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CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 Table of Contents WHAT IT IS (and isn't)............................Page 1 SHAREWARE REGISTRATION.......................Page 1 SUPPORT......................................Page 2 INSTALLATION.......................................Page 2 GETTING STARTED....................................Page 4 THE CHECK REGISTER..............................Page 4 THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE............................Page 7 ACCOUNT TYPES................................Page 9 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER............................Page 11 A NOTE ON HELP..................................Page 11 CONVENTIONS USED................................Page 12 FORMS AND FIELDS.............................Page 13 POP UP MENUS.................................Page 13 THE HOT LINE.................................Page 14 PAGING AND SCROLLING.........................Page 14 SELECTION WINDOWS............................Page 15 USING THE CHECK REGISTER........................Page 15 CHECK no. or transaction type................Page 16 DATE.........................................Page 16 PAYEE........................................Page 16 ACCOUNT PAYMENT..............................Page 16 CATEGORY.....................................Page 17 AMOUNT.......................................Page 17 FEE..........................................Page 17 USING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE..........................Page 17 CREDITS......................................Page 18 DEBITS.......................................Page 19 WHAT'S TO COME.....................................Page 19 PARADOX USERS......................................Page 20 HISTORY............................................Page 21 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 WHAT IT IS (and isn't) Checkbook+ is a checkbook register and (for lack of a better term) accounts payable system. Unlike most systems available, it is designed to look and work like your check register, rather than the check itself. It's primary purpose is to simplify the task of maintaining a checking account. This includes keeping track of your balance and reconciling your bank statement. In addition, Checkbook+ will also keep track of your regular bills, such as charge accounts, utilities, rents, loans, etc. For charge accounts, CB also allows you to enter information about your charges, such as what you purchased, who you bought it from, a reference code, and of course, how much it cost. This is how CB keeps track of your account balance. It also provides you with an historical record of your purchases which you can keep as long as you like. To make a payment on an account, all you have to do is write them a check and enter the account code (or select one from a menu) in place of the payee. CB will automatically apply it to your account. What Checkbook+ isn't, is a program for accountants. There is no general ledger, financial statement, or balance sheet. If you want a financial program, there are plenty on the market. Personally, they seemed much too complicated and clumsy. I wanted a system that was fast, easy, and efficient. I had no need to set up and maintain GL accounts, balance sheets, or operating statements. If that sounds familiar, then CB may be for you. SHAREWARE REGISTRATION Try Checkbook+ for thirty days. If you like it, send a check or money order for $35 to: Larry McElderry P.O.Box 1172 Manhattan, KS 66502-0012 The easiest way to register Checkbook+ is to fill out the built- in registration form. When you first start Checkbook+, you will see a screen identifing Checkbook+ as shareware, and a prompt at the bottom of the screen asking you if you want to complete the order form. To do so, simply enter Y and fill out the form that follows. You can output the form directly to your printer, or tuck it away in a file for later printing. Mail this form to me along with your check or money order, and I'll send you the latest registered version. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 1 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 WHAT IT IS (and isn't) Registration gives you a voice in future enhancements, telephone support, the current registered version, and any miscellaneous utility programs for CB. Oh yes, it also entitles you, your spouse, and your children to use CB after the trial period. Said family members may use Checkbook+ on any number of machines with the restriction that only they use it. Also, everyone who registers version 1.02 will receive a free update to version 2.00, when it becomes available. Checkbook+ is not (and will never be) copy protected in any way. The only difference between the shareware and the registered version is that the registered version does not contain the initial shareware screen nor the capability to print an order form (this saves a bit of disk space and memory). This shareware version may be freely distributed. SUPPORT If you need help with Checkbook+, you can write to me at the above address. (Telephone support is available to registered users). Sorry, but I just don't have the resources to offer phone support to everyone. You can also contact me via Compuserve E-Mail. My Compuserve ID is 74017,1630. Hopefully, you won't find it necessary to seek support, but if you do, I'll certainly do what I can. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 2 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 INSTALLATION The distribution disk (or archive) should contain: CB.EXE main program CB.MSG help file CB.DOC I guess you know INSTALL.EXE installation program the first time you run CB, it will create the following data files: CB_APDTL DB Account details (credits/debits) CB_APDTL PX index for above CB_APMST DB Account master file CB_APMST PX index for above CB_APMST X07 index CB_APMST Y07 index CB_CHECK checkbook register CB_CTL configuration file CB gives you a lot of flexibility in file placement, with the following restrictions: The data files must all be located in the same directory. The help file (CB.MSG) must be in the same directory as CB.EXE or in the same directory as the data files. Please note that CB cannot run without this file. When CB is run, it will search for its data files in the following order: 1 - in the directory pointed to by the environment variable CB_FILES, as in SET CB_FILES=D:\CB 2 - the current directory 3 - the directory where CB.EXE is located If CB cannot locate the data files, they will be CREATED in the directory specified in the environment variable CB_FILES. If no such variable exists, they will be created in the current directory. If all that sounds confusing, don't worry about it. Just run the install program and let it do the work! This information is provided just in case you'd rather do it yourself. To install Checkbook+, place the distribution disk into a drive bay, log onto that drive, and type INSTALL. INSTALL will look for the source files in whatever directory it is located, so if you received Checkbook+ as an archive, you can run INSTALL from the directory where you unarchived the files. The INSTALL program will copy the program files to the directory Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 3 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 INSTALLATION you specify and then call CB.EXE to create the needed data files and finish the setup process. It will optionally create a .BAT file (which should be in your PATH) to run the program. INSTALL will NOT touch your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files. Anyway, if you elect to use the install program, you'll find a screen that looks something like this: /--------------------------------------------------------------\ | | | Install from: A:\ | | | | System Files: C:\CB | | | | Data Files: C:\CB | | | | Create bat file to run program? Y | | | \--------------------------------------------------------------/ Install from: tells INSTALL where the source files (CB.EXE and CB.HLP) are located. This defaults to the directory where install is located which should be correct for 99% of all installations. System Files: tells INSTALL where to put CB.EXE and CB.HLP. Data Files: tells INSTALL where all the CB_*** files are to be placed. Create bat file..: yes or no If yes, INSTALL will ask you for a directory and name. The default is to create CBX.BAT in the first directory of your DOS path. Where you put your files is entirely up to you. The recommended method is to install all files in one directory and allow INSTALL to create CBX.BAT to run the program. This is recommended only because it is the easiest method and it is the default for the INSTALL program. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 4 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 GETTING STARTED THE CHECK REGISTER The final step in the installation process is configuring CB. Once INSTALL has copied the system files, it will automatically run CB to finish the job. If you are doing a manual installation, make sure you are logged into the directory where your data files are to be located or set the environment variable CB_FILES to tell CB where to put them. The first thing you will be asked for is a balance forward. Enter your current account balance. Essentially, this is the same as the balance forward you would enter when starting a new check register. You may, however, want to enter your currently outstanding checks. If so, look back in your register for the account balance just prior to your first outstanding (unreconciled) check, and enter that amount. Don't worry, you can always change it. If you choose this option it will be necessary to enter all subsequent checks (both reconciled and unreconciled) into CB. Afterward, you will need to pick the reconciliation function to flag any checks that have already been reconciled. The advantage of doing this is that it will make your first reconciliation easier. Once you have entered your beginning balance, CB will create the files it needs and take you the main screen. It should look a lot your check register (except that there is only one entry). At the bottom of your screen you will see a list of commands. One letter in each command (usually the first) is capitalized. To invoke the command, simply press the key that corresponds to the capitalized letter. Try it now, by pressing the S key. The following menu will pop up: /-------------------\ | Change Colors | | Change Parameters | | Transaction Types | | | | | | | | Finished | \-------------------/ One of the entries will be highlighted. Use the cursor keys to move the highlight bar. When the appropriate entry is highlighted, press <ENTER> to select that function. Try it by highlighting "Change Parameters" and pressing enter. This will pop up another window that contains the configurable parameters. Currently, this consists of the following: Due Days: 7 Minimum Balance: $ 0.00 Last Check Number: 1 Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 5 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 GETTING STARTED THE CHECK REGISTER Due days tells CB how far into the future to look for accounts that are due. The default setting of seven tells CB to look for accounts that are due within seven days. You can