The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ { MONEY & BANKS } tm ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ (C) Copyright MCMXCII, MCMXCIII RCCO Research Associates. ║ ║ All Rights Reserved under International Conventions. ║ ║ D ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 2 Table of Contents ────────────────── page Quick Start ............................................................. 3 Easy batch file ideas ................................................... 4 Moving around ........................................................... 5 Practice with SAMPLE.BNK ................................................ 6 The opening screen: Main Menu .......................................... 8 Transactions Module ..................................................... 9 Table View of Account Tables ............................................ 12 Editing, Adding to the Payee/Payor Table ................................ 13 Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table ................................. 14 Split Transactions ...................................................... 16 Dual PCodes? ............................................................ 17 Viewing/Editing the Archive table ....................................... 18 Reconcile your Bank Statement ........................................... 19 Adding a New Account .................................................... 20 The Check Printer ....................................................... 21 The Label Writer ........................................................ 23 The Report Writer ....................................................... 24 View Tables ............................................................. 27 The Utilities Menu ...................................................... 28 Printer Support for Reports, Checks and Labels Printing ................. 30 Technical Matters ....................................................... 31 APPENDIX A (additional check-printing setup & information).............. 33 APPENDIX B (registration notes & information) .......................... 35 APPENDIX C (commonly asked questions & some answers) ................... 37 MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 3 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ To read this documentation on-line anywhere in the program, simply press │ │ the <Alt-M> (for "manual") key combination. The on-line manual is also │ │ available as a selection on the Utilities Menu. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Quick Start: ───────────── If you did *NOT* use INSTALL.EXE, or are moving files: Place all the program files in a directory on your hard disk called \MONEY Only one type of accounts, such as "personal accounts" (usually your bank or money market accounts, as many as desired), should be created/maintained in this one directory. (If you are using the program ONLY for a small business location, obviously your business banking will be done in the main \MONEY directory; the point is, do not commingle personal and business accounts in the same directory.) ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ If you went through the normal Install process using INSTALL.EXE the │ │ above directory was created and all files properly installed. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The following few paragraphs are applicable only if you are setting up addit- ional directories for business accounts that are not to be commingled with data from your personal accounts: If business or institutional account(s) are to be used, create a subdirectory directly below \MONEY, ie: \MONEY\BUSINESS When you require directories in addition to the original \MONEY directory you *MUST* add the \MONEY directory to the path statement in your autoexec.bat file. (You need not alter the path statement if only the one directory, \MONEY, will be used.) Also, in your \MONEY\BUSINESS directory make sure you have copies of the fol- lowing files: PNAMES.DBF, ALLOCATE.DBF, SECUR.DBF, CARDS.DBF, _ADMIN.PCX, and ARCHIVE.DBF (any needed .NTX files will be built by the program) (Whenever you create a new data directory other than the original \MONEY directory, please ascertain the above files are present in the directory. DO NOT PLACE DUPLICATES OF ANY OTHER FILES IN THE SECONDARY DIRECTORIES!) MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 4 Most of these files will eventually be different from those in your personal directory; for example, Payees/Payors/Allocations will vary. The sample en- tries in the PAYEE/PAYOR table and the ALLOCATION table may eventually be changed/deleted by you after you see how they are set up for your own needs. The Archive table (ARCHIVE.DBF) for each directory must start with a clean (empty) copy; all the bank accounts (*.BNK files) that will be created in each directory will depend on the one Archive table. You may delete previous or samples entries made in the Archive table before any new, "real" data is entered during transactions. There is more infor- mation on deletions in the Archive table in the documentation under the head- ing, "Practice with SAMPLE.BNK." Remember, do not tamper with or delete any file that begins with an under- score, as the program will not work properly. Do not create banking directories other than one level immediately under the main \MONEY directory. That is, do not create something like \MONEY\BUSINESS\BUS2 Rather, if a second business directory is needed, use \MONEY\BUS2 There may be as many subdirectories off \MONEY as you would like, and you may add as many bank account tables as you would like in each directory. Easy batch file ideas... ───────────────────────── You may wish to create two batch files for your batch directory: ┌──────────┐ │ BANK.BAT │ (for personal accounts only) └──────────┘ @ECHO OFF C: (or whatever drive you use) CD \MONEY MONEY and the other one for business accounts: ┌───────────┐ │ BANKB.BAT │ (for business accounts, if needed) └───────────┘ @ECHO OFF C: CD \MONEY\BUSINESS MONEY ( \MONEY must be in the path statement) MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 5 Please consult your DOS manual if you are unfamiliar with creating batch files and altering your path statement. The above batch files will make op- eration of { MONEY & BANKS } easier for you. If you have not yet created your batch files and simply want to get right in- to the program, change to the \MONEY directory and type: MONEY <Enter> to begin the { MONEY & BANKS } program. And then... ──────────── One of the first things you may wish to do in { MONEY & BANKS } is set up at least one account for your own bank. There is an option on the Main Menu that will guide you through this. There is also a sample bank table, called SAMPLE.BNK, that is for your practice; there is further info on this in the section of the documentation called "Practice with SAMPLE.BNK." Using the sample table will keep you from entering data incorrectly in your own "real" tables while you are learning the program; a few minutes using the sample table will save you a great deal of time later on. Moving around... ───────────────── In general, the <Esc> key or <RightMouse> will back you up to the previous screen or menu; exceptions are noted on certain screens, but in general <Esc> or <RightMouse> are the exit keys. <LeftMouse> is the same as the <Enter> key. Scroll with the mouse or arrow keys up/down tables, menus, on-screen reports, and when reading this reference material on-line. In most data tables, when accessing them in 'Table View' (similar to a spreadsheet image), there are some special key combinations called Quick- Jumps. QuickJumps allow you to move around to the four corners of a table instantly, avoiding lengthy scrolling with arrow keys or the mouse. The QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> and <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow> and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.) Once you observe their function, you will most likely always use them. Often their availability is indicated with reminders at the bottom of many table view screens; their existence and use is available in almost all table views throughout the program, whether indi- cated or not. Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> while in table view saves any changes that may have been made and returns you to the previous level. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 6 To answer one question you will have: the little "pushbuttons" appearing at the top of the menus are cosmetic only, they do nothing (except make you won- der what they are for). You cannot address them with the mouse. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Almost everywhere in the program, pressing <F1> for Help will bring up │ │ context-sensitive Help. The center button on three-button mice, alias │ │ <MiddleMouse>, will provide the same function as the <F1> Help key. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ To read this documentation on-line anywhere in the program, simply press the <Alt-M> (for "manual") key combination. The on-line manual is also available as a selection on the Utilities Menu. Don't forget to try the pop-up Calculator with the <Alt-K> combination in any module, anywhere in the program; <Esc> or <RightMouse> exits the calculator. Also, anywhere in the program <Alt-L> will bring up a pop-up Calendar; <Esc> or <RightMouse> exits the calendar. These utilities are also available (with clear, uncluttered backgrounds) as selections on the Utilities menu. Practice with SAMPLE.BNK... ──────────────────────────── Before you start entering your transactions in any newly created bank account tables, you may want to experiment with the the practice account table called SAMPLE.BNK included with the files in this package. (For information on how to make transaction entries in SAMPLE Bank or other account tables, see the section on the Transactions module in the documentation.) Practice entering all types of transactions in SAMPLE Bank: deposits, checks, ATM withdrawals, etc. Initially, make yourself a generous deposit so that you will have some "mad money" to play with. Manipulate and spend lots of it. You may experiment with printing "checks" (use blank pieces of paper or discardable checks), as well as mailing labels. Before you leave your practice sessions, make sure you try entering a few "split" transactions -- both checks and deposits -- that are mentioned in the documentation under the heading, "Split Transactions." Most of all, try to get comfortable with the interface and feel of the Transactions module and all that must be recorded there, observing/using the various options, "hot-keys," and pop-up screens. Time spent practicing with SAMPLE Bank will pay off in lessening the tedi- ous editing/removal in your "real" account tables of erroneous or misunder- stood data entry. Remember, however, any "transactions" you make in this practice account will be automatically entered into the existing Archive table as well, and will need to be deleted before doing any "real" transactions in your own accounts. After practicing, to delete SAMPLE Bank's entries from the Archive table, choose View Tables from the Main Menu, then select Other (*.DBF). From the resulting scrolling list, select ARCHIVE.DBF and carefully follow these ins- tructions for deleting records (rows) in the Archive table: MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 7 Place the cursor on any entries that have in the column "ICODE" (which shows the different institutions, or accounts, in your system) the entry called "SAMPLE;" these are the practice entries that result after you have made sample transactions. If you have not made other "transactions" than those with SAMPLE Bank you will see only "SAMPLE" in the ICODE column. Simply press the <Del> key on your keyboard on each row as you move down the table searching for SAMPLE Bank's entries. Please be aware that when you delete (with the <Del> key) a record (or "row," if you are used to spreadsheet terms), it is first "marked" for deletion (you will see a caption, <Deleted> at the top of the screen). The actual deletion does NOT OCCUR until you EXIT the table view screen. Also note that the <Del> key is a "toggle;" that is, if you press <Del> a second time on a record already marked for deletion you will "undelete" the record. Any undeletes must be performed prior to exiting the table view screen. As you exit, any records marked for deletion are permanently removed from the table. Exercise extra caution when performing record deletes on any archival tables, which are in essence permanent history tables and any deleted records are irretrievably lost. Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes that may have been made and returns you to the previous level. When you next again view the Archive table, the records you "marked" for deletion are gone. Also, when practicing with SAMPLE.BNK, any changes you make in the Payee/ Payor table (PNames.dbf) or the Allocation table (Allocate.dbf) will remain but are easily edited or deleted at any time. You may use the View Tables selection on the Main Menu to access these tables for editing. The on-screen help reminders in View Tables show you the editing/access keys from the dif- ferent screens. You may also edit tables from within the Transactions module; there is more information in the documentation under the headings "Editing, Adding to the Payee/Payor Table," "Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table" and "Viewing/ Editing the Archive Table." You may eventually wish to delete the SAMPLE.BNK practice table from the directory, after you begin entering "real" transactions in your own account tables. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 8 The opening screen is the Main Menu ──────────────────────────────────── Upon loading the program, the Main Menu appears, presenting a screen similar to the following: ╔═══════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ■ │ { MONEY & BANKS } │ │ ║█ ║───┘───────────────────────└───┴───║█ ║ ║█ ║ ║█ ║ ┌────────────────────────┐ ║█ ║ │ Transactions │ ║█ ║ │ Add New Account │ ║█ ║ │ Check Printer │ ║█ ║ │ Label Writer │ ║█ ║ │ Report Writer │ ║█ ║ │ View Tables │ ║█ ║ │ Utilities │ ║█ ║ │ ... │ ║█ ║ │ Quit to System │ ║█ ║ └────────────────────────┘ ║█ ║ ║█ ║ ║█ ╚═══════════════════════════════════╝█ ████████████████████████████████████ Move up and down menu items with your mouse or the arrow keys. Make a menu selection with either the <Enter> key or <LeftMouse>. The first item on the Main Menu, "Transactions," is where most of your active banking business takes place; it will be the only module requiring a bit of your time to learn. All other sections, or "modules," of {MONEY & BANKS } are easy to use and rather self-explanatory. See the detailed information on the Transactions module in the documentation. The second selection on the Main Menu, "Add New Account," not only is obvious as to its function but carefully prompts you for required information for whenever you wish to add a new "bank" account table to your banking informa- tion system. For further information on this selection, see the section "Adding a New Account," in the documentation. The third and fourth selections are "Check Printer" and "Label Writer," res- pectively. Although, both facilities are automatically available within the Transactions module, they are additionally presented here for times that you wish to utilize them separately from making new transactions. For example, perhaps you had created several checking transactions in one or more accounts using the Transactions module and had chosen to defer the printing of checks and/or labels to a more convenient time; you may then elect to print the checks from the selection on the Main Menu as long as you had answered "Yes" MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 9 to the prompt "Include in Batch Check Printing?" when you were making out your transactions in the Transactions module. There is more information in the documentation under the heading "Check Printer," as well as in Appendix A which describes how to use regular bank checks with this program. The Label Writer may be used at any time; it is set up for standard 1" x 3.5" labels, such as the widely available Avery #4145. Labels may also be "print- ed" to the screen. See the heading "Label Writer" in the documentation for further information. The fifth item on the Main Menu, is the "Report Writer." Much of the power and utility of the program { MONEY & BANKS } will be realized with this module, although its importance will not be great until you have made several months' worth of transactions, possibly using many different accounts. See the section on "The Report Writer" below for further information. The next selection, "View Tables," is the sixth choice on the Main Menu. It is a versatile way to immediately view data not only in your ".BNK" tables but other data tables (*.DBF) as well. You may also manually edit tables to correct errors that may have crept in during transactions entry. Most of the important tables are available for view/edit in the Transactions module as well, via "hot-keys." The View Tables heading in the documentation provides detailed information. The Utilities Menu is called from a selection on the Main Menu. Here you will select from a choice of Printers, or change directories, perform back- ups, find system information and current time, as well as other choices. See the documentation information for the Utilities Menu. The program { MONEY & BANKS } may be exited by choosing the final item on the Main Menu, or by simply pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse>. Never turn off the computer or reboot without properly exiting; data loss may well occur. Transactions Module ──────────────────── After selecting "Transactions" on the { MONEY & BANKS } main menu, you are presented with a menu of choices for available accounts in the current direc- tory. Select the account desired with the mouse or arrow keys. The next screen is the main transaction module; all checks, deposits, and other cred- its/debits are entered here. The transaction date default is the current date; change it if necessary (for interest payments, etc.), or accept the default. The next item, "Writing Check?," is very important; answer "N" or no to ANY- THING OTHER THAN a check: obviously a deposit would receive an "N" answer, but so do DEBITS OTHER THAN CHECKS. Cash withdrawals, service charges, ATM withdrawals and related charges, check charges, interest credited to an ac- count, are all transactions OTHER THAN "Writing [a] Check," so always answer "N" if it involves something other than an actual check. This action keeps the check-numbering scheme in effect to agree with your printed check num- bers. (After checks have been entered and dated IN any new year, you will not be allowed to back-date subsequent CHECKS to the previous year.) MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 10 Answer "Y" to "Writing Check?" if you are entering a check transaction and either printing out the check or not. An example would be if you wrote a check out manually in a merchant's store; when you are again at the computer, you will answer "Y" to "Writing [a] Check?," but "N" later on down this screen when asked "Include in Batch Check Printing?" One does not need to print a check already written by other means and delivered to the payee. (The check-printing module (should you choose to use it) will only print checks for which you answered "Y" when you were asked "Include in Batch Check Print- ing?") If you choose "Y" to "Writing Check," the next available check number will be used and so indicated on the screen. If you said "N," the check number will be a zero (0) for ALL other sorts of transactions. At any time, you may exit the Transactions module by pressing <F7>; there is a reminder for this at the bottom of the screen after you move to the PCode cell (described next). You may, if needed, View/Edit the current account table in Table View mode by pressing <F8>; refer to that part of the documen- tation under the heading "Table View of Account Tables." Next the cursor will be in the "PCode" cell. A PCode identifies either a Payee or a Payor that is listed in the Payee/Payor table (PNames.dbf). At this point, you may use a "hot-key" to access your Payee/Payor table and add or edit PCodes; use the <F9> key to bring up this table. Before attempting to enter a transaction, you must have in the Payee/Payor table a PCode entry for the Payee/Payor referenced in your transaction. Setting up the PCodes (and somewhat the AlloCodes) will be the most time- consuming part of setting up { MONEY & BANKS } in the initial stages, but we assure you that after a couple of months the automatic usage of these features will be so effortless and incredibly quick, you shall never again go back to your paper bankbook and handwritten entries and erasors or White- Out or crossed-out entries and math errors! Also, the only time you may access the Reconcile module to reconcile your bank statement is when the cursor is in the PCode cell; press <F6> at this point if you wish to reconcile your account (see the information for "Recon- cile your Bank Statement," below). If the PCode has already been entered into the Payee/Payor table, all you need do on the Transactions screen is either type in the PCode, or much better yet, simply press the <Enter> key in the empty cell and a pop-up Pick- List appears with all available PCodes and a reference to what they stand for. Just scroll down and select the one you need, press <Enter> and it ap- pears in the PCode cell for the current transaction. After you confirm the PCode choice with another <Enter> press, the full name of the Payee/Payor appears under the PCode on the screen. (If you have accessed the PickList and find that a needed PCode does not exist and must be created, exit the PickList with <Esc>, then press <F9> to access the Payee/Payor table; press <Alt-N> to add a new PCode.) Next, you will be prompted for an amount for the transaction. Enter the amount, and after reviewing that is indeed the correct amount you want, press <Enter> to continue. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 11 You are now prompted for a budget allocation code, called an AlloCode. Again, these must be set up by you in a table called the Allocation table (Allocate.dbf), which you may access at this point by pressing <F10>. An al- location is where you indicate that for which a transaction is designated. For example, one of the sample entries in the Allocation table is "AUTOP" which indicates an Expense item (rather than an Income item) with a budget allocation named "Automobile - personal." Usage of the AlloCodes in associa- tion with the PCodes will be most important when preparing your reports and end-of-year tax information, especially across several bank accounts over the period of one or more years. It will take some time (not very much) and some thought for you to set up the AlloCodes for your own business and/or personal lifestyle, but once it is done it is done for as long as you continue to use { MONEY & BANKS }. Main- tenance, changes, and additions become nothing more than minimal effort. There is more information later on about using the Payee/Payor and Allocation tables for entry of new code items and editing existing ones. After you know that an AlloCode exists that you wish to use, you may use the default AlloCode corresponding to the one you set up in the Payee/Payor table for the PCode you have entered for this transaction. If you wish to change the default AlloCode for this transaction, just delete the default with the <Del> key and press <Enter> in the empty cell to bring up a PickList with all the available AlloCodes. Make your selection and confirm it with <Enter> to move on. (If you have accessed the PickList and find that a needed AlloCode does not exist and must be created, exit the PickList with <Esc>, then press <F10> to access the Allocation table; press <Alt-N> to add a new AlloCode.) If you are doing a check transaction, you will be prompted for whether or not you wish to include the check for processing in the check-printing module (which follows after you complete all desired transactions; all checks are printed in a "batch," hence the curious part of the prompt "Include in BATCH Check Printing?"). If you will not be printing out the check on your printer, select "N" or no. If the transaction was a deposit or other credit, you will be prompted for an optional memorandum. This is for your own convenience only as a reminder memo; entry, or lack of it, will have no bearing on performance or reports. You may leave this blank by simply pressing <Enter>. The next prompt will ask if you wish to do another transaction in this ac- count at this time. Simply reply "Y" or "N," as needed. Answer "N" when you have entered your final transaction for the session and you will then leave the Transactions module. You are next asked if you would like to enter the Check Printing module; you answer "Y" here if you intend to use the check-printing facility of { MONEY & BANKS }. Check-printing is provided as an option for your use: the program may be profitably used with- out the check printing feature. (For more information, see the item on Check Printing as well as Appendix A in the documentation.) You may also defer the printing of checks for this session to a more con- venient time as the check transactions will remain marked "to be printed" if you answered "Y" to "Include in Batch Check Printing?" You may subsequently MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 12 print checks in your next session in the Transactions module or use the sep- arate Check Printer selection on the Main Menu. After you have elected whether or not to print checks for this session, there is next a prompt asking if you would like to print mailing