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CheckStar IV ------------ Your Personal Financial Assistant ================= USER'S MANUAL ================= ----------------------------------------------------------------- (C) Copyright 1985-1994. All Rights Reserved. Salim Sindhi, P.O.Box 55135, Houston, TX 77255, U.S.A. Programmed and designed by: Salim Sindhi Assist programmers: Robert Simpson Azmat Tejani Technical writers: Robert Simpson Paul Oman Salim Sindhi Parveen Sindhi Proof Readers: Hans Clahsen Ric Durst Prashant Shah Zainab Tejani Michael Mitchell Anjaneya M. Setty Donald Toellner TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- Chapter 1: Welcome to CheckStar IV ...........................2 Chapter 2: Summary of CheckStar IV features...................4 Chapter 3: Installing CheckStar IV............................6 Chapter 4: Running CheckStar IV...............................9 Chapter 5: Learning the basics...............................13 Chapter 6: Accounts..........................................17 Chapter 7: Categories........................................24 Chapter 8: Transactions......................................30 Chapter 9: Printer setup.....................................39 Chapter 10: Printing checks...................................44 Chapter 11: Reports...........................................48 Chapter 12: Reconciliation....................................64 Chapter 13: Split transactions................................67 Chapter 14: Memorized Entries.................................69 Chapter 15: Budgeting.........................................75 Chapter 16: Payroll assistance................................77 Chapter 17: Payee & Memo memorization.........................78 Chapter 18: Cash Reservation..................................80 Chapter 19: Calculators.......................................85 Chapter 20: Calendar..........................................91 Chapter 21: Reminders.........................................92 Chapter 22: User Setup Options................................95 Chapter 23: Using the editor.................................104 Chapter 24: Command Line Options.............................109 Chapter 25: Quicken import...................................112 Appendix A: Glossary.........................................114 Appendix B: Sample reports...................................118 Appendix C: Sample category lists............................119 Appendix D: CheckStar IV command map.........................120 Appendix E: Problems and solutions...........................128 Appendix F: Getting technical support........................130 Appendix G: Ordering checks..................................131 Appendix H: Technical information............................132 INDEX.........................................................133 -1- Chapter: 1, Welcome to CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to CheckStar IV, the program designed to help you maintain all your personal and business accounts. What is CheckStar IV ? ====================== CheckStar IV is a personal or small business financial account management program like no other program available today. Unlike other similar programs, CheckStar IV was designed to work the way you do. As a result, you will find the flow of the program and its extra features comfortable and natural. CheckStar IV supports checking accounts, savings accounts, loans, credit card or other accounts, up to several thousand in number. CheckStar IV can help you print checks (of your own choosing), track expenditures and monitor cash flow on a weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, or annual basis. CheckStar IV also provides you with an extraordinary reports generator in which you can customize and save report options. Activities such as maintaining your checking account, for example, are almost intuitively easy with CheckStar IV. Features like memorizing transactions, block or group actions and extensive online help make CheckStar IV quick and easy to operate. Below CheckStar IV's seemingly simple exterior hides a powerful program. Multi-level subcategories, user presetable reports with graphic capabilities and powerful check printing features, make CheckStar IV one of the most powerful account management programs on the market all without sacrificing its simple and intuitive interface! These features make CheckStar IV an ideal program for managing the finances of any small business. But it doesn't stop there! It's some of CheckStar IV's built-in extras that will make it your personal favorite. The program includes a pop-up calculator (three of them actually), a text editor, a reminder sub-program and a calendar linked to the reminders and more. Not only can you pop these up from within CheckStar IV, but you can also access them from the DOS prompt. You can even view files, check account balances and add reminders all without fully loading CheckStar IV! User benefits ============= It's easy to learn! thanks to an intuitive and simple interface. It saves time because of the logical flow of the program as well as its helpful features. It can use any type of computer check that's right, the check printing feature is completely user definable, allowing you to shop around for the style and price of checks that best suit your needs. -2- Chapter: 1, Welcome to CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- User-defined reports templates define whatever information you want your text or graph reports to show, then save those instructions as a new reports template. Taxes makes tax record keeping a snap - define transaction categories that correspond to your tax form entries and print reports on those tax sensitive groupings. Not only will this make filling out your tax forms quicker and easier, it also will help you track the individual details you'll need if you get audited. Bill tracking Ever wonder how much you spent on all your insurance premiums last year? Need to find out which bills got paid? It's no problem with CheckStar IV! It all adds up to make CheckStar IV a program that you'll routinely use and enjoy and one that seems to grow in capabilities as your demands upon it increase! Welcome to CheckStar IV! -3- Chapter: 2, Summary of CheckStar IV features ----------------------------------------------------------------- Printer ======= CheckStar IV can support more than one printer. Separate assignments can be made for printing checks and reports. Each printer can have its own user customized command set and output port. Transaction types ================= CheckStar IV offers you 7 types of transactions, 5 of which alter the account balance. Checks, deposits, withdrawals, bank charges, interest paid and interest earned are the transactions which affect your account balance. Cash debits and cash credits do not, but you can use them to document external income or expenses for the reports generator where their amounts are tallied. Categories ========== You can establish your own CHART OF ACCOUNTS with categories and subcategories up to 10 levels deep, totaling 200 categories. You may also reserve cash for future expenditures for each of these categories. Memorized Entries ================= CheckStar IV can memorize any transaction or group of transactions you have entered into your check register. It will also let you reschedule them with different types of repeat cycles. Once you have memorized transactions, they can be easily recalled and entered in the check register. When recalling a memorized transaction, you can change any part of it before it is entered in the check register. Check printing ============== CheckStar IV prints checks. Any check in the check register can be highlighted or blocked and printed. You do not need to buy special checks to use this check printing feature. You can customize a check layout (depending on your printer's capabilities) to fit virtually any check format. You also have an option to print detailed transaction information (split transactions) and payee addresses. You can print one check at a time or in a group and reprint checks if necessary. Split transactions ================== All CheckStar IV's transactions can be sub-divided into as many as 16 separate entities complete with individual payee, memo, category and amount entries. These "Split Transactions" help you document expenditures and income more accurately. You will still have one transaction amount total for balancing your account with greater ease. -4- Chapter: 2, Summary of CheckStar IV features ----------------------------------------------------------------- Reports ======= CheckStar IV probably has the best reports capabilities of any program on the market. User redefinable options make running reports easy. Cash Reservation ================ CheckStar IV's unique Cash Reservation feature lets you reserve funds for each category based on a percentage of amounts entered or a fixed amount on a monthly/daily cycle. Budgeting ========= CheckStar IV provides you with the tools to start and monitor your own budget. It can be used by an individual or company to monitor and regulate expenditures. It can also help locate wasted resources which can be relocated to new objectives. Calculators =========== CheckStar IV has not one, but three calculators built into it! The first one is a basic four function calculator using Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). The second one is a Financial Calculator which you can use to calculate loan payments, investments and annuity variables. The third calculator is a "Algebraic Expression Evaluator". This calculator can be used to solve parenthetical algebraic formulas. Postdating transactions ======================= You can postdate a check or deposit into CheckStar IV's transactions. The account balance is not affected by these transactions until you post them when payment is sent or received. This is an extremely easy way to handle Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable transactions. Reminders ========= CheckStar IV provides you with a reminder utility with two types of reminders. There are general reminders such as birthdays, appointments, etc. and pending transaction reminders for bills, salary, etc. Reminders which are currently due, are scrolled automatically at the bottom of the screen when you run CheckStar IV. There is also a Command Line Option which can be used in your AUTOEXEC batch file (AUTOEXEC.BAT) to check for due reminders. See chapter 24 for details. Calendar ======== CheckStar IV has a built-in calendar which is linked to the reminders and Memorized Entries within the program. -5- Chapter: 3, Installing CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- System Requirements =================== CheckStar IV can be used on IBM PC or compatible system with a hard drive and one floppy drive 360k or higher, a single floppy system with a 1.2 meg drive or higher or on a dual floppy system with 360k drives or higher. The operating system requirement is MS-DOS version 2.1 or higher. The minimum RAM (random access memory) requirement is 290K of FREE RAM after your DOS installation. The command CHKDSK used at the DOS prompt will give you this information. See your DOS manual for more information. In a nutshell, if your DOS system has ONE of the following, you can begin enjoying the benefits of CheckStar IV immediately. 1. A hard disk and a single floppy drive (the best configuration!). 2. Two 360K floppy drives (this will require a lot of disk swapping!). 3. Two 720K floppy drives. 4. 1.2 megabyte or 1.4 megabyte single drive. CheckStar IV will work with any monitor type, color or monochrome, and virtually any type of printer. The printer is optional. All the information in CheckStar IV is available on the screen. If needed, you can keep your accounts up to date when on the road with your laptop computer! You can print any reports you need later when you get back to your home or office. Making a backup copy ==================== Before you install CheckStar IV, you should make a backup copy of each original disk. CheckStar IV is NOT COPY PROTECTED so DOS's DISKCOPY command will work just fine. If you have two floppy disk drives of the same size, use drive A: for the original disk and drive B: for the destination. If you have only one floppy disk drive, you will have to swap diskettes in the same drive several times. Type the following command to make a backup copy and carefully follow the instructions that appear on screen. DISKCOPY A: B: Repeat the above command for each disk. Store your original CheckStar IV disks in a safe place! -6- Chapter: 3, Installing CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- Installation procedure description ================================== It is important for you to know exactly what an installation procedure does. This installation procedure will NOTIFY you if modification of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files appears to be necessary. It will NOT attempt to modify either one without YOUR tacit APPROVAL during the installation. If your CONFIG.SYS file needs modification and you reject permission, CheckStar IV may not run until you make those changes yourself. Here is what happens during installation. CheckStar IV's installation checks your system for a CONFIG.SYS file and a FILES=20 (or greater) line within that file. If it's not found, the program will ask your permission to create the file and/or add that particular line as necessary. If you approve, the necessary changes will be made and you will then be prompted to reboot your system before running CheckStar IV. If the file and that line are already present, nothing will be changed and you will not need to reboot your computer prior to running CheckStar IV. If you run several memory resident programs (TSR programs) along with CheckStar IV you may need to manually set your files statement to 30 if you can't get CheckStar IV to load. If you are installing on a hard disk, CheckStar IV will create a small batch file (CS.BAT) in the root directory. This allows hard disk users to access CheckStar IV from anywhere on the hard disk. Installing CheckStar IV ======================= CheckStar IV's install program permits installation from any drive. To begin the installation simply insert the first CheckStar IV disk into one of your drives, log over to that drive, type INSTALL and press the Enter key. For example, to install from the A drive, insert the program disk into the drive. Type A: and press the Enter key at the DOS prompt. Now type INSTALL and press the Enter key. See figure 3-1 in the manual. If you're installing to a floppy disk based computer, skip the next section and read FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION. Hard disk installation ---------------------- CheckStar IV will ask if you want to install on a hard disk. Press the Y key. Next you'll be prompted for the drive where the installation will be made. For most hard disk users it will be drive C. The program will create its own subdirectory (the CS directory) if necessary. If you wish to choose a different directory, simply delete the default directory from the prompt line using the Backspace key and type the subdirectory name of your choice. (Observe DOS directory name conventions.) Now the installation program will prompt you for permission to modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to view pending reminders and/or memorized transactions when you turn on the computer. -7- Chapter: 3, Installing CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- Since CheckStar IV has a very useful reminder utility, you might consider approval of this automatic pop-up feature. You can easily uninstall these features by removing the lines CS R (for reminders) or CS M (for memorized transactions) from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You can do so using CheckStar IV's built-in text editor. See chapter 23 for more information on using the text editor. From this point onward, the installation program proceeds automatically, copying files to the designated location. That's the entire installation procedure! The hard disk user can skip to the next chapter. Floppy disk installation ------------------------ To install on a floppy disk system you should already have several blank, formatted disks available. Insert the backup copy of CheckStar IV disk #1 into drive A and type A: to log on to that drive. Now type INSTALL and press the Enter key. CheckStar IV will ask if you want to install on a hard disk. Press the N key. Next you'll be prompted to insert your standard DOS boot disk. CheckStar IV needs to check (or create) a CONFIG.SYS file with the line FILES=20. If CONFIG.SYS is missing or needs modification and you approve the changes, you will need to reboot your computer prior to running CheckStar IV. TIPS & TRICKS ============= It is a good idea to keep the larger accounts on separate disks. This allows you to have more information on a single disk. You can easily swap diskettes to access other accounts from within CheckStar IV. WARNING ======= When running CheckStar IV dual floppy disks, users will be prompted from within CheckStar IV to swap out disks as needed. NEVER remove a disk from the floppy drive unless prompted to do so !!! This could cause PERMANENT DATA LOSS. -8- Chapter: 4, Running CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- After the installation, you're now ready to begin using CheckStar IV! You are about to discover just how simple managing your checkbook and other financial accounts really can be! It's a good idea to first make certain the computer and you both agree on today's current date. Type the DATE command at the DOS prompt to verify or change the computer date. NOTE ==== CheckStar IV can be configured through the User Setup Options to automatically ask you for the current date when it first loads. This is useful for computer systems without an internal clock. See chapter 22 for details. Getting Started =============== Hard disk users --------------- To start CheckStar IV from a hard disk system, simply type CS and press the Enter key from the DOS prompt. If you get an error "Bad command or file name", chances are the start-up batch file "CS.BAT" is missing. Use the DOS "CD" command to change to the directory in which you have installed CheckStar IV. (It will most likely be the following command: "CD \CS".) The very first time you run CheckStar IV you'll be asked if you have a color monitor. This sets CkeckStar IV's display options. Press the Y or N key depending upon your type of monitor. If you want to change this option, see chapter 22 for details. Next, you'll be asked about the location of your data files. If you plan to store them in the same subdirectory as the program files you can just press the Enter key. To store your data in a different subdirectory, enter the subdirectory name along with the complete DOS path. If the path is not found, CheckStar IV will prompt you for permission to create it. It is important for CheckStar IV to know the location of your data. See figure 4-1 in the manual. Floppy disk users ----------------- Floppy disk users must first insert CheckStar IV disk #1 into their computer drive. Type CS and press the Enter key. Follow the instructions appear on the screen. The very first time you run CheckStar IV you'll be asked if you have a color monitor. This sets CkeckStar IV's display options. Press the Y or N key depending upon your type of monitor. If you want to change this option, see chapter 22 for details. Next, you'll be asked about the location of your data files. If you are using 360K or 720K disk drives, you will need to use your second drive for the data. It is important for CheckStar IV to know your data location. See figure 4-2 in the manual. -9- Chapter: 4, Running CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- Creating your first account =========================== CheckStar IV will guide you in creating your first account if there are none in the current data location. Since you are running CheckStar IV for the first time, you will be prompted to enter the account information for your first account creation. See figure 4-3 in the manual. Here are the steps to follow in creating an account. 1. Account name - This name is limited to eight characters and will be used by CheckStar IV to name DOS files related to this account. If you attempt to enter characters not usable by DOS, CheckStar IV will simply not accept the entry. Enter a name which you can easily identify, then press the Enter key. 2. Description - Enter an account description of your choice and press the Enter key. One good option is your account number. You can access this information easily from within CheckStar IV using the Alt-I key combination. 3. Starting balance - Enter the balance you have for this account as of the last bank statement you received, or the statement from which you wish to begin entering your data. You can easily change this amount by modifying the first transaction in this account from the Check Register Menu. 4. Select category list - CheckStar IV offers you a choice of two category lists you may use to start your account. As named, they relate to Personal or Business type categories and can be easily expanded. You may also choose Neither and start your list from scratch. See appendix C to review the Personal and Business Category Lists. It is very important that you begin your account with some form of category list to get the most from CheckStar IV. 5. Cash Reservation - This feature enables CheckStar IV to automatically update the Cash Reservation option for your budget. Generally you will want to respond Y to this feature. Only disable it on accounts which are no longer active or do not use the cash reservation feature. This will speed up the time it takes CheckStar IV to load. (See chapter 18 for details). 