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Information about “BANKBOOK”
A truly easy to use checkbook manager -- really intuitive. BANKBOOK was
designed to make the management of your home finances easy and automated
in a way that doesn't require an accountant to understand.
BANKBOOK makes the presentation of your home finances look just like
your checkbook entries, and adds automated support for bill payment and
budget analysis.
~ Print checks on your PC printer.
~ Enter checks you have handwritten.
~ Enter ATM (automated teller) and EFT (electronic funds transfer)
transactions.
~ Enter deposits from a variety of sources.
~ Go back in time to enter checks you wrote over the past several
months to set up a history of spending trends.
~ Define a list of bills that you pay each month so they will be
printed automatically on the proper date.
~ Associate each check with a spending category so you can divide your
expenses into meaningful groups for later analysis.
~ Print reports and view displays of spending trends in various ways to
see YTD spending patterns or patterns over other periods of time.
BB.DOC
ABOUT BANKBOOK
BankBook was designed to make the management of your home finances
easy, understandable, and automated in a way that does not require an
accountant to understand.
The intent of BankBook is to make the presentation of your home
finances "look" just like they do using your checkbook entries, and
to add to that the automated support to make the payment of bills
easier and the analysis of your budget possible.
With this program, you can:
o Print checks on your PC printer
o Enter checks you have handwritten
o Enter ATM (automated teller) and EFT (electronic funds
transfer) transactions
o Enter deposits from a variety of sources
o Balance your checkbook in a matter of minutes
o Go back in time to enter checks you wrote over the past
several months to set up a "history" of spending trends
o Define a list of bills that you pay each month so they
will be printed automatically on the proper date
o Associate each check with a spending category so you can
divide your expenses into meaningful groups for later
analysis
o Print reports and view displays of spending trends in
various ways to see YTD spending patterns or patterns
over other periods of time
ABOUT PC REQUIREMENTS
BankBook runs on IBM PC, XT, AT machines and compatibles. It requires
512K of memory. The program works with color (either CGA, EGA, or
VGA) monitors or monochrome monitors.
Printers supported are dot-matrix and letter-quality printers with
either pin-feed or tractor feed paper advance mechanisms.
RUNNING BANKBOOK
BankBook may be run from either a floppy diskette or a hard disk
drive (or a virtual disk drive). To run the program, select the disk
drive and directory into which you have installed BankBook, and enter
the DOS command:
C> BB
The program assumes you have a color monitor; if not (or if you want
to do a screen print of the graphics images on your IBM graphics-
compatible printer), you can improve the display contrast by entering
the run command with the monochrome flag as shown below:
C> BB MONO
After you run BankBook with this flag once, it remembers the type of
monitor you have and you don't have to type in the MONO flag with
subsequent runs. If you want to revert back to the use of a color
monitor, enter the run command:
C> BB COLOR
Again, the program remembers the monitor type so you don't have to
reenter the COLOR parameter for future runs.
PROGRAM CONVENTIONS
BankBook conforms to the following operating standards:
MENUS
Controlling the functions and screens of BankBook is done through a
series of menu screens. The menus are controlled using the right and
left arrow keys on your PC keyboard. Move the highlighted menu op-
tion right or left with the arrow keys and press <ENTER> to invoke a
menu option. Or, you can just press the first letter of the desired
menu option and invoke the desired function without using the arrow
keys. The HOME key positions the menu to the first option; the END
key positions the menu to the last option. The <ESC> key lets you to
exit from any menu to the prior menu; if in the main menu, the <ESC>
key stops BankBook and exits back to DOS.
FUNCTION KEYS
BankBook recognizes only function key F1. To complete a transaction,
in most cases, you will be instructed by a highlighted message bar
across the bottom of the screen to press F1 .
<ESC> KEY
The <ESC> key is used to abort a transaction or function in prog-
ress. If pressed while in a menu, BankBook will take you back to the
prior menu. If used in a transaction other than as described below,
BankBook will terminate the transaction. If used in a WriteCheck or
Deposit transaction at the point where you are identifying the payee
name or the source of funds, the <ESC> key will exit the list of pre-
defined names and allow you to enter a new or different name for the
check or deposit. In this case, pressing <ESC> a second time will
abort the transaction.