change this to anything you like. Minimum balance tells CB when to flag your account as being overdrawn. Although CB will not charge you for going below your minimum balance, it will display your account balance in the color you select for "Insufficient Funds". Last check number is something you probably won't need to change. CB maintains this when you add checks. However, CB will never lower the last check number, so if you ever need to do so, you will have to do it manually. Another thing you might want to take a look at is "Transaction Types". Everything you put in your checkbook register is a transaction. Of course, most transaction are checks (I know, it's too bad they can't all be deposits). Others are service charges, deposits (deja vu), check purchases, withdrawal fees, interest, etc. CB comes preconfigured with a few of these, but you may want to change them or add new ones. To do so, pick "Transaction Types" from the setup menu. You should see this screen: / CODE DESCRIPTION TYPE FEE \ | 9999 ?this is for checks d 0c|| | dp DEPOSIT c 0c|| | sc SERVICE CHARGE d 0c|| | i INTEREST c 0c|| | sp ? special anything a 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | 0c|| | | \-Press <END> to save, <ESC> to cancel------/ These are the default transaction types. The first one is reserved for checks and CB will not let you change it except for the transaction fee. The others you can change, but once added, they cannot be deleted. Here's what each field is: Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 6 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 GETTING STARTED THE CHECK REGISTER Code: This is the code which identifies the transaction type. When you enter transactions into the register, the first thing CB asks for is a transaction type. Entering a number tells CB that this is a check transaction. Otherwise, enter a transaction code. For example, if entering a deposit, enter dp (unless you've changed it to something else). Description: This describes the transaction type. This is what CB will put into the description column of the checkbook register when you enter this transaction type. If you don't want CB to do this for you, enter a ? in the first column and CB will ask for a description when you use this type. Type: Tells CB if this transaction type is a debit or credit. Fee: If there is a fee associated with this transaction type, enter it here (in cents) and CB will automatically deduct this fee from your balance when you enter the transaction. Whether or not you use this feature depends largely upon how your bank assesses this fee. CB will treat it as if it were part of the transaction itself. For instance, say you have a $30 withdrawal and you set up a $1 fee for this withdrawal. When CB processes the withdrawal, it would deduct $31 from your account balance. While this method will give you the most accurate picture of your bank balance, it can complicate reconciliation. This is especially true if your bank simply lumps all fees into one charge. You may want to experiment with this. That's about it for setting up the checkbook register, although you may to play around with the color settings. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 7 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 GETTING STARTED THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE This is where CB really helps you to manage your bills. In this section, you can set up all your regular bills. This can include utilities, charge accounts, loans, insurance premiums, rentals, etc. Just about anything you pay on a regular basis. Once set up, CB can keep track of what you've paid and what you owe. If you're still looking at your check register, press A to get to the Accounts. You should see this: Acct Code: Payment: $ 0.00 Payee: Past Due: $ 0.00 Acct #: Due Date: / / Incept: / / Balance: $ 0.00 Type: 0 Active: Y Amount: $ 0.00 high credit: 0 Int rate: 0.00 Limit: 0 Months: 1 partial: 0 available: 0 Pay factor: 0.0000 Name: Int YTD: $ 0.00 Address1: Paid YTD: $ 0.00 Address2: Address3: Total Payments: 0 Phone: ( ) - Total Int paid: 0.00 Total Paid: 0.00 eXit, Get, Add, Modify, Update, Next, Previous, Debits, Credits, Full Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 8 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 GETTING STARTED THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE Setting up accounts is as simple as filling out the above form. Go ahead and try one. Press G or A and then fill in the blanks. If you need more information as to what a particular item is, press the F1 key. Try setting one up for your phone bill. Hint; use type 7 [Service (var.)]. You do not need to fill in the total fields, CB will keep track of those for you. Most of the information is pretty apparent, but we should discuss account types. CB currently has 8 types of accounts. They are: Revolving Charge NonRevolving Charge Recurring Loan Rental (fixed amt) Rental (var. amt) Service (fixed) Service (var.) These are numbered 0 through 7 (no, you won't need to remember that). The major difference between the various types is the way CB computes payments and due dates. Let's look at each type in detail. Revolving Charge: These are our favorites (yet, how we hate them). Credit cards, credit lines, and department store accounts fall into this category. The due date for this type of account is computed by adding "Months" to the month portion of the "Due Date". For instance, if the "Due Date" is 1/5/1991, and Months is set to 1, CB will compute the next due date as 2/5/1991. The payment will usually be whatever you entered in the "Payment" field. However, there are some circumstances in which CB may override that. 1) If you entered a value in the "Pay factor" field, CB will first calculate the payment by multiplying this value by the current balance. If that amount is greater than the scheduled "Payment", CB will use the greater amount. 