Contents

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MFTC

Mutual Fund Tax Calculator, 16-bit edition

for Windows (v3.1 or greater)      a product of RCCO Research

Overview

Main Switchboard

Main Toolbar

Command Buttons on the Main Switchboard

Creating Fund Tables

Form and Table Views

Editing in Form View

Editing in Table View

Rearranging Column Order & Resizing Columns in Table View

Navigational Toolbar

Command Buttons

Editing in General

The Report Writer

The About Screen

Online Documentation and Help

Program Specifications

Notes & Precautions

Licensing Information

Registration Notes

Additional Information

MFTC:  Mutual Fund Tax Calculator, 16-bit edition, Copyright 1995-96 RCCO Research.  All Rights Reserved under International Conventions.  Product of U.S.A.     (D)


Overview

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MFTC:  Mutual Fund Tax Calculator, 16-bit edition, provides a facility for determining the tax cost of redeemed shares (full or partial) in one or more mutual fund accounts.  The program computes dividends, capital gains distributions, redemptions, and purchases on an average-cost basis.  It is meant to provide a simple, non-technical method for those mutual fund accountholders who must file Schedule D (Capital Gains & Losses) on IRS Form 1040 to cover their fund redemptions during any tax years.

When a holder of shares in a mutual fund redeems any portion of shares in the account, the IRS requires that holder to file Schedule D and list not only the date of redemption and the redemption amount, but also the date of acquisition and the exact cost of those shares (full and fractional) redeemed.  MFTC is meant to assist the shareholder in making the determination of cost along with a record of the needed dates.  Since shares are often purchased and distributions reinvested at different times at varying Net Asset Value (NAV) figures, a system of determining average share cost basis (along with other recordkeeping) may be advantageous for the account.  MFTC may be used with any number of fund accounts and works with both equity and bond funds that are purchased in full and fractional shares. Once the cost of the redemption(s) during the tax year(s) has been determined, it is relatively easy to ascertain the gain or loss incurred for each redemption and make the appropriate entries as required on the Schedule D tax form.

The situation shareholders find when attempting to determine a tax-basis cost is complicated by the income dividend and capital gain distributions made by the fund management during any given year; bond funds that pay a monthly or quarterly dividend are in particular need of constant updating and accurate recordkeeping.  Equity funds often make Short Term Capital Gains Distributions (STCG), Long Term Capital Gains Distributions (LTCG), as well as Dividend (Div) or Income (Inc) Distributions.

Most fund managers assist with regular reports to help determine some portions of tax cost; a number attempt to assist with determination of cost of redemptions, although some may argue that the so-called "average-cost" basis is not suitable for all shareholders and must be determined on an individual basis by the shareholder and a qualified accountant.  When presented with the different options, most mutual fund accountholders will elect to use the simple, accurate method of "average-cost" determination of cost along with the First-In, First-Out (FIFO) method for determining which shares have been redeemed for any redemption transaction.  MFTC uses an average-cost method; you may also wish to employ FIFO determination.  Both models are conceptually acceptable by the IRS, and are often suggested in tax manuals as methods to determine tax cost and acquisition dates of redeemed shares.

The net gain or loss on fund shares sold is the difference between proceeds from the shares redeemed and the tax cost of those shares.  When determining the holding period, the shareholder may refer to the "trade date" on fund company confirmation statements, which reflects the date shares were actually bought or sold.  If the shares redeemed were not acquired at the same time (which is almost always the case with mutual fund investments), it should be acceptable to enter the word "various" for the Date Acquired entry on the Schedule D form.  (Shareholders should consult a qualified tax counselor or the appropriate IRS documentation for additional information pertaining to an individual's tax situation as regards mutual fund shares.)

In MFTC, fund tables may be viewed/edited in either Form or Table view.  An easy-to-use single-button selection for the Report Writer prints formatted tabular reports for each fund table.  Complete documentation and help is available online, as well as in Windows Write/WordPad (.WRI) format (suitable for printing).

The unregistered copy is fully-functional as to the features and components found in the full registered copy; it allows creation of as many fund tables as the user wishes in order to satisfactorily and fully evaluate the program.  The tables have a limitation on the number of transactions that may be viewed/edited in any particular table; that limit is fifteen transactions per table.  Any tables created with the unregistered copy will be fully and immediately usable with the registered version.


Main Switchboard

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The program begins with a display window, the Main Switchboard, from which all selections can be made, either via command buttons, menu selections, or, in some instances, by choosing a button on the Toolbar.

From the Main Switchboard, you may make a selection of the Fund Table you wish to work with (or create a new Fund Table, if needed) and then choose either Table or Form View options for data entry, viewing and editing.

