BusCalc Version 1.30 Shareware Copyright Chris Nicholson - August 1996 Please mail all suggestions, comments or details of problems to me at 100522.2324@compuserve.com. or direct at Compuserve on 100522,2324. WHATS NEW Supports both £ and $ (can be changed at any time) Memory reduction - now uses 90k Greater control with selectable listing which allows full use of the arrow keys Ability to link records Improved help file Option to export to Word or Sheet, Sheet allows both individual and total export Thanks to Steven Burke for his assistance with the Sheet code. REGISTRATION BusCalc 1.30 is shareware. You can use it free for 21 days, after this it must be registered. Until you receive your registration code there will be a number of nag screens and each file is restricted to only 8 records. This software represents many hours of programming, so if you like it please register. BusCalc 1.30 can be registered in two ways. . Compuserve On-line registration ($25) via "Go Swreg" SWREG ID = 12514 . By Mail, send a cheque for £15, made payable to Chris Nicholson, to 26 The Elms Hertford Herts SG13 7UX DISCLAIMER No responsibility is accepted by the author for any loss of data, however caused, by the use or misuse of BusCalc. The responsibility for any consequences of installation or use rest solely with the user. No warranties or guarantees of any kind are implied. The program is only designed to provide an indication of a company's performance and the author accepts absolutely no responsibility for any decisions formulated using information provided by BusCalc. DISTRIBUTION BusCalc V1.30 is freely distributable to anyone so long as it is distributed in UNMODIFIED FORM along with this unmodified readme file, and that no further fees are charged. COMMENTS BuisCalc was written whilst I was looking for a new job and wanted to keep a record of the financial position of prospective employers. It provides basic accounting analysis using figures that are freely available from most Reference Libraries. It has now been expanded to cover further management figures and can help with setting prices or discounts. FILES Bsc130.opa :\app Program file Bscmod1.opo :\app\buscalc Program file Optional files Bscmth2.opo Any drive :\app\buscalc Monthly debtor table Bschlp2.rsc Internal M:\app\buscalc Help file Templ-2.mco :\macro\mco Layout template for printout Templ-2.mcr :\macro\mcr Source file for above INSTALLATION (New users) Copy the file Bsc130.opa to any \app directory and Bscmod1.opo to any \app\buscalc directory. If you want to use the online help then install Bschlp2.rsc to the directory \app\buscalc on the internal drive. If you want to take advantage of the Monthly debtor table calculator then install Bscmth2.opo to any \app\buscalc directory. Then install the program on the system screen using Psion-I. INSTALLATION (Upgrading) Replace Bsc121.opa with Bsc130.opa. Copy the file Bscmod1.opo to any \app\buscalc directory. Delete Bscmthi.opo and Bscmthc.opo and replace with Bscmth2.opo Replace Bschlp1.rsc with Bschlp2.rsc. Foe registered users do not replace your preferences file Buscalc.prf. Until the program is registered it will not work with any of your old files that contain more than 8 records. However, after registering all files from Version 1.10 over 8 records can be used. HISTORY Version 1.30 - program additions Supports both £ and $ (can be changed at any time) Memory reduction - now uses 90k Greater control with selectable listing which allows full use of the arrow keys Ability to link records Improved help file Option to export to Word or Sheet, Sheet allows both individual and total export Thanks to Steven Burke for his assistance with the Sheet code. Version 1.21 - bug fix Fixes bugs in printing and record editing. Version 1.20 - Shareware version - program additions Version 1.20 - Shareware version - program additions Major re-write to fix a number of minor bugs and to improve the overall performance. Automatically remembers the last open file. Faster screen switching using the diamond key. Improved control using the arrow keys. Improved listing, including the option to build a custom list. Version 1.10 - Further program additions Supports multiple files so that you can keep separate records on different companies. Performance analysis now includes acid test ratio and current ratio results. Percentage calculator to assist with mark up and mark down calculations. Pricing calculator to assist with the setting of prices. Version 1.09 - Major re-write on V1.08, detailed below are the major changes: Printing via Word. Improved use of screen redraws which has increased speed. List view of all entries. Sort all entries into alphabetical order by company name. Delete records from within the program. A new 3 month debtor analysis table, which provides a clear indication of debt collection performance. Help has now been integrated to use the standard Psion format. (Acknowledgment to Jezar at Psion for the use of his Helpkit program) Version 1.08 - Initial launch. Getting Started When you first run the program it will automatically go to the add screen, the minimum information you can enter is a company name and accounting period. The program will not operate until you have at least one entry. When you have saved this entry you will be presented with the main list screen which shows all of your entries. Control On entry to the program you will be presented with the main list screen which displays all of your entries. This can be scrolled using the arrow keys, page up/down, and the home/end keys. To view a record press the return key, the diamond key can now be used to view all results screens associated with the record. You can also move from record to record using the left and right arrow keys. If you want to return to the list view press Escape. All other operations are accessed either via the menu or the associated hot key combination, (shown in the menu). Custom Listing Select custom list and type in the name of the company (or any other search string) and then at the next menu either accept that record or continue the search. When you have selected a record you will be prompted to either select another or view the results. You can view upto 6 records at any one time. You can view a custom list that you have produced by either using the