2) If the current balance is less than the scheduled payment, then the balance will be the computed payment. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 9 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 GETTING STARTED THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE NonRevolving Charge: These are much the same as revolving charge accounts, except that you are not allowed to carry a balance forward from period to period. Many gasoline company credit cards fall into this category. Due date is calculated the same as revolving charge. The computed payment is always the current balance. Rental (fixed amt); Service (fixed) These two work the same way. The difference in names is for historical purposes. In this type of account, the payment rarely changes. Due date is calculated the same as for revolving charge. The computed payment is always the scheduled payment. Rental (var. amt); Service (fixed) Like the above, except that the amount varies from period to period. Since the payment always varies, CB updates the payment field with the average payment. The average payment is calculated by dividing the total amount paid by the number of payments. Due date is calculated the same as for revolving charge. The computed payment is always the scheduled payment. However, each time a payment is made, CB computes the average payment and places that in the "Payment" field. Recurring: This is for bills that recur regularly and the amount seldom, if ever, changes. Some examples would be insurance premiums, property taxes, license fees, etc. Many such bills give you the option of paying the amount in installments. To accommodate this, CB allows you to specify the period (in months) for a partial payment. Here's how it works: Let's say your car insurance is $300 a year. The insurance company will allow you to pay it in 3 consecutive monthly installments of $100 each. When you set up the account, you enter $300 in the "Amount" field (this will also set your balance to $300). In the "Months" field, you enter 12, since it is due once a year. In the "partial" field you enter 1, since the installments are due each consecutive month. In the "Payment" field, you enter $100. Now let's say you set the "Due Date" to 1/5/1993. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 10 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 GETTING STARTED THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE Come January fifth (or whenever), you cut them a check for a hundred dollars. CB sees that this is the first payment (it is the first payment if "Amount" is the same as "Balance") and saves the current "Due Date". CB then subtracts the amount paid from the balance and computes the next "Due Date" by adding 1 (partial) month to the current due date. This cycle will continue until the balance is paid in full. When the balance drops to zero, CB will reset it to "Amount" and calculate the next due date by adding 12 (Months) to the original due date. Generally, the best time to set up an account is when you receive your statement. That way you have all the pertinent information in hand; due date, balance, etc. Of course, you don't have to wait, it's just easier. Feel free to play around with CB. You can set up dummy accounts, add dummy checks (might as well give yourself a huge balance), dummy account debits, etc. Afterwards you can delete them all, or you can delete all of CB's data files. All the data files begin with CB_ so you can wipe them all out with the DOS command del CB_*.* (don't forget to CD to the directory where they were installed). CB_CTL contains all your color choices, transaction types, and operating parameters. Save it, if you all you want to do is wipe out your data. CB will automatically create any missing files the next time it is run (refer to the installation section). Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 11 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER A NOTE ON HELP Before we go any any further, I'd like to remind you that CB has extensive built in help. The help file is the first thing updated after the code, so it always contains the most recent information. It is context sensitive, meaning that the information provided directly pertains to what you are doing at the time. It can be invoked at any time by pressing the F1 key. Many of the screens are cross-referenced. Cross referenced items are highlighted on the screen. You can move the highlight bar with your cursor keys to select a cross ref subject. Press ENTER to view it. You can also backtrack through cross refs by pressing ALT-F1. Any time you need more information about a particular item, press the help key, chances are, you'll find what you're looking for. The help screens contain information that isn't covered in this document, so don't hesitate to use them. This document is designed to give you an overall view of the system and how to use it, whereas the help screens will provide you with detailed information on what each individual item is and what it does. The idea is to prevent having the same information in two different places. Since this is a one man operation, it saves me the trouble of writing redundant documentation. It also saves you the bother of having to thumb through a manual whenever you need a quick bit of information. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 12 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER CONVENTIONS USED There are a number of conventions used throughout Checkbook+. The help key is one of them. The F1 key will always provide you information about the current field. If it doesn't, let me know, and I'll see to it that it does. FORMS AND FIELDS Another convention is forms. CB uses forms to input check transactions, account master records, credits, debits, and other information. A form is simply a group of related fields. For instance, when you enter a check, you must enter a check number, a date, the payee, a category number, the amount, and an optional fee. Each individual item is a field, and all the items together constitute a form. Whenever you add a check, account master, credit, or debit, you are, in effect, editing a form. Just as when you write a check you are editing a form; you simply fill in the blanks. When the last blank is filled in, you're done. It works the same way in CB. The difference is that CB will automatically lead you from blank to blank. Generally, this is from left to right or top to bottom; probably, the same way you fill out paper forms. Anyway, when you're editing the form, these keys that have special functionality: <CURSOR UP> or <shift-TAB> - moves to the previous field. If you're in the first field, it moves to the last. <CURSOR DOWN> or <TAB> - moves to the next field. If you're in the last field, moves to the first. <ENTER> - similar to <CURSOR DOWN> except that if you are in the last field, CB assumes that are finished with the form. F10 or control-<ENTER> - tells CB that you are finished with the form. <ESC> - cancel. Tells CB to wad up this form and toss it into the trash can. Fields can also be edited. The backspace key and the keypad function keys (cursor up, cursor down, end, del, ins, home) can all be used to edit fields and probably work as you would expect them. Refer to the help screen section on SPECIAL KEYS for details. POP UP MENUS Also known as light bar menus, these are windows that present you with a list of choices. One of the choices is hightlighted by being displayed in a different color or by reversing the video from light chars on a dark background to dark characters on a light background (or vice versa). By Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 13 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER CONVENTIONS USED changing the background (the area surrounding each character), the highlighted item appears as a bar, thus the term light bar. Alternatively, the highlighted item may be brighter, dimmer, or a different color than the other items. At any rate, in some way, it looks different. This line is called the HOT LINE. When you press the <ENTER> key, you select the item on the hot line. You can move the hot line by pressing the <CURSOR UP> and <CURSOR DOWN> keys. Some menus also permit left and right movement by way of the <CURSOR LEFT> and <CURSOR RIGHT> keys. THE HOT LINE The HOT LINE concept is also used in transaction processing (checks, credits, debits). Since CB displays multiple transaction on the screen, some method is needed to select individual transaction for processing (change, delete, void, etc). The hotline works just like the light bar described above. Use the <CURSOR UP> and <CURSOR DOWN> keys to position the hotline on the item you want to affect, then select the appropriate function. For instance, to change a check transaction, position the hotline on the one you want to change, and press M (modify). The only difference between this hotline and the one in pop up menus, is that this one can be "parked". By "parked", I mean it is positioned off the screen. In fact, when you first start CB, that's where the hotline is, off the screen. To activate it, simply press one of the cursor keys mentioned above. To again park it, you must move it past the first or last transaction. Note that this does not necessarily mean the top or bottom of the screen. If the hotline is at the last transaction on the screen and you press the <CURSOR DOWN> key, CB will do one of two things. If more transactions follow, CB will advance to the next page and position the hotline at the top of the screen. If there are no more transactions, CB will park the hotline. As a short cut, pressing control-<HOME> will park the hotline no matter where it is. PAGING and SCROLLING Since the screen is a limited area, it is often impossible to show all the information available on a single screen. The check register is a prime example. Currently CB can show 18 check transactions on a single screen (20 when you're adding checks, but that's temporary). It probably won't take long for you to create more than that. As such, it is necessary to provide some method to access what doesn't fit on the screen. Paging and scrolling are two common methods. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 14 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER CONVENTIONS USED Paging works very much like a book. Each page contains different information and you access it by turning the pages. CB uses this method for all transactions (checks, credits, debits). When you first start CB, you are positioned at the last page. To view the previous page, press the <PgUp> key. Likewise, to view the next page (when there is one), press the <PgDn> key. Scrolling is something you can't do with a book. However, it was very popular when books were written on papyrus scrolls. Scrolling has become very popular on computer screens, so perhaps we will see a revival of books printed on paper scrolls? In scrolling, there are no set pages. A page is whatever happens to fit on the screen (or window). The <CURSOR UP> and <CURSOR DOWN> keys are usually used to scroll