL print a check only for bank accounts for which you created a check format file. Press RETURN for yes. You will be prompted: MAKE THE CHECK PAYABLE TO (= to Search)? PC-ACCOUNT will open a window to display your payee list. Press function keys 9 and 10 to scroll the list of payees to find the Sears record. You can also use the ALT A, S, Z, or X to jump scroll the payees as it was described above for the search codes. Play with this by scrolling up and down. Later you will sort this list. There are three ways to enter a payee. You may type in the name of the payee at this prompt. You could select it by the sequence number in the list. Sears is number 8. Or, PC-ACCOUNT will search the payee list for you. To initiate a search for the Sears Payee record, enter =SEARS and the SEARS record will be placed on the top line. Press RETURN to select it to be printed on the check, or enter N to continue searching. The search will work on any string in the name field and is not sensitive to case. You could have entered =ars and it would have found SEARS. It does not search the memo field. Write to me if you want it to search the memo field and I will put it in a future version. After you have selected a payee, you can verify the selection. If it is wrong, enter N for no and go back to the list otherwise press RETURN for yes. Next, enter the check number or accept the default. Ignore the comment to align the check for now. Turn the printer on and hit return when ready. If you do not have a printer attached to this computer, enter Q to avoid trying to print the check. The format of the check printed will not fit your personal checks. This can be changed by using the routine in section 6 of the main menu, SETUP CHECK FORMAT. The procedure is described in the SETUP CHECK FORMAT section of this manual. That is all there is to insert transactions. Enter a few transactions and see what happens. This is what a tutorial is for. You cannot hurt anything. Play with it. Function keys 1 and 2 are useful when entering a transaction. Remember, you may press a function key anytime without affecting what you are doing. For example, suppose you are entering the amount 225.57. If after you entered 225 you wanted to find the Sears account number, press function key 2 to look for it. PC-ACCOUNT then -18- TUTORIAL returns exactly to where you left off and you would then enter .57 to complete the entry. Press RETURN to quit the input mode and return to the ENTER COMMAND prompt. The P command just prints a check. It is the same check printing routine used by the insert command. It can be used to test your check formatting and alignment or to reprint a check if one is not printed correctly. Enter P and print one for the fun of it. Select a payee and enter the amount. Accounts are not involved and a transaction record is not created. This routine asks for the checking account number (use 61), but only to get the check format data for the printer. The B command activates a routine that will auto enter recurring transactions from a file. There are three files for these transactions. They are created and edited by section 3 of the main menu, EDIT STANDARD TRANSACTIONS. Enter B. Select 2, BUDGET. PC-ACCOUNT will enter the Insert mode, but will take the input data from the file named TRANSDIS. You may either accept or reject each transaction. When you have completed the budget distributions, enter B again and try the checks, selection 1. These records even know to whom to write the check. There are six commands that search the transaction records. They are F, G, J, R, S and O. Look at these commands on the help portion of the command screen. The word ACT stands for ACCOUNT. You can search and display all transactions for an ACCOUNT, AMOUNT, CHECK NUMBER, CODE or a text string in the comments. The CODE is the search code that you devise and enter into the transaction with the Insert command. Note that the output of all of these commands can be directed. Enter F. You can enter one account number or a range of account numbers. Enter 61 and press RETURN. If more than 7 transactions are found, the bottom of the screen will be erased to display them. To erase the transactions now on the top of the screen, press the space bar. Enter G. Enter the amount 175. When back in the command mode, enter G again and enter the amount 1*0. The asterisk is a wild card and will select transactions where the amount is between 100.00 and 199.99. The zero after the asterisk is a position holder and can be any character, even another asterisk. Enter R. Enter the search code 30. Try directing the output to your printer by using the function key 7 toggle. Be sure to toggle -19- TUTORIAL the directed output off (to the screen) when the printing stops. Enter S. When prompted for a string, enter Paid. This command is not sensitive to case. It is not necessary to enter the whole comment nor start at the first character in the comment. Check the reference section for how to use the wildcard character ? with this command. The O command lets you set up a multiple condition query for the search, and is explained in the reference section. Enter J. When prompted for a checking account number, enter 61. Enter 335-340 for the check number. The Y command is used to advance the page on the printer or in the file ACTLIST. It prompts if you want to skip a line or skip to the top of the next page. If you select line, it will ask how many lines. If you have not selected TO PRINTER or TO FILE before entering Y, it will give you a message and quit. If you want to try it, select TO PRINTER with function key 7, turn the printer on, enter Y, and answer the prompts. There is one more command in the command help list that you have not tried. That