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Financial Consultant
Personal and small business
Checkbook & general ledger program
Copyright 1988 by Jon Kolstad
All rights reserved
Shareware
VERSION FC3000
Jon Kolstad
560 Norton Lane
Arnold MD 21012
(301) 757-1740
Compuserve 73547,2522
GEnie J.KOLSTAD
Copyright 1988 by Jon Kolstad
All rights reserved
No part of this manual may be
reproduced in any form without
express written permission from the
author, Jon Kolstad.
DISCLAIMER
This software is provided to you on an "as is"
basis and the author makes no claim about it's
suitability for yours or any other purposes.
In no event will the author be liable to you
for any damages, including any lost profits,
lost savings or other incidental or con-
sequential damages or for any claim by any
other party, even if the author has been
advised of the possibility of such damages.
Table of Contents
Overview 1
Quick Starting FC3 1
Special Keys 1
Function Keys 2
F1 2
F2 2
F3 2
F4 2
F5 2
F6 2
F7 2
F8 2
F9 2
F10 3
Other Keys 3
Tutorial 3
Account Statistics Window 4
Function Key Menu 4
Setting Colors Etc. 4
Setting Drive/Path 4
Settin Help Drive/Path 5
Setting other printers 5
Sound on/off 5
Calculator decimal 5
Setting Colors 5
Setting Account name/balance 7
Defining Categories 7
Entering transactions 8
Item Entry 8
checks 8
deposits 8
machine 9
service 9
assign 9
The date 9
Description 9
Amount 9
Expense ID 9
Cleared the bank 10
Deleting an entry 10
Correcting an entry 10
ID categories 11
Sorting categories 11
Reconciliation 12
Reporting 12
Conclusion 14
Index 15-18
Shareware
The main idea behind shareware is a method of distributing soft-
ware in a way the you get to try it before you buy it. The
program doesn't belong to you, you are only licensed to try it.
If you want to keep using it, you should pay for it. What you get
is high quality software at a reasonable price.
The concept of shareware was pioneered by several people back in
the early 80's notably Jim Button author of PC-FILE III. He did
an incredibly complete and useful program, then choose shareware
as a means to distribute it.
For those of you who have ever completed a program to its final
finished state, you well know about the time, effort, creativity,
money, frustration, disappointment, discouragement, then finally
shear bliss upon final completion.
I'm not talking about the rest of you who have written a nice
display screen, then, showing it to your family and friends you
tell them what it's going to do, I mean a program that is
finished and does all of those things, complete with on line
help, error checking (for when the user presses or inputs the
wrong thing) and some form of documentation complete with index,
installation, and running instructions.
If you even think that you understand how much work goes into a
complete software package, consider the shareware that you are
finding useful right now, then consider if you would be willing
to complete such a project, and what you would consider fair
compensation for your time & effort.
I was recently informed that to place a one page black & white
advertisement in one particular computer magazine, was in the
neighborhood of six thousand dollars ($6,000.00). Try putting
that into your spreadsheet and see how many disks you have to
sell just to pay for the ad let alone printing a book, (that's
after you write it of course) buying the blank disks & copying
them, labels, postage, etc. etc. etc. Now look at the bottom line
of your spreadsheet and see how much you get to keep for
yourself. Now, has your success been good enough to advertise
next month?
If you've read this far you probably have a pretty good feel for
some of the reasons that shareware is a nice alternative for
distribution of our software. It's true that you don't get a book
wrapped with a beautiful graphic design of scantily clad bodies
soaring through the universe with fists outstretched but, you do
get high quality software that does it's job well.
There have been numerous attempts, by shareware authors, to
encourage you to part with some of your hard earned money, and
on the following page you'll find mine.
With the few checks I receive, there is usually a note or short
letter from the donor telling me how they are using my program
and sometimes a suggestion to make it better. In most cases, I
enjoy the letter as much as the check. The letter certainly lasts
longer, and I keep them all. Here's the pitch:
Financial Consultant Registration options.
A. Send a letter & $40 for small business registration.
B. Send a letter & $25 for home user registration.
C. Send a letter & Contribution.
D. Send a Contribution.
E. Send a letter.
F. Send nothing a continue to feel guilty.
I enjoy writing software and that, in itself, is fulfilling. My
bonus comes when others let me know that they like my programs,
find them practical and easy to use.
I used to try to bribe you by tactics like withholding
documentation, offering to send more free software, free books
etc. etc. but, the fact is, you already have in your possession
approximately 1000 hours of my work. In all fairness, you should
either pass it along or pay for it. Please send a check or money
order (sorry no credit cards) to:
Jon Kolstad
560 Norton Lane
Arnold MD 21012
(301) 757-1740
P.S. Should you decide to send the twenty-five or forty dollars,
I will send you an Invoice for your records and, if your
letter's good, maybe a surprise. (See, I still can't resist
trying the bribe.) -JK-
Financial Consultant
Overview
For those who are familiar with Fred's Checkbook! you will
remember that a professional bookkeeper suggested that the
easiest accounting system, is one that funnels all funds through
your checking account. When preparing my own tax returns in the
past, that system seemed even more logical because canceled
checks were by far the most useful, centralized source of expense
information that was available.