The File Menu on the Main Switchboard will maintain an MRU (most recently used) fund table list providing a facility for opening any of up to six of the last fund tables used; after making a selection, choose the appropriate view (Form or Table) desired.

You may exit the program by pressing the <Exit> button on the Main Switchboard screen.


Main Toolbar

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The Main Toolbar, appearing in the upper left portion of the Main Switchboard, Form View, and Table View windows, consists of three toolbar buttons:

   <Calculator>	Launches the Windows Calculator applet.

   <Calendar>	Displays the MFTC Calendar.

   <On-Line Documentation>	Brings up the Contents page of the MFTC Help window.

Placing the mouse pointer momentarily over a Toolbar button will cause a help reminder flag to appear as to the button's function.  The functions of these toolbar buttons also appear as menu items for the relevant windows.


Command Buttons on the Main Switchboard

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The Command Buttons appearing on the Main Switchboard screen are:

   <Table View>                 Opens the fund table in Table View, an alternate viewingand data entry screen.  Allows viewing of multiple records at one time.  Columns may be resized and moved for the session.  Contains a Detail View window option providing a view similar to that of Form View.

   <Form View>                 Opens the fund table in Form View, the primary entry screen for MFTC.  Provides viewing of a single data record with all data cells on the screen at one time; cells that may not be edited are in grey text.  Reports may be created from this view.

   <Create New Fund

     Table>                          Create a fund table for each mutual fund for which records are to be maintained.

   <Exit>                             Exits the program.

These functions also appear as menu items for the Main Switchboard window.


Creating Fund Tables

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To create fund tables for each equity or bond fund that you own, select the <Create New Fund Table> command button on the Main Switchboard (or select the Create Table item on the File menu). Enter a title designation that briefly fits the fund name; you may use up to eight (8) characters (letters, numbers, underscore, hyphen -- but no spaces) beginning with a letter or number.  MFTC will create a new fund table and append the .FND extension to the name you have indicated.  (Repeat this process for each fund for which you wish to maintain records in MFTC.)   Fund tables are stored in the directory/folder in which MFTC is installed.

You may now use the Fund Selector on the Main Switchboard to select the new fund and begin working with it in Table or Form View.  You should enter transactions from your fund statements from the beginning date of your initial investment to the present, so that the average share cost calculation will be accurately reflected and easily maintained for future transactions.


Form and Table Views

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Table View presents your data in a spreadsheet-like grid showing multiple records in rows within a single screen.  You may scroll right to view other columns.

Form View displays the same material, one record per screen with all available cells in view at the same time.

Data entry may be accomplished in either Form or Table View.  Initially, you may find that Form View offers the quickest method for new data entry since the cells that are available for your entry/edit are highlighted with color text in the cells.  Cells that are calculated by MFTC are in grey.  The columns are not distinguished by color in Table View, although a Detail window is provided that greatly enhances data entry.

You may begin by selecting a fund table (with the Fund Selector on the Main Switchboard) to work with; if you are a new user, select the SAMPLE.FND and view the layout, make practice entries/changes, etc. (SAMPLE.FND may be deleted from the directory/folder with File Manager or Explorer after your own tables have been created and the program is familiar to you.)

For each record (or row in Table View) you will enter only one transaction: a purchase, a redemption, an income or dividend payment, an STCG or LTCG distribution, a fee deduction, etc.  Maintain your tables in date order as indicated on the statements you receive from the fund company; the tables are not sorted in any manner by the program, so it is up to you to maintain proper date order.  The Record No. indicator provides the current record's sequence number.

Please note the special "Self" cell which indicates a transaction initiated by yourself (a purchase or redemption), as opposed to one made by the fund company (income dividend, etc).  Simply enter a check-mark in Form View with the mouse or <Spacebar> for those transactions which are attributable to "self;" in Table View, the Self cell is indicated by the logical entry "Y" or "N."   If the Self entry is incorrect, then the calculation of the fund table by MFTC may be incorrect.

After you have entered the required data items into the table, you may press the <Recalculate> key to allow MFTC to update the calculated cells (i.e., those which are disallowed from data entry and appear in grey in Form View).

The calculated cells include (in Form View):

   Net Investment (to Date)	A summary of your net purchases less your net redemptions (i.e., "Self" transactions), to date.  Does not include fund company-initiated items:  income or other distributions (reflected in Cumulative Tax Cost).

   Purchase Shares this

   Transaction	Full & fractional shares acquired, to 3 decimal places; should agree with that indicated by your fund statement.

   Sale Shares this Transaction	As above, indicating the result from a redemption transaction.