is M. That tells PC-ACCOUNT to perform the End Of Month processing. The transaction and account files for the current month are marked closed and written to the disk. No more transactions can be entered for that month. All of the account amounts are copied from the right column to the left column. Both columns will then be identical. The current month is advanced. Two new files are created for the new month and the transaction counter is set to zero. The data from all previous months can still be used. That is the real benefit of PC-ACCOUNT, as a data manager for your home accounting. The data from closed months can be accessed one at a time in the Accounting section or searched as a group in the Search Through Many Months section. You may enter M now if you wish to start a new month. Press Z. This displays some program parameters, the current data file names, the maximum number of data records and the amount of free data space. Press the space bar to erase the work area. Press W. It rewrites the command screen. Check that you are now in the command mode and the output is NOT directed to the printer or a file. Press H. H is for HELP and is easy to remember. See what happened! Now press H again. Direct the output to your printer with the function key 7 toggle and press H again. Direct the output TO FILE and press H again. The help list is now in the file named ACTLIST. You can use the DOS command TYPE -20- TUTORIAL to view it after you quit PC-ACCOUNT and you can read it into your word processor. Redirect the output to the screen with function key 7. Press V. It displays the account sums in accounts 76 and 77, as on the function key 2 screen. The purpose of this command is to direct the output of these totals. Enter the command Q. This returns you to the main menu and saves your account and transaction files if any changes have been made. Let's go back into the accounting section again, so enter 1. Enter N to the prompt about the files for the current month. Notice that in the next prompt the default month number is the previous month. Usually, if you do not want the current month, you want to check on something from last month. But you can enter any month for which you have data. The next prompt is for the year. Entering that will produce the command screen. You can not add or delete any transactions for a month that has been closed, but you may edit the transactions and change the search code, check number and comment. Enter T to see the transactions and enter 1 99 to select all. Press function key 1 or 2 to check on the account data for that month. Enter Q to return to the main menu. EDIT CHECK PAYEES Enter 2 in the main menu to edit the check payee file. In this section of PC-ACCOUNT you may display the payee list, add, change, delete and sort the records in it. The screen will look like this: EDIT CHECK PAYEES ROUTINE 1 - DISPLAY 2 - ADD, 3 - CHANGE, 4 - SORT, 5 - DELETE ENTER SELECTION [QUIT]? When you enter this routine, the payees are displayed on the bottom of the screen. If you have more than 9, scroll the list with function keys 9 and 10. Enter 1 to display the payee records. When there are more than 22 payees there is a prompt to quit or continue. The output of this display selection can be directed to the printer, to a text file or to a 123 file. Use function key 7 just like in the accounting section to direct the output. Enter 2 to add a payee to the file. Enter your name to the name request. Enter the words Good Luck to the prompt for the memo on the -21- TUTORIAL check. Usually you will enter the account number you have with the payee. When prompted for another payee, press RETURN to quit. If you scroll to display the last payee record before you enter a new record, the new record will be displayed at the bottom of the scroll. Otherwise, you will have to scroll to see it. Note the sequence number of the payee record that you just entered. Enter 3 to change a payee record. Enter the sequence number of any payee and the record will be displayed. You may select to change the payee name or memo. When selected, you will be prompted to enter the complete name or memo again. The changed record maintains the same position in the list of payees. The list of payees may be sorted just by entering 4. Try it, then scroll through the list to view it or use selection 1 to display the new list. Enter 5 to make a deletion. Enter the sequence number of the payee record you entered with your name. PC-ACCOUNT then displays that record for verification. You can answer yes or no to select its disposition. A word of caution on sorting and deleting. Standard transaction records have the sequence number of the payee record for the check. When a payee is deleted, all payee sequence numbers higher than the one deleted are decreased by 1. Sorting may also reposition all payee records. If the payees get out of sync with the standard transactions, the situation is easily corrected the next time the standard transaction is used. If the standard transaction displays the wrong payee, you can then re-select the right payee from the scrolled list and the standard transaction file will be updated automatically. Press RETURN to quit the edit check payees routine when you are ready. EDIT STANDARD TRANSACTIONS You should be at the main menu. Enter 3 to enter standard transactions. The screen will present this menu: EDIT STANDARD TRANSACTIONS 1 - CHECKS, 2 - BUDGET, 3 - OTHER TRANSACTIONS -22- TUTORIAL ENTER SELECTION [QUIT]? There are three files that contain standard transactions. Regardless of what they are called, you can insert any transaction in any of them. The names are just to give you an idea of which file to use. Enter 1. Read the note on the screen, then press