In designing an easy to use home or small business accounting
program, I really wanted to come up with a program that would
have the "look and feel" of an existing manual system, hence FC3,
a program that most people seem to be comfortable with. It keeps
track of your expenses, income and account balance. Has a very
easy to use statement reconciliation method and prints nicely
formatted reports either in detail or summary, for any specified
time period and sends the report to your printer, screen or disk.
These reports are designed to be given to your tax accountant, or
CPA in a format that suits them.
The Family Concept
Expenses and income usually are part of larger sets or groups
that are related in some way. In FC3 a family is one of these
sets and you can have as many of them as you have expense/income
definitions. They basically generate sub-totals in reports and
help you to organize your data.
Quick Starting FC3
For the program to work, all you need on your disk is FC3.EXE and
then type FC3 and the return key. The program will load and
inform you of missing files that can be instantly created and you
are on your way. The only file that can't be created by FC3.EXE
is the help file called FC3HELP.DTA, so if you think that on line
help would be nice make sure you have that file on the disk too.
At this point you can begin making entries, definitions, naming
your account, printing reports and generally enjoying all of the
features of FC3.
Special Keys
There are three keys to remember, that can be of great comfort to
you. They are the Esc key, function key F10 and function key F1.
In general, pressing F10 means that you are finished making
changes to whatever you are doing and are satisfied with the
results.
The Esc key Un-does whatever you are doing and puts the data back
Page 1
the way it was before you changed it. (You might like to think of
it as the Ooops! key.)
Function key F1 is the HELP key. Use it for more information
about the feature of the program that your are currently using.
It only gives you help related to what you are doing but, other
options may also be available so if you want the calendar to pop
up press F5 even though the help screen may not say it's
available. As a rule, if a particular function isn't available,
pressing it's key won't do anything.
Function Keys
F1 - is always help. (if FC3HELP.DTA is on your disk) If you want
to keep this help file on another drive or path, you can set the
help drive & path under Colors etc. (F7) If no help screen pops
up then the only help available is given on the bottom line of
your screen.
F2 -Causes the program to look through your entries and find only
the ones that don't have a check mark to the right. It then takes
those entries and sorts them by check number, Deposits, Machine,
and Service and sub-sorts those groups by date. During this
process it computes your previous ending balance then allows you
to make new check marks and the balance is adjusted accordingly.
F3 -Pops up a tape style four function calculator window and
toggles the Num Lock so that you can use the key pad for numbers.
The calculator uses the decimal and even though you may have the
decimal display set to only two numbers, the accuracy is 5 digits
past the decimal. Set the calc decimal under Colors etc. (F7)
F4 -Pops up the report window where you can set the reporting
dates, detail or totals and where to send output. (printer,
screen or disk file)
F5 -Pops up the current months calendar then you can use the PgUp
or PgDn keys to change them.
F6 -Causes the expense category ID's and definitions window to be
displayed. from here you can insert, delete, sort or edit
categories.
F7 -Colors Etc. is the place where you can set up the colors that
you like, data drive & paths, calc decimal, sound on or off, and
either printer 1, 2, or 3.
F8 -This is where you can change the name of you account and also
adjust your account balance. The balance shown here is the one at
the entry you were at when you pressed F8.
F9 -This is the sorting key. If you are at your entry screen then
they will be sorted by date and then sub-sorted by type of entry.
(Ascending sort by check number then alphabetically.) If you are
in your definitions then you will have a choice of sorts by
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family (sub-sorted by definition) ID or definitions. (Again, an
alphabetical ascending sort.)
F10-Finished.. This key has two different uses. If you are in the
part of the program where you can scroll through them then
pressing F10 will close all of your files and end the program.
(Returning you to the operating system.) Any other time, pressing
F10 will update whatever you are doing and move back a level in
the program.
Multiple Keys
In many parts of the program, such as making corrections or
additions, several keys may have the same action. Most people are
used to using different key patterns because of the software that
they are accustomed to. So if you are used to using Tab key to
move from field to field then go ahead and use it. If you are an
old WordStar die hard (like me) you can use ^X or ^E. Of course
using the most obvious keys such as the return key or arrows
would be a good way to achieve the same results. Even though the
prompt on the last line gives you some help in making a choice,
many of the choices can be made by pressing the letter key of the
desired selection. (e.g. D for Details or S for Screen)
Tutorial
If you have read this far then I presume that either you are
afraid to start or that you have already explored many of the
features and want to fill in any gaps you may have overlooked.
