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"Cheque-It-Out" TM USER'S MANUAL Version 1.1 Hooper International, Inc. P.O. Box 50200 Colorado Springs, CO 80949 Registration Number: ____________ Copyright (C) 1989-1990 by Hooper International, Inc. All rights reserved. "Cheque-It-Out" COPYRIGHT NOTICE "Cheque-It-Out" is not a public domain program. It is Copyright (C) 1989-1990 by Hooper International, Inc. No part of this manual may be reproduced or translated, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of Hooper International, Inc. Copyright (C) 1989-1990 Hooper International, Inc. WARRANTY INFORMATION Hooper International, Inc. licenses this software and manual "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied; including, but not limited to, the particular purpose. Hooper International, Inc. does not warrant that the "Cheque-It-Out" software will meet your requirements, or that the operation of "Cheque-It-Out" will be uninterrupted or error free. In no event will Hooper International, Inc. be liable for incidental, consequential, indirect or other damages including any lost profits or lost savings, arising from the use of, or inability to use, these programs; even if Hooper International, Inc. has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. Please keep in mind, we do not accept returns or give refunds on registered copies. We will, for a period of up to 90 days from initial shipping date, replace defective disks for a minimal shipping and handling charge of $5.00. Defective disks must be returned prepaid and insured by sender. In this way, we are assured of complete customer satisfaction. As you can see, we value your business. Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Hooper International, Inc. This product could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein. These changes may be incorporated in new additions of this publication. Page 2 "Cheque-It-Out" TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 WARRANTY INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 PREFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 UPGRADE POLICY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 AUTHOR'S NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 SECTION ONE - UP & RUNNING ... QUICK & EASY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1a - Quick Install for Advanced DOS Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1b - Starting "Cheque-It-Out" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1c - What To Do Next. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 SECTION TWO - INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2a - Essential Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2b - Hard Disk Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2c - Floppy Disk Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2d - The CONFIG.SYS File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SECTION THREE - STARTING and RUNNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3a - Starting "Cheque-It-Out" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3b - Selecting the Data File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3c - The "SAMPLE" File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3d - Create or Clone Your Own Set of Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3e - Unique Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3f - Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3g - Using the Menu System and Input Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3h - Drop to DOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3i - Using a Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 SECTION FOUR - SYSTEM CONFIGURATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4a - The Configuration Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4b - Setting the System Date. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4c - Setting the Report Heading Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4d - Setting the System Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 4e - Create, Change, or Delete Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4f - Setting Screen Colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 4g - Backing Up Data Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 SECTION FIVE - THE CHART OF ACCOUNTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5a - What Is A Chart of Accounts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5b - Types of Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5c - Organization of the Chart of Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5d - Subtotals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5e - Chart of Accounts Data Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 5f - Getting Familiar with the Chart of Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . 36 5g - Adding/Modifying/Deleting Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5h - Entering Your Chart of Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 5i - Suggested Method for Setting Beginning Balances. . . . . . . . . 39 Page 3 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION SIX - INCOME AND EXPENSE BUDGETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 SECTION SEVEN - TRANSACTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7a - Entering Simple Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7b - Entering Multiple-Part Transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7c - Modify/Delete Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 7d - Create Recurring Transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 7e - Modify/Delete Recurring Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 7f - Activate Recurring Transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 7g - Entering and Printing Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 SECTION EIGHT - REPORTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 8a - Explanation of Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 8b - General Instructions for Generating Reports. . . . . . . . . . . 52 8c - Transactions Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 8d - Recurring Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 8e - Account History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 8f - Income Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 8g - Balance Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 8h - Chart of Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 8i - Budget Variance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 8j - Budget Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 SECTION TEN - UTILITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 10a - Sort Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 10b - Import Transaction File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 10c - Export Transaction File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 10d - Check Writing Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 SECTION TWELVE - BASIC ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 12a - Accounting Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 12b - The Accounting Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 12c - The Income Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 12d - The Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 12e - Double-Entry Accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 12f - Debits and Credits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 12g - Income and Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 SECTION THIRTEEN - USER TECHNICAL SUPPORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 13a - Technical Support Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 13b - How To Receive Help Fast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 13c - How To Receive Detailed Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 13d - How You Can Solve Your Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 SECTION FOURTEEN - HINTS and SUGGESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 14a - Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 14b - If You Have Comments or Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 LIST OF FIGURES. . . . . . . . . . NOT AVAILABLE ON DISK DOCUMENTATION FILE APPENDIX A - SAMPLE REPORTS. . . . NOT AVAILABLE ON DISK DOCUMENTATION FILE APPENDIX B - DISK FILENAMES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Page 4 "Cheque-It-Out" PREFACE Before Reading Any Further... If you are eager to get started, you might save time by reading the guidelines listed in this preface. Depending on your level of bookkeeping and computer expertise, certain sections of this manual are more essential than others. If You've Already Used "Cheque-It-Out"... ...and have a working knowledge of it, you will be pleased to see all of the specially-enhanced features of this new version of "Cheque-It-Out". Before you start working, read Section Two - "Installation" of this manual, which explains the new installation procedures. If you have any questions while you are working, simply refer to this documentation. If You Are An Experienced User of Menu-Driven Software... ...especially those designed for the IBM PC or compatibles, you are more familiar with the terms used for configuring your system. You might, therefore, want to take the following shortcuts: Read Section One - "Up & Running ... Quick & Easy". Look at the sample accounts of the "SAMPLE" files, while using the documentation as a guide and reference. Set up your own set of books by using the "SAMPLE" accounts as an example or framework. Be sure to follow the guidelines and procedures as presented in this manual. If You Are An Experienced Bookkeeper... ...you will have an easier time understanding the terms used in the "Cheque- It-Out" manual. Initially, we recommend you read the entire manual in order to learn how to properly and completely utilize all of the excellent features available to you. If You Have Little or No Experience With Software or Bookkeeping... ...and are unfamiliar with software packages and are not an expert bookkeeper; you will find it easier to read the entire manual completely, following all of the procedures outlined. We strongly suggest you read through the documen- tation at least once, merely to become familiar with some of the terms you will be expected to know; then reread the documentation, this time using the program. For All Users... When using "Cheque-It-Out": Format your new floppy disks before using them. Always use a backup copy of your program disks, never the original disks. Page 5 "Cheque-It-Out" Always make backup copies of your data files. It is important to save all of your work in case something happens to the disk you are using. Carefully follow all instructions in this manual, for optimum understanding, before using "Cheque-It-Out". This guide is intended for use by all users of "Cheque-It-Out". It does not assume that the user has accounting expertise. It is suggested, however, that users with no accounting or bookkeeping background obtain a basic accounting textbook as a supplemental reference. A primer of accounting is included in Section Twelve - "Basic Accounting Principles". If You Have Any Questions... ...comments, or suggestions about "Cheque-It-Out", please write or call our technical support staff at 719-528-8989. UPGRADE POLICY As a registered user, you will be notified of any future releases, which will be available for a nominal upgrade fee. Upon receipt of your payment, and after verification of the version number and registration number of your copy, we will send you a registered copy of the latest version of "Cheque-It-Out". AUTHOR'S NOTES The HOOPER Finance series was created as a result of our own basic need for a simple, affordable, and workable financial software package, able to keep track of income and expenses. Unfortunately, the price for available software packages was prohibitive. Consequently, it became clear that we would have to create a new and affordable program that would eliminate the piles of notes and receipts needed each year to compute income taxes. Therefore, in 1981, Finance Manager was created. It was written for the "Atari 800", with 64K bytes of memory. This program provided a single time frame look at the entire fiscal year, while storing all necessary information from the inevitable notes and receipts. If bookkeeping was to become a "piece of cake", this was surely a sweet start! We have since developed FINANCE MANAGER II, a complete small business accounting package consisting of the General Ledger, Account Reconciliation, Financial Utilities, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Payroll. In 1989, we developed "Cheque-It-Out" for personal accounting. It is perfect for the individual who wants to keep track of more than just a checking account balance. With "Cheque-It-Out", tracking all the income, expense, and liability account balances and reconciling all checking and credit card state- ments is easy. It even prints personal checks. "Cheque-It-Out" is a complete personal accounting software package that uses intuitive, user-friendly concepts to give you complete personal financial statements. Page 6 "Cheque-It-Out" INTRODUCTION With "Cheque-It-Out", you will manage your money like a financial whiz. The determining factor of the survival of anyone's finances is proper management of their financial resources. "Cheque-It-Out" is the tool needed for individuals who want to easily and efficiently manage their resources by providing the best and most comprehensive personal finance program available. "Cheque-It-Out" is a thorough, efficient, and easy to use program designed for the IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 and 100% compatibles. In short, "Cheque-It-Out" is a personal, double- entry, financial program which creates complete financial reports; while keeping track of your income, expenses, liabilities and budgets. It can also print single checks, keep track of all bank service charges and interest, provide password protection from unauthorized use, and has an automatic data file backup function for data integrity. Please feel free to include any comments about this program in a letter to us. We look forward to hearing from you. Page 7 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION ONE - UP & RUNNING ... QUICK & EASY 1a - Quick Install for Advanced DOS Users HARD DISK USERS: The files on the "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk are compressed. Each filename (not extension) ends with the characters ZIP. Make a new directory on your hard disk (suggested directory name: \CIO). Insert the "Cheque-It- Out" Master Program Disk in a floppy drive and from the floppy drive prompt, use the following command to quickly install "Cheque-It-Out": filenameZIP C:\CIO "Filename" is the name of the self-extracting file on the program disk. The above command will install the program files on the C drive in the \CIO directory. NOTE: The program may be run from any directory, provided the directory is included in your DOS "Path" statement. See your DOS manual for infor- mation on the "Path" statement. Be sure a CONFIG.SYS file exists in the root directory of your hard disk and contains the following statements with at least the values below: FILES=20 BUFFERS=20 FLOPPY DISK USERS: 1. Prepare three blank, formatted floppy disks with the following labels: "Cheque-It-Out" Program Disk "Cheque-It-Out" Samples Disk "Cheque-It-Out" Data Disk. 2. Insert your original "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk in drive A. 3. Insert your blank "Cheque-It-Out" Program Disk in drive B. 4. From the A:> prompt, enter the command: CIO1ZIP B: 5. When the file expansion and transfer is complete, remove your new Program disk from drive B and insert your blank Data disk. 6. From the A:> prompt, enter the command: CIO2ZIP B: NOTE: Each of your data disks will need to have these files created to them. 7. When the file expansion and transfer is complete, remove your new Data disk from drive B and insert your blank Samples disk. 8. From the A:> prompt, enter the command: CIO3ZIP B: Page 8 "Cheque-It-Out" 9. When the file expansion and transfer is complete, remove your new Samples disk from drive B. "Cheque-It-Out" is now installed on your floppy disks. 10. Be sure a CONFIG.SYS file exists on your DOS boot disk and that it contains the following statements with at least the values below: FILES=20 BUFFERS=20 1b - Starting "Cheque-It-Out" HARD DISK USERS: To run "Cheque-It-Out", change to the directory containing the program files (e.g: CD\CIO) and enter the command: CIO You can also add a filename parameter when running "Cheque-It-Out" (e.g: CIO C:\CIO\SAMPLE). FLOPPY DISK USERS: 1. To run "Cheque-It-Out", insert your "Cheque-It-Out" Program Disk (not the original) in drive A and your Data disk in drive B. 2. From the A:> prompt, enter the command: CIO You can also add a filename parameter when running "Cheque-It- Out" (e.g: CIO B:\SAMPLE). 1c - What To Do Next To familiarize yourself with the program, you may want to look over the following parts of Section Three - "Starting and Running": Section 3c - "The "SAMPLE" File"... has samples of accounts, reports, and transactions. Section 3d - "Create or Clone Your Own Set of Books"... has instructions on creating a new set of books from scratch or copying already established account files. Section 3e - "Unique Function Keys"... explains some of the special keys used within "Cheque-It-Out". Section 3f - "Editing"... explains some of the special keys that may be used when entering data into or modifying input fields. Although not absolutely necessary, it is advisable to set up the System Configuration before proceeding too far into your own books. See Section Four - "System Configuration" for instructions. Page 9 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION TWO - INSTALLATION Before you initially start using "Cheque-It-Out", be sure you take the time to learn some of the basic preliminary procedures necessary to operate the program, as well as being certain you know some of the basic overall system features. In this section, these elements are discussed in detail. 