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MANUAL.DOC
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1990-07-15
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Bruce Foreman Photography
2643 University
San Angelo TX 76904
This package may be freely copied and given to others, placed on
computer bulletin boards, and transmitted providing no charge is
made, the programs are not altered in any way, and the EXPENSE, and
SALES programs, the CONFIGuration program, sample configuration
files and documentation files all are included in the distribution
disk/archive.
This software package is distributed in the "Try Before You Buy"
concept and persons finding it suitable to use are requested to send
payment of $35.00 to the address above.
A license to use this software package for 30 days in order to
determine suitability for use is granted. If either or both main
programs are still in use after the 30 day period it should be
assumed that it has been found suitable and the program should be
registered by sending one $35.00 payment.
Upon receipt of payment, the latest versions without the shareware
notice screen and delay will be sent by mail on 5 1/4 floppy disk along
with any new utilities that have been developed since this version.
Warranty
No warranty of any kind is in effect. No liability or
responsibility for any damages of any nature arising from the
installation or use of this software is acknowledged or assumed. You
use this software at your own risk.
Introduction
I needed a simple easy to use single entry accounting program that
would not tie me or any of my employees up for long tedious sessions of
data entry. All of the ledger and accounting packages I looked at were
either "overkill" being far more intensive than I needed, or were so
incredibly complex to setup and use, with tedious and detailed data
entry to the point where it seemed far sinpler to do things the old
fashioned way.
This program offers several advantages in simplicity and ease of
use that make it worth looking over and trying if you also would like
something far less complex than conventional ledger packages.
All commands and functions are accessed from one main menu and are
simple to understand and use. Data files may be used for annual,
quarterly, or monthly accounting periods and when "closed" simply need
to be saved to floppy, or renamed from DOS to be saved for later
reference and "audit". Data files are simple ASCII text files and may
be directly edited with any ASCII capable word processor if needed
(providing line entry format is not altered). All math "summaries" are
recalculated from "scratch" each time, insuring that sum errors do not
persist after the original ledger line item is corrected.
The EXPENSE module tracks business checkbook expenditures by
expense account, keeps up with the checkbook balance, and has one
account for a daily or weekly consolidated sales figure so that each
summary requested also provides a profit/loss picture. This module
provides you with one collection point for sales/collections,
deposits, and expense items; and then with one summary command tells
what the total collections were, total deposits, total expenses by
category, and then subtracts the expenses from collections to give
you a profit/loss figure along with all expenditures subtracted from
deposits to give you current checkbook balance.
The SALES module functions in a similar manner to record
individual sales transactions (as they occur if desired) and even
provides for recording recievable or balance due amounts. Each
summary provides a total recievables amount showing how much is due
in from clients with unpaid balances.
It doesn't get any simpler.
Capacity
Versions of the main program have been tested with between 900 and
940 transaction items in memory. Some intermittent "choking" was
encountered at somewhere around 920-928 items so the capacity has been
limited to 900 items. In my own studio business I seemed to be writing
about 400 checks annually and might have been able to squeeze in a
whole year of entries (counting sales/collections--entered as a single
daily figure-- and deposit transactions) if the present capacity had
been there. But I had the earlier versions limited to 450 items due to
limited memory on the computer I started out with, so I ran the data
files on a quarterly basis. At my current activity levels everything
fits in one annual data file as it probably will with most small
business ventures.
Setup
EXPENSE.EXE is the studio, photographer or any small business
program with an account for Collections/sales provided, and expense
account categories useful to any small business. SALES.EXE is an
expanded sales/collections oriented program designed for use
alongside the EXPENSE.EXE module. EXPENSE.CFG is the
configuration file read by the EXPENSE.EXE program as it
initializes. The sample .CFG file provided is studio and
photographic defined because that was my business. SALES.CFG is the
configuration file read by the the SALES.EXE pregram as it starts
up. The expense names are easily edited to suit your needs with the
CONFIG.EXE module which edits the .CFG files for both programs.
To install on a hard drive simply create the directory the programs
and data files will be in and extract them into it from the archive or
copy them over from the distribution diskette. Put all files in the
same directory.
For floppy disk operation, copy all the files extracted from the
archive over to a bootable floppy with COMMAND.COM on it. Everything
including the data files the programs will create should fit
comfortable on a single floppy disk.