ARROW KEYS
The UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW, LEFT ARROW, and RIGHT ARROW keys are used
to control scrolling display screens and to choose options from a
predefined list of choices.
INTERACTIVE HELP
Across the bottom of the screen, a highlighted bar will appear on
most screens to direct you when a specific response is expected.
Other times, a pop-up window will direct you or query you for what
action the program should take next.
YES/NO RESPONSES
At some points in BankBook processing, the program will ask you to
make a decision by entering a "YES/NO" choice. Any time a question
is posed by the program that asks for a (Yes/No) or (Y/N) answer, the
only acceptable entry is a "Y" or an "N", and the program will go no
further until you reply one or the other.
ABOUT MILTON MILQUETOAST
BankBook comes already set up with the finances of Milton Milquetoast
so you can see how he uses BankBook and get ideas on how you can set
up your own finances.
Milton has income from a variety of sources:
1. He is employed by Ed's Widget Company and receives a paycheck
on the 1st and 15th of each month
2. Years ago he purchased a house which he now rents out, col-
lecting the rent money on the first of each month
3. He receives a monthly stipend from the government as a World
War I veteran
4. He gets a check from an annuity each month.
Milton's monthly expenses fall into three categories:
1. Fixed monthly expenses such as his Ferrari car payment, home
mortgage payment, and costs that DON'T vary from month to
month;
2. Monthly expenses which he pays through the mail in amounts
that DO vary from month to month;
3. Checks he writes away from home at irregular times and for
varying amounts.
The way Milton incorporates his finances into BankBook is:
1. Checks he writes from the first category above he defines to
BankBook using "DefineAuto". Then, on the first and 15th of
each month, he tells BankBook to automatically print these
checks on the PC printer.
2. For checks he pays in the second category, he uses the
WriteCheck option of BankBook and fills in the dollar amount,
printing the checks on his PC printer.
3. Because Milton finds it awkward to carry his IBM AT to the
grocery store, he "hand writes" the checks he uses to pay
grocery bills or payments for hardware store purchases. When
he gets home, he saves the cash register receipt on the
kitchen refrigerator and later enters the check amount into
BankBook using the WriteCheck function the next time he
cranks up his PC.
Milton only uses the continuous form checks for printing on the PC;
when he manually writes checks, he uses the checks he got from his
bank. BankBook allows him to keep track of both types of checks,
even though the numbering is not consecutive. He finds that most of
the checks he writes he prints at home, so the supply of checks from
the bank which he uses when away from home lasts much longer. He
uses the deposit slips from his personal check book to handle making
account deposits.
ABOUT ATLANTA IDEAS, INC.
Atlanta Ideas is a tiny company nestled in the suburbs of Atlanta,
Georgia. We slave away each day to create little products to make
life easier for the beleaguered middle-class citizen, although you
may also use BankBook if you are lucky enough to be a member of the
"upper crust".
This shareware is a small part of a package we market to support
flying clubs and individual aircraft ownership.
Our philosophy is that you shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg for
quality software. The shareware copy of BankBook is free (our lowest
cost product on the market today). The more complete BankBook copy
is $15, which covers the cost of materials, handling, and shipping
(our second lowest cost product on the market today).
If you like the program and find it makes your beleaguered life
easier, then we have succeeded. To make your life easier still, you
should order the checks we provide so you can print them on your PC
printer. That would make OUR beleaguered lives easier, since we make
a small commission on the checks you order.
ABOUT CHECKS
Producing continuous form checks for use with the BankBook program is
a manually labor-intensive process. The name and address informa-
tion, your bank account information, the starting sequential number
for your check order, and the Federal Reserve code for your bank have
to be entered into the systems controlling the printing presses.
Because of the accuracy required in producing financial documents
such as check forms, your check order will be hand verified by no
fewer than 4 separate individuals before the finished checks are
mailed to you.
The checks themselves are printed with a special magnetic ink so that
the MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) equipment used by your
bank to process your checks can identify your account number.
The checks are printed for Atlanta Ideas by the J. William Company, a
division of the John Harland Company. Assistance with your check
order is available from John Harland at a toll-free telephone number
which is displayed in your BankBook software under the OrderCheck
menu option.