2a - Essential Hardware The minimum system hardware requirements and options are as follows: REQUIRED: IBM, PC, XT, AT, PS/2, or 100% compatibles DOS 2.0 or greater 448K memory One high density (1.2 Meg) or two 360K floppy disk drives OPTIONAL: Hercules, Monochrome, CGA, EGA, or VGA monitor Printer Mouse (Microsoft or compatible) Hard disk drive 2b - Hard Disk Installation To install "Cheque-It-Out" on your hard disk, do the following: 1. From the DOS prompt for the hard disk (usually C:\>), create a new sub-directory on the hard disk by entering the DOS "MD" command: MD\CIO and press <Enter>. 2. Change to this newly-created directory by using the DOS "CD" command: CD\CIO and press <Enter>. 3. Put your original "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk in drive A. 4. Change to drive A by entering the command: A: and press <Enter>. 5. From the A:> prompt, enter the command: INSTALL and press <Enter>. 6. Follow the instructions on the screen carefully. Figure 2-1 shows the installation screen. Refer to it and/or your screen while performing this procedure. Figure 2-1 Install Screen A. The first prompt asks on which disk drive "Cheque-It-Out" will be installed. This will usually be drive "C"; however, if your computer has more than one hard disk drive, you may use any one of the designated hard disk drives on your computer. Page 10 "Cheque-It-Out" B. The second prompt asks if that drive is a hard disk. Enter a "Y" for yes. C. The next prompt asks in which directory you want "Cheque-It-Out" installed. The default directory (\CIO) will be displayed. To accept this directory name, press <Enter>. To enter a different directory name, simply type the backslash character ("\") and the directory name (following the DOS naming conventions), pressing <Enter> when you are done. If the directory does not exist on the hard disk you selected, the INSTALL procedure will prompt you with: "Directory Not Found. Create New Directory (Y/N):" Enter "Y" to create the new directory and continue with the INSTALL procedure or "N" to change the directory name you just entered. D. The next prompt asks in which disk drive you inserted the original "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk. This is the disk drive that currently contains the Master Program Disk; drive A. The INSTALL procedure will then begin installing "Cheque-It-Out", showing you messages on the screen as it proceeds. E. When you see the prompt: "Insert the original CHEQUE-IT-OUT MASTER PROGRAM DISK in drive A:" "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE" simply press <Enter>. 7. After completing the INSTALL procedure, file away your original "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk for safe keeping. 8. Now, re-boot the computer by using either of the following methods: A. Hold down both the <Ctrl> and <Alt> keys and press the <Delete> key. B. Turn off the computer, wait a minute for the hard disk to stop, and then turn the computer on again. 2c - Floppy Disk Installation 1. Before installing "Cheque-It-Out", you must have three blank, formatted, and labeled disks. If this is not the case, do the following: A. Insert your DOS boot disk in drive A. B. Insert the first blank disk in drive B. C. From the DOS prompt for the A drive (e.g: A:>), enter the command: Page 11 "Cheque-It-Out" FORMAT B: and press <Enter>. D. Repeat this step until all three blank disks are formatted. 2. Label the three blank, formatted floppy disks with the following: "Cheque-It-Out" Program Disk "Cheque-It-Out" Samples Disk "Cheque-It-Out" Data Disk. 3. Insert the original "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk in drive A: 4. From the A:> prompt, enter the command: INSTALL and press <Enter>. 5. Follow the instructions on the screen carefully. Figure 2-1 shows the installation screen. Refer to it and/or your screen while performing this procedure. A. The first prompt asks on which disk drive "Cheque-It-Out" will be installed. Enter the disk drive letter where you will be inserting the blank, formatted and labeled disks (usually drive B). B. The second prompt asks if that drive is a hard disk. Enter an "N" for no. C. The next prompt asks in which directory you want "Cheque-It-Out" installed. Since you are using floppy disks, leave this field blank by pressing <Enter>. D. The next prompt asks in which disk drive you inserted the original "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk. This is the disk drive that currently contains the Master Program Disk (usually drive A), then press <Enter>. 6. The screen will then display the amount of formatted disks needed for the INSTALL procedure. You will also need the disk used to boot your computer. 7. Answer the prompt "Do you have all of the above disks FORMATTED and LABELED (Y/N):" with "Y" for yes, or "N" for no if you still need to format the disks mentioned above. NOTE: Answering "N" will abort the INSTALL procedure and return you to the default DOS prompt. 8. Insert your boot disk in the drive specified in step 5-A above and press any key to continue. The INSTALL procedure will check the boot disk for a CONFIG.SYS file. If not found, one will be copied to the boot disk. If a CONFIG.SYS file already exists on the boot disk, the INSTALL procedure will check it to ensure that it contains the minimum specifi- cations for proper program execution (see section 2e - "The CONFIG.SYS File"). If the CONFIG.SYS file is good, the INSTALL procedure will move Page 12 "Cheque-It-Out" on to the next step. If the CONFIG.SYS file is not good, the INSTALL procedure will copy the existing CONFIG.SYS file to the boot disk as "CONFIG.BAK" and then modify the CONFIG.SYS file with the proper specifi- cations, without losing any of your other configuration options. 9. The INSTALL procedure will then prompt: "Insert the original CHEQUE-IT-OUT MASTER PROGRAM DISK in drive A:" "Insert YOUR BLANK disk labeled CHEQUE-IT-OUT PROGRAM DISK in drive B:" "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE" Do as the prompt instructs. The screen will then show "De-Archiving A:CIO1ZIP.EXE to B: Please Wait..." while the files are being expanded from drive A: to drive B: 10. The INSTALL procedure will then prompt: "Insert your blank disk labeled DATA DISK in drive B:" "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE" Do as the prompt instructs. The screen will then show "De-Archiving A:CIO2ZIP.EXE to B: Please wait..." while the files are being expanded from drive A: to drive B: 11. The INSTALL procedure will then prompt: "Insert your blank disk labeled CHEQUE-IT-OUT SAMPLES DISK in drive A:" "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE" Do as the prompt instructs. The screen will then show "De-Archiving A:CIO2ZIP.EXE to B: Please wait..." while the "SAMPLE" data files are being expanded from drive A: to drive B: 12. After all the "SAMPLE" files are expanded, the "Cheque-It-Out" instal- lation is complete. After completing the INSTALL procedure, file away the original "Cheque- It-Out" disk for safekeeping. 13. Now re-boot the computer by doing the following: A. Insert your boot disk in drive A. B. Hold down both the <Ctrl> and <Alt> keys and press the <Delete> key. Page 13 "Cheque-It-Out" 2d - The CONFIG.SYS File Many of the programs you run will open several files at once. The DOS default allows for only 8 FILES and 2 BUFFERS. These default settings are not large enough and may hang up the program. A CONFIG.SYS file must be either in the root directory of the hard disk drive or on the boot disk, with the following lines in it: FILES=20 BUFFERS=20 NOTE: The installation procedure in section 2b (for hard disk users) or 2c (for floppy disk users), if used, already added or modified this file for you. If you did not use the installation procedure and you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file, you must create one (refer to your DOS manual). If you already have a CONFIG.SYS file in the root directory of the hard disk or on the boot disk, make sure it has at least these values. The values of the files and buffers may be greater than, but not less than, 20. Page 14 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION THREE - STARTING and RUNNING 3a - Starting "Cheque-It-Out" To start the program, do the following: HARD DISK USERS: Change to the directory containing the "Cheque-It-Out" program files by entering the command: CD\CIO and press <Enter>. FLOPPY DISK USERS: 1. Insert your copy of the "Cheque-It-Out" program disk (not the original disk) in drive A and the blank data disk in drive B. 2. Change to the A:> prompt by entering the command: A: and press <Enter>. BOTH HARD DISK AND FLOPPY DISK USERS: 1. Enter the command: CIO and press <Enter>. 2. The first screen is the "Cheque-It-Out" logon notice. Press any key to continue. 3b - Selecting the Data File You are now going to tell "Cheque-It-Out" where to find the data files you wish to use or create. It is not necessary for your data files to be in the same directory, or even on the same disk drive, as the program files. It is important, however, that all your data files be together. To select the disk drive, path and filename, do the following: Figure 3-1 Select Datafile 1. At the "DISK DRIVE:" prompt, enter the disk drive letter that contains (or will contain) your data files (e.g: C for hard disk or B for floppy disk). The default drive letter will always appear at this prompt. 2. At the "PATH:" prompt: Floppy disk users: leave this field blank by pressing <Enter>. Hard disk users: enter the directory name (and sub-directories, if applicable) that contains (or will contain) your data files (e.g: \CIO). The default is \CIO. To accept this directory name, press <Enter>. Page 15 "Cheque-It-Out" To enter a different directory name, simply type the backslash character ("\") and the directory name (following the DOS naming conventions), pressing <Enter> when you are done. This directory name must already exist on the hard disk drive selected in step 1, above. 3. At the "FILENAME:" prompt, enter the filename of the data file you wish to use. If any data files exist on the disk drive and path you just selected, their filenames will appear in a pop-up window on the screen (Figure 3-2 below). If you want to use a filename that already exists on the data disk (e.g: "SAMPLE"), select that name from the pop-up window. To create a new file, press <Esc>, enter a new filename and press <Enter>. Figure 3-2 Datafile Choice 4. Figure 3-3, below, is the "Cheque-It-Out" Main Menu screen, containing the Main Menu. Note that, centered on the bottom of the screen is the drive, path and filename you used to start the program. From here, you can use and run any of the menu choices by selecting your choice from the Main Menu. Figure 3-3 Main Menu 5. To select a menu item from any of the menu screens in "Cheque-It-Out", use any of these methods: A. Direct Entry: Color monitor - type the highlighted letter of the menu item. Monochrome monitor - type the upper case (capitalized) letter of your menu item. B. Highlighting: highlight the menu item by using the cursor arrow keys, then press <Enter>. C. Mouse: move the mouse cursor over the menu item and click the left button. NOTE: Pressing and releasing a button on a mouse is called "clicking" the mouse. At this point it is suggested, but not required, that you set up the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION. It should be set up to customize "Cheque-It-Out" to your hardware and functional purposes. See Section Four - "System Configuration" for instructions. 3c - The "SAMPLE" File The "SAMPLE" file, mentioned in section 3b, step 3 above, is included on your Samples disk. It includes typical accounts and various types of transactions and reports. It may be helpful to familiarize yourself with this file while you are using "Cheque-It-Out", since most people employ similar types of transactions and reports. Page 16 "Cheque-It-Out" It is important that you understand that these sample files are included with the program strictly as an instructional tool, and are to be used only to help learn "Cheque-It-Out". PLEASE DO NOT EXPAND ON THEM FOR YOUR OWN USE, since the accounts already have balances and several transactions have already been entered. To use the sample files, follow the steps in sections 3a and 3b above, selecting the "SAMPLE" file at the filename prompt. 3d - Create or Clone Your Own Set of Books This feature allows you to make an exact copy of any "Cheque-It-Out" data file accounts that may already exist, without having to reenter the initial data. The accounts made with this cloning feature will include any balances that may exist. To create or clone your own set of books, do the following: 1. Follow the steps in sections 3a and 3b above, stopping after step 2 of section 3b. 2. At the "Filename:" prompt, press <Esc>, enter the new filename, then press <Enter>. 3. At the "Create new file[N]:" prompt, enter Y. 4. At the "Clone an existing Chart of Accounts[N]:" prompt, do the following: A. Answer "N" if you want to create your own set of books. "Cheque- It-Out" will create empty Chart of Accounts, Transaction, Recur- ring Transaction, and Reconciliation data files; returning you to the Main Menu after these files are created OR B. Answer "Y" if you want "Cheque-It-Out" to automatically create an identical Chart of Accounts and empty Transaction, Recurring Transaction, and Reconciliation data files for the new filename. If you answer "Y", you will see the following screen: Figure 3-4 Select File to Clone From Respond to the "DISK DRIVE:" and "PATH:" prompts as you did in section 3b, steps 1 and 2. At the "FILENAME:" prompt, enter the filename of the existing data file you want to clone. You will be returned to the Main Menu after the cloning is completed. 3e - Unique Function Keys <Esc> (Escape) Key: Pressing the <Esc> key once will stop any function and take you back to your previous menu selection. Pressing the <Esc> key several times will step you back through the menu screens, eventually exiting the program. Page 17 "Cheque-It-Out" If you are in an input field and do not wish to continue the current task, pressing the <Esc> key will return you to the previous menu. If you are already at a menu, pressing the <Esc> key will return you to the previous menu. Selecting <Esc> on the Main Menu is used to end the program, as well as to select a different filename. If you would like to abort the printing of a report, you can do so by pressing the <Esc> key. PRINTER PAUSE: When printing reports to the printer or to the disk, you can "PAUSE" the report printing by pressing any key (except <Esc>), while the report is still printing. This will cause the printing action to pause until you press any key to continue. When using this feature, please remember that some printers have print buffers, which will continue the printing until this buffer is completely empty. It will stop printing only at that time. <F1> (Help) Key: There are two help systems in the program. The first is a one-line help sentence displayed at the lower left corner of the screen. The second is a context sensitive help system, meaning the help screen will display help on the subject you are currently working on. To receive help at any time, anywhere in the program, press the <F1> key once and a pop-up window will display an explanation of the field you are working on. Several of the help files include cross-references at the bottom of the screen, giving more detailed help on the subject. A cross-reference may be selected in any of the following ways: 1. Highlight the cross reference by using the cursor arrow keys, then press <Enter>. 2. Click the left button of the mouse when the mouse cursor is on the cross reference. 3. If there is only one cross reference, press <Enter>. You may leave the help message screens by pressing the <Esc> key. HELP on HELP: Pressing the <F1> key twice will display a listing of the overall available help topics, allowing you to select a new area of help. <F2> KEY: The <F2> key is used to initiate a pop-up account listing. The default for the pop-up account listing function ("AUTO POP-UP") is "N", preventing the account listings from popping up automatically. If you prefer, the "AUTO POP-UP" function can be set to an automatic mode; whereby an account listing will be displayed automatically, each time you are at an account number input field. To set this function to automatic mode, change the setting for "AUTO POP-UP" to "Y" by following the steps in 4d - "Setting the System Configuration". NOTE: Setting the "AUTO POP-UP" to "N" will allow faster data input and program execution. Page 18 "Cheque-It-Out" To select an account from this listing, select the desired account in any of the following ways: 1. Highlight the account by using the cursor arrow keys, then press <Enter>. 2. Click the left button of the mouse when the mouse cursor is on the account. NOTE: Pressing and releasing a button on a mouse is called "clicking" the mouse. 3. Type the starting number(s) or letter(s) of the account number (e.g: typing 17 to find any account in the 170000 account number range). This will move the highlighting bar to the starting number of the range. <F10> KEY: By pressing the <F10> key, when "<F10> Done" is displayed at the bottom of the screen, you will quickly save the information displayed on the screen by accepting all of the displayed input fields. This allows you to quickly change one or two fields on an input screen (such as the Configuration Settings screen) without having to press <Enter> several times to get to the bottom of the input screen. To use this function, do the following: 1. When you are finished entering or changing data on an input screen that has "<F10> Done" displayed at the bottom, press the <F10> key. 2. At the prompt: "Save Inputs:[Y]:" do the following: A. Enter "Y" (the default) to save the new or changed data OR B. Enter "N" to abort the latest entries and return the cursor to the first input field of the screen. NOTE: Entering an "N" response will not change any data already saved. If you were changing displayed data and decided you did not want to change it, entering "N" will leave the original data unchanged. 