6. Now review all your entries. When you are satisfied, press the F10 key. This new account is now added and we are returned to the Accounts Menu. Press the Enter key to select your first account. You'll be sent to CheckStar IV's Main Menu. Special CheckStar IV touches ============================ You have already seen three of the special touches that make CheckStar IV a real pleasure to use. The program doesn't open with its Main Menu. Instead it begins by having you select an account, THEN it takes you back to the CheckStar IV Main Menu. Since you must always start with an active account, skipping the CheckStar IV Main Menu when first loading CheckStar IV is a logical and timesaving feature. -10- Chapter: 4, Running CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- Also, remember those "Wait..." message boxes which appeared several times while you were loading the program? They simply flash up onto your screen to let you know that everything is OK, the program is just busy accessing certain CheckStar IV files. Finally, recall the messages that flowed across the bottom of your screen when the CheckStar IV Main Menu was displayed? These are a part of a powerful reminder program built into CheckStar IV. To learn more about CheckStar IV's reminders refer to chapter 21. QUICKEN users ============= If you have been using QUICKEN as your checkbook management program we have provided a conversion utility which will import your QUICKEN data into CheckStar IV. Refer to chapter 25. Where to go from here ===================== If you are a hands-on computer user and want to get a quick start, go to it! Refer to the F1 and F5 keys for context- sensitive help throughout the program. If you want a little more information before you get started, the next chapter "Learning the basics" will give you an overview of the standard CheckStar IV features. If you need to customize a category list, see the chapter "Categories". This chapter explains how to add, erase and rename categories. You can customize your category list while you are entering transactions. You are now ready to enter transactions. The chapter "Transactions" explains how to enter, modify and review transactions. If you need to create additional accounts, turn to the "Accounts" chapter. Before you print anything from CheckStar IV you need to set up your printer. Turn to chapter 9 for instructions on how to set up your printer. If you want to use the check printing feature, turn to chapter 10. This chapter explains how to configure your checks and how to print them. After entering transactions for a month or two, you will probably be ready to explore CheckStar IV's powerful reports. See chapter 11 for details. You won't be using CheckStar IV very long before you will see the need to start memorizing your repeated transactions. To do so, refer to chapter 14 on "Memorized Entries". -11- Chapter: 4, Running CheckStar IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to add personal reminders such as birthdays, anniversaries, meetings etc. refer to chapter 21 on "Reminders". As you become more proficient in CheckStar IV, you may want to start changing some of the default options. Refer to chapter 22 to change the default options. There are many other features you will discover as you become more experienced with CheckStar IV. Don't be afraid to experiment. They are there waiting for you. -12- Chapter: 5, Learning the basics ----------------------------------------------------------------- CheckStar IV's Main Menu ======================== The user core of CheckStar IV is its simple Main Menu. See figure 5-1 in the manual. Notice there are only a few selections. We have kept CheckStar IV simple. But don't let the simplicity fool you, each selection (except Quit!!) opens the door to many powerful features! There are 6 options in CheckStar IV's Main Menu. The first 5 of those selections take you to another layer of menus, i.e. Check Register Menu, Accounts Menu, Category Menu, Reports Menu, Reminders Menu. Frequently used keys ==================== Below are descriptions of the most commonly used keys in CheckStar IV. A quick review of these will help you make a fast start on your way to becoming an experienced CheckStar IV user. The F10 key ----------- This key completes the operation you're currently working on. We call it the Process key because it is used to tell CheckStar IV that a current process or entry is complete. For example, after you have entered all sections of an entry window, pressing the F10 key will process the information and remove the entry window. The + or - keys --------------- When prompted for a transaction date or check number, you'll usually see the last value you entered. To change an old value, you can always backspace or delete that entry and type in a new value. However there is a much quicker way. Pressing the plus (+) key will begin incrementing your entry. Conversely, pressing the minus (-) key will begin decrementing the entry. The Esc key ----------- The Esc key back tracks you right to the CheckStar IV Main Menu from any location in CheckStar IV. Don't worry about pressing the Esc key once too many times. Pressing the Esc key from the CheckStar IV Main Menu does not suddenly toss you out of the program and leave you staring at the DOS prompt. The Enter key ------------- The Enter key is sometimes called the Return key and is often marked with a left facing arrow. You use the Enter key to advance to the next item in a pop-up menu or to select a highlighted item. -13- Chapter: 5, Learning the basics ----------------------------------------------------------------- The End key ----------- In places where you're viewing data, use the End key to move your cursor to the very bottom of the list. When entering a line of data, the End key will move your cursor to the end of the line. The Home key ------------ In places where you're viewing data, using the Home key to move your cursor to the top of the list. When entering a line of data, the Home key will move you to the start of the line. The Arrow keys -------------- The arrow keys, Up, Down, Left, Right will move your cursor or highlighted bar around the current screen in the appropriate direction according to the available options. The PgDn key ------------ When viewing data, the PgDn key will update the display to the next full page of data. The pages are automatically sized to the current window. The PgUp key ------------ The PgUp key does the same update of the display except it displays the previous page of data. The Hot keys ============ Hot Keys call up useful features like the pop-up calculators, the Note Pad, system information and program help information. We refer to them as Hot Keys because they're active and available (i.e. Hot) from almost any location within CheckStar IV. You can view the complete list of Hot Keys by pressing the F5 key from the Main Menu. They are listed below with a brief description of their function. The F1 key ---------- Use this Hot Key when you need context-sensitive help with something you are doing in CheckStar IV. Please note when there is a flashing arrow on the left edge of the help window. This indicates there is more information you can scroll into view. Use the viewing commands displayed at the bottom of your screen to view all the available information. The F5 key ---------- This Hot Key is very important because it provides a context- sensitive list of commands. Use the F5 key whenever you need to know what commands are currently available. A complete command map is available in appendix D of the CheckStar IV manual. -14- Chapter: 5, Learning the basics ----------------------------------------------------------------- The ATlt-R key combination -------------------------- This Hot Key calls up the four-function RPN Calculator. See chapter 19 for details. The Alt-F key combination ------------------------- This Hot Key combination calls up the "Financial Calculator" See chapter 19 for details. The Alt-A key combination ------------------------- This Hot Key combination calls up the "Algebraic Expression Evaluator" calculator. See chapter 19 for details. Alt-N combination ----------------- This Hot Key calls up the Note Pad. Basically, the Note Pad is one application of CheckStar IV's built-in text editor. You can use this feature just as you would a standard note pad, to make notes to yourself about information you want to remember and recall later. The Note Pad utilizes the built-in editor, but there are two features that distinguish it from the editor. The first is that all Note Pad files use a fixed file name extension. The second is that the Note Pad files have a fixed data path. The default extension is "TXT" and the default data path is the current CheckStar IV program location. You can change both defaults from the General Setup Options (See chapter 22.). When you invoke the Note Pad, the first window you see is a listing of the existing note files. You can select one of these for editing/viewing, printing, copying or erasing. The last file listed, (or the only one if there are NO other files available) is the "NEW FILE". This option will prompt you for a new file name (without the extension) and take you straight into the editor. See chapter 23 for more information on using the editor. The Alt-C combination --------------------- This Hot Key combination calls up CheckStar IV's calendar. (For more information see chapter 20). The Alt-O key combination ------------------------- This Hot Key combination temporarily suspends CheckStar IV and let's you go to DOS. This feature is commonly referred to as a OS Shell or DOS GATEWAY and can be useful if you need to format a disk, copy a file, or utilize some other DOS utility. IMPORTANT: When you use this feature, your standard DOS prompt will appear. In spite of this, CheckStar IV is still in your computer's memory. When you have finished your desired DOS task, at the DOS prompt, type the command EXIT followed by the Enter key. You will be returned to CheckStar IV. -15- Chapter: 5, Learning the basics ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE ==== When going to DOS, CheckStar IV uses about 10K of random access memory (RAM) which leaves a considerable amount of RAM free for other large applications. To do this, CheckStar IV creates a swap file (CS.JNK) and leaves this file open while running other programs. Because of this, there are certain types of programs you should avoid, like DOS's CHKDSK, all disk defragmenters and TSR (memory resident programs). Alt-L key combination --------------------- This Hot Key combination will display CheckStar IV's logo. Pressing any key will return you back to your previous location in the program. The Alt-S key combination ------------------------- This Hot Key combination acts as a toggle to start and stop your scrolling messages. This remains in effect until you run CheckStar IV again. The Alt-V key combination ------------------------- This Hot Key combination activates a Screen Saver/Privacy Feature. It blanks the screen, either for the purpose of temporary privacy, or for protection of your screen phosphor if you plan to leave CheckStar IV running but not in active use for some time. Alt-I key combination --------------------- This Hot Key combination calls up the "System Information" screen. It shows the system date and time, the amount of memory (RAM) being used, the location of the data and Note Pad files as well as other valuable information. See figure 5-2 in the manual. README.TXT FILE =============== This file contains last minute additions or changes to CheckStar IV. To read this file, you can use CheckStar IV's buit-in editor. Press the Alt-N key combination to call up the editor. Highlight the README.TXT file and press the Enter key. When you have finished reading this file, press the F10 key to exit. -16- Chapter: 6, Accounts ----------------------------------------------------------------- This chapter covers the features CheckStar IV provides you to manage your accounts effectively. You will learn how to add and erase, backup, restore and even split oversized accounts. Overview ======== All financial operations performed in CheckStar IV are done within the accounts. Typically these accounts are checking, credit card, savings or other types of accounts where you can make deposits, withdrawals, write checks or document any financial information you wish. Each account should have a CATEGORY LIST and may also have a PAYEE/PAYOR and MEMO LIST. We'll explain about these later, but for now just know that these lists can be created from scratch or copied from other accounts. Adding a new account ==================== Let's begin by creating a new account. 1. To select the Accounts Menu, press 2 key. 2. Now to create a new account, press the A key. The "New Account Information" screen will appear. See figure 6-1 in the manual. 3. Account name - This name is limited to eight characters and will be used by CheckStar IV to name DOS files related to this account. If you attempt to enter characters not usable by DOS, CheckStar IV will simply not accept the entry. Enter a name which you can easily identify, then press the Enter key. 4. Description - Enter an account description of your choice and press the Enter key. One good option is your account number. 5. Starting balance - Enter the balance you have for this account as of the last bank statement you received or the statement from which you wish to begin entering your data. You can easily change the starting balance by modifying the first transaction in this account from the Check Register Menu. 6. Select category - CheckStar IV offers youtwo category lists you may use to start your account. As named, they relate to Personal or Business type categories and can be easily expanded. You may also choose to start your list from scratch by choosing the Neither option. See appendix C to review the Personal and Business Category Lists. It is very important you begin your account with some form of category list st to get the most from CheckStar IV. 7. Cash Reservation - This feature enables CheckStar IV to automatically update the Cash Reservation option for your budget. Generally you will want to respond Y to this feature. Only disable it on accounts which are no longer active, as it will speed up the time it takes CheckStar IV to load. (See chapter 18 for details). 8. Now review all your entries. When you are satisfied,press the F10 key. -17- Chapter: 6, Accounts ----------------------------------------------------------------- This new account is now added to your account list and we're back to the Accounts Menu. Let's take a closer look at it. See figure 6-2 in the manual. The Accounts Menu is self-explanatory. File size refers to the DOS file size. If you're running out of disk space or just curious about how much space each account requires, this column is one you'll want to watch. If you are setting aside a portion of the funds in your account for some special purpose, the Working Balance column will differ from the Ending Balance column. It is part of CheckStar IV's Cash Reservation feature. Selecting an account ==================== CheckStar IV displays a list of all your accounts in the current data directory. 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the account of your choice and press the Enter key. The highlighted account is now loaded and you are in CheckStar IV's Main Menu. Renaming Accounts information ============================= You can rename account information such as account name, account description, or enable/disable Cash Reservation feature. Here's how it is done. 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the account whose data needs to be changed using the arrow keys. 3. Press the G key. The "Renaming Account Information" screen will appear. See figure 6-3 in the manual. 4. Account name - Enter the new account name and press the Enter key. If you do not wish to change the current line, press the Enter key. 5. Description - As before, either type in the new information or press the Enter key to retain the current data. 6. Cash Reservation - Enter Y or N and press the Enter key to enable or disable Cash Reservation feature. 7. After making the necessary changes, press the F10 key for processing. NOTE ==== If you need to change the Starting Balance, you can change the amount in the first transaction from the Check Register Menu. TIPS & TRICKS ============= If you are not using the Cash Reservation feature for an account, disable it with the renaming option above. You will save time when the program first starts up. See chapter 18 for more information. -18- Chapter: 6, Accounts ----------------------------------------------------------------- Backing up account(s) ===================== Backing up your accounts to a separate disk or drive is a smart idea. If something happens to your account files, you'll count your blessings if you've got a backup or spare copy. You can back up several accounts at once by tagging them with the Spacebar key before you begin. There are two commands (B and Ctrl-B) available for backup. The B command will backup all the files associated with the selected accounts. Use this command once a month or when you are backing up to a new destination. The Ctrl-B command only backs up files which have been changed since your last backup. Use this command for daily or weekly backups. This command is a faster process. Here is how to back up one or several accounts. 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. From the Accounts Menu, you must tell CheckStar IV which accounts to back up by tagging them. To do this, highlight the selected account and press the Spacebar key. An arrow on the far left side of the menu appears indicating that this account is tagged. Tag all the accounts you want to include in your backup in the same way. 3. Now, press the B or Ctrl-B key combination. A default backup location will appear. See figure 6-4 in the manual. Change the backup location if needed or press the Enter key to accept the default location. If you have entered a new backup location, CheckStar IV will remember it automatically. If you have entered a new directory name which does not yet exist, CheckStar IV will prompt you for approval, and then create it for you. 4. Press the Y key, to verify the backup process. If you are backing up on a floppy disk drive, be sure to insert your BACKUP DISKETTE in the proper drive and close the drive door before pressing the Y key. If you need to format a floppy disk for backup purposes, you can temporarily exit to DOS by pressing the Alt-O key combination. Use the standard DOS command to format your diskette. (See your DOS manual for instructions.) When you are finished, return to CheckStar IV by typing EXIT. The backup process may take some time depending upon the length of your data files, the speed of the drive and the backup option you selected (either B or Ctrl-B). If the backup process is successful, you will be returned to the Accounts Menu. If there are any errors during the backup, CheckStar IV will let you know. Correct the problem and retry the backup process. -19- Chapter: 6, Accounts ----------------------------------------------------------------- Restoring an accounts ===================== If you have lost data and need to restore your account, use the S command from the Accounts Menu. (This is a last resort to be used if you cannot recover your data by other means. You could loose data unless you have just completed a backup!). If you are a floppy user, simply use your backup disk. If you are a hard disk user, follow the procedure below to restore data. There are two options ("Restore single account", "Restore all accounts") available when you select the S command. If one or a few accounts are damaged, select the option "Restore single account". If you need to restore all your accounts, select the option "Restore all accounts". In either case, you will be prompted to enter the location of the data. 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the S key to restore an account. See figure 6-5 in the manual. 3. Highlight the option of your choice and press the Enter key. 4. If you are restoring from a floppy disk, insert the floppy disk in the floppy drive. Enter the full backup location and press the Enter key. See your DOS manual for more information on DOS "paths". 5. If you elected to restore a single account, you will be prompted to enter the account name. 6. You will be prompted to verify your intent to overwrite an existing account. Press the Y key to begin the restoration. Erasing an Account ================== You may permanently erase all information for any account. Once an account is erased, CheckStar IV cannot recover the data. You should make sure you have a current backup of the account before you proceed. Here is how to erase an account 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the account you want to erase and press the E key. The "Erasing Account" screen will appear. See figure 6-6 in the manual. 3. Enter ERASE and press the Enter key. 4. Press the Y key to verify the erasing process. The account will be permanently removed from your account list. -20- Chapter: 6, Accounts ----------------------------------------------------------------- Closing an account ================== At first glance it may seem unnecessary to close a CheckStar IV account. However, there are situations where you may find this feature very useful. What CheckStar IV does is allow you to block off a portion of a currently active account and transfer these transactions to a separate account name along with the category list. What this can do is make the size of an active file smaller and faster. It can also permit you to group your older account data in logical groups for easier management. For example you might choose to transfer data from an account named PERSONAL to an account called PERS_89 or maybe PER88-90. The data you transfer is still fully accessible as before, but is simply kept in a separate account. Here's how you go about closing out a portion of an account. 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the account you want to close and press the Enter key. 3. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 4. Mark the transactions using the beginning of block (F7) and end of block (F8) keys. These marked transactions will be removed from this account and written to a new account which CheckStar IV will create. 5. Press the Ctrl-L key combination. The "Closing Account Information" screen will appear. See figure 6-7 in the manual. CheckStar IV will notify you of any uncleared transactions in the blocked data. All transactions must be cleared before they can be closed out. 6. Enter the new account name and press the Enter key. Choose a name you will recognize in the future. 7. Enter the path or location for this new account and press the Enter key. See your DOS manual for instructions on "path". 8. Press the F10 key to start the closing process. If there are any problems encountered during this process, CheckStar IV will allow you to correct the problem and repeat the closing process. Copying information from one account to another =============================================== CheckStar IV allows you to copy information such as category list, payee list, memo list, Memorized Entries and reports templates from one account to another. Obviously, you will need more than one account to do so. When you create a new account, it may be easier to copy such information from a previous account rather than reentering it. One word of CAUTION! If you copy a category list TO an account which ALREADY contains data, the CATEGORY DATA in the transactions already entered will become INVALID. This procedure is best used to get your new account on line quickly. Here is the method you use to copy information from one account to another. -21- Chapter: 6, Accounts ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the account to which you want to copy information. 3. Press the C key. A menu with all the lists will appear. See figure 6-8 in the manual. 4. Tag the menu items you want to copy using the Spacebar key. To untag an item, highlight it and press the Spacebar key again. After making your selections, press the Enter key. 5. Enter the account name you want to copy from and press the Enter key. 6. Press the Y key if all information is correct or press the N key if you are not sure. A special note on copying reports templates ------------------------------------------- Copying reports templates lists has a dimension you should be familiar with. Each account can have its own customized reports templates list and still access the default CheckStar IV list. This feature can be toggled by option #15 in the Report Setup Options. See chapter 22 for details. If you have not created a custom list for a particular account, the default list will be used regardless of the option setting. This affects the Copy List function in the following way. First, if there is not a customized reports templates list for the source account (from which the lists are being copied), no list will be copied to the new account. Second, if there is a customized list available, it WILL be copied. However, you may not see this list if the Report Setup Options #15 is set to NO Logging on to different data location ===================================== CheckStar IV allows you to select different data locations without exiting the program. Hard drive users can use this feature to change to different subdirectories and/or drives. Floppy disk users should use this feature to change diskettes, even though the data may remain on the same drive. CheckStar IV uses this procedure to reread the account data. Here is how to change data locations. 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the L key. See figure 6-9 in the manual. 3. Enter the full DOS path and press the Enter key. Floppy users should enter the drive letter such as B: etc. Hard disk users must provide full path name such as C:\CS\DATA etc. See your DOS manual for instructions on DOS "paths". CheckStar IV will read and display the available accounts in this location. If no account is present, you will have the option to add a new account. -22- Chapter: 6, Accounts ----------------------------------------------------------------- Printing Account list(Net worth report) ======================================= You can send the current list of accounts to the printer. If you have more than one account, CheckStar IV will group the accounts by their balances. All accounts will be grouped and subtotaled by positive and negative balances. Then the Net Worth balance (the total) will be computed. To print an account list, press the P key. Turn the printer on and press the Y key to start printing. Recalculating Ending Balance ============================ There may arise an occasion when your Ending Balance needs to be recalculated - e.g. in case of a power failure or a hardware failure while you were using CheckStar IV. To recalculate the Ending Balance of any account, you can highlight the account from the Accounts Menu and press the R key. CheckStar IV will recalculate the entire account from beginning to end and display the new balance. Displaying Memorized Entry list from all accounts ================================================= You can review a composite list of all Memorized Entries from all current accounts within the Accounts Menu by pressing the F9 key. The list is sorted by account. Press the Esc key to return to the Accounts Menu. Using the Mini Calculator ========================= The Mini Calculator is a miniature version of the standard CheckStar IV calculator. You can quickly add or subtract amounts taken from a highlighted item to the calculator's total. From the Accounts Menu, this feature lets you total Ending Balances of highlighted accounts. Here is how to use the Mini Calculator. 1. Press the 2 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the Delete key to clear any existing total. 3. Highlight an account whose Ending Balance you want to total. Press the + or - key to add or subtract its balance from the current calculator total. See figure 6-10 in the manual. 4. Repeat with as many accounts as you wish. The total is carried in the RPN Calculator's (Alt-R) memory. 