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PC-AR
Version 4.1
Copyright 1991 by Jerry Medlin
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
PC-AR is an accounts receivable and sales analysis program
for small and medium size businesses. The program runs on a IBM
PC or compatible computer, with one disk drive and at least 256k
memory.
PC-AR is a Shareware program. You are encouraged to give
copies to anyone who might use it. If you like the program and
find it useful, please contribute $35 to:
Jerry Medlin
1461 Sproul Ave.
Napa, Ca. 94559
To order using Master Card or Visa, call (707) 255-4475.
Your contribution entitles you to a copy of the latest
version of the program and limited telephone assistance, should
you require it. You also receive a program which allows you to
customize some features of PC-AR. A complete description of the
customizing program is contained at the end of this manual.
When inputting information, the plus <+> key has the same
effect as the return or enter key. Numerical information is
entered "calculator style". The decimal point is placed
automatically. The minus <-> key enters a negative number. This
makes using the numeric key pad even easier.
To run the program, simply type "PC-AR". If you want to
specify a drive and path for your data, add the drive and path
description after the program name. i.e. type "PC-AR B:" to use
the B drive for data files.
A menu is then displayed for operator selection:
Enter or Change Sales Codes
Enter or Change Customers
Enter or Change Charges & Payments
Print Mailing Labels
Print Charges & Payments Listing
Print Accounts Receivable Ledger
Print Statements
Print Sales Summary
Print Customer Activity Report
Start a New Month
Print Customer Listing
Save Data and End
PC-AR is fast because it works with data in random access
memory, but the capacity is limited by available memory.
Available memory is shared by the data. With more customers on
file, fewer charges and payments can be entered and vice-versa.
PC-AR allows 4000 customers and 4000 charges and payments per
month with, 640k of memory. With 256k, the capacity is reduced to
about 200 customers and 200 charges and payments.
Each time the menu is displayed, the number of charges and
payments that can be added is printed at the bottom of the screen.
The approximate number of customers that can be added can be
obtained by dividing the number by 2.
Since a power interruption results in loosing all the data
currently entered into the program, you should occasionally save
your data back to the disk. This is done by selecting End
Processing from the menu. The current data is saved to the disk,
then you are asked "Do you want to end ?". Answer with an "N" and
you may resume processing.
THE PROCESSING CYCLE
Accounting is done on a monthly cycle. At the end of each
month, all charges are added to the customer's balance, and all
payments are deducted from the customer's balance. The new
balances are used as the starting balances for the next month.
Each time the program is run, all customer data is loaded
into memory. Also, any charges or payments entered for the period
are loaded into memory. You may also have the program
automatically enter a fixed billing amount and late charges for
each customer. When all of the charges and payments for the
current month have been entered, begin printing reports. Reports
may be printed in any order, and as often as desired. If you
discover an error in any of the reports, you may correct the
problem and reprint the report. At any time, you can stop
processing by choosing the End Processing selection from the menu.
The last step in processing is to apply the charges and
payments to customer balances. This is done by choosing the Start
a New Month selection on the menu. This selection does three
things:
1) Ages the customer balances. All current due amounts become 30
day due, all 30 day balances become 60 day, etc.
2) Deducts the payments from the customers balance due, starting
with 90 day and proceeding to current due.
3) Adds the charges to the current balance. You may then proceed
with the next month.
ENTER OR CHANGE SALES CODES
In addition to being an accounts receivable program, PC-AR is
also a sales analysis program. Each charge or payment is posted
to a sales code. The Enter or Change Sales Descriptions selection
allows you to enter up to 200 of these sales codes and their
corresponding descriptions. The sales description is also printed
on the various reports, including the statement.
Enter a three character sales code (alphabetic or numeric
characters are allowed), and up to 21 characters for a
description. If you enter a dollar value for each sales code, the
value is entered automatically each time you enter the sales code.
For most applications, the amount should be zero.
You may add new sales descriptions, codes and amounts at any
time, but don't change or delete sales codes once charges or
payments have been entered. Wait until the charges and payments
have been applied to customer accounts, and you are ready to start
a new month, before deleting or changing sales codes.