3f - Editing This section describes the commands recognized by the data input editor. The two editing modes (Insert and Edit) are covered first, followed by the single- key commands, and finally the control-key commands. The two editing modes available from the data input editor are Insert and Edit. To change from one mode to the other, press the INSERT key. The following describes how to identify which mode you are in and what that mode does: Page 19 "Cheque-It-Out" INSERT: Identified by a large (fat) cursor and allows insertion of characters at the position of the cursor. EDIT: Identified by a small (thin) cursor and allows overtyping of the characters in the field. You can use the following single-key commands to quickly and easily move the cursor around the input screens: LEFT ARROW: Moves the cursor one character to the left within an input field. RIGHT ARROW: Moves the cursor one character to the right within the input field. UP ARROW: Moves the cursor up. DOWN ARROW: Moves the cursor down. TAB: Moves the cursor to the next input field. SHIFT-TAB: Moves the cursor to the prior input field. HOME: Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current input field. END: Moves the cursor to the end of the current input field. DELETE: Removes a single character at the location of the cursor and moves the remaining right portion of the field one space to the left. BACKSPACE: This key performs two functions. If the cursor is in the left- most position of the field, pressing backspace will move the cursor to the prior input field (same as Shift-Tab). If the cursor has been moved within an input field, backspace will remove a single character immediately to the left of the cursor, moving the remaining right portion of the field one space to the left. ENTER: Accepts the current entry in the field and moves to the next input field. ESC: Will abandon the current screen and take you back to the prior screen. PLUS KEY (+) or SPACE BAR: Will increment to the next value on multiple choice fields (e.g: Printer Port Selection). The following control-key editing commands can be entered by holding down the <Ctrl> key and pressing the indicated key: CTRL-Y or SPACE BAR: Removes the contents of the current field. CTRL-R: Restores the contents of the current field. CTRL-HOME: Removes the contents of the field from the beginning of the field to the cursor. Page 20 "Cheque-It-Out" CTRL-END: Removes the contents of the field from the cursor to the end of the field. CTRL-PGUP: Moves the cursor to the first input field on the screen. CTRL-PGDN: Moves the cursor to the last input field on the screen. 3g - Using the Menu System and Input Fields The menu system in "Cheque-It-Out" is designed to be as user-friendly as possible. You may select a menu item by using any of these methods: 1. Direct Entry: Color monitor - type the highlighted letter of the menu item. Monochrome monitor - type the upper case (capitalized) letter of your menu item. 2. Highlighting: highlight the menu item by using the cursor arrow keys, then press <Enter>. 3. Mouse: move the mouse cursor over the menu item and click the left button. NOTE: Pressing and releasing a button on a mouse is called "clicking" the mouse. When you are ready to enter data into any input field, do so by typing the information and then pressing the <Enter> key. Some input fields may already have default data in them. If this is the case, you can do any one of the following: 1. To accept the data in the field, press the <Enter> key. 2. To change the data in the field, just start typing. The data present will be deleted automatically. 3. To blank-out a data field, press the <SPACE BAR>; on numeric fields, type a zero ("0"). 3h - Drop to DOS At any time while in "Cheque-It-Out", you may temporarily leave the program, dropping to the DOS prompt to perform DOS commands, and then return to the same place within the program. To drop to DOS: Hold down the <Alt> key and press "D". To return to the program: Enter the command: EXIT and press <Enter>. NOTE: DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER OR LOAD ANY MEMORY RESIDENT PROGRAMS WHILE DROPPED TO DOS. Page 21 "Cheque-It-Out" Loading a memory resident program will corrupt your open data files. Turning off your computer will lock your open data files. 3i - Using a Mouse You can use a mouse, instead of direct entry or highlighting with the cursor arrow keys, for making selections from the menus, filename listings, pop-up account listings or prompts that require a single keystroke. To make a selection, do the following: 1. Move the mouse cursor to your selection in the menu. 2. Press (click) the left button on the mouse. NOTE: Pressing and releasing a button on a mouse is called "clicking" the mouse. When you are on a multiple choice field, such as "Printer Port" on the "Configuration Settings" screen, clicking the left button of the mouse will increment the choices in the field. When editing input fields, move the mouse cursor to the field you wish to edit and click the left button on the mouse. There are two basic types of "mice" currently available, two-button and three- button. The following is an explanation of the buttons for each type of mouse. Two-Button Mouse: The right button is for <Esc>. The left button is for <Enter>. Pressing both buttons at the same time will display the context sensitive HELP system (same as pressing the <F1> key) for the field you are currently working on. Three-Button Mouse: The right button is for <Esc>. The left or middle button is for <Enter>. Pressing both the left and right buttons at the same time will display the context sensitive HELP system (same as pressing the <F1> key) for the field you are currently working on. Page 22 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION FOUR - SYSTEM CONFIGURATION 4a - The Configuration Menu The Configuration Menu contains selections important to the overall set-up and performance of "Cheque-It-Out". It allows for the creation or change of the system date, report heading names, the system configuration, passwords, screen colors, and sounds. It also has a built-in utility for backing up your data files. NOTE: To activate your changes, you must return to the Main Menu. To enter the Configuration Menu, select "conFig" from the Main Menu. Figure 4-1, below, will be displayed. Figure 4-1 Configuration Menu The following sections provide detailed explanations of each menu choice. 4b - Setting the System Date Setting the date is necessary if you did not set the date at the time you powered up your computer, using the DOS "Date" command. The date is set automatically, if your computer is equipped with an internal clock/calendar. This is the date which will appear on your screen and on your printed reports. If your computer does not set the date automatically, you should set a new date every time you run "Cheque-It-Out" to ensure that all of your data will have the correct date. The system date is shown in the lower right corner of the screen, using the default format of mm-dd-yy. To change this format, refer to section 4d - "Setting the System Configuration": DATE MASK. NOTE: Changing the date here will also change the date of your internal system clock. To set or change the system date, do the following: 1. Select "conFig" from the Main Menu (if not already done). 2. Select "System Date" from the Configuration Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 4-2 Change Date 3. At the "DATE:" prompt, type the desired date, following the format shown in the lower right corner of the screen, and press <Enter>. 4. To leave the Configuration Menu, press <Esc>. 4c - Setting the Report Heading Name The "Report Heading Name" is a two-line name and can be used to reflect a company name. Each line will hold up to 30 characters. The first line will always appear centered at the top of the Main Menu screen and both lines will appear at the top of all reports. Creating or changing a name here will not change your data filename. Page 23 "Cheque-It-Out" To change the Report Heading Names, do the following: 1. Select "conFig" from the Main Menu (if not already done). 2. Select "Report Heading Name" from the Configuration Menu. The following window appears: Figure 4-3 Change Report Heading Name 3. At the "Report Heading 1:" prompt, type the new first line report heading (also for the top of the screen) and press <Enter>. 4. At the "Report Heading 2:" prompt, type any additional information you would like to appear on the second line of the report title and press <Enter>. Leaving this line blank will leave the second line of the report title blank. 5. To leave the Configuration Menu, press <Esc>. 4d - Setting the System Configuration For your convenience, the system configuration settings are pre-defined and do not need to be changed to use the program. They may be changed at any time, depending on your preference or the type of hardware you have. To change the System Configuration, do the following: 1. Select "conFig" from the Main Menu (if not already done). 2. Select "System Configuration" from the Configuration Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 4-4 Configuration Settings A full explanation of each field is listed below. If you make any changes to the System Configuration, be sure to press <Enter> to move to the next field. When done making changes, press <F10> to save the changes, then press <Esc> to return to the Main Menu and activate the changes. DATE MASK - The format you select here will be the way the date is displayed at the lower right corner of the screen and date input fields, and printed on the reports. The default is set to a mm-dd-yy format with a hyphen as the separator (e.g: 03-05-90 for March 5, 1990). It can display any combination (dd-mm-yy, yy-mm-dd, mm-yyyy, mm-dd) and can display the month and day without the year. The separator may be a hyphen "-", a period "." or any other symbol of your choice. mm = month dd = day yy = year Type the format of your choice and press <Enter>. TIME MASK - The format you select here will be the way the time is displayed at the lower right corner of the screen. The default is set to a hh:mm:sste format. This displays every digit including "am" and "pm". Page 24 "Cheque-It-Out" hh = hours mm = minutes ss = seconds t = a or p e = m Notice the time mask format, above, is all lower case letters. This allows any leading zeros to be displayed (e.g: 09:04:02am). Using all upper case letters will eliminate any leading zeros (e.g: 9: 4: 2am). If you want the leading zero dropped from only the hours, use upper case letters for the hours and lower case letters for the rest of the format (e.g: HH:mm:sste for 9:04:02am). It is important that the double-letter format be used; otherwise the time displayed will show only one digit, even for a double-digit hour, minute, or second. Using the "te" at the end of the time format allows the "am" or "pm" to be displayed. If only the single letter "a" and "p" is desired, enter only the letter "t" (the letter "e" cannot stand alone). If used, the "t" or "te" must be in lower case. Eliminating the "te" will display the time in a 24-hour (military) format. Type the format of your choice and press <Enter>. ERROR SOUNDS ON - Entering a "Y" (Yes) will enable a tone to alert you of an entry error or that a requested file cannot be found. Entering an "N" (No) will inhibit the tone. This selection does not affect any other sounds. The default is "Y". WINDOW SOUNDS ON - Entering a "Y" (Yes) will enable a rising tone when an exploding window opens and a falling tone each time an exploding window closes. Entering an "N" (No) will inhibit these tones. This selection has no effect if exploding windows are set to "N" (see below). The default is "N". EXPLODING WINDOWS - Exploding windows start from the center of the screen and explode outward. If this feature is not desired, answer "N" (No) and the windows will pop-up rather than explode. The default is "Y" (Yes). NOTE: Answering "N" will allow faster program execution. AUTO POP-UP - Enter a "Y" (Yes) if you would like automatic pop-up of any account listing each time the input field is an account number. Enter an "N" (No) if you would like manual pop-up of the account listing, using the <F2> key, each time the input field is an account number. The default is "N". PRINT ZERO BALANCE - Answer "Y" (Yes) if zero balance accounts are to be included on reports. Answering "N" (No) will not include zero balance accounts on reports. The default is "Y". NOTE: The program will not print an account with a zero balance if ALL of the following conditions apply: 1. The account beginning balance was zero. Page 25 "Cheque-It-Out" 2. No transactions occurred for that account during the month(s) requested for the report. 3. The account ending balance is zero. 4. "Print Zero Balance:" (above) is set to "N". PAUSE BETWEEN PAGES - Answer "Y" (Yes) if you want to feed single sheets of paper, one at a time, to the printer; or if you want the printer to pause between pages. Answer "N" (No) when using continuous feed paper, a cut sheet feeder or a paper tray that allows single sheets to be fed to the printer without interruption (like those used on the HP LaserJet series of printers). The default is "N". NOTE: Answering "N" will allow faster printing. DECIMAL CHARACTER - This feature was developed for those countries that use a comma instead of a period for the decimal character. Enter the character you would like to have appear ("," "." or "N" for no decimal character). The decimal character appears on all reports and when entering amount data. The default is the "." (period). PRINTER PORT - This is a multiple choice field incremented by pressing the <SPACE BAR> or the <+> key on the keyboard or the left button on a mouse. When you have selected the port code that corresponds with the printer connection, press the <Enter> key. The default is LPT1. Available choices are: Parallel Port Serial Port LPT1 COM1 LPT2 COM2 PRN COM3 LST COM4 LINES PER PAGE - This refers to the number of lines the printer can print on a single sheet of paper. An 8½" x 11" page usually has 66 lines, printing at six lines per inch (LPI). To figure the total lines per page, multiply the length of the paper (in inches) by the number of lines per inch the printer is set to print (usually six). The result is the figure you enter here (usually 66). This allows the program to know the physical length of the paper in the printer. The actual lines printed on a page are determined by the top and bottom margin settings. It is very important that the printer settings you have set into your printer (via DIP switches or default settings) match the settings you enter here. If the printer settings are not the same as the settings here, you will experience difficulty with page alignment. The default is 66. NOTE: The HP LaserJet series of printers should have a page length of 60 for standard 8½" x 11" paper. TOP MARGIN - Enter here the number of lines from the top of the page you want left blank, before the printer starts printing. The default is 1. BOTTOM MARGIN - Enter here the number of lines from the bottom of the page you want left blank, after the printer stops printing. The default is 2. Page 26 "Cheque-It-Out" WIDE CARRIAGE - A wide carriage printer allows the use of 14" wide paper. Answering "Y" (Yes) will, in effect, move the right margin from the standard 8½" setting to a 14" setting. This will allow use of the entire width of the paper when printing trended reports. This setting does not change the font size. Answering "N" (No) will keep all printing within the 8½" width. The default is "N". INIT STRING - (Optional Field, usually left blank) This allows a special set-up string to be sent to the printer when running "Cheque-It-Out". It may be used to change the printer font, move the left margin, etc. All inputs are numbers from 0 to 255. Refer to your printer manual for the proper ASCII codes to use. The default is "0". FORMS INIT STRING - (Optional Field, usually left blank) The input for these fields are the escape sequences that change the printer modes, when using pre-printed forms. It is usually used to turn off special modes established in the INIT STRING above. All inputs are numbered from 0 to 255. Refer to your printer manual for the proper ASCII codes to use. The default is "0". NORMAL - These fields tell the printer to print in a 10-character-per-inch mode. If you have an Epson or compatible printer, enter "18" in the first field. The default is "0". COMPRESSED - These fields tell the printer to print in a 17-character-per- inch mode. If you have an Epson or compatible printer, enter "15" in the first field. The default is "0". EXIT STRING - (Optional Field, usually left blank) This field is used to reset the printer after printing is complete. If the "INIT STRING" field was not used, then this field should also be left blank. The default is "0". When you have completed all changes, save the new configuration by doing the following: 1. Press <F10>. 2. At the "Inputs correct:[Y]:" prompt answer "Y". 