INSTALLING BANKBOOK
To install BankBook, all you have to do is use the DOS COPY command
to duplicate the BB.EXE file from wherever you got it to wherever you
want it to go. If you received the program on a diskette, then enter:
C> COPY A:BB.EXE
to copy the program to your hard drive. You may also choose to set up
a directory and keep the BankBook program and its associated files
segregated that way.
Because BankBook comes delivered with Milton Milquetoast's financial
data already set up, you need to either not copy the following files,
or you need to delete them after you have reviewed their contents:
FINANCE
BANKBOOK.CFG
AUTO.CFG
PLANNING HOW YOU WILL SET UP YOUR FILES
After you have copied the BB.EXE file to your PC, we suggest you go
through the following steps to customize the files to suit your
needs.
1. Spend a few minutes going through your checkbook and write
down a list of companies or people that you frequently write
checks to, along with the amounts. This list will be used to
build a file of "PAYEE NAMES" so you don't have to type in
the full name each time you write a check. BankBook allows
you to define up to 30 payee names.
2. From this list, identify those that recur on a regular basis
for the same dollar amount, such as a monthly car payment,
rent or mortgage payment, alimony or child support payments,
a utility such as cable TV that has a fixed monthly charge,
or club dues or service charges that accrue monthly. This
list will be used to build a file of "PAYEE NAMES" that
BankBook will automatically print checks for so you don't
have to enter anything at all. BankBook allows you to define
up to 18 payee names to be automatically paid on a recurring
basis.
3. Decide on a list of "CATEGORIES" of spending that you want to
keep track of. A category of expense is a way to collect
common items into meaningful groups. For example, you prob-
ably pay an electric bill, a water bill, a phone bill, and
possibly a natural gas bill each month. BankBook will track
each of these separately if you desire, but it will probably
be more convenient to lump them all together for analysis
purposes into a category called "UTILITIES". In the same
way, gasoline bills, auto insurance, and auto repair bills
can probably be grouped into an "AUTO EXPENSES" category.
BankBook allows you to define and track up to 20 categories
of expenses.
4. Having defined the lists above, enter the data according to
the directions which follow.
TAILORING BANKBOOK TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS
There are only a few steps you need to complete to set up BankBook to
support your financial processing and analysis requirements. The
checklist printed below steps you through the "tailoring" of the
software so it will work for you.
1. Delete any unnecessary files
If you haven't already done so, delete or erase the files
"FINANCE", "BANKBOOK.CFG", and "AUTO.CFG" so that YOUR
financial data will be the only data in these files. When
BankBook first starts up, it detects any missing files and
creates them, so these files will reappear after you have
purged them and then run BankBook.
2. Run BankBook
Enter the DOS command: C> BB
If you have a monochrome monitor, you may choose to enter the
monochrome flag for improved display
contrast: C> BB MONO
3. Press any key
The initial run of BankBook, or any time thereafter when the
bank balance is zero will cause the BankBook billboard screen
to display. Press <ENTER> to resume processing and the Main
Menu will be displayed.
4. Choose OPTIONS menu selection
Press the letter "O" or use the arrow keys to move the
highlight bar over the menu item labelled "Options" and press
<ENTER>. This will cause the options submenu to appear.
5. Choose NAME menu option
Enter your name and address and optionally your phone number
the way you want it to appear on your printed checks.
BankBook does not actually print this information on the
check itself, but will use this data to format report
headers. Press F1 when you are satisfied with your entry.
6. Choose INCOME menu option
Enter here a list of places from which you receive money that
you deposit to your bank account. For a joint account, you
probably will list both your and your spouse's employers.
The list can be in any order and can be changed at any time
in the future, if desired. If you have fewer names than
there are lines available, that's okay. BankBook formats
empty lines with a series of dots; it will be easier if you
leave the dots in place on blank lines, although it is not
required. Press F1 when you are satisfied with your entries.
7. Choose PAYMENTS menu option
Enter here the complete list of PAYEE NAMES you developed
when you examined your account payment history. The list can
be in any order and you can change the order of payee names
at any time in the future. If you have fewer than 30 payee
names to enter, that's okay. Again, leave the dots in place
in the entries for which you have no names. Press F1 when
you are done.