At least one of the sales codes, and it's corresponding
description should be for payments on account. Payments received
from customers should then be posted to this code, as a negative
amount, using the minus <-> key instead of the enter key.
If you plan to charge late charges or interest, you should
enter a sales code for this purpose.
ENTER OR CHANGE CUSTOMERS
Customer information is entered and changed using this
selection from the menu. Enter the following information for
each customer:
Customer name - Two lines of 31 characters each are
available.
Customer Code - This is a ten character code used to sort
customers, and also to post charges and payments to the
customers account. In most cases, you want to enter the
customers last name, followed by as much of the first name as
will fit in the remaining characters. For instance, if the
customer's name is Jerry Medlin, the customer code would be
MEDLINJERR. Notice all capital letters are used. If you
enter lower case letters, they are changed to upper case
automatically. Also, notice no spaces are included.
The program will prevent you from entering a previously used
customer code. If a customer code includes a tilde character
(~), the customer will be deleted when the account is paid.
This allows you to enter one time customers and have the
program automatically delete them when they are no longer
active.
Street Address - Up to 31 characters for the street address.
City State & Zip - Up to 31 characters for the city, state
and zip code.
Telephone - Up to 12 characters for the telephone number and
assorted dashes.
Late Charge % - Enter the desired late charge for this
customer as a percentage. If you are on a monthly cycle and
you wish to charge an 18% annual rate for balances overdue,
you would enter 1.5 (18 divided by 12 months.). If you don't
want to charge late fees to this customer, press <Enter> to
enter a zero.
Auto Bill Amount - Dollar amounts entered here may be posted
to a customers account automatically each month.
Balances Due - You may enter the current balance, the 30 day
balance due, the 60 day balance due, and the 90 day balance
due. For new customers with no opening balances, press
<Enter> to enter zero.
Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the
previous field. Pressing the Escape key at the first name entry
takes you to the command mode. The command mode allows you to
scroll up and down through the customer names, delete customers,
change customer information and do a quick check on the balances
due for all customers. Pressing the Escape key from command mode
takes you back to the menu.
The acceptable commands at any point are printed at the
bottom of the screen.
ENTER OR CHANGE CHARGES AND PAYMENTS
This selection allows you to enter charges and payments for
the current month. Charge amounts are entered as positive numbers
using the plus <+> or enter key and payments are entered as
negative numbers using the minus <-> key (enter the number, then
press the minus key).
Before any charges and payments can be posted, you must have
at least one sales description entered, so you have a sales code
to post to. The following information is entered for each charge
or payment:
Customer Code - The 10 character code for each customer is
used to post a charge or payment. Pressing <Enter> at the
beginning enters the previous customer code. As you enter a
customer code, all of the possible matching customer codes
are displayed at the bottom. You need enter only as much of
the customer code as necessary to distinguish it from any
other code. With each additional character entered, the list
shrinks. Pressing return at any time, accepts the customer
code at the top of the list. The customers name is then
printed at the bottom of the screen so you can be sure you
are posting to the correct customer account.
Date - Enter the date of the charge or payment as in MODA
form. The date of June fourth is entered 0604, with no dash
or slash.
Invoice number - Up to 12 characters for the invoice number.
Alphabetic characters are allowed. Pressing the plus <+> key
adds one to the previous invoice number, and clears the
invoice total shown on the screen. Pressing <Enter> gives
you the same invoice number as the previous line, and does
not change the invoice total.
Sales Code - Enter one of the sales codes. Sales codes and
their corresponding descriptions should be setup using the
Enter or Change Sales Descriptions selection of the menu.
The possible sales codes and descriptions will be displayed
at the bottom of the screen as you enter the number.
Pressing <Enter> at the beginning, defaults to the sales code
for the previous entry.
Amount - Enter the amount of the charge or payment. Payments
should be entered as a negative number. A negative number is
entered by using the minus (-) key instead of the Enter key
after the number is typed in.
Pressing the <Enter> key on any entry except the amount,
defaults to the previous value. This allows you to make multiple
entries for an invoice with the same customer, date and invoice
number. Pressing the plus <+> key for the invoice number
increments the previous number by one.