The first thing you must do to initialize the software is to use
the configuration module. EXPENSE.EXE and SALES.EXE will not
function without the respective .CFG data file to read in on
execution. So type CONFIG at the DOS prompt and at the menu load in
the sample configuration provided. If for some reason the .CFG file
is missing or corrupted all you need to do is make a new one. Use
the change options on the menu and save the results or type in the
following example using any ASCII word processor. The best way is
to use the CONFIG.EXE module as it provides warnings with each
reserved account for each of the 2 program versions. If you must
create the configuration with an ASCII word processor DO FOLLOW THE
WARNINGS ON USE AND NAMING OF RESERVED ACCOUNTS in the
documentation.
Sample EXPENSE.CFG file:
Your business name
7
0
15
Advertising.........
Production supplies.
Collections & sales.
Deposits............
Equipment repairs...
Freight & Postage...
Lease/mort & util...
Personal withdrawal.
Insurance...........
Payroll.............
Shop/accessories....
Lab & finishing.....
Miscellaneous.......
Taxes...............
Everything is left justified. The 7, 0, & 15 are display colors
setting white text, black background, and high intensity white hilite
characters. These may changed to any color setup that will work with
your display. Account names have to be a 20 character field and should
be filled out with trailing periods as shown above. The business name
can be any length that will fit in its place on the EXPENSE.EXE main
menu screen.
A WORD OF CAUTION IS IN ORDER HERE! DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF
ACCOUNT D IN THE EXPENSE PROGRAM'S CONFIGURATION FILE!!!! Account
D is reserved for DEPOSITS to the checking account and all amounts in
account D are added to the checking account balance instead of being
deducted.
Also ***DO NOT*** CHANGE THE NAMES OF ACCOUNT C (for
collections/receipts/sales), OR ACCOUNT H (for personal expenditures
not business related or deductible) to anything that might confuse
their purpose. Account C will simply accumulate a total of recieved
monies and all business deductible accounts will be subtracted from
the account C total to provide a profit/loss figure. Account H will
accumulate a personal expenditure total, amounts will deduct from
the checking account balance but will not figure into the
profit/loss calculation.
The first time you run the program for each accounting period you
have to start a new data file. Usually you will want to transfer in
your current and beginning checkbook balance. For the ACCOUNT code use
"$" rather than "D". "$" will accumulate or add into the checkbook
balance but will not count as a deposit so that in summaries your
deposits for the period will be accurate.
Then you are ready to begin entering ledger items. Be sure to
save the file frequently so that in case of power failure or other
problem with the computer you don't lose data. I save about every 10
entries during a long "catch up" session.
Data Format
Each time you use this checkbook program you are asked to input
the date in month-day-year (mm-dd-yyyy) format. Pressing <ENTER> or
the return key will cause the system date from the clock to be
automatically entered. The "item" entry routine uses the first 5
characters of the system date (mm-dd) for the date of the transaction.
If you are making the entry on the same day as the system date pressing
the "d" key will automatically use the "mm-dd" part of the system date
for input. The "@" key from the main menu allows you to change this
date if you are inputting several items with the same date but diffrent
from the system date.
DATE: (mm-dd) format - **CAUTION** Be sure to use a - between the two
digits of month and two digits of day. Any other character may affect
date sort and search functions.
ITEM #: This must be unique for each item. For the first check in a
new data file enter the actual check number. From that point on until
you begin using a new data file the computer will assign the next
number when you enter the "n" character at this prompt. If you need to
skip one (voided check or lost check) manually enter the correct check
number for that item and the program will pick up the sequence from
there. For other transactions (sales, collections, and deposits, enter
the "#" and the program will use a separate "one up" number series for
those. Your current position in each of these "number stacks" is saved
each time the data file is saved. When you use the Change command from
the main menu, it depends on each item number in the file being unique.
NAME: 25 character spaces are allowed for this. For each check
written to the same party use identical spelling so the LIST by name
function finds all of them.
ACCOUNT: Use single alphabetic characters. The ACCOUNTS command at
the main menu will show you the programmed account names and single
letter codes. ACCOUNT "C" is reserved for Sales or Collections and
does NOT sum or affect any of the other amounts. ACCOUNT "D" is
reserved for deposits to your checking account balance and "adds in",
increasing the balance. ACCOUNT "H" is reserved for personal (non
business expense) withdrawals/purchases and is subtracted from the
balance but does not sum into the business debits total. Do NOT use
these ACCOUNTS for anything else or you will not get accurate
summaries.
