Share Gallery 1

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

/ Share Gallery 1 / share_gal_1.zip / share_gal_1 / BF / BF078.ZIP / GIST.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1990-07-22 | 29KB | 793 lines

" G I S T " GENERAL INVOICE SALES TRACKER VERSION 2.0 TypeRight Corporation 336 Swain Blvd. Lake Worth, FL 33463-3342 (407) 967-7239 - 9-5 Mon-Fri (407) 969-3635 - After Hours PROGRAM AUTHOR: ROBERT F. KEBER COPYRIGHT (C) 1990 All Rights Reserved WHAT IS GIST? GIST (pronounced "Jist") is a program for small business. It is designed for small firms who produce a written customer invoice (or "Bill") for every sale. GIST's purpose is to allow those firms to use a computer for business purposes, but WITHOUT the need for a computer operator who is trained in Accounting or Bookkeeping. GIST is an "INCOME" and "Customer Management" program. It is NOT an accounting program. GIST provides all of the "income" information that most Accountants need from a small business on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Most Accountants will only require a few of GIST's Printouts, Bank Statements and Check Stubs to do a firm's books. But, in addition, GIST provides Management with a great deal of very useful information, and easily (automatically) handles many routine monthly chores without mistakes and oversights. The following are just "some" of GIST's features: Customers: - Provides "Last Sale Date" for every customer. - Provides "Total Amount Spent" for every customer from all sales. - Prints a Customer Telephone Directory (2 phones with extension #s). - Prints Two Customer Address Directories (Long & Short Versions). - Prints Customer Mailing Labels (by Name/City/State/Zip/Area/Etc.). - Large "Comment Field" for every customer (Special Terms, Etc). - Prints a Customer Statement or Customer Invoice for any account. Invoices: - Use normal "Hand Written" invoices or let GIST print your Invoices. - Prints Accounts Receivable Statements with matching Mailing Labels. - Prints a list of invoices with totals for any Time Period. - Prints a list of invoices with totals for any Employee. - Prints a list of invoices with totals for any Customer. - Prints a list of invoices with totals for Accounts Receivable. - Provides 11 different Sales Categories plus Sales Tax & Shipping. - Double checks "Calculations" on hand-written employee invoices. Income: - Displays each "Unpaid Invoice" on screen. - Displays "Income Totals by Sales Category" for any time period. - Displays "Income Totals" from any Employee for any time period. - Displays "Income Totals" from any Customer for any time period. - Displays "Outstanding Income" for current Accounts Receivable. General: - Holds approximately 725,000 Customer Records. - Holds approximately 725,000 Invoice Records. - Data files NEVER need "File Maintenance, Sorting or Purging". - Word Processing style commands for the majority of field entries. - Use "NAMES or NUMBERS" for retrieving records. - Find "Strong & Weak" categories of employee's performance. - Catch all mistakes in "Math" on paper invoices. - Unique "BROWSE" mode for viewing Customer & Invoice records. System Requirements: - Computer - PC/XT/AT or Compatible - DOS or MS/DOS Version 3.0 or higher - Ram Memory - 512k minimum - Hard Drive Recommended - Monitor - Mono or Color 80 column - Printer - 80 Column - Dot Matrix - IBM or Epson compatible. - CONFIG.SYS FILE - Set to "FILES = 25" (Very Important!) REGISTRATION GIST software is a "Shareware" package. This means that we provide you with a fully functioning sample of the program for you to try out for a short evaluation time. After a few weeks of use, you are required to either dispose of the program or send us the purchase price for registration. Extended use without proper registration is a violation of our rights under the Copyright Laws of the United States. Telephone and written support are available to "Registered Users" ONLY! Please have your registered serial number available when calling us for assistance, or be sure to include it in any letters you may mail to us. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BONUS FOR REGISTERING <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Of course, those who register will always receive the latest updated and improved version of GIST. But in addition, they will also receive another program called "GISTTOOL.EXE" which is a "support" program for GIST. "GISTTOOL.EXE" let's the registered user do five (5) very useful tasks related to manipulating GIST files (and the list keeps growing). 1 - Rename all ten "Sale Cat" fields and the "OTHER CHGS" field to whatever category of Names are best suited for your type of business. Names such as "Parts, Supplies, Sales, Labor, Rental, Lease, Discounts, Payments, Etc.". 2 - Lock in the "Starting Number" for your Customer ID Numbers. (GISTTOOL.EXE does all the above by "Patching" GIST.EXE with the information which you provide.) 3 - EXTRACT Invoices from your "INVOICE.RAN" data file and create assorted "smaller" invoice data files. This allows "Date Specific" Invoice files to be created with "Yearly, Semi-Annual, Quarterly or Monthly" data only. Another side benefit of this feature is that it allows the User to keep their "current" Invoice file much smaller in size. A "Smaller" file size will allow GIST to work at a faster speed during data searches. 4 - MERGE Invoice files. Allows you to merge together two or more GIST Invoice files into a larger Invoice file which can contain many years worth of invoices (up to about 725,000 separate invoices). 5 - CLEAR the "Last Sale Date" & "Total Amount Spent" fields from all the records in "CUSTOMER.RAN". Then Recalculate and insert new values for both those fields, based on the records in the "INVOICE.RAN" file of your choice. HOW DO I REGISTER? Mail a Check or U.S. Postal Money Order (Payable in US Dollars) Payable to "R. KEBER JR." TypeRight CORPORATION Attn: Bob Keber - GIST 336 Swain Blvd. Lake Worth, FL 33463-3342 PRICE: $69.00 Per Copy (Florida Residents Add Sales Tax) Please Call or Write for "Site License" Information ====================================================================== GIST FILES Files included with GIST =============================== GIST .EXE - Main Program SCREENS .OVL - GIST Display Screens (Compressed) GIST .DOC - This Instruction Manual CUSTOMER.RAN - Data file of sample records INVOICE .RAN - Data file of sample records INSTALL .EXE - Automatically installs GIST on a Hard Drive BRUN45 .EXE - MicroSoft "Run-Time Module" - Allows Smaller EXE Files. GISTTOOL.EXE - With Registered Versions only GISTTOOL.DOC - Instructions for GISTTOOL.EXE Files which are created when GIST is run ============================================ CUSTOMER.RAN - Random Data file for Customer records CUSTNAME.NDX - Index file - Customer Names CUSTNUMB.NDX - Index file - Customer ID Numbers CUSTOMER.BAK - Backup file - Copy of CUSTOMER.RAN INVOICE .RAN - Random Data file for Invoice records INVNAME .NDX - Index file - Invoice Customer Names INVNUMB .NDX - Index file - Invoice ID Numbers ACCREC .NDX - Index file - Unpaid Invoices INVOICE .BAK - Backup file - Copy of INVOICE.RAN HEADING .DAT - Your Name/Address/Phone for Statement Headings. EXTRACT .RAN - Random Data file of GISTTOOL.EXE extracted Invoices LEFTOVER.RAN - Random Data file of remaining Invoices after extraction SETTING UP GIST ON YOUR HARD DRIVE If you have a "Hard Drive C:" installed in your computer, the easiest way to set up GIST is to run the GIST Program called "INSTALL.EXE". "INSTALL.EXE" will NOT erase or delete any of your existing files. It will simply "check to see" if a Sub Directory called "C:\GIST" already exists on your hard drive. If it does exist, it will warn you and then give the option to "Quit" or "Continue" operation. If there is no such Sub Directory, GIST will create it, and then "Copy" all the GIST files to "C:\GIST". It will also create another file called "GIST.BAT", which it will store in the Drive C: ROOT Directory. This file is created for those Users who may not know their way around a Hard Drive too well. Simply typing "GIST" in the ROOT Directory will automatically switch to the "C:\GIST" sub directory and then run "GIST.EXE" for the operator. INSTALL will also check to see if there is an existing file called "CONFIG.SYS" in the ROOT Directory of the hard drive. If CONFIG.SYS does NOT already exist, then INSTALL will create such a file for the operator. The "CONFIG.SYS" file will contain the following very important commands... FILES=25 BUFFERS=20 BREAK=OFF If there already is a "CONFIG.SYS" file