8. Choose CATEGORY menu option
Enter here the list of categories you developed earlier while
examining your account payment history. If you have fewer
than 20 entries, that is acceptable.
NOTE: You will not want to rearrange the order of these
entries once you begin inputting check payment data,
otherwise the analysis displays will return mislead-
ing information about payments by expense categories
After you have entered the category data, press the RIGHT
ARROW key to allow you to tie the payee names to the proper
categories. A window of predefined payee names will pop-up
and you must then scroll through this list of names and enter
the number associated with the expense category you want to
track for this payee name. For example, if the category
"UTILITIES" is the fourth entry in the list of category
names, then you will want to enter the digit "4" in front of
the electric company, gas company, water company, and phone
company payee names. Press F1 when you are satisfied with
your entries.
9. Press <ESC> to exit to the main menu.
10. Choose the Checks main menu option
11. Choose DefineAuto menu option
This window allows you to define the day of the month, the
payee name, and the amount of each check you write for those
cases where the amount doesn't vary from month to month. For
lines of data where the day of the month is greater than
zero, you can view the predefined vendor names using the DOWN
ARROW and UP ARROW keys. Press <ENTER> when the proper name
is displayed. Press F1 when you have identified all checks
to be written automatically.
12. Press <ESC> repeatedly to exit back to DOS.
You now have "tailored" BankBook to fit your requirements.
You can begin entering checks written from this point for-
ward, or if you want to establish a history of financial
transactions, you can enter checks from your check register
that you have written in the past.
BANKBOOK FUNCTIONS
The main menu of BankBook provides you with access to all the major
functions of the program. The list below contains each of the main
menu options and the functions they invoke:
1. VIEW - Displays the checkbook register
2. CHECKS - Write checks, enter special checking
transactions, define checks to be written
automatically, print a check order form
3. DEPOSIT - Make deposits to your account
4. BALANCE - Reconcile your checkbook with the bank
5. ANALYSIS - Print reports and show displays that analyze your
personal finances
6. OPTIONS - Define your income sources, people or companies
to whom you routinely write checks, and
categories of spending to allow you to analyze
your finances
Each of these functions is described in detail on the pages that
follow.
VIEW
This main menu option allows you to look at the check register. It
"opens up" to the last page, just like your check book register
should do; you can then scroll forwards and backwards using the keys
defined on the screen. In addition, you can scroll the display a
single line at a time using the DOWN ARROW and UP ARROW keys.
Entries in your checkbook register are identified by date and check
number. If the entry is for something other than a written check,
the following codes will appear:
DPST - for deposits to your account
SVC. - for banking service charges
INT. - for interest payments to your account
AUTO - for automated teller (ATM) withdrawals
ADJ. - for adjustments to your account
Checks which have been voided will appear with the nomenclature
"CHECK VOIDED" in the description field.
If you have over 400 entries in your check register file, only the
last 400 items will be loaded into memory for display. Those
transactions prior to the first check displayed in the VIEW display
when the HOME key is pressed can be accessed using one of the print
report options.
CHECKS
This main menu option invokes the check writing submenu. The options
accessible from this submenu are described below.
CHANGE DATE
This menu option pops up a window into which you can enter a new date
to be used for writing checks and making deposits. This allows you
to enter checks you have written in the past or to set the date for
checks you want to write today but mail later this week. This is
also useful to force the AutoWrite check feature to kick off as ex-
plained later.
Another technique for changing the date is to simply type in the date
on either the check or deposit transactions. If you enter a date that
is higher than the last date used by BankBook, the program will adopt
the higher date as the new "current" date.
WRITE CHECK
This menu displays a check on the screen for you to enter the ele-
ments you normally write on the face of a check. You can use the
keyboard arrow keys to move between the data items, changing values
until you are satisfied. Pressing F1 will cause the check to be
accepted by BankBook for entry in the checkbook register. In addi-
tion, you will prompted to enter a spending category for the check,
if not already known by the program. You will be prompted to indi-
cate whether the check is to be printed; and, if so, whether you need
help in aligning the checks in the printer.