3. Leave the Configuration Menu by selecting "Leave Configuration" or by pressing <Esc>. NOTE: To activate the changes, you must first return to the Main Menu. 4e - Create, Change, or Delete Passwords Passwords are used to protect confidential data from use by any unauthorized users. Each password is created by the user, can contain up to 8 characters, appears on the screen only at the time it is created (not when entered later), cannot be bypassed and may be changed at any time by any user that knows the current password. "Cheque-It-Out" allows you two levels of password protection; the first when trying to enter the program and the second when printing or viewing reports. Password protection is also available when trying to start the Account Reconciliation. Page 27 "Cheque-It-Out" The two levels of password protection are: 1. "Access to System" (the first level). This level allows full use of all the functions of the program except the viewing/printing of reports. 2. "Access to Reports" (the second level). This level allows full use of all the functions of the program. NOTE: It is not necessary for the authorized user to enter BOTH the first and second level passwords to gain access to the filename selected. Correctly entering just the second level password ("Access to Reports") will allow the user access. ****************************************************************************** WARNING SHOULD YOU FORGET ANY OF THE PASSWORDS THAT YOU CREATED, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENTER THAT AREA OR CHANGE THE PASSWORD. It will be necessary for you to send a copy of your data files, along with an explanation as to which password(s) are to be removed, to Hooper International, Inc. Our address may be found at the bottom of the title page of this manual. ****************************************************************************** To create, change or delete one or more passwords, do the following: 1. Select "conFig" from the Main Menu (if not already done). 2. Select "Passwords Menu" from the Configuration Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 4-5 Passwords Menu 3. From the "Passwords Menu", select the type of password that is to be created, changed or deleted, by doing any one of the following: A. Type the highlighted letter (color monitor) or the upper case letter (monochrome monitor) of the choice. B. Highlight the choice using the cursor arrow keys, then press <Enter>. C. Move the mouse cursor over the choice and then click the left button of the mouse. The "System Passwords" choice was selected for the following explanation. Figure 4-6 Passwords 4. Select "Access to System" to create, change or delete the password allowing access to the filename selected without access to reports OR Select "Access to Reports" to create, change or delete the password allowing access to reports. Page 28 "Cheque-It-Out" The "Access to System" choice was selected for the following explanation. The following screen appears: Figure 4-7 Change Passwords 5. At the "Old Password:" prompt, do either: A. To create a password for the first time, there is no old password, so leave this field blank and press <Enter>. OR B. To change or delete an existing password, enter the old (existing) password here and press <Enter>. NOTE: Your password will appear on the screen only once, when creating the new password. Other than this first entry, your password will NEVER appear on the screen. It is STRONGLY recommended that you choose a password that is easy to remember. It is very important that the password spelling be correct. As each character of the password is typed, a dot will appear on the screen. Failure to spell the old password correctly will result in the prompt: INVALID ENTRY. When changing or deleting a password, if the password you entered is correct, the cursor will move to the "New Password" field, displaying the password you just entered. If the password you entered is incorrect, you will not be allowed to continue this procedure. 6. At the "New Password:" prompt, do either: A. To create or change a password, enter the new password and press <Enter>. Be sure the spelling is correct. Figure 4-7, above, is adding the new password "TEST" to allow access to the system only OR B. To delete a password, press the <SPACE BAR> to erase the entry in the field, then press <Enter>. NOTE: If you want to create a password for both levels of the system, you will need to do this procedure twice - once for each password. 7. When you are finished creating, changing or deleting your password(s), do the following: A. If you created a new password (or removed password protection) to prevent access to the filename selected, you must exit the entire program and then re-start the program for the new password to take effect. Page 29 "Cheque-It-Out" B. If you created a new password (or removed password protection) to prevent access to reports, you must press <Esc> twice to return to the Configuration Menu for the new password to take effect. The Account Reconciliation portion of the program may also be password protected by following steps 3 through 7, above, selecting "Acct Recon Password" from the Passwords Menu. 4f - Setting Screen Colors If you have a color monitor/display adapter, "Cheque-It-Out" will automatically display all screens in color (provided the default settings were not changed). If you have a VGA monochrome monitor/display adapter, "Cheque-It-Out" will display all screens in up to 16 shades of gray (provided the default settings were not changed). To change the colors, do the following: 1. Select "conFig" from the Main Menu (if not already done). 2. Select "Screen Colors" from the Configuration Menu. The following menu appears: Figure 4-8 Colors Configuration Menu There are eleven color selections available from this menu, allowing up to 3,000 different color choices. The following is a brief explanation of each: Main Screen Color: sets colors for the main background screen, which is always shown. Reports Screen Color: sets colors for the reports screens. Error Window Colors: sets colors of the window that appears when an entry error has been made or a file cannot be found. Input Window Colors: sets colors of all input field windows. Select-Acct Window Colors: sets colors of the pop-up account listings and filename windows. Main Menu Colors: sets colors of the Main Menu screen. Sub-Menu Colors: sets colors for the sub-menus. Acct Rec Menu Colors: sets colors of the Account Reconciliation module menu. Help Screen Colors: sets colors of the Help screen. Reset to defaults - Color: resets all colors to the program's default colors. Reset to defaults - B&W: resets the color configuration for a monochrome monitor. Page 30 "Cheque-It-Out" 3. Select the color configuration you want to change (e.g: Main Menu Colors). The following menu appears: Figure 4-9 Main Menu Colors 4. Select the part of the Main Menu Colors you want to change (e.g: Window Body Colors). The following screen appears: Figure 4-10 Setting Window Body Colors The eight horizontal color bars in the "Body" window represent the BACKGROUND colors. The colored diamonds represent the TEXT colors that will appear over the background color. The small, white rectangle is the cursor. If you move the cursor, you will see a square box that indicates the current setting. The brighter colored diamonds on the right half of the window represent brighter, or more intensified, text colors than the diamonds on the left half of the window. NOTE: Due to printing constraints, the colors mentioned here are not visible in this manual. Please follow these instructions while viewing the screens on a color monitor. To change the colors of your selection, do the following: A. Move the cursor up or down to the color bar of your choice for BACKGROUND color. B. Move the cursor left or right until it covers the diamond of your color choice for TEXT color. Notice the cursor changes to the text color, indicating how the text color choice will look over the background color. C. Press <Enter> to set the selection. 5. When you have completed all changes, save the new configuration by doing the following: A. Press <F10>. B. At the "Inputs correct:[Y]:" prompt, answer "Y". C. Leave the Configuration Menu by selecting "Leave Configuration" or by pressing <Esc>. NOTE: To activate your changes, you must first return to the Main Menu. 4g - Backing Up Data Files Making daily copies of your LIVE data files is highly recommended for your own protection. Should there ever be a power outage or fluctuation, or a hard disk crash; having a useable copy of your data files on a floppy disk is your only protection from data loss (your only loss would be the current day's data already entered). We strongly encourage you to make a copy of your data files at the end of each day, using this backup function. We also recommend that you Page 31 "Cheque-It-Out" have more than one backup disk so you can rotate the disks (one for each day of the week). These backup disks should be blank, formatted disks labeled "BACKUP DISK FOR" followed by the filename of your data files. The backup program will backup only the data files of the file you are currently in. "Cheque-It-Out" employs an intelligent backup program scheme, whereby the backup program will copy to the floppy disk the largest data file (of the data files to be backed up) first. Then it checks the remaining space on the floppy disk and copies the next largest data file, only if that data file will fit on the floppy. If the second data file is too large, it skips to the third largest data file and tries to copy it. The program continues to do this until all data files have been copied to the floppy disk or the floppy disk becomes full. Those data files that are successfully copied to the floppy disk are marked by the backup program, so it can keep track of which data files still need to be copied. Should the floppy disk become full, the backup program advises you to remove the floppy disk and insert another one. NOTE: If the first data file is larger than the available space on the floppy disk being used for the backup, the backup program will "loop", telling you "insufficient space on the disk" each time a backup attempt is made. Press <Esc> to end this function. To prevent this, we recommend you try these steps in the order listed. Run the backup program after each step: 1. Be sure you are using a totally blank, formatted floppy disk. 2. Use larger capacity floppy disks, if possible. If you are using a 360K floppy disk, use a 1.2Meg instead. If you are using a 750K floppy, use a 1.44Meg instead. 3. Use either the DOS "Backup" command or a third party file archive program to reduce the size of the data file. To make a backup copy of your data files, do the following: 1. Select "Backup Datafiles" from the Configuration Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 4-11 Datafile Backup 2. At the "BACKUP DISK DRIVE:" prompt, enter the disk drive letter of the drive where the floppy disk will be inserted. The program defaults to drive A. 3. Follow the screen prompt by inserting a BLANK, FORMATTED disk in the drive you selected in step 2. 4. Press any key to start the backup procedure. As mentioned above, if the floppy disk is not large enough to hold all of the data files, the backup program will advise you to insert another disk in the drive. BE SURE IT IS A BLANK, FORMATTED DISK. Page 32 "Cheque-It-Out" To leave the Configuration Menu, do the following: 1. Back out of the layered configuration menus by pressing <Esc> or selecting the highlighted letter in the "Leave..." selection. 2. At the "Save inputs:[Y]:" prompt, answer "Y" by pressing <Enter>. The default is "Y". NOTE: To activate your changes, you must first return to the Main Menu. Page 33 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION FIVE - THE CHART OF ACCOUNTS 5a - What Is A Chart of Accounts? The Chart of Accounts is the foundation upon which your "Cheque-It-Out" program is built. Creating an accurate and logical Chart of Accounts is important if you wish to input and retrieve data correctly. We strongly recommend that you review the sample Chart of Accounts in the "SAMPLE" file and use it as a guideline in setting up your own accounts (see Appendix A for a sample Chart of Accounts report). In this section, the elements included in a Chart of Accounts will be described. Also, the procedures for entering, changing or deleting accounts will be discussed. If you have little or no experience in double-entry bookkeeping and/or its terminology, you may find it worthwhile to familiarize yourself with Section Twelve - "Basic Accounting Principles". 5b - Types of Accounts Each transaction entered into the program requires a minimum of two accounts - one account must be debited and one account must be credited. Often, there may be several accounts that are debited and/or credited in one transaction. A total of 2000 different accounts may be set up in your Chart of Accounts. Each account must be assigned an account number, between 1 and 999999, and a type code. The account types codes are as follows: A = ASSETS: Money you have, things you own, and money owed to you. L = LIABILITIES: Debts (e.g: loans, credit cards, etc.) C = CAPITAL or EQUITY: Starting net worth or money invested in a company. R = RETAINED EARNINGS: Used by the system to track your net income and net equity (shows all profit related increases or decreases). You must set up at least one type "R" account (The last "R" account is used by the system). I = INCOME: Earnings, paychecks, or cash received. E = EXPENSE: Money you pay out for goods or services (e.g. rent, gas, food, etc.). 1 = SUBTOTAL GROUP 1: Subtotals for reports only. 2 = SUBTOTAL GROUP 2: Subtotals for reports only. N = NET INCOME: "Net Income Subtotal" used only for Expense Accounts (Type "E") and appears only in reports. 5c - Organization of the Chart of Accounts A sample Chart of Accounts listing is included in Appendix A of this manual and also in the "SAMPLE" data file. Please review this listing to notice the following characteristics: Page 34 "Cheque-It-Out" 1. Asset accounts are assigned the lowest account numbers, followed by Liabilities, Capital/Equity, Retained Earnings, Income, and Expenses. 2. There must be at least one Capital/Equity (Type "C") account. 3. There must be at least one Retained Earnings (Type "R") account. 4. Account numbers do not have to be assigned in immediate sequence (e.g: 1, 2, 3, 4...). We recommend that you leave enough space between account numbers to allow the insertion of additional accounts between those accounts already established, thus allowing alphabetizing of account names in each account number group, if desired. 5. We also suggest assigning account numbers so that all accounts of the same type are grouped together, in the same series of account numbers. Following is an example of account number groupings: 1 - 1999 Assets 2000 - 2999 Liabilities 3000 - 3999 Capital and Retained Earnings 4000 - 4999 Income 5000 - 5999 Expenses 5d - Subtotals Specific account numbers may be reserved for subtotals in the Chart of Accounts. All subtotal accounts are defined with the type code of "1", "2" or "N". This allows you to organize your subtotal accounts to best suit your needs. Refer to the sample Chart of Accounts report in Appendix A or the "SAMPLE" files, to see how the subtotals may be labeled and used. 1. Subtotal Group "1" will give you a subtotal of account numbers of the same account type (A, L, C, R, I or E). For example, you have three checking accounts, numbered 100, 110, and 120, with no other accounts between these numbers. If you would like a subtotal for these three accounts, create an account with a number of 121 as a type "1" account. 2. Subtotal Group "2" will give you a subtotal of all of the accounts back to the previous group "2" subtotal. Group "2" subtotals will also clear the group "1" subtotal accounts. 3. The Type "N" (Net Income) account is used only in the Expense account group (Type E). This account type will determine your cumulative net income to date in the Expense account group. Net Income = Income - Expenses. 4. You can enter as many subtotal accounts as needed. 5. It is not necessary to create any Grand Total accounts (i.e. Total Income). On reports, the "Cheque-It-Out" program automatically creates a Grand Total for each account type grouping. 6. You cannot get a combined subtotal for two account types (e.g. assets "A" and liabilities "L"), as all subtotal balances are cleared between account types. Page 35 "Cheque-It-Out" Subtotal accounts do not have beginning balances and you cannot enter transactions into them. 5e - Chart of Accounts Data Fields Each account in the Chart of Accounts includes several input fields. These fields contain important information for that account. The data fields are as follows: ACCOUNT NUMBER: Enter the new account number (up to six digits long) making sure you follow the guidelines for organizing your Chart of Accounts in section 5c. You must not mix account types together and all accounts must be organized in account type order; that is: first type A, then L, C, R, I, and finally E. ACCOUNT NAME: The account name should clearly identify the purpose of that account or subtotal field (i.e. "Checking - First National Bank" and not "Checking Account"). ACCOUNT TYPE: This field consists of a one-character account type identification. Only the following types are allowed: A, L, C, R, I, E, 1, 2 or N. Refer to section 5b - "Types of Accounts". BEGINNING BALANCE: The beginning balance is usually zero. Any time you enter a beginning balance, you run the risk of an out-of-balance situation. If you choose to enter a beginning balance, you must always enter a positive number. This is the normal balance associated with any given account (e.g: Assets = debit, Liabilities = credit, etc.). The default value for beginning balances is zero. You cannot enter a beginning balance for type "1", "2" or "N" subtotal accounts. Refer to section 5i - "Suggested Method for Setting Beginning Balances". NOTE: Income and expense accounts are period accounts and therefore, do not have beginning balances. Any beginning balances must be entered as transactions. 