   Cost of Shares Sold	Currency amount reflecting the cost of redeemed shares this transaction, based on prior Avg Cost per Share calculations.  This figure should be helpful in preparing your Schedule D tax form.

   Share Balance	Indicates the number of full & fractional shares (to 3 decimal places) in your account as of the current transaction; should reflect same indicated on your fund's statement.

   Market Value	Market Value in currency as of the current transaction at the currently indicated NAV for this record.

   Cumulative Tax Cost	 A summary in currency amounts of all purchases and distributions less redemptions.  Differs from Net Investment cell as it includes non-self transactions.

   Avg. Cost per Share

   (Tax Basis)	A currency figure shown to 4 decimal places.  This is the crucial figure used in determining your tax cost of shares redeemed for Schedule D tax purposes.  Based on an average of all  purchases & distributions, to date.  Used by MFTC to determine the Cost of Shares Sold cell calculation.

These same cells appear in Table View as well, although they may have slightly different column designations (due to space limitation).  Their function in Table View is exactly the same.

If you feel that the Net Investment cell is inaccurately reflected after a recalculation, you should ascertain that the logical Self cell has been properly marked for all transactions in the table.

For each redemption, a drawing down by the same amount will occur in the Net Investment cell (but never less than zero).  If you perceive that your redemption is wholly or partly from non-self purchases (i.e., fund income or other distributions), then the amount reflected in the Net Investment cell shall not be applicable to your situation.  The Net Investment cell has no effect on the true average cost calculations.

If the <OK> button is pressed without properly posting changes or additions, the newly entered material will not be written to the table.  Recalculating will post any changes, as does selecting the <Post> button on the Navigational Toolbar.


Editing in Form View

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The following cells are available for data entry within Form View:  Transaction Date, Transaction, Self, Purchase Amount, Redemption Amount, and NAV (Net Asset Value). You may press the <Tab> key to move from cell to cell (or <Shift-Tab> to move in the previous direction) on the same form view.

You may add a new, blank record to the end of the table by pressing the <Append Record> command button.  You may utilize the navigational buttons on the Navigational Toolbar to move to variously positioned records in the table.

When editing a new record, you may press the <Today> button to enter the current date into the Transaction Date cell, if desired.  Otherwise, you may click the mouse pointer on the Transaction Date cell and begin typing a date; you need not enter the forward slash symbol ( / ) as the program will enter that for you.  For the months January through September, enter a zero (0) as the initial character for the month; i.e., to enter an April date, begin with "04" as in, 040597 (April 5, 1997).

The Transaction cell will contain your reference to the Transaction, such as Purchase (or Purch or PURCH), Exchange From, Exchange To, Check-Writing Redemption, Income (Inc or INC), Dividend (Div or DIV), STCG, LTCG, Fee, etc.  Although the entry here may be up to fifty (50) characters of your choice, you may prefer to keep the entry as brief as possible with abbreviations or short indications, to speed up data entry.

The Self cell is a logical type entry, indicating Yes (Checked) or No (Unchecked) that the transaction is one which you yourself have made (Purchase or Redemption), as opposed to one created by the mutual fund company (Income, Dividend, Capital Gain Distribution, Fees, etc.).  Either click the mouse in the Self cell or press <Spacebar> to alternate between indicating a Check or Unchecked indication.  (In Table View, this cell is marked with "Y" (Yes) and "N" (No) letters to indicate the same functions, a logical Checked and Unchecked, respectively.)   Do not leave this cell incorrectly indicated.

In the Purchase Amount cell, enter the appropriate amount if the transaction was a Purchase by yourself or a Distribution from the fund company.  Do not attempt to enter a Purchase transaction into the same record that contains a Redemption transaction.  Enter only one transaction per record.

If the transaction is a Redemption rather than a Purchase, enter the appropriate figure into the Redemption Amount cell.  Do not attempt to enter a Redemption transaction into the same record that contains a Purchase transaction.

In the NAV cell, enter the currency figure that indicates the Net Asset Value amount at which the shares were either purchased or redeemed.  Obtain the NAV from your fund statement (i.e., the currency amount share price at which shares were purchased or redeemed as of the transaction date).  Even though the NAV cell is always rounded to two decimal places on screen, you may enter additional decimal places if needed in special circumstances; calculations will be based on the number you enter even though it will show a rounded representation on screen.

After the NAV entry, the table may then be recalculated to update the various other cells for you.  Those other cells are ones which are not available to you for edit or entry in Form View; their updating is performed by MFTC.  The non-edit cells are:  Net Investment to Date, Purchase Shares this Transaction, Sales Shares this Transaction, Cost of Shares Sold, Share Balance, Market Value, Cumulative Tax Cost, and Average Cost Per Share (Tax Basis). These cells are greyed in Form View, with white-colored cell indicators that distinguish them from the active cells that are in color with yellow cell indicators.