The easiest way to get started is to have the following files on
your default drive: (or in your default directory)
FC3 .EXE FC3HELP .DTA
FC3EXPEN.DTA FC3ACCTS.DTA
FC3USERS.DTA FC3ENTRY.DTA
For this tutorial let us assume that you are using a 360k floppy
disk in drive A: and that all of these files are on that disk.
Now at the A> prompt type FC3 and press the RETURN/ENTER key
(That's the one with the bent arrow and here after will be
referred to as the RETURN key.)
The program will load, support files will be loaded, the FC logo
will be displayed and "press SPACE bar to continue". It doesn't
really need to be the space bar but, "press any key" isn't
exactly an accurate statement either and the space bar definitely
does the job. If you are really in a hurry and won't miss the
logo, try pressing a key sooner.
The opening screen will show one large window with two small
windows under it. The big window is where your entries will be
Page 3
displayed etc. and the small window on the left shows the
function key actions. The small window on the right is an action
window that displays more information about the entry you are at
and some other interesting information.
Account Statistics Window
(lower right box)
The top line of this window shows the name of the account you are
working with. I usually like to use the bank name and account
number here which can be changed by pressing F8. The center line
shows the expense/income ID code, family and definition. This
changes as you scroll through your entries. The right balance box
shows the ending balance of this account and the left balance box
shows what the balance was at (and including) the entry you are
pointing to with the cursor. This also changes as you scroll
through your entries. As you make additional entries or
corrections, the Account Statistic window will reflect the
changes.
Function Key Menu
(lower left box)
This window reminds you of the functions available by pressing
the appropriate function key. As long as the cursor is up
pointing to one of your entries, all of these keys work. Some of
them won't work when you are at the last line and the program is
waiting for you to add a new entry.
F7 - Colors Etc.
The first thing to do is to get the screen colors set up to your
liking. If you don't have a color monitor, you may want to change
these because they change the display characteristics even on a
monochrome monitor. You can make reverse video, high intensity,
low intensity & on some displays, underline. If you don't like
sound you can shut it off here. You can change the calculator
display and which printer to use here also.
Use the up and down arrow keys to move between the different
selections. The bottom line of the screen will display help.
Data Drive & Path
If you are not familiar with DOS, it would probably be a good
idea to leave this line blank. DOS is very particular about what
you type in here and not very forgiving so be careful.
*****************************************************************
If you make a mistake here and save it by pressing F10, you may
have to delete the file FC3USERS.DTA from your disk and start
again. (No data will be lost but, the program can't find it.)
*****************************************************************
Page 4
Until you are familiar with paths etc. leave this line blank!
Help Drive & Path
Same as above, however if you are comfortable with DOS this
feature is handy in that, you will only need one copy of the help
file on your disk.
Printer Number
By pressing the 1, 2, or 3 number key at the top of your keyboard
the printer selection will change. If you have more than one
printer connected you can select which one that FC3 will send
output to, usually #1, when you do reports. If you select a non-
existent printer, you will get an error message that the printer
is not ready, when you try to send reports to that printer.
Sound
You can either have the sound on or off. Press the space bar to
change. Having the sound on really doesn't make very much noise,
only enough to get you attention.
Calculator Decimal
The calculator display will round off to the desired number of
places. The default is two but, if you want to change it, press
one of the number keys at the top of the keyboard 0,1,2,3,4 or 5.
Even though the display is rounded off, the actual accuracy is 11
significant digits, and is limited only by Borland's Turbo Pascal
compiler version 4.0 real number format.
Changing the screen colors
If you have a color monitor, there is no doubt that choosing your
favorite display colors, seems to make this program run better.
Use the up and down arrow keys to move between the lines, and
follow the advice given at the bottom of the screen. (That's the
best help available here.)
The space bar will rotate through the standard IBM background
colors in the following order:
BLACK, BLUE, GREEN, CYAN, RED, MAGENTA, BROWN, WHITE
The + and - keys change the color of the characters for a
particular window. When you press these keys you will be able to
see the colors change in the sample line. The colors of text that
are available are as follows:
WHITE, GRAY, LIGHT_BLUE, LIGHT_GREEN, LIGHT_CYAN, LIGHT_RED,
LIGHT_MAGENTA, YELLOW, BRIGHT_WHITE, BLACK, BLUE, GREEN, CYAN,
Page 5
RED, MAGENTA and BROWN.
If you choose cyan and light cyan for the help window colors, you
won't be able to read the balances in the Account Statistic box.
The thing to consider here is that no one else can either.
When you are satisfied with all of your choices, press F10 and
they will be immediately activated and also saved to disk. If you
press the Esc key, the old defaults are retrieved from disk and
nothing will be changed.
Practice session
To get an overview of what this program is all about, you can
follow along with this tutorial, then delete the sample data when
finished. Another choice would be to use your actual data instead
of the samples then you won't have to re-enter it later.
I spent a lot of time and effort making this program bullet proof
so that you can use it with confidence. This means that you don't
need to worry about making a mistake or pressing the wrong key.