5f - Getting Familiar with the Chart of Accounts Before you create your own Chart of Accounts, follow the steps below using the "SAMPLE" accounts to familiarize yourself with the way the Chart of Accounts is organized. 1. From the Main Menu, select "Accounts". The following screen appears: Figure 5-1 Chart of Accounts Menu 2. At the Chart of Accounts Menu, select "Update Chart of Accounts". The following screen appears: Figure 5-2 Chart of Accounts Listing Notice how this typical Chart of Accounts is organized. The screen will display eighteen account numbers at a time. To see more accounts, use the cursor arrows keys or mouse to scroll through the listing. You may select an account number by pressing <Enter> when the cursor is on the Page 36 "Cheque-It-Out" account or, if you know the beginning of the account number, simply type in the number. The first account number in that range will appear at the bottom of the screen, with the cursor automatically on that account (e.g: entering 5 will take you to account number 5000). If you know the account number, simply enter that number and the cursor will position itself on that account. Before setting up your own Chart of Accounts, you may want to practice creating some accounts by entering them into this sample Chart of Accounts, following the steps in section 5g - "Adding/Modifying/Deleting Accounts", below. 5g - Adding/Modifying/Deleting Accounts This section will describe how to add, modify and/or delete accounts to the Chart of Accounts. The "SAMPLE" file is used in all of the following examples. 1. From the Main Menu, select "Chart of Accounts Menu". 2. From the Chart of Accounts Menu, select "Update Chart of Accounts". Figure 5-2 above will appear. At the bottom of the Chart of Accounts screen, notice three available functions: <F3>Add, <F4>Mod and <F5>Del. Selecting one of these functions enables you to add, modify or delete an account. Follow the appropriate steps below: ADD AN ACCOUNT: Press the <F3> key and Figure 5-3 will appear. If there are no already existing accounts, this add account window will auto- matically appear. Figure 5-3 Add Account A. Enter the account number you want to add, then press <Enter>. B. Enter the account name, then press <Enter>. C. Enter the account type (A, L, C, R, I, E; or for subtotal accounts, "1", "2" or "N"), then press <Enter>. D. Enter a beginning balance if applicable. Remember, you cannot assign a beginning balance to any income, expense or subtotal account. Press <Enter>. The account you just created is now added to the "SAMPLE" Chart of Accounts and the screen is ready to accept your next account. Follow steps A through D, above, to add any additional accounts you want. E. When you are done adding accounts, press "ESC" and the Add Account window will disappear. MODIFY AN ACCOUNT: Press the <F4> key and Figure 5-4 will appear. Figure 5-4 Modify Account Page 37 "Cheque-It-Out" Notice the cursor is on the "Name:" field, not the "Number:" field. You can change only the account name, the type code and/or the beginning balance. To change an account number, see step D, below. A. To change an account name, simply type the new name and press <Enter> when done. If this is the only change to be made, press <F10> and the change will be saved. To skip this field, press <Enter>. Press <Esc> and the Modify Account window will disappear. B. To change the type code, simply enter the new type code. If the new type code and existing account number cause the account to be positioned incorrectly in the Chart of Accounts, you will be warned by the program to change the account number. C. To change the beginning balance, simply enter the new balance figure and press <Enter>. Your change will be saved. Press <Esc> and the Modify Account window will disappear. D. To change an account number, you must: 1) Add a new account, following the steps in "ADD AN ACCOUNT", above. 2) Change any existing transactions that use the old account number to the new account number, following the steps in section 7c - "Modify/Delete Transactions". 3) Delete the old account number, following the steps in "DELETE AN ACCOUNT", below. DELETE AN ACCOUNT: To delete an account, the account must have a zero beginning balance and no transactions. If transactions exist, you must first delete them before you can delete the account (refer to section 7c - "Modify/Delete Transactions" and Section Fourteen - "Hints and Suggestions"). To delete an account, move the cursor to the appropriate account number and press the <F5> key. Answer "Y" to the "Are you sure" prompt and the account is deleted. 5h - Entering Your Chart of Accounts When you actually create your own Chart of Accounts, it is important that you have an organized plan of the different accounts and types of accounts you wish to create. Organize your paperwork, checks, statements, etc. into a logical account type and account number order. (e.g: Put all of your assets in the order you want them to appear in your Chart of Accounts, but don't forget to save room for additional accounts and subtotals.) To enter your new accounts, follow the steps below. If you are unsure about how to enter accounts, you may practice using these steps with the sample Chart of Accounts. DO NOT try to modify the sample Chart of Accounts for your own personal use. You must first create a new file for your own set of books. Refer to section 3d - "Create or Clone Your Own Set of Books". Page 38 "Cheque-It-Out" 1. From the Main Menu, select "Accounts". 2. From the Chart of Accounts Menu, select "Update Chart of Accounts". The following screen will appear: Figure 5-5 Add Account 3. Since you are creating a new Chart of Accounts, only a blank window will appear - asking for your first account number, name, type and beginning balance. It is very important for you to group your accounts appropriately (e.g. 1-1999 = Assets, 2000-2999 = Liabilities etc.). You cannot mix account types together, so be sure to leave plenty of space between account numbers and types for the addition of accounts in the future. We suggest that you increment account numbers by ten or twenty. A. Enter the account number you want to add, then press <Enter>. B. Enter the account name, then press <Enter>. C. Enter the account type (A, L, C, R, I, E; or for subtotal accounts "1", "2" or "N"), then press <Enter>. D. Enter a beginning balance, if applicable. Remember, you cannot assign a beginning balance to any income, expense or subtotal account. Press <Enter>. This first active account you just created is now added to your new Chart of Accounts and should now appear in the Chart of Accounts on the screen. To add additional accounts, follow the steps in section 5g - "Adding/ Modifying/Deleting Accounts". You may, at any time, print a current Chart of Accounts listing from the Reports Menu (See Section Eight - "Reports"). 5i - Suggested Method for Setting Beginning Balances When setting up your Chart of Accounts for the first time, you may want to include some beginning balances. When entering the beginning balance figures, do not enter any punctuation separating whole dollar numbers. For example: to enter $45,263.84 as a beginning balance, enter 45263.84 without using the $ or the comma separating the 5 and 2. Please follow the instructions below: NOTE: While you are creating new account numbers with beginning balances, the system will tell you how much you are out of balance. Do not be concerned with this out-of-balance condition before you have finished entering all of your asset and liability accounts with their beginning balances. 1. Enter all of your asset accounts, including their beginning balances if applicable. 2. Enter all your liability accounts, including their beginning balances if applicable. Page 39 "Cheque-It-Out" NOTE: Income and expense accounts cannot have beginning balances. To establish a beginning balance for each of your income and expense accounts, you will need to enter a transaction debiting the income or expense account and crediting an asset account. Refer to section 14a - "Hints", number 9. After you have finished entering all of your asset and liability beginning balances, you would normally be out of balance by the difference between your total assets less your total liabilities (the out-of-balance amount shown on the screen). Enter this difference in your first Capital/Equity (type "C") account beginning balance. This amount is your starting equity. After doing so, the out-of-balance message will disappear. Page 40 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION SIX - INCOME AND EXPENSE BUDGETS "Cheque-It-Out" allows you to keep track of your budgets for income and expenses. You can determine how closely you are staying within your budget by printing the Budget Variance report (See Section Eight - "Reports"). Follow the procedure below to add budget amounts to your "Cheque-It-Out" accounts: 1. From the Main Menu, select "Accounts". 2. From the Chart of Accounts Menu, select "Update Expense Budgets". The following screen appears: Figure 6-1 Enter Budgets 3. Enter the account number for which you would like to set a budget. This account number must be an active Income or Expense account that was previously set up in the Chart of Accounts. If you are unsure of which account you would like to budget, pressing <F2> will give you the pop-up Chart of Accounts listing. The program will only accept an Income- or Expense-account number in this field. Once you have entered a correct account number, the type of account and name will appear. 4. Enter the month number for the budget you would like to create. For example, if you want to create a budget for only the month of March, enter the number "3". If you want to create a budget for every month in the year with this same amount, enter the number "13". (This feature eliminates having to enter the same budget amount 12 times when creating a budget for each of the twelve months.) 5. Enter the budget amount for one month and press <Enter>. The program will return you to the "Enter Account:" field. At this time you may enter another account to budget by following steps 3 through 5, above. 6. Press <Esc> when you have finished entering budgets. You will be returned to the Chart of Accounts Menu and your budget saved. You may print a copy of all of your budget data by printing the Budget Listing report (See Section Eight - "Reports"). The budget data you enter is used when generating a Budget Variance report. This report can be run either as a year-to-date (cumulative) report or as a trended (by month) report. Page 41 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION SEVEN - TRANSACTIONS When entering transactions into "Cheque-It-Out", you have three options: 1. "Enter Transactions": Entering simple and multiple-part transactions through an input screen that requires debiting and crediting to at least two accounts. 2. "Creating Recurring Entries": Creating repetitive transactions that occur weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly. 3. "Enter & Print Checks": Entering simple transactions through an input screen that resembles an actual check, with an option to print the check before leaving the screen. This section will cover all of the above options in detail. 7a - Entering Simple Transactions Each transaction involves the debiting of one account and the crediting of another account. When entering debits and credits, one easy rule to remember is: A CREDIT IS WHERE MONEY COMES FROM, AND A DEBIT IS WHERE MONEY GOES TO. If you are new to double-entry bookkeeping, you may wish to review Section Twelve - "Basic Accounting Principles" or refer to the transactions in the "SAMPLE" files for examples. As you enter each of your transactions, "Cheque-It-Out" will check it to ensure that it is in balance (Debit amounts = Credit amounts). If the accounts in your Chart of Accounts have been set up in balance, "Cheque-It-Out" will always keep your books in balance. To enter a simple transaction, follow these steps: 1. From the Main Menu, select "Trans". The following screen appears: Figure 71- Transactions Menu 2. From the Transactions Menu, select "Enter TRANSACTIONS". The following screen appears: Figure 7-2 Add Transaction The following transaction will simulate your purchase of computer software from Hooper International, Inc. You have written a check totaling $153.95, using checking account #1, and you want to apply this to miscellaneous other expenses. 3. Enter the date on which the actual transaction occurred (e.g: 05-25-90), then press <Enter>. You only have to enter the numbers for the date; the separators (hyphens) are automatically skipped over. Notice two detail lines have been added to the screen. Page 42 "Cheque-It-Out" 4. Enter the Code (up to four characters) and press <Enter>. This is an optional field that can be used for specific income and expense tracking. Leaving this field blank will not effect normal operation of the program or the production of any reports. The code may be any combination of letters and numbers, and you may have as many codes as you like. For example, suppose you want to track your transactions separately from other family members. Enter your initials in the "Code" field when entering data into the transaction or check printing screens. This will uniquely mark those transactions as pertaining only to you. When generating any reports that ask for a "Code" input, entering your initials in the "Code" field will produce the reports with only the transactions that pertain to you. Leaving the "Code" field blank, when generating reports, will produce reports containing all transactions, including yours. For optimum income and expense tracking, you could assign a code for each family member, if desired. 5. Enter the check number (up to seven digits) for the transaction. If you would like "Cheque-It-Out" to automatically increment the check number for you, press the <+> key and then press <Enter>. NOTE: If you will be printing a check from this transaction, the credit information for the checking account must go on the first line of the transaction. 6. Enter the description for this part of the transaction. This could be to whom the check is/was written, or why the check was written (e.g: Hooper International, Inc.). 7. Next, enter the account number to be credited (where the money is coming from). If you are unsure about the account number, press the <F2> key for a pop-up chart of accounts. In this example, credit account 200 (Checking Account #1). 8. Now enter the amount of this transaction. In this case you want to credit account 200 (checking account #1). First press <Enter> to skip over the debit field, then enter the amount ($153.95) in the credit field and press <Enter>. 9. You will now be on the second line of the transaction and ready to debit the expense account. "Cheque-It-Out" automatically duplicates the entries in the "Code" and "Check" fields from part one, to save you key strokes. If these fields contain the correct entries, simply press <Enter> twice. To change the code, if used, and the check number for the second part of the transaction, enter the correct data, pressing <Enter> after each entry. 10. Enter the description for part two of this transaction. The description is a duplicate of that entered in part one. Enter "Purchase software" and press <Enter>. 11. Next, enter the account number to be debited (where the money is going to). If you are unsure about the account number, press the <F2> key for a pop-up chart of accounts. In this example, debit account 5800 (Misc other expenses). Press <Enter>. Page 43 "Cheque-It-Out" 12. Finally, enter the amount to debit. In most cases, this is the same amount entered in the credit part of the transaction. In fact, the default for the debit amount will be the amount entered in the credit amount. Press <Enter>. 13. Since the transaction is in balance, the prompt "Print check(P) or Inputs Correct(Y/N):" will appear. Since all we are doing here is entering a simple transaction, enter a "Y". The transaction will be saved and you will be returned to the first input field to enter another transaction. If you want to print a check of this transaction (printing a check on-the-fly), enter a "P" first, before entering the "Y". Entering only a "P" will just print a check of the transaction; it will not save the transaction. If you have finished entering your transactions, press <Esc> to return to the Transactions Menu. When entering your debits and credits, be sure to enter the credit to the checking account on the first line of the transaction, if applicable. Also, be sure to debit and/or credit the correct account number. If you need to debit more than one account or credit more than one account in a single transaction, refer to section 7b, below. 7b - Entering Multiple-Part Transactions Most transactions will have only one debit and one credit. However, there are some instances when there are several credits and/or debits in a single trans- action. "Cheque-It-Out" allows you to make multiple credit and/or debit entries, allowing up to 26 transaction parts for each transaction. Multiple-part transactions are entered just like any other transaction, except the initial debit and credit amounts are different. Follow the example out- lined below to record a multiple debit/credit account: NOTE: It is important to remember to enter all of your credit information first, followed by all of the debit information. This will produce more legible reports and ensure that, when writing checks, the credit information for the checking account is on the top line of the transaction. You will write a check totaling $853.00 for your bank loan payment: $491.00 will go toward the loan principle and $362.00 will go toward bank loan interest. You will want to enter this transaction into three separate accounts: the first crediting account 200 Checking account #1 (Asset) for $853.00, the econd debiting account 2050 Bank Loan (Liability) for $491.00, and the third debiting account 5050 Bank Loan Interest (Expense) for $362.00. 