5. When you are done, press the Esc key. If you wish to pop up the calculator without making an entry, press the Insert key. -23- Chapter: 7, Categories ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== The core of any accounting or funds management program is the grouping of transactions by purpose. This is commonly referred to as the CHART OF ACCOUNTS. In CheckStar IV we refer to these groups as CATEGORIES. You can track income and expenses by assigning transactions or even parts of (split) transactions, to specific categories. We strongly encourage you to maximize your use of categories. You may find that your category list will require revision from time to time. We have provided you with the tools to do that easily, so don't hesitate to use them. Your ability to control your budget and analyze your data will be directly affected by the DETAIL of your CATEGORIES and the ACCURACY of your entries. Uses of categories ================== Until the widespread use of personal computers, many of us did not have the time or the resources to manage our personal finances with the same degree of accuracy as large corporations. Hence, we have lived with many assumptions about "where our money goes". We feel that careful use of CheckStar IV's category system and reports generator could be the beginning of an eye-opening experience for many of you as it was for us. Here are some of the uses we would recommend for those of you who are trying for the first time to manage your finances. Income: ------- Salaries, Interest earned, other income, etc. Expenses: --------- Housing, Clothing, Groceries, Medical, Auto, Other Transportation, Utilities, Insurance, Business, Education, Tax Withholdings, Vacation, Savings, Entertainment, Gifts, Pocket cash, etc. As you might notice, there are many instances where subdividing an above - mentioned expense might provide even better information. One example would be Utilities, which could be subdivided into Electrical, Water, Sewage, Coal/Heating Oil, Gas, Telephone, Garbage pickup, etc. The Telephone expense could be further subdivided into Basic Service, Long Distance and 900 Service. Tax information: ---------------- Another consideration in creating your category list is the documenting of tax information. You can create categories for wages, tax-exempt interest income, social security benefits, etc. which can be easily totaled for direct entry into your 1040 form. Likewise, for the self-employed, the Schedule C entries for travel expenses, legal fees, etc. can be taken directly from a thoughtfully designed category list. -24- Chapter: 7, Categories ----------------------------------------------------------------- TIPS & TRICKS ============= Use CheckStar IV's Memorized Entries or reminders to alert yourself to quarterly tax due dates and other time-related tax concerns (IRA purchase dates, etc.). Before you get involved in entering a lot of data into CheckStar IV, look at the above-mentioned groups of categories and see what the possibilities are for your account management program. Make a list of the categories you want to use, then read on. We will tell you how to create or modify your existing categories to meet your needs! Features of categories ====================== There are several important features about categories that you should know. The first is that you can assign a Cash Reservation amount to each of the categories. We believe this feature to be unique to CheckStar IV. We have devoted a separate section of the manual to this feature. See chapter 18 for details. The second feature is the budgeting capabilities that are associated with the categories. This feature also warrants a separate section in the manual. For more details, see chapter 15. The third feature is the subcategory. We will cover this option in a moment, but suffice it to say that all rules that apply to categories, apply equally to subcategories. Category descriptions and numbers ================================= To take a look at your category list, select option 3 from CheckStar IV's Main Menu. See figure 7-1 in the manual. The Category descriptions on the left are the groups to which you will assign your transactions. Notice that these descriptions are numbered. (If you have selected to build your category list from scratch, you will have only one category description entry.) The dollar amounts on the right are for the Cash Reservation system. More on that later. Why numbers? ============ The fastest way to enter category descriptions is to place them in a numbered list. All you have to do is enter the number. How do you remember the numbers? Easy! CheckStar IV pops up the list every time you need to make an entry. -25- Chapter: 7, Categories ----------------------------------------------------------------- What about reorganization? ========================== We feel that personalized organization makes the most useful list, so we encourage you to organize and reorganize your category list in any order that suits your needs. Here is how we handle the numbers. When you add a category, CheckStar IV will insert it in the list below the current position of the highlighted bar. However, the category numbers to the left of the descriptions will remain in consecutive order. This means that the numeric assignment for those categories BELOW the new insertion will change. CheckStar IV will SCAN your data files and Memorized Entries and UPDATE their numeric category assignments as needed. The same is true for erasing a category. NOTE ==== If a transaction is assigned to a category you are erasing (there are ways to avoid this), you WILL NOT loose the transaction. Instead, it will be assigned a category of "0". You can look for and change these unassigned categories to their correct assignments. It is better to erase ONE category at a time, then check your list for missed transactions which need to be reassigned. What are the advantages of a numbered list? =========================================== First, you have the fastest possible entry method for your categories. Second, the pop-up category list makes memorizing numbers unnecessary. Third, you can organize your list into logical groups for fast access. Subcategories ============= Subcategories in CheckStar IV are just like standard categories. You create, erase, rename, reserve cash etc. just as you would with standard categories. Their usefulness comes in reports, where their subtotals can be added together in their "parent" category total. Their distinguishing feature is the indentations of their names from the left hand margin. The number of spaces they are indented indicates the level of the subcategory. Example 1: ---------- 20-Utilities 21- Electric 22- Telephone 23- Water In the above example, categories 21 through 23 are subcategories of "Utilities". -26- Chapter: 7, Categories ----------------------------------------------------------------- Example 2: ---------- 30-Automobile expense 31- Ford 32- Fuel 33- Insurance 34- Maintenance 35- Toyota 36- Fuel 37- Insurance 38- Maintenance In the above example, categories 31 through 38 are subcategories of "Automobile expense". Categories 32 through 34 are subcategories of "Ford". Likewise, categories 36 through 38 are subcategories of "Toyota". Also note that subcategories 32 through 34 are NOT the same as subcategories 36 through 38 since their parents "Ford" and "Toyota" are different. NOTE ==== No subcategory can be indented more than one space from the position of its parent. CheckStar IV will warn you if an entry of this type is attempted. Extended categories =================== The categories as described above are standard categories. They are numbered 1 through 200 and have an assigned description. CheckStar IV also provides a group called extended categories. These are those numbered from 201 through 990. These categories DO NOT have a description, and are handled only by their numeric assignments. You will need to keep a list of these assignments and use them consistently through your accounts if you want to do multiple account reports. There is a special variable in the Report Setup Options which will enable or disable the inclusion of these categories in your reports. TIPS & TRICKS ============= Use your Note Pad feature to document your use of extended categories. It is always available with a Hot Key stroke. A category list for each account ================================ Each CheckStar IV account has its own category list. When you create an account, you can choose to install one of two default category lists available for personal or business accounts. You can then modify these lists to suit your own needs. See appendix C on sample category lists. You may also copy a list from an existing account or start from scratch and build your own. If you organize your list before you begin entering transactions, you will have fewer changes to make in the future. It is easier to eliminate unused categories than to create new ones and split existing transactions into separate category groups. -27- Chapter: 7, Categories ----------------------------------------------------------------- Adding a category ================= Here is a step-by-step procedure to add a category: 1. Press the 3 key from the Main Menu. 2. Move the highlighted bar to the position in the existing list where you want to add the new category. (The category will be inserted BELOW the highlighted bar.) 3. Press the A key. The "Add New Category" screen will appear. See figure 7-2 in the manual. 4. Enter the category name (up to 30 characters long) and press the Enter key. NOTE ==== If you are adding a subcategory, leave the appropriate number of spaces, ie. the number of spaces in that of the parent, plus one. Your new category will be permanently added to the list at the current cursor location. All subsequent categories will be automatically renumbered. Renaming a Category ==================== You can change the name of an existing category. Here is how to rename a category. 1. Press the 3 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the category you wish to rename. 3. Press the R key. The "Rename Category Description" screen will appear. See figure 7-3 in the manual. 4. Enter the new category name and press the Enter key. Erasing a Category ================== When you erase a category, CheckStar IV will assign a category number of 0 to any transaction currently assigned to that category. You can avoid this problem. See TIPS & TRICKS below. Here is the procedure for erasing a category. 1. Press the 3 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the category you wish to erase. 3. Press the E key. The "Erase Category" screen will appear. See figure 7-4 in the manual. 4. Press the F10 key to erase it. TIPS & TRICKS ============= Before erasing a category, reassign all transactions assigned to that category using the Ctrl-G command from the Check Register Menu. See chapter 8 for details. Moving a Category ================= If you want to reorganize your category list by moving a category description from one position in the list to another, here's how you can do it: -28- Chapter: 7, Categories ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Press the 3 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the category you wish to move. 3. Tag the highlighted category. Pressing the Spacebar will tag or untag a highlighted category. (You can only move ONE category at a time.) 4. Move the highlight bar to a position just above the location you have chosen for the category to be moved. 5. Press the M key to move it. 6. Press the Y key at the confirmation prompt to make the move permanent. Printing the Category list ========================== You can print your entire list of categories if you need a paper copy. 1. Press the 3 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the P key. 3. Turn the printer ON and confirm the printer status by pressing the Y key to start printing. -29- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== All transactions entered in the check register become a permanent part of your account. At NO time will CheckStar IV automatically erase, shrink or in any way modify these entries. CheckStar IV maintains a running balance which you can recalculate from the Check Register or the Accounts Menu. Automatic recalculation will take place in the event of an unexpected program interruption. The Check Register Menu offers you many useful tools for managing your check register. You can modify, erase, view or search for transactions, memorize groups of transactions for quick data entry, print checks, reconcile your account and much more. In fact, most of the time you spend working in CheckStar IV, will probably be spent in the Check Register Menu. In this chapter, you will learn the following: The concepts ------------ * The transaction description * The transaction types * The transaction status The methods ----------- * Entering transactions * Viewing or modifying transactions * Erasing transactions * Searching for transactions * Printing checks * Blocking transactions * Moving transactions * Clearing transactions * Reassigning transaction categories * Printing the check register What is a transaction? ====================== In CheckStar IV, a transaction is a combination of related bits of information grouped together in one entry made in the Check Register. This information includes a Payee/Payor, a Memo, a date, an amount, a check number (in some cases), a category and a status field. All your entries in CheckStar IV will have this information (except of course the check number). You can enter up to 30 characters in the Payee/Payor and the Memo fields. The dollar amount can hold up to 99 million. The date is fixed of course, but there are a number of date display options from which you may choose. See chapter 22 on User Setup Options. The category is a three-digit entry which references your category list. See chapter 7 on Categories. -30- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- What transaction types are available? ===================================== There are 7 transaction types available. There are checks, deposits, interest earned, withdrawal, bank (service) charges, cash debits, and cash credits. The last two types, cash debits and credits, do NOT affect the check register balance. They can be used to document expenses you want reflected in your CheckStar IV reports. What is the transaction status? =============================== Transactions can have more than one status. First they have a bank status. This is seen on the right hand margin of the Check Register Menu display, just to the right of the transaction amount. You will find either an N, a Y or an *. The N indicates the transaction has not cleared the bank. The Y indicates that it has cleared. The * is an intermediate indicator. It marks all NEWLY cleared transactions. It is helpful when balancing your account to know which transactions are cleared in the current statement. The second status is not visible unless it is applied to a transaction. It has two forms, the VOID and UNPOSTED. Either accomplishes the same purpose in that they leave the transaction intact while removing its affect on the register balance. Obviously they have distinctly different purposes. However, either one can be reversed with a key stroke if necessary. NOTE ==== CheckStar IV offers the ability to split a transaction into multiple segments. See chapter 13 for details. Looking at the check register ============================= Let's look at the check register. From the Main Menu, press the 1 key. Take a moment and look at the check register. This Check Register Menu is pretty much self-explanatory. The first column "Trans" displays the check number or a brief mnemonic reference to the transaction type. The second column "Cg" displays the category number. The third column displays the transaction date. The fourth and fifth columns display the Payee/Payor and Memo respectively. Notice that the space across the screen for each transaction is limited. Because of this, the Payee/Payor and the Memo data are partially cropped from view, but the data can be easily viewed using the M command. The sixth column displays the transaction amount. The seventh column "_/" displays the transaction status. The eighth column displays a running balance maintained from the first entry in the register. The last running balance number you see is your actual account balance (Ending Balance). -31- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Adding transaction ================== You enter a transaction in the check register much like you would record it manually. Enter the command for a transaction and a form pops up requesting the necessary information. When you have finished, press the F10 key and the transaction is entered in the register. Here is a list of the commands you use to enter transactions in the Check Register Menu. C - Enter check D - Enter deposit W - Enter withdrawal S - Enter bank charge I - Enter interest earned A - Enter cash debit B - Enter cash credit Let's add a check in the check register. (You can easily erase it later if you like.) 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the C key to add a check. The input window will appear. 3. Type the date and press the Enter key. 4. Type the check number and press the Enter key. 5. Type the payee and press the Enter key. 6. Type the check amount and press the Enter key. 7. Type any comments you would like here in the memo and press the Enter key. 8. Type the category number from the category list displayed on the left side of your screen. Use the PgUp and PgDn keys to view the entire category list top to bottom. 9. Press the F10 key to save this check. This check is now displayed in the check register. Other types of transactions are entered in the same manner. You simply select a different command as shown above to indicate the transaction type. Reviewing transactions ====================== Scroll through the check register to look at any or all your transaction entries. The UpArrow or DownArrow keys will move the highlighted bar from the first to the last entry. The PgUp and PgDn keys will jump you through one full screen at a time. The Home and End keys will take you to the top or bottom of your register. As you move through the check register, you may have noticed a bright indicator in the far left and and right hand margins that moves up and down as the highlighted bar moves. This is a positional indicator which displays your relative position in the check register. -32- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you have an EGA or VGA monitor, you can choose viewing more transactions per screen using the high resolution text mode. You can toggle this mode on and off by pressing the Ctrl-D key combination. CheckStar IV automatically detects your monitor type and chooses the appropriate viewing mode; the 43 line mode for the EGA monitors and the 50 line mode for the VGA monitors. The high resolution mode is supported for viewing only. Commands other than those related to viewing (ie. PgUp & PgDn, Arrows, Home & End) are not supported in this mode. Correcting a transaction ======================== You can change any transaction in the check register. Here is how it is done. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the transaction you want to change and press the M key. 3. The screen used to enter transactions (See figure 8-2 in the manual.) will appear complete with the data from this transaction. Make the necessary changes. 4. Press the F10 key to save the changes. The transaction is saved again with the new information. If you changed the transaction amount, CheckStar IV will update the Ending Balance automatically. Erasing a transaction ===================== You can erase any transaction in the check register. Once a transaction is erased, it cannot be recovered. Here is how to erase a transaction. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the transaction you want to erase and press the E key. 3. At the prompt, press the Y key to verify your intentions. The transaction is permanently erased from the check register. CheckStar IV updates the Ending Balance automatically. Searching for a transaction =========================== Transactions can be located very easily in CheckStar IV. You can use one or more search criteria at a time. Here is how to search for a transaction. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the Ctrl-F key combination. 3. A pop-up window similar to the transaction entry window will appear. Enter only the data which is part of the search criteria. CheckStar IV ignores upper or lower case in a search. -33- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. You begin the search and choose the direction of the search at the same time with your choice of commands. The Ctrl-PgUp key combination initiates a search from the current cursor position towards the top of the file. The Ctrl-PgDn key combination initiates a search toward the bottom of the file. If CheckStar IV finds a match, it will highlight the transaction. To repeat the search for another match, just press the Ctrl-PgUp or Ctrl-PgDn key combination again. If CheckStar IV does not find a match, it will tell you "No matching transaction found". NOTE ==== If you wish to clear the date from a search criteria, enter the special date of Jan-01-80. This will cause CheckStar IV to ignore the date criteria in its transaction search. Blocking transaction(s) ======================= From within the Check Register Menu it's possible to work with groups of transactions instead of one at a time. A block refers to a group of one or more contiguous transactions which have been marked. To create a block, highlight the first transaction you wish to include in the block and press the F7 key. This marks the beginning of the block. (You may not see anything happen yet.) Now highlight the last transaction you wish to include in the block and press the F8 key. You will now see that all the transactions are clearly marked by a change of color. A single transaction can be marked the same way by pressing the F7 and F8 keys consecutively. To hide and redisplay a block, press the Alt-H key combination. Later, you will learn many features that are associated with blocked transactions. NOTE ==== If you attempt to block part of a split transaction, the entire split group will be included. Moving a transaction ==================== Unlike other programs, CheckStar IV is very flexible in allowing you to organize the location of transactions in the check register. By default, CheckStar IV adds new transactions at the end of the check register. But you can tell CheckStar IV to add a new transaction after the highlighted bar by changing a Check Register Setup Option (See chapter 22.). Still there may be times when you just want to move transactions around. Well, here's how to move transactions. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Block the transaction(s) you want to move. Refer to the previous section titled "Blocking transaction(s)" for details. 3. Move the highlighted bar to a position in the register above the place where the block is to be moved. 4. Press the Alt-M key combination to move the block. -34- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unposting transaction ===================== CheckStar IV supports unposted checks and deposits. They can be unposted using either of two methods. First, you can have CheckStar IV automatically unpost all post-dated checks and deposits as they are entered by selecting Check Register Setup Option 14. See chapter 22 for more details. To manually unpost a transaction, follow the simple procedure below: 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the transaction you want to unpost. 3. Press the P key. NOTE ==== This command will toggle the status of the transaction. If the transaction is unposted, this command will post it and vice versa. When a transaction is unposted, CheckStar IV marks it "Unposted" in the check register column where the running balance is normally displayed. The Ending Balance is NOT affected by an unposted transaction. You can think of unposted checks as your Accounts Payables. Likewise, you can think of unposted deposits as your Accounts Receivables. Using your unposted transactions, you can generate an Account Payable or Receivable report from the Reports Menu. Posting a transaction ===================== Unposted transactions can be posted in 2 ways. One method involves letting CheckStar IV test each unposted transaction date in the current account to see if it is the same or earlier than the current date. If true, then the transaction will be automatically posted. Here is how this is done. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the X key. The other method is to post the transactions manually. To do that, follow the procedure below: 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the transaction you want to post. 3. Press the P key. -35- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Voiding/Unvoiding a transaction =============================== CheckStar IV allows you to undo the financial affect of the transaction and yet leave its data intact. This is called VOIDING a transaction. (It's not like erasing. You can easily undo it.) When you void a transaction, the entire transaction stays in the check register for your records. CheckStar IV marks these transactions with the word "Void" over the dollar amount in the ledger. By default, all voided transactions are excluded from the reports. Here is how to void a transaction. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the transaction you want to void/unvoid. 3. Press the V key. The word "Void" will appear in the balance column of the check register. The Ending Balance will be adjusted automatically. If you have voided the wrong transaction, press the V key again to reverse the status. Printing the check register =========================== You can get a printout of part or all of your check register. If you have not yet set up your printer as explained in the chapter 9, do so before beginning this procedure. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Block the transactions you wish to print. 3. Press the Alt-G key combination. 4. Turn on your printer and press the Y key at the verify prompt. TIPS & TRICKS ============= If you would like to include/exclude split transactions when printing the check register, change "Hide split transactions" option to YES/NO from the Check Register Setup Options. Modifying a group of transactions category number ================================================= The Ctrl-G key combination from within the Check Register Menu is used to modify the category number of a group of transactions. For example, if you delete a category before moving all the assigned transactions to a different category, the orphaned transactions will be placed in category 0. You can still rescue these transactions easily. Here is how you do it. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the Ctrl-G key combination. 3. Type the current category number at the "Change category number from" prompt and press the Enter key. 4. Type the new category number at the "To category number" prompt and press the Enter key. 5. If the information you entered is correct, press the Y key at the verify prompt. -36- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- TIPS & TRICKS ============= By blocking a group of transactions before using the Ctrl-G key combination, you have the option to limit this command to affect only those transactions within the block. Sorting the check register by date ================================== CheckStar IV allows you to sort transactions within a block based on their date. Here is how to do that. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Block the transactions you wish to sort by date. 3. Press the Alt-D key combination. 4. Press the Y key at the verify prompt. If CheckStar IV reports an error "Not enough memory", reduce the block size and try again. Sorting the check register by check number ========================================== CheckStar IV also allows you to sort transactions within a block based on their check numbers. Here is how to do that. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Block the transactions you wish to sort by check number. 3. Press the Alt-B key combination. 4. Press the key at the verify prompt. While sorting, if CheckStar IV reports an error "Not enough memory", reduce the block size and try again. Block operations ================ CheckStar IV offers special block commands. Here is a list. Alt-E ----- Erase a group of transactions. Alt-C ----- Duplicate transactions instead of reentering them. In the long term, using Memorized Entries is a better way to duplicate transactions. Alt-P ----- Block print a group of checks. CheckStar IV will do it! See chapter 10 on printing checks. Alt-K ----- Clear/Unclear a block of transactions. -37- Chapter: 8, Transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Alt-W, Alt-J ------------ Read or Write a block of transactions to a separate file. This could be useful for swapping transactions between accounts (i.e. when you've entered data in the wrong account, etc.). -38- Chapter: 9, Printer setup ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== To fully utilize CheckStar IV or any financial management program you need to be able to send your reports to a printer. Not all printers are the same, nor are they all connected to the computer in quite the same way. In fact some users may have more than one printer connected to their computer. CheckStar IV allows you to configure up to two printers. One printer can be assigned to printing checks, while the other can be assigned to printing reports. There are a variety of standards for setting special print modes like NLQ (near letter quality), Bold, Underlined, Compressed and more. CheckStar IV provides setup files referred to as "PRINTER DRIVERS" for several of the most common standards. You may need only to select one for each of your assigned printers. In the event that your printer standards are different or you wish to use other special features your printer has to offer, CheckStar IV makes it easy to configure a printer driver specifically to fit your needs. In this section we'll discuss how to design your own printer driver. Printer Drivers =============== A printer driver is a file that documents the special codes required by a specific printer to perform specific tasks. For example, a printer driver might contain the information that a "Printer Reset" for this printer is a decimal number "27" followed by a decimal number "64". Thus when CheckStar IV needs to reset the printer, it will look up the code in this file and output the code 27 followed by 64. By default, we have provided four printer drivers - EPSON, EPSON-LQ, HP-LASER and IBM-PRO. If you have a printer who's instruction set matches one of the printers above you can use that driver. If you are the hands on type, just trying out a driver to check compatibility should not cause any damage to your printer. If your printer proves to be incompatible with any of the drivers above, you can add your own. To do so, follow the next procedure called "Adding a printer driver". Adding a printer driver ======================= First, we will copy an existing printer driver to a new printer driver file. After this, we will modify the new driver to function with your printer. Here is how it's done. 1. Press the 4 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the F4 key. A window with a list of all printer drivers will appear. See figure 9-1 in the manual. 3. Highlight the printer driver which you think comes closest to your printer in compatibility. If you are not sure, highlight any printer driver. Press the C key. 4. Type the eight characters DOS file name. Choose a name such as your printer brand name which will be easy to recognize. -39- Chapter: 9, Printer setup ----------------------------------------------------------------- The new printer driver will appear in your printer driver list. Now you need to customize the printer codes so CheckStar IV will be able to use your printer to its fullest. Follow the procedure in the section "Customizing printer codes" below. Customizing Printer codes ========================= You will need to get your printer manual to look up the codes essential to setting up the driver. Your printer manual may offer you several alternative descriptions for these codes. However, in CheckStar IV the printer driver codes must be entered in their DECIMAL equivalent values. In this example, an "EPSON compatible" printer manual lists the following three different descriptions of the same code. Example: Setting NLQ mode Hexidecimal ASCII DECIMAL ----------- ------ ------- 1B 28 Esc"(" 27 40 The codes you want to enter are the decimal equivalent numbers on the right and should be entered separated with commas, ie. 27,40. If your printer code requires a numeric value, precede it with a # sign, ie. 27,38,#16,59. See figure 9-2 in the manual. Here is how to customize a printer driver's codes. 1. Press the F key from the Reports Menu. A window with a list of the available printer drivers will appear. See figure 9-1 in the manual. 2. Highlight the printer driver you want to customize and press the Enter key. The Printer Codes Menu will appear. See figure 9-1 in the manual. 3. On the left side of your screen, you will see the Printer Code Descriptions. On the right side are the printer codes in decimal equivalent values. There are 26 possible printer codes labeled A through Z. The first 18, that is codes A through R are special. Their functions (as described on the left) are preset and must remain as they are currently defined. They are used in many of CheckStar IV's printing routines. The codes (on the right) can be changed so that your printer's functions will match the definitions on the left. The additional codes beyond R are available for you to add your own codes which you can use in customized check layouts etc. You can add both the description and the code values. 4. Highlight the first printer code ("Printer Reset") and press the R key. 5. At this point refer to your printer manual for the code list. Locate the code which resets the printer. Compare its decimal equivalent value to the one currently entered. If they are the same press the Enter key. If they are different, clear the current entry with the Delete or Backspace keys and type in the new entry. Remember to separate the codes with commas. When entered, press the Enter key. -40- Chapter: 9, Printer setup ----------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Go through each code carefully checking it against the information in your printer manual. Make the necessary corrections. 7. When you are through, press the Esc key to exit the Printer Code Menu. NOTE ==== If CheckStar IV does not print checks and reports properly, recheck your printer codes then try printing checks and reports again. Aside from selecting the right printer driver, you need to tell CheckStar IV where to find this printer on your computer. There are two standard types of printer ports on a DOS computer, aparallel or Centronics port and a serial port. If you have one printer and are not sure which connection it uses, it is most likely to use a parallel port. If you have a serial port printer, you will need to determine which "COM port" it uses, COM1 or COM2. The procedure below will guide you through the process of entering this information to CheckStar IV. Printer Setup for printing checks ================================= This procedure will help you setup CheckStar IV to use the printer of your choice to print checks and register information from the Check Register Menu. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu to enterthe Check Register Menu. 2. Press the Ctrl-Z key combination to select the printer configuration window. 3. Highlight the printer port to which your printer is connected and press the Enter key. The most common selection is LPT1. If you select either COM1 or COM2, enter the "Serial Printer Information" requested and press the F10 key. 4. At this point you will be prompted to select a printer driver. If you added a new printer driver choose that driver or highlight a printer driver which most closely approximates your printer type and press the Enter key. NOTE ==== If the printer driver you've chosen isn't compatible, you can create your own driver. See "Adding printer driver" above for details. When you are through, repeat this setup procedure and select your new printer driver. 5. Press the F10 key to save the setup information you have entered. Printer Setting up for printing reports ======================================= This procedure will help you setup CheckStar IV to use the printer of your choice to print reports. -41- Chapter: 9, Printer setup ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Press the 4 key from the Main Menu to enter the Reports Menu. 2. Press the Ctrl-Z key combination to select the printer configuration window. 3. Highlight the printer port to which your printer is connected and press the Enter key. The most common selection is LPT1. If you select either COM1 or COM2, enter the "Serial Printer Information" requested and press the F10 key. 4. At this point you will be prompted to select a printer driver. If you added a new printer driver choose that driver or highlight a printer driver which most closely represents your printer type and press the Enter key. 5. If you are going to be printing graphs, press the Y key. See figure 9-3 in the manual. Once again select your graphics printer (probably the same one you selected in the last screen). Select the resolution you want. The better the resolution the sharper the graph but the longer it will take to print. Now type the graph width and length in inches. The default/ initial settings are 1.5 by 1.5 inches. Finally, select the Portrait or Landscape graphics mode. In the Landscape mode, the graphic image is wider than it is tall. In the Portrait mode, the graphic image is taller than it is wide. Now press the F10 key to save and exit. NOTE ==== If CheckStar IV does not print graphs correctly, try different printer options. It is possible your printer may not support some of the graphics features. 6. Press the F10 key to save the setup information you have entered. TIPS & TRICKS ============= When printing reports, if you discover you're printing too close to the left margin, you can indent all print lines by any fixed number of spaces. See the Reports Setup Options to set a fixed indentation amount. See chapter 22 for details. Printing the printer code list ============================== To get a hard copy of the printer code list for any printer driver, here is what you need to do. -42- Chapter: 9, Printer setup ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the F4 key. 3. Highlight the printer driver you want to print and press the Enter key. 4. Press the P key. 5. Turn ON the printer and press the Y key to verify it. -43- Chapter: 10, Printing checks ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== CheckStar IV prints CHECKS and YOU get to pick the style! You do not need to buy special checks. In CheckStar IV you can customize a check layout to fit virtually any check. If your printer can "micro step" the paper advance and hold on to the checks you are using, you are virtually guaranteed a good fit. Even without the "micro step" feature (which most all dot matrix, daisy wheel and laser jet printers have), if your printer can hold the check, CheckStar IV can print it. CheckStar IV also lets you print anything you want on your check. You can choose to print standard information like Payee/ Payor, numeric and written amounts, date and memo. However you can also print the Payee's address on the check (if you have already entered it into the computer) and a detailed breakdown of the payee, memo and/or amount from a split transaction check. Finally, you can even print fixed messages, like your address, your driver's license number or seasonal messages. All check printing and related functions are available from the Check Register Menu. You can print one check at a time or in batches. You can reprint checks as needed if they don't print correctly. Before you get started printing checks, you must first set up your printer and configure your check layouts. Set up the printer to print checks as explained in the chapter "Printer setup". The next section describes how to configure a check layout. Configuring a check layout ========================== CheckStar IV uses a simple but effective technique to format its data. It uses a standard ASCII file as a template. You will be using CheckStar IV's built-in editor to create and/or modify the layout. The layout consists of special commands (with the first character an "@" sign) or fixed messages (everything else). Special commands have two purposes. They define what data is to be included in the layout and where it is to go. Listed below are the special commands and their descriptions. - Check number - Current date - Transaction date - Transaction payee - Transaction amount - Transaction memo - Written amount - Payee address - Split memo - Split amount - Printer control codes A to Z - Line feed Fixed messages are entered in the layout in the same way you want them printed on the form. -44- Chapter: 10, Printing checks ----------------------------------------------------------------- This simple check layout gives an example of the usage of special commands and fixed messages: Note that the special commands are followed by dashed lines (minus signs). The total length of the string which includes the @ sign, two characters and the sign dictate the maximum number of characters that will be entered in the check at that point. (Any characters can be used following the special command to denote string length.) Note also the fixed messages. If you were to print a check using this layout, it would literally print "Your Name", etc. CheckStar IV interprets this layout as follows. It determines that there is a fixed message to be printed starting at the top of the check layout. After positioning the message "Your Name" as shown, it determines that there is a special command which is interpreted to be a check number. CheckStar IV looks at the current transaction to get the check number, makes sure that it does not exceed the allocated space and prints it on the check layout. (See the special command list above.) The layout continues to be interpreted in the same manner, with @TA being replaced with the numeric amount of the check, @TP with the name of the Payee/Payor etc. There are two commands which differ from the others in two ways. First, they require additional information beyond their basic three character root. Secondly, their presence on a line will be subtracted from the line length when the data position is calculated. (ie. They disappear from the line before it is printed.) These commands are: 1. @PA through @PZ, the printer control code entry 2. @LF the line feed entry The first command, @PA through @PZ, allows Printer Control Codes to be sent to the printer while the check is being printed. What this means is you can change from NLQ to bold or underlined or any other feature which your printer supports. These are the printer codes which are already defined in the Printer Driver. To see or modify these printer codes, refer to the chapter "Printer setup" for details. The second command, @LF, allows extra lines to be inserted in the printed form without actually having inserted them in the check layout. The format is @LF1 to @LF99 where the number of lines to be inserted can be 1 to 99. This command is particularly useful when using fractional line stepping (micro stepping) to match check layouts to non-standard line spacing. Another example of a check layout using Printer Control Codes: Note that in the second check layout example we have entered Printer Control Codes. Everything will be in the same place as the original example layout, because as the form is printed the control commands will disappear which will reposition the data as before. Also note that the memo will now be printed in compressed print. -45- Chapter: 10, Printing checks ----------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT ========= You MUST leave at least one space after each special command. We have provided three sample check layouts (REGULAR, VOUCHER and BACKINFO) for you to start with. The REGULAR check layout is a simple one that includes an address. The VOUCHER check layout includes all the information of the REGULAR check layout and detailed transaction (split transaction) information. The BACKINFO check layout is an example of fixed information you might want to print on the back of a check to be deposited, such as your name, address, account number, etc. These three check layouts are presented for your review. Now that you have studied the basics of check layouts in CheckStar IV, let's actually lay out one. For starters, we recommend that you modify one of the three existing layouts above. Here is the procedure. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu to enter the Check Register Menu. 2. Press the Ctrl-E key combination to select and edit the check layout. 3. Highlight the layout of your choice and press the Enter key. 4. You are now in CheckStar IV's built-in editor. If you are not familiar with this editor, don't forget your "On Line Help" F1 or your commands key F5. (See chapter 23 for details.) 5. Using the editor, move the entries around to approximate location they should be in your check layout. NOTE ==== Initially, you will probably not create the perfect layout. That's OK as this is a trial & error method at first anyway. Take your best shot and follow on through with the procedure. You will be able to test and refine your efforts without wasting checks! 6. When done laying out the check layout, press the F10 key to save your layout and exit the editor. 7. Now you need to test your check layout. To do this, follow the procedure "Printing a check" below EXCEPT use a common sheet of paper (full size is fine) instead of a check. Position it in the printer so that the left and top margins on the paper are right where the check will be when you insert it. When you have printed your test, remove the paper, hold a check over the form with the left and upper margins together and hold them both to the light so you can see where the printing would come out on your check had it been in the printer. 8. Repeat the procedure until your check data aligns properly with check layout. -46- Chapter: 10, Printing checks ----------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you have set up your printer and laid out your check, you are ready to print checks. See the next section "Printing a check" for more details. It may take several trials before your check is printed properly. NOTE ==== If you use tractor feed checks, you will need to add line feeds at the end of the check layout to position the next check to be printed. Print several checks a one time to verify proper check-to-check alignment. Printing a Checks ================= After you have set up your printer and laid out your check, you are ready to print checks. Here is how it is done. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. If not yet entered, enter the check you want to print. 3. Highlight this check and press the Ctrl-P key combination. The list of check layouts will appear. See figure 10-1 in the manual. 4. Make sure the printer is ON. 5. Highlight your check layout and press the Enter key. NOTE ==== If you want to print Payee/Payor addresses on checks, you must memorize Payee/Payors with their addresses. See chapter 17 for details. Printing a group of checks ========================== You might want to enter several checks at one time and batch print them later. Here is how you would do that. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Enter all the checks you want to print just as you would normally. 3. Block all the checks you want to batch print using the F7 and the F8 keys. See the section "Blocking transaction(s)" in chapter 8. Other transaction types within the block will be ignored. 4. Press the Alt-P key combination. The list of check layouts will appear. 5. Make sure the printer is ON. 6. Highlight your check layout and press the Enter key. -47- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== Financial software, as in most other software, has two major components, "data in" and "data out". However, in financial software, "data out" takes on a special meaning with the use of the reports generator. The capabilities of the reports generator are a critical measure of a program's quality. Generating a report involves answering three basic questions: 1. What data will be used? 2. Where is the data to go? 3. How is the data to be organized? Every reports generator must answer these questions in order to create a report. In many cases, the answers are fixed by the program. In some cases the user is given a few choices. In CheckStar IV, we have provided you with as many choices as possible without making reports generation difficult. There are multiple sets of options which you can change, save or duplicate. This means you can create your own reports in addition to the many already available. Let's take a closer look at the reports generator's organization. Organization ============ In CheckStar IV's reports generator, there are two structures which define a report, the REPORTS TEMPLATE and the STYLE SHEET. The reports template answers the questions "What data will be used?" and "Where is the data to go?". The Style Sheet answers the question "How is the data to be organized?". Reports templates ================= The reports template is the template you see when selecting a report from the Reports Menu. It permits you up to twelve possible options. Because this basic template is used with all reports, you will quickly become proficient at configuring your reports. There are some options disallowed in certain reports due to a possible conflict with the data definitions. We will cover these options in more detail shortly. -48- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Style Sheet =========== The Style Sheet is an ASCII file not readily accessible and with good reason. It is a cryptic micro-programming language which guides the reports generator in formatting the data output. It supports embedded printer commands, "count" and "if" loops, incremental and totalized numeric variables, data positional markers and fixed messages. There are currently 11 different Style Sheets available with your CheckStar IV program. There is a Report Setup Option which will display these Style Sheets and their report assignments called, "Display reports templates Style Sheet assignments". Style Sheets, like reports templates, can be duplicated and modified to create customized reports. Because of the undocumented features of this language, we do not recommend you attempt customization on your own. Refer to appendix I for more information. Functional overview =================== When you select a report from the Reports Menu using the Enter key, the reports generator pops up the selected reports template. The Enter key scrolls you through the options which you can change or accept. When you press the F10 key, the reports generator begins sorting through and selecting the data which meets the criteria established by the reports template. When all the data has been searched and stored in memory, then the reports generator turns to the Style Sheet to determine the organization of the data. The subtotals are calculated and inserted as needed, form feeds, spaces, fixed messages, etc. are all built into the final product. If you have chosen to view the result, special viewing options as needed, are passed to the viewing utility which allows vertical and/or horizontal windows to be established for easy viewing of the data. Features ======== Some of CheckStar IV's outstanding reporting features include: * Detailed transaction reports * Summary reports * Comparison reports * Bar graph and pie chart reports * Multiple accounts reporting * Write reports to disk * View reports with Horizontal/Vertical locking options * View reports in 25 lines or EGA/VGA 43/50 lines mode * Edit existing reports * Optional background report printing * Save report templates (presets) * Reports Menu (reports templates) can be unique to each account (only reports relevant to your particular account need to be listed on the screen, nonrelevant reports can be masked out). -49- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Getting started =============== As you know, getting data out means there must already be data entered. If you need to, enter the necessary data to try a report. The more data available, the more impressive your report will be. Let's create the first report in the Reports Menu, "Categories grouped and subtotaled". 