You may create a hard-copy reference of any needed Form View screen simply by pressing the <Window Print> button.  The image will be sent to your printer if it is online.  (Technical note:  Certain printers, notably the HP LJ II, may have difficulty with the Window Print function; Window Print will not be usable in such instances.)

A complete, formatted tabular report for the current table may be created by selecting the <Table Print> button on the Form View screen.  A print dialog window prompts for confirmation, at which time the MFTC Report Writer sends the report (in landscape mode) to the currently selected printer.


Editing in Table View

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Enter only one transaction per record (row).

When using the Table View screen, edits and insertions within a cell are posted only when you move to a different record (row) on the Table View grid.  Even if you use the mouse to change focus to a command or toolbar button on the screen, the changes are not posted until you move off the current row.

You may cancel all edits for a record by pressing the <Esc> key in any field before moving to another record.

You may immediately post an edit by pressing the <Post> button on the Navigational Toolbar or by selecting the <Recalculate> command button to recalculate the entire table.

You may begin typing in the cell on which the highlight is placed to begin edit mode. You may press the <Tab> key to move from cell to cell (or <Shift-Tab> to move in the previous direction) in the same row.  When you are finished with the edits, click on the <Post> button in the Navigational Toolbar to write the information to the table.  Pressing the <Recalculate> button will also post the edits; doing so will recalculate the entire table, which will take extra time on a large table or with a slower computer. You may enter many records or edits and save the recalculation as the last action in order to speed up data entry.

Please note that the Self cell is a logical type entry, indicating "Y" (Yes) or "N" (No) that the transaction is one which you yourself have made (Purchase or Redemption), as opposed to one created by the mutual fund company (Income, Dividend, Capital Gain Distribution, Fees, etc.).  Type either Y or N in the Self cell, as appropriate.  (In Form and Detail Views, this cell is marked with a logical Checked or Unchecked, respectively, to indicate the same functions.)  Do not leave this cell blank.

In the Purchase Amount cell, enter the appropriate amount if the transaction was a Purchase by yourself or a Distribution from the fund company.  Do not attempt to enter a Purchase transaction into the same record that contains a Redemption transaction.  Enter only one transaction per record.

If the transaction is a Redemption rather than a Purchase, enter the appropriate figure into the Redemption Amount cell.  Do not attempt to enter a Redemption transaction into the same record that contains a Purchase transaction.

You need not attempt to edit the following cells in Table View:  Net Investment, Purch Shs this Trans, Sale Shs this Trans, Cost of Shares Sold, Share Balance, Market Value, Cumulative Tax Cost, and Avg Cost Per Share.  Any such edits will be changed with the updating brought about by pressing the <Recalculate> button.  The non-edit cells mentioned above correspond to the cells which are greyed out and not available for edit in Form View.

An Edit Cell/Non-edit Cell  LED indicator is provided in the lower panel of the Table View screen that serves as a helpful reminder as to which cells are editable.  As you move from column to column, the indicator will reflect the intended Edit (green LED) or Non-edit (red LED) nature of a cell.  Simply tab past a non-edit cell during your data entry and allow table recalculation to automatically fill in such cells.

The left edge of the Table View grid contains a triangular-shaped pointer which indicates the current record having the active focus.  You may position this Record Selector on any existing or newly appended record by clicking on (or moving to) the record, and perform edits on that record.

If you click on the <Detail> button just to the right of the Navigational Toolbar, you will open the current record (as indicated by the Record Selector) in a Detail View very much like that of the Form View screen.  In Detail View you may perform edits the same as you do in Form View, including editing a blank record newly appended in Table View, or simply view all fields for the record at one time.  You may not, however, insert or delete records, nor can you recalculate the fund table from Detail View.

After performing any needed edits in Detail View, you must <Post> the edits with the appropriate button selection on that window's special Navigational Toolbar.  You may move forward and back within the table with the applicable Toolbar buttons, noting that the record selector on the Table View screen in the background moves appropriately as well.  Click on the <OK> button to return to full Table View and <Recalculate> the table as needed.

You may add a new, blank record to the end of the table by pressing the <Append Record> command button while the highlight is anywhere on the Table View grid, or by pressing <DownArrow> while editing the current last (bottom) record.  You may then press <Ctrl-LeftArrow> to return the highlight to the leftmost cell of the new record.

You may create a hard-copy reference of the currently displayed Table View or Detail View screen simply by pressing the <Window Print> button.  The image will be sent to your printer if it is online.  (Technical note:  Certain printers, notably the HP LJ II, may have difficulty with the Window Print function; Window Print will not be usable in such instances.)