the space bar. Does that screen look familiar? This section is really a subset of the Accounting section. Notice that there are less items in the Help list. These commands all work with transaction records and in the same way as in the Accounting section. The purpose of this section is to create a file of recurring transactions to be processed automatically. Each of these three files has a purpose. The CHECKS file is usually used for recurring transactions that pay bills that are always the same amount. These would be mortgage, car and loan payments. The BUDGET file can be used to execute your monthly budget. For example, enter your income into a CASH account and a BANK account. Your budget allocates your income from the CASH account to other accounts for different purposes, so much for the car, insurance, medical expenses, utilities, savings, etc. The transactions in the BUDGET file can distribute these funds from the CASH account to the other accounts automatically. Use the Other Transactions selection for whatever you wish. This routine creates or changes the files TRANSCKS, TRANSDIS and TRANSOTR. Quit the EDIT STANDARD TRANSACTIONS sections when ready. SEARCH THROUGH MANY MONTHS This section is where the power of PC-ACCOUNT becomes apparent. You do not enter your transactions into a computer just to have something to do. You are a manager of a important financial enterprise. Managers make decisions. And to make decisions, you need information. Your past financial transactions hold the data you need to recognize trends. PC-ACCOUNT helps you to organize and retrieve that data. To use this section, the transaction data for the months that you want to search must all be on the default disk drive. The test data provided is for the period of 10/85 to 12/85. If you select a month whose files are not on the default disk, PC-ACCOUNT will tell you, then continue after you press the space bar. -23- TUTORIAL Proceed to the main menu and enter 4. Enter the period of time you wish to search by month and year. Search from 10/85 to 12/85. PC-ACCOUNT prompts for this information. Again you will see the now familiar command screen. But there are fewer commands available. Note that the selected search period is displayed at the top of the help window. Start by entering F 2 RETURN. This will find all the transactions for account number 2. Note, as PC-ACCOUNT searches each month's file, the name of the month is displayed on the status line. If the command box is erased by a long list, press the space bar to retrieve it. Now enter F 1 RETURN. Next retrieve by the search code. Enter R 20 RETURN. Enter R 30 RETURN. Now try searching by amount. Enter G 1000 RETURN. Enter G 1*00 RETURN. See the difference the asterisk makes. Try searching the comments with the S command. Use the string 'aid' to find all transactions with the word Paid. Enter Q to return to the main menu. Just imagine how easy it will be to get a list of all your charitable contributions, miscellaneous tax deductible items, bank finance charges, etc. at tax time next year. CHECKBOOK ANALYSIS Enter 5 for the checkbook analysis. This menu will be displayed. CHECKBOOK ANALYSIS 1 - RECONCILE A CHECK STATEMENT 2 - VERIFY CHECKBOOK ARITHMETIC [QUIT]? We will start with the second option first. Enter 2, then enter Y to see the instructions. Read them carefully, then press RETURN. Enter 61 for the account number and 11 85 11 85 for the start and final dates. PC-ACCOUNT scans the transaction file for transactions using this account. It then displays the transaction record followed by a line that shows the total or balance that should be in your checkbook ledger. The amount of the transaction is underlined to quickly orient your eyes when going from the ledger to the screen. Press RETURN to continue or enter N to quit. When you get to the end of your data, you have the opportunity to enter any adjustments. Try it by entering -100 to see what happens, and then enter 1000. Enter RETURN to quit. That returns -24- TUTORIAL you to the main PC-ACCOUNT menu. The Reconcile A Check Statement is normally done when you receive your statement from the bank. The goal is to get the amount PC-ACCOUNT displays as a total to equal the closing balance on your statement. Note. Before you reconcile your actual bank statement, scan the statement for any charges the bank may have added that you have not entered into PC-ACCOUNT. These are charges such as interest paid or charged, charges for new checks, stopped payment or bounced check charges. Enter all of these as transactions into PC-ACCOUNT before starting to reconcile. To Reconcile A Check Statement enter 5, Checkbook Analysis, from the main menu and then enter 1 and Y to see the instructions. Read these carefully, then press RETURN. Enter 61 for the account number and 11 85 11 85 for the start and final dates. The starting balance is taken from the previous months balance in the starting months account file. It is important that all transactions for this account have cleared the bank before the starting month. If they have not, then you must know the amount of each that have not cleared. You can enter them later in the adjustments. It is always best to start with a month far enough back so as to start where all transactions have previously cleared. The format of this screen is similar to the verify checkbook screen except for the prompt. It asks if the deposit or check has cleared. If yes, press RETURN, otherwise enter N. Here is what PC-ACCOUNT does in this mode. It searches for a transaction against this account. When it finds one, it looks to see if the transaction has already cleared. If it HAS, then it adjusts the total it is carrying and continues on. It does not display the