hotkey (shift-psion-L) or switching screens with the diamond key. Exporting You can now export to either Word or Sheet, if available. Exporting to sheet is very basic but it allows you to amend or change any details before you print. Exporting to sheet allows the same flexibility but you have the choice of either exporting an individual record or all the records in that file. Linking When you add a new record there is a field for you to enter a unique code or reference for that particular record, (existing reocrds can be edited by using Psion-K). Once a record has a code it can be linked by editing the link information for another record and entering the first records code in one of the 4 link fields. This will then be displayed on the main screen, the linked record can then be quickly diplayed by pressing the assigned link number. Definitions Fixed costs - these remain the same regardless of the level of business activity, eg. rent, business rates etc. Variable costs - these increase or decrease directly with the level of business activity, eg. materials. Current assets - either cash or assets that are expected to be converted to cash within 12 months of the balance sheet date, eg. stocks. Total assets - a combination of current assets plus all fixed assets in the business, eg. buildings, machinery etc. Current liabilities - liabilities due to be paid within 12 months from the balance sheet date, eg. creditors, charges, dividends, tax. Capital employed - the amount of money invested in the business, eg. share payments. Debtors - monies owed to the business by customers. Creditors - monies you owe to suppliers. Stocks - materials in stock at the time of the balance sheet date. Mark Up and Down Calculator This section allows you to enter in a minimum 2 parts of the required data and then the program will calculate the remaining data. So if you know the purchase price and sale price it will be able to calculate the percentage difference and value etc. Pricing Calculator In these calculations a unit refers to the individual product, and breakeven in this instance is the number of units that need to be sold and not their sales value. This section can be used to check and assist with the correct pricing of a product or service. As long as the correct data is entered, it will calculate the minimum amount of units that need to be sold to achieve either breakeven sales or a set profit value, or the actual sale price. Mark Up Mark up is the difference between variable costs and sales value. The mark up % is calculated as a percentage of the cost of sales. There is a direct relationship between mark up % and gross margin % and because of this it is a helpful statistic to use when calculating prices. Gross Margin Gross margin is the gap between sales and variable costs. It is the value that is left after deducting variable costs from sales, and constitutes the real income of a business. Gross margin % is calculated as a percentage of sales. It expresses the dynamic that whatever the sales level of the business, real income will only ever be the gross margin % of it. Breakeven Point This is the minimum level of sales that is required to cover all fixed costs. It is calculated by dividing the fixed costs by the gross margin %. The breakeven point % expresses the fact that only sales above this percentage earn the company any profit. The breakeven point can be improved by either cutting fixed costs or raising the gross margin %. Current Ratio A general indication of a firms ability to meet it's current liabilities is found in the current ratio. It is calculated by dividing the current assets by the current liabilities. Any ratio less than 1 would indicate that a firm might have a potential problem in meeting it's creditors claims. By contrast a number significantly larger than 1 would imply that current assets are being under employed. It is generally accepted that a ratio of between 1.5:1 and 2.5:1 is desireable. Acid Test Ratio A limitation of the current ratio is the assumption that all current assets would readily be converted into cash. The acid test ratio focuses on this problem by allowing for the fact that stock is not easily converted into immediate cash. It is calculated by deducting the stock from current assets and then dividing by current liabilities. When using the acid test ratio, care should be taken to exclude from current liabilities any claims that are not immediately payable. An acceptable level for thios ratio is 0.8:1. Debtor and Creditor Days Measurement of trends in debtors and creditors is essential to establish the company's position and monitor the effectiveness of actions taken. They are both calculated by multiplying the value by 365 (days) and then dividing by turnover. To monitor the financial value alone is insufficient as it takes no account of inflation or volume fluctuations. Relating debtor and creditor values to sales and expressing the relationship in average days provides adequate measurement and also sets targets for improvements. Return on Capital Employed This is the primary indicator of a business's performance. It is calculated by dividing the profit by capital employed, and then expressed as a percentage. The possible disparity between the age of a company's fixed assets means that the comparison between returns on capital employed of two similar businesses should only be made with care. Sales/Capital Employed Capital employed covers all fixed assets, materials, work in progress, finished goods and debtors. It is calculated by dividing sales by capital employed. The ratio shows that every œ1 of capital employed produces œx of sales. An increase in this number shows that the company is utilising its capital more effectively. In the general attempt to improve the ratio of sales to capital employed it is better to concentrate on minimising the amount of capital tied up, as opposed to just increasing sales. 3 month Debtor Analysis Table This table provides a useful analysis on the company's performance at debt collection. The percentages are calculated downwards on the original month's invoicings, which then shows progress each month in collecting month 1, month 2, month 3, etc. debtors. Any laxity in collecting debts shows up clearly and is therefore a useful indicator of possible bad debts building up.