existing, then "INSTALL.EXE" will examine it's contents and either insert or adjust the "FILES=" command to "FILES=25" which is necessary for GIST (and lots of other programs) to run properly. You can read the commands listed in "CONFIG.SYS" by entering the following command from your system prompt. TYPE C:\CONFIG.SYS ..... and if there is such a file, it's contents will be shown on your screen (or you can edit or read the file with your Word Processor or Text Editor). It is "VERY IMPORTANT", for the "FILES=25" command to be set to at least 20 or more files, or GIST will run into a "Brick Wall" as it tries to create and access many of it's associated files. The same is true for many (lots & lots) of other programs as well. So it's not a bad idea to set this to "25" files, and never change it again (unless another program tells you to increase it to an even higher number). The "FILES=" command is one where "Too much won't hurt, but too little will". NO HARD DRIVE? The same instructions as above are true (about "FILES=25") even if you don't have a Hard Drive and are trying to operate GIST from a removable disk (which will work, but is not recommended). The older and smaller 360k floppy disks are just too small for GIST. While all of the important GIST files will fit on the 360k floppy, it won't leave much room for the data files to grow in size, and you will very shortly be getting the "out of disk space" error message. But the newer 720k and 1.2 or 1.4 Meg disks do have some ability for running GIST, especially if the Registered version is obtained. This is because the GISTTOOL support program can keep INVOICE.RAN as small as necessary to stay within the disk size limitations. When there is no Hard Drive, most users have (or create) a "BOOTUP" disk which they use to start up the computer all the time. On such a disk, you should also have the "CONFIG.SYS" file present, as this file is what sets many very important features in your system during the BOOTUP process. Through it's lines of commands, it allows you to run many more complex programs (again, make sure it contains "FILES=25"). See your DOS or MS/DOS User Manual for more information on creating your "CONFIG.SYS" files. GETTING STARTED Once you have gotten all the GIST files installed, all that is necessary to "RUN GIST" is to BOOTUP and.... .... Enter the command.........: GIST <enter> GIST will then load, create several new disk files, and present you with the "Main Menu" screen. To make things a bit easier for you, we have included a couple of "sample" customer and invoice data files. This will save you the time of having to enter your own data just to try out the GIST program. Feel free to play around with these sample files, and "get the hang" of how the program works. That's the easiest and fastest way to learn (most fun way too). Run through all the different Menus and features, and try everything. Find records, add new records, edit records, delete records. Print out some labels, directories, statements and invoices. Make sure that everything in GIST works well with all of your equipment. That's what "Shareware" is all about,"Try before you buy". DATA ENTRY & CURSOR CONTROLS FIELD EDITING -- CURSOR MOVEMENT INSERT KEY: Toggles between "Insert" & "Overwrite" of characters. Cursor changes shape for each mode. DELETE KEY: Deletes character at cursor position. BACKSPACE.: Deletes character to left of cursor position. LEFT ARROW.: Move cursor left one space. RIGHT ARROW: Move cursor right one space. UP ARROW...: Jump to previous field. DOWN ARROW.: Jump to next field. CTRL LEFT..: Move cursor left one word. CTRL RIGHT.: Move cursor right one word. HOME KEY...: Move cursor to beginning of field. END KEY....: Move cursor to end of field entry. CTRL END...: Delete field entry from cursor position to end. PAGE UP....: Jump to top field. PAGE DOWN..: Jump to bottom field. F-1 KEY....: Exit "Current Routine" and return to the previous menu. F-5 KEY....: Use for "Quantity" entries in Invoice Sales Categories. F-10 KEY...: Exit from the GIST program. YES/NO QUESTIONS: In the majority of cases, when GIST asks a question to be answered by a "Y" or "N", hitting the "Enter" key is the same as entering a "Y" (for Yes). But there are a few places where the reverse is true (Enter = "N"), and still a few other