Rearranging Column Order and Resizing Columns

Navigational Toolbar

Command Buttons


Rearranging Column Order and Resizing Columns in Table View

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In Table View, you can use the mouse to drag a column to a new location for the current session.  For example, you may wish to move the Average Cost column from the far right position next to the Transaction Date column so that you may more easily peruse the sequence of changes in average share cost over a period of time.

To move a column:  Click the mouse pointer on the heading (column title) for the column you wish to move; holding down the mouse button, drag the column to the desired position.  Multiple dragging operations may be needed to effect a long move.

You may also Resize columns for a session.  For example, if you resize the large Transaction column to a more narrow width, you will be able to have more columns in view on the screen during the current session.

To Resize a column:  As you move the mouse pointer to the column heading (column title) you will note the mouse cursor changes shape; click on the edge of the column separator and hold down the mouse button while dragging the separator to the position desired.  Release the mouse button and the column will remain in that position for the session or until it is resized again.

Please note that column Rearrangement and Resizing will appear as you have placed them on a printed copy of the window, if you should use the <Window Print> button.

Column Rearrangement and Resizing last throughout the current session with MFTC and return to to their default behavior with the next launch of the program.

Editing in Table View


Navigational Toolbar

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The long Navigational Toolbar in both Table and Form Views contains buttons representing the following actions, from left to right:

   <First>       Sets the current record to the first record in the table.

   <Prior>      Sets the current record to the previous record.

   <Next>       Sets the current record to the next record.

   <Last>        Sets the current record to the last record in the table.

   <Insert>      Inserts a new record before the current record.

   <Delete>    Deletes the current record in Form View; in Table View, deletes the record at which the record pointer in the leftmost column appears.  Prompts for confirmation before deleting.

   <Post>        Writes changes in the current record to the table.

   <Cancel>   Cancels edits to the current record.

Placing the mouse pointer momentarily over a Toolbar button will cause a help reminder flag to appear as to the button's function.


Command Buttons

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The Command Buttons that appear in both Table and Form Views consist of:

   <Append Record>	Adds a new, blank record to the end of the data table.

   <Recalculate>	Performs a math recalculation on the entire table for updating purposes.  (Multiple records may be entered/edited before recalculating.)

   <Window Print>	Sends the contents of the window to the printer.

   <OK>	Closes the window.

Form View contains two additional buttons:

   <Today>	Enters the current date into the Transaction Date cell.

   <Table Print>	Prints the contents of the current table in tabular report format.

Table View contains one additional tool-style button:

   <Detail>	Opens the current record in a Detail View  for enhanced data entry or viewing.

Placing the mouse pointer momentarily over a Command Button will cause a help reminder flag to appear as to the button's function.

Navigational Toolbar


Editing in General

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Traditional Windows cut and paste operations may be utilized as necessary. In order to use the Windows Clipboard cut and paste facilities, you need only understand the simple process of text selection with the mouse.  Selection may consist of an entire cell or only parts.

The <Ctrl-C> key combination will Copy selected text to the Windows Clipboard.  <Ctrl-V> will Paste the contents of the Windows Clipboard to the location at which the insertion point is placed.  To overwrite existing text with incoming text, select the existing contents (or portions thereof) first before issuing the Paste command.  Text from a cell may be copied to other applications (such as Notepad or Write/WordPad) in like manner.

Records may be inserted or deleted anywhere within a table by using the <Insert> or <Delete> keys on the Navigational Toolbar.  Remember to recalculate the table before utilizing (or printing) contents of calculated cells after an insertion or deletion. You may add, edit, or delete multiple records in any number before recalculating; doing so will speed data entry in that the recalculation need only be performed after the final modification.

In both Form and Table Views, you may call up two handy applets, Windows Calculator and MFTC Calendar, simply by pressing the appropriate buttons on the Main Toolbar.  For the Calculator applet to be available in MFTC, you must not have deleted Calc.exe from your Windows directory.  For help in using that program, consult your Windows documentation or the online help for Calculator.


The Report Writer
The Report Writer (Table Print button in Form View)

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A complete, formatted tabular report for a selected table may be printed by selecting the <Table Print> button on the Form View screen.  A print dialog window prompts for confirmation; the report is then printed in landscape mode and outputs the entire table.  Due to space limitations, the Transaction column is limited to printing the first eleven (11) characters in that column; the Self column is omitted from the printed report.  The column headers (titles) are abbreviated where needed.  All records posted to the current table are included in the report.

The multiple-page report is designed for printing on 8 1/2 x 11 inch letter-size paper in landscape mode (horizontal position) only.  It includes the date of the report on the first page, as well as the name of the fund table on the first and all succeeding pages.