the screen. Scrolling access informtion a line at a time. When the screen scrolls down, all the lines on the page move down pushing the last line off the screen to make room for a new line at the top. The reverse occurs when you scroll up. In most applications, the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys can also be used to move a page at a time. SELECTION WINDOWS CB uses scrolling in selection windows. These are sub sections of the screen that appear and act like a screen within a screen. They are used to provide multiple choice selections for things that you would otherwise be forced to commit to memory, like account codes and transaction types (very handy when you're as forgetfull as I am). Selection windows allow you to enter data into a field by selecting it from a list of choices. Functionally, they are very similar to pop up menus. All selection windows are invoked by pressing the <F2> key. Since they are not available for all fields, CB will sound a chime and display a message at the bottom of the screen to remind you when they are available. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 15 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER USING THE CHECK REGISTER Now that you've got things set up, you'd probably like to get started using the system. To enter checks, get to the check register screen. If you've just called up CB from the DOS prompt, you're there. If you're still in the accounts payable section, press the <END> key (or X) to return to the check register screen. A list of the available functions is at the bottom of your screen, press the help key for more information about what those functions do. If you've set up accounts, and you want to see what's due, press D. This will show you all accounts that are due within the number of days you specified in Setup/Parameters. If nothing is due, CB will sound a tone and display a message to that effect at the bottom of your screen. Otherwise, a window will appear with the due accounts listed by due date. CHECK no. or transaction type Press K to add new checks. The cursor will jump to the line below your last entry and CB will prompt you with your next check number. Press ENTER to accept the number displayed or type in a new number if you're adding a check transaction. If you want to enter a different type of transaction, type in the code for that type, or press F2 to select from the available types. NOTE: pressing <ESC> at any time during the entry process will cancel the transaction. Press <ESC> now, if you do not wish to enter any more transactions. DATE Cb will then prompt you for the transaction date. Press ENTER to accept the date shown, type in a new date, or use your cursor keys to edit the date shown. Press ENTER when the date shown is correct. PAYEE Now, depending on the type of transaction, CB will ask you for the payee, or fill in the transaction name for you. If you are entering a check (or changing one), CB will always ask you for the payee. You have four choices here, you can: 1 - type in the name of the payee 2 - type in an account code (see THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE) 3 - press F2 to select from available accounts 4 - press <ESC> to cancel the transaction If you enter a payee, CB will consider this a normal check entry and continue on to the next prompt. ACCOUNT PAYMENT If you enter an account code (or select an account from the F2 menu), CB will fill in the payee with the account payee and set the amount to the calculated payment. This is all that is required to trigger an account payment. When you're finished entering the check, CB will automatically generate an account credit and update the master record. NOTE: do not attempt to Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 16 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER USING THE CHECK REGISTER edit the payee name. If you change it so it does not match what is on the master record, CB will no longer consider it to be an account payment. CATEGORY You can leave this blank or enter a category number from 1 to 255. This field is for future use in budgeting which will be implemented in version 1.10. You can enter category numbers now, if you wish. When version 1.10 becomes available, it will include a program to build a budget file from the information in your check register. AMOUNT Enter the amount of the check. If this is an account payment, the calculated payment has already been entered, but you can override it at this time. The amount credited to the account will be whatever is entered here. FEE CB usually fills this in based on the information entered in Setup/Transaction Types. And that's all there is to it! CB will compute your balance and move on to the next line. Press the <ESC> key when you're finished entering checks. Once entered, the information is written to magnetic media. Unlike writing in stone, it can be changed and erased. As such, CB provides a number of functions to let you do just that. You can modify, delete, and insert transactions. Please refer to the help screens for more information (press F1 at the function prompt). Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 17 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER USING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE We discussed setting up accounts earlier in THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE. In this section, we will discuss credits, debits, and some other features of the accounts payable. The AP uses two files. CB_APMST.DB contains the master records for each account. The master record consists of the information shown on the 'Full' screen. Essentially, this is everything except credit and debit transactions. These transactions are stored in CP_APDTL.DB. The .X?? and .Y?? files are indexes for these two files. When you first enter the AP (by pressing A at the check register function prompt) you will see the AP 'Full' screen. This is the complete master record. At the bottom of the screen is a list of available functions. Note the Credits, Debits, and Full functions. These three functions control the screen display. Press C or D and CB will split the screen in half and display account transactions on the lower half of the screen. To bring the full record back into view, press the F key. Many of the functions in AP are sensitive to what's on the screen, particularly the Modify, Add, delete, and Update functions. The Add function is used to add credits, debits, or a master record. If credits or debits are onscreen, pressing A will allow you to add transactions. If the full master record is onscreen, Add works exactly like the Get function. Incidentally, you can always use the Get function to add new accounts, it is not screen sensitive. The modify and delete functions will act first on a transaction, but only if there is a hot line present. If the hot line is not present, these functions will act on the master record. Note that if you delete the master, all related credit and debit transactions will be deleted as well. The update function is the same as Modify, except that it has it's own criteria for deciding what to change. Refer to the help screen for details. CREDITS Credits are payments that are subtracted from your account balance. Generally, CB creates these automatically when you enter a check as detailed in USING THE CHECK REGISTER. There may, however, be times when you need to manually add a credit. For instance, you may want to enter a charge back as a credit rather than simply changing the original debit. Or perhaps you got really lucky and received a huge rebate. Personally, I cannot remember ever adding a manual credit (except when testing), but the capability is there if you Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 18 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER USING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE need it. You can also change and delete credits whether they were manually added or added by the check register. NOTE that any changes made to the amount will NOT be reflected on the check register. If you want to update both the check register and the AP credit, do it in the check register. DEBITS Debits are transactions that incease the account balance. They are primarily intended for charge accounts, but you can enter them for any account type. I can't imagine why you might want to add a debit to a rental type account (since it has no balance), but again, the capability's there. Most commonly, you will you this to add charge account purchases. This accomplishes two things. It provides you with a permanent record of your purchases, and it updates your account balance. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 19 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 WHAT'S TO COME Checkbook+ is young and it will continue to grow and mature. As a registered user, you can help shape CB's future. If there's a feature you would like CB to have, let me know about it. If you have a complaint, send it along. You can reach me at the following address: Larry McElderry P.O.Box 1172 Manhattan, KS 66502-0012 On Compuserve, my user id is 74017,1630. Here are some of the planned enhancements: Add ability to change window colors. Some of the window colors cannot be changed. v 1.03 Implement a Find function to search through checks, credits, and debits. v1.10 Add a Purge function to remove old reconciled transactions. You can do this manually in the AP, but you cannot currently delete checks without affecting your account balance. v1.10 More mouse support. v1.20 Add check printing and envelope addressing. v2.0 Add a budget window for maintaining budget categories and viewing budget information. v2.0 The number at the end of each paragraph is the latest version in which the feature will be implemented. It may appear in an earlier release, but it will definitely appear in the release shown. I regret that I cannot provide release dates for these versions. CB is currently a part time project and I cannot dedicate as much time to it as I would like. I can guarantee that the updates will be released, I just can't say when. Of course, if registrations start pouring in, that situation could change. It's all up to you, the user. REPORTS: As you probably noticed, there are none. This is mainly because the author doesn't have much use for hardcopy. Here again, it is up to the users to decide what kind of reporting is needed and forward that information to me. PARADOX USERS If you are a Paradox user, you can create your own reports. The AP files (CB_APMAST and CB_APDTL) are Paradox files and Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 20 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 WHAT'S TO COME can be manipulated with Paradox. The check register is NOT a Paradox file, but if there is sufficient user demand, I can write a program to create a Paradox table from the register. PLEASE NOTE that Paradox will not perform the validity checks that CB employs. As such, you should not use Paradox to modify the file. Doing so could render the file unusable to CB. You can change field names, but not the order of the fields, nor their types or sizes. Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 21 CHECKBOOK PLUS 1.02 April 26, 1992 HISTORY 2/92 v1.02 - initial release Copyright (C) 1992 Larry McElderry page 22