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(tm) FamTRACK, Home Finance Manager Copyright (C) 1989 T.W.McMaster 855 Woodruff Way Salt Lake City, UT 84108 PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS April 2, 1989 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Thanks for trying FamTRACK. This software product is offered as shareware. That is, it may be copied and distributed and used for evaluation purposes without restriction. However, this program is not in the public domain and the author retains all rights. When you determine that the program suits your needs and that you intend to continue using it, then you are expected to become a registered owner by submitting to the author the reasonable fee of $19.95. Registered owners will receive complete instructions, the latest program information and automatic upgrade notification. In addition you make it possible for continued development of this and other affordable programs. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Please register by sending $19.95 to: T. W. McMaster (FT 1.0) 855 Woodruff Way Salt Lake City, UT 84108 Name: Date: Address: City, State, Zip: Date first obtained: Source of program copy: Comments and suggestions: INTRODUCTION FamTRACK (FT) is powerful, comprehensive software with many advanced features, designed for home use. It is written in the financial language you understand, to operate on family finances the way your family operates. It will keep track of every penny you earn and spend, and sort your expenditures into as many as 40 categories. It will allow you to establish monthly budgets for each category and then compare your actual performance against the budgeted amounts. It can also forecast annual expenditures in each category, based on your spending record to date. But most important, it will help you develop good record keeping habits and good records, and you will gain control over one of your greatest worries--money. The program works the way you do in handling your family finances. Write a check or sign a charge slip, and you record the date, payee and amount in your check register. With FamTRACK you simply enter that same information in your computer with a few quick keystrokes. You'll never have to add or subtract or wonder about your account balance again. Your balance is instantly recalculated as each transaction is entered. Later when your statement arrives, balancing your account is a breeze. Up to 20 separate financial accounts may be maintained, to include banks, credit unions, charge accounts, credit cards, even cash accounts, with instant balances kept and displayed for each account. An automatic fund transfer feature allows you to move funds from one account to another--checking to cash, checking to savings, etc. Each account can be fully reconciled when you receive the statements provided by the financial institutions. This feature makes balancing your checkbook or charge accounts fun and foolproof. As you check off the cleared transactions displayed on the monitor, the reconciled balance and your FamTRACK balance move closer and closer together. If after checking all of the cleared transactions a discrepancy remains (service charges, a forgotten transaction or, heaven forbid, over-draft charges), if you wish, the program will automatically create the exact adjustment needed to bring your account into balance and start you off with an accurate balance for the coming month. Another valuable feature is the ability of the program to track payees or income sources. Say you want to see how much you've spent at the neighborhood super market, this month, last month or during the entire year-to-date, or how much money you have received from the part time job. No problem. You can save up to 21 different payees or income sources and then track your activity with each through out the year. In addition, those records with special tax significance, can be marked as they are entered and retrieved as a group. This is a powerful budgeting tool to help you gain control over your personal finances. Every transaction is saved and is accessible for review in a variety of contexts. Transactions can be listed by account, by budget category, by payee/source, by tax flag or a list of all transactions can be made. Listings are available as screen displays or printed reports. Imagine, every check, charge or cash payment made during the whole year right there in front of you at any time. The heart of the program is the Transaction Entry screen. Here all pertinent data regarding each financial transaction you make can be entered and saved. The format is similar to a standard check and the entries are logically arranged. Screen prompts direct every move and most data items can be completed with a single keystroke. The whole process is fun, easy to learn and is based on sound budgeting principles. GETTING STARTED As with all software products, your first step should be to make a copy of the program disk to work with and then safely store the original. The program size of FamTRACK (FT.EXE) will allow you to format your working disk with the /S option, making it a boot disk, and still leave plenty of room on the