The worst thing that can happen is for the power to go off in the
middle of writing your sorted data to disk. Although this is only
a matter of seconds, it is a very good reason to KEEP CURRENT
BACK UP FILES OF YOUR DATA. Then you won't have to worry about
anything. Enough for the "fear of God" let's go on...
By typing FC3 from the default prompt (e.g. A> ) and pressing the
RETURN key the program will load and display the opening screen.
If you're in a hurry, you can press the space bar while the
program is loading and skip the opening screen.
Assuming this is your first time using the program, you will be
presented with a large empty box over two small boxes. This
opening screen isn't very informative because there is no data
for the program to work with yet.
The HELP key: By pressing function key F1 you get help. The help
screen that is displayed, is the one that most likely relates to
the options available to you at whatever point in the program you
are at. Right now, with no data, the help is related to getting
you started with entering data. When you have finished reading
this help screen "Press SPACE bar to continue".
A handy key to remember is the Esc key. It will take you back a
step at a time to the main entry screen. Remember however, that
if you were making changes to actual data the Esc key will cancel
those changes and restore the old data. (Handy right after you
say "Ooops" or some other expletive.)
At this point, all of the function keys work except for F2 & F9
because there is nothing for them to do. In fact they will never
work when the cursor is on a blank line that contains no data.
Page 6
F8 - Accounts
Since at this time there is only one account available at a time,
"Account" would be the proper prompt to use but, like all great
programmers, I have visions of all of the wonderful things that
FC4 will do some day. Anyway, from here you can change the
account name and the current balance.
For the name you can type over the one showing or use the editing
features described later in this manual. To change the amount,
use the number keys at the top of your keyboard. The decimal and
commas will automatically be placed in the display. If you make a
mistake, press either the backspace or the Del key. These will
delete the digit under the cursor and move everything else over
to the right. You will notice that when you enter the digits,
they are sort of stuffed in from the right side and the other
digits are moved over to the left.
You can even enter a negative number but, the minus key must be
the first key pressed then if you delete the numbers back to
zero, you must press the minus key again to start over to be able
to enter a negative number.
When the name and balance are correct press F10 to activate the
changes. Esc will regret the changes and restore the originals.
F6 - Categories
From here you will define your income/expense categories. By
pressing the help key, you can see from the display in the upper
right hand corner of the screen, an example of how you might use
them.
To add a new category, press the Ins key. This will create a new
line and activate the edit mode so that you can immediately type
in an ID code, family (if you want to use this feature) and
definition. The ID code should be unique. Although the program
will allow you to use duplicates, it will only recognize the
first one encountered in the current sort order.
Why the "Ins" key to add entries? Because when you get 200
definitions on file, you won't want to go to the end to add a new
one. Usually, in fact, you will be adding a related definition
somewhere else and it's nice to be able to view that area while
editing.
By pressing F9 you can have the computer sort your entries by
Definition, ID or Family. (in ascending alphabetical order) You
can use the number key or the first letter (D,I,F) to choose the
order.
When you have finished adding definitions, press F10 to record
them to the disk. CAUTION: if you press the Esc key to exit, your
Page 7
work will remain in memory but NOT SAVED to disk. So be careful
about using the Esc key to exit this section, something may be
missing the next time you use the program. If you accidentally
use the Esc key, press F6 again, sort the definitions, then press
F10. The reason for this is because when you first press F6, the
program waits to see if you change anything before it writes to
the disk again.
Recording new transactions
Check Deposit Machine Service Assign
These are the five types of transactions that you can make and
they are similar to the types used by banks and S&Ls. They are
Checks, Automatic teller transactions, Bank services and
Deposits. This program allows for one additional type called
"Assign" which is any transaction that doesn't have anything to
do with the bank but, needs to be recorded in your general
ledger, for expense/income tracking purposes.
The Item area
The first column in the entry window is called the item area and
the information found there by the program is used to determine
how the remaining information on the line is to be treated by the
program in regards to reports, bank reconciliation and current
balances.
If the program finds a number there, the entry is assumed to be a
check and when you enter the amount, that amount will be
subtracted from your account balance. If the first letter in the
item box is a "D" then the amount will be added to the balance.
If the first letter is an "S" or an "M", then the the entry is
treated as an expense an the amount will be subtracted from the
account balance. If the first letter is an "A" or any other
character, the amount is ignored regarding the account balance
and is only significant in the reporting section, where it will
treated as an expense.
Checks
To record a check in your ledger, you can use the automatic
feature of pressing either the RETURN key or the "c" key. The
number that pops up, in the item area, is the next check number
in sequence. If you want to change that number press the
Left_Arrow key or Up_Arrow key which will move the cursor over to
the item area and allow you to enter or change the existing
number displayed there.
Deposits
By pressing the "D" key the word Deposit is displayed in the item
area and the amount entered will be added to your account
Page 8
balance. If you accidentally enter a deposit as something else,
then go back and change it to a deposit, the program is smart
enough to realize what happened and make the correct balance
changes.