CK NO BankBook initializes this item to the next sequential check
number; if this is not the correct number for the check, you
can change it. The check number is not printed on the check
by BankBook, but shows up in the checkbook register.
DATE BankBook inserts the current date. You can change this date,
if desired.
TO: BankBook presents you with a list of the 30 payee names you
have identified using the Options menu.
To select from the list you may:
1. Use the arrow keys to position the highlight bar over the
desired payee name and press <ENTER>.
2. Press the first letter of the desired payee name. The
highlight bar will move to the next payee name beginning
with that letter. If multiple names begin with the same
letter, press the letter again to select the next payee
name. When the desired name is highlighted, press
<ENTER>.
3. Pressing the <HOME> key positions the highlight bar to
the top of the list; the <END> key positions the high-
light to the last entry in the list.
If the name of the person or company you want to write
the check to is not included in the predefined payee name
list, press <ESC> once to enter the desired name on the
check. To escape out of the check writing transaction,
without writing a check, press <ESC> again.
AMOUNT Enter the amount of the check. You can write checks in the
range of $.01 to $99,999.99.
MEMO Enter any special identifying data here you want to be
printed on the check. To keep the file size down, this
information is not retained by BankBook, so unless you are
printing the check on your PC printer, you can omit this
entry.
SPECIAL
This function allows you to enter banking transactions other than
simple checks and deposits. The functions you can do are described
below:
1. ADJUSTMENTS You can use this transaction to adjust your bank
balance either plus or minus a needed amount. If
your balance is $100 and you need to correct it by 10
cents to $99.90, then enter an adjustment amount of
$.10. If your balance needs to be $100.10, enter a
transaction amount of $-.10. The minus sign is needed
to make the transaction into a credit amount.
2. INTEREST If you have an interest-bearing checking account, use
this transaction to indicate the interest payments
made to your account by the bank.
3. SVC CHARGE This transaction allows you to enter any one of
several banking service charges, from monthly service
fees, checking overdraft charges, ATM usage charges,
minimum balance charges, check purchase charges, or
others unique to your bank.
4. EFT DEBIT Increasingly common today are electronic debits that
the banks use to withdraw money from your account to
pay for installment loans without the need for writ-
ing a check. This transaction allows you to enter the
EFT debits made to your account.
5. ATM Withdrawals of funds using automated teller machines
can be entered using this code.
6. SET BAL TO: This special transaction allows you to force balance
your account to whatever value (+ or -) you enter.
7. VOID CHECK The VOID A CHECK transaction reverses the effect of a
debit to your account from a check you have written.
You just enter the check number and BankBook locates
the check in your check journal and "backs out" the
debit, even if it occurred many months ago. Each
journal entry since that check was written is updated
to reflect the "new" account balance.
For each of the transactions described above, BankBook initializes
the "description" field which shows up in your checkbook register
with a generic description of the transaction. You may want to
change or elaborate on the description when you process the transac-
tion to make it more meaningful for your purposes.
AUTO WRITE A CHECK
The AutoWrite menu option may be invoked at any time. It examines
the current date and determines if you have defined any checks that
get written on this day of the month. If there are checks to be
written, the AutoWrite transaction will "set up" BankBook to both
make a journal entry in your checkbook for the check and print the
check on your PC printer.
You first will be prompted to enter the next check number to be
printed. BankBook will initialize this number to be the next
sequential check after the last one written. If the number displayed
is correct, just press <ENTER>, otherwise type in the desired number
of the next check.
If a check is found which is due to be printed today, BankBook will
"build" an image of that check and display it for you on the screen.
You will first be asked if this check should be entered in the check
register; answer "Y" or "N".
Next you will be asked if the check should be printed; again answer
"Y" or "N" as appropriate. After this check has been properly proc-
essed by BankBook, it will seek out the next check defined to be
printed on this day of the month, and the process will repeat.
The ChangeDate transaction is useful in conjunction with this fea-
ture. Assume that you have defined your home mortgage payment to be
due on the 1st of each month. Assume that today is the 27th of the
current month and you are paying your bills for the next month. If
the PC date remains at the 27th, the home mortgage payment will not
be printed in this session; use the ChangeDate transaction to reset
the program date to the 1st, then invoke the AutoWrite transaction
and the desired check will be produced.