1. First, follow steps 1 through 12 of section 7a - "Entering Simple Transactions" above; entering on line one the credit information relating to account 200 (Checking account #1), and on line two the debit information relating to account 2050 (Bank Loan). 2. Since the transaction is out-of-balance (the credit amount of $853.00 being more than the debit amount of $491.00), you are alerted with the message: "Transaction is OUT OF BALANCE, continue:[N]:" Page 44 "Cheque-It-Out" 3. Press "Y" to continue, since you need to include the second debit to account 5050. 4. Notice the "ADD TRANSACTION" detail lines have scrolled down, giving you a third line for input of information. Enter on this third line the debit information relating to account 5050, entering it the same way you entered the information for line two. 5. After entering the $362.00 in the debit column of line three and pressing <Enter>, notice the transaction is now in balance. Follow step 13 of section 7 - "Entering Simple Transactions" above, to save the transaction and set the screen to enter another transaction. 6. If you have finished entering your multiple-part transactions, press <Esc> to return to the Transactions Menu. In this example, you balanced the three-part transaction by offsetting the credit part with the two debit parts. The program will continually try to balance the transaction after each part is entered, by defaulting to the needed debit or credit field. For example: in the above transaction, if you entered $462.00 in the credit column for line three, then answered "Y" to the "Transaction is OUT OF BALANCE, continue:[N]:" prompt, you would see a fourth detail line on the screen. 7c - Modify/Delete Transactions If you discover that a transaction was entered incorrectly, or should not have been entered at all, "Cheque-It-Out" allows you to go back and correct or delete the incorrect entry. You can also expand a simple, two-part transaction into a multiple-part transaction (or vice versa) using this feature. Follow the steps below to modify or delete a previously entered transaction: 1. From the Transactions Menu, select "Modify/Delete Transactions". The following screen will appear: Figure 7-3 Transaction Search Parameters 2. "Cheque-It-Out" is prompting you for transaction search parameters. Enter any appropriate search data (e.g. description). It is not necessary to make an entry in every field. You can simply enter one description of the transaction and "Cheque-It-Out" will search for any transactions with this description (i.e. Check #6, or "Food"). Press <F10> to initiate the search. NOTE: Leaving all fields blank will search/find all transactions in their current order. Refer to section 14a - "Hints", number 10. If you remember the check number, enter it in the "Check" field and press the <F10> key to initiate the search (you may also enter the date of the transaction to display all transactions entered on that date). A "Search Match" screen will then appear, displaying the transaction. The bottom of the window will display: "Modify/Delete/Search/Reverse/Begin/End/+/-/Quit:" Page 45 "Cheque-It-Out" 3. Select one of the following: M = Modify/change the transaction shown. D = Delete the transaction shown. S = Search to find the next transaction that matches the search parameters. R = Reverse to find a prior transaction that matches the search parameters. B = Begin; go to the first transaction in the file. E = End; go to the last transaction in the file. + = Go to the next consecutive transaction. - = Go to the prior consecutive transaction. Q = Quit the transaction search. 4. As long as you continue to answer the above prompt with "S" (default), "Cheque-It-Out" will search for all transactions containing the values you have specified. "R" does the same thing as "S", except it searches in reverse order. 5. To modify a transaction, press "M" (Modify) and you will be in the change mode. Type in the correct information in the appropriate field(s) or press <Enter> to leave a field unchanged. Use the "Backspace" or "Shift-Tab" key to move to a previous field. You must make sure that your new cumulative credits equal your cumulative debits. Your change will not be accepted if it causes the transaction to be out of balance. Pressing <Esc> will ignore your changes and take you back to a new parameter search. The <F10> key will save inputs and record your changed transaction. 6. To delete a transaction, press "D" (Delete) and answer the "Transaction has 2 parts, Delete OK? [N]:" prompt with "Y". The transaction is now deleted. Press <Esc> to go to a new search parameter screen. Pressing <Esc> again will return you to the Transactions Menu. NOTE: If you are deleting a multiple-part transaction, the "DELETE OK?" prompt will display how many parts are in that transaction. Most transactions will have only 2 parts. 7d - Create Recurring Transactions Recurring transactions are designed for those who have consistent deposits or payments on a weekly (W), bi-weekly (B), semi-monthly (S) or monthly (M) basis. To eliminate the process of reentering a transaction, follow the steps below: 1. From the Transactions Menu, select "Create Recurring Entries". 2. At the "Frequency(W,B,S,M):" prompt, enter one of the following: Page 46 "Cheque-It-Out" W - weekly, B - bi-weekly, S - semi-monthly or M - monthly. The default is "M" (monthly). Press <Enter> to accept your selection. The following screen appears: NOTE: The default "M" is used in this explanation. Figure 7-4 Add Recurring Transaction 3. The Code and Check fields are usually left blank. They are filled in later when the transaction is activated. 4. Next, enter the description of the transaction (i.e. car payment). 5. Next, enter the account number to debit or credit. Remember, you will be entering both a debit and a credit part of this transaction. One account must be credited, and one account debited. See section 7a - "Entering Simple Transactions" for further information. 6. When the transaction is complete, answer the prompt "Print check(P) or Inputs Correct(Y/N):" with a "Y" to save all inputs, then the <Esc> key to return to the Transactions Menu. You have now created a recurring entry; however, it will not be usable until it is activated. See section 7f - "Activate Recurring Transactions". 7e - Modify/Delete Recurring Transactions If you entered a recurring transaction incorrectly, or no longer wish to save it, you may change or delete that transaction at any time. To change or delete a recurring transaction, follow the steps below: 1. From the Transactions Menu, select "Modify/Deleting Recurring Entries". The following screen will appear: Figure 7-5 Recurring Search Parameters 2. "Cheque-It-Out" is prompting you for transaction search parameters. Enter any appropriate search data (e.g. description). It is not necessary to make an entry in every field. You may simply enter one description of the transaction and "Cheque-It-Out" will search for all entries with that description. Press <F10> to initiate the search. NOTE: Leaving all fields blank will search/find all transactions. For example, to search for a particular frequency, enter the frequency code for the recurring entry you wish to modify/delete; then press the <F10> key to initiate the search. If you are unsure of any field, skip that field. Enter the description, account number and/or the amount of the entry; then press <F10> to initiate the search. 3. Once the search is complete, a "Search Match" screen will appear, displaying the recurring entry. At the bottom of the window the following will appear: Page 47 "Cheque-It-Out" "Modify/Delete/Search/Reverse/Begin/End/+/-/Quit:" 4. Select one of the following: M = Modify/change the transaction shown. D = Delete the transaction shown. S = Search to find the next transaction that matches the search parameters. R = Reverse to find a prior transaction that matches the search parameters. B = Begin; go to the first transaction in the file. E = End; go to the last transaction in the file. + = Go to the next consecutive transaction. - = Go to the prior consecutive transaction. Q = Quit the transaction search. 5. As long as you continue to answer the above prompt with "S" (default), "Cheque-It-Out" will search for all transactions containing the values you have specified. "R" does the same thing as "S", except it searches in reverse. 6. To modify a recurring entry, press "M" (Modify). You are now in the change mode. Type in the correct information in the appropriate field(s) or press <Enter> to leave a field unchanged. Use the "up" arrow key to go to a previous field. You must make sure that your new cumulative credits equal your cumulative debits. Your change will not be accepted if it causes the entry to be out of balance. Pressing <Esc> will ignore your changes and take you back to a new recurring search parameter. Pressing the <F10> key will save your inputs and record your new entry. 7. To delete a recurring entry, press "D" (Delete), then answer the "Transaction has 2 parts, Delete OK? [N]" prompt with "Y". The entry is now deleted. Press <Esc> to go to a new search parameter screen. Pressing <Esc> again will return you to the Transactions Menu. NOTE: If you are deleting a multiple-part entry, the "DELETE OK?" prompt will display how many parts this particular transaction has. Most recurring entries will have only 2 parts. 7f - Activate Recurring Transactions Once you have entered a recurring transaction, it does not become a live transaction until it is activated. When activated, the system will generate a live transaction based on the information in the recurring transaction entry. The following steps explain how to activate a recurring transaction. Page 48 "Cheque-It-Out" 1. From the Transactions Menu, select "Activate Recurring Entries". The following screen will appear: Figure 7-6 Select Activate Frequency 2. Select the frequency of the recurring entries you would like to activate. 3. The screen will then display all of the entries with that frequency. Under the transaction window, the following prompt appears: "Activate/Next/Quit:" 4. When you find the entry you wish to activate, press "A" (activate). The screen will then display the complete entry. You may now make needed changes to this transaction as described in section 7c - "Modify/Delete Transactions". When the transaction is correct, press <F10>. Your transaction is now activated and the prompt "Print check(P) or Inputs Correct(Y/N):" will appear. If you want to print this transaction as a check, press "P". If you are simply activating the transaction, press "Y" and the transaction will be saved. If your inputs are not correct, press "N" and the cursor will return to the first input field so you can reenter the information. If there is more than one transaction with the same frequency, they will be displayed one at a time. To skip the activation of any particular entry, press "N" (next) and the next entry (if any) will be displayed. 7g - Entering and Printing Checks This method of entering transactions is recommended for those who are not familiar with the entering of debits and credits to accounts. It is a simplified transaction-entering process resembling the writing of a check. 1. From the Main Menu, select "Trans". 2. From the Transactions Menu, select "Enter & Print CHECKS". The following screen appears: Figure 7-7 Select Account 3. Enter the checking account number that you will use for this transaction (where the money is coming from) and press <Enter>. If you are unsure of the account number; press the <F2> key for a pop-up Chart of Accounts listing, move the highlighted cursor to the appropriate account number and press <Enter> to accept the account number. The data for this example is the same as used in section 7a, step 2. The following screen will then appear: Figure 7-8 Simple Check Transaction Page 49 "Cheque-It-Out" 4. At the "Check:" field, you can enter the check number for the next check you are using, then press <Enter> OR "Cheque-It-Out" can automatically increment the check number for you. To increment to the next check number, press the <+> key and then <Enter>. The check number will be entered and the cursor will move to the next input field. 5. At the "Date:" field, enter the date for the check and press <Enter>. 6. Next, enter to whom the check is/was made out and then press <Enter>. 7. Next, enter the amount of the check and press <Enter>. "Cheque-It-Out" will automatically fill in the written amount for you. 8. At the "Address:" field, enter an optional three-line address for the person or company to which the check is/was written. 9. At the "Code:" field, enter a code if you would like to track this expense; otherwise, leave blank and press <Enter> to continue. 10. At the "Expense:" field, enter the Expense (or Asset) account number you wish to debit (where the money is going to) and press <Enter>. Again, if you are unsure of the account number; press the <F2> key for the pop-up Chart of Accounts listing, select the account and press <Enter>. The following screen will appear: Figure 7-9 Print Check or Inputs Correct 11. If you want to print this check, press "P". If you are simply entering a check that has already been written, press "Y" and the check will be saved. If your inputs are not correct, press "N" and the cursor will return to the first input field so that you can reenter the information. NOTE: When you press "P" to print a check, you must also press "Y" to save the transaction after the check is printed. If you are simply printing a check again or are printing a check for a transaction that has already been entered, press "N" after printing the check and the transaction will not be saved. 12. After entering "Y" or "N" to the "Inputs Correct(Y/N):" prompt, the cursor will return to the "Check:" field and you will be able to enter your next check transaction. 13. To return to the Transactions Menu, press <Esc>. NOTE: When using this "Enter & Print CHECKS" feature you can enter only one debit account. If you need to pay more than one debit account with a single check, enter this transaction as described in section 7a - "Entering Simple Transactions" and 7b - "Entering Multiple- Part Transactions". Page 50 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION EIGHT - REPORTS The "Cheque-It-Out" Reports Menu allows you to generate a full range of financial reports from your database. Reports can be generated to show financial standing for a day, month, several months, a quarter or a year. This section will demonstrate how reports can help you get optimum results from your "Cheque-It-Out" program. 8a - Explanation of Reports Each of the eight reports available from "Cheque-It-Out" can be sent to your monitor's screen for immediate viewing, to your printer for "hard" copy or to a disk drive for later retrieval. Many of the reports are generated in a cumulative format for the dates specified; and two of those reports may optionally be generated in a trended, month by month, format. Each of the available "Cheque-It-Out" reports are described below. All reports may be printed at any time and as many times as necessary. Samples of these reports are shown in Appendix A and can be printed while using the "SAMPLE" account. Transaction Journal - This report lists all of the transactions recorded for the requested time period. It can optionally show only those transactions for a particular code specified, if you are using the code feature when entering transactions. Recurring Entries - This report lists all the recurring transactions for the frequency specified. Account History - This report shows all activity of the account(s) specified for the requested time period. It can be helpful when tracking your checking account(s), loan payments and/or monitoring loan balances. It can also show variations in monthly bills, such as utility and phone. If requesting more than one account when producing this report, you can optionally request accounts to be listed on separate pages. Income Statement - This report shows the total income and expenses for the requested time period. It also shows your net income (total income less total expenses) and can be generated as either a cumulative or trended report. This report can optionally show the total income and expenses for only those accounts associated with a particular code, if you used the code feature when entering the transactions. Balance Sheet - This report shows your financial position, giving you the balance of all asset, liability and equity accounts. It can be generated as either a cumulative or trended report. Chart of Accounts - This report shows the current Chart of Accounts. You should generate this report after making any changes to the Chart of Accounts. Budget Variance - This report shows the difference between the actual amounts and the budgeted amounts for both income and expenses. When generated for more than one month, it shows only the cumulative amounts, with one variance for that amount. Page 51 "Cheque-It-Out" Budget Listing - This report provides a listing of all Income and Expense accounts that have budget amounts assigned; listing all the income accounts first, followed by all the expense accounts. Each account is listed by account number and name, followed by the budget amount(s) for that account. 8b - General Instructions for Generating Reports To generate any report, do the following: 1. From the Main Menu, select "Reports Menu". The following menu appears: Figure 8-1 Reports Menu 2. From the Reports Menu, select the report you want to generate (e.g: Transaction Journal). Following are detailed instructions for printing each of the reports available in "Cheque-It-Out". 8c - Transactions Journal To generate a Transactions Journal report, select "Transaction Journal" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-2 Transaction Journal Input Data As stated earlier, you may generate any of the reports to your monitor's screen (S), to a printer (P) or to a disk drive (D) where the report will become a disk file. NOTE: If you do not have a printer and try to print a report to the printer, you will get an error message. 