Machine or Service
These words are typed into the item area when you press the "M"
or the "S" key and are treated as expenses. The amount entered
under these classifications is subtracted from the account
balance and sorted into their own groups but, otherwise are
identical.
Assign (or whatever)
The assign feature is used to enter items into your ledger that
you want to keep track of but, don't have anything to do with the
bank. By using "A" you merely attach an amount to an
expense/income definition. This type of item doesn't change the
account balance and is automatically cleared so that it won't
show up when you are reconciling your bank statement.
The Assigned values are only used by the reporting section.
The Date
The date is in the format of Month-Day-Year. You can use the
arrow keys to move across the area, type in the correct date then
press the RETURN key to move on to the description.
The Description
This is where you enter the payee of the check or any other
information that will remind you of what the entry was for. If
you leave this area blank (i.e. just press RETURN key) then when
you enter the ID code later, the Description will be
automatically typed in for you.
The Amount
The amount area only lets you enter numbers and if it is the
first character, the minus sign. I suggest that you don't use
negative numbers yet, until you see how the reports are
generated. The amount is filled in from right to left somewhat
like pushing the numbers in from the right. The decimal and
commas will automatically be added where necessary. If you make a
mistake, you can press either the back_space key or the Del key.
the number under the cursor will be deleted upon each key press
until the amount becomes zero. When you have the correct amount
showing, press the RETURN key to move to the ID area.
The ID
This is where you will enter the unique code that defines a
specific category from your expense/income definitions. If you
Page 9
need to see those definitions now, press F6. The program will
allow you to enter anything that you want to here however if it
can't find a definition, question marks will be displayed in the
definitions line of the account statistics window. You can either
add a new category now or wait until later. The program will
catch up with you eventually.
Cleared Y/N ?
The best thing to do here is press the RETURN key because the
program has a pretty good idea as to what really belongs here.
Y or N is only used if for some reason the item has accidentally
been cleared in another section and not corrected there. In the
case of bank related items, no mark will be placed here when you
press the RETURN key. If the entry has nothing to do with the
bank or it has been cleared automatically when you reconcile your
account, there will be a check mark displayed there.
Pressing the RETURN key here also causes the entry to be stored
to the disk and lets you move on to other parts of the program.
If you use Y or N then the cursor jumps to item area but, does
not leave the edit mode. You must then use F10 to store the
entry. (or Esc to abort it.)
How to delete an entry
The way that this program takes care of deletions is by first
having you mark the entry, then when you press F9 to sort the
file, the record will removed for good.
It's easy to mark an item for deletion, you move the cursor to
the entry and press the Del key. The mark used by the program is
the asterisk "*" and it looks for that mark in the first
character position of the item area. You will also notice that
when an entry is marked for deletion, the balances are also
adjusted accordingly.
While an entry is marked, the program ignores it as though it
didn't exist. To Un-Delete an entry just press the Del key again
and the mark will be removed and the balances restored. Once you
have pressed F9 to sort the records all of the marked entries are
gone forever.
Editing an entry
You can move freely up and down through your entries by using the
up and down arrow keys. When you get to the one that you want to
change, use the right_arrow key to move over into the record.
Once in the edit mode, you can move around in the record by using
any of the arrow keys, the tab key, and the RETURN key. The
program uses the type over method of editing meaning that if you
type a letter key, the character at the cursor position will be
replaced by the new one typed. To insert a space or spaces at the
cursor position, use the Ins key. The back space key erases the
Page 10
character preceding the cursor and moves the rest of the line
over. The Del key erases the character under the cursor and moves
the rest of the line over. The Home key moves the cursor to the
beginning of the area and the End key moves the cursor to the
end.
To edit the amount, press the backspace or the Del key until you
have erased the error, then using the number keys at the top of
the keyboard, type in the corrections.
When you are finished editing the entry, press F10 to save and
make the changes permanent. If you say Ooops and wish you hadn't
made any changes, press the Esc key and the original will be
restored.
ID Categories
By pressing F6 the expense/income window will pop up and display
the first page of definitions. (assuming you have that many) You
can define up to 250 separate categories and to add a new one
just press the Ins key. A new line will be added and you will be
automatically in the edit mode for definitions. The bottom line
of the display screen will give you some help however, if you
need some ideas, key definitions etc. you can press F1 (help key)
for further information.
The ID is any one to five character unique identifying code that
will be the code that you will type in to define what group a
particular entry is a member of.
The Family is an optional major grouping code that is usually
only necessary if you have alot of definitions. Examples of these
are shown on the definitions help screen.
The Definition of the ID code is, of course, the explanation of
what the ID means. One important thing to remember is that if you
want the program to automatically type in payee descriptions this
is where you would type in that name. For example if every month
you send a check to the "Local Electric Company", then you would
use the ID code of LEC when you are making entries and if the
description area is blank, the program will type in the
definition of LEC namely "Local Electric Company" for you.