The About screen

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Selecting the About item on the File Menu brings up information on product name, version number, and copyright information. It also includes system information (in the registered version only) showing the versions of Windows and DOS, Windows mode, the presence or absence of a math co-processor, free memory, and available system resources. To close the About screen, click on the <OK> button.


Online Documentation and Help

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The online documentation may be read after launching MFTC by selecting the <Documentation> button on any page, or by pressing <F1>.  Pressing the <Documentation> button (or selecting the Documentation, Read menu item) brings up the Contents page of the MFTC Help; from the Contents page, you may click on an item to go directly to a topic, or click the >> (Next) button on the Windows help screen to browse through the topics in documentation sequence.  Pressing <F1> while the focus is on other components provides context-sensitive help.

To print portions of the Documentation, select the desired section of the text with the mouse.  Press the <Ctrl-C> key combination to copy the selection to the Windows Clipboard.  You may then Paste (Ctrl-V) the contents of the Clipboard into a text editor, such as Windows Notepad, and print the contents from that application's File Menu or other print facility.  You may also use the Print Topic item on the Help screen's File menu to print the current topic.

You may also open the included MFTC.WRI file in Windows Write or WordPad (or any Windows word processor that can read the Write format, such as Microsoft Word) and print the documentation from that program.


Program Specifications

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MFTC requires an 80386sx or greater processor, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, 2mb ram, 1.6mb hard disk space.


Notes & Precautions

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Floating point error messages

During data entry, if you leave a zero currency amount (0.00) in the Purchase Amount, Redemption Amount, and NAV cells in any record (row) and then press the <Recalculate> button, you will receive an error message "Invalid floating point operation."   This situation will likely occur if you <Append> a blank record, do not enter data, and subsequently press the <Recalculate> button.

Similarly, if you have a valid currency amount (i.e., greater than 0.00) in either the Purchase Amount or Redemption Amount cells in any record but have 0.00 entered into the NAV cell and press the <Recalculate> button, you will receive the error message "Floating point division by zero."

These occurrences result from "divide by zero" situations that cannot be handled by your computer's processor.

To avoid these error messages, simply ensure that you have entered valid currency amounts (that is, greater than 0.00) in either the Purchase Amount or Redemption Amount cells, as well as the NAV cell, in ALL existing records before recalculating.

If you have appended an unneeded record, simply select that record (with the left-edge grey Record Selector in Table View, or, in Form View make that the active record shown on screen), and then press the <Delete> button on the Navigational Toolbar.

Rounding differences

At times, you may notice some small fractional difference in the result that MFTC calculates for the Share Balance cell and the share balance indicated on your fund's statement.  Usually, this difference is but a couple thousandths of a share and may appear to be persistent over time.  It results primarily from rounding calculation methods on PCs that may differ from that of the fund companies and their mainframe computers.

MFTC's calculations are done to accuracies of fifteen decimal places and rounded to show three decimal places (four in the Avg. Cost per Share cell).  It would be impractical to attempt absolute rounding coordination with the various calculation methods of the many fund companies.  Users of PC spreadsheet applications often must deal with the same sort of rounding differences resulting on different systems.  For most practical purposes, the differences of some thousandths of a share will have little or no effect on the overall accuracy or usefulness of calculations made with MFTC.

Backups

You should maintain regular backups of your fund tables (*.FND) and their related validation (*.VAL) files in order to prevent loss to your data entry effort.  It is the .FND and .VAL files that get updated when you do your calculations, so you will want to include them in any daily backups that you may perform.  You may simply use Windows 3.1 File Manager or Windows 95 Explorer to copy these files from the directory/folder in which MFTC was installed over to a formatted floppy diskette.  You may also use commercial or other backup software, including the Microsoft Backup program that comes with Windows 95.

Win95 Task Bar

Users of Windows 95 on 640x480 VGA monitor screens may wish to consider turning off the default stay-on-top behavior of the Windows 95 Task Bar so that the full screens of both the MFTC Form and Table Views (and other Windows 3.1 programs as well) may be viewed in entirety.  After the Task Bar's stay-on-top behavior is turned off, you can, of course, recall the Start Menu and the Task Bar instantly at any time by simply pressing the <Ctrl-Esc> key combination (or the "Windows 95" key on some newer keyboards).

MRU List

The File Menu on the Main Switchboard will maintain a standard MRU (most recently used) fund table list providing a facility for opening any of up to six of the last fund tables used; after making a selection, choose the appropriate view (Form or Table) desired.