1. Select option 4 from the Main Menu to go to the Reports Menu. 2. Highlight the report "Categories grouped and subtotaled" and press the Enter key. See figure 11-2 in the manual. 3. At this point, you have many options you can enter. For the moment, let us ignore most of the options. Press the Enter key twice to go to the "Starting date" option. Enter a starting date which will include data you have already entered and press the Enter key. Enter an ending date which is later than the starting date and which includes the data you want to cover in the report. Press the F10 key to process the report. The report will be created and displayed on screen. See appendix B, page 225 for a sample report. 4. Use the arrows and paging keys to view all portions of the report. While viewing the report, press the F5 key to see the Command List. When you're finished viewing the report, press the Esc key to go back to the Reports Menu. NOTE ==== If your report fails to show any data, double check your starting and ending dates. Repeat the previous procedure. You just created and viewed one of CheckStar IV's preset reports. All reports are created and viewed in much the same way. It can't get much easier! Report Options ============== Before you try some other reports, let's talk about each Report Option. To follow this section, you can highlight the same report, "Categories grouped and subtotaled" and press the Enter key. This way you can follow the descriptions given in this section. At the end, you can press the Esc key to abort creating an actual report. Report name ----------- This is the name which will be printed on top of your report. If you prefer a different report name, simply type over the old one and press the Enter key to go to the next Report Option. Send report to -------------- Here you have 3 options (Screen, Printer and File) from which to choose. -50- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The "Screen" option sends the report directly to the VIEW utility provided by CheckStar IV. When you are finished viewing your report, the Esc key will let you exit. 2. The "Printer" option sends the report directly to the printer. If you have NO spooler installed, you will have to wait for the printer to finish printing the report before you can continue using CheckStar IV. If you have your DOS print spooler installed, AND your Report Setup Option permits the use of this print spooler, CheckStar IV will pass your report to the print spooler automatically. You are then free to continue your work. 3. The "File" option sends your report to disk. You will be prompted to enter a DOS file name for this file. At any time in the future, you can view, print or edit this file as needed. The CheckStar IV's default is the "Screen". To select a different option, HIGHLIGHT your choice and press the Enter key. Starting date ------------- This option limits the report data retrieval to transactions whose date is equal to or later than this date. You can enter a new date and press the Enter key or just press the Enter key to use the default. Ending date ----------- This option limits the report data retrieval to transactions whose date is equal to or earlier than this date. You can enter a new date and press the Enter key or just press the Enter key to use the default. Payee/Payor ----------- There are three options available: INCLUDE, EXCLUDE and ALL. With the first option INCLUDE, you can choose to include in your report only those transactions whose Payee/Payor match your specified entry. With the second option EXCLUDE, you can choose to exclude from your report all transactions whose Payee/Payor match your specified entry. In either case, you will be prompted for the specified Payee/Payor. With the last option ALL, you choose to include all transactions in your report regardless of their Payee/Payor content. Memo ---- Here you have the same three choices: INCLUDE, EXCLUDE and ALL. As before, you can choose to include or exclude transactions from your report by entering the memo to be in/excluded. The ALL option bypasses any MEMO criteria. -51- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tag transaction type to include ------------------------------- There are 14 different options to choose from, including the 7 transaction types, split, unposted and voided transactions. You can choose to include any of these in your report by tagging them from within this menu. Use the Up and Down arrows to highlight your choice, then tag or untag it with the Spacebar key. (An arrow character character displayed to the left of the option indicates the choice is tagged.) Press the Enter key to advance to the next report option. Tag transaction status to include --------------------------------- You can include or exclude transactions from your report based upon their status. The status options are, Cleared, Outstanding and Newly cleared. Again use the Spacebar key to tag or untag any option. Use the Enter key to advance to the next Report Option. Categories ---------- Here as before, you have the three options INCLUDE, EXCLUDE and ALL. If you want to in/exclude any group of categories, select the Include or Exclude option. To enter your selection of in/ excluded category numbers use the following convention: 1. Separate each category number with a comma Example 1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14,15 2. Consecutive ascending number groups can be represented by 2 periods between the first and last number of that group. Example 1..5,12..15 NOTE ==== The previous two examples included the same group of numbers by the definition of the convention. In these examples, categories 1 through 5 and 12 through 15 will be in/excluded from your report. Even though you don't see it on the screen, the total length of this input line is 255 characters long. If you keep typing in numbers, the line will scroll to the left to permit the full 255 character entry. Amount range ------------ This option includes the three choices as covered before, INCLUDE, EXCLUDE and ALL. What you can choose to in/exclude here is a dollar amount range. If you select either include or exclude, you will be prompted to enter the FROM (lower) and TO (upper) limits of that range. ALL of course, bypasses any restrictions based on dollar amounts. -52- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subtotal by ----------- This option is available only on certain reports. Your choices include subtotaling by NONE, WEEK, TWO WEEKS, HALF MONTH, MONTH, QUARTER, HALF YEAR and YEAR. Use current account only ------------------------ If you want to generate a report which covers more than one account, respond by highlighting the NO option. CheckStar IV will display all the accounts available in your current data location. Tag the accounts you wish to include by highlighting your choice and pressing the Spacebar key. When the report is generated, data from these accounts will be included in your report. NOTE ==== Data from other accounts will be combined with data from the current account ONLY if their CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS and PARENTS match. This is the last Report Option. Pressing the Enter key will take you back to the first Report Option. Since we have created and looked at this report already, press the Esc key to go back to the Reports Menu (If you were to create an actual report, you would press the F10 key). Report types ------------ Now that we've covered the Report Options, let's take a look at all the reports available in CheckStar IV. We have grouped the reports by function to make your selections easier. DETAILED REPORTS ================ Detailed reports provide in-depth information about your transactions. They can be grouped and subtotaled by categories, payees, memos, transaction types, etc. At the end of these reports, you also get the grand totals by transaction types. All detailed reports are described below. Categories grouped and subtotaled --------------------------------- This report is very useful for most users, since it subtotals transactions by categories. This can be useful for tax preparations. Simply transfer the totals off the report and into your tax forms! See appendix B, page 225 for a sample report. Payees grouped and subtotaled ----------------------------- In this report all payees/payors are grouped and subtotaled. This report provides in-depth information on payee sources. See appendix B, page 226 for a sample report. -53- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Memos grouped and subtotaled ---------------------------- Here all memos are grouped and subtotaled. You can have an alternate categorization method for your transactions by using a personalized code in the memo field. This report would group your transactions according to that method. Consistency becomes the key to the success of this plan. Use CheckStar IV's memorized memo list to help you achieve that goal. See appendix B, page 227 for a sample report. Reconciliation report --------------------- This report is designed to list and subtotal all newly cleared and outstanding transactions. (See chapter 8 on transaction status.) If CheckStar IV's Check Register Setup Option is set to automatically clear all newly cleared transactions when balanced, you may not achieve satisfactory results from this report. You can change the Check Register Setup Option to disallow the automatic updating of newly cleared transactions. After balancing, you can generate this report. Later you can clear all newly cleared transactions from the Check Register Menu. See appendix B, page 228 for a sample report. Outstanding transactions ------------------------ This report lists all transactions that have not cleared the bank. See appendix B, page 229 for a sample report. Newly cleared transactions -------------------------- This report lists all transactions that are listed in your bank statement. See appendix B, page 230 for a sample report. Check register -------------- The Check register report lists all transactions as they are listed in the Check Register Menu. See appendix B, page 231 for a sample report. NOTE ==== For a printout of the check register complete with the running balance, use the Alt-G command from within the Check Register Menu. Accounts payable (Unposted checks) ---------------------------------- This report lists all unposted checks from the Check Register Menu. Accounts receivable Unposted deposits) -------------------------------------- This report lists all unposted deposits from the Check Register Menu. -54- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Selected payee -------------- This report lists all transactions with Payee/Payor entries that match the Payee entry in the Report Options. Selected memo ------------- This report lists all transactions with Memo entries that match the Memo entry in the Report Options. Sort transactions by transactions type -------------------------------------- This report sorts, groups and subtotals by transaction type. It also includes sorting by check numbers. See appendix B, page 232 for a sample report. Sort transactions by date ------------------------- CheckStar IV does not automatically sort transactions by date. This report will list your transactions sorted by date. If you want your Check Register sorted by date permanently, select the Alt-D command from the Check Register Menu. SUMMARY REPORTS =============== Summary reports present data in an X:Y grid or spreadsheet fashion. You define what information and what time frame is to be shown. All summary reports are described below. Category summary ---------------- This report summarizes all information by categories. It helps you to see the big picture. If you are careful in defining your categories so they closely match the line inputs for your federal tax forms, a summary report will make doing your taxes a breeze. By default, the information is normally grouped by months. See the reports template option "Sorted by" for other options. See appendix B, page 233 for a sample report. Payee summary ------------- The Payee summary summarizes all information by Payee/Payor. It's useful for reviewing information by vendors. Your reports template options can enhance your use of this report. See appendix B, page 234 for a sample report. Memo summary ------------ This report summarizes all information by memos. Alternate categorization can be done using this report. See appendix B, page 235 for a sample report. NOTE ==== All summary reports are limited to a twelve column width. -55- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS PERIODS ================================ This report group provides a period to period running comparison of total expenses or income. Expense comparisons by months ----------------------------- This report groups and totals monthly expenses for a month by month comparison. See appendix B, page 223 for a sample report. Expense comparisons by quarters ------------------------------- This report groups and totals quarterly expenses for a quarter by quarter comparison. See appendix B, page 223 for a sample report. Income comparisons by months ---------------------------- This report groups and totals monthly income for a month by month comparison. See appendix B, page 224 for a sample report. Income comparisons by quarters ------------------------------ This report groups and totals quarterly income for a quarter by quarter comparison. See appendix B, page 224 for a sample report. COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS PERIOD =============================== This report group offers a detailed comparison of two consecutive periods. The detail can be broken down by Payee, Memo or Category. The starting and ending dates must cover the range of both periods being compared. (Example Jan 90 to Jun 90 for a quarterly comparison.) The "Subtotal By" option establishes the period. Category summary ---------------- This report will summarize and compare all information by category for two months (such as January and February). See appendix B, page 236 for a sample report. Payee summary ------------- This report will summarize and compare all information by Payee/Payor for two months (January and February). See appendix B, page 236 for a sample report. Memo summary ------------ This report will summarize and compare all information by memo for two months (January and February). See appendix B, page 236 for a sample report. -56- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- BUDGET REPORTS ============== These reports summarize information by category. The actual result is compared with the assigned budget amounts for these categories. Before you create a budget report, be sure the categories you select have assigned budget amounts. For more information, see chapter 15 on budgeting. There are three budget reports, a monthly budget, a quarterly budget and a yearly budget. The "Subtotal By" option in the reports template can offer you more options than these. Monthly budget -------------- This report will summarize information by category for a selected month. The actual result is then compared with the budgeted amounts. See appendix B, page 237 for a sample report. Quarterly budget ---------------- This report will summarize and compare information by category for a selected quarter. See appendix B, page 238 for a sample report. Yearly budget ------------- The Yearly budget report summarizes information by category for a selected year. The result is then compared with budget amounts. See appendix B, page 239 for a sample report. BAR GRAPHS ========== CheckStar IV offers great graphic capabilities! The quality of graphics depends on the quality of your monitor. Graphics provide a visual way to perceive information unlike any listing of numbers. By default, all bar graph reports are totaled by month. Again, the period is easily changed in the reports template. Income minus expense -------------------- By default all transaction types are totaled within a specified date range. If you have a negative total (if expense exceeds income) for any month the bar will be displayed below the X-axis. See appendix B, pages 240-241 for a sample report. Try different reports template options with your Bar Graph reports. See appendix B, pages 240-241 for a sample report. BAR GRAPH COMPARISONS ===================== There is one report provided on bar graph comparisons - actual income vs. actual expense. This report is similar to the bar graph reports except it compares income and expense bars side by side. All the standard reports template options are available for this report. See appendix B, page 241 for a sample report. -57- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- PIE CHARTS ========== Pie Charts present information as slices of a round pie. Like the Bar Graph, Pie Charts make it easy to compare two sets of values to each other by their relative slice size. The reports template options are available as before. See appendix B, pages 240-241 for a sample report. NOTE ==== There are a few Report Setup Options which affect the pie chart report. See chapter 22 for details. EXPORTS ======= CheckStar IV provides a gateway to the outside world with its export capability. It uses the "COMMA DELIMITED"export standard. Lotus, Symphony, DBase and many other programs recognize and use this standard. This gives you direct access to spreadsheet and database capabilities for your CheckStar IV data. See appendix B, page 242 for a sample report. FINANCIAL REPORTS ================= CheckStar IV's financial reports are unlike its other reports. This report section works more like a Financial Calculator with its output going to a spreadsheet. You do not need check register data to take advantage of this report. For this report, the template is unused except for the "Report Name" and the "Send report to" options. Amortization report ------------------- This report will compute a loan repayment schedule. When you process this report, you will be prompted to enter loan amount, annual interest rate, number of years to repay a loan and monthly payment. If you don't know any of the above information, you can use CheckStar IV's built-in "Financial Calculator" to help. See appendix B, page 243 for a sample report. Mortgage comparison reports --------------------------- This report will help you determine the best way to buy a house or any piece of real estate. There are three reports provided on mortgage comparisons. When you select any of these reports to process, you are prompted to enter loan amount, annual interest rate and number of years to repay a loan. See appendix B, page 244 for a sample report. Annuity comparison reports -------------------------- This report will help you evaluate annuity programs. There are three reports provided on annuity comparisons. When you select any of these reports to process, you're prompted to enter the amount of each deposit, the annual interest rate, the term of annuity and the number of years. See appendix B, page 245 for a sample report. -58- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Investment comparison reports ----------------------------- This report will help you with your financial investments. There are three reports provided on investment comparisons. When you select any of these reports to process, you are prompted to enter the investment amount, the annual interest rate, the number of years and the compounding period. The compounding period specifies the compounding rate as the number of compounding periods per year. Thus, yearly, quarterly, monthly and daily compounding are expressed with a 1, 4, 12 and 365, respectively. See appendix B, page 246 for a sample report. Viewing a report ================ To view a report on your screen, select the Screen option in the reports template before processing the report. The screen viewing utility has a nice feature you may find very handy especially for viewing reports. There is a Horizontal and a Vertical locking feature which allows you to keep portions of the screen still while other portions scroll. This allows you to keep column and/ or row HEADERS visible while the DATA scrolls past. Some of CheckStar IV's reports pop up with this feature enabled. The C key will clear any current scroll locks, while the V key sets the vertical lock position and the H key sets the horizontal lock position. Try it! Run a report to screen and hit the C key to clear any existing locks. Now hit the V key. Notice that a portion of the screen changes color. Press the Left or Right arrow and you will see the "edge" of the window move left or right. When you hit the Enter key, the window scroll point is locked in that position. The horizontal window works the same way. The other commands are pretty much standard. The Arrow keys move the data across the screen in the appropriate direction. The Home and End keys move the cursor to the left and right ends of a line. Ctrl-Home and Ctrl-End move the cursor to the beginning and end of the file. Ctrl-Right and Crtl-Left arrows scroll 8 columns to the right and left respectively. The Esc key exits the viewing utility. From the Reports Menu, the Ctrl-V key combination will allow you to review the last file viewed. All the commands above are documented by the context-sensitive F5 from within the viewer. To view reports that have been written to disk, press the V key from the Reports Menu. CheckStar IV displays the file names of the reports currently available on disk. Highlight the report you want to view on the screen and press the Enter key. NOTE ==== If you see ******** in a report where there should be a dollar amount, it means the number exceeded the allocated space. You can change the General Setup Option to insert commas in the amount and round off to the nearest dollar if necessary to correct the problem. -59- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Printing a report ================= NOTE ==== Before you begin printing reports, you must have configured your printer driver for CheckStar IV. See chapter 9 for more information. To print a report, use the following procedure. 1. From the Main Menu, press the 4 key. 2. Highlight the report to be printed. 3. Set the reports template option "Send report to" to Printer. 4. After selecting the other report options, press the F10 key. 5. Turn on your printer and press the Y key to start printing your report. Background report printing ========================== Background report printing allows you to work in CheckStar IV while long reports are being printed. CheckStar IV uses DOS's own printer spooler for background report printing. Other spoolers can be used if so desired. Installing the DOS printer spooler ================================== You must have PRINT.COM from DOS 3.00 or higher to do background report printing. Add the following command into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file using the CheckStar IV editor (or any ASCII editor): PRINT /D:PRN/M:16/S:4 (See your DOS manual for a full explanation of the command line options for PRINT.COM) IMPORTANT --------- This is a memory resident program therefore we recommend you install it before loading any TSR or running any non-TSR programs from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You can also install PRINT.COM from the DOS command line by exiting all programs, DOS shells etc. and typing the identical command above. Now, from the Reports Menu press the F6 key for the User Setup Options Menu. Press the Enter key to select Report Setup Options. Highlight option #7 and change its answer to YES for background report printing. Press the Esc key to go back to the Reports Menu. Highlight the report you want to create and print. -60- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- Select the Printer option from Report Options screen. Press the F10 key to process the report. CheckStar IV will automatically pass your report to the print spooler. The report will begin printing and you may continue working in CheckStar IV while the report is being printed. Writing a report to disk ======================== To write a report to disk, select the File option from the Report Options screen before processing the report. Enter a DOS file name. You will be able to view this report using option V from the Reports Menu. You can also send a report to the disk that was originally directed to the screen. The last generated report even though sent to the screen, is saved in a default file. You can write this to a user accessible file. From the Reports Menu, press the Ctrl-W key combination and enter the DOS file name to use when writing this file to disk. NOTE ==== The difference between these two techniques is that a file sent to disk originally will have page breaks and headers built in for printing purposes. These features are unnecessary for files to be viewed on the screen. Customizing CheckStar IV's Reports Menu ======================================= CheckStar IV allows you to customize its Reports Menu. You can add, rename or erase any reports template. The purpose of adding templates is to save yourself the time of changing the default settings on an existing report for another report you may run frequently. The next three sections explain how this is done. Adding a reports template ========================= To add a new reports template, CheckStar IV copies an existing reports template and its associated Style Sheet to a new report. You can then customize this new report to your liking. 