SUBACCOUNT: Use single letter codes here too. The same subaccount
code letter cannot be used with more than one account. I use "G" for
Rent/Utilities ACCOUNT. "R" as a SUBACCOUNT code for the rent/lease/or
mortgage payment, and "U" as SUBACCOUNT code for all utilities. I
cannot use "R" in another ACCOUNT for "repairs" because it is already
in use in ACCOUNT "G". The SUBACCOUNT is as much an alternate account
as it is a subaccount. Pressing the <ENTER> key places an "*" in this
field if you don't need a code there.
AMOUNT: This is entered in the familiar ####.## format to two
decimal places. Do not use the dollar sign or commas.
GENERAL STUFF (EXPENSE.EXE)
SUMMARIES: Selecting this from the main menu prompts for a month
(1-12) or 0 for a summary of the whole file. The whole file is scanned
from the first item, if a month was specified items not matching that
month are ignored otherwise each item amount is added to the
appropriate account balance and the totals are printed to the screen at
the end of the scan. Business expenses are all totaled (excluding
personal expenditure), deposits are totaled, business expenses
subtracted from total collections, and if the summary is for the whole
file all expenditures are subtracted from the checkbook balance.
If the summary is for a month, the checkbook balance is zeroed out and
a file summary should then be done to recalculate it.
Also be aware that the business debits total on a monthly SUMMARY may
not agree with the debits total for a LISTing by period function for
the same month. In the SUMMARY personal expenditures (account "H") do
NOT figure as a "business" debit, the idea being to present summarized
figures showing business expenditures deducted from business receipts
to show a profit/loss figure. In the LISTing of transactions by month
the total debits is just that, ALL debits without regard for type or
purpose. The SUMMARY gives you an overall "business" picture at a
glance, while the LISTing is just that...A total general listing.
FILENAMES: I've tried for a middleground between simplicity and
flexibility here. Each of the programs uses two "canned" filenames
(the first two on the SAVE and LOAD screens), SPECIAL allowing you to
define a unique filename, and EMERG for just what it implies-an
emergency save to get data to disk without overwriting the last loaded
version. Do not use an extension when typing the filename for load or
save functions because the program assigns its own and if you add one
it will cause a program error. The expense version assigns a .BUS
extension to data file filenames and looks for the same when loading
them in from disk. The directory function from the main menu screens
out all other filename extensions and only displays those data files
available for the program to work with. The extension used by the
sales program is .INC and both function in the same manner.
PAYROLL / SALARIES ACCOUNT: Depending on how you want to handle
it, there can be one complication with this one. If you have a payroll
you are responsible for withholding FITW and FICA. When you write a
check to deposit your payroll taxes in an approved depository or to
remit payroll taxes to the IRS remember that part of that check is
really payroll money withheld from your employee's salary (ACCOUNT J)
and the rest is your tax "contribution" (ACCOUNT N). The way I used to
keep my data straight was to enter the data as if I were writing two
separate checks for payroll tax, one for the amount withheld from all
my employees and allocated to ACCOUNT J (Payroll) and one for my
portion and the amount identified as ACCOUNT N (Taxes). I used the
correct check number for one entry and the next "1 up number" for
deposits, etc for the second entry (being sure to reference the "true"
check number in the NAME field). This is necessary because each ledger
item number MUST be unique for the CHANGE routine to be able to access
it if you need to use that CHANGE command. This method will work for
any situation where you have to "split" a check between two accounts.
Still another way is to go ahead and use the correct same check
number on both entries and realize you will have to use an ASCII word
processor to edit changes in those if necessary.
The SALES Module
Introduction
What the sales ledger program does is to provide you with a way to
log individual sales transactions, identifying them by client name and
product or department. One summary command tells you total sales in
each department and then grand total, summary is either total file
period or month. In addition selective listings of transactions by
month, date, client name, or sales department may be made at any time,
dollar amounts are summed with each summary or listing. A way is also
provided for amounts recievable (balance due) to be entered as a
transaction and each total file summary recalculates your total
recievables.
Sales Ledger Setup
SALES.EXE is the small business transaction ledger program,
CONFIG.EXE is the program used to assign the sales account or sales
department names and color display parameters. SALES.CFG is the
configuration file read by the SALES.EXE program as it initializes.
The sample .CFG file provided is studio and photographic defined
because that was my business. The account names are easily edited to
suit your needs.
The first thing you must do to initialize the software is to use
the configuration module. SALES.EXE will not function without a
SALES.CFG data file to read on execution. So type CONFIG at the DOS
prompt, select the sales transaction ledger option and at the menu load
in the sample configuration provided. If for some reason the SALES.CFG
file is missing or corrupted all you need to do is make a new one.