As the program is used, the MRU List will display the last six fund tables that were opened and viewed/edited.  The MRU List is recalled from session to session and offers a quick way to choose from the last opened fund tables.  To choose one of those fund tables to work with, simply select them on the File Menu with the mouse, arrow keys, or by pressing the appropriate number key associated with the fund table name.  You need only then to select a view (Form or Table) and begin working with that fund table.

Please note that a fund table, including a newly created one, will not appear on the MRU List until viewed or edited in either Form or Table View.

Fund Table Names

A fund table name consists of those portions of a filename allowable under MS-DOS file naming conventions.  That is, there is a first part of the name (which you specify) that can include up to eight (8) characters (letters, numbers, underscore, hyphen -- but no spaces, periods, or other illegal characters) beginning with a letter or number.  There is also an extension part of the filename which consists of three characters preceded by a period ( . ).   The extension in MFTC for a fund table name is ".FND" and is appended by MFTC automatically; you do not type in the ".FND" when creating a fund table name.  The user need only specify the first portion of the filename, which may not contain any spaces (Windows 95 users, please note!) or other  characters not specified above.

For example, if you are attempting to create a fund table for your account in Fidelity Fund, you may feel that an appropriate table name within the eight-character limit would be "FID FUND" or something similar containing a space (or other non-allowable character).  Such a name is not allowed under MS-DOS file naming conventions and would therefore be an unusable fund table name in MFTC.  You may, however, use an underscore character instead of the space and name the table "FID_FUND" or simply "FIDFUND" or something similar.  After clicking on <OK> in the Create Fund Table dialog box, MFTC will create a new fund table and append the .FND extension to the name you have indicated.   The resulting fund table will be a file with the MS-DOS filename of "FID_FUND.FND" (or whatever).


Licensing Information

_________________________________________________________________________________________

This program is licensed and supplied as is, without any warranty.  To the extent permitted under applicable law, RCCO Research Associates disclaims all warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to this software program, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose.

In particular, this software program is not guaranteed to prevent or detect damage to your data or programs.  In no event shall RCCO Research Associates be liable for any claims for lost profits or any damage, including, but not limited to, special, incidental, consequential or other damage (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use this RCCO Research Associates product, even if RCCO Research Associates has been advised of the possibility of such damages.  Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.  In no case shall RCCO Research Associates' liability exceed the license fees paid for the right to use the licensed version of the software.

The license agreement and warranty shall be construed, interpreted and governed by the laws of the state of Tennessee.

Windows(R) is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.  Other trade names referenced herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

The registration fee licenses one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. Site licenses are available from RCCO Research.

The unregistered version of this program is intended for use in evaluation situations only.  It may be used for ninety (90) days by yourself and within your own organization by persons that have knowledge and understanding of the fact that this is an unregistered evaluation copy.

Please note:  This software program is distributed with the understanding that neither the Developers nor the Publisher is engaged in rendering legal or accounting services.  Questions relevant to the practice of law or accounting should be addressed to a member of those professions.  The Developers and the Publisher specifically disclaim any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this work.


Registration Notes

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The unregistered copy is fully-functional as to the features and components found in the full registered copy; it allows creation of as many fund tables as the user wishes in order to satisfactorily and fully evaluate the program.  The tables do have a limitation on the number of transactions that may be viewed/edited in any particular table; that limit is fifteen transactions per table.  Any tables created with the unregistered copy will be fully and immediately usable with the registered version.

You are granted an evaluation period of up to 90 days to determine whether or not you wish to purchase a registered copy of this software.  To purchase a registered copy, you may mail the registration fee of U.S. $24.95 + $2.55 handling ($7.05 outside of U.S.A., $4.05 for Canada) directly to RCCO Research, P.O. Box 196, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (U.S.A.); you will receive a registered copy of the latest version on a 3.5" 1.44mb disk.  Additional users for business purposes are $15.00 each and may be licensed at the time of registration or later as they may be added at the then current license fee in effect.  Please remit with check or money order only (no currency).  For credit card and telephone orders, see Additional Ordering Options note below.

Tennessee clients please include the required 8.5% sales tax on both the product amount and shipping/handling as mandated by the state.

The purchase of a registered copy of MFTC:  Mutual Fund Tax Calculator may be tax deductible.  Please consult a tax advisor.

International clients must pay by check or money order in U.S. dollars, drawn on a U.S. bank or the U.S. branch of an international bank.  Please realize that international postal money orders are considerably delayed through the postal systems and may not be the most expedient way of relaying payment.  An often-used form of payment consists of obtaining a dollar-denominated money order from the local American Express office which you may then airmail to us along with your order.  International orders are dispatched promptly when using a credit card order as outlined below.