Two numbers are printed at the top right of the screen. The
top number is the total of all charges or plus entries and the
bottom number is the total of all payments or minus entries. Use
these numbers to check your input data. The screen also displays
the total for the current invoice. This total is reset to zero
each time you enter a new invoice number, and should be checked
against the invoice total.
Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the
previous field. Pressing the Escape key at the first entry
position takes you to the command mode. The command mode allows
you to scroll up and down through the entries, delete entries and
change entries.
From the command mode, you may press the <A> Auto Bill key to
automatically post the auto bill amount entered for each customer.
You are asked to enter a date and invoice number and amount for
the automatic postings. Normally the amount should be zero. If
you enter an amount greater than zero, an invoice is created for
EVERY customer for that amount, even if the customer has no auto
bill amount entered. You may also calculate sales taxes on auto
bill amounts by entering a negative amount. The number will be
used as a percentage to calculate and enter the sales tax for
every auto bill amount. Be sure to have a sales code available
for sales tax.
Pressing the <L> Late Charges key will calculate and enter
the late charges for all customers. Late charges are calculated
on the balance brought forward for the month that remains unpaid
at the end of the month.
Pressing the <Q> Quick Save key will save all of your
customer and invoice data to the disk. Occasional power failures
are a fact of life, so it is a good idea to use quick save every
15 minutes or so.
Pressing the Escape key from command mode takes you back to
the menu. All the available commands are printed at the bottom of
the screen, and are chosen by a single keystroke.
ENTERING LATE CHARGES
PC-AR will calculate and enter late charges for customers who
have not paid their previous month's balance due. Before printing
reports, select the <L> Late Charges selection from ENTER OR
CHANGE CHARGES AND PAYMENTS. The late charge percentage entered
for each customer is multiplied by the unpaid balance carried over
from last month, and entered as a transaction to the sales code of
your choice. If you enter an amount, that amount is used as a
minimum late charge.
PRINTING REPORTS
The first time you choose a printed report from the menu, you
are asked to enter a report date. This date is used on all
reports. If you want to change the report date, end processing
and start over; otherwise the same report date is used on all
reports printed during a posting session.
On some reports, before you start printing, you are asked to
enter beginning and ending customer code. Press the <Enter> key
to start at the first customer. Press <Enter> again to print to
the last customer. This feature allows you to print partial
reports, and is handy when your printer eats the 598th of 600
statements.
When printing more than 20 statements or mailing labels, you
are asked if you want to sort the customers by zip code. If you
answer Y (yes), the statements or mailing labels are printed in
zip code order. This allows you to take advantage of the cheaper
bulk mailing rates.
Next, you are asked to choose if you want to print the report
to the printer <Enter>, to the screen <S> or to a file <F>. If
you choose to print to a file, you are asked for a file name. The
report is then saved as an ASCII file. These files are not
readable by PC-AR, but can be viewed and changed with a text
editor; and used by other programs that can read ASCII files. The
report is printed to a file exactly as it is printed to a printer.
PRINT MAILING LABELS
As long as you have all this customer information on your
computer, you might as well use it to print mailing labels. You
can print labels for all the customers, or only one customer, and
you can sort them by zip code, if you wish. Labels are printed on
standard peel off labels, with one inch spacing between labels.
To align the printer, use the selection process to print a single
label.
PRINT CHARGES & PAYMENTS LISTING
To provide an adequate audit trail, this report must be
printed and retained, before closing out the month. It lists all
the charges and payments entered for the month, and the total of
charges and payments.
You are asked to enter a starting and ending invoice date.
Pressing the <Enter> key twice defaults to the first and last
date, and all invoices for the period is printed. You can use
this date feature to print only the invoices entered for a single
day, or a group of days.
PRINT ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE LEDGER
This report prints each customer's opening balance, all
charges and payments for that customer, any late charges added and
the closing balance. Customers with no activity and no opening or
closing balances are skipped. The report should be printed and
retained at the end of each month. Since PC-AR is a "balance
forward" accounts receivable program, the Accounts Receivable
Ledger is your best source of information, several months from
now, on how a customers balance got that way.