1. The first prompt on the screen for any report is the destination prompt. It appears as follows: "Screen,Printer,Disk(S,P,D):" Entering an "S" for screen or a "P" for printer will send the report to the screen or printer, respectively. If you enter a "D" for disk, the system will prompt you for a disk filename. You can enter any name you wish, following the DOS naming conventions. The report will be saved on the default disk drive with the filename you entered, followed by a filename extension of ".RPT". If you enter a filename that already exists, the system will ask if you want to delete the old file. Answering "Y" will replace the existing report with the new report. Answering "N" will append (add) the new report information to the already existing report. The disk file is created in ASCII format, thereby allowing it to be used with any word processing program. This feature allows you to bring up the report in a word processor and edit the report as you would any document, adding any comments or explanations necessary to strengthen a point or clarify a position. Page 52 "Cheque-It-Out" At the "Screen,Printer,Disk(S,P,D):" prompt, enter the letter for the destination of the report (e.g: "S"). Continuing with the Transaction Journal report: 2. For most reports, you also need to specify a date range. The date- prompt format will be the format specified in the Configuration Settings (refer to section 4d - "Setting the System Configuration"). The date prompt appears as follows: Starting Date: 05-01-90 Ending Date: 05-31-90 These dates determine the inclusive time period for the report and are included in the heading of the report. NOTE: The ending date can never be more than one year after the starting date (e.g: starting date as 05-01-89 and ending date as 04-31-90). The following examples show formats to use for monthly, quarterly, annual and year-to-date reports: Monthly: Starting Date: 05-01-90 Ending Date: 05-31-90 Quarterly: Starting Date: 01-01-90 Ending Date: 03-31-90 Annual: Starting Date: 01-01-90 Ending Date: 12-31-90 For Year-to-Date reports, enter the starting date for the report. Then enter the present date, being sure it is not more than one year from the starting date. The report will include all of the requested information from the starting date to the ending date. For example, if you want a year-to-date Transaction Journal report and the present date is 05-25-90, enter the following dates: Starting Date: 01-01-90 Ending Date: 05-25-90 Continuing with the Transaction Journal report: 3. At the "Starting Date:" prompt, enter the numbers 050190. Notice the hyphen is skipped over, allowing faster date entry. 4. At the "Ending Date:" prompt, enter the numbers 053190. 5. At the "Code:" prompt, press <Enter>, leaving it blank. Use of the "Code" field is covered in section 7a - "Entering Simple Transactions". If you did not use this field when you entered your transactions, do not use it now. The Transaction Journal report will be displayed on the monitor's screen. Page 53 "Cheque-It-Out" Following are the other report data screens. Any screen prompts already discussed will not be covered in detail. NOTE: If the screen already displays the correct information for your report, you can simply press <F10> to initiate the report. 8d - Recurring Transactions To generate a Recurring Transactions report, select "Recurring Entries" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-3 Recurring Transactions Input Data 1. At the destination prompt, select the destination of the report. 2. At the "Recurring Frequency(A,M,S,B,W):" prompt, select the type of frequency for the report using the following guidelines: A = All frequencies M = Monthly S = Semi-monthly B = Bi-weekly W = Weekly The Recurring Transactions report will be generated. 8e - Account History To generate an Account History report, select "Account History" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-4 Account History Input Data 1. At the destination prompt, select the destination of the report. 2. At the date prompts, enter the starting and ending dates for the report. 3. The "Accounts on separate pages:Y" prompt gives you the option of having each account start at the top of the next page when printing the history for more than one account. At this prompt, select either: "Y" (the default) to get one account per page OR "N" to have the next report start immediately following the prior report, without a page break. 4. At the "Account Starting:" and "Ending:" prompts, enter the range of account numbers you would like included in the report. Enter the same account number if you want only one account reported. The Account History report will be generated. Page 54 "Cheque-It-Out" 8f - Income Statement To generate an Income Statement, select "Income Statement" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-5 Income Statement Input Data 1. At the destination prompt, select the destination of the report. 2. At the date prompts, enter the starting and ending dates for the report. 3. At the "Code:" prompt, enter the code desired, if you used a code when entering the transactions and would like the report to include only those transactions. 4. At the "Trended Report:N" prompt, enter either: "N" (the default) to get a cumulative report OR "Y" to get a trended report. The Income Statement report will be generated. 8g - Balance Sheet To generate a Balance Sheet, select "Balance Sheet" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-6 Balance Sheet Input Data 1. At the destination prompt, select the destination of the report. 2. At the date prompts, enter the starting and ending dates for the report. 3. At the "Trended Report:" prompt, enter either: "N" (the default) to get a cumulative report OR "Y" to get a trended report. The Balance Sheet report will be generated. 8h - Chart of Accounts To generate a Chart of Accounts report, select "Chart of Accounts" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-7 Chart of Accounts Input Data At the destination prompt, select the destination of the report. The Chart of Accounts report will be generated. Page 55 "Cheque-It-Out" 8i - Budget Variance To generate a Budget Variance report, select "Budget Variance" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-8 Budget Variance Input Data 1. At the destination prompt, select the destination of the report. 2. At the date prompts, enter the starting and ending dates for the report. The Budget Variance report will be generated. 8j - Budget Listing To generate a Budget Listing report, select "Budget Listing" from the Reports Menu. The following screen appears: Figure 8-9 Budget Listing Input Data At the destination prompt, select the destination of the report. The Budget Listing report will be generated. If you are unfamiliar with these financial reports, try printing as many reports as you like, using the "SAMPLE" accounts. Doing so will give you an idea of how the reports look and how they might be used. Page 56 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION TEN - UTILITIES The Utility Menu contains five important menu items, each of which are covered in detail below. To access the Utility Menu from the Main Menu, select "Utility". The following screen appears: Figure 10-1 Utility Menu 10a - Sort Transactions "Cheque-It-Out" saves your transactions and checks in the order in which they are entered. This Sort Transactions function allows the user to choose the manner in which transactions and checks are organized (sorted). You may sort as often or as little as you want, as the sort order does not affect the operation of "Cheque-It-Out". If you have deleted some transactions, sorting your data file can free the disk space that was previously occupied by the now deleted transactions. To sort your transactions, do the following: 1. From the Utility Menu, select "Sort Transactions". The following screen appears: Figure 10-2 Select Sort Order 2. Select either: A. "Input Order" to arrange the transactions in the order they were entered OR B. "Date Order" to arrange the transactions in date order. NOTE: "Date Order" was selected for the following example. 3. If some transactions were deleted since the last sort, figure 10-3 will appear. If no transactions were deleted, skip down to step 4. Figure 10-3 Free Disk Space When you delete transactions, blank spaces are created on the data disk. These blank spaces are, in essence, wasting disk space. The prompt "Free disk space used by deleted transactions[N]:" is asking if you would like to recover this wasted space. Select either: "Y" to re-use the blank spaces on the data disk OR "N" to leave the data disk as is. Skip to step 5. 4. If no transactions were deleted since the last sort, the following figure will appear: Page 57 "Cheque-It-Out" Figure 10-4 Sort transactions 5. After the sort is completed, you will be prompted to "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE". Do this, and you will be returned to the "Select Sort Order Menu". 6. Select "Leave Sort Transactions Menu". You will be returned to the Utility Menu. 10b - Import Transaction File This is an advanced feature primarily used by experienced users. It allows you to import ASCII text files into your "Cheque-It-Out" transaction file. To do this, you must first create the ASCII text file to import. This file must be made from fixed-length records, with one record per line. The filename for this file may be any name; however, the filename extension must be "TXT". The record layout for this fixed-length record is as follows: Field Name Start Length Mask Date 1 8 User defined in configuration Description 9 30 TEXT Check 39 7 TEXT Account 46 6 1-999999 Debit/Credit Type 52 1 "D","C" Amount 53 11 ########.## Cleared 64 1 See explanation following In the field name "Cleared", the mask is one of the three following characters: "Y" (the letter Y): indicates the check in that record was marked as cleared in a prior account reconciliation that successfully balanced. "*" (the asterisk): indicates the check in that record is marked as cleared in an account reconciliation that is not yet balanced. The asterisk is automatically changed to the letter "Y" only when the account reconciliation successfully balances. " " (the field is left blank): indicates the check in that record has not cleared. When importing transactions, all records are error checked to be sure that the transaction meets the mask edits before accepting the transaction. If a transaction does not meet the mask specifications, that specific transaction will not be imported. To import an ASCII text file, do the following: 1. Copy the ASCII text file to be imported into the disk directory containing your "Cheque-It-Out" data files. 2. From the Utility Menu, select "Import Transaction File". The following screen appears: Page 58 "Cheque-It-Out" Figure 10-5 Import Transactions 3. At the "Import File Name:" prompt, enter the name of the ASCII text file to be imported, then press <Enter>. Notice the filename extension ".TXT" is already included. When the import is complete, you will be returned to the Utility Menu. 10c - Export Transaction File This is an advanced feature primarily used by experienced users. It allows you to export ASCII text files from your "Cheque-It-Out" transaction file. The file created will be an ASCII text file consisting of fixed-length records, with one record per line, following the record layout below. The filename for this file may be any name; however, the filename extension must be "TXT". The record layout for the fixed-length record is as follows: Field Name Start Length Mask Date 1 8 User defined in configuration Description 9 30 TEXT Check 39 7 TEXT Account 46 6 1-999999 Debit/Credit Type 52 1 "D","C" Amount 53 11 ########.## Cleared 64 1 See explanation following In the field name "Cleared", the mask is one of the three following characters: "Y" (the letter Y): indicates the check in that record was marked as cleared in a prior account reconciliation that successfully balanced. "*" (the asterisk): indicates the check in that record is marked as cleared in an account reconciliation that is not yet balanced. The asterisk is automatically changed to the letter "Y" only when the account reconciliation successfully balances. " " (the field is left blank): indicates the check in that record has not cleared. To export a Transaction File, do the following: 1. From the Utility Menu, select "Export Transaction File". The following screen appears: Figure 10-6 Export Transactions 2. At the "Export File Name:" prompt, enter the name of the ASCII text file to be created, then press <Enter>. Notice the filename extension ".TXT" is already included. 3. At the "Starting Date:" prompt, enter the starting date for the transactions to be exported, then press <Enter>. Page 59 "Cheque-It-Out" 4. At the "Ending Date:" prompt, enter the ending date for the transactions to be exported, then press <Enter>. NOTE: Only those transactions within this date range will be exported. When the export is complete, you will be returned to the Utility Menu. 10d - Check Writing Settings The Check Writing Settings allow you to set up important printing positions for the check printing function of "Cheque-It-Out". If you are not going to print checks, you may skip this section. "Cheque-It-Out" allows you to print on any checks, regardless of layout. You may even print on your current personal checks. Pre-printed checks may be purchased from our recommended forms supplier, Deluxe Computer Forms (1-800-328-0304). "Cheque-It-Out" also has an On-Line Order form for ordering checks from Deluxe. The following checks are recommended and may be ordered from DELUXE. When ordering, please reference this fast service number: #TO9023. LaserJet Checks #091193 Personal Checks #091050 Non-Stub Checks #091065 Blank-Stub Checks #091004 To set up the check writing fields, do the following: 1. From the Main Menu, select "Utility". 2. From the Utility Menu, select "Check Writing Settings". NOTE: The Check Writing Settings must be set up for each one of your data files, if you will be printing checks. The following four screens provide the check writing settings for the indicated checks: Figure 10-7 LaserJet Check Writing Settings Figure 10-8 Personal Check Writing Settings Figure 10-9 Non-Stub Check Writing Settings Figure 10-10 Blank-Stub Check Writing Settings The Check Writing positions are used to customize your check writing. By changing these positions you can use virtually any check with this software. Select the row and column printing position for each of these fields. If you want to omit an item from printing on the check, enter a zero (0) in the row field. To move from one input field to the next, press "ENTER". Each field of the "Check Writing Settings" screen is described below. NOTE: ROW indicates the horizontal lines starting from the top of the check and counting down. Page 60 "Cheque-It-Out" COLUMN indicates the vertical lines starting from the left side of the check and counting to the right. Check Printer Port: Allows you to specify the port to which the printer with your checks is connected. This setting will override the setting in the System Configuration. See section 4d - "Setting the System Configuration" PRINTER PORT for available choices and how to select them. Last Check Number USED: Enter here the number of the last check written. Valid numbers are from 1 to 9999999 (seven digits). Check Size, Length: Width: These two figures are the total number of rows and columns available on the blank-stub check. This check is 7" long and 8" wide. To convert those figures to rows and columns: 7" x 6 lines per inch = "42" in length and 8" x 10 characters per inch = "80" in width. Check Number: Location of your check number on the check. Enter a zero if you have pre-numbered checks. This field is seven characters long. Check Date: Location of the date on your check, up to eight characters long. Pay to Name: Location of the name, up to 30 characters, to whom this check is payable. Address: Location of the address on your check. The address may be up to three lines and is an optional field. Enter a zero if you do not want to print the address. The actual address is entered when the check trans- action is entered. Each line can be up to 30 characters long. Check Amount: Location of the numeric dollar amount on your check (e.g: 500.00). The amount may be up to twelve characters long, including the decimal character. Amt with words: Location of the amount, in words (e.g: ****FIVE HUNDRED and NO/100). This line may be up to 55 characters long and is automatically filled in when you input the check amount. Expense Description: Location of the Expense account name (the debit part of the transaction). This field may be up to 30 characters long. The inputs for the fields below are escape sequence codes that change your printer's mode (see your printer manual for proper codes) when printing checks. All inputs are numbers from 0 to 255. If you do not know the proper codes to use for your printer, simply set all fields to zero. Check Init String: The initialization codes allow you to send a special setup string to the printer before printing checks. It can be used to turn off your out-of-paper sensor or to set a half-line advance when using your personal checks in your printer. Check Exit String: This is an optional field to reset the printer after printing checks. After entering all necessary information, press the <F10> key to save your new Check Writing Settings. Page 61 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION TWELVE - BASIC ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES In this section, we would like to give you a basic overview of basic accounting principles. Most of the examples in this section refer to various kinds of business transactions. 