same disk for the data files the program will create. (Note: For this program to operate properly, you must assure that each time you work with it your computer has been started with the correct date.) At the DOS prompt FamTRACK is started with the command: FT. If sample data files (TRNSREC.FT1 and BUDGDTA.FT1) were included with the program disk you received, you may start the program and familiarize yourself with some of the features by making any of the various menu selections available. If you get into an unfamiliar area, the <Esc> key will usually back you out without changing any data. The screen prompts will indicate your keystroke options and are sufficient to take you through the program with very few references to these instructions. If no sample data files were present on the disk you received, then most of the features will not be available for inspection until you complete entry of your fundamental data as outlined below. You may create your own practice files for the purpose of becoming familiar with the program before you decide on the permanent arrangement of your budget categories and values. SETTING UP YOUR FUNDAMENTAL DATA Some advanced preparation is advised before you proceed to enter the final versions of your fundamental budget data. Delete the sample or practice data files (TRNSREC.FT1 and BUDGDTA.FT1) from your working disk before you begin to enter your permanent data files. Fundamental Data Menu, selection # 2--BUDGET CATEGORIES You may wish to sort through a month or two of canceled checks and get an idea as to how you are now spending your money. Make some notes regarding the categories to which you would assign various expenditures and the monthly amounts required. Carefully plan the Budget Categories you wish to track. Once they are entered and transaction data has been accumulated, it is not convenient to make major revisions to your categories. A list of possible budget categories is given here for your consideration. Remember you are allowed two sub-categories in each of up to twenty major categories. For example a category might be "AUTOs: A / B" or "CARS: His / Hers" or "INSUR: Life/Hlth". (Category names are limited to 16 characters including spaces and punctuation.) Sample Categories AUTOMOBILES: A/B BOAT/CAMPER CLOTHING: A/B CHARITIES/CHURCH EDUCTN:Adlt/Chld FOOD:EatIn/Out GIFTS: Fam/Other GROCERY/NOTION GROOMING/FITNESS HOME MORT: A/B INSUR: Home/Auto INVESTMENTS: A/B LESSONS:Mus/Dnce MAINT:Home/Appl MEDICAL/DENTAL NEW HOME:Lot/Hse PTTY CASH:Hs/Hrs RECREATION/TRIPS SAVINGS: A/B TELE: Loc/LngDis TAXES:RlEst/Pers UTIL: Gas/Elec UTIL: Water/Tel These sample categories are of course only suggestions. The fun of keeping a budget is in tracking the areas of spending that interest you. When you are able to agree on the final list of your categories, then serious planning must be given to the number of dollars available in each month for each category. Fundamental Data Menu, selection #3--BUDGET VALUES Setting the Budget Amounts is not as critical at this point, as the establishing the categories themselves. The values can be reset at any time in the future without disrupting the budgeting process. The effectiveness of a good budget, however, depends on the realistic nature of the budget amounts you are trying to hit, so it is important ultimately to seriously set limits and goals within which you can honestly try to stay. Remember the obvious, and this is the hard part, the total of your category values cannot exceed your disposable income. As you begin to enter your budget values, you will note that the program automatically totals the A and B columns and the total column, while at the same time calculating the percentage of the total budget represented by each major category. As you read articles on budgeting you will become aware of guidelines given regarding the percentage of total income to allow for housing, food, clothing, etc. The percentages of your personal budget values will help you compare your own priorities with these published averages. Fundamental Data Menu, selection #4--FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS You may wish to start FamTRACK with your primary checking account and add accounts as you become more familiar with the program. The first account you enter will actually be account #2 since FamTRACK automatically enters the first account as a cash account. If you entered your name at selection #1 of the Fundamental Data Menu, the name of this cash account will be the name you entered. You may edit the first account, changing the name or balance, but it is not possible to delete it or make it anything other than a cash account. All other accounts subsequently entered may be edited or deleted at will. The balances you enter for each account should be the balance in the account just prior to the first transaction you intend to enter. If this cannot be precisely determined at the time you wish to begin, don't be overly concerned. Proceed with the best balance you can determine and then during the first month's reconciliation any error can be corrected with an automatic adjustment. ENTERING TRANSACTIONS With the fundamental data in place, you