Either use the change options on the menu and save the results or type
in the following example using any ASCII word processor.
Sample SALES.CFG file:
Your business name
7
0
14
Portrait............
Wedding photography.
Senior & graduation.
School days pkgs....
Copy & restoration..
Social functions....
Commercial..........
Passport & ID.......
....................
....................
....................
....................
Miscellaneous.......
Recievables.........
Everything is left justified. The 7, 0, & 15 are display colors
setting white text, black background, and high intensity white hilite
characters. Account names have to be a 20 character field and should
be filled out with trailing periods as shown above. The business name
can be any length that will fit in its place on the SALES.EXE main menu
screen.
A WORD OF CAUTION IS IN ORDER HERE! DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF
ACCOUNT N IN THE PROGRAM'S CONFIGURATION FILE to anything that might
confuse its purpose!!!!
Account N is reserved for RECIEVABLES or BALANCE DUE entries and
amounts in this account do not add into summary subtotals and grand
totals.
The first time you run the program for each accounting period you
have to start a new data file. If this is the first time you are using
the program all you need to do is begin entering transaction line items
and then save the file using one of the first two choices on the save
menu. If you have an existing file for the period just ending and it
has unpaid recievable/balance due entries all you need to do is select
the TRANSFER recievables to new file option at the main menu. The
current file in memory will be scanned for recievables and any such
will be renumbered and then written to a filename TRANSFER.INC. Heed
the warning about NOT SAVING the old file after doing this scan, and
load in the TRANSFER file to begin entering new transactions.
NOTE: If you have just ended December and the new file will begin
with January 1st, use an ASCII editor or the CHANGE command to edit the
new TRANSFER.INC file. Change all the month part of the date on the
recievables to 00 and enter the month the recievable was incurred in
the last part of the date. A receivable generated on October 13 in the
old year carrying the date 10-13 should be changed to 00-10. The
reason for this is to keep the old date from being thought to be 10-13
in the current year by the sort by date routine. All recievables
carried over from the previous year with 00-mm date format will sort at
the beginning of the file and be less confusing.
BEFORE doing this be sure you have copied the old file to another
disk or directory because the first time you save the TRANSFER file
using the standard save filenames the old file will be overwritten.
Then you are ready to begin entering ledger items. Be sure to save
the file frequently so that in case of power failure or other problem
with the computer you don't lose data. I save about every 10 entries
during a long "catch up" session.
Data Format
Each time you use this transaction program you are asked to input
the date in month-day-year (mm-dd-yyyy) format. Pressing <ENTER> or
the return key will cause the system date from the clock to be
automatically entered. The "item" entry routine uses the first 5
characters of the system date (mm-dd) for the date of the transaction.
If you are making the entry on the same day as the system date pressing
the "d" key will automatically use the "mm-dd" part of the system date
for input. The "@" key from the main menu allows you to change this
date if you are inputting several items with the same date but diffrent
from the system date.
DATE: (mm-dd) format - be sure to use a dash (-) between the 2
digits of month and day of month. Any other delimiting character may
interfere with date sort and search functions.
ITEM #: This must be unique for each item. Normally the program
takes care of this for you as you use the "n" key. If you manually
enter a number out of sequence the next use of the "n" key will pick up
with 1 number over the manual entry you just made. To return to the
old sequence manually enter the item number the system needs to restore
the count in the old sequence. If you use the Change command from the
main menu, it depends on each item number in the file being unique.
NAME: 25 character spaces are allowed for this. For each
transaction that applies to the same party use identical spelling so
the LIST by name function finds all of them.
ACCOUNT: Use single alphabetic characters. The ACCOUNTS command
at the main menu will show you the programmed account names and single
letter codes. ACCOUNT "N" is reserved for Recievables or Bal due and
does NOT sum or affect any of the other amounts. Do NOT use this
ACCOUNT for anything else or you will not get accurate summaries.
SUBACCOUNT: Use single letter codes here too. The subaccount
should be used ONLY if the primary account is "N" for a recievable or
balance due entry. Its ONLY purpose in the sales transaction ledger is
to have a place to store the main sales account or department code for
later use. Pressing the <ENTER> key places an "*" in this field if you
don't need a code there.
AMOUNT: This is entered in the familiar ####.## format to two
decimal places. Do not use the dollar sign.
GENERAL STUFF (SALES.EXE)
SUMMARIES: Selecting this from the main menu prompts for a month
(1-12) or 0 for a summary of the whole file. The whole file is scanned
from the first item, if a month was specified items not matching that
month are ignored otherwise each item amount is added to the
appropriate account balance and the totals are printed to the screen at
the end of the scan. All accounts or departments EXCEPT recievables
are then added for a grand total.