12a - Accounting Elements To have complete accounting records, all transactions and events that affect the basic accounting elements must be recorded. The basic accounting elements are ASSETS, LIABILITIES, and CAPITAL or EQUITY. These elements are defined below: ASSETS: Items of value that are owned by the business or by the individual. Examples are money, accounts receivable, merchandise, furniture, machinery, real estate, and land. LIABILITIES: The debts of a person or business. Examples are accounts pay- able, taxes payable, bank loans, and notes to creditors. CAPITAL/EQUITY: The amount by which assets exceed liabilities. The word "equity", in this sense, means "interest in". The terms net worth, proprietorship, and capital are all synonymous with owner's equity. If no liabilities exist, the owner's equity is equal to the total amount of assets. 12b - The Accounting Equation The relationship between the three basic accounting elements can be expressed in the following equation: ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL/EQUITY In order to increase equity in the business, the owner must either increase the assets without increasing the liabilities or decrease the liabilities without decreasing the assets. In order to increase the assets and equity without investing more money, the business must operate at a profit (profit and loss is described later). Following are examples of the affect of transactions on the accounting equation: 1. An increase in an asset offset by an increase in an equity: opening a bank account with a deposit of $5,000. As a result of this transaction, the assets are increased. Since no liabilities are involved, the equity also increases by the same amount. ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL/EQUITY $5,000 $0 $5,000 cash owner's equity 2. An increase in an asset offset by an increase in a liability: the purchase of office equipment for $4,000 on 30-day credit. This results in an increase in an asset and an increase in an accounts payable liability. Page 62 "Cheque-It-Out" ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL/EQUITY $4,000 $4,000 $0 office Accounts Payable equipment 3. An increase in one asset offset by a decrease in another asset: the purchase of office supplies for $100 cash. In this case, the office supplies asset account increases by $100 while the cash asset account decreases by $100, causing the accounting equation to remain unchanged. ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL/EQUITY $100 supplies < 100> cash $ 0 $0 $0 4. An increase in an asset offset by an increase in an equity resulting from revenue: the receipt of $500 cash from a client for services. This increases the cash balance and the equity, since liabilities are not affected. ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL/EQUITY $500 $0 $500 cash owner's equity 5. A decrease in an asset offset by a decrease in equity resulting from an expense: paying $400 cash for rent. This decreases the cash balance and the equity, since liabilities are not affected. ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL/EQUITY <$400> $0 <$400> cash owner's equity 12c - The Income Statement This statement, also called a Profit and Loss Statement or an Operating Statement, shows the net income (or loss) for a specified period of time. The income statement is the total income less the total expenses. A simple statement is shown below: Income from services . . . . . . . . $500 Rent expense. . . . . . . . . . . < 400> _______ Net income . . . . . . . . . . . $100 12d - The Balance Sheet The balance sheet is sometimes called a Statement of Financial Condition or a Statement of Financial Position. It shows assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific date. The balance sheet shows the ending balance for all the asset, liability, and equity accounts. The balance sheet for the five equations of section 5b would appear as follows: Page 63 "Cheque-It-Out" ASSETS Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,000 Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 _______ Total Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . $9,100 LIABILITIES Accounts Payable. . . . . . . . . . . $4,000 CAPITAL/EQUITY Owner's Equity . . . . . . . . . . . 5,100 _______ Total Liabilities & Equity . . . . . . . $9,100 Notice that the accounting equation holds true: ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL/EQUITY 12e - Double-Entry Accounting The meanings of the terms asset, liability and capital/equity are explained above. Examples have been given to show how each transaction causes a change in one or more of the three basic accounting elements. Note that in each of the transactions above, there was a dual effect (two accounts were changed). This will always be true. A change (increase or decrease) in any asset, liability or capital/equity is always accompanied by an offsetting change. The fact that each transaction has two elements is the basis for double-entry accounting. This does not mean that a transaction is recorded twice; it means that each of the two elements of each transaction are recorded. This method is very orderly, simple, and very flexible. There is no transaction which cannot be recorded in a double-entry transaction. A business or individual has many assets. Each one of these assets is kept track of in a separate account (e.g: cash, furniture, real estate). A separate account would be kept for each asset, liability and equity. Thus, many accounts make up the total assets; many accounts also make up the total liabilities. To help you to understand double-entry accounting, we will introduce you to a way of describing an account. This is called a "T" account. The T account has three major parts: the title and account number, the debit side, and the credit side. A sample of the T account form is shown below. Account Title ─────────────┬───────────── Debit Side │ Credit Side 12f - Debits and Credits To debit an account means to record an amount on the left, or debit side, of the account. To credit an account means to record an amount on the right, or Page 64 "Cheque-It-Out" credit side, of the account. Sometimes the word CHARGE is used a substitute for debit. Another easy rule is: A CREDIT IS WHERE MONEY IS COMING FROM AND A DEBIT IS WHERE MONEY IS GOING TO. Increases in assets are recorded on the left side of the accounts; increases in liabilities are recorded on the right side of the accounts. Decreases in assets are recorded on the right side of the accounts; decreases in liabilities and equity are recorded on the left side of the accounts. These relationships are shown below: 1. ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY 2. DEBITS = CREDITS All Asset Accounts All Liability Accounts ───────────┬─────────── ───────────┬─────────── Debit to │ Credit to Debit to │ Credit to Record │ Record Record │ Record Increases │ Decreases Decreases │ Increases (+) (-) (-) (+) All Equity Accounts ───────────┬─────────── Debit to │ Credit to Record │ Record Decreases │ Increases (-) (+) To illustrate double-entry accounting, transaction 1 (from page 101) would be as follows: Cash Capital/Equity ────────┬───────── ────────┬───────── Debit │ Credit Debit │ Credit $5,000 │ │ $5,000 12g - Income and Expenses The term "income" refers to an increase in the equity account. Likewise, the term "expense" refers to a decrease in the equity. Thus, there are two new ways in which the equity account can change. All transactions involving income or expense always cause a change in the equity account. These changes could be recorded by debiting the equity account for expenses and crediting that same equity account for income. However, if you were to record income and expense in this manner, the capital/equity account would have a mixture of increases due to income and the investment of assets in the business; while the debit side would have a mix of decreases due to expenses and withdrawal of assets from the business. This would make it difficult to analyze the profitability or to determine the net income. Thus, all income and expense transactions are recorded in separately classified income and expense accounts. Only the net income (or net profit) is then reflected in the capital /equity account. Page 65 "Cheque-It-Out" The income and expense accounts also have debits and credits. Shown below are the relationship of these accounts. All Expense Accounts All Income Accounts ───────────┬─────────── ───────────┬─────────── Debit to │ Credit to Debit to │ Credit to Record │ Record Record │ Record Increases │ Decreases Decreases │ Increases (+) (-) (-) (+) The use of these accounts is illustrated in the following examples: 1. An increase in an asset offset by an increase in income: you receive $500 cash for services rendered. This would appear as follows: Cash Income ────────┬───────── ────────┬───────── Debit │ Credit Debit │ Credit $500 │ │ $500 2. A decrease in an asset offset by an increase in expense: you pay $400 for office rent. This would be recorded as follows: Cash Rent Expenses ────────┬───────── ────────┬───────── Debit │ Credit Debit │ Credit │ $400 $400 │ This brief description of accounting principles and double-entry accounting is not intended to teach you everything about accounting. You should refer to a basic accounting or bookkeeping text, if you would like more details. The intention of this section is to familiarize our users with double-entry accounting and to help users get started with "Cheque-It-Out". For further transaction examples, look at the "SAMPLE" file. By printing the Transactions Journal report in the sample accounts, you will be able to see some sample transactions to apply to your set of books. Page 66 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION THIRTEEN - USER TECHNICAL SUPPORT 13a - Technical Support Policy REGISTERED USERS of the most current version of any Hooper International, Inc. software product are entitled to free, unlimited technical support. REGISTERED USERS of non-current versions of any Hooper International, Inc. software product will receive free, unlimited technical support for either a period of one year from date of purchase of the non-current version, or a period of six months from the release date for the current version, whichever is greater. The term "unlimited", as used in the above paragraphs, means the registered user or authorized agent of the registered user may call or write to Hooper International, Inc. as many times as necessary to receive assistance with problems or answers to technical or software related questions. 13b - How To Receive Help Fast The fastest way to receive help with your technical question or problem is to call us. TECHNICAL SUPPORT PHONE NUMBER: (719) 528-8989 When calling for technical support, please have your registration number handy to give to the person answering your call. This will speed up the processing of your call to our technical support staff. It will be helpful if you know the version of your program, and are in front of your computer with the program up and running, when you place your call. 13c - How To Receive Detailed Help To receive detailed, in-depth technical support, please write to us. Be sure to carefully detail the problem and all symptoms, providing printed examples when possible. Our technical support staff will respond as soon as possible. Our address is: Hooper International, Inc. P.O. Box 50200 Colorado Springs, CO 80949 You may also FAX your questions, problems, and/or suggestions to us. Our FAX number is 719-528-8997. Our response will be sent to you via FAX. 13d - How You Can Solve Your Problem Before writing or calling, we encourage you to read over the documentation one more time, looking for an answer to your question or a solution to your problem. Page 67 "Cheque-It-Out" SECTION FOURTEEN - HINTS and SUGGESTIONS 14a - Hints Here are some hints from other users that may be useful: 1. Automatic File Selection at Start-Up: To eliminate the need to enter the disk drive and the filename each time "Cheque-It-Out" is started, modify the RUN.BAT file by adding a command line parameter to the "CIO" command. For example, if you want to use the "SAMPLE" filename each time you start "Cheque-It-Out", change (edit) the RUN.BAT file command "CIO" to: CIO SAMPLE Refer to your DOS manual on how to edit files using EDLIN. When you start "Cheque-It-Out", it will use the selected filename without again asking you. 2. Printing Screen Displays: Use the <Shift-PrtScr> keys to make a hard copy of the screen display. Users of HP laser printers should first load the HPPS.COM file, before starting "Cheque-It-Out", to get legible screen prints. 3. Check Numbers: Check numbers may be incremented by pressing the <+> key and then the <Enter> key. If you would like to keep the check number the same as the prior number, press the <=> key and then the <Enter> key. 4. Changing the DOS prompt: If you would like the DOS prompt on your screen changed so it will indicate the current disk drive and directory (and sub-directories), use the Dos command "PROMPT". Be sure you are at the DOS prompt on the screen and not in any program. Enter the following command from the DOS prompt: PROMPT $P$G and press <Enter>. For example, if you are in the CIO directory of disk drive C, the prompt displayed will be C:\CIO> If you would like this feature every time you turn on your computer, add this command to the CONFIG.SYS file in the root directory of your hard disk drive. Refer to your DOS manual for adding the "PROMPT" command to your CONFIG.SYS file. 5. Deleting an account number with transactions: If you need to delete an account number from the Chart of Accounts, and there are some transactions that contain that account number, you can do so in the following way: Page 68 "Cheque-It-Out" A. Perform a search of the transactions, using only the account number in both the debit and credit fields of the search parameter screen. B. When a transaction is found, select "D" to delete the transaction. C. When all the transactions have been deleted, you can delete the account number following the steps in section 5g - "Adding/Modifying /Deleting Accounts. 6. Recording a voided check: To record a voided check, enter the check as you would any check but with the following changes: A. Enter "voided check" as the description of the transaction. B. Use the same checking account number for both the debit and credit parts of the transaction. C. Use a dollar figure of one cent ($0.01) for both the debit and credit amounts. This one-cent figure will stand out from the other figures on any reports and make finding and verifying this trans- action easier. 7. Account History report beginning balance is not correct: When you generate an account history report and find the beginning balance figure is not as it should be, chances are good a transaction exists prior to the start date of the report. This can happen for any number of reasons. To find the transaction, do the following: A. Perform a transaction search (refer to section 7c - "Modify/Delete Transactions), leaving all fields in the Search Parameter screen blank. This usually finds a transaction dated earlier than the start date for the report, causing the beginning balance figure to be different. B. If step A does not find a transaction causing the problem, perform another transaction search, this time using the account number in both the debit and credit account number fields of the Search Parameter screen. This usually finds the transaction regardless of the date. 8. Setting beginning balances for income and expense accounts: When setting up your Chart of Accounts, to set a beginning balance for any income or expense account, you need to enter a transaction for each account, crediting an asset account (a checking account is easiest) and debiting the income or expense account. For example, you have a beginning balance of $2,000.00 for an income account. Adjust the beginning balance of your checking account so it is $2,000.00 lower than the actual beginning balance. Enter a transaction (refer to section 7a - "Entering Simple Transactions") debiting the income account and crediting the checking account for the $2,000.00. The description of the transaction could be "set income beg. balance". Page 69 "Cheque-It-Out" 9. Efficiently searching transactions: The most efficient way to search through your transactions is to first sort the transactions in either date order or check number order (refer to section 10a - "Sort Transactions"). This is especially helpful before printing a report since the report will be arranged in order. 14b - If You Have Comments or Suggestions Our express goal is to provide you with the highest quality, most user-friendly programs at the lowest possible price. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding "Cheque-It-Out", please let us know. We appreciate all feedback. We will try to implement those suggestions that are most advantageous to other users in future versions of "Cheque-It-Out". APPENDIX B - DISK FILENAMES The following files are created by running the INSTALL program: File Name Description CIO EXE Main Program file CIO OVR Main Program Overlay file CIO HLP Main Program Help file ORDER DOC Printable Order Form file RUN BAT Batch file to start program SAMPLE CKF Sample - Reconciliation Data file SAMPLE GLA Sample - Chart of Accounts Data file SAMPLE GLR Sample - Recurring Transaction Data file SAMPLE GLT Sample - General Ledger Transactions file SAMPLE GLF Sample - Check Writing Configuration file README BAT Displays a listing of disk files The following files are on the "Cheque-It-Out" Master Program Disk: File Name Description INSTALL EXE Installation Program file CIO1ZIP EXE Compressed "Cheque-It-Out" Program files CIO2ZIP EXE Compressed "Cheque-It-Out" Help file CIO3ZIP EXE Compressed "Sample" Data files README BAT Displays a listing of disk files Page 70