DEFINE AUTO
The DefineAuto menu selection brings up a data entry screen into
which you can enter up to 18 checks which are to be written by
BankBook on the appointed day of the month using the AutoWrite
transaction.
Enter the day of the month on which you want a check to be produced.
BankBook will next allow you to scroll through a menu of the 30 payee
names you have defined to the program. You can control the scrolling
display with the UP/DOWN ARROW keys. When the desired payee name
shows in the window, press <ENTER> and BankBook will move to the
amount field where you then enter the dollar amount the check is to
be written for each month.
This feature of BankBook is intended only for bills you pay which
come due on the same date each month and for the same amount, such as
rent payments, home mortgages, cable TV fees, car payments, or other
recurring bills. If you budget to make payments on a revolving charge
account in a fixed amount each month, even though the amount you act-
ually owe may vary, this feature can be used to print the check each
month.
ORDER CHECKS
This transaction steps you through the process of printing a check
order form for computer checks suitable for use with BankBook. When
you order your computer checks, be sure to call the toll-free number
listed on the printed form to verify current check costs. If you are
ordering checks, be sure also to include with your order a sample
check (VOIDED) or deposit slip that has your bank account number
encoded along the bottom of the check.
DEPOSIT
Checking account deposits are handled through this main menu option.
Deposits to your account show up on the check register as a DPST
transaction.
To complete the deposit, enter the date. BankBook initializes the
date field with the current program date which you can change, if
needed.
Next, identify the SOURCE of the money being deposited. You will be
presented with a menu of income sources you defined using the OPTIONS
main menu selection. Use the arrow keys to scroll up and down until
the desired source of money is highlighted; then press <ENTER>. If
the source of funds is not listed in the menu (maybe you won $100 in
a beauty contest), press <ESC> and BankBook will allow you to type in
the name of some other source of funds.
Then enter the deposit amount. When you are satisfied with all the
data you have entered, press <F1> to complete the transaction.
If you want to abort the deposit at any stage, just press <ESC> and
you will be returned to the main menu with no effect on your account
balance.
BALANCE
The BALANCE transaction allows you an automated way to reconcile your
bank account with the statement provided you by the bank. There are
three stages to the act of balancing your account and these are sup-
ported in full by BankBook.
1. If there are any credits to your account such as interest pay-
ments, dividends deposited via EFT transactions, or adjustments
made by the bank to correct bank errors, these would not have
been entered in your checkbook register, and would not be re-
flected in what you think is your current balance. By the same
token, bank service charges, check fees or other debits to your
account assessed by your bank would not be in your check regis-
ter, either, since you would not know the amount until you get
your monthly statement.
Therefore, the first step in balancing your account is to enter
all credits and debits posted to your account which are not
already in your checkbook. The BALANCE transaction first "pops-
up" a window asking you if there are any such transactions to
enter in your checkbook before balancing begins ... you must
answer "Y" or "N". If your answer is "Y", BankBook invokes the
"SPECIAL" transaction screen, into which you can enter whatever
adjustments or service charges you need. When all entries are
made, press <ESC> to exit the SPECIAL transaction; then, bal-
ancing continues.
2. Stage 2 of the balancing is to check off all the checks or other
debits to your account returned by the bank with your monthly
statement. To do this, just enter an "X" on the line showing the
check, just as you would enter a check mark in your checkbook
register. To abort the transaction during this phase, press the
<ESC> key.
3. Stage 3 is where you identify all deposits received and recorded
by the bank. Here, you put an "X" on the affected deposits. Here
again, to abort the transaction, press <ESC>.
After all checks and deposits have been processed, BankBook displays
what the bank statement balance SHOULD be based on your answers. If
the balances agree, answer "Y" to the question posed, else enter a
"N" and all "X" marks you made will be removed from the file as if
you had not made them. Then you can go examine the bank statement
and your checkbook to try to resolve why the balances don't agree.
NOTE: If you DO answer "N" (the balances do not agree), at some
time in the future you will, no doubt, try to balance again.