PRINT STATEMENTS
Customer statements are printed on a common statement form from
New England Business Services (NEBS). The form can be ordered pre
printed, with your company name and address, by calling NEBS at
800-388-3810. The form number is 9060, and the mail code number
is 95111.
If you don't want to use forms preprinted with your name and
return address, you may have the program print your name and
address on blank forms. To do this requires the program ARCONFIG
which is available to all registered users of PC-AR. The ARCONFIG
program allows you to enter your company name and address, which
will print on plain statement forms or on plain 8 1/2 by 11 paper.
To test statement alignment, use the start print feature to
print a single statement, then adjust the alignment accordingly.
PRINT SALES SUMMARY
This is a listing of all charges and payments by sales
category, followed by a one page listing of total sales by
category. If you choose, you can omit the detailed listing, but
you should print it at the end of the month for audit trail
purposes.
You are asked to enter a starting and ending invoice date.
Pressing the <Enter> key twice defaults to the first and last
dates used, and all invoices for the period are printed. You can
use this date feature to print a daily summary of sales. By
assigning separate sales codes for paid by check, paid by cash and
paid by credit card, you can even print a list of checks to go
with your bank deposit for the day.
PRINT CUSTOMER ACTIVITY REPORT
The Customer Activity Report summarizes all the transactions
posted to a customers account for the past 6 months. It looks at
current transactions and the transaction files on your disk named
AR1.INV, AR2.INV, AR3.INV, AR4.INV, AR5.INV and AR6.INV. It then
prints all the transactions made to the selected customer code.
START A NEW MONTH
When you have printed all the reports you need and all is in
order, you can start the next month. Important - Do not start a
new month until all reports, including monthly statements, have
been printed!
All charges, payments and late charges are applied to
customer balances. The customers balances are updated to agree
with the balances shown on the statements, and the Accounts
Receivable Ledger. The charges and payments are saved, so later
you may review all the transactions posted to an account for the
past six months using the Print Customer Activity Report selection
of the menu.
PRINT CUSTOMER LISTING
This report is a printout of all customer information on file
including aging information. The balances shown do not reflect
any charges or payments made since the last month ended. Only the
Start a New Month selection actually changes customer balances.
You may choose to omit customer addresses, and to omit
customers with no activity, when you print this report.
EXPORT CUSTOMER DATA
This selection creates a file on the logged drive and
subdirectory called PC-AR.PRN, which can be read by programs like
Lotus 123 and Reflex. Text data in the customer file is
surrounded by quotation marks. You can then read the data into
Lotus 123 by using the /File/Import/Numbers command. Be sure no
names or addresses in your customer file contain quotation marks,
before trying to export customer data.
SAVE DATA AND END
When processing is completed, exit the program using this
selection. Do not end processing by turning off the computer,
because you lose any data entered since the last save operation.
If you want to save the current data to the disk without ending,
you may answer "N" to the question "Do you want to end
processing?", and you are returned to the menu.
USING THE CONFIGURATION PROGRAM
The configuration program (ARCONFIG.EXE) is provided free to
all registered users. It allows you to change certain features of
PC-AR. The ARCONFIG.EXE program and the main program (PC-AR.EXE)
should both be on the same disk drive when you configure your copy
of PC-AR. Run the program by typing ARCONFIG at the Dos prompt.
Use the up and down arrows to move the pointer, and then press <C>
to change an item. You are allowed to change the following
information:
Display Colors - If you have a color adapter and monitor, you
can change the colors for screen borders, program prompts,
data, and background. Allowable colors are from 0 to 15
(except for background color which can only be from 0 to 7).
The display is instantly updated as you enter the new colors.
Laser Printer? - You may also change the way PC-AR starts a
new page. Usually, PC-AR starts a new page by counting
lines, until the page total equals 66 lines. If you enter a
"Y" for the laser printer question, PC-AR starts a new page
by issuing a form feed command. This works on most other
printers too, but requires you to set the top of form, before
you start printing.
Disk Drive and Path - Enter a drive and path designation for
PC-AR data. If you want the program to read data from the B
drive, enter B:.
