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1993-02-26
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Documentation : CHECK-MATE Version 1.2 by John P Corea - Feb 93
CHECK-MATE is a checkbook program with many advanced
features like POPUP CALENDAR, POPUP CALCULATOR, EXPORT, PAYEE
and MEMO LISTS, KEY-FREE RECONCILIATION, TAG n TOTAL (with
average) to name a few. CHECK-MATE offers Microsoft compatible
MOUSE SUPPORT !
START :
When you first run CHECKMATE (CHECKM.EXE) you are asked to
"Enter Opening Balance : " The OPENING BALANCE must be a
reconciled amount in order for you checkbook to reconcile
properly each month when you get your bank statement. If
your checkbook is properly reconciled already you may start
CHECK-MATE with your current balance or at any point where
you desire. For instance, you might want to start checkbook
with the balance indicated in your checkbook for the day
closest to the beginning of the year. Of course, you would
then enter all the transactions listed in your current check
register (or program). With CHECK-MATE's Tag n Total feature
you can go back and tag various transactions and receive a
total and an average for the tagged transactions. NICE !!!
USING CHECKMATE :
CHECK :
Enter a check transaction by selecting CHECK from the main
menu. You may select CHECK by pressing the highlighted letter
or by using the CURSOR LEFT/RIGHT keys and pressing ENTER or
you may CLICK the LEFT MOUSE BUTTON on check. (MONOCHROME
USERS : Make sure your brightness and contrast controls aren't
too high or you wont be able to distinguish between HIGHLIGHT
and REGULAR). After selecting CHECK and pressing ENTER or
CLICKING the LEFT MOUSE BUTTON a blank check will popup and
the EDITING CURSOR will appear in the CHECK NUMBER FIELD.
If this is the first time you are using CHECK-MATE the number
will be 1. You may edit this number to whatever number you
choose (up to 4 digits). From then on when you select CHECK
the check number which appears will automatically be incremented
from the last check number. In other words, if you enter check
number 148 as your first check then the next time you select
check the number 149 will appear. Just press ENTER to accept
the number which appears or edit it if you desire. After
entering or accepting the check number the editing cursor will
appear in the PAYEE field. In this field you enter the name
of the person or company or whoever you are writing your check
to. The payee field can be up to 35 characters in length.Here
comes one of the great features of CHECKMATE. After entering
the payee , but before you press enter , press F3 and the name
or company or whoever you have entered in the payee field will
be added to a PAYEE LIST if you desire. IF you are writing checks
to the same companies each month (like everyone does) this is
a feature you'll really like. Answer Yes by pressing Y and the
PAYEE is added to the PAYEE list. The next time you write a check
press F2 and the PAYEE LIST will appear from which you can select
instead of having to type the same thing over and over. The same
option applies for the MEMO (or category) field. There too you can
enter up to 35 characters and by pressing F3 you can add to the
MEMO list. Similarly, the next time you write a check you can
press F2 and select from the MEMO list ! These two features make
entering transactions in CHECK-MATE a breeze. In fact, since most
checks are written to the same companies each month (Electric,
phone, gas, mortgage, etc) you will only have to actually type
the amount. The rest can be selected from the LISTS ! Isn't that
terrific ? Yes it is !!! You may add as many items to the PAYEE
and MEMO lists as you desire, but I recommend only adding those
which you write checks to each month. After you are done entering
in the PAYEE field you are given a POPUP CALENDAR with the current
date (system date) displayed. All you need to do here is press return
and the current date is entered in the DATE field. If you desire to
enter a date other than the current date you can move around the
calendar with the CURSOR KEYS, one day at a time, or with PAGE-
UP / PAGE-DOWN one month at a time or CNTRL-PAGE-UP/DOWN one year
at a time or you can click on the + - pointers with the LEFT
MOUSE BUTTON or click on the DATE. Press enter after the date
shown in the CALENDAR is the correct date. Nice feature , isn't
it ? NEXT you are moved to the amount field. This
is where you enter the amount of the check. Just enter the amount
(commas disallowed). BTW, if for some reason you need a calculator
to calculate the amount just press F4 at any time while your
entering a check and up pops a CALCULATOR. Perform the calculation
and press ESC when finished and the result of the calculation is
automatically entered in the AMOUNT FIELD. NEXT you are moved to
the MEMO (or category) field. Enter a memo or category (Electric,
phone, heat, etc) and add it to the MEMO list by pressing F3 or
select from the list by pressing F2. In the beginning (when there
is nothing in the list) nothing will happen when you press F2, but
once you use the ADD to LIST feature it will popup. Make it a habit
to use the F2 -Pick from List feature each time you write a check.
BTW, if you should select F3 - Add to List with a PAYEE or MEMO
that is already in the list you will be informed automatically !