labels. Answering "Y" will enter the Mailing Labels module; information on this module is pro- vided under the appropriate heading in the documentation. You may also print mailing labels at any time via a selection on the Main Menu entitled Label Writer. You are now returned to the Main Menu. Table View of Account tables ───────────────────────────── Pressing <F8> while in the Transactions module brings up the current account table in table view format. The same may be accessed from the Main Menu by selecting View Tables and then choosing .BNK Account Tables. The account tables are presented in table view format. You may also wish to refer to those parts of the main documentation that describe Editing/Adding To/Viewing the Payee/Payor, Allocation, and Archive tables. When browsing tables in table view, you may use the arrow keys or the mouse for scrolling, and the QuickJump keys are available: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home> (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow> and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.). Follow the on-line prompts for other needed keys. Please be aware that when you delete (with the <Del> key) a record (or "row" in spreadsheet terms), it is first "marked" for deletion (you will see a caption, <Deleted> at the top of the screen). The actual deletion does not occur until you exit the table view screen. Also note that the <Del> key is a "toggle;" that is, if you press <Del> a second time on a record already marked for deletion you will "undelete" the record. The undelete must be performed prior to exiting the screen; as you exit, any records marked for deletion are permanently removed from the table. It is suggested that you edit, change, or adjust erroneous entries in account tables rather than deleting entire records (rows). Be aware that should you ever delete a record (row, or complete entry) from an account table (.BNK), or otherwise make changes in any of the monetary amount cells, that there is NO automatic mathematical adjustment to the Bal- ance column (as you might expect to occur in a spreadsheet program, for exam- ple). If you feel you really must delete an entire entry, make sure you edit and change the Balance cell not only in that record but also in the last record of the account table. (Suggestion: use the on-line Calculator, by pressing <Alt-K>, for quick math chores.) Please ascertain that the final record's Balance cell has been ACCURATELY adjusted; { MONEY & BANKS } relies on a correct Balance amount in the very bottom (last) record to accurately continue its future updating of your banking records and amounts. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 13 Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to where you began. Editing, Adding to the Payee/Payor Table... ──────────────────────────────────────────── While in the Transactions module, pressing the <F9> key brings up the Payee/ Payor table in the current directory. At this point, you may view existing entries in a format similar to that of a spreadsheet. It is here you add en- tries of your own, edit any existing ones (including the sample entries), and delete any that you do not wish in the table. The Payee/Payor table is also available for viewing/editing from the Main Menu selection, "View Tables." At the outset, do not be too hasty to delete the sample entries that have been provided: of course they will bear little relation to your own data requirements, but exist for reference as to format and ideas. Please read the information in the documentation under the headings "Split Transactions" and "Dual PCodes" before making any permanent deletions. The on-line editing commands are shown at the bottom of the table view screen. Additionally, the QuickJumps feature you may have used in other table views are available in this table's view as well (even though they may not always be indicated on the screen). The QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow> and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.) Although you may add and/or edit records (entries) in the table view format, two special hot-keys provide "form view" editing and adding. <Alt-N> will bring up a blank "form" containing entry cells for all the information in a single new record, in easy-to-fill-out format. Similarly, the <Alt-E> key combination will bring up a form view to Edit the item, or record, that you have positioned the cursor on. Make your new entries or editing changes in form view, then press <F10> to Save or <Esc> to reject the changes. It is suggested that you follow the capitalization style of the sample en- tries. Although not required for functioning of the program, the differences in using All Caps or Mixed Case will show nicely later on in your reports and on-screen queries. It also helps you distinguish between a payee or payor in the process of entering data in transactions. Do not ever use an exact duplicate of a PCode for more than one Payee/Payor. Vary the codes at least slightly. ALWAYS set a default AlloCode as well. The small cell called "PAYOR" is very important; it is a "logical-type" cell indicating whether the PName is a payee or a payor. The only entries you may place in this cell are either "T" (true, or yes) or "F" (false, or no). Simply ask yourself this question for each payee/payor: Is this party a payor? If yes, you must enter "T" in the Payor cell; if the answer is no, you enter "F" to indicate this is not a payor (it therefore defaults to being a payee). The default entry for the "Payor" cell is "F." The AlloCode cell appearing in the Payee/Payor table must contain a default allocation code. This default AlloCode indicates the normal budget alloca- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 14 tion for this payee/payor. It will appear on the Transactions screens and may be changed temporarily for any transaction where the default is inappro- priate. There must be an exactly matching AlloCode entry in the Allocation table as well (refer to "Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table" in the documentation). By filling out the address cells for each Payee, you will provide information for the Label Writer utility to properly print mailing labels, as well as providing permanent records of information. Entry here is not mandatory. The "memo" field in each Payee/Payor record is for you to put in a merchant's account number, or your phone or SSN, or other identifying line that will be printed at the top right portion of printed checks (if you wish to use the optional checkprinting facility of this program). Entry here is optional. Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to what you were doing before accessing table view. Editing, Adding to the Allocation Table... ─────────────────────────────────────────── Editing or adding new records to the Allocation table (Allocate.dbf) is identical to the process used in making changes to the Payee/Payor table. You may access the Allocation table from the Transactions module by pressing the <F10> key. The Allocation table is also available for viewing and editing from the Main Menu selection, "View Tables." You must be sure that you have a matching AlloCode entry in the Allocation table corresponding to the default AlloCodes you assign in the Payee/Payor table. For example, if you have a PCode called "SHELL" (for your Shell Oil Co. credit card) and you have indicated in the Payee/Payor table that the default AlloCode for "SHELL" is "AUTOP" (Auto - personal), you must then ascertain there is truly a corresponding entry called "AUTOP" in the Alloca- tion table in the column titled 'AlloCode' that is identical in spelling and case. Do not ever use an exact duplicate of an AlloCode for more than one alloca- tion in the allocation table. Vary the codes at least slightly. In the beginning stages of working with this program, observe the sample en- tries and add to them in similar style, deleting the sample entries later on that will not be used in your own system. Please read the section on "Split Transactions" in the documentation before deleting any entries in either the Allocation table or the Payee/Payor table. When adding new entries to your Allocation table, note there are two cells called "ATYPE" and "TAXCAT," respectively. In the AType cell, simply indi- cate either "E" for an Expense item (all Debits, whether or not they are con- sidered tax-deductible) or "I" to indicate an Income item (all Credits). The TaxCat cell may be used to identify which part of your income tax form that might show a tax-related event (ie, you might wish to indicate Schedule C for business-related items). Many personal AlloCodes will simply have the entry "None" in the TaxCat cell. The ATYPE entry is mandatory; TAXCAT is optional. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 15 Mention must also be made about special transactions that are simply called "transfers." When moving money from a checking account to a savings or in- vestment account, or vice-versa, these become special transactions that do not fall under either category of expense or income, yet they occur and must be accounted for. You will note some sample AlloCodes we have provided in the Allocation table that begin with the letters "TRANS-" -- such as TRANSIN, TRANSSA, and TRANSCA. We have included them all as either 'E' (expense) or 'I' (income) items (in their AType cells), primarily for differentiation and certainly not for tax or traditional budget allocation purposes; this has been done to keep the program as simple as possible to operate; you might prefer to think of them as simply 'credits' or 'debits,' 'in to' or 'out of' an account. TRANSIN would be an AlloCode for a 'transfer in to' an account; an example might simply be money you are transfering from a savings account INTO the account table you are currently working with. It is an 'I' item in the Allo- cation table's AType cell but not a taxable income item (as you will have al- ready accounted for it at the time of deposit into that other account). We have used TRANSSA to indicate a transfer TO a savings or investment ac- count, an 'E' item certainly, but not necessarily a taxable event or a normal budget allocation. The sample AlloCode called TRANSCA, an 'E' item in its AType cell, is used in accounts such as money market funds or money market bank accounts for which you have set up a .BNK account table in { MONEY & BANKS }. It simply indicates a transfer from such an account to a checking account. Its use is primarily for differentiation. You may devise and add other "TRANS-" category AlloCodes as you may like for your own system. Use of these special transfer-type AlloCodes will allow you to make the dis- tinction in your interrim and end-year reports. Please note that if you have a business directory separate from a personal banking directory, you will likely have differing expense and income alloca- tions. For example, automotive expense for a business is usually a tax- related deduction item, whereas a similar item in a personal account is not. Therefore, you should plan to set up different Payee/Payor and Allocation tables for business and personal use. Simply having different data director- ies will nicely accomplish this while using the same executable program and master files (see the Quick Start section in the documentation for more in- formation). The on-line editing commands are shown at the bottom of the table view screen. Additionally, the QuickJumps feature you may have used in other table views are available in this table's view as well (even though they may not always be indicated on the screen). The QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>, as well as <Ctrl-Right- Arrow> <Ctrl-LeftArrow>. Although you may add and/or edit records (entries) in the table view format, two special hot-keys provide "form view" editing and adding. <Alt-N> will bring up a blank "form" containing entry cells for all the information in a single new record, in easy-to-fill-out format on one screen. Similarly, the <Alt-E> key combination will bring up a form view to Edit the item, or rec- ord, that you have positioned the cursor on. Make your new entries or edit- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 16 ing changes in form view, then press <F10> to Save or <Esc> to reject the changes. It is suggested that you follow the capitalization style of the sample en- tries. Although not required for functioning of the program, the differences in using All Caps or Mixed Case will show nicely later on in your printed reports and on-screen queries. Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to what you were doing before accessing table view. Split Transactions ─────────────────── ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE │ └──────────────────────────┘ Do not change/delete the PCode entry in the PAYEE/PAYOR table called "DEPS," and in the ALLOCATIONS table two AlloCode items called "SPLIT" and "SPLITD." They are needed when one transaction covers credits or debits over different allocations. For example, one check written to pay your American Express statement may cover several different actual charge transactions with different alloca- tions. Your default AlloCode for American Express should be set up by you as "SPLIT," or changed to reflect that during transaction entry. Or, when making a deposit, you might have several checks from different sources. Instead of listing separate PCodes for each source, simply use the one PCode called "DEPS" to show you have multiple entries in your bank de- posit. The PCode "DEPS" will default to an AlloCode called "SPLITD." Such transactions will automatically present a pop-up edit screen for the Archive table (ARCHIVE.DBF) so that you may manually edit the "splits." Pressing <Ins> will give you a duplicate record of the transaction so that you may divide the one "split" transaction into as many individual alloca- tions as you may require, all referencing the same check number or deposit. Edit the CREDIT/DEBIT cells as needed, as well as the ALLOCODE and PCODE ad- justments. Do not leave any AlloCode cells blank. Please note that this special area of the program has "locks" on the cells that appear in table view. The locks are there to prevent unintentional changes or deletions to the Archive table. To edit or close-edit a cell, you must each time press the <Enter> key in the cell before attempting any changes, even when the cell might be empty. For example, to enter a valid AlloCode in its proper cell, place the highlight on that cell, press <Enter> to open it for editing, and press <F10> to call up a PickList for your allocation codes and make a selection with the <Enter> key. To change a MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 17 monetary amount, press <Enter> to open the cell, make the adjustment in the amount, and press <Enter> again to close the cell. Do not edit any cells that are not indicated at the bottom of the screen. The American Express check transaction mentioned above should retain the PCode for that Payee (usually, you might call it "AMEX") in the split trans- actions. The AlloCodes are changed to reflect the proper allocations, and the DEBIT cells are manually edited to match the allocations. The split deposit entry should have its PCode entries edited to reflect the source (Payors) of each item; a pop-up PickList is available for your use in selecting previously set PCodes. Edit the CREDIT and AlloCode cells as well. You will note the AlloCode cell changes to the default item for the PCode you just selected; you may retain the default or select another from an available pop-up PickList. Do not ever leave any AlloCode cell blank! The split-transactions operation will become obvious and simple after you have tried it a few times, rather than just reading about it. (Easier done than said.) As mentioned above, pop-up PickLists are available for AlloCodes and PCodes in the split-transactions editing table; follow the on-line instructions at the bottom of the screens for the "hot-keys," etc. Pressing <Esc> after your final adjustment saves the changes and returns you to the Transactions module so that you may continue. If your monetary adjustments are out of agreement, you will be so informed and presented with an opportunity to make further adjustments. Again, ob- serve carefully the on-line instructions. Dual PCodes? ───────────── Some entries in your PAYEE/PAYOR table will appear to be the same; for exam- ple, two of the sample entries PCodes "FNB" and "FNBI" are both for a similar PName "First National Bank." However, the difference is in the logical ("yes" or "no" / "true" or "false") cell called "PAYOR;" this PAYEE/PAYOR may have two different types of transactions with different AlloCodes: "INT" means a payment of Interest TO your account, which is an Income transaction ("I" in the PType cell). This is designated in the example by the PCode "FNBI." The logical cell PAYOR is set to "T" (true), meaning yes it is true that this is indeed a payor (rather than a payee). First National Bank may also be a PAYEE, entered in the example in all upper- case letters (for your differentiation only; it has no bearing on perfor- mance). For example, if there are service charges or check-printing charges, you would need to enter "FNB" which is a PAYEE, and the type of transaction is "E" -- an expense, rather than income. The logical cell PAYOR in the PNAMES table is set to "F" (false), that is, NOT a payor (and therefore, defaults to being a payee). The default AlloCode for "FNB" you will see is "BNKCHG," for the allocation Bank Charges. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 18 It appears desirable to enter all Payees in uppercase letters in the PNAME cell, and mixed case for Payors. The visual distinction becomes especially important in reports. The important entry for the program is that the logi- cal cell PAYOR (the "yes" or "no" -- "true" or "false" idea) be correctly en- tered by you when you set up a new PCode entry. If this entry is incorrect, some data in your tables will be unusable. The concept of PCodes and AlloCodes will be confusing initially; after you get used to using them with your own data, their logical use will be auto- matic with a great saving in future time for your financial recordkeeping. Viewing/Editing the Archive Table... ───────────────────────────────────── The cumulative reporting data from all your bank account tables in one direc- tory is found in the Archive table (Archive.dbf). You may access this data in table view from the Transactions module simply by pressing the key combin- ation <Alt-A>. The Archive table is also available for viewing and editing from the Main Menu selection, "View Tables," then selecting "Other Data Tables (*.dbf)." Be especially careful before deciding to delete a record or item in an Arch- ive table. This table is meant to be a permanent history of all your trans- actions in all your accounts in the current directory. If you delete an en- tire item from a history table such as your current or annual archive tables, it is of course irretrievably lost; simply make sure that is what you intend. You may edit individual cells to correct erroneous entries you may have made, or any needed adjustments. Such is the main purpose of being able to easily access your Archive table(s). Simply observe logical caution as future reports and queries are based upon Archive tables, and reporting/querying accuracy depends entirely upon correct data entry and integrity. Make sure that all AlloCode cells have an entry; there must be no empty AlloCode cells. Follow the on-line information at the bottom of the view table screen for editing the Archive table. The usual QuickJump keys are: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl-PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow> and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.) Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> saves any changes and returns you to what you were doing before accessing table view. Please note that once a year, usually in January or February after all end- ing-year transactions have cleared, reconciliations of statements have been made, and all reports printed, the Archive table is usually purged of the ending-year's data for maximum efficiency of the system. The purged data is removed to another, permanent archival table bearing an identifying mark of the ending-year; the permanent archival table is then to be removed by you from the current directory to diskettes or other storage media for lock-away safekeeping and future reference. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 19 There is a complete, very efficient utility for purging and permanent archiv- al found on the Utilities Menu (in the registered copy version). Simply ac- cess that utility selection when you are ready to use it. You may access those moved archival tables later on by first using the Change Directory utility on the Utilities Menu to access the drive and directory where you have stored the archival copies; then select the View Tables item on the Main Menu for viewing or for quick printouts, choose on the Report Writer Menu the item for producing Plain, Generic listings (to the screen or to the printer). Reconcile your Bank Statement... ───────────────────────────────── Please note that the only time you may reconcile your bank statement is while you are in the Transactions module, and the cursor is in the PCode cell awaiting entry. You will see a reference to a hot-key, <F6>, at the bottom of the screen, ONLY when you are in the PCode cell (it disappears after you leave the PCode cell). Pressing <F6> will bring up the special Reconcile module, which is easy to use and prompts you along the way. Before accessing the Reconcile module to reconcile your bank statement, make sure you have entered all bank-generated items on the statement, such as interest credited to your account, or service/check charges deducted, as NEW transactions in your account following the method described for deposit and check transactions. Accurately enter the dates the bank has indicated the transactions for interest and debits occurred; do not use the default trans- action date that automatically appears. Simply overtype the particular date numbers you wish to change. Obviously, answer "N" when you are asked "Writ- ing [a] Check?" After entering the "new" transactions (interest, etc.) from the bank state- ment, begin yet another "transaction," which may be exited after reconcilia- tion. Accept the default transaction date, answer "N" to "Writing [a] Check?" with the intent of simply moving to the PCode cell. When you reach the PCode cell, you may then press <F6> and do your reconciliation. In the Reconcile module, have your bank statement available and follow the on-line prompts, entering information as requested. If for some reason you choose not to continue, pressing <Esc> on the initial screen of the Reconcile module exits back to the Transactions module. Simply enter the bank's idea of your current balance, the statement date, and then, when prompted, answer "Y" or "N" to whether or not items have "cleared," (that is, appear on the statement). It is that easy. If your reconciliation is out of balance, you will be so informed and return- ed to the Transactions module. You may then use the Table View <F8> to see where discrepancies might occur. After you have determined the cause of the discrepancy and made any necessary adjustments, return to the Transactions MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 20 module and, when in the empty PCode cell, try again to reconcile your account with the <F6> Reconcile module. When your account is successfully reconciled and you are returned to the Transactions module, you may press <F7> to exit the Transactions module, if you wish. Your account will be marked with the cleared items and you may file your bank statement away. The ease of use of the { MONEY & BANKS } Reconcile module should alone be worth the purchase price of this software: never again will you struggle with a calculator or scratch paper and flipping your bank statement from front to back, trying to follow some idiotic accounting instructions for re- conciling your account. Multiply this feature by the number of accounts you are going to use with this software, and you will have multiple worth of the purchase price for easing a truly bothersome burden of adult life: reconcil- ing bank statements. If you like this feature, please tell your friends and associates to consider purchasing a copy of { MONEY & BANKS }. Adding a New Account ───────────────────── (A menu selection item on the Main Menu.) A bank data table covers one account at an institution; you may have as many accounts as you wish at one or more institutions but each account must have a (slightly) different name. For example, if you have both a checking and a money market account at, say, First National Bank, you might call the check- ing account simply "FNB" (the program attaches .BNK as a suffix to all ac- count names). You might then call the money market account something like "FNBMM" or anything you like up to six characters (letters or numerals, but always beginning with a letter). Remember to create any business accounts in the directory which will hold such business information separately from that of personal banking. The reason that you may only use up to six characters in the account descrip- tion is that { MONEY & BANKS } will append a two-digit "year" when it is time to permanently archive and purge a previous year's data (a selection on the Utilities Menu). For example, in January or February of each new year, after all transactions have been cleared and accounts reconciled, you will most likely want to move the ending year's data from the current tables and perm- anently archive them on diskettes for safekeeping. At that time, { MONEY & BANKS } will append to the example "FNBMM.BNK" ac- count an ending year identifier, such as "92" (if the ending year is 1992, for example), so that only 1992 transactions will be archived into a table called "FNBMM92.BNK" that you may move to diskette or other storage media and always have available for reference and safekeeping. It is suggested that you begin each "new" account at the very end of the previous year. For example, if you are beginning to use { MONEY & BANKS } sometime in the year 1993, you may wish to begin your accounts on 12/31/92, the last day of the then "previous" year. In this way your reports and other data information are accurately portrayed for the entire new calendar year. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 21 Even though this action may intially require somewhat extra data input by you at the outset, the result will be accurate and complete reporting, a primary objective for using a banking management system such as { MONEY & BANKS }. As well, your overall record-keeping and maintenance shall be efficient and up-to-date. Do not forget that in subsequent years you may need to call upon records and reports for information detail you have long since forgotten or no longer have paper records for; accurate data input and time spent in the initial setup phase of your accounts will provide the basis for such record- keeping. You will be prompted for the last check number used on or just prior to the beginning date. { MONEY & BANKS } will use this last check number for con- secutive check transactions after the beginning date. The next prompt is for an ACCURATE balance in the account as of the beginning date. Please ascertain that this figure is indeed correct to the penny. You shall then select the size of checks you are using for this account; either <P>ersonal or <B>usiness size checks are the only selections availa- ble, based upon current standardized bank-printed checks. This information will be used if you should choose to utilize the optional check-printing facilities of { MONEY & BANKS }. After the account is created, you will be returned to the Main Menu where you may select "Transactions" and find your new account ready for use. You may create and maintain as many .BNK bank account tables as you may need. Footnote: Unlike some other commercial financial software, { MONEY & BANKS } places no practical limit on the number of tables or quantity of data entries in each account. The actual limit and usability is based upon your hard disk space and available expanded memory (if any); the theoretical limit is a billion transactions per account. Execution speed, however, will be affected as account tables grow into very large (10,000+ transactions) size. An annual archiving and purging of ending-year data should be done to maintain maximum efficiency in the running of the program and preparing reports/queries. The Check Printer ────────────────── If you have made previous transactions for which you have deferred the print- ing of checks, you may access the Check Printer from a selection on the Main Menu. You are presented with a scrolling list of available accounts; choose the account for which you would like to now print any unprinted checks. (The Check Printing option comes up automatically in the Transactions module after you have entered your final transaction in an account. Selecting "Y" or Yes to the check printing prompt will access the Check Printer module.) You are presented with a listing of checks marked for batch printing, that is, to be printed all in sequence at one time. Review the listing and pre- pare your blank checks in proper numerical order for insertion into the prin- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 22 ter when prompted (see Appendix A in the documentation for detailed check printing operation). Press <Esc> when you are ready to continue; you will have an exit option on the next screen should you decide not to print checks at this time. You will than be asked if the printer is ready and the first check has been inserted and properly aligned. (There is also a message on the screen indi- cating the currently selected printer; if this does not match your printer or one of its emulations, exit this module and select the proper printer in the Utilities Menu.) If you are ready to print, answer "Y" and the first check will immediately print. After the first check has printed and been ejected, there is a pause for you to prepare the next blank check in sequence and in- sert it into the printer (refer to Appendix A in the documentation). When the next check is indeed ready, press the <Space> bar and the check will be immediately printed. The process is repeated until the last check in the batch has been printed. You are next prompted whether or not you wish to print mailing labels. Ans- wer "Y" or "N" as desired. Information on label printing is contained in the section "The Label Writer," in the documentation. Reprinting a check... Should a check ever be improperly printed, possibly because of misalign- ment or jamming in the printer, it is possible (and easy) to reprint the check. You will need to edit the bank account table; from the Main Menu, select View Tables, then Bank Account (*.BNK) Tables, and then the appropri- ate account. Locate the record, or row, containing the check number of the improperly printed check, making sure the highlight indicator is on that row. With the <RightArrow> key, move the highlight to the cell in the column entitled "PR" -- a logical-type cell that indicates "T" (true, or yes, the check is to be printed) or "F" (false, or no, the check is not to be printed). The "PR" cell will indicate "F." Press the <Enter> key in this cell to activate the Edit mode, and change the "F" to "T." Mark any other check transaction records that need to be reprinted in the same way. When finished, press <Esc> to save any changes and exit the table view screen. You may now reprint the check(s) by selecting the Check Printer module on the Main Menu. The checks that were marked "T" in their "PR" cells will appear as checks to be printed; you may wish to use replacement checks from the very end of your inventory of imprinted checks, crossing out the printed check numbers and writing in the corresponding check numbers for the reprinted transactions. This action will allow your current sequence of check numbers to remain in agreement with those in the account table. We must add that you might be tempted to change the Check Number ("CKNO") cell itself, thinking that you will just use the next imprinted check in your checkbook and, in effect, void out the improperly printed transaction. We somewhat advise against such a procedure for two reasons: first, this introduces sloppy and improper recordkeeping into your system. Future re- ports and queries will make no mention of the voided check number, and there is no permanent record of what happened to the "missing" check; although it will be easy to remember what you did for the time being, the passage of MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 23 months or even years may surely bring up questions about curious or seemingly missing transactions or check numbers. Second, any such change of a check number will also have to be done manually in the Archive table (which also relies on a correct sequence of check num- bers for all your accounts), a *required* action all too easy to overlook at times, no matter how attentive you are to detail. For your information, please note also that the check-numbering scheme in the Transactions module relies on a correct "last" check number (other than one with a zero "0") at the end (bottom) of an account table. The next new checking transaction will be that check number, plus one. The Label Writer ───────────────── You may access the Label Writer from a selection on the Main Menu, or in res- ponse to the final prompt in the Transactions module. The Label Writer module is a simple utility allowing you to print up to six- teen labels at one time based upon names and addresses you have entered into the Payee/Payor table. The mailing labels are intended for use on your own envelopes to send checks to payees for which you have no preprinted return envelopes. You might wish to manually select letter-quality mode on your printer before printing labels. Labels are printed in 10-cpi size print mode. The Label Writer is set up for standard 1" x 3.5" labels, such as the widely available Avery #4145 adhesive pin-feed printer labels. Labels may also be "printed" to (displayed on) the screen. In the Label Writer module itself, you are presented with empty PCode cells, one at a time up to sixteen in number. You may type directly into the cell the PCode desired, or better yet, press <Enter> in the empty cell and choose a PCode from a PickList that pops-up. After you have chosen and confirmed with the <Enter> key one or more PCodes for labels you wish to print, simply press <Esc> in the next empty cell to move on to the actual printing prompt screen. You will then have an election to print to the <P>rinter, send to the <S>creen, or <Q>uit. Make your selec- tion by pressing the appropriate letter key ("P" "S" or "Q"). If you choose <P>rinter, you will see a prompt asking if the printer is ready and loaded with 1 x 3.5 labels. Pressing "Y" begins the printing of your labels. There will be three printed lines on each label, provided you properly entered the information for each entry when setting up your PCodes in the Payee/Payor table. The left print margin is 3 characters. If you choose to "print" to the Screen, you will see the selections shown in label format on the screen. Choosing the <Q>uit option will return you to the Main Menu. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 24 The Report Writer ────────────────── Upon selecting the Main Menu item entitled Report Writer, you are presented with a menu screen similar to the following: ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ■ │ { MONEY & BANKS } REPORT WRITER │ │ ║ ║───┘──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────└───┴───║ ║ ║ ║ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Archives, by Year, sorted by Institution & Date │ ║ ║ │ Archives, by Year, sorted by Allocations │ ║ ║ │ Archives, by Year, sorted by Payee/Payor │ ║ ║ │ Summary, by Account, by Year, in date order │ ║ ║ │ Listing of Uncleared Transactions in an Account │ ║ ║ │ Listing of currently assigned PCodes │ ║ ║ │ Listing of currently assigned AlloCodes │ ║ ║ │ Listing of active CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO │ ║ ║ │ Listing of the Credit Cards Minder │ ║ ║ │ Plain, generic listings for any other Data Tables │ ║ ║ │ Return to Main Menu │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ All reports and listings are first shown on the screen in wide-access format; that is, reports wider than 80 characters may be scrolled out to the right for you to view all contained information. Simply use the arrow keys or mouse. After viewing your data on the screen, you will be presented with an option to print the report; wide reports are printed in compressed mode on the default printer on printer port LPT1. All reports shown on the screen will have a resulting text file left in the current directory; these text files, in standard ASCII format, have the ex- tension .RPT as report identifiers. The prefix part of the file name will refer briefly to the report selection you had made; these files are overwrit- ten each time you specify a new version of the report. The main use of these .RPT files is for users who have desktop publishing programs and/or Microsoft Windows(tm) who would like to print out their reports from { MONEY & BANKS } with the unique font and formatting capabilities contained in those programs. Simply read or import the .RPT files as standard ASCII text files. For exam- ple, in Microsoft Windows(tm) Notepad, you may simply open the file by speci- fying the file name (ie, "AC.RPT") and view/prepare your report as desired. In Ventura Publisher(tm), Windows(tm) Write, or Microsoft Word for Win- dows(tm), you would import the file as standard ASCII text and make your printed presentations from within those programs. Refer to those programs' documentation for information on formatting columnar text or tables. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 25 If you have no use whatsover for the resulting .RPT files left in your cur- rent directory, you may safely delete them or leave them there, as desired. They will recur each time you use the Report Writer module, and existing .RPT files will be overwritten by any new updates. You may also retain .RPT files by renaming the prefix part of the file name and storing them in the direc- tory or on diskette. The first selection on the Report Writer Menu presents a formatted report based on your Archive table for the year-to-date, sorted by the different accounts in the current directory as well as the date. This combination report and query may be run often even though there may be no need to print out such a report: viewing your data on-screen in this format will yield an important grand-view concept of your banking management system. Its impor- tance will become evident after you have entered several months' worth of transaction data, especially if you use more than one bank account table. After viewing on-screen, you may press <Esc> to continue; you are presented with an option to send the report to the printer. Answer yes or no as you may desire. A progress gauge will monitor the on-screen report preparation. The second selection is very similar to the first report, except for the sort order and summary information you will find therein. It presents your Arch- ive table data sorted by budget allocation categories spanning all your vari- ous accounts. Again, the importance of this information will become greatly enhanced after several months' worth of data entry. You will now be able to visualize what all that time-consuming effort was about setting up all those curious AlloCodes and PCodes. A progress gauge monitors the on-screen report preparation. The third report is again similar, presenting the Archive table sorted by Payee/Payor. In this order, the report is grouped and totaled by Payee/Payor from all the accounts as combined in the Archive table. With a large Archive table, this report will probably take more time to prepare and show on the screen than the other reports, due to its complexity. This is a most useful report, particularly at year-end, showing how much you have paid to, or re- ceived from, each Payee/Payor, respectively. A progress gauge is provided. The fourth item presented in the Report Writer, is an opportunity to view and/or print formatted reports of your individual account tables. When you had the opportunity to peruse account tables in table view mode, you saw en- tries in raw data format: PCodes referring to Payee/Payors you could not re- member, the same with all those AlloCodes. Here, in a formatted report, you will see the correlation to the actual names of your payees and payors, along with your allocations in plain English. The reports/queries here are pre- sented in order of transaction date and you may choose the separate account tables to view. As with all the selections in the Report Writer, you are given a choice to print the formatted reports on your printer. This listing is a fast, efficient report to produce. Fifth, a report listing outstanding, or uncleared, transactions in any of the account tables provides the means for you to observe which items have not yet been marked as "CL" (a logical-type cell for "cleared"). Transactions are MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 26 automatically marked "cleared" as you check them off from your bank statement in the Reconcile module. This quick and efficient report may be viewed and/ or printed frequently. The sixth and seventh items are primarily for your deskside reference: they are simple listings in alphabetical order of your current Payee/Payor table codes and Allocation table codes, respectively. The eighth option on the menu covers a data table that is included on the Utilities Menu, "CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO," an extra storage table for opt- ional entry of your various certificates of deposit, savings accounts/plans, bonds and/or other securities. The report includes only items in that table that you have marked as "Active;" that is, are currently maintained in your portfolio (inactive items are kept in the table for long term recordkeeping purposes). The ninth selection, "Listing of the Credit Cards Minder," is a simple report showing the current items in the Credit Card Minder (on the Utilities Menu). The listing is presented in alphabetical order by card name. The final report item for Plain, Generic listings is not truly what might be called a report. It presents raw table data from any account table, current or archival, or any other data table for which you might need a printout. Please realize these are basic, unformatted listings without screen scrolling but are invaluable when you need to retrieve stored data not available with the other menu choices. The selection of the tables is similar to the View Tables selection on the Main Menu. If you are retrieving data from other drives or directories, use the "Change Directory" selection on the Utilities Menu prior to running your report request. It is planned that a subsequent version of { MONEY & BANKS } will include a user-definable, complete report writer facility with many available options. Such an additional selection will make ad hoc reports a viable option for the end-user. The final option on the Report Writer menu returns you to the Main Menu, or you may simply press <Esc> or <RightMouse> when you wish to exit the Report Writer. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 27 View Tables ──────────── The Main Menu has a selection called View Tables; when you choose it, you are presented with a small options screen similar to the following: ┌SELECT TYPE OF TABLE TO VIEW:┐ │Bank Account (*.BNK) Tables │ │Other Data (*.DBF) Tables │ │Quit: return to Main Menu │ └─────────────────────────────┘ There are two types of data tables in { MONEY & BANKS }: the account tab- les, which have a filename extension of .BNK and all other data tables, which all have an extension of .DBF. Both types of tables may be viewed and/or edited with this module. The tables are presented in table-view format, similar to that found in the Transactions module. The operation and function is nearly identical. You may wish to refer to those parts of the documentation that describes Editing/ Adding To/Viewing the Payee/Payor, Allocation, and Archive tables. When browsing tables in table view, you may use the arrow keys or the mouse for scrolling, and the QuickJump keys are available: <Ctrl-PgDn> <Ctrl- PgUp> <Ctrl-End> <Ctrl-Home>. (Also, <Ctrl-RightArrow> and <Crtl-LeftArrow> may be used for panning to the right and left.) Follow the on-line prompts for other needed keys. Please be aware that when you delete (with the <Del> key) a record (or "row" in spreadsheet terms), it is first "marked" for deletion (you will see a caption, <Deleted> at the top of the screen). The actual deletion does not occur until you exit the table view screen. Also note that the <Del> key is a "toggle;" that is, if you press <Del> a second time on a record already marked for deletion you will "undelete" the record. The undelete must be performed prior to exiting the screen; as you exit, any records marked for deletion are permanently removed from the table. Exercise extra caution when performing record deletes on any archival tables, which are in essence history tables and a deleted record is irretrievably lost. Although you may add and/or edit records (entries) in the table-view format, two special hot-keys provide "form view" editing and adding for .DBF tables (hot-keys not available when viewing .BNK tables). <Alt-N> will bring up a blank "form" containing entry cells for all the information in a single new record, in easy-to-fill-out format. Similarly, the <Alt-E> key combination will bring up a form view to Edit the item, or record, that you have posit- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 28 ioned the cursor on. Make your new entries or editing changes in form view, then press <F10> to save, or <Esc> to reject, the changes. Pressing <Esc> or <RightMouse> in table view saves any changes and returns you level by level to where you began. The Utilities Menu ─────────────────── Upon selecting the Main Menu item for the Utilities Menu, you are presented with a menu screen similar to the following: ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ■ │ { MONEY & BANKS } UTILITIES MENU │ │ ║ ║───┘──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────└───┴───║ ║ ║ ║ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ Select a Different Printer │ ║ ║ │ CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO Records │ ║ ║ │ Credit Cards Minder │ ║ ║ │ Backup Data Tables to Diskette │ ║ ║ │ Change to a Different Directory │ ║ ║ │ Calendar │ ║ ║ │ Calculator │ ║ ║ │ On-Line Manual │ ║ ║ │ Archive & Purge Ending Year's Data │ ║ ║ │ About │ ║ ║ │ Return to Main Menu │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The first item on the Utilities Menu allows you to select the proper printer driver for your brand of printer. For more information on this process, see the section in the documentation called "Printer Support for Reports, Checks and Labels Printing." The second Utility option, "CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO Records," is a simple recordkeeping table which is outside the functional boundry of the main pro- gram, and is there for your optional use and convenience. Therein you may list and keep records of active and formerly active certificates of deposit, savings accounts, bonds and/or portfolio items, or other items of value. After you have had some practice dealing with the other data tables in { MONEY & BANKS }, you will find entry and maintenance of this table quite familiar and simple. View the sample entries to start, add your own, and delete the samples later on. You might make note of the "Active" cell in MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 29 this table; it is a "logical" type entry expecting either "T" (true) or "F" (false) to indicate yes or no this item is active or it is not. Only items marked "T" (true they are active) are included in the reporting option on the Report Writer Menu. The entries in this table are not sorted in order of date or name; they are simply maintained in the order you choose to enter them. The third item, "Credit Cards Minder," is another optional data table very similar to the "CD's / BONDS / PORTFOLIO Records" table. Therein you may keep records about the credit cards belonging to a family or business, in- cluding the card names, account numbers, phone numbers to report lost or stolen cards, cardholder name(s) appearing on the cards, and other pertinent information. The records will be maintained by the program in alphabetical order by card name. The use or non-use of this facility has no effect on the operation of the main components of { MONEY & BANKS }; it is provided for your convenience if you wish to keep such records in a single place. There is a listing option on the Report Writer menu to view or print information from this table. The fourth Utility selection, "Backup Data Tables to Diskette," is a very useful backup facility for users of DOS 5.0 and greater. It transfers fully usable (not compressed) DOS copies of all data tables than have been changed or added since you last did such a backup. You are presented with a choice of using either the A: or B: drive; initially, insert a formatted diskette and all tables are copied to that diskette. Differential type backups are then performed daily as you use the program and elect to use this utility. You might consider using two alternate-day diskettes for extra failsafe security of your financial backups. Please note that the utility relies on the DOS 5.0 (and greater) command REPLACE.EXE, which must be available in your path. You will have to run this utility in each directory in which you have active data tables for the program { MONEY & BANKS }; use a different diskette for each directory. If you are using a version of DOS less than 5.0, please use a reliable backup utility after you exit { MONEY & BANKS }. The fifth menu item, "Change to a Different Directory," allows you to change Drives and/or Directories to access variously stored data tables. The util- ity is simple to use and is self-explanatory; simply follow the on-screen prompts. If you type in a non-existent or misspelled directory, you will remain in the current directory, which will be indicated on the screen. The sixth and seventh items are the Calendar and Calculator, respectively. They are, of course, available as pop-ups throughout { MONEY & BANKS } with the hot-keys <Alt-L> (calendar) and <Alt-K> (calculator). When you access them as menu items on the Utility Menu they are presented to you on clean, uncluttered white background screens (as opposed to popping up over data or other information on-screen elsewhere in the program). The eighth utility is an on-line reader of the documentation. This function is provided for times when the context-sensitive help does not provide enough information and you need to access the manual, or for simply reading the man- ual as you have time, without exiting the program. The hot-key <Alt-M> also brings up the documentation for reading anywhere within the program. You may wish to try to remember <Alt-M> by associating the "M" with the word "manual." There are text search and print marking facilities available. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 30 The Archive & Purge Ending Year's Data selection will be available in your registered copy of { MONEY & BANKS }, if you should decide to purchase it. It was felt that the trial period of this software would not extend into a another year of data and therefore, best left to be available on registered copies. The utility maintains maximum efficiency of year-to-year data tables and offers a permanent archival facility for your past financial records. Please consider this very important feature when determining whether or not you will become a registered user of { MONEY & BANKS }. We have decided to keep the purchase price very reasonable in order to further encourage legal, registered copies of this software. The "About" option on the Utilities Menu offers important system information about the computer on which { MONEY & BANKS } is installed. It includes a constantly updated on-screen clock. The "About" screen also bears the offic- ially affixed notice of copyright for the software. The final option on the Utilities Menu returns you to the Main Menu, or you may simply press <Esc> or <RightMouse> when wish to exit the Utilities Menu. Printer Support for Reports, Checks and Labels Printing ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There is printer support for a variety of printers; select a compatible printer from the "Select a Different Printer" item on the Utilities Menu to replace the default printer. If your exact brand and model of printer is not listed, there should be at least one selection that is a compatible emulation for your printer; check your own printer's manual for emulation guidelines. You may wish to manually select letter-quality print style on the printer it- self for the printing of checks and mailing labels. You should use draft- quality for most reports simply because of the printing speed, especially if reports are lengthy. If you elect to use the selection for "Generic Printer", please note that print size codes will not be sent to your printer. You should then select manually on the printer itself the compressed mode option for the printing of reports. Select 10-cpi mode for the printing of labels and, especially, checks. The PRINTER.DBF table contains all the printer models and codes, and is edit- able by the end user by using the View Tables selection on the Main Menu, but is only available for editing when working in the main \MONEY directory. If you are in your \MONEY\BUSINESS subdirectory, for example, you will need to change directories (see the option for this on the Utilities Menu) or exit the program and restart it in the main \MONEY directory in order for the PRINTER.DBF table to appear on the <View Tables> <Other *.dbf> selection menu. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Most users will not ever need to edit the PRINTER.DBF codes. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 31 If you do plan to edit the PRINTER.DBF, please note that printer codes are entered in Lotus-style format; see your own printer's manual for printer codes. Currently, { MONEY & BANKS } only uses 10-cpi size and Compressed size for its printing requirements. Technical Matters ────────────────── { MONEY & BANKS } will run on IBM-compatible computers with 512k of memory. All display modes are supported; although the video was designed on and primarily intended for VGA display, the program was simultaneously tested on, and modified as needed for, monochrome displays as well as laptop B/W displays in order that contrasts and prompts be present and visible to all possible users. Special features that are VGA-only are compensated for in the other displays, with no adverse effect on program execution. { MONEY & BANKS } must be installed on a hard drive. Do not attempt to ins- tall to, or run the program on, a floppy drive. DOS 3.1 or higher is required, and DOS 5.0 or greater is not only suggested, but required for one utility on the Utilities Menu: the backup facility. Mouse support is provided, but a mouse is not required for use of the pro- gram. In your config.sys file, you should have the FILES= statement set at 30 or greater (ie, FILES=30). A disk cache utility used on your system will pro- vide great benefit to running { MONEY & BANKS }, resulting in marked im- provement in speed and efficiency throughout the program. { MONEY & BANKS } will use expanded memory if it is available on the system, even if it is only present in a small amount. The presence of expanded mem- ory, particularly on a 386 or greater computer, significantly enhances the performance and efficiency of this software. Please note that ALL availa- ble expanded memory will be garnered by the program, whether it is all subse- quently used or not. If this presents a problem for you in that you might be using a task-switching program or multitasking environment and wish more expanded memory for other uses, a simple environmental setting can limit the amount of expanded memory used by { MONEY & BANKS } without adversely af- fecting the program's own performance. Information on this setting will be furnished to registered users upon written request. A variety of printers is supported via a selection on the Utilities Menu. Popular printers and emulations are provided to the best of our knowledge; if there is difficulty with any of the printer choice settings, kindly send us a note regarding this and any possible corrections/additions you may have found, if any. The optional use of the check-printing facility is intended for use on dot-matrix printers which allow printing of single sheets. Laser printer support is included, but is intended primarily for the printing of reports. The printer must be connected to LPT1, or you must use a utility that will direct LPT1 calls to the appropriate address. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 32 It is possible (but unlikely) that certain files, particularly index files (*.NTX) can, at some point, become corrupted and you see an error message pointing to index files. This would likely only occur if you had been work- ing in the program and those files were being updated when there was a power outage. Simply change to the directory where this occurred, and while in DOS, type: DEL *.NTX to delete all the index files; the next time you run { MONEY & BANKS } the index files will be rebuilt. Do not take the backup .NTX files you may have stored on your backup diskettes; they may or may not match the data tables if you were doing updating when the corruption occurred. If you have data tables that become unusable, copy them from your backup diskettes, along with their associated index files (bank account tables and archive tables do not have index files). Should other files become corrup- ted, particularly the "_admin.*," you will have to secure valid copies from the original distribution files that you got when you received this program. You might wish to keep a set of all the original uncompressed files on a separate diskette in case one or more is needed, avoiding the install process and uncompressing files. Also, data tables (.dbf) can appear to be corrup- ted to some users, but usually the problem is with indexes (.ntx) that no longer match or are not current with the associated .dbf table. Try deleting the .ntx files as described above before deciding the .dbf tables are bad. It is possible that after having used the "Change Directory" facility on the Utilities Menu, { MONEY & BANKS } may leave behind a temporary swap file in the directory that was changed "from." You may see such files in directory listings after normally exiting { MONEY & BANKS }; they are identified by unique file names containing a random sequence of numbers and letters with no file extension, perhaps something like "73C0193C" (no extension). Only AFTER you have normally exited { MONEY & BANKS } for any session, may you safely delete such files from the directory, if they are found. Ordinarily, the program "cleans up" any temporary swap and/or virtual-memory files it creates; however, if the directory is changed and the program is then exited, a previously created temporary file may be left behind in the previous direc- tory. If you are using { MONEY & BANKS } along with a task-switching facil- ity or multi-tasking program, or access the DOS prompt from within { MONEY & BANKS }, and observe such temporary files, DO NOT DELETE them; only after properly exiting a session with { MONEY & BANKS } may you safely delete any remaining temporary files that are found. Technical support is provided to registered users who send us requests in writing. Please include your phone and fax (if any) numbers as well as your mailing address on ALL written communications. We reserve the right to ex- pand or limit technical support facilities in the future, as may become needed. [ End of main documentation ] MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 33 APPENDIX A: ──────────── { MONEY & BANKS } Check-printing module for dot-matrix printers. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Take a sheet of regular 8.5 x 11" paper, preferably of heavy stock, and make a "carrier" for your personal or business size checks. Cut a three-sided slot, about 3 inches in length in the upper left of the sheet of paper: 8.5" ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ Cut a 3-sided │ │ slot with knife │ │ ______________________ to hold a check │ │ / \ <-- │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 11" │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 34 Each individual check will be inserted into that slot (just to hold it easily in proper position for printing consistently from check to check): 8.5" ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │╔══════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ───────── ║ Your │ │║ ──────────────────── ──── ║ regular │ │║ ─────────────────────── ║ bank check │ │║ ───────────── ║ fits here │ │║ ______________________ ║ <-- │ │╚═══/ \═══╝ │ │ and "rides" │ │ into your │ │ dot-matrix │ │ printer on │ 11" │ the sheet of │ │ paper. │ │ │ │ After print- │ │ ing one │ │ check, load │ │ next one the │ │ same way, │ │ pressing │ │ <space> to │ │ print each. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ (If your dot-matrix printer feeds single sheets from the rear of the machine, you may wish to add a second, inversely-cut "slot" to hold down the top of your check as you load it from the rear.) Not fancy, and certainly time-consuming if printing a lot of checks at once, but for small accounts it does the job without purchasing specially printed form-feed checks. For doing one, two, or a few checks at a time, this is often easier than working with form-feed checks that require placement and movement of the pin-feed rollers in your printer. Practice with blank pieces of paper that are translucent and cut to the size of your printed checks. After printing a "blank," place it over a bank check and hold them up to the light so that you may observe where the lines print and how to position and manipulate in YOUR printer the actual printed checks for proper alignment of the printed words and numbers with the lines on the checks. The "memo," usually a merchant's account number or other info, is printed at the top above the date to identify your remittance to the person(s) you are sending the check. The pre-printed memo area (usually at the bottom left) on your checks is not used. Once this is set up (after practicing a few times), you will find that almost all checks will print properly, or very close to it, with the default set- MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 35 tings for generic checks. Remember, use of the check-printing facility is optional and most certainly not required for beneficial use of the program { MONEY & BANKS }. APPENDIX B ─────────── Registration Information: { MONEY & BANKS } is licensed and supplied as is, without any warranty. To the extent permitted under applicable law, RCCO Research Associates disclaims all warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to this software program, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any par- ticular purpose. In particular, this software program is not guaranteed to prevent or detect damage to your data or programs. In no event shall RCCO Research Associates be liable for any claims for lost profits or any damage, including, but not limited to, special, incidental, consequential or other damage (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interrup- tion, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use this RCCO Research Associates product, even if RCCO Research Associates has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or conse- quential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. In no case shall RCCO Research Associates's liability exceed the license fees paid for the right to use the licensed version of the software. The license agreement and warranty shall be construed, interpreted and governed by the laws of the state of Tennsessee. This software program, { MONEY & BANKS }tm, is protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all applicable International Copy- right Conventions. Makers and/or users of illegal or unauthorized copies of the registered version are subject to prosecution under these laws. Please note that, due to staff involvement with other programming operations, we cannot accept telephone inquiries regarding this product. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Please consider how unusally low the registration price is for a full, │ │ legal, registered copy of software you may use for many years. │ │ │ │ If you use the program beyond the liberal trial period, or attempt to │ │ continue using it without purchasing a registered copy, it must be │ │ considered unauthorized use of proprietary authorship and material. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you find this program useful and find that you would like to continue using { MONEY & BANKS } after a reasonable trial period of ninety days, you should purchase a registered copy by sending payment of U.S. $25.00 (plus U.S. $3.00 S&H; $7.00 non-U.S.) to RCCO Research Associates. No telephone orders, please. Suggested retail price in stores for the retail package is MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 36 $69.95. Tennessee residents kindly add the required sales taxes. Due to the low price, all corporate and institutional purchase orders must be accompan- ied by remittance. (Volume purchasers please write for further information.) Please indicate disk size desired (3.5" or 5.25"). Also available is a Professional Interface version of { MONEY & BANKS }, which may be desirable for use in many business and professional offices. Instead of the brightly colored backgrounds for the primary menus used throughout { MONEY & BANKS }, the Professional Interface version uses black backgrounds for the primary menus, offering a conservative and somewhat more elegant, metallic look for computers that will have the program on the screen for several hours during the day. An example of this type of screen may be seen in the present version by selecting the Report Writer, then the item "Summary, by Account" and viewing the accounts selection screen that has the type of black background available throughout the Professional Interface ver- sion. Other than the backgrounds of the primary menu screens, the appearance and function of the program is identical to the standard version. Due to the special build required, the direct-only price for the Professional Interface version is U.S. $40.00 (plus U.S. $3.00 S&H; $7.00 non-U.S.). (Suggested retail price in stores for the retail package of the Professional Interface version is $99.95.) Simply indicate that you wish the Professional Interface version on your order and remit the appropriate amount; also indicate disk size desired (3.5" or 5.25"). The registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. Commercial users of { MONEY & BANKS } must register and order their own authorized copies of { MONEY & BANKS } within 60 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. You are encouraged to pass a copy of the unregistered version of { MONEY & BANKS } along to your friends and associates for evaluation. Please encour- age them to purchase a registered copy if they find that they can use the program. All registered users will receive an authorized copy of the latest version of { MONEY & BANKS } along with any updated documentation on the disk size of their choice. Any future upgrade versions will be offered to registered users at a special upgrade price -- a significant savings from the then cur- rent registration price. The name { MONEY & BANKS } is a trademark (tm) of RCCO Research Associates. MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 37 Technical Support for Registered Users: If, after registration, you have any questions or comments regarding the pro- gram { MONEY & BANKS }, please send them in writing to: RCCO Research Associates P. O. Box 196 Gatlinburg, TN 37738 Please include your phone (day & evening) and fax (if any) numbers as well as your mailing address on ALL written communications. No telephone calls, please. We reserve the right to expand or limit technical support facilities in the future, as may become needed. APPENDIX C ─────────── Commonly asked questions and some answers: Q. If I only want to write a one-time quick check to a party that will prob- ably never receive one again from me, why do I have to set up a new PCode for such a transaction? A. The reports and querying modules rely on certain items of information being available; without provided detail on a payee's name, payee/payor status and an AlloCode, your future reports and queries would come up blank for such one-time transactions, as would your permanent archival records. More than one table relates to the Payee/Payor table and requires/compiles information from it; without a PCode entry, you would have to retype the payee's name and allocation several times for the program to be able to handle your transaction properly. Therefore, please realize it does not take more time to set up a one-use PCode to handle your data, but actually much less time, and affords accurate and detailed recordkeeping for your future queries and reports. When setting up a one- use PCode, you may save time by omitting the address, city, phone, etc.; always, however, enter a unique PCode, the full PName, a logical "T" or "F" in the "Payor" cell, and a default AlloCode. If the existence of that one-use PCode is truly bothersome, then after all annual reports are printed and permanent archives set aside (usually in January of a new year), you may delete the record from the Payee/Payor table (PNames.dbf). Q. Sometimes I add an entry to the Payee/Payor or Allocations table by Quick- Jumping to the bottom of the table and pressing <DownArrow> to provide a new, blank record (rather than using <Alt-N> for form view entry). After filling in the information in the different cells, I think the table should appear in alphabetical order showing my new entry in its proper place. Why does it stay at the bottom? A. Because this is not the preferred method for making a new entry to a table (we advise using <Alt-N> form view), the alphabetical sort needs a screen "refresh" to show the new entry in its proper position. Returning MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 38 from <Alt-N> or <Alt-E> form view automatically provides a refresh of the table view. To refresh table view while it is on-screen and after you finish editing your new entry, try pressing <PgUp> once to rewrite the screen; your new entry should appear in its proper position. Also, when you <Esc> from table view back to the previous module or menu and then again enter table view, you will see the screen refreshed and your new entry saved in its proper place in the table. Please note that if you enter a PCode (or AlloCode) not in "all caps," the sort order will place it after all the capitalized PCodes (or AlloCodes); make sure you use "all caps" for the PCode (and AlloCode) cells. Q. I find the concept of "split transactions" difficult and time-consuming; is there a way I can just avoid using them? (I prefer to sort my tax- related deductions and income at year-end with cancelled checks, receipts, W-2's, and forms 1099, anyway.) A. There is enough flexibility in { MONEY & BANKS } to allow you to figure out your own expedient way of doing transactions. If the absence of detail in your deposit and check transactions covering multiple alloca- tion categories does not bother you, we see no functional reason why it cannot be done to suit you; it certainly will not adversely effect the mathematical calculations of your data. The queries and reports will have more generalized reporting detail that will not be as informative to you. We do maintain that within a few days' worth of practice with "splits," their concept, importance, and ease of use will become second nature to you in your data entry. If you must avoid the feature, simply never allowing "SPLIT" or "SPLITD" as an AlloCode in any transaction will prevent the split transaction screen from popping up. You will have to create broad, generalized allocation codes to handle such transactions. Q. I do not care to print checks on my printer -- I find it tedious, need- lessly time-consuming, and not all that important to have computer- generated checks. Am I missing out on a primary use of your program? A. Not at all. Check printing is certainly not an important functional feature of { MONEY & BANKS }. Your efficient and accurate recordkeeping details are the primary reason for using this program. Many users will not want to utilize computer-printed checks. However, the facility is provided if you wish to use it and if it works with your own dot-matrix printer and bank-printed checks. What the check-printing module lacks in elegance and flexibility is compensated for only by the fact that we do not require you to order specially-printed pin-feed checks (as do other banking program publishers). Q. Aren't there several home and business budgeting, retirement, mortgage, investment, and loan-related features available in other commercial bank- ing software that are absent in your program? A. There are, certainly. Time and time again, we found that most people rarely, or never, use such parts of CPA-designed programs. Such modules add layers of extra code and overlays to the executable file, slowing learning time and the execution of the task at hand: doing your banking MONEY.DOC { MONEY & BANKS } Documentation Page 39 quickly, easily, and efficiently. We find that people enjoy using their computers in their small business, professional, and home offices, and that financial operations must not only be accurate, but cleanly and swiftly executed in an attractive, visual environment with equipment and knowledge they already possess. In our pre-development research, we found no single other financial program (at any price) to offer these requisites. We trust many will discover these unique features in { MONEY & BANKS }. Q. I dread the changeover into a new calendar year; I used another financial program that made this an absolute nightmare, although the program worked well during the rest of the year. May I continue doing transactions dur- ing the first portion of the calendar year without hindrance from your program if all items are not cleared and archived from the previous year? A. Yes. In one widely-available commercial program, the user is aggravated incessantly during the new year with daily reminders that it is now a dif- ferent year and constant messages to "clean out" and permanently archive the ending-year data and reports while trying to perform normal transac- tions on or after January 1st. As most people know, rarely do all checks and deposits clear immediately, the bank statements arrival dates differ, and we may just not yet be ready to devote time to archival and final re- porting. Carry this over more than thirty days and you are in real trouble. We don't need to hear about this over and over and over with beeps and bright red/white warning screens and time-consuming "temporary" archivals as we attempt to perform our normal banking transactions during the start of the new year. { MONEY & BANKS } quietly works with YOUR schedule and at your pace. Continue your banking in the new year; after all statements have been received, all ended-year items cleared, and all needed reports printed and filed, proceed with the permanent archival of your data. Exercise due caution when entering dates to make sure they are indeed the correct ones needed. Also, after you have entered CHECKS dated IN the new year, you may not then back-date subsequent CHECKS to the ended year; end-year transactions other than checks may continue to be entered. Q. I had a check that was prepared and entered in your program, and sent to the payee. It got lost in the mail, and a couple of months later I had to pay the debt in person with cash. How can I void the original check transaction? A. You may go into the account table and the archive table and delete the rows containing the transaction you wish to void. You MUST then adjust the Balance cell at the very end (bottom) row of the account table, as there is no automatic mathematical adjustment when working in a table view and an amount is deleted or changed. Alternately, to retain a record of the transaction as being voided, we suggest you create two special Allo- Codes called "VOIDD" (void debit) and "VOIDC" (void credit). Rather than delete the record, simply change the Debit or Credit cell to "0.00" and change the AlloCode cell to "VOIDx," where x is the indication of the type of void. Adjust the Balance cell at the bottom of the account table for the amount you voided out. In this manner the record of the transaction will show in queries, reports and your recordkeeping, but with the special allocations called "VOIDx" to remind you of what was done. You will also have to indicate the transaction as "cleared" when it appears next in the Reconcile module.