When you are finished entering ID's and definitions (by using the
Ins key) press F10 to save them to disk. Don't use the Esc key
because your work will not be written to disk.
Should you want to Delete a definition and ID just move to that
line and press the Del key. You will then be asked to verify the
deletion by pressing Y. Again be sure to exit by using F10.
Sorting categories
While viewing your expense/income definitions, you can press F9
to sort them. A small sort window will appear and you can then
Page 11
press the appropriate key for the order that you want. The keys
that work here are 1,2,3,I,F,or D. There are three sorts orders.
The ID and Definition sort are in alphabetically ascending order.
The family sorts first by family group then again within each
family ascending alphabetically.
Balancing
(account reconciliation)
By pressing F2 while viewing your entries, you will cause the
program to look up all of the entries that don't have a check
mark next to them on the right hand side of the screen. After
retrieving all of those entries, the program sorts them into
groups consisting of Checks, Deposits, Machines and Services.
Then within these groups, entries are sorted by date.
The cursor will be positioned at the oldest outstanding check.
The left_balance in the account statistics box will have a number
the should be the beginning balance of you bank statement. Or to
put it another way, the ending balance from your last statement.
The bottom of your screen informs you to press the RETURN key if
the item at the cursor is shown on your statement, and press the
SPACE bar if it isn't. You will notice that the left_balance
changes as you press the RETURN key and that the program places a
check mark next to the entry.
You can scroll up and down through your entries using the space
bar and return key to correctly mark items and when you are
satisfied that you have marked each item shown on your statement,
look at the left_balance box and that number should be the ending
balance shown on your statement.
If the balance is incorrect, you may have forgotten to enter
something like a bank service charge, interest on checking, or if
you're like me you may have forgotten to enter one of those money
machine withdrawals. If the error is in one of the entries on the
screen, all you have to do is go up to the item and press the
right arrow key to move in and correct it.
If you have forgotten to make entries, press Esc (so that the
check marks won't be saved) add the new items, then press F2 to
begin the balancing again. If you know for sure what the problem
is you could press F10 to save the check marks. This will save
you from having to go through all of the un- marked items again.
Don't forget that you have a calculator by pressing F3 to help
you figure out what may be missing and by how much.
Reports
Finally we come to the fun part of computing. Making sense out of
the entries and letting the computer do the work. By pressing F4,
Page 12
the screen will clear and a small report window will be
displayed. don't let the size fool you this is a very powerful
reporting system.
The bottom line of the screen will help you remember what to do
to change to the different report models. You can have the
program report transactions from any given date to another.
Remember that the entries made on the dates you enter will be
included in the reports.
Reporting dates
The first time that you enter the reporting section, during a
session, the dates shown will be the starting date of January 1st
of the current year and ending at todays date. The reason for
this is so that you can see what your Year To Date totals are by
merely pressing F10 to begin. You won't have to fumble around
entering the correct dates.
You can basically enter any dates that you want just as long as
the starting date is before the ending date. The program will
even accept that error but of course will only print zeros. The
Dates will even cross year boundaries, so if you have a different
fiscal year the reports will be accurate.
By using the arrow keys you can move up and down the lines to
make the changes that you desire. You can report in Totals or by
Details. You can send the report to the screen for viewing or to
the printer, or to a disk file that can be edited by nearly any
word-processing program.
The reports are printed by pages and also numbered. The title of
each page shows the account name, the reporting method and dates,
and the page number. The margins are pre-set and are designed to
fit nicely on an 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of paper.
If you send the report to the disk, an additional line appears
with a file name for you to edit. The file name supports other
disks and path names. If however, you enter a non-existent drive
or path name, or an invalid file name, the report won't be
written to the disk. There will be no other ill effects. If all
is well, the bottom line of the screen will inform you that the
program is writing to a disk file.
You will be warned if you are about to write over an existing
file and you can decide what you want to do from there.
The reports are printed using the entries as they are stored on
the disk. Usually in date order. They are also generated by
groups relating to the order that you have sorted the expense
definitions. The default sort is by family and this sort is
performed automatically when you enter the reporting section. If
you want to change that order, press F9 then F9 then select the
order, and press F10. The reports will be printed in the new
order until you either change the order or leave the report
Page 13
section and return later.
To leave the reporting section press the Esc key. If you don't
leave the program, then return to the reporting section later,
the reporting section remains just as you left it. (Except for
the category sort order which will be by family, because that is
the best order for reporting totals. Actually, it's the only
order that makes any sense for reporting totals.)
Conclusion
That pretty well covers the features and uses of FC3. If you have
any comments, suggestions, questions, or would like to point out
other uses you have found for the program you can write to me and
let me know. Many of the "nice" features of this program have
come from users of previous versions so don't be afraid to speak
up. I try to answer all of my mail, so feel free..