1. Highlight a reports template which is similar in function to the report you want to create. 2. Press the A key to add a reports template (You will see the familiar Report Options screen that you used to select different Report Options). Change the Report Option you wish. You should change the report name or it could become confused with the original report. 3. When done, press the F10 key to process. The new reports template will be added below the previously highlighted reports template. -61- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE ==== A few words about Group Headers. The words on this list of reports such as DETAILED REPORTS, SUMMARY REPORTS are the report Group Headers. They are simply the name of a group of reports. You may create your own Group Header as well. Press the H key then enter the new Group Header name and press the F10 key. Renaming a reports template --------------------------- Permanently changing any Report Option in a reports template is very easy. Highlight the reports template you want to change and press the R key. You will see the familiar Report Options screen. Change any of the report options you wish. Press the F10 key to save those new options permanently. Erasing a reports template -------------------------- You might want to erase a reports template which is no longer useful, or takes up valuable space for a floppy disk user (about 768 bytes). To erase a reports template, highlight it and press the E key. Press the Y key at the verify prompt. Envelope printing ================= The envelope printing "REPORTS", while not true reports, use the reports generator and Style Sheet to print "TO" and "FROM" addresses on envelopes. The first of these two, "Print return address on envelopes", prints the return address as it appears in the Style Sheet. The second, "Print send and return addresses on envelopes", prints the return address from the Style Sheet, then queries you for a send address and prints it as well. By default, we have included our own address in the Style Sheet. You will need to edit these Style Sheets to enter your own return address and perhaps to adjust the positioning of the addresses on your envelopes. While you are doing this, you will get an idea of how CheckStar IV Style Sheets work. Let us begin by changing the Style Sheet for printing return addresses on envelopes to reflect your own address. Here's how you can do that: 1. From the Main Menu, press the 4 key for the Reports Menu. 2. The envelope printing reports are at the bottom of reports list. To go there quickly, press the End key. Press the UpArrow key to highlight the "Print return address on envelopes" report. 3. Press the Ctrl-S key combination to call up CheckStar IV's built-in editor to edit the Style Sheet associated with this report. 4. CheckStar IV will highlight the correct Style Sheet in the pop-up directory listing. It is the file ENV_1.STY. Press the Enter key to begin editing. -62- Chapter: 11, Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. The layout of the file you will see is important in that it defines the way your envelope will be printed. Do NOT use the Enter, Delete or Spacebar keys to move your cursor as you will change the spacing of the data to be printed or possibly delete data you need. Use the Arrow keys for this purpose. The F5 key will show you the editor commands. Review chapter 23 in your CheckStar IV manual for more information on using the editor. 6. Position your cursor over the existing address and carefully delete the old address, leaving the brightly colored "Q"s at the end of each line. Type in the new address information. 7. The "Q"s you see represent line feed commands to the reports generator. Adding more of these will cause the data beyond that point to move down by one line for each "Q" added. To add these special characters use the Ctrl-P Ctrl-Q key combinations. Delete them with the delete key. Use only one "Q" per line. 8. To move the address vertically on the envelope, add or subtract the "Q" characters before the address. To move the address horizontally, add or subtract blank spaces (using the Spacebarkey) before the first character of each line to be adjusted. 9. After making your changes, press the F10 key to save this Style Sheet. You are now returned to the Reports Menu. 10.To test your setup, load some scrap paper in your printer in the same position you will be installing the envelopes to be printed. Highlight this report and press the F10 key twice to send it to the printer. (The Reports Options will have no significant effect on this "report".) 11.Check the positioning of the address on the test paper to see whether it is properly aligned. If necessary, reload the Style Sheet editor (step 3) and repeat steps 8 through 10 until you are assured that the address is positioning properly. Now that we have successfully aligned the first Style Sheet, let us correct and align the next, ENV_2.STY, which is associated with the report "Fill and print return address on envelopes". The procedure above can be followed verbatim except you must highlight the report titled "Print send and return addresses on envelopes" in step 2. The first part of the Style Sheet will probably be identical assuming you are setting up for the same printer and envelope. The second part of the Style Sheet which defines the sending address begins with the line @US"To:",6,50. This special command calls for user input which is defined as a maximum of 6 lines, with 50 characters allowed per line. This command MUST be followed by as many "Q"s as there will be lines of address to function properly. Positioning of the sending address is accomplished using the same methods as used for the return address. -63- Chapter: 12, Reconciliation ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== One of the ways CheckStar IV can help you maintain an account is by providing an ACCURATE way of adding your transaction totals. Manyan hour has been spent totaling and retotaling an account balance while trying to prove whether a balancing error is due to an addition error (manual method), wrong key strokes on a calculator or a misread entry in an often scribbled paper checkbook ledger. CheckStar IV can't take care of all of the above, but your computer screen is a lot easier to read than handwriting and CheckStar IV CAN add accurately. Maybe we can get you restarted on the formerly painful process of reconciling your bank account or at least make it easier for those of you who have manage to continue the struggle. (The first version of this program was written for this very purpose!) NOTE ==== Before getting started there is a default setting in the Check Register Setup Options you should know about. This option allows CheckStar IV to automatically upgrade all transaction status marks from NEWLY CLEARED (*) to CLEARED (Y). This option is fine as it is unless you want to print a report of the transactions that have cleared this month's bank statement. To do so, the reports generator must find the newly cleared marks in your check register. Note that once cleared, CheckStar IV has no way of knowing in which month a transaction was cleared. If this information is important to you, go to the Check Register Setup Options and set "Automatic transaction status update when reconciled" to No. See chapter 22 for details. Starting reconciliation ======================= Reconciliation is done from within the Check Register Menu. Select the account you wish to reconcile and press the 1 key to select this menu. 1. From the Check Register Menu, enter any remaining transactions plus any interest earned, bank charges, etc. from your current bank statement. 2. Find the first uncleared transaction in the register by pressing the U key. 3. Look for the corresponding transaction in your bank statement. 4. If a match is found, press the K key which will mark that transaction with an * as a newly cleared transaction. 5. Optionally, (don't tell anyone you do this, but it really works) with a pencil, tick mark the transaction on your bank statement, so you know this transaction is already cleared from the check register. 6. If no match was found, press the U key or the DownArrow key to highlight the next uncleared transaction. -64- Chapter: 12, Reconciliation ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Go back and repeat steps 3 through 6 until all the transactions in the bank statement have been matched with corresponding transactions in the CheckStar IV check register. If a transaction appears on the bank statement which does not appear in your check register, you will need to enter it in the normal fashion, then clearit accordingly. Note if you have cleared an incorrect transaction, highlight that transaction and press the K key. Highlight the same transaction a second time and the press K key again. This is necessary because the K command toggles the transaction status as follows: N to * (not cleared to newly cleared) * to Y (newly cleared to cleared) Y to N (cleared to uncleared) TIPS & TRICKS ============= You can also clear/unclear transactions in a group. Mark the transactions you want to clear using the F7 and F8 keys. Then use the Alt-K key combination. 8. Now press the Ctrl-B key combination. See figure 12-1 in the manual. Type the bank statement's ending balance and press the Enterkey. CheckStar IV will begin the reconciliation process. This process involves the ENTIRE file. If CheckStar IV's calculated "cleared" balance agrees with the bank's ending balance, you will be joyfully notified! If not, an awful buzz will emit from your computer (assuming the sound is turned on) and you will be given the option of rechecking your balance or having a correction entry made. If you choose to recheck your entries, search for the first newly cleared transaction and recheck each amount. After correcting the incorrect amount, retry this step. Since the account has not balanced you have the option to print alist of the newly cleared transactions. This may be an easier way for you to see your error. See the next step for specific instructions. If you choose to accept a corrected entry, your account will be balanced. 9. Printing a reconciliation report: If you failed to balance or your Check Register Setup Option for automatic updating is disallowed, you can print a "Reconciliation report". (This assumes you have already set up your printer. If not you will need to do so first. See chapter 9 for details.) To do this, exit the Check Register Menu, to the Main Menu. Now select option 4 for the Reports Menu. Scroll down the options until you find the "Reconciliation report". Highlight this report and press the Enter key. To accept default values, press the Enter key. Be sure that the "Send report to" option is set to the printer and that the starting and ending dates will cover the time period in which the newly cleared transactions fall. The F10 key will start the report generation. See the sample "Reconciliation report" on page 228. See the chapter "Reports" for more information on reports. -65- Chapter: 12, Reconciliation ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE ==== If the account is balanced and you want to manually clear ALL the newly cleared transactions instead of one at a time, from the Check Register Menu, press the Y key. A verifying prompt will also require a Y key to be pressed to perform the function. Common errors in reconciling ============================ When entering transactions, it is easy to make mistakes. Here are a few of the most common mistakes. Entering a payment as a deposit or vice versa --------------------------------------------- This mistake can be hard to find. One way to locate it is to take the error amount reported by CheckStar IV during an attempted reconciliation, and divide it in half. Look for an entry of this amount and double check it carefully. Transposing numbers ------------------- Sometimes your paper printout option helps you when laid beside the bank statement. (Don't forget your pencil marks.) Forgetting to enter transactions -------------------------------- The most commonly forgotten entries are the automatic teller transactions. Try this trick. When you use the machine, ALWAYS get a receipt. Put these receipts in your wallet or purse next to your dollar bills. When you sit down to enter checks in CheckStar IV, pull out these receipts and after you enter each one, write or stamp "ENTERED" on that receipt. You can easily remember autowithdrawals using the Memorized Entry feature. Errors in clearing transactions ------------------------------- Carefully check that each transaction has been cleared, like the bank service charge you entered AFTER your first attempts at a balance. -66- Chapter: 13, Split transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== CheckStar IV allows you to split transactions. You can split a check if you want to record individual expenses covered by one check. You can split a deposit if you want to record income deposited at the same time, but derived from separate sources. OK, so what's the value? Well, let's say you write one check to a mail order company. You could still document the individual uses, like the $27 you spent on Aunt Bessie's china figurine and the $87 shoes you needed for work. When you budget, the gifts expenditures will show Aunt Bessie's gift, while the clothing expenditures will show your shoes. Another example: You deposit 3 checks in the bank. Your bank statement will only show 1 entry - the total deposit. With CheckStar IV you can enter the total deposit as 1 transaction split into 3 parts. When you are balancing your bank statement, you can clear one amount. When you generate a report, the individual deposits can be shown separately. A split transaction has 2 parts. The main transaction and the sub-transactions. The main transaction, unlike others, does not have a category number. Instead, the category entry field is used to indicate the special status of this transaction. There are three entry options that qualify the Main Transaction, "M", "P", "B". The "M" option allows you to enter each sub-transaction memo separately, while the payee defaults to the main transaction payee entry. The "P" option allows you to enter each sub- transaction Payee/Payor separately, while the memo defaults to the main transaction memo entry. As you might guess, the "B" option allows you to enter both Payee/Payor and Memo entries separately for each sub-transaction. Regardless of the option you select, all sub-transactions will have individual category and amount entries. Adding a split transaction ========================== To enter a split transaction from the Check Register Menu, begin your transaction entry as usual. Let's try a check entry using the "M" option as an example. 1. Press the C key to begin entering a check 2. Enter the date, check number, Payee, amount and memo as you normally would. 3. At the category entry point, type M and press the Enter key. (A special entry window will pop up at this point. See figure 13-1 in the manual.) -67- Chapter: 13, Split transactions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Notice that this entry window looks different from that of a standard transaction. The sub-transactions are arranged in 16 rows, top to bottom on your screen. Each has a category, Payee/Payor, Memo and an amount entry. Displayed at the bottom of the screen is the Amount remaining. As you enter dollar amounts for each sub-transaction, these amounts are subtracted from the Amount remaining. This amount should be zero before you exit this window. 4. Your cursor is pointing at the category entry point for your first sub-transaction, with your category list on the left. Type in the category number which describes this sub- transaction and press the Enter key. If you had selected the "P" or the "B" option, you would be entering the Payee/Payor at this point. Instead, it will default to the Payee/Payor as entered for the Main transaction. 5. Now, your cursor is pointing at the memo entry. Type in the memo you want for this sub-transaction and press the Enter key. 6. Finally you need to enter the sub-transaction amount. Type in the dollar amount and press the Enter key. Did you notice that the Amount remaining decreased by the amount of the sub- transaction you just entered? 7. You should be pointing at the category entry for the next sub- transaction. Repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 again until you have entered all the sub-transactions you needed for this entry. NOTE: ----- You can reenter any of the previous data by using your Up and Down arrows to change sub-transaction levels and the Enter key to scroll through the entries. 8. When you have entered all the necessary data, press the F10 key to return to the main transaction and F10 again will save the entire transaction to the check register. Notice how the split transactions looks in the check register. The main transaction is entered first, with the sub-transactions below it. You may not see the sub-transactions at all if you have disabled the viewing of the split transactions in the Check Register Setup Options. Also note that you can clear the main transaction, but not the sub-transactions. -68- Chapter: 14, Memorized Entries ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== In this chapter, you will learn one of CheckStar IV's most powerful time- saving features, the Memorized Transactions. With this feature, you can memorize, track due dates and quickly enter and reenter transactions with a minimum of key strokes. You can save yourself entry time and the headaches of hard to find mistakes or forgotten autowithdrawals. Many of your financial transactions are likely to repeat. Some financial transactions repeat on certain dates such as rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, credit card payments, etc. Other financial transactions repeat but probably not at the same time such as groceries, ATM withdrawals, etc. CheckStar IV can memorize any transactions that are entered from the check register. When memorizing, CheckStar IV lets you schedule them with or without a repeat cycle. Once you have memorized transactions, they can be recalled and entered in the check register very quickly. When recalling memorized transactions, you also have a choice to change any or all parts of a transaction before entering it in the check register. When these memorized transactions are due, CheckStar IV can remind you from your AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file at boot time or while you are running CheckStar IV with a scrolling message at the bottom of your screen. If you ran CheckStar IV's installation program, you were asked if you wanted to see memorized transactions each time your system started up. If you answered NO, but have changed your mind, you can reinstall CheckStar IV without harming your current data to change that option. See "Installling CheckStar IV" at the beginning of the manual. NOTE ==== The option to see memorized transactions at the computer startup is available for hard disk users only. Adding Memorized Entries ======================== Let us explain what we mean by a "Memorized Entry". A "Memorized Entry" is a record containing memorized transaction(s), a scheduled date and a repeat cycle. So instead of saying memorizing transactions we will say Memorized Entries. To memorize an entry, you must already have entered the transactions you wish to memorize in your check register. Any transaction type or consecutive group of transactions can be memorized including split transactions. Here is how it is done. 1. From your Main Menu, press the 1 key. 2. Highlight the first transaction you wish to memorize by pressing the F7 key. 3. If there is to be more than one transaction, arrow down to highlight the last transaction of that entry. Note that each Memorized Entry has only one scheduled date and repeat cycle even though it may contain more than one transaction. -69- Chapter: 14, Memorized Entries ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Press the F8 key. The highlighted transaction(s) are now marked in a different color. 5. Press the F9 key to go to Memorized Entry Menu. See figure 14-1 in the manual. 6. If you are memorizing an entry for the first time in this account, you will already be in "Memorized Entry Information" menu. If not, then press the A key to get to this menu now. See figure 14-2 in the manual. 7. Enter a name or a short description which will remind you of the contents of this Memorized Entry. Press the Enter key. 8. Next, you need to enter the repetition cycle of this entry. There are several different cycles to choose from. Before you select one, let's briefly review each option. A) Select this option if the Memorized Entry requires no scheduling. This may be used for the Memorized Entries such as ATM withdrawals or groceries, etc. B) Select this option if the Memorized Entry repeats every so many days. This should be used for daily or weekly cycles. If you choose this option, you will be prompted to enter the number of days in the cycle. For example, type 7 if you want to repeat every week or type 14 if you want to repeat every two weeks. C) Select this option if the Memorized Entry repeats on a monthly cycle. This option will include monthly, quarterly and yearly cycles. You will be prompted to enter the number of months in the cycle. For example, type 1 if you want to repeat every month or type 3 if you want to repeat every quarter or type 6 if you want to repeat every six months, or type 12 if you want to repeat every year, etc. D) Select this option if the Memorized Entry repeats twice a month or fifteen days apart. An example might be a salary which is paid on the first and the fifteenth or the fifth and the twentieth. You will be prompted for the first date (ie. the first day of the month). The second is obviously calculated for fifteen days later. E) Select this option if the Memorized Entry repeats every month on a specific day of the week. An example might be the second Tuesday or the third Saturday of the month. You will be prompted for the day of the week and the week of the month which defines this option. F) This option is specifically used for credit card payment dates. When you select this option, you are prompted to enter the statement closing date and the number of days in the grace period. This information can be obtained from your monthly credit card statement. CheckStar IV will automatically calculate the payment due dates. See the section "Notes on frequency F & G" below for details. The following credit card companies uses this technique. - Discover Card - Rocky Mountain Visa - Chase Manhattan Visa -70- Chapter: 14, Memorized Entries ----------------------------------------------------------------- G) Monthly - type C - This is option is similar to option F above except that any closing date which falls on a weekend is automatically advanced to the following Monday for that particular month. See the section "Notes on options F & G" below for details. The following credit card company uses this technique. - 1st Omni Bank Notes on options F & G ====================== All credit card accounts (that we know of) have a billing cycle based on the number of days in the month, ie: the cycle always ends on the fifth of every month or the twenty-second of every month. Some companies, also end the statement for that month on the date of the billing cycle. Others choose to move the closing date to the Monday following the billing cycle if it ends on a weekend. The grace period (typically 25 days) is added to the closing date to determine the due date. 9. Enter the date which represents the start of the cycle you have chosen and press the Enter key. If you selected either option F or G, you will be prompted to type the statement closing date instead, which can be obtained from your monthly credit card statement. 10.Enter the number of days in advance of the due date you wish to be reminded. TIPS & TRICKS ============= If there are Memorized Entries such as paycheck that you do not wish to have scrolled on the bottom of your screen, enter -1 for the "Days in advance to remind". 11.If you will need to change part of the transaction before it is entered such as the amount on the telephone bill, answer Y to the query "Modify transaction(s) when entered (Y/N)?" 12.If needed, you can reenter any of the options above. If you are satisfied with the entries, press the F10 key to save the Memorized Entry. You are back to the Memorized Entry Menu. Press the Esc key to go back to the Check Register Menu. The Memorized Entry you just saved is now listed in the Memorized Entry Menu. You just created a Memorized Entry, which can now save you time and effort. Later you will learn how you can recall and modify this Memorized Entry. Recalling a Memorized Entry =========================== Once you have a Memorized Entry, you can recall it with a minimum of keystrokes. Here is how it works. 