Almathera Ten Pack 3: CDPD 3/Almathera Ten on Ten - Disc 3: CDPD3.iso/scope/051-075/scopedisk60/clerk/clerk.doc

Text File | 1995-03-19 | 11.4 KB | 208 lines

                          THE CLERK V.3.2.

This is version 3.2 of the business system Clerk. It was developed to
answer the day to day needs of the small business owner.  Modules
include accounts receivable, accounts payable,file cabinet and general ledger.
As a small business owner and Amiga afficianado, I thought it was time
to do something besides complain about the lack of PD business software
for the Amiga.  So I created the Clerk as an answer to my computing needs
and hopefully yours. Now that major parts of the program have been in
general use for several months, I feel it is mostly bug free. I have
stuck with my original goal of keeping it simple to use and straight
forward.

                          Set-Up
First rename the disk you intend to use this program on to "Clerk". If you
are a hard drive user then you need to assign Clerk to DH0:.Second you must
create a directory on that disk named "library".Third rename the file
g.bmap to graphics.bmap. Place graphics.bmap, dos.bmap, exec.bmap and source
in the library directory. Place all other files in your root directory.
 ROOT   Directory                               LIBRARY  Directory
Book        Clerk                                 graphics.bmap
Balance     Clerk.info                            dos.bmap
Bills.P     Misc.                                 exec.bmap
Checks      choices                               source
Checks.Pc   Clerk.doc
months      COA

If you have been using earlier versions of
Clerk, your files will be fully compatabile with this version. You must
however, name your disk "Clerk", place the "source" file in your library
directory and place the "months" file in your root directory.


                          Operation

Hopefully, most of the functions are self-explanatory. The only part that
is tricky (and critical) is setting up your chart of accounts. I have
included the chart of accounts I use and I'd suggest you take a look at
it as a rough guide (or if it suits your needs you may use it for your
business).You will be prompted that there is a limit to the number of
accounts you may use (22) and a maximum number of characters per account(26).
You must also use a set format (account number:account name). The tricky part
to this is that there are two accounts set aside for auotmatic withdrawals,
i.e. negative accounts. These are the 6th and the 9th account numbers.
In my chart of accounts these are 750:Payroll Taxes and 810:Bank Charges.
These are charges that are automatically withdrawn from my checking
account. If you have no need for these then set them up as dummy accounts and
simply don't use them. The 1st account is a deposit account (410:Receipts).
Any entry made in the 1st account will show up on your income statement as
income versus an expense item. In setting up the general ledger you will
need to provide an opening balance for your checking account. If you should
ever need to change the balance, you can go back to the Create file function
of the General Ledger and change your balance without having to create a new
file.(Ignore the warning message and exit after entering your new balance).

You will need to enter your company name,address, telephone #. This information
is used on various printouts. You will also be prompted for your password.
If you wish to continue using "pass" then you still MUST enter this at
the prompt. If you wish to use another word then don't forget it or you'll
never gain entry again. You will also be asked to enter your vendor
account numbers. If you look at any of the bills from your kindly creditors
you'll note that they assign you an account number. Have those handy to
enter in the system so that they can be printed on your check vouchers.
In summary, you should create a chart of accounts (unless you use the
generic version I've provided). Then use the company data menu to enter
your company info, password, and vendor numbers. If you haven't used
the earlier versions of Clerk, you will also need to use the create file
functions for your receivables,  payables and general ledger.

                         New stuff & feedback from users
One of the goals I had in creating this program was to have a system that I
could load in the morning and it would handle all my business needs without
having to switch to other programs. Since I do a lot of phone work, I needed
a telephone directory as well as a place to keep employee info, tax numbers,
and all the junk I normally keep on scraps of paper on the floor. The file
cabinet module is for this purpose. It will hold 300 records and serves that
purpose. I have been asked about how to enter cash receipts such as for a
retail photo store that has few outstanding receivables but needs to keep
track of the cash that comes in. You may now go to the new preferences
module and answer "no" to the duplicate invoice checking. You will no longer
need to enter a invoice number to enter receipts. (See new & improved for
details on Preferences.)


Enter the date, amount of bill,and  payment received (which should agree
w/ amount of bill). The system will tabulate all items in the amount field as
SALES whenever you run a income report. When you make a bank deposit, this
should be entered under category 410:RECEIPTS and you will now have a record
of your monthly cash sales. Two other new items are "close month" and
"yearend close". As the names suggest use "close month" at the end of the
month and "yearend close" at the end of the year. It is important to use
the close month at exactly the end of the month. Your cash in bank balance
will change from day to day and if you procrastinate in closing your month,
it will not give you a true picture of your balance for that month. The
yearend close should ONLY be used once at yearend. Because the system will
check EVERY record on file for various functions (such as checking for
duplicate invoice #'s) it is necessary to eventually delete records for
the sake of speed.  The yearend close will delete all receivable records and
general ledger records. I would suggest that you make hard copies and copy
all the info to another disk. That way if you want to look up something from
last year you can run your last year's disk to locate any check or invoice.