Jon Kolstad
560 Norton Lane
Arnold MD 21012
(301) 757-1740
Page 14
Abort, 10 BROWN, 5, 6
Accept, 13 Business, 1
Accidentally, 8, 9, 10
Account, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, Calculator, 2, 4, 5, 12
8, 9, 10, 12, 13 Calendar, 2
Accounting, 1 Cancel, 6
Accounts, 7 Case, 10
Accuracy, 2, 5 Categories, 2, 7, 11
Accurate, 3, 13 Category, 2, 7, 10, 14
Accustomed, 3 CAUTION, 7
Action, 3, 4 Changes, 1, 4, 6, 7, 9,
Activate, 7 11, 12, 13
Activated, 6 Character, 8, 9, 10, 11
Actual, 5, 6 Characters, 5
Actually, 14 Charge, 12
Add, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12 Check, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11,
Additions, 3 12
Adjust, 2 Checkbook, 1
Advice, 5 Checks, 1, 8, 12
Alphabetical, 3, 7 Choices, 3, 6
Alphabetically, 2, 12 Classifications, 9
Amount, 7, 8, 9, 11 Cleared, 9, 10
Area, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Code, 4, 7, 9, 11
Arrow, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, Colors, 2, 4, 5, 6
12, 13 Column, 8
Ascending, 2, 3, 7, 12 Commas, 7, 9
Assign, 8, 9 Comments, 14
Assigned, 9 Compiler, 5
Assume, 3 Computer, 7, 13
Assumed, 8 Computes, 2
Assuming, 6, 11 Computing, 12
Asterisk, 10 Concept, 1
Attach, 9 Conclusion, 14
Automatic, 8 Consultant, 1
Automatically, 7, 9, 10, Continue, 3, 6
11, 13 Copy, 5
Corrections, 3, 4, 11
Background, 5 CPA, 1
Backspace, 7, 11 Cursor, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9,
Balance, 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12
9, 12 CYAN, 5, 6
Balances, 6, 8, 10
Balancing, 12 Data, 1, 2, 4, 6
Bank, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12 Date, 2, 9, 12, 13
Begin, 1, 12, 13 Dates, 2, 13
BLACK, 5 Day, 7
Blank, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11 Decimal, 2, 5, 7, 9
BLUE, 5 Default, 3, 5, 6, 13
Bookkeeper, 1 Define, 7, 11
Borland's, 5 Defines, 9
Bottom, 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, Definitely, 3
13 Definition, 3, 4, 7, 9,
Boundaries, 13 10, 11, 12
Box, 4, 6, 8, 12 Definitions, 1, 2, 3, 7,
Boxes, 6 8, 10, 11, 13
Page 15
Del, 7, 9, 10, 11 Financial, 1
Delete, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, Finished, 1, 3, 6, 7, 11
11 Fiscal, 13
Deleted, 9 Floppy, 3
Deletion, 10, 11 Forget, 12
Deletions, 10 Forgiving, 4
Deposit, 8, 9 Forgotten, 12
Deposits, 2, 8, 12 Format, 1, 5, 9
Description, 9, 11 Formatted, 1
Designed, 1, 13 Fumble, 13
Detail, 1, 2 Fun, 12
Details, 3, 13 Function, 1, 2, 4, 6
Different, 3, 4, 13 Funds, 1
Digits, 2, 5, 7
Directory, 3 Gaps, 3
Disk, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, General, 1, 8
7, 8, 10, 11, 13 Gone, 10
Display, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, Good, 3, 4, 6, 10
11 GRAY, 5
DOS, 4, 5 Great, 1, 7
Drive, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13 GREEN, 5
DTA, 1, 2, 3, 4 Group, 11, 12
Duplicates, 7 Groups, 1, 2, 9, 12, 13
Edit, 2, 7, 10, 11, 13 Hand, 7, 12
Effects, 13 Handy, 5, 6
Empty, 6 Help, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Ending, 2, 4, 12, 13 7, 11, 12, 13
Enjoying, 1 Home, 1, 11
Entering, 6, 11, 13
Entries, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, IBM, 5
10, 11, 12, 13, 13 ID, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12
Erased, 11 Identical, 9
Erases, 11 Identifying, 11
Error, 5, 11, 12, 13 ID's, 2, 11
Esc, 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, Ignored, 8
12, 14 Ignores, 10
Example, 7, 11 Important, 11
EXE, 1, 3 Income, 1, 4, 7, 8, 9,
Exit, 7, 8, 11 10, 11
Expense, 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, Incorrect, 12
9, 10, 11, 13 Inform, 1, 13