Please indicate the exact program name (MFTC) and current version number on your order; you may use the Order.frm file provided with the program or simply send a note or letter with your name, organization name, address, program name & version, and remittance.

     Additional Ordering Options:

     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY -

     You may order a registered copy of this RCCO Research program

     with MasterCard, Visa, Amex, or Discover from PsL, Public (software)

     Library of Houston, Texas by calling 1-800-242-4775 or 713-524-6394,

     or by FAX to 713-524-6398, or by CompuServe E-mail to 71355,470.

     PsL's office hours are 7:00am to 6:00pm CST Monday-Thursday and

     7:00am to 12:30pm CST on Fridays.  You may also mail credit card

     orders to PsL at P.O. Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705 (U.S.A).

     Please include the cardholder name exactly as it appears on the

     credit card plus the billing address for the card.

     PsL's item/product number for MFTC:  Mutual Fund Tax

     Calculator, 16-bit edition, is #11990.

     THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERS ONLY.

     Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order,

     registration options, product details, technical support, volume

     discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, etc. must be directed in

     writing to RCCO Research, P.O. Box 196, Gatlinburg, TN 37738.  To

     ensure that you get the fastest possible delivery of your registered

     copy, PsL will notify us the day of your order and we will promptly

     ship the materials directly to you.  There are no additional fees

     for ordering by credit card.

     Your credit card number is not transmitted to RCCO Research, but

     rather is processed by PsL as part of their worldwide software

     registration service.

     The above service is made available as a convenience to client

     individuals who wish the security and expediency of ordering by

     telephone and/or with a credit card.  Established business concerns

     may prefer to order directly from RCCO Research with the company's

     own business check.

     The PsL staff cannot answer non-order inquiries.

     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Additional Information

_________________________________________________________________________________________

If you have any comments or questions regarding this program after (or with) registration, please direct them to:

                                    RCCO Research Associates

                                    P. O. Box 196

                                    Gatlinburg, TN 37738-0196

                                    (U.S.A.)

Special e-mail addresses for registered users' use are provided along with the invoice.

To print the registration order form from Notepad (or other text editor), open the file Order.frm in the MFTC directory/folder.  From the File menu of Notepad, select Page Setup to set all margins minimally:  0 for Left, Right, Top, Bottom Margins.  Delete the default header and footer items.  Select OK.  Then from the File Menu, select Print to print out the order form.  (If you wish to fill in the form with your order information before printing, it may be best to open Order.frm in a word processor, such as Write or WordPad, since Notepad does not have an overwrite mode.)

A companion product, MFTC32:  Mutual Fund Tax Calculator for 32-bit Windows is available from RCCO Research in a 32-bit edition.  It is similar to, but not exactly like, the present work entitled MFTC:  Mutual Fund Tax Calculator, 16-bit edition.  The two editions have different registration fees, due to the program sizes and number of disks involved for each.  The respective version numbers may also differ and should not be considered relative to the other edition.  Please specify the appropriate title desired on your order.

(C) Copyright 1995-96 RCCO Research Associates

All Rights Reserved under International Conventions

Product of U.S.A.

RCCO Research is also the publisher of MONEY & BANKS,  Personal Banking Manager software (a leading personal financial program for DOS systems) and Portfolio Pages, Personal Investments Management for Windows (v3.1 or greater).

Also available from your favorite user-supported software source:

PORTFOLIO PAGES

Personal Investments Management

(16-bit edition)

for Windows (v3.1 or greater)

RCCO Research's PORTFOLIO PAGES is a visually-oriented approach to maintaining summaries and details for personal investments records.  Based on a concept of tabbed file pages representing a multiple-table system of an investment portfolio, the program allows for a broad range of recordkeeping for mutual funds, stocks, bonds, cash accounts, real estate and other assets, as well as including provision for various retirement accounts.  After detail particulars are entered by the user, various summary pages and a printed report offer perspective and an overall portrait of aggregate assets.

Portfolio Pages is meant to provide a simple, non-technical method for investors to perceive their investments, savings, and retirement accounts in various stages of creation and as ones which are easily maintainable over periods of time.  Each page of differing types of accounts may be viewed/edited in a table view grid approach to maintaining data.  Automatically calculating summary pages reflect various portions of the portfolio and provide instantaneous display panel updates based upon share price changes, additions, deletions, or other edits.  An easy-to-use single-button selection for the report writer prints a formatted tabular report for all securities, accounts, and other holdings.

Complete documentation and help is available online, as well as in Windows Write/WordPad format (suitable for printing).

Program specifications for Portfolio Pages, 16-bit edition:  80386sx or greater, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, 4mb ram, 1.4mb hard disk space.

RCCO Research Associates

Technical Publishers, Established 1965