Printer for Reports (1 or 2) - If you wish to print reports
to a printer attached to LPT2 change this number.
Printer for Statements (1 or 2) - If you wish to print
statements to a printer attached to LPT2 change this number.
Months to Save - The PC-AR program saves charges and payments
on your data disk for later review with the Customer Activity
Report. Normally, the paid invoices for the previous six
months are saved. You may modify this number to be anywhere
from zero to 16 months. Remember, the more month's data you
save, the more room you need on the data disk, and the more
time it takes to review a vendor's activity.
Plain Paper Statement - If you change this to a "Y",
statements can be printed on plain 8 1/2 x 11 paper. A "N"
answer prints on pre printed 6 1/2 x 7 forms. The default
setting is "N".
Statement Heading - If your company name and address is not
pre printed on the statement forms, you may enter up to 5
lines for a statement heading.
Statement Footer Message - You can enter a message to be
printed at the bottom of the statement form. This is a good
place to enter your payment terms, or a short advertising
message.
Print Ageing on Statements - Changing this from Y to N
prevents the 30, 60, 90 day aging information from being
printed on the statements.
Invoice Details on Statements - Changing this from a Y to a N
causes only the totals for each invoice to be printed on the
statements. This allows you to have a detailed breakdown of
sales on the sales summary, but prints only invoice totals on
the statements. All adjacent entries with the same invoice
number are totaled on the statement with "INVOICE #" for a
description. For this option to work properly, multiple
entries with the same invoice number, must be together in the
charges and payments listing. It is a good idea to sort by
Invoice number before printing the statements.
When you have finished making your changes, press the escape
key to exit the program. You will be asked if you want to save
the changes. If you answer with a Y, a configuration file (PC-
AR.CFG) will be created on the disk.
DATA FILES
Data files are created automatically by PC-AR. If you wish
to back up data files only, copy these files to another disk using
the DOS copy or BACKUP command.
PC-AR.CUS Customer data file with balances.
PC-AR.INV Current period payments and charges.
PC-AR.DES Sales codes and descriptions.
PC-AR.CFG Configuration data created by ARCONFIG.
AR1.INV, AR2.INV, AR3.INV, etc. contain the previous period
payments and charges. AR1.INV is the most recent.
HELPFUL HINTS
The escape key is always used to go back to the previous
operation. From anywhere in the program, if you continue to press
the escape key, you will eventually return to the main menu.
When printing reports, you may pause the printing by pressing
any key. To resume printing, press any key again. To quit
printing, press the escape key after pausing.
Each customer must have a unique customer code for posting.
If you use numbers, the program won't object, if the numbers are
all the same length. Customer number 1 should be entered as
00001, for instance. But, you should at least try the method
suggested earlier in the manual. Use a customer code made up of
the customers last name plus as much of the first name as the 10
character limit allows. Jane Smith would then have a code of
SMITHJANE (Notice there are no spaces). This method allows rapid
posting of invoices, without looking up customer numbers. The
searching method allows you to quickly examine the codes for all
of the Smiths, by typing SMITH when asked for a code.
The first 6 times you start a new month, more disk space is
required for historical files. If you have a large business and
you are using floppy disks for data storage, you could run out of
disk space.
CONVERTING DATA FROM EARLIER VERSIONS
If you have been using version 3.7 or higher, no conversion
is necessary.
If you are changing from a version of PC-AR beginning with 2
(a very old version) you need to convert your customer data. A
program called CONVERT.COM is available for this purpose and is
free to all registered users. Run the program and follow the
directions on the screen.
If you have been using a version prior to 3.7, you must
rename your earlier charges and payments files for use with this
program. Contact us to receive instructions on how to rename your
earlier data files.
Starting with Version 3.9, late charges are handled the same
as any other charge or payment. You must enter a sales code to
receive the late charges and, each month, you must choose the <L>
Late Charges option to calculate and enter late charges. This
method requires only a few seconds per month to enter the late
charges, and provides increased flexibility and improved audit
trail.
PC-AR is written in Turbo Pascal. The source code is
available for $95.
