 Cresus summary

General points

What is Cresus ?

Principles

Begin with Cresus

Cresus screen

Features	The New Version 1.2 Release

Manage accounts

Manage categories	Presentation

Transactions entry

Reconcile transactions	Password protection

Balance sheet	Diskette backup

Automatic transactions

Loans refund

Budget estimates

Balance evolution

Transactions archiving

Transaction report

Miscellaneous

Historical

Register

Author	Thanks


 What is Cresus ?

Cresus is software that allows you manage your bank account.It allows you to always know the exact state of your finances, to draw up balance sheets and budget estimates. Cresus also allows you to study your balance evalution and to automatically generate transactions, standing orders and direct debits.


 Principle

Cresus principle is to record all  transactions made in your accounts and to reconcile those transactions with your bank trail balance. These two features allow you to know the exact statement of your finances when all your recent transactions are recorded.

Cresus allows you to know permanently your accounts current balance.


Cresus screen


Gérer les comptes
 Accounts managing

Cresus is designed to manage several accounts. Nevertheless, you can only manage one account at any time.

You can select an account by the use of the listbox on the right of the toolbar :

Add a new account	:	1. "File" menu

2. choose "Account file"

3. click the "New" button

Change an account	:	1. "File" menu

2. choose "Account file"

3. click the "Change" button

Delete an account	:	1. "File" menu

2. choose "Account file"

3. click the "Delete" button

See also : Manage categories


 Manage categories

Cresus already contains categories when you install it. You can change, delete or add new categories.

Add a new category	:	1. "File" menu

2. choose "Category file"

3. enter a label in the  "New category" field

4. click the "OK" button

Modify a category	:	1. "File" menu

2. choose "Category file"

3. select a category in the listbox

4. click the "Modify" button

Delete a category	:	1. "File" menu

2. choose "Category file"

3. select a category in the listbox

4. click the "Delete" button

See also : Accounts managing


  Begin with Cresus

The first actions you can do with Cresus are :

Create an account

When you first start Cresus you have to create at least one account. A Cresus account corresponds to a bank account. At account creation you must enter a name and the initial balance.

Transactions keyboarding

For each operation you make in your accounts, you have to record the following information : date, amount, transaction type, category and description.

Consult/Mark transactions

This function allows you to display all the recorded transactions. You can sort the transactions with many criteria and search transactions with amount or description.

Consult the balance sheet

The Cresus balance sheet classify the transactions according to the categories defined. This balance sheet give you a synthetic approach by the end of month or the end of year. A graph gives you a different view of your balance sheet.


Enter transactions
 Transactions entry

Transaction entry consist of recording in Cresus ALL the incomes and expenses of your bank accounts and to associate it with a category.

Example : Bicycle purchase for $250.00 by cheque on June 15th 1995

1. "Calc" menu

2. choose "Enter a transaction"

3. enter the following informations :

Date	: 06/15/95

Transaction type	: Cheque

Amount	: 250.00

Category	: Sport

Description	: Moutain bike

4. click the "OK" button

You also can transfer an amount to another account :

Click the "Transfer to another account" check button,

Select your other account with the listbox on the right.

See also : Reconcile transactions


 Reconcile transactions

This window allows you to :

-> produce a list of all recorded transactions.

-> sort the transactions by

transaction date

transaction type

amount

category

reconciliation status

description

-> find transactions according to

description

amount

-> to reconcile transactions i.e. to click the small button on the left of each line.

Important : an additionnal menu can appear when you click the right button of your mouse.

See also : Transactions entry


 Balance sheet

This function use the recorded transactions and classify it according to the categories.

to get the balance sheet :	1. "Calcul" menu

2. choose "Balance sheet"

Firstly, the current year is displayed.

For each of the categories, the following information is displayed : transactions total sum, a simple horizontal graph and the transaction numbers.

A click on the [image] button (left of each line) shows a full graphic representation of the selected category for the whole specified year.


Automatic withdrawal
 Automatic transactions

The "Automatic transactions" function allows you to configure monthly debit operations (standing orders or direct debit).

For example : Pay the electricity company, £20, on the 5th of each month.

You define this automatic transaction as follows :

1. "Options" menu

2. choose "Automatic transactions"

3. click the "New" button

4. fill in fields :

Description	: Electricity Bill

Category	: Energy

Instalment	: 20.00

Day of month	: 5

5. make sure that the  "check if the transaction is a bank loan" button is NOT checked.