1. From the Main Menu, press the 1 key. 2. Press the F9 key to go to Memorized Entry Menu. 3. Highlight the Memorized Entry you want to recall or process. 4. Press the F10 key to process. -71- Chapter: 14, Memorized Entries ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Memorized Entry is either already entered in the check register, or waiting for you to modify and save it using the F10 key. CheckStar IV automatically reschedules the date of that Memorized Entry to the next cycle. TIPS & TRICKS ============= If you want to enter a Memorized Entry into the check register without having the scheduled date automatically updated, press the Ctrl-F10 key combination. TIPS & TRICKS ============= If you want to update the scheduled date of a Memorized Entry without entering the Memorized Entry, highlight the entry and press the U key. Enter the Y key at the verify prompt. Renaming a Memorized ==================== If you want to change the Memorized Entry information such as the name/description, frequency, scheduled date, advance reminder days, or modify transaction when entering, etc. follow the procedure below. 1. From the Main Menu, press the 1 key. 2. Press the F9 key to go to the Memorized Entry Menu. 3. Highlight the Memorized Entry you want to rename. 4. Press the R key to rename. The same window you used to memorize the entry appears. Change the options of your choice and press the F10 key to save it. Changing memorized transaction data =================================== Transaction information in a Memorized Entry cannot be changed directly. It must be changed in the check register and then reassigned to the Memorized Entry. Here is how it is done: 1. From the Main Menu, press the 1 key. 2. From the Check Register Menu press the F9 key to go to the Memorized Entry Menu. 3. Highlight the Memorized Entry whose data needs to be changed. 4. Press the Ctrl-F10 key combination to enter the current Memorized Entries into the Check Register Menu. Note: Ctrl-F10 allows an entry to be made into the register without automatically updating the Memorized Entry date. 5. Modify the transactions information as needed. Note: you can add or delete transactions to this Memorized Entry group. 6. Block these transaction(s) for reassignment to the Memorized Entry. 7. Press the F9 key to reenter the Memorized Entry Menu. 8. Highlight the Memorized Entry that needs to be changed. 9. Press the Ctrl-R key combination to reassign the highlighted transactions to the Memorized Entry. -72- Chapter: 14, Memorized Entries ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10.At the verification prompt, press the Y key. 11.Press the Esc key to reenter the Check Register Menu. 12.Erase the memorized transaction(s) if they are not currently needed. TIPS & TRICKS ============= If a corrected copy of the memorized transaction(s) already exist in the check register, you can block them and directly reassign them to the Memorized Entry starting at step 7. Erasing a Memorized Entry ========================= If the Memorized Entry is no longer in use, you may want to erase it. Here is how to erase a Memorized Entry: 1. From the Main Menu, press the 1 key. 2. Press the F9 key to go to the Memorized Entry Menu. 3. Highlight the Memorized Entry you want to erase. 4. Press the E key to erase. 5. Press the Y key to verify the process. TIPS & TRICKS ============= Because of the effort spent in calculating due dates for credit card memorized transactions, you may choose not to erase them if you don't need them at the moment. An option you might consider is to rename the entry and reassign the due date for several years off. This will keep the entry at the bottom on the list but still available for future use. Printing the Memorized Entry list ================================= You can also send the entire Memorized Entry list to the printer. Here is how to do that: 1. From the Main Menu, press the 1 key. 2. Press the F9 key to go to the Memorized Entry Menu. 3. Press the P key. 4. This list will be printed on the same printer port you selected from the Reports Menu. Press the Y key to verify the process. Note: Be sure your printer is turned on. -73- Chapter: 14, Memorized Entries ----------------------------------------------------------------- TIPS & TRICKS ============= You can set the order by which CheckStar IV will list your unscheduled Memorized Entries. Do this by first creating or renaming the Memorized Entry as though it were a dated transaction. Any type of dating is acceptable. You only need to be able to assign a due date. A special year date of "50" should be selected. The month and day assignments will specify the listing order of the Memorized Entry. For example, a date of 2-Feb-50, will display after a date of 15-Jan-50, but before a date of 5-Feb-50. After assigning the date, go back through the entry table and reassign the transaction due date as NONE. The special annual date of "50" will be saved with the transaction and be used in the sorting process, but no due date will be visible. NOTE ==== The Mini Calculator is available if you need to add or subtract the amounts displayed in the Memorized Entry Menu. Use the + or - keys to add or subtract the highlighted amount to the Mini Calculator total. Use the Delete key to clear previous amounts. -74- Chapter: 15, Budgeting ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== A budget is a financial plan which details expected income and/or expenses. It can be used by an individual or company to monitor and regulate expenditures. It can also help locate wasted resources which can be reallocated to new objectives. CheckStar IV provides you with the tools to start and monitor your own budget. Each category allows you to define its own monthly budget amount and there are special reports which help you monitor budgetary compliance. Planning ======== To plan a successful budget, you must start with realistic goals. This may be difficult if you have never done it before. CheckStar IV can help you in this regard. First, categorize your expenses. The more categories you use, the easier it will be to track expenses. After entering several months of data into CheckStar IV, you can generate a summary report showing what your average expenses were for each category. Now you are ready to start setting realistic budget limits. Note, do not forget that you may have expenses that occur once or twice a year which may not show up in your initial budget. You can change your budgetary projections at any time as needed. In fact this is the method you can use to reallocate your resources. When you review your budget with one of CheckStar IV's special budget reports, you can then decide if you wish to change your budget for any category. Setting up your budget ====================== Once you have defined the budget limits you want to assign to any of the categories you have established, enter the amount as follows: 1. Press the 3 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the category in which you wish to enter a budget amount. 3. Press the B key. See figure 15-1 in the manual. 4. Type the budget amount into the first month and press the Enter key. CheckStar IV will automatically fill the rest of the months with the same amount. If you wish to change any of these amounts, use the Arrow keys to highlight the amount to be changed and enter accordingly. 5. When you are done, press the F10 key to save your entry. Repeat steps 2 through 5 to assign a budget amount for each category. -75- Chapter: 15, Budgeting ----------------------------------------------------------------- Budget reporting ================ There are several budget reports available. See appendix B, pages 237-239 for a sample budget report. These reports are summarized by categories. The budgeted and actual amounts, along with the difference in dollars and percent are listed next to each category. To generate a budget report, press the 4 key from the Main Menu. Highlight one of the budget reports and press the Enter key. Change the beginning and ending dates as necessary to cover the time period from which the report information will be drawn. Press the F10 key to produce the report. See chapter 11 for details. If you fail to show any information of value, be sure that transactions related to your budget analysis have been entered for the time period selected. -76- Chapter: 16, Payroll assistance ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== CheckStar IV is not a payroll program, but like its tax applications, with some early planning CheckStar IV can be a big asset when it comes to handling your payrolls. You can calculate the deductions for an employee using CheckStar IV's built-in calculators, record the transaction using the split transaction feature, then use the check printing feature to print the checks. You can also memorize these transactions for quick entry and set up the categories for all your employee deductions. When you file your tax returns, these categories can be totaled in a report and the totals transferred into your tax forms. Example of category setup ------------------------- 1 - Danny Smithers 2 - Linda Johnson 3 - Mike Peterson 4 - Payroll 5 - FICA 6 - FWH 7 - FUTA 8 - Pension 9 - Gross Making payroll entries ====================== First calculate all deductions and net pay for the employee. Enter the net amount for the check. Use the split transaction feature to document these deductions right on the check. Memorize this transaction. See chapter 14 for details. When used again, recall the transaction and change the amounts. Using Cash Reservation ====================== You can set aside the FICA tax amounts you will have to pay later. See chapter 18 to understand this feature. Making deposits to the IRS ========================== You must periodically make a deposit to the IRS for the tax you are withholding from employees. When you are ready to write a check to the IRS, create a "Category summary" report to get all the tax-related category amount totals. To create the report, see the chapter "Reports". Reminding yourself of tax due dates =================================== The first time you write a check to the IRS when filing a tax return, memorize this transaction as well. This way you will never miss a tax return due date. You can also use a reminder system to remind yourself of any other tax-related dates. See chapter 21 for details. -77- Chapter: 17, Payee & Memo memorization ----------------------------------------------------------------- Payee/Payor memorization ======================== CheckStar IV gives you many memorized lists from which to work. Each list has its value. Take for example the Payee/Payor memorization list. This memorized list will let you save a three line address along with the Payee/Payor. This address can be used by CheckStar IV when printing forms like checks or envelopes. Your Payee/Payor list can be very easily built from scratch. Everytime you enter a transaction whose Payee/Payor entry is new and will likely be used again, you can easily enter the name and address into your memorized list on the spot! Thereafter, you need only type in a two digit number to recall the name. The address is available automatically in CheckStar IV for check or envelope printing. See figure 17-1 in the manual. Let's begin by memorizing a Payee/Payor. Memorizing a Payee/Payor ======================== 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Select any transaction type to enter. 3. Type the Payee/Payor you want to memorize at the "Payee/Payor" prompt. Before you press Enter to move to the next entry, perform the next step. If you have already moved to the next entry, your arrow keys will move your cursor back to the Payee/Payor entry. 4. Press the Ctrl-A key combination. A window will pop up with four input lines. See figure 17-2 in the manual. 5. The first line will be the Payee/Payor you just entered. The next three lines are address lines for that Payor/Payee. Here you can enter an address. You may also leave this entry blank if the address is not needed. 6. Press the F10 key to save it. 7. Finish or abort the transaction entry as you wish. Using a Payee/Payor from the list ================================= To use a memorized Payee/Payor in a transaction entry, move the cursor to the start of the Payee/Payor entry field. Use the PgUp & PgDn keys to scan the memorized list for the Payee/Payor's number. Enter the two-digit number and press the Enter key. The Payee/Payor's name will be automatically entered. Changing a Payee/Payor address ============================== You can change a Payee/Payor address while entering a transaction. At the Payee/Payor prompt, enter the number from the memorized list and press the Enter key. Go back to the Payee/Payor prompt using the UpArrow key. Press the Ctrl-A key combination. Make the necessary changes in the address and press the F10 key to save it. -78- Chapter: 17, Payee & Memo memorization ----------------------------------------------------------------- Printing the Payee/Payor list ============================= To get a print out of the Payee/Payor list, press the Alt-P key combination at the Payee/Payor input line when entering transactions. Erasing a Payee/Payor ===================== To erase any Payee/Payor from the list, press the Ctrl-E key combination at the Payee/Payor input line when entering transactions. A window will pop up asking you for the number of the Payee/Payor you wish to remove. Erasing the Payee/Payor list ============================ To erase the entire Payee/Payor list, press the Ctrl-D key combination at the Payee/Payor input line when entering transactions. Memo memorization ================= Transaction Memos can also be memorized to a pop-up list. This list offers you the option of memorizing complex accounting codes with comments which can give you alternative accounting information to that available from the category reports. Creating, memorizing and erasing Memos is done in the same manner as with the Payees/Payors. Even the key stroke commands are the same. The only difference is that the commands are evoked while your cursor is on the memo input line instead of the Payee/Payor input line. See figure 17-3 in the manual. -79- Chapter: 18, Cash Reservation ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== CheckStar IV's Cash Reservation feature is designed to provide you with an easy way to budget large expenses. These could include monthly expenses like groceries, gasoline etc. or less frequent payments like auto insurance, quarterly tax payments, Keough or IRA deposits, christmas funds, membership dues or a one-time expense like appliance purchases or a large down payments. The feature works like this. You enter the amount to be reserved and how often you want this amount added to the Cash Reservation fund. CheckStar IV will automatically update the Cash Reservation fund, and provide you with a "Working Balance" which is the difference between your current Ending Balance and the Cash Reservation fund. You simply maintain a positive "Working Balance". When a reserved expense is paid, the amount is automatically subtracted from the Cash Reservation fund and your working balance remains the same. A Cash Reservation amount can be assigned for each category. Let's look at the following example. Category description Cash reserved -------------------- ------------- 1 - Automobile expenses -400.00 2 - Groceries -200.00 3 - Mortgage payment -800.00 4 - Telephone expenses -100.00 5 - Utilities -300.00 In the above example, we have set up Cash Reservations for each category. The total amount of the Cash Reservation fund is $1,800. If your current Ending Balance is $4,000, then your Working Balance would be the total of the Ending Balance minus the Cash Reservation fund or $2,200. Now assume you wrote a check for an auto payment of $400 which was assigned to category number "1". Your Ending Balance would decrease by $400, but your Working Balance would remain constant. This happens because as the Ending Balance decreases by $400, CheckStar IV determines that the amount has been reserved and subtracts the same $400 from the Cash Reservation fund. The difference between the two remains the same. Reservation techniques ====================== There are two methods for reserving cash. The first method is a fixed amount on a fixed time basis. For example if you want to reserve $50 every month for your christmas fund or $100 a month for your auto insurance payment, this method does the job. The second method is based on a deposit. If you want to reserve 5% of your income for a down payment on a house, this method does the trick. Here are some examples of each method. -80- Chapter: 18, Cash Reservation ----------------------------------------------------------------- Example 1: A fixed amount paid in a single payment ---------- Let's say you are paying $600 auto insurance every six months. If you want to accumulate this amount in increments of $100 each month, here is how you would do it. 1. From the Main Menu, press the 3 key. (If you need to create a category for auto insurance, see chapter 7.) 2. Highlight the category you have assigned to auto insurance and press the Ctrl-R key combination. See figure 18-1 in the manual. 3. At the prompt "Enter the amount/formula", enter the amount "100" and press the Enter key. IMPORTANT ========= Expense amounts SHOULD be entered as negative amounts while income amounts SHOULD be entered as positive amounts ! 4. Highlight the option "Time cycle" and press the Enter key. 5. To reserve this amount each month, highlight the option "Every ???? months" and press the Enter key. 6. At the request for the number of months in the cycle, enter a 1 and press the Enter key. 7. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on UNDER payment?" enter a Y since this amount is always paid in one payment and there should be no balance carried over. (More on this later.) 8. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on OVER payment?" enter a Y. since no credit amount should be carried over from an over payment. (More on this later.) 9. Enter the date from which you want the reserve amounts to begin accumulating and press the Enter key. NOTE ==== You can enter a beginning date which is already past. CheckStar IV will automatically calculate the correct reserved amount to the current date 10.Press the F10 key to save the setup. NOTE ==== CheckStar IV will reserve the cash amount at the beginning of the time period you select. For example, if you set the starting date for the Cash Reservation as "June 29th", the time period as "monthly" and an amount of "-$100", that amount will be set aside on June 29. However on July 1st, another $100 will be reserved for the month of July. Example 2: A variable amount paid in a single payment ---------- Let's say you are paying about $300 for electricity every month. You want to set aside this amount for electricity. Here is how you would set up your Cash Reservation options. -81- Chapter: 18, Cash Reservation ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. From the Main Menu, press the 3 key. 2. Highlight the category you have set up for electricity and press the Ctrl-R key combination. 3. Enter the "Enter the amount/formula" prompt enter the amount -300 and press the Enter key. 4. Highlight the option "Time cycle" and press the Enter key to select a fixed time period. 5. Highlight the option "Every ???? months" and press the Enter key to select the number of months in the interval. 6. For a single month interval enter 1 and press the Enter key. 7. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on UNDER payment?" enter a Y since this amount is always paid in one payment and there should be no balance carried over. 8. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on OVER payment?" enter a Y since no credit amount should be carried over from an over payment. 9. Type the date you want to start reserving this amount and press the Enter key. 10.Press the F10 key to save the setup. Example 3: A variable amount paid in multiple payments ---------- Let's say you are paying about $85 per month for auto fuel to three different gas companies. To reserve this amount here is your setup. 1. From the Main Menu, press the 3 key. 2. Highlight the category you have set up for auto fuel and press the Ctrl-R key combination. 3. At the "Enter the amount/formula" prompt enter the amount -85 and press the Enter key. 4. Highlight the option "Time cycle" and press the Enter key to select a fixed time period. 5. Highlight the option "Every ???? months" and press the Enter key to select the number of months in the interval. 6. For a single month interval enter 1 and press the Enter key. 7. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on UNDER payment?" enter a N since there will be several payments to be made against this reservation during the month. 8. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on OVER payment?" enter a Y since no credit amount should be carried over from an over payment. 9. Type the date you want to start reserving this amount and press the Enter key. 10.Press the F10 key to save the setup. NOTE ==== If you have entered an average reserved amount whose balance you wish to maintain over more than a one month period, enter an N at step 8. The balance (credit or debit) will continue to maintain until you manually change it from the Category Menu. -82- Chapter: 18, Cash Reservation ----------------------------------------------------------------- Example 4: A calculated amount based upon a deposit ---------- In this example we will reserve a calculated amount based on deposits made. We are also throwing in a new twist, ie. a formula. Assume you have a retail business and an associated CheckStar IV account. Assume also that you have category 4 assigned to income and category 5 assigned to sales tax which is computed at 8%. You can let CheckStar IV calculate and reserve your sales tax amounts for you using the following method. 1. From the Main Menu, press the 3 key. 2. Highlight category "4" ie. "Sales" and press the Ctrl-R key combination. 3. At the prompt "Enter the amount/formula" type in the following formula: 4=-@TA*0.08 and press the Enter key. (The interpretation is, To category #(4) assign (=) the negative (-) amount of the transaction amount (@TA) multiplied (*) by the sales tax (0.08). 4. Highlight the option "When deposit is made" and press the Enter key. 5. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on UNDER payment?" enter a Y. 6. At the prompt "Clear the reserved amount on OVER payment?" enter a Y. 7. Press the F10 key to save the setup. Now, whenever you make a deposit and assign it to the "Sales" category, 8% of that amount will be entered in the "Sales tax" Cash Reservation automatically. NOTE ==== When CheckStar IV sets aside a reserved amount, it will appear in the cash reserved column in the Category Menu. To see it, just go to the Category Menu. If you want to see the total Cash Reserved, press the Alt-I key combination any time. The total Cash Reserved amount is shown along with the Working Balance. Clearing the reserved amount on UNDER/OVER payment ================================================== Understanding how a reserved amount is cleared is important in getting the greatest flexibility from Cash Reservations. The two setup options that affect the clearing of a reserved amount are: 1. Clear the reserved amount on UNDER payment? (Y/N) 2. Clear the reserved amount on OVER payment? (Y/N) If you respond Y to the first option, any check assigned to this category satisfies the requirement to clear the entire reserved amount for this category. If you respond N to the first option then only the amount of the check will be cleared from the reserved amount. It could take several payments to clear the reserved amount. If you respond Y to the second option, any over payment will clear the reserved amount. If you respond N to the second option, any over payment amount will carry over as credit to the next period's reserved amount. -83- Chapter: 18, Cash Reservation ----------------------------------------------------------------- Using formulas at the "Enter the amount/formula" prompt ======================================================= You can enter a formula instead of a fixed amount at the "Enter the amount/formula" prompt when reserving cash. We have already used a formula in the 4th example above. The variable "@TA" refers to the transaction amount. The formula format is the same as that used in the Algebraic Expression Evaluator. See chapter 19 for details. Below you can see acceptable examples of formulas you can use in describing the amount of the cash to be reserved. 1. @TA 2. @TA/2 3. ((@TA*3.25)+10)/2 Recalculating cash reserved =========================== This recalculation feature ONLY works for the categories in which you are reserving cash when deposits are made such as our example 4 above. If you have changed the formula and need to recalculate these amounts, follow the procedure below. 1. Press the 1 key from the Main Menu. 2. Use the F7 and F8 keys to highlight the range of transactions in the check register from which the reserved amount is to be recalculated. 3. Press the Ctrl-C key combination to go directly to the Category Menu. 4. Highlight the category to be recalculated and press the U key. 5. Press the Y key to verify the process. Changing the cash reserved manually =================================== To manually change the reserved amount, follow the procedure below. 