Please observe that if you entered any bank service charges
or interest payments using the SPECIAL transaction, they have
already been "X"ed by BankBook, so do not re-enter them on
the next BALANCE attempt, or you will be double-posting these
amounts and create more balancing problems for yourself.
ANALYSIS
The set of reports and display screens provided by BankBook to give
you insights into your financial history and budget are invoked by
choosing this option on the main menu. The shareware version of
BankBook provides you with three menu entries; others are available
with the $15 version, if purchased.
1. JOURNAL This is a sequential listing of your checkbook jour-
nal. You can limit the amount of paper printed by
specifying a beginning and ending date for the jour-
nal print. If you have more than 400 entries in your
checkbook journal, this is the only way you can see
those entries earlier than the first one displayed
when you press <HOME> on the VIEW display screen.
2. ANALYSIS This is a single-page printout showing an analysis of
where your money is coming from (sources of income)
and where it is being spent. You can control the
date range of this report, so you can produce an
analysis for a single month, a YTD analysis, or an
analysis that covers the entire period from the first
journal entry to the current date.
3. CATEGORY This option displays a screen that graphically de-
picts the percentage of your spending broken down
according to the categories you defined in the
OPTIONS menu. You can control the date range of this
display and use it to compare expenditures on a
monthly basis, use it for YTD analysis, or any other
time period for which data exists in your checkbook.
On a color monitor, the bars representing costs per
category are red, white and blue to provide easy
contrast between categories. However, these colors
will not be reproduced on a printer if you do a print
screen. You can, however, print this graphic display
on a dot matrix printer if you run BankBook with the
MONO option (i.e. C> BB MONO ). After you have
printed the screen image, if you want to revert to
color again, you must run the program with the COLOR
option (i.e. C> BB COLOR ).
OPTIONS
The Options menu entry allows you to customize the BankBook program
so the reports and displays accurately reflect your expenses.
NAME Enter here your name and address; this is cosmetic only
and is used to provide headings for the financial reports
and the screen display check image. Your name and address
must be printed on the checks themselves by a printer.
INCOME You can define up to 10 sources of income. These names
are used to build a list so that each time you make a
deposit, you can indicate where the money came from.
This data is used in the financial analysis reports.
PAYMENTS This option allows you to enter up to 30 names of people
or companies to whom you write checks on a routine basis.
If you have fewer than 30 names to enter here, that's
okay, you can always add names later on. You probably
want to limit the names you do enter here to those names
you use frequently or expect to use frequently in the
future. You can write checks to people other than those
in this list by pressing the <ESC> key when asked to
choose a name while writing a check.
CATEGORY You can define up to 20 groups of expenses that you want
BankBook to track for you. Whereas you can get tracking
on payments you make to the electric power company, the
water company, the natural gas company, the phone com-
pany, and other public service companies, you also can
define each of these companies as belonging to a common
"category", say "UTILITIES". This provides you with in-
teresting insights into how you spend your money in a
more generic way than adding up the checks you write to
each specific payee by name.
You will want to give careful thought to the CATEGORY
names you decide to use, because once you define them and
start entering check data, you can't change them. Some
suggestions you may want to consider are categories such
as:
RENT PAYMENTS MORTGAGE PAYMENTS CAR PAYMENTS
FOOD UTILITIES MEDICAL
INSURANCE CHARITIES ENTERTAINMENT
AUTO OPERATING CHURCH DONATIONS CREDIT CARDS
CLOTHING CHILDCARE EXPENSES ALIMONY
HOBBIES VACATION CHRISTMAS
HOME MAINTENANCE AUTO MAINTENANCE BUSINESS EXPENSE
You will, no doubt, derive categories more useful to you.
If you have fewer than 20 entries defined, you can always
add more later as you see the need; you cannot, however,
change the "meanings" of categories you have already de-
fined, otherwise the analysis reports will yield mis-
leading financial information.
DEFINE PRINTER CODES
Define your printer as IBM-graphics compatible. To complete the
three printer control codes, you may need to refer to your printer
owner's manual. Common printer codes are: COMPRESSED PRINT = 15,
NORMAL PRINT = 18, DOUBLE-WIDE PRINT = 14. If you are unable to
determine the correct settings for your printer type, just set these
codes to "00" and BankBook will work just fine.