6. click the "OK" button

Trick : it is possible to create a new category by entering it directly in the "Category" field.

²See also : Loan repayments


 Loan repayments

The function wich allows to manage the loan repayments is a particular case of the function "Automatic transactions".

Example : Bank loan of $2000 which begins on 10/01/95 with a rate of 12% over 18 months with payment on the 25th of each month.

You define the loan repayment as follows :

1. "Options" menu

2. choose "Automatic transactions"

3. click the "New" button

4. fill the fields like : click-me

5. click the "OK" button

Trick : it is possible to create a new category by entering it directly in the "Category" field.

See also : Automatic transactions


 Budget estimates

The purpose is to define negatives or positives amounts for each category for one month and/or year.

For example : The current year is 1995 and you estimate the cost of your holidays for 1996. You plan $1200 for the whole year with $700 in August and $500 in January.

To define this estimation in Cresus :

1. "Calcul" menu

2. choose "Budget estimates"

3. select the year "1996"

4. click the "New" button

5. fill the dialog box : click-me

6. click the "OK" button

You can only enter a yearly amount (Example : $1000.00 for Car Insurance), this estimate will be recorded and the amount paid in 12 equal parts.

Important : an additionnal menu will appear when you click the right mouse button.


 Balance evaluation

This function produces a graphic representation of your accounts balance evaluation for one month or the whole year.

1. "Calcul" menu

2. choose "Balance evaluation"

3. you get a graph like this one : click-me

4. for a different representation click the "curve" button


Transactions archiving
 Transaction archiving

When you use Cresus regularly you will notice that the number of transactions increase in the reconcile transactions window. The archiving function allows you to put the reconciled transactions aside so that they don't clutter you up.

The archiving  does not mean "disk backup" because the informations are still in use by Cresus for the following functions :  budget estimates and  balance sheet.

It is also possible to un-archive (restore) the archived transactions.

To file :	1.  "Options" menu

2. choose "Transactions archiving"

3. click the "Update" button

To un-archive :	1.  "Options" menu

2. choose "Transactions archiving"

3. select the month from which you want to un-file all transactions

4. click the  "Un-archive" button

Remark


 Transaction report

Transaction Report

The Transaction Report shows you a quick view of the selected account.

This screen contains an addition by transaction types of all the un-reconciled transactions.


 History

1989	Creation of a MS-DOS software to manage ONE account

Transactions entering

Reconciliation

Transaction report

1992	I added the Category notion

I added a Balance Sheet functionality

1994-95	Cresus version 1.0 (Programming Language : Borland C++)

Enter/Modify/Reconcile transactions

Transaction report

Balance sheet with graphical representations

Automatic transactions and bank loan management

Budget estimates with graphical representations

Reconciled transactions archiving and so on...

I begun the distribution of the French version by June 1995.

Sept 95	Cresus version 1.2

Password protection

Diskette backup

First English version

At the planning stage...


 Registration

What is a "Shareware" ?

"Shareware is an original way to distribute software and allows you to purchase low priced software after an evaluation period..

The author can also distribute his software more widely.

Users only pay for software if they use it regurlarly.

You have the moral commitment to follow this method to encourage the authors and to insure the durability of this distribution method."

You can purchase Cresus for £18 or $25 (US Dollars).

click on Order form.

Particular case : Compuserve Registration


Order Form

Cresus Registration Form

Name      _______________________________________________

(Your name as you would like it to appear in the introductory screen.)

Address   _______________________________________________

               _______________________________________________

City         _________ State/Area     __________     Zip / Post Code _______

Country   _____________________    Phone     ________________________

E-mail address : _______________________ (Compuserve or Internet)

Format :  3.5" [  ]    5.25" [  ]   e-mail  [  ]

Quantity  Description              Amount

______    CRESUS            $25.00 (£17) each	___________

                                 	Total	___________

Please pay by Cheque, International Money Order or Eurocheque.

  Signature:

                        _______________________________________

  Your signature means you agree to the following terms :

  AS  A  CRESUS USER  I  ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING WARRANTY CONDITIONS :

  "THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND

  WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY

  OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.

  THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK FOR USING THE PROGRAM.  ANY

  LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT

  REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE."

  Your signature also means you agree that your registration key will not be given to anybody else, except

your family.

See page 2


Voir page 1

Questionnaire to help me improve Cresus  :

Where did you get your copy of Cresus ?

BBS	[  ] which one : ___________________________

Compuserve	[  ] which forum : __________________________

Disk or CD-ROM	[  ] which editor : _______________

Magazine	[  ] which one : ______________

A friend	[  ] how he get it  : ________________________

Other 	[  ] precise : ____________________________

Suggestions :

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

How can Cresus be improved ?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Strong points :

________________________________________________________________________

Send the registration form, the questionnaire and your payment at this address :

Edmond Doudard

Travoleon

56800 PLOERMEL

France

Particular case : Compuserve Registration

You can find the latest shareware version of Cresus :

on the BBS "Le Coq Gaulois" (Le Mans, France) tel : (33) 43 86 88 65,

over the Internet network,

over the Compuserve network (GO PCAPP)

Mail me your suggestions and remarks using the addresses below :

BBS Le Coq Gaulois : Edmond Doudard

Compuserve : Edmond Doudard  100627,1323

Internet : 100627.1323@compuserve.com


 Compuserve Registration

If you are a Compuserve suscriber you can register Cresus by use of the SWREG service (GO SWREG).

The Cresus ID Registration is : 6238, note it down, the SWREG service will require it.

This service has  two advantages : you've have no postal cost or mail to write and will soon receive your registration key by E-mail.

Note : The registration key allows you to unjam the limitated functions.

Furthermore, you will find the latest version of Cresus on Compuserve.


Transaction

Transactions you perform in various accounts.

Example : 	Cash Dispenser

Cheque

Transfer

and so on...


Category

Categories allows you to classify the transactions you make in your bank account.

Example : You choose the "Food" category to classify a payment of a restaurant bill.


Check a transaction
Reconcile a transaction

Reconcile transactions means that these transactions have been cleared or paid by your bank. To reconcile a transaction imply the bank balance update.


Bank Balance and True Balance

The Bank Balance is the one that you find printed in your bank statement. When you have reconciled all the cleared transactions the Cresus Bank Balance must be equal with you Bank Balance.

The True Balance, calculated by Cresus, is the addition of the Bank Balance plus all the transactions not already known by your bank. The True Balance gives you the real status of your account.


Initial Balance

When you add an account to Cresus you must enter you latest Balance. You obtain this from your last statement sent by your bank.


Remark on the filing transactions dialog box
Remark on the archiving transactions dialog box :

Each blue square in the list below means that for that month some transactions have been archived.


At the planning stage...

Links between Cresus and Microsoft Excel,

To generate projections according to the balance sheet in previous years,

To add the concept of  a "Global Category" to group  many single categories.

I'm very insterested in receiving all ideas and suggestions to improve Cresus.

Mail me your ideas :	Edmond DOUDARD

Travoleon

56800 PLOERMEL

FRANCE

   BBS 	"Le Coq Gaulois" (Le Mans, France) tel : (33) 43 86 88 65

   Compuserve :	Edmond Doudard  100627,1323

   Internet :	 100627.1323@compuserve.com


Add a new account

You can fill the "Description" field with whatever you want (You name, the name of your bank, your account number...)

Initial Balance is taken from your most recent bank statement.


Modify an account

You can easily modify the account description. But you need to have a particular look when you modify the Bank Balance, maybe this means an error with your real bank account. I remind you that this balance is calculated by Cresus when you reconcile transactions.


The Author !


Enter a transaction

The date format is DD/MM/YY.

Do not enter the minus sign before the amount, the transaction sign depends on the transaction type you choose.

The description is optional.

You also can transfer an amount to another account :

Click the "Transfer to another account" check button,

Select your other account with the listbox on the right.

Trick : to speed up the category choice, click on the right arrow of the category listbox and enter the first letters of the category you're looking for or enter a new category.


Modify a checked transaction
Modify a transaction

The use of this screen is the same as when you enter a new transaction except for the reconciled transactions :

If the transaction is reconciled :

To keep the Bank Balance coherent you can't change some informations of that screen, only the category and the description can be modified.

If you want to modify the others informations you have to un-reconcile the transaction.


Manage Categories

To add a new category, enter a new description in the "New category" field and click the "OK" button.

To delete or modify a category, select it with the mouse and click the corresponding button.


Evolution of a category over one year
Evaluate categories for a year

To produce this graph, Cresus calculate the total amount of all categories paid each month and a total amount for the year.

Important remark : the month average is calculated according to the 12 months of the year. A full years transaction are required to produce a valid amount per month.


Budget Estimates

This screen shows you all estimates for the year or for the selected month.

The percentage is calculated in those two ways :

1 - The estimate is an expense and the actual amount too.

2 - The estimate is a receipt and the actual amount too.

Alerts code :

The estimation was a receipt, an expense occurs.

The expense planned has been exceeded.

The status of this estimation is not critical.

You've planned an expense and a receipt has occured..


Enter estimations

1st method : Enter a global amount for the year (negative or positive). This amount will be divided in 12 equal parts.

2nd method : Enter an amount for each month.

The  [image] button divide in 12 equal parts an amount you enter for the year.

Trick : You can enter a new category in the "Category" field.


Comparison of planned amounts and actual amounts

Two graphs are drawn for each month, the first graph (green or red) is for the planned amounts and the second the actual amounts (cyan or magenta).

You can change the year with the top left list.


Balance evaluation

To draw this graph, Cresus calculate the balance at the beginning of each month or at the end of each day.

You can select one month or one year with the top left list.


Options

"Re-open windows at start-up"

This option re-opens the same windows as your last Cresus session.

"Automatic archiving of reconciled transactions"

When you check this button you have't to be aware of the archiving of your transactions. They are automatically archived when you end your Cresus session.


Automatic transactions

This screen shows the actual list of the automatic transactions (Standing Orders or Direct Debit)  you have defined.

For bank loans, a graph and a percentage give you the capital part already paid back.

The New, Modify and Delete buttons allows you to add, change and delete automatic transactions.


Generate automatic transactions

Cresus noticed that automatic transactions must be generated this month, this screen shows you the transactions that Cresus can generate in your place.

Click "Generate all" to add these transactions.

Remark : you can, of course, later modify those transactions.


The fist toolbar
The first toolbar


The second toolbar


The status bar

The status bar give you quick help to the button which cursor points.


The selected account

This is the account you are managing. To manage another account, click the small arrow on the right of the selected account.


Delete a transaction

In the reconciled transaction window :

select the line to delete

click the right mouse button

choose "Delete"


Delete an estimation
Delete an estimate

In the budget estimates window :

select the line to delete

click the right mouse button

choose "Delete"


Thanks

My thanks to Phil Moreau (UK) and Bob McElwain (US) for their help in bringing this program to you in an English version.

My thanks to Lewis Williams for his invaluable advice about the "shareware concept". Lewis is also a shareware author, he has developed UPCOPY, a very useful program that runs under DOS.

Edmond Doudard

Monday, September 25, 1995


The New Version 1.2 Release

The previous version was 1.0 and it was only available in French , but many users have sent me their suggestions so here is the new 1.2  English version with two new functions :

Password protection : You can now protect access to Cresus with your own code. This function allows you to ensure  that  your account information can be kept confidential.

Diskette backup : Nobody is beyond making a mistake or having a disk crash so regular backups of precious data will allow your to retrieve ALL your data in case of a serious problem.


Password protection

To define your own password use the following method :

1. menu "Options"

2. choose "Environment"

3. click the button "Protect Cresus with a password"

4. click the button "Password" to define your own password

5. click "OK"

6. click "OK"

After this operation, quit Cresus and start again...

To deactivate the Password Protection you only have to deactivate the "Protect Cresus with a password" button and to click "OK".


Diskette Backup

To backup	:	1. menu "Files"

2. choose "Backup"

3. insert a diskette in the drive

4. click "OK"

IMPORTANT :  Registered users who want to retrieve data must insure that they use the Registered Version of Cresus. If that 's not the case, the Registration Key will have to be re-entered before the retrieval.

to retrieve	1. menu "Files"

2. choose "Restore"

3. insert the LAST backup diskette in the drive

4. click "OK"


Backup

Insert a formatted diskette in the drive,

Select the drive you want to use to backup your account data,

Then, click OK.


Retrieval

IMPORTANT : Registered users who want to retrieve data must insure that they use the Registered Version of Cresus. If that 's not the case, the registration key will have to be re-entered before the retrieval. Use the "Register" option of the "Help" menu.

Insert your last diskette backup and click "OK".


UPCOPY 4.1 features Bi-directional Synchronization!

"UPCOPY is the intelligent copy system - it copies files both ways as necessary to make directories identical.  It picks out new or updated files, and chooses the right copy direction.  UPCOPY can erase files, and show file information and comparisons.  Also it can synchronize directly connected PC's, or across a network. Powerful DOS command, or mouse menu with Windows support. Shareware $15. 4.1 has some great special offers, improved documentation and minor bug fixes."

UPCOPY can be found on Compuserve in the UKSHARE Forum (GO UKSHARE).