If you make any mistakes along the line you can TAB through the
fields or just keep pressing ENTER and you will move around the
fields or press PAGE-UP and you are moved to FIELD ONE (Check #)
or PAGE-DOWN and you are moved to the last field (MEMO) or
SHIFT_TAB moves backward one field at a time. it's easiest to
just keep pressing ENTER and cycle through the fields. When you
are certain everything is correct, PRESS F5 - SAVE and that's
it ! You have entered your first transaction. Wasn't that simple
enough ?
DEPOSIT :
Entering a DEPOSIT is like entering a check only there is no
check number . You may do everything you did while entering
a check including using the list. The first time you enter
the Description "DEPOSIT" you might want to press F3- Add to
list and add it to the PAYEE (or description) list. From then
on when you enter a deposit just press F2- Pick from list and
select DEPOSIT from the list.
MISC :
Miscellanious CREDITS would be Interest, ATM DEPOSITS, etc
and misc DEBITS would be Check charges, ATM WITHDRAWALS, etc.
Fill out a MISC transaction just like a deposit or check.
AS before, press F5- SAVE when finished.
RECONCILE :
I think you'll find reconciling your checkbook as easy as pie
with CHECK-MATE ! Select RECONCILE from the main menu and a
list of ALL transactions will appear. Transactions previously
reconciled will have a √ mark in the "R" column of the list.
Simply look at your statement and go down the list and highlight
those transactions which appear on the bank statement. Highlight
an item by pressing the SPACE BAR or by clicking the LEFT MOUSE
BUTTON. Use CURSOR UP/DOWN to move up and down on transaction
at a time or use PAGE-UP/DOWN to move up and down one page at
a time (21 transactions). Highlight all items which appear
on your statement and then press ENTER and WHAM !! Your recon-
ciled balance will appear in a window. Easy as pie, just like
I said. You can always correct a mistake here by going back
(at any time) and selecting the erroniously reconciled item
again and it will become an un-reconciled item. In other words,
if an item has the check mark, which means it was reconciled,
and you highlight it and press return it will become unreconciled
and the checkmark will vanish and vice-versa ! **There is no
mistake (other than export) which you can make which cannot be
easily corrected ! The reconciled amount which appears in the
reconcile window should exactly match the ending balance on
your monthly bank statement. If the two do not match then you
must go back and check over your entries and see if they match
your bank statement. It is crucial that your OPENING BALANCE be
accurate or you will never reconcile your checkbook.
VIEW /EDIT :
If you make a mistake and save an entry which is incorrect you
select this option from the main menu. You will be presented with
the complete list of transactions (just like with reconcile) and
you merely locate the transaction you want to edit and press ENTER.
Then you edit it just as though it is a new entry and when you
are through press ESC and then you will be asked whether you want
to save the changes at which point you press Y for Yes or N for
No.
TOTALS :
Totals (or Tag n Total) allows you to select transactions (by
highlighting them as you did in reconcile) and then press ENTER
and you will receive the TOTAL amount of for those transactions
as well as the average. This is useful for many purposes. Maybe
you want to know ho much you spent on phone calls for the year and
the average monthly bill. TOTAL allows you to select whatever you
want. Just TAG n TOTAL !!
EXPORT :
Export is the only function which CANNOT BE UNDONE ! Once you export
records they are EXPORTED FOR GOOD. The purpose for exporting records
is to get rid of old records which serve no purpose (records over
a year old which are reconciled). If you kept all records and never
exported then the data file will eventually get too big for some
functions (the list functions to work since you'll run out of memory).
You will be warned automatically when you should export old records.
You aren't required to do so, but it is recommended that you export
records over 1 year old ! At this time CHECK-MATE can handle a little
over 500 records before you'll get an "OUT OF STRING SPACE" message
in the list modes. Of course, the RECONCILE LIST is crucial so export
you must export records if your number of transactions is approaching
500. Look on line 25 at the left hand corner to see how many trans-
actions you have. I think 500 is more than the average person will
ever need in a years time. I estimate an average of about 300 trans-
actions a year or so.. When you select EXPORT you will be warned
that records exported cannot be imported. THey will not be complete-
ly wiped out, however. They will be APPENDED to a file called
"EXPORT.CHK". You can always view this ASCII file with any file viewer
to look at old transactions. All future EXPORTS will be added to the
end of the previous export and so you will always have a record of
ALL transactions !
I was going to make export an automatic function but I decided that
you should decide which records to export and when. When you select
export you will be given the COMPLETE LIST of transactions. Page back
through the list (or press HOME which takes you to the first transaction)
and highlight the record for which all previous transactions are to
be exported. For instance, if you highlight record 50 , the previous
49 records will be exported. IF you highlight more than on record, the
earliest one highlighted will be the export point.
For help with editing functions press F1 while entering or editing
a transaction and you will be presented with all the functions.
If I find this program becomes popular , meaning I receive alot
of registrations, I will improve upon it with EMS support, etc.
Possibly even an import feature. Registration is the only criteria
I have for determining whether improvement is warranted so if you
like CHECK-MATE and you use CHECK-MATE, register ! Please ? Included
with this file is a registration form. Please take the time to fill
it out and mail a check for $20.00 and become a registered user.