If the summary is for a month, the recievables amount becomes that
of the month concerned and a total file summary should be done when you
are finished with the monthly data so the total recievables displayed
on the main menu screen for the whole file is recalculated.
RECIEVABLES: My purpose in programming this account was to provide
a way to tell me at a glance how much money was due in if I could get
folks to pay their balances due. Here is how I used this account:
Client placed an order but did not have funds to prepay in full. I
accepted 50% down with balance considered due when the order was ready
for pickup. I entered one sales transaction reflecting the payment
made with the correct sales dept/account code in the ACCOUNT field,
then a second entry with account code "N" in that field, the sales
dept/account code in the SUBACCOUNT field, and the amount of the
remaining balance to be paid later.
When the client came in to pick up the order and pay the balance,
we first did a name search on the client to list the entries on the
screen, noted the item number of the recievable (Account code "N")
entry and used the CHANGE command on the main menu to access and edit
the entry. Changing the date to the current date, the account code
from "N" to the appropriate sales dept code (seeing it stored in the
subaccount field helps!) and reentering all other items as is makes it
a current sales transaction entry.
Then a file summary will recalculate the recievables figure and a
SORT by date when you have time to let the computer do this for a few
minutes is all that remains to be done.
EDITING THE DATA FILE WITH AN ASCII WORD PROCESSOR
If you're using multitasking with limited memory, or your word
processor uses lots of memory this may not work.
First SAVE the file. Then switch to another window or memory
partition. Invoke your ASCII word processor and make the necessary
changes, exit the word processor, and switch back to the original
window or partition and the main menu of the EXPENSE.EXE program. Use
the LOAD file command to load back the edited file and you're ready to
continue.
Emergency Procedures
I've been using these programs in some form or other since
sometime in 1983 without disastrous data loss by observing a few
"safety" precautions. Frequent backup is a good idea with any data you
don't want to lose and periodically I simply copy the data files
generated by these programs off to a floppy disk.
But in the course of normal data entry, something may cause you to
suspect that something has gone wrong and the integrity of data in
memory comes under question. Since the entire working data file is in
memory this can be a matter of real concern. One thing you can do is
to use the LIST All items function from the main menu and in most cases
simply examining the listed entries should reassure you that the data
is sound.
If there is any lingering doubt and you have entered quite a few
items without periodic saves then save the file using the EMERGency
filename. This will allow you to save the file for examination with a
word processor or utility such as Vernon Buerg's LIST.COM without
overwriting the definitely uncorrupted file loaded in at the beginning
of your data entry session.
Just remember, make periodic saves and if you suspect something has
gone wrong save using the EMERGency filename so as not to corrupt the
original file on disk.
Programming Concepts
There are better methods and better code to accomplish a ledger
program than what has been used here. But the main thrust was to keep
things simple. Random access disk files allow more flexibility with
the data, but can be more prone to data corruption and loss as the size
of the file grows. The sequential file format I've used is far
simpler, much less prone to "disaster", and is easily edited with ASCII
editors once the format is fully understood.
The search code in the LIST by name routine could have used an
INSTR function and been capable of finding the the search string in the
middle of the name text. More efficient but then the tabulation of
dollars involved could be affected by "irrelevant finds". Staying with
a left justified search string allows a better shot at having the name
search find only valid target transactions and helps keep the sum more
accurate.
I've implemented diffrent software packages to do what these 3
versions do, considered one of the high dollar "vertical application"
do everything studio packages till I saw one in use at a friends
studio, and I kept coming back to this approach. My staff easily
caught on to the use of the SALES ledger as a computer "cash register"
and the use of PC-FILE to create and maintain detailed client records.
I maintained the business checkbook using a much cruder version of the
EZLEDGER module and put the household checking account on an older
version of CHEKBOOK. Of course now I use the latest versions you are
looking at.
At the end of each quarter the file summary of the SALES program
gave me in seconds the info I needed to do my quarterly sales tax
return, now the C account on the EXPENSE file summary can do the
same thing. A hardcopy printout of the LIST by month function of
the SALES ledger can provide a monthly sales transaction report for
files that should fill any requirement for a "register" tape. The
same LIST by date printout gives you a "fileable" daily sales report
if you need to use that in your business structure.
Playing with the sample data files enclosed should give you a feel
for how the various features work and suggest specific applications in
your situation.