Expenses, 1, 9 Information, 1, 2, 4, 8,
Expletive, 6 9, 11
Informative, 6
Family, 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, Informs, 12
12, 13, 14 Ins, 7, 11, 11
Fear, 6 Insert, 2, 10
Feature, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 Intensity, 4
Features, 1, 3, 7, 14 Interest, 12
Field, 3 Invalid, 13
Figure, 12 Item, 8, 9, 10, 12
File, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10,
13 January, 13
Files, 1, 3, 6 Job, 3
Page 16
Jon, 14 Never, 6
Jumps, 10 Nice, 1, 7, 14
Nicely, 1, 13
Keep, 2, 6, 9 Noise, 5
Keyboard, 5, 7, 11 Non-existent, 5, 13
Kolstad, 14 Notice, 7, 10, 12
Num, 2
Last, 3, 4, 12 Numbers, 2, 7, 9
Leave, 4, 5, 9, 10, 14
Ledger, 8, 9 Old, 3, 6
Left, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14 Ooops, 2, 6, 11
Letter, 3, 7, 8, 10 Opening, 3, 6
Level, 3 Operating, 3
LIGHT, 5, 6 Optional, 11
Limited, 5 Options, 2, 6
Load, 1, 3, 6 Order, 5, 7, 12, 13, 14
Local, 11 Organize, 1
Lock, 2 Original, 11
Logical, 1 Originals, 7
Logo, 3 Output, 2, 5
Look, 1, 2, 12 Overlooked, 3
Lost, 4 Overview, 1, 6
Machine, 2, 8, 9, 12 Page, 11, 13
MAGENTA, 5, 6 Pages, 13
Mail, 14 Paper, 13
Manual, 1, 7 Pascal, 5
Margins, 13 Path, 2, 4, 5, 13
Mark, 2, 10, 12 Paths, 2, 5
Marked, 10, 12 Patterns, 3
Marks, 2, 10, 12 Payee, 9, 11
Member, 11 Period, 1
Memory, 8 Permanent, 11
Menu, 4 PgDn, 2
Message, 5 PgUp, 2
Method, 1, 10, 13 Places, 5, 12
Middle, 6 Point, 1, 6, 14
Minus, 7, 9 Pop, 2, 11
Missing, 1, 8, 12 Position, 10, 11
Mistake, 4, 6, 7, 9 Positioned, 12
Mode, 7, 10, 11 Power, 6
Models, 13 Practice, 6
Money, 12 Preparing, 1
Monitor, 4, 5 Pre-set, 13
Monochrome, 4 Print, 13
Month, 11 Printed, 13
Months, 2 Printer, 1, 2, 4, 5, 13
Month-Day-Year, 9 Printing, 1
Move, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, Prints, 1
10, 11, 12, 13 Problem, 12
Multiple, 3 Prompt, 3, 6, 7
Proof, 6
Name, 2, 4, 7, 11, 13 Proper, 7
Nearly, 13 Purposes, 8
Negative, 7, 9
Page 17
Read, 3, 6 Starting, 1, 13
Ready, 5 Statement, 1, 3, 9, 12
Recognize, 7 Statistic, 4, 6
Reconcile, 10 Statistics, 4, 10, 12
Reconciliation, 1, 8, 12 Stuffed, 7
Reconciling, 9 Subtracted, 8, 9
Record, 7, 8, 10 Sub-sorted, 2, 3
Records, 10 Sub-sorts, 2
RED, 5, 6 Sub-totals, 1
Regret, 7 Summary, 1
Related, 1, 2, 6, 7, 10 Support, 3
Relating, 13 System, 1, 3, 13
Remember, 1, 6, 11, 13
Replaced, 10 Tab, 3, 10
Reports, 1, 5, 8, 9, 12, Tax, 1
13 Text, 5
Restore, 6, 7 Time, 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13
Restored, 10, 11 Title, 13
Results, 1, 3 Totals, 2, 13, 14
Retrieved, 6 Track, 1, 9
Retrieving, 12 Tracking, 8
Return, 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, Transactions, 8, 13
10, 12, 14 Turbo, 5
Returning, 3 Tutorial, 3, 6
Reverse, 4
Re-enter, 6 Underline, 4
Right, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, Unique, 7, 9, 11
12 Un-Delete, 10
Rotate, 5 Un-does, 1
Rounded, 5 Update, 3
Sample, 5, 6 Values, 9
Satisfied, 1, 6, 12 Verify, 11
Save, 4, 11, 12 Video, 4
Saved, 6, 8, 12 View, 7
Screen, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Viewing, 11, 12, 13
7, 11, 12, 13
Scroll, 3, 4, 12 Warned, 13
Select, 5, 13 WHITE, 5
Selection, 3, 5 Window, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8,
Selections, 4 10, 11, 12, 13
Send, 2, 5, 11, 13 Withdrawals, 12
Separate, 11 Word-processing, 13
Sequence, 8 Worst, 6
Service, 2, 8, 9, 12
Services, 8, 12 Year, 13
Sign, 9 YELLOW, 5
Significant, 5, 8
Sort, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 12, Zero, 7, 9
13, 14 Zeros, 13
Sorting, 2, 11
Sound, 2, 4, 5
SPACE, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10,
11, 12
Start, 3, 4, 7
Page 18