1. Press the 3 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the category you wish to change the cash reserved and press the C key. 3. Enter the reserved amount and press the Enter key. -84- Chapter: 19, Calculators ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== CheckStar IV has not one, but three calculators built into it! The first one is a basic four function calculator using Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). You can call up this calculator pressing the Alt-R key from most CheckStar IV menus. The second one is a "Financial Calculator" which you can use to calculate loan payments, investment and annuity variables. This one is called up using the Alt-F key combination. The third calculator is an "Algebraic Expression Evaluator". This calculator can be used to solve parenthetical algebraic formulas. Call up this calculator with the Alt-A key combination. All three calculators use floating point numeric accuracy, but the answers are rounded off to two decimal places. Let's look at all three calculators in detail. RPN Calculator(Alt-R) ===================== This calculator offers four basic math functions: add, subtract, multiply and divide. The data entry style, RPN, is familiar to most Hewlett Packard calculator users. If you are not familiar with this data entry style, CheckStar IV makes it easy to understand. In the RPN Calculator, you must have two numeric entries before choosing the mathematical function such as + (addition),- (subtraction), * (multiplication) or / (division) keys. To do this, type in the first number, then press the Enter key. Now type in the second number, then press the function key +, -, /, or * of your choice. To get the feel of this calculator, press the Alt-R key combination. See figure 19-1 in the manual. Press the Delete key to clear any number previously entered. If you make a mistake, use the Backspace key to correct it. Let's try a few examples. To Solve Keystrokes Result -------- -------------- ------ 7+3 7 Enter 3 + 10.00 7-3 7 Enter 3 - 4.00 7*3 7 Enter 3 * 21.00 7/3 7 Enter 3 / 2.33 Notice in the example above: - Both numbers 7 and 3 were in the calculator before you pressed the +, -, *, / keys. - The Enter key is used following each entry. - Pressing the arithmetic keys, +, -, *, or /, causes the function to execute and display the results. -85- Chapter: 19, Calculators ----------------------------------------------------------------- Example: Solve (5 + 12) / 4: Keystrokes Calculator Display Comments ---------- ------------------ --------------------------- Delete 0.00 To clear the calculator 5 Enter 5.00 12 Enter 12 + 17.00 (5+12) is solved 4 4 / 4.25 (5+12)/4 is solved Example: Solve (12 + 30 - 8 + 21) / 6 Keystrokes Calculator Display Comments ---------- ------------------ --------------------------- Delete 0.00 To clear the calculator 12 Enter 12.00 30 + 42.00 (12+30) is solved 8 - 34.00 (12+30-8) is solved 21 + 55.00 (12+30-8+21) is solved 6 / 9.17 (12+30-8+21)/6 is solved Remember, the Enter key separates the number entries. When a math function is selected, it "acts" on the last two entries. Problems which are more complicated can be solved in the same manner. Example: Solve (12 + 9) * (30 - 11) Note: First, you must solve for an intermediate result of (12 + 9). Keystrokes Calculator Display Comments ---------- ------------------ --------------------------- Delete 0.00 To clear the calculator 12 Enter 12.00 Enter 12.00 9 9 + 21.00 (12+9) is solved The result of (12 + 9) which is 21.00, becomes the first number and remains in the calculators memory. Next we will perform (30 - 11) and the result will become the second entry. Continue: --------- Keystrokes Calculator Display Comments ---------- ------------------ --------------------------- 30 30 Enter 30.00 11 11 - 19 (30-11) is solved The intermediate results (21 and 19) are currently in the calculator. All we need to do is multiply them. -86- Chapter: 19, Calculators ----------------------------------------------------------------- Continue: --------- Keystrokes Calculator Display Comments ---------- ------------------ --------------------------- + 399.00 (12+9)*(30-11) is solved Press the Esc key to exit the calculator. To see exactly how this works, it may help if you try an option which shows the entries the calculator is maintaining in its "stack" memory. From the Main Menu press the F6 key to call up the User Setup Options Menu. Select the General Setup Options then arrow down until you highlight the option labeled, "Display the calculator stack watch". Press the Enter key to change this option. Highlight the YES option and press the Enter key. The Esc key will get you out of the General Setup Options. Now call up the RPN Calculator again using the Alt-R key and the stack will appear. (See figure 19-2 in the manual). Retry the exercises above and see how the RPN method can save you lots of time and effort. This calculator not only allows you to perform calculations, it also allows you read in amounts from the cursor location and paste the computed result back again. To do this, try entering a test transaction in the Check Register Menu. At the amount prompt, enter any test amount. Call up the RPN Calculator using the Alt-R key combination. Press the R key to read the test amount into the calculator. Perform any calculation you wish. To paste the result back to the cursor position, press the P key. Financial Calculator(Alt-F) =========================== This calculator is actually a financial computer which produces solutions to your LOAN, INVESTMENT and ANNUITY calculations. When you want to know how much a loan will affect your budget or what your investments will net in 10 years, you can do so from CheckStar IV. To call up this Financial Calculator, press the Alt-F key combination. See figure 19-3 in the manual. As you notice, it is divided into three sections - Loans, Investments and Annuities. Under Loans, you can calculate three variables - Monthly payment for a loan, Principal of a loan and Total number of payments required for a loan. Let's calculate the "monthly payment for a loan". Suppose you want to finance a house worth $70,000. Your bank offers a 30-year loan at 12.25 percent. This is how you would calculate the monthly payment. 1. Highlight the option "Calculate the monthly payment for a loan" and press the Enter key. See figure 19-4 in the manual. 2. At the "Principal Amount" entry, type 70000 and press the Enter key. 3. At the "Annual interest rate in percent" entry, type 12.25 and press the Enter key. -87- Chapter: 19, Calculators ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. At the "Total number of payments" entry, type 360 and press the Enter key (Note: 360 = 30 years * 12 months per year. Paste that calculation from your RPN Calculator ( Alt-R key). 5. At the "Number of payments per year" entry, type 12 and press the Enter key. (This assumes you are going to make one payment a month.) 6. Press the F10 key to calculate "MONTHLY PAYMENT". The answer 733.53 is displayed immediately. The other two loan calculations function similarly. Under Investments, you can calculate four variables - Final value of an investment, Principal of an investment, Interest rate of an investment and the Number of months of an investment. Let's calculate the "Final value of an investment". Suppose you have $10,000 to invest. Your bank offers you a 5 year investment at 12.5 percent annual interest rate. Further, this bank compounds yearly (simple interest). This is how you calculate the final value of your 5-year investment. 1. Highlight the option "Calculate the final value of an investment" and press the Enter key. See figure 19-5 in the manual. 2. At the "Principal amount" entry, type the investment amount of 10000 and press the Enter key. 3. At the "Annual interest rate in percent" entry, type 12.5 and press the Enter key. 4. At the "Total number of months" entry, type 60 and press the Enter key. (Note: 60 = 5 years * 12 months per year) 5. At the "Compounding periods per year" entry, type 1 and press the Enter key. If you wish to show compounding at quarterly, monthly and daily intervals, you would enter 4, 12, 365, respectively. 6. Press the F10 key to calculate "FINAL VALUE OF INVESTMENT". The answer 18,020.32 is displayed immediately. The other options are calculated in the same manner. Under Annuities, you can calculate three variables- Final value of an annuity, Regular deposit for an annuity and Total number of payments for an annuity. Let's calculate the "Final value of an annuity". Suppose you make a deposit of $100 into your savings account every month and your bank offers you 9.75 percent annual interest rate. The interest is assumed to compound with each deposit. You are making 12 deposits per year for 5 years. This is how you calculate the final value of an annuity. 1. Highlight "Calculate the final value of an annuity" and press the Enter key. See figure 19-6 in the manual. 2. At the "Monthly deposit amount" entry, type the monthly deposit of 100 and press the Enter key. 3. At the "Annual interest rate in percent" entry, type 9.75 and press the Enter key. 4. At the "Total number of deposits" entry, type 60 and press the Enter key. (Note: 60 = 5 years * 12 months per year) -88- Chapter: 19, Calculators ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. At the "Number of deposits per year" entry, type 12 and press the Enter key. 6. Press the F10 key to calculate "FINAL ANNUITY VALUE". The answer 7,692.76 is displayed immediately. The other options work similarly. Any time you change any of the variables, recalculate a new value by using the F10 key. NOTE ==== Many banks do not follow conventional computational formulas exactly. For example, a regular monthly payment on a loan might be rounded up to a full dollar or sometimes even more. Therefore, there might be a few dollars difference between CheckStar IV's and your bank's computation. Algebraic Expression Evaluator (Alt-A) ====================================== This is a single line entry calculator designed to solve algebraic expressions. Just type the equation you want to solve in the expression line. The result will be displayed immediately. You can use multi-level parenthetical entries in your equation. Spaces can be used between the terms for ease of viewing. Press the Alt-A key combination to call up "Algebraic Expression Evaluator". See the figure 19-7. Let's solve a few equations. Example: 25.75 + 31 - 7.85 -------- Type the equation 25.75 + 31 - 7.85 and then press the Enter key. The result 48.90 is displayed immediately on the result line. You can leave spaces between the terms of an equation. Example: (7.91 + 11.25) * (6 - 4.23) -------- To erase the previous equation, press the Ctrl-Y key combination. Type the new equation (7.91 + 11.25) * (6 - 4.23) and press the Enter key. The result 33.91 is displayed on the result line. Example: (8.3 - 3.1) * (12.77 + 9.89)) / 4 -------- To erase the previous equation, press the Ctrl-Y key combination. Type the new equation (8.3 - 3.1) * (12.77 + 9.89)) / 4 and press the Enter key. The result 29.46 is displayed on the result line. While using this Algebraic Expression Evaluator, there are four possible errors that may occur. These errors are explained below. 1. Division by zero - This error is reported if any part of the equation is divided by 0. 2. Uneven open and closed brackets - This error is reported if the number of open and closed parentheses do not match. However CheckStar IV does not check to see if the terms are properly placed. You must use parentheses in proper places or you may get unpredictable results. -89- Chapter: 19, Calculators ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Illegal character(s) entered - This error is reported if you type in alphabetical characters. Only spaces are allowed between the terms of an equation. 4. Result is too high - This error is reported if the result exceeds 99999999.99. -90- Chapter: 20, Calendar ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== CheckStar IV offers you another useful utility in the form of a pop-up calendar. The calendar format is a paged month by month display, columnatedby the days of the week. You can move your cursor using the arrow keys to highlight any day in the current month. Use the PgUp & PgDn keys to change the month. The Ctrl- PgDn or Ctrl-PgUp key combinations will change the current display forward or backward by an entire year. At the bottom of the calendar display, the date of the current cursor position is shown in a Day-Month-Year format along with the number of days from or to the current date. You can choose to have your CheckStar IV reminders (See chapter 21 on Reminders.) and/or your Memorized Entries (See chapter 14 on Memorized Entries.) marked on your calendar with a small dot. When you highlight a date marked with an entry, the contents of the entry are displayed beside the calendar. See chapter 22 to set these options. To enter reminders, see chapter 21. To enter Memorized Entries, see chapter 14. To recall the calendar from within CheckStar IV, press the Alt-C key combination. You can also recall this utility from the DOS prompt by typing CS C. See figure 20-1 in the manual. Initially the current date is highlighted. The dates to which reminders or Memorized Entries have been assigned are easily identifiable by the small dot. Searching for reminders and memorized entries ============================================= You can search all entries for the occurrence of a specified string of characters. All searches are done from the current date forward. The search involves matching the contents of an entry with the contents of the search string you will enter at the search prompt. The search will stop at the first occurrence of a match or the end of the entries. Here is how to do a search. 1. Press the Alt-C key combination to call up the calendar. 2. Press the S key. 3. Type in the text for which you are searching and press the Enter key. If CheckStar IV finds a match, it will move the cursor to the date of the match and displays the entry. To repeat the search, press the S key again followed by pressing the Enter key. If there are other occurrences, they will be displayed. -91- Chapter: 21, Reminders ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== Reminders are one of the special features of CheckStar IV which truly set it apart from other programs. In fact, we think it is such a handy and useful feature we've included it on our very small CheckStar IV Main Menu as a primary selection. You won't find that in any other accounting/management software! As its name implies, reminders do just that - they flash a message across the bottom of the screen reminding you about your spouse's birthday, Mothers' Day or that it's time to change the oil in the car, etc. NOTE ==== Remember that your financial obligations can be documented using the Memorized Entry feature. What makes the reminder feature so powerful is its programmability: - You select how many days in advance you want to be reminded of the event. - You can also program it to repeat itself at selected intervals for repetitive events like birthdays, car tune-ups, etc. NOTE ==== As with the other portions of this program, having the correct date entered in your computer is essential for the reminder feature to work. You can check (and change) the date (and time) before you run CheckStar IV at the DOS prompt. (See your DOS manual.) An alternative is to set a General Setup Options in CheckStar IV which will prompt you to check and/or change the date as necessary before CheckStar IV continues running. Adding a reminder ================= Here is how to add a reminder. 1. Press the 5 key from the Main Menu. See figure 21-1 in the manual. 2. Press the A key from the Reminders Menu. The "Reminder Information" screen will appear. See figure 21-2 in the manual. This pop-up window will guide you through each step. In the event an option is entered incorrectly, you will be able to go back and reenter the data until you are satisfied. 3. Message - At this prompt, enter the message or description you want displayed in the Reminders Menu. 4. Frequency - Select the menu option which represents the repeat cycle you want for the reminder. The 5 options for this entry are described below. -92- Chapter: 21, Reminders ----------------------------------------------------------------- A) One time - This option will trigger a reminder on the date you have selected. When it is updated, CheckStar IV will remove it from the data file. B) Every ???? days - This option repeats reminders on completion of a selected number of days. You will be prompted for the number of days in the cycle and the date the cycle will end. NOTE this option should be used for weekly cycles as well C) Every ???? months - This option repeats reminders on completion of a selected number of months. You will be prompted for the number of months in the cycle and the date of the month the cycle ends. This option covers events taking place on the tenth of every month or the fifteenth of every yearly quarter. It can be used for yearly reminders such as birthdays. D) Twice a month - This option creates repetition cycles which occur twice in a month, fifteen days apart. An example would be of reminders for the first and the fifteenth, or the fifth and the twentieth. The user is prompted for the starting date. E) Monthly - Type A - This option is selected for events which repeat monthly, but occur on a specific day of the week. An example might be the second Tuesday or the third Saturday of the month. You will be prompted to select the week of the month and the day of that week on which you want to be reminded. Highlight the option of choice using the Up or Down arrow keys and press the Enter key. 5. Next scheduled date - The entry will reflect the type of reminder frequency selected. Enter either the starting date or the day of the week and week of the month as prompted by the appropriate pop-up window. The date can be increased or decreased by pressing the + key or the - key. 6. Days in advance to remind - At this prompt, enter the days in advance of the due date to highlight the reminder. TIPS & TRICKS ============= If there are particular reminders that you do not want to scroll across the bottom, set the number of days in advance to remind to a -1. 7. Change date to current date when updating - Enter Y to this option when the reminder cycle should be rescheduled to begin at the date of the update (current date) rather than due date. If a reminder has been created for an oil change in a vehicle on the fifteenth of every third month, but was not performed until the twentieth, this option would allow the system to reschedule the next oil change for the twentieth day in three months rather than holding to a shortened cycle to end on the fifteenth as before. 8. Press the F10 key to save the reminder. -93- Chapter: 21, Reminders ----------------------------------------------------------------- Renaming a Reminder =================== Here is how to rename a reminder. 1. Press the 5 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the reminder to be completely redefined. 3. Press the R key. All the options described above in adding reminders apply when renaming a reminder. 4. Press the F10 key when done. Erasing a Reminder ================== Here is how to erase a reminder. 1. Press the 5 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the reminder you want to erase from the file. 3. Press the E key. 4. Press the Y key to confirm the process. Updating a reminders ==================== When a reminder is past due, you should update it. When you update a reminder, if it is to be repeated, then the next due date will be calculated and the reminder will be updated and stored into the data file with the new due date. If the reminder is a one time only reminder, it will be removed from the file permanently. Here is how to update a reminder. 1. Press the 5 key from the Main Menu. 2. Highlight the reminder you want to update. 3. Press the U key. 4. Press the Y key to confirm the process. Printing the Reminder List ========================== Here is how to print a reminder list. 1. Press the 5 key from the Main Menu. 2. Press the P key. 3. Turn the printer ON and press the Y key to start printing. NOTE ==== You can go to the Reminders Menu directly by typing CS R at the DOS prompt. You don't have to load CheckStar IV to check your reminders! See chapter 24 for details. -94- Chapter: 22, User Setup Options ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overview ======== CheckStar IV offers you more user-definable options than most programs you will ever try. Initially, you may not need these options. This is why we have chosen defaults for you. But as you continue to use the program, customizing these user options can help increase your productivity and make CheckStar IV more intuitive for you personally. This chapter will list and briefly define each option. You can use it as a reference when a question arises or simply read through it to increase your familiarity with the available CheckStar IV options. Option selection ================ Before we look at options, we need to discuss the three basic entry methods used to configure options. When you want to change an option, highlight it (using the Up & Down arrow keys) and press the Enter key. The option window will appear and the currently selected option will be visible. It will appear either as a HIGHLIGHTED selection, a TAGGED selection or a TYPED selection. Highlighted selections ---------------------- The HIGHLIGHTED selection is used where only ONE of several options can be chosen. To change this option, just move the cursor to highlight the option of your choice. The Enter key will hide the option window and save your option. Tagged selections ----------------- The TAGGED selections are used where more than one of several options can be chosen. To make your selections, highlight an option and press the Spacebar key to tag or untag that option. A marker will appear at the left of each tagged option. The Enter or Esc key will hide the option window and save your options. Typed selections ---------------- The TYPED selections are used in situations too general for predefined selections. This would include DOS file names or paths or numerical entries. These options appear as a single entry line. You can edit the current entry or erase it and type in a new one. Press the Enter key to save this entry or press the Esc key to ignore the changes. User Setup Options ------------------ Let's start by looking at the User Setup Options Menu. Press the F6 key from the Main Menu. The User Setup Options Menu will appear. -95- Chapter: 22, User Setup Options ----------------------------------------------------------------- The User Setup Options Menu is divided into four groups. Their area of reference in CheckStar IV is explicit in their names. - General Setup Options - Check Register Setup Options - Report Setup Options - Account Setup Options General Setup Options --------------------- Let's begin our examination of the User Setup Options with the "General Setup Options" first. Highlight the "General Setup Options" and press the Enter key. The General Setup Options screen will appear. 1. SELECT THE MONITOR TYPE: This option changes the screen output to be compatible with either color or monochrome monitors. It is first set up during installation. HIGHLIGHT the option of your choice. 2. SELECT THE DATE FORMAT: This option lets you select the date display format used by CheckStar IV. HIGHLIGHT the option of your choice. 3. DISPLAY THE TIME TRACKER: CheckStar IV maintains a record of the time spent in the program and the number of times it has been used. Use this option to display the information each time you exit the program. HIGHLIGHT a Yes or No. (Note the information displayed by this option can be reset for special purposes from the Main Menu using option R.) 4. DISPLAY THE LOGO AT START-UP: We like our logo, but you may not want to wait for the display every time you run CheckStar IV, so we provided this option to turn it off. HIGHLIGHT either Yes or No. (Have you noticed the logo looks different when displayed during the day than during the night?) 5. SET UP THE PASSWORD PROTECTION: CheckStar IV gives you the option to discourage unauthorized use of your program by demanding a password. When selecting this option, you will be prompted to enter the password of your choice. TYPE in your password at the prompt entry point. From now on, CheckStar IV will require this password to run. A blank entry means NO password will be required. 6. TURN DOS VERIFY ON - CheckStar IV reads and writes a lot of data to disk. Although the DOS verify option is not a guarantee of your data's integrity, it is an additional safeguard which can help recognize trouble your system might have when writing to disk. It may slow down system disk access by 10%. It could slow down a disk caching system even more. HIGHLIGHT a Yes or No option. 7. LOAD PREVIOUS ACCOUNT AND GO TO MAIN MENU - When you exit CheckStar IV, it remembers the last account you were using. If the option is set to Yes, CheckStar IV loads that account and goes directly to the Main Menu. 8. INSERT COMMAS IN DOLLAR AMOUNTS - This option formats the way CheckStar IV displays dollar amounts. To include commas in the display format, HIGHLIGHT the Yes option. -96- Chapter: 22, User Setup Options ----------------------------------------------------------------- 9. DISPLAY THE DOLLAR AMOUNTS ONLY - This option crops the cents from all monetary displays. This does not affect the actual data, just the way it is displayed.