AboutBB
The About BankBook display screen tells you what great guys we are to
give you this software free. Share BankBook with your friends. The
shareware version of BankBook is a complete package for managing your
checking account, and you may never have a need for anything more.
Of course, we are hoping you will like the product enough to want to
upgrade to the more complete version which we sell for $15 (shipping
and handling included!). Here's a summary of the shareware version
and its purchased counterpart. The stars indicate features present
only in the purchased program.
1. Constant screen summary of checking account information
*- Year-to-date checks, deposits, and amount summary
2. Automated check register
3. Predefine names of commonly written check payees
4. Keep track of expenses by category without resorting to a
chart of accounts or general ledger codes
5. Write checks using predefined payee names
6. Write checks to payees not in the predefined list
7. Enter "hand written" checks so the journal is kept correct
8. Define checks to be written on set dates in fixed amounts
9. Automatically print checks from defined list on set date
10. Print checks on your PC printer
11. Printer forms alignment assistance with no "spoiled" checks
12. Integrated support for printing computer check order form
13. Automated support for reconciliation of your checking account
(balancing your checkbook)
14. Support for other common banking transactions including:
a. Deposits f. Adjustments (+ OR -)
b. Interest payments g. Bank service charges
c. Overdraft charges h. ATM service fees
d. EFT debits i. Automatic teller machine debits
e. Check voids j. Force balancing (+ OR -)
15. Hardcopy printing of checkbook register
16. Printed analysis of income and expenses within specified date
range (monthly, YTD, since beginning of journal)
17. Graphic display of expenses by category within a date range
*- 18. Calendar year analysis of expenses by:
*- Check payee name
*- Check category
*- All expenses by month
*- 19. Display all checks written by category within a date range
*- 20. Automated support for developing a monthly personal budget
*- 21. Display of monthly variance (+ OR -) from budget by category
*- 22. Report of 12-month spending pattern for budget analysis
*- 23. Report of 12-month spending by category and percentage
deviation from budgeted amount
24. Displays allow graphics screen print to dot-matrix printers
25. Support for monochrome/CGA/EGA/VGA monitors
*- 26. Typeset reference manual
THE END
FILE1911.TXT
Disk No: 1911
Disk Title: BankBook
PC-SIG Version: S1.1
Program Title: BankBook
Author Version: 1.0
Author Registration: $15.00
Special Requirements: 512K RAM.
A truly easy to use checkbook manager -- really intuitive.
BANKBOOK was designed to make the management of your home finances easy
and automated in a way that doesn't require an accountant to understand.
BANKBOOK makes the presentation of your home finances "look" just like
they do using your checkbook entries, and adds automated support for
bill payment and budget analysis.
~ Print checks on your PC printer.
~ Enter checks you have handwritten.
~ Enter ATM (automated teller) and EFT (electronic funds transfer)
transactions.
~ Enter deposits from a variety of sources.
~ Go back in time to enter checks you wrote over the past several months
to set up a "history" of spending trends.
~ Define a list of bills that you pay each month so they will be printed
automatically on the proper date.
~ Associate each check with a spending category so you can divide your
expenses into meaningful groups for later analysis.
~ Print reports and view displays of spending trends in various ways to
see YTD spending patterns or patterns over other periods of time.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1989, 1990 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< Disk #1911 BANKBOOK >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To start program on a monochrome system, type: BB MONO (press enter) ║
║ To start program on a color system, type: BB COLOR (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ To print documentation, type: COPY BB.DOC PRN ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #1911
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
BB EXE 100208 4-28-90 1:41p
FINANCE 12738 10-03-89 8:22p
BANKBOOK CFG 1637 5-01-90 3:16p
AUTO CFG 180 9-02-89 6:34a
MAIL CFG 3690 10-03-89 8:24p
BB DOC 45687 9-24-89 6:03p
README 1943 9-24-89 3:37p
GO BAT 38 1-01-80 1:37a
GO TXT 617 1-01-80 1:59a
FILE1911 TXT 3189 5-29-90 4:05a
10 file(s) 169927 bytes
147456 bytes free