PAR HOME 1 Home Financial Management System TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction A Hearty Thanks About the Amiga Registration and Warranty Software Support Copyright Notice What You will Need Read Before Using Making Backups Additional Notes Getting Started Editing Mouse Usage Error Messages Note to Programmers Financial Evaluation Payment Determination Affordable Loan Determination Home Asset Appreciation Loan Length Determination Investment Analysis Annuities Future Value - Monthly Future Value - Yearly Retirement Contribution Desired Future Value Other Investment Analysis Options IRA vs CD Planner College Investment Planner Life Insurance Planner Home Lease Vs. Buy Personal Finance Statement Create Edit Delete Exit Spendaholics Budget Management Create Edit Compare Delete Exit Accounting Create an Account Record Transactions Print an Account Reconciliation Start a new Month Close (Delete) an Account Appendix A - Sample Reports INTRODUCTION A Hearty Thanks! Thank you for purchasing PAR Software's Par Home 1 package. We can assure you that you will enjoy the use of this fun, powerful and versatile program. A centralized programming goal in its design has been to reach maximum heights is user friendliness and self-directed use coupled with professional and easy to read and understand documentation. About the Amiga Where possible, an efficient and extensive use has been made of sophisticated and yet easy menu selection, pleasing color graphics, windows, and should capabilities afforded by the powerful AMIGA. This machine is truly state of the art and will enable the user to become more productive in many ways whether it be simple word processing or more sophisticated exercises such as spreadsheet modeling. In providing this documentation, as assumption is made that the user is already well versed in the fundamental areas necessary to use the AMIGA computer. Therefore, little time is spent on these basic issues. If the computer is new to you it may be beneficial, before going further, to read through the user manuals in order to become better acquainted with the AMIGA and it's user interface. What you will Need The following are needed to operate this software program on your computer: 1. An AMIGA personal computer with a minimum of 512k internal memory. 2. Basic familiarity and understanding of how your computer works. 3. A backup copy of your PAR Home 1 program disk to be used as a working copy. 4. A separate, formatted disk to be used to store all of the files or documents you create within PAR Home 1. Please Read Before Using The following special notes are important to remember before starting and throughout operation of your new program: Making Backups Make a backup copy of PARHome to use, and keep your original in a safe place. After copying Par Home, you'll notice the name of the backup will be "Copy of Par Home". You must rename this disk to just "Par Home" before you can use it. The program expects the disk name of Par Home. When naming "Copy of Par Home" to "Par Home", be sure to delete the space in front of the word Par Home. Do not rename your Par Home 1 disk. The program accesses this name and must have it to run. NOTE: In renaming your disk, you may find an error in which it appears that your Par Home 1 disk will not run. If this occurs, check to make sure you have not accidentally entered a space in the front of the name of the disk. After setting up any disk on which to store checking or savings accounts, do not rename that disk after it is first named. Par Home 1 will utilize the name first given. Additional Notes If you are using an 80 column printer it is necessary to set preferences to Fine Pitch for any output that is greater than 80 characters in width. Do not attempt to tamper with or manipulate files on your Par Home 1 disk. Software damaged due to file tampering is not covered under the warranty. Due to space limitations, it is highly recommended that no files other than those already on your Par Home 1 disk be placed there. Par Home 1 utilizes that space to store budgets, personal financial statements, and manipulate checking and savings transactions. Do not type Control-C at any time while in Par Home. This results in an immediate exit of the program; thereby losing all input information. Also, if this is done during file manipulation, it may cause errors in those files and destroy necessary information. Do not resize any windows while executing the program. ABasic will not refresh the contents of the window should resizing occur. In which case, you must reset the system and restart Par Home 1. Printer margins are set in preferences at 5 and 99. We recommend using elite type. Text in preferences should be set at 80 columns. It may be necessary to use condensed mode on your printer if available for the proper output of information. Consult your printer user's manual for specific capabilities and procedures. You must have the 256k memory cartridge installed to use Par Home 1. If you desire to run other programs or tasks while Par Home is running and sufficient memory is available, select the ABasic screen's 'Back Gadget' to place the Intuition screen in the foreground. To get at the 'Back Gadget', you need to shrink the ABasic window slightly. To do this, use the lower right hand gadget of the ABasic window. After shrinking the window, grab the window's top bar and pull down. The ABasic screen and its "Back Gadget" will appear. NOTE: Use caution in running other programs while Par Home 1 is running due to memory limitations. Always enter percent and dollar amounts without the symbol, i.e., enter 20 for 20 percent; 10 for 10 dollars. You must enter the decimal point if and when desired. You are allowed to enter numbers up to two places after the decimal when applicable. Getting Started 1. Make a working copy (back-up) of your main Par Home 1 disk before doing any thing else. 2. If ABasic is not already on your program disk, copy it over to the main Par Home 1 disk. Be sure to consult your computer user's manual if you are not sure how to do this. 3. Bring up ABasic by selecting the appropriate icon. 4. Once in ABasic, if your Par Home disk is in the internal drive, type RUN "df0:PARHome" then press carriage return. If you PAR Home disk is in the external drive, type RUN "DF1:PARHome" then press carriage return. A menu with the major functions Par Home 1 has to offer will be displayed. You are now ready to begin. Select the desired box with the cursor. Each of the program's options are outlined in the Table of Contents. PAR Home $ Financial Evaluations $ Investment Analysis $ Home Lease vs Buy $ Personal Financial Statement $ Spendaholic's Exam $ Budget Management $ Accounting $ Exit Main Menu Selections by Mouse. Editing Par Home is designed as an easy to use package which allows editing of any input information. If there is a group of data values that need to be input, they may be entered in any order. You need not begin entering immediately where the cursor first appears. Selecting the up and down cursor keys will move you to the next or previous value to be input. In some instances, mouse input is required along with numeric input. If that is the case, you may still input the information in any order. You do not have to wait until you are finished entering numeric information before you make a mouse selection. The editing features may be used to change a value previously input by moving the cursor to the appropriate line and typing in the new value. You may also select a different box with the mouse. This versatile feature allows you to do numerous "what if" type analyses by changing one or more variables and reviewing the new output. NOTE: For all Investment Analysis options, do not change the compounding method or investment frequency if the message "Invalid Input - Try Again" appears on the screen. Wait until after you have made the necessary corrections to receive new output. Otherwise, you will receive results based on the previous compounding method. Mouse Usage The left mouse button is the only button that needs to be used. All menu choices and other enclosed boxes are selected by this button. Often a box must be selected twice to initiate the desired function. For example, most modules allow the output of all results shown on the screen to the printer. Select the Print box with the mouse. Ready will appear. Ready the printer and select the box again. After printing is finished, you are allowed to continue to edit or send output to the printer again. If you don't want to send output to the printer after selecting Print, depress the mouse button while off of the Ready box. Many of the Exit boxes give a chance to change your mