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- The Money Program v1.0
- ----------------------
-
- Written by Alan Bilsborough. Requires 1Mb Memory
-
- ********************************
- ** This Utility is Shareware **
- ** **
- ** Details can be found at **
- ** the end of this text file **
- ********************************
-
- Hello, and thanks for taking the time to look at this program.
-
- The following text gives a brief description on how to set up and use
- this program. However, if while reading, you get confused or think I`m
- waffling on a bit, then run the program and load the Example File (under
- the LOAD/ SAVE MENU). I know most programmers think that their programs
- are easy to use, but this program was written to be User-Friendly ( Heard
- that one before ? ) and most people should be able to find their way
- around the program fairly easily.
-
- 1.0 Introduction
- ----------------
-
- The Money Program is a Home Accounts utility program which allows the
- user to keep track of up to 12 accounts simultaneously. These accounts
- are stored as one file allowing quick and flexible interaction between
- different accounts. All transactions are also related to user-defined
- groups ( i.e. Electicity Bill, Wages etc. ) enabling budgets and
- expenditure to be carefully monitored.
-
- There is one MAIN MENU in this program from which three sub-menus can be
- accessed :-
-
- |------ VIEW/EDIT OTHERS MENU
- |
- MAIN MENU -------------- CREATE MENU
- |
- |------ LOAD/SAVE MENU
-
- These four menus and their options shall now be described in more detail.
-
- 2.0 MAIN MENU
- -------------
-
- As well as accessing the above menus the MAIN MENU also has five
- additional options which the author felt would be the most frequently
- used options :-
-
-
- 1) Input Transaction
-
- 2) View/Edit Account File
-
- 3) View/Edit Group File
-
- 4) View Account Graph
-
- 5) Budget Comparison
-
- Note : To Exit Program, press Esc button whilst in Main Menu.
-
-
- 2.1 Input Transaction
- ---------------------
-
- Hopefully this will be your most used option. The more transactions you
- enter the greater your ability to monitor expenditures (as well as keep
- your accounts up to date). A total of 2500 transactions can be input.
- All transactions have six elements :-
-
-
- 1) Date
-
- 2) Account
-
- 3) Group
-
- 4) Description (Optional)
-
- 5) Cheque Number (Optional)
-
- 6) Amount
-
- Note : No Transactions can be input until at least ONE account and ONE
- group has been created as they are integral parts of the
- transaction.
-
- Editing of transactions is very easy, so don`t worry about making
- mistakes as they can be rectified later.
-
-
- 2.2 View/Edit Account File
- --------------------------
-
- This option allows you to view an entire account file.
-
- NOTE : All View/Edit Options allow you to edit transactions by clicking
- on their button. An edited transaction may disappear from your view
- page depending on your edit (i.e. changing account while viewing
- another). Don`t worry about this as you can only delete a
- transaction completely by choosing the CANCEL option, and you can`t
- do that by mistake.
-
-
- 2.3 View/Edit Group File - View and/or Edit an entire Group File.
- ------------------------
-
-
- 2.4 View Account Graph - Click Left Mouse Button to Exit
- ----------------------
-
-
- 2.5 Budget Comparison
- ---------------------
-
- This option allows the user to see at a glance the percentage of budget
- spent to date. Group Budgets are specified at the Create Group option
- (described later).
-
- To view exact figures click on the group bar.
-
-
-
-
-
- 3.0 VIEW/EDIT OTHERS MENU
- -------------------------
-
- This menu has 3 lesser used View/Edit Options :-
-
- 1) View/Edit Complete Transaction File
-
- 2) View/Edit Filtered Transaction File
-
- 3) View/Edit Cheque file
-
-
- 3.1 View/Edit Complete Transaction File - Self Explanatory
- ---------------------------------------
-
- 3.2 View/Edit Filtered Transaction File
- ---------------------------------------
-
- This option was introduced to produce a more flexible option for the
- user to view/edit any combination of accounts and/or groups.
-
- The first option screen allows any number of accounts to be specified
- (ranging from none chosen to all chosen). The second option screen allows
- any number of groups to be combined with your choice of Account(s).
-
- The group option screen allows the chosen groups to be either added to
- the chosen account(s) file or taken away. This is probably best
- illustrated by a few examples :-
-
- A) View Main Current Account plus all other Electicity Bills
-
- B) View Main Current Account except Uncleared Cheques
-
- C) View No Accounts but View Car, Car Loan, Car petrol, Car Mileage Income
-
- All these examples will allow the user to view accounts/groups with a
- "What If ?" question applied and total different combinations of accounts/
- groups.
-
- 3.3 View/Edit Cheque File - Any specified cheques will be displayed.
- -------------------------
-
- 4.0 CREATE MENU
- ---------------
-
- This menu creates the framework for your transactions and has options
- to create five different items:-
-
- 1) Accounts
-
- 2) Groups
-
- 3) Direct Payments
-
- 4) Reminders
-
- 5) Notes
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 4.1 Create Accounts
- -------------------
- Allows up to 12 accounts and their starting totals to be defined.
-
- NOTE : The account names and their totals can be edited but NOT
- deleted. As transactions are always related to an account it is
- important that the original accounts are ever-present. The same
- reasoning applies to Groups.
-
- It is therefore important to put some thought into the creation of
- accounts and groups.
-
- TIP : Create an extra account called (for instance) "Miscellaneous
- Expenses". This account could then be used to store expenses which
- would normally be hard to keep track of. The running total of this
- account would not be important but it`s contents would be.
-
- This method allows the user to store only the relevant transactions
- in your main accounts (i.e. ones which would appear in your bank
- statements such as cash withdrawals & cheques)
-
- 4.2 Create Groups
- -----------------
- Allows creation of up to 30 groups. The above Accounts Note also applies
- to groups so it is advisable not to create too many minor groups which
- would not be used much. For these minor groups, it would be advisable to
- create a general group and use the DESCRIPTION to define the transaction
- more clearly.
-
- If required, the user can also define a budget for each group. This
- budget can then be compared to the actual amount spent using the MAIN
- MENU option - "Budget Comparison"
-
- 4.3 Create Direct Payments
- --------------------------
- Direct Payments are regular payments which are automatically added to
- your transaction file. Payments can be made on a X-monthly basis (where
- X can be 1 to 12). The day of payment can also be specified.
-
- A total of 20 Direct Payments can be defined.
-
-
- 4.4 Create Reminders
- --------------------
-
- Reminders can be used to (you`ve guessed it) remind you of forthcoming
- events i.e. Birthdays, Car Service Due etc.
-
- They consist of one line of reminder text and the reminder date.
- The reminders are displayed in the scroll line.
-
- A total of 20 Reminders can be defined.
-
- 4.5 Create Notes
- ----------------
-
- Notes can be used to store any lines of text which the user may want
- to store i.e. bank addresses, telephone numbers or card numbers etc.
-
- They consist of two lines of text and are displayed in the scroll line.
-
- A total of 20 Notes can be defined.
-
- 5.0 LOAD/SAVE MENU
- ------------------
-
- Data in this utility should be stored on a seperate Data Disk. Please
- prepare a formatted disk to Save data once you have edited your file.
- If you want to start a new file, you will have to use a seperate disk as
- there are NO options to select and save seperate files.
-
- This menu has five options :-
-
- 1) LOAD from Data Disk
-
- 2) Load Example File
-
- 3) SAVE to Data Disk
-
- 4) Save for Next Period
-
- 5) Save Ascii File (Account)
-
-
- 5.1 LOAD from Data Disk
- -----------------------
-
- When selected, the program will look for data in drives Df0: and Df1:
- and, if found, will automatically load the data.
-
-
- 5.2 Load Example File
- ---------------------
-
- This option will load the Example File which is supplied on the Program
- Disk. Please note that Data loaded from the Example File cannot be saved.
-
-
- 5.3 SAVE to Data Disk
- ---------------------
-
- Saves data to your Data Disk. If a Data Disk is not present the program
- will ask why not !
-
-
- 5.4 Save for Next Period
- ------------------------
- This is a special SAVE option which saves everything to a Data Disk
- EXCEPT the Transaction File. Also, the Starting Totals for each account
- will be updated to the up-to-date running total, so the new Data Disk is
- ready for immediate use.
-
- NOTE : The User will NOT be able to save this data to an existing Data
- Disk, so please prepare another Data Disk.
-
- 5.5 Save Ascii File (Account)
- -----------------------------
- Time for an apology and a sob story. I haven`t got a printer and this
- option is a feeble attempt to give you luckier people some kind of
- output.
-
- The basic idea is to create an Ascii file on disk to allow Printer
- owners to print out an entire account file or, if needed, edit the file
- before printing.
-
-
- Not a very good note to end the options round-up of this utility
- but an appropriate time to stress that this is a Shareware program and
- in return for registering your name you should expect, and will get, a
- say on how you want this program to develop. Any suggestions on how to
- improve this program will be welcomed.
-
- Registered users will be sent any future upgrades of this program.
-
- The Author`s main priorities are :-
-
- 1) To achieve full Printer options
-
- 2) Explore compatability with Hard Drives
-
- However, if no-one likes this program then I`ll employ Plan 3.
-
- 3) Ditch the program, and get back to playing F1 Grand Prix.
-
-
-
-
- Registration for this program is Ten Pounds (to the following address).
-
- Mr Alan Bilsborough,
-
- 7/5 Burnhill Quadrant,
- Rutherglen,
- Glasgow G73 1ER.
-
- Tel: 041 647-4872
-
-
- This program may only be distributed if accompanied by this document
- file.
-
- The Author cannot accept responsibility for damage caused to any
- hardware or disks whilst using this program.
-
- The Money Program v1.0 was written using AMOS, Mandarin/Jawx.
-
- *************************** End of Text ****************************
-