places where you MUST hit a "Y" or "N", and the "Enter" key won't be accepted. It sounds confusing, but it works well and makes good sense in practice. When in doubt, just hit the "Y or N" keys. DATE ENTRY FIELDS: The Date format is always "MM/DD/YY" Anywhere in GIST where you enter a "date" into a field, the date will be checked for validity (eg: 02/30/90 is no good). If the date is invalid, a "Warning Window" will appear on screen, and the date will not be accepted. Dates may be entered as 01/02/90 or 01-02-90 or just 010290. All Invoices require an Invoice Date. You will not be able to save an Invoice record to disk without entering a proper date in the "Invoice Date" field. To mark an Invoice "Unpaid", don't enter anything in the "Paid Date" field. You accomplish this by just hitting the "Enter" key. The OLDEST date GIST can handle is 01/02/50 (Year = 1950) The NEWEST date GIST can handle is 12/31/49 (Year = 2049) This range effectively gives GIST a 100 year date range. SEARCH KEYS: When GIST asks you to enter some information to search for a particular record..... If asking for an ID Number, for the best results try to enter the entire number (not just part of it). If asking for a Customer's Name, for the best results only enter the first three or four characters of the last name. First names are ignored. Never enter more than 22 characters of any last name for a search key. If GIST is unable to find a record which matches the "Search Key" information which you provided, an "on screen" message may appear saying so. You then have the option of trying again. But in some cases, if an "Exact Match" is not found, GIST will present the "Next Closest Match" for your inspection, and it will then ask if that record is correct (as in the "Browse" mode). "CUSTOMER DATA ENTRY" SCREEN =============================== "LAST SALE DATE" & "TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT" FIELDS These two fields are located on the "Customer Data Entry Screen". They are "calculated", "filled in" and "maintained" automatically by GIST. They cannot be changed or edited by an operator. As you enter "New" invoices, these fields will be updated with the new data automatically. The amount displayed in the "Total Amount Spent" field is always "rounded off" to the nearest dollar amount, and there will never be any "cent" value shown (other than "$ .00"). As a result, the values displayed are "close approximate" values. When an Invoice is "Deleted", the amount of that invoice will be subtracted from the "Total Amount Spent" field. When an Invoice is "Edited", if the Invoice "Total Amount" field is changed, the "Total Amount Spent" field will be adjusted "Up or Down" by the amount of the change in the "Total Amount" field. The GIST "Support Program" called "GISTTOOL.EXE" offers the capability of "Clearing & Recalculating" the "Last Sale Date" & "Total Amount Spent" fields in each customer record. The new data placed into these fields will be based upon the Data in the Invoice file in use at that time (with "Registered" versions only). TWO "NAME" FIELDS GIST provides two "Name" fields for entries. The Last/Business name field contains 30 characters, and the First name field contains 20 characters. Combined together, the two fields total a maximum of 50 characters for names. For reasons of spacing on paper and labels, only the first 30 characters of the combined two name fields will be printed on any GIST printout. For this reason, we suggest that you keep all "First Name" field entries as reasonably short as possible. NAMES & ID NUMBERS AS "KEYS" After a "Customer" or an "Invoice" have been assigned an "ID number", and the record is saved to a disk file, you will no longer be able to change those numbers through any of the GIST "Editing" routines. Once assigned, the "ID Numbers" are "Keyed" to the "Names", and "Vice Versa". They are permanently "MATCHED" to each other. The only way to change those "Names & Numbers" is to "Delete" the entire record, and then re-enter it all over again. THE "ZIP CODE" FIELD The Zip Code field has some special features. The nine digit Zip Codes may be entered as "12345-6789" or as "123456789". Five digit Zip codes need ALL five numbers (no partial Zip Codes), or GIST will not accept the field entry and will "clear" the field. THE "TELEPHONE NUMBER" FIELDS The Telephone Number fields have a special feature in that the entries may be made as "123-4567" or as "1234567". "INVOICE DATA ENTRY" SCREEN ================================ THE "DATE" FIELDS Both "Date" fields have some special features. Dates may be entered as "01/02/90" or "01-02-90" or just as "010290". The "Format" for ALL date entries in GIST is "MM/DD/YY". To "Mark" an Invoice as "Unpaid", don't enter anything into the "Paid Date" field (just hit "Enter"). All date entries are checked for "Validity" before being accepted by GIST. CATEGORY OF SALES GIST breaks your sales down into 13 different categories of "income". If you operate a "Service" type of business (with "Per Hour Labor" charges), we offer the following suggestion. Use the "OTHER CHGS" sales category for your "Labor" charges, and "Sales Cat #1" for your "Parts" charges. Most "Service" invoices only have 3 charges listed on them (parts, labor & Sales Tax). By arranging the categories as we suggested above, data entry is faster by using your "Page Down" key to jump directly to the "Labor" field. DISCOUNTS & PARTIAL PAYMENTS We suggest that "Sales Cat #9" be used for "Customer Discounts". To make this type of an entry, just enter a "negative" number as the discount amount in the field (-25.00). GIST is not really designed for accounts with "Monthly Payments" or "Partial Payments. But if you occasionally run into this situation, you can handle these payments much the same as a discount. Use "Sales Cat #10" for "Payments" and simply enter the amount of the Customer's payment as a "Negative" number. By so doing, the Invoice "Total" will change to the new balance due after partial payment. But leave the Invoice "Paid Date" as "unpaid" until "Payment In Full" has been received for that Invoice. This method will keep your customer balances correct for "Statements" and "Accounts Receivables". BUT it will give your Accountant "a fit" if you don't "delete" the "Partial Payments" field once the Invoice has been paid in full. That's because "NOT Deleting" any negative partial payment entries will improperly decrease your reported taxable "income". So when you mark your invoices as "Paid In Full", don't forget to delete any amount in the "payment" field at the same time. Note: GISTTOOLS.EXE makes all of the above is easier and simpler, for it can "Rename" all of the GIST "Sales Cats" to whatever eleven (11) character name you wish. Those new names then will appear on the screens and on printouts in place of "Sale Cat #" (with Registered versions of GIST only). AUTOMATIC "QUANTITY" PRICING In the "Sales Category" fields (1 through 10), as well as in the "OTHER CHGS" field, you have the ability to calculate "Quantity" math problems such as..... 379 Items at $14.37 each = ? 3.7 Hours Labor at $49.39 each = ? As soon as you move the cursor into any of the "Sale Cat" fields, at the bottom, center of the screen a message saying "F-5 = Quantity" will appear. That simply means that if you have a problem like the one shown above, just hit the "F-5" key. When you do, an "On Screen Window" will appear to take your "Quantity" and "Price Each" information. GIST will then automatically insert the correct total into the "Sales Cat Field", and the "Window" will dis- appear. By using this "Window" method, we give you the convenience and accuracy of automated "Quantity" pricing, without wasting a lot of your time and screen space (especially if you seldom have a need for "Quantity" pricing). To add a "Quantity" and "Price Each" field into "EVERY" GIST sales category in a conventional manner would create 22 additional data fields for you to "Wade Through" as you entered each and every invoice, whether you needed them or not. THE "SALES TAX" FIELD The Sales Tax percentage rate varies greatly from State to State. As a result, we had to program this field with that in mind. If your tax rate is ".05%", just enter "5" or "05". If your tax rate is ".065%", just enter "065". If your tax rate is ".0753%", then just enter "0753" If your tax rate is ".12%", then just enter "12" If you are entering a "Tax Exempt" invoice (such as for a church), then don't enter anything in the Sales Tax field (just hit Enter). If you live in an area where you have a City or County Sales Tax as well as a State Sales