transaction or the total. If the transaction HAS NOT cleared, then it displays the transaction with the transaction amount underlined. It does not adjust the total it is carrying, before it displays this total. This total represents the checking account balance BEFORE this transaction. Also, this total is not necessarily the same as in your check ledger because it does not include any previous transactions that have not cleared. If you respond that this transaction (check or deposit) has cleared, then PC-ACCOUNT adjusts its total (but does not display it) and marks the transaction as cleared with a lower case x. If you have selected a directed output, then the transaction record is written to that output. -25- TUTORIAL If the transaction is between two bank accounts, then when only the first has cleared, it is marked with a lower case i. When only the second is cleared, the record is marked with a lower case o. When both are cleared, it is marked with the x. All of the transactions that are displayed on the screen are directed to the output. Those that were marked cleared in a previous run are not displayed in subsequent runs. This is to give you a log of all uncleared transactions and the action taken (cleared or not cleared) in this run. It is strongly recommended that you direct the output to the printer or to a file. When all of the transactions in the month have been searched, and if any have just been marked as cleared, then the transaction file will be written to the disk. As you mark a transaction in PC-ACCOUNT as cleared, also put a mark on that transaction on your bank statement. The bank statements transactions are not always in the same order as in PC-ACCOUNT, and you want to be sure to get all of them. When all of the transactions on your bank statement have been checked, you can quit. You now have the same opportunity as in the previous mode to make any adjustments. Here are two possible adjustments that you may have to make. One is a check that has not cleared from many months ago, and you started this run after that month. Its total is in the total that PC-ACCOUNT is carrying but not in your banks total. So you must subtract it as an adjustment. Another is any service charge or finance charge that the bank has on their statement and you have not entered into this system yet. If PC-ACCOUNT finishes checking all its records and there is an unmarked transaction on your bank statement, then you know that was not entered into PC-ACCOUNT. You should enter the amount as an adjustment at the completion of this routine. Be sure to enter it and any other adjustments as transactions later into PC-ACCOUNT. These transactions must go into the current month. You may mark it as having cleared with the EDIT command in the accounting section. This all sounds complicated. It is, but the computer is doing all of the work. Once you get the hang of it, you will be able to reconcile a multi-page statement in a few minutes. It's a thrill to see the total that PC-ACCOUNT displays is equal to the final balance on the bank statement to the penny. And it can do it every time. This feature alone is worth the cost of PC-ACCOUNT. After you become accustomed to PC-ACCOUNT, you will never have to write in your checkbook ledger again. When you quit the adjustment screen, you will be in the main menu again. -26- TUTORIAL DELETE DIRECTED FILES When output is directed to files, it is appended to whatever is in the file. When you want to start a new file, use this section to delete the old files. Enter 7. ACTLIST is the text file and 123.PRN is the file that can be read by Lotus 1-2-3. (See Appendix A). Enter 1. PC-ACCOUNT responds with the notice that either the file was deleted or not found. So, if you are not sure, delete it anyway. If it is not there, no harm is done. Enter 2. Press RETURN to quit. EDIT SEARCH CODES Enter 8 in the main menu to edit the search codes file. In this section of PC-ACCOUNT you may display the search codes, list, add, change, delete and sort the records in it. The screen will look like this: EDIT SEARCH CODE ROUTINE 1 - DISPLAY 2 - ADD, 3 - CHANGE, 4 - SORT, 5 - DELETE ENTER SELECTION [QUIT]? This routine works exactly like the EDIT CHECK PAYEE section. Please refer back to that part of the tutorial if you have any difficulty understanding the functions. In this section, select search codes to be changed or deleted by their sequence number, the first column of numbers displayed. The codes can have any integer value between -32768 and 32767. SORT sorts the search code numbers, not the nomenclature. The minus sign in negative search codes causes them to appear in unusual places. When you enter this routine, the search codes are displayed on the bottom of the screen. If you have more than 9, scroll the list with function keys 9 and 10. Enter RETURN to quit the edit search code routine when you are ready. PRINT REGISTRATION FORM Align the print head just below the top edge of the paper. Turn your printer on. Press 9. A registration form will be printed. Just fill in the blanks, attach a check for $45, and mail. You may also remit the registration fee with a VISA or Mastercard number or -27- TUTORIAL call a BBS. Read the file HOW2REGI.STR for the different methods of registering. INITIALIZATION PARAMETERS There are many options that can be selected to customize PC-ACCOUNT. This is done in a seperate program, ACT_INIT.EXE. The I selection from the main menu will run this program. It is not necessary to run it now, unless you want to. When you use NEWCXSYS to create the files for your own PC-ACCOUNT database, which will be explained in the next section, ACT_INIT will be started for you. However, it can be run at any time to change your options. -28-