Accounts program - K R Baker
                   krb@ecs.soton.ac.uk


This is a quickly written, unstructured text file that
may be useful to read!

Background
==========
The accounts program was written to provide me with
a Psion version of my account book, with only the
essential extras and none of the memory consuming
bells and whistles seen on many other bank account
programs. It is not meant to be a complete personal
finance program like Money. It is meant to keep track
of a bank account or finances so that you know the
movement of your money and how much you have.

Installation
============
Put the opa in the app directory and install it.

Files created
=============
The account files .acc are created in the \dat directory
as are the archive files .arc.

More than one account file can be open at a time, but by 
using more than one instance of the program.

Using the program.
=================
When initially started you need to enter an initial balance.

Enter entries by using psion-a or from the menu or
by pressing a character which is then used as the first 
character in the add entry box (I know it is highlighted 
and will disappear when you continue!), however if you have
a previous entry starting with that character its entry text
will be in the add entry dialog box. This template not only
uses the same text but the same amount and the entry type.
For example all my cash point entries start (Cash Point)
so by pressing ( I get the entry I want; as the amount
I take out is often the same I can just press return to add
the new entry.

Deleting and updating entries is straightforward.

Moving up and down the entries is done with up, down,
pgup, pgdn, home and end which have their usual meaning.
Ctrl-up and ctrl-down move to the start and end entries
of the month; if you are already there then it goes to
the start and end entries of the previous or next month.

Each time you start the program the cursor goes to
the last entry that of today or earlier.

Zoom and the status windows work as usual.
Screen updating is slow but acceptable, I expect I will
at some time make it faster.

Special Entries
===============
These are entries that are set in the future. They 
operate as follows: They are dated like normal entries
and when that date comes up they become normal entries.
Those that are repeating (like standing orders) are
duplicated and the next future entry created. You only
see the next entry for a standing order.

When adding an entry you can set the date in the future
to make it a future event. or you can explicitly add
a future event.

A standing order creates a future entry that repeats.
It allows you to specify a particular day or the last
day of the month.

Entries with 0 amount can be entered but the 0 will not be displayed.
I use these as extra text, or create standing orders to
remind me that a bill is due. eg phone bill will arrive
around this time. Thus it helps prevent me from spending all
the money!

The interest entry is a special future event and you can
only have one per account. It calculates the compound
interest over the specified interval, at the specified rate
which may be a two tier rate, and takes the tax of at
a fixed 25%. 

I have not fully checked this feature, as the interest 
rate on my bank account only gives me about 14p per month.
If the entry dates correspond to the banks then it should
be correct (give or take a penny).

To try out the future events (and not have to reset the Psion
date!) I have included an option to fool the program
into thinking the days are advancing. Use psion-+ to
set a new date. Dont use this on important data as the
effects cannot be reversed! 

Printing
========
Print a statement of entries between the given dates.
Parallel printer is assumed. - this may be changed in the
future.

Tidying
=======
You can remove entries in bulk from the start of the
account. These may be appended to an archive file. The
archive file is another accounts file but with the
.arc extension. To read it you must use tab on the
open file dialog box or rename it.

Finally
=======
Any errors or ideas that would increase the useability
in general (not just for you but useful to all) should
be emailed to me.

Keith