Tax, then you will have to combine the two tax rates into one figure. Example: 6% State Tax + 4% City Tax = 10% Combined Sales Tax rate. CLEARING THE DECKS FOR ACTION Once you have gotten GIST up and running, play around with the sample data files. Get samples of all of the various "Printouts". "Edit" and "Delete" records. "Add New" records. Try your "Print Screen" key on several different screens. In general, make sure that GIST works well with all of your equipment. If you have trouble with "Printing", or with GIST "Hanging Up" your computer, or with GIST repeatedly giving error messages, check the following items. - Make sure that you are using a "Dot Matrix - IBM/Epson/Compatible" printer. "Daisy Wheel" printers, or "non-compatible" printers just won't work properly (or won't work at all) with GIST. - Make sure the printer is plugged into "Port #1" of your computer. - Make sure that the version of DOS or MS/DOS you are using is version 3.0 or higher. Older versions won't work properly. - Make sure "CONFIG.SYS" is set as described in the previous pages. When you think you understand the operation of GIST, then it's time to erase the sample data files so that you can create your own "for real" data files. To do this, "exit" from GIST (F-10 Key) and get back to your system prompt. Then enter the following commands: -... Erase all Random Data Files with the command.: DEL *.RAN <enter> -... Erase all Index files with the command.......: DEL *.NDX <enter> -... Erase all Backup files with the command......: DEL *.BAK <enter> Now you're ready to run GIST and begin building your own data files. IMPORTANCE OF MAKING BACKUP FILES GIST is a very complex program. It was written using a combination of three different programming languages, and contains many very advanced programming routines (Binary Indexed Trees, etc.). As such, it performs very well, but it doesn't "take kindly" to being mistreated by operators. The worst thing an operator can do to GIST is to take a "short-cut exit" from the program by simply turning off the computer, or doing a "warm boot". During a proper exit (F-10 key), GIST does quite a large number of tasks related to closing files properly and restoring the RAM memory to normal. To intentionally and repeatedly "bypass" these tasks is risking serious damage (or even a complete loss) of the data files. While we have taken every step we could think of to minimize that kind of disaster, on rare occasions it can still happen. This same problem can occur with most programs that access files, and it's not really a problem that's unique "only" to GIST. But we prefer to at least give you some warning about taking "Short Cuts". Because of this possibility of Data loss, we can't stress strongly enough the importance of keeping "Backup" copies of your data files. By "Backup" files we don't mean just the backup files that GIST gives you the option of creating upon an exit, but other "insurance" backup copies of your "RAN" files kept on separate disks. WHAT FILES DO I NEED TO BACKUP? When you decide to make "Backup" copies of your records, you really only NEED copies of four files: CUSTOMER.RAN, INVOICE.RAN, GIST.EXE and SCREENS.OVL (and also GISTTOOL.EXE for Registered Users). If you have enough disk space, or if your "RAN" files are not too large, you can also backup all the files with names ending with "NDX" and "DAT". But backing up those files is not critical, as GIST will simply recreate them if they are missing or corrupt. CONVERTING & RENAMING "BAK" FILES TO "RAN" FILES If you should ever want to convert "INVOICE.BAK" or "CUSTOMER.BAK" to a Random work file, do so by entering the following commands from your system prompt: -... Erase the old "RAN" files.............: DEL *.RAN <enter> -... Erase all the old "NDX" files.........: DEL *.NDX <enter> -... Rename both Backup files..............: REN *.BAK *.RAN <enter> Then, when you run GIST again, it will automatically create new, updated "NDX" files, and you're ready to go again. Copyright (C) TypeRight Corporation 1990 All Rights Reserved The term "IBM" is a registered trademark of the IBM Corp. The term "DOS" is a registered trademark of the IBM Corp. The term "EPSON" is a registered trademark of the Epson Corp. The term "MS-DOS" is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corp.