are ready to begin the fun part. This is so much fun in fact you may have to restrain yourself from writing checks for the sole purpose of having something to enter in your computer. (That was my wife's story anyway.) Write your checks in the usual way, but in your register make a few more notes than you might already be making. (Here is the first and perhaps most important budgeting benefit of this entire program.) Indicate to whom the check is made, the date, and the budget category in which you want to place it. When this act of documenting your expenditures becomes habit, you will be well on your way to taking control of your money. By the way, expenditures can be split into both the A and B columns of the same major category. For example if you pay for your auto insurance with one check and you wish to assign a portion of the total to each auto, you will see in a minute how this is easily done. With your check register in front of you with a day's or week's worth of check writing, make selection #2 at the Main Menu and you will be in the Transaction Entry screen. Follow the prompts at the bottom of the form and you will need little help from me. The Record Number is automatic. The type of transaction can be selected with a single key as indicated. Depending on your selection, different things happen in the rest of the form. For example, if you're not entering a check, then the Check Number box will not appear. At the start of a new transaction, if you want to view any of the previous transactions, press "V" (View) and select any of the options to move through the past transactions. During the entry process, the left arrow will back up one step while <Esc> will return to the beginning of the same record clearing any data that may have been entered. The transaction date can be entered as month-number <space> day-number. Leading zeros and the year will be added automatically. If the transaction date is "Today's Date" then simply hit <Enter>. The Account will be a one-key selection from the accounts you entered as fundamental data, which will appear in the lower half of the screen. The Payee/Source of the transaction is entered by typing the name in the box. Upon entering the Payee/Source you will be asked if you wish to save that particular Payee/Source for future reference. You may save up to 21 different Payee/Sources. A little planning should go into the Payee/Sources you choose to save. On future trips through the Transaction Entry form, those saved Payee/Sources can be one-or-two-key selected. In addition, transactions made with the saved Payee/Sources will be tracked and available for a variety of displays later on. When 21 are saved, the "save for future reference question" will no longer appear. At any point you may delete a Payee/Source should that become desirable. After the Payee/Source has been entered, you can mark yes (Y) or no (N) for transactions to be identified as tax records. (Contributions, tax payments or refunds, amounts with tax deductible interest, etc.) Then enter the Transaction Amount. When this is entered you will see the immediate effect on the Account Balance. Next you will be asked to select a Budget Category. Then you will assign the Transaction Amount to either the A column or the B column of that category or split the amount between the columns. If you choose the split option then you will be prompted for the amount to assign to column A. The amount to the B column will be calculated automatically. The entry is now complete. Briefly check your work and if all is in order, press <Enter> to save and continue with the next record or <S> to save and exit. The first Payee/Source, automatically created by the program is "Fund Transfer". This can be used if you wish to transfer funds from one account to another. For example if you wish to write a check on one account transferring a sum into another account, enter the transaction as you would any other check. When prompted for the Payee, select Fund Transfer. You will then be asked to enter the receiving account. Enter the appropriate receiving account. When you complete the transaction entry and save it, two transactions will be created--the check you wrote and a transfer of the same amount as a credit to the receiving account. You will not be asked to specify budget categories for fund transfers. STATEMENT RECONCILIATION One of the most enjoyable and useful features of FamTRACK is its ability to reconcile your bank or charge account statements. Most of us are all too familiar with the headaches of balancing the check book each month. Now that task is actually fun and effortless, and you are assured that before you begin another month you will know exactly how much is in your account. The basic instructions for reconciling an account are as follows. Make sure that all transactions have been entered for the account you are to reconcile. When the statement arrives, place all of the cancelled checks and deposit slips in check number order. Select item #5 on the Main Menu. At the first prompt select the appropriate account, then enter the ending balance shown on the statement. (The statement balance will not likely agree with the