                          ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES

From much of the feedback I've received, it is obvious that there are very
different levels of familiarity with standard accounting procedures. The
most confusion centered on the chart of accounts which I'll elaborate on.
A chart of accounts is NOT a listing of your customers. It is simply a list
or chart of all the types of financial activities you conduct in the
operation of your business.  To use the same analogy that is associated with
a varible in basic programming, an account number is like a bucket to hold
pertinent information. When you write a check and enter the category number,
this tells the system that x number of dollars goes into (is credited to) x
bucket (account). When you want to know where all your money went, the chart
of accounts tells you to the penny. The importance of this is obvious if you
wish to run your business rather than have your business run you. I am not
an accountant (and you've probably guessed not a programmer either), but if
you don't understand the principals behind charts of accounts, I'd suggest
you do like I did and spend about fifteen minutes in the library or with
your accountant to master this basic business concept. Other questions I
received concerned some definitions. A vendor is a supplier or creditor.
Example: Jones paint store supplies all my paint and I pay them; Jones
paint store is a vendor. A payable is a bill. Example: Jones paint store
sends me a bill for paint and I enter it in accounts payable. A receivable
is a bill owed ME. Example:Jones paint store has me remodel their store and
I send them a bill (invoice) and enter it in receivables. Clear? So much for
accounting.

                          Custom programs, help

Each different business has different needs. I sincerely hope that the
Clerk will answer your needs. Unfortunetly, I don't have the time to
customize Clerk for every possible application and make a living too.



If you'd like some minor alteration to the program just drop me a line or call
and if it's not too  major, I'll be glad to help. If you just have
a question about the operation write or call and I'll make time to help.


                           Version 3.2 New & Improved
Many of the changes in this version involve a revamping of the program code.
This has made Clerk not quite as pokey and crash prone. I have also added
many more mouse functions to make Clerk truly user friendly (whatever that
really means). I have also added a "Preferences" module to the file cabinet.
You may now enable or disable password protection, duplicate invoice
checking, and the "thought for the day" message that appears on booting
Clerk. Regarding the password protection, after you unarc Clerk, the
password protection is disabled. If you wish to Enable password protection,
be sure to enter a password in the company data section. For safety I have
put the password "PASS" in these files and if you should enable password
protection without entering a password you can still get back in by using
"PASS". If you don't use invoice numbers or prefer speed over safety, you
may disable the duplicate invoice checking function also. This is advisable
in a all cash business. I have disabled all of the options in the file you
have downloaded. I have also changed the delete and change invoice,
payables, functions. If you wish to revise a invoice you should now use the
search function to locate the record and then the program will ask if you
wish to revise the record.

                           Misc. quirks, info, etc.

With a program this size, memory conservation was an important
consideration. To keep memory useage down, I have used dynamic arrays
that expand in relation to file sizes. There is a drawback in that should
you enter a large number of records in one session, the system may crash
(a small crash, no guru) I chose to accept this flaw since no records will
be lost and you need only reboot the system which will then redimension the
arrays to reflect your additional records. The alternative was to place a
strict limit on record numbers. You will also note a orange box in the right
corner with many of the operations. This is a "Click Me" box. To continue
your task, simply click the left mouse once inside the box,then move the
pointer  out of the box until you turn the page again. You will notice
some functions slow as the number of records increase. Again this was a
trade-off (you can see programming involves a lot of tough decisions).
One of my complaints with the commerical business programs available was
their practice of deleting old records and only storing a summary. This
of course kept the program zipping right along, but I'd rather keep all
my records on disk then have to search through hard copies to look up a
a check number or old invoice. Speaking of copies, Do make hard copies,
and do backup your disks....To quote my production foreman and noted
philosopher, big Mike Antonelli, "shit happens".

                     Enjoy and direct your questions ,comments,money,etc.
THIS PROGRAM IS SHAREWARE
if you find it of use,
please contribute ten ($10)
to;
Sanford Finley: Plink c/o Goodbar
                Compuserve c/o 71320,252
                Genie c/o F700
or Jonathan Pepper Company
   801 E. Ogden Suite 1099
   Naperville, IL 60566
   (312)-420-7070