FamTRACK balance due to the fact that many of your transactions may not have been received and processed by the institution on the day the statement was prepared.) The difference between the statement balance and the FamTRACK balance will be resolved as you proceed. (Note: When you are just browsing FamTRACK or if you want to review the transactions yet to be reconciled, you may enter the reconciliation feature using any number you wish as the statement balance. Look around, test the options available and then leave via the <Esc> key and none of the modifications you might have made will be saved.) The screen should now display a list of all transactions entered for the selected account which have not been previously checked. If there are more that 14 items the "More data" indicator will be present in the line of prompts at the bottom of the screen. Pressing "M" will scroll the data 14 items at a time until all items have been displayed. Do not press "M" until you have completed your work on the displayed items. You may now begin to "Check" the items on the screen that have been returned with your statement by pressing "C". If you need to "uncheck" an item, back up with the arrow key and press "C" again and the check will disappear. Note as you check items that the reconciled balance and the discrepancy both are adjusted. If you discover an error in the date or amount or any of the other displayed data, you may select "Edit" and make corrections. The "Edit" function is disabled when an item is "Checked" so if you need to correct a checked item simply return, uncheck and then "Edit". When you have checked off all of the items returned with your statement the discrepancy should equal zero. If it is not zero, the discrepancy probably represents service charges, automatic loan payments, or other debits or credits in your statement that you have not entered as transactions. You have two options as to how to handle the discrepancy at this point. 1. You can "Save", select "No" adjustment and go back to the transaction entry screen and enter the missing transactions. In this case you will then have to return to the reconciliation (using the same statement balance as before) and check the newly entered transactions. Or 2. You can "Save" the reconciliation work and select "Automatic" adjustment. If you choose "Automatic" then FamTRACK will enter an offsetting transaction and your FamTRACK balance will be a true account balance. If you think you understand the causes for the discrepancy and are not saving those items as part of a budget category then the "Automatic" feature is obviously the most convenient. (Note: If you select <Esc> as the exit from the reconciliation process, your original data will not be disturbed, and all reconciliation changes will be lost. The changes will be saved only if you select either of the "Save" options.) If the balance you entered for the given account in the Fundamental Data Entry phase was not correct, then the "Automatic Adjustment" feature will provide a proper adjustment the first time you go through the reconciliation process. Thereafter the balance should remain a true balance. BUDGET ANALYSIS TOOLS After the first transaction has been saved, the budget analysis tools of the program can be utilized. These include selections #3 and #4 on the Main Menu. As you enter these displays, you will first be shown data from the current month, if any exists. You can move via the down and up arrows through the other months or select the total year display. Selection #3 displays the accumulated Budget Performance figures. Your actual budget expenditures are show in comparison with the budget amounts you pre-selected. Your amounts can be toggled between Total Year and Year-To-Date. The Actual data can be listed by Month and Year-To-Date. The Actual data can also be expanded to represent an annual Forecast based on your present rate of spending. Selection #4, Review TransAction Data, opens a menu of five different formats for transaction data display. In these displays you can review your transactions sorted by Budget Category, Financial Account, or Payee/Source. Or you have a listing of All Records or Tax Records. Each of these listings can be made by month or year-to-date and they can be both screen displayed and printed. Spend some time in these transaction displays as your financial data base grows and you will gain control of your personal finances. You will begin to manage your money and not be kicked around by it. YEAR END PROCEDURE When the computer detects a year change between start-up and the last activity in FamTRACK, an automatic procedure will be initiated. You will be given the opportunity to complete the prior year before beginning transaction entry for the new year. Follow the instructions and when you complete the old year all of your transaction data will be saved and renamed. Copy this new file from you work disk to an archive disk and then delete it from your work disk to make room for the transactions in the new year. All of your budget data from the prior year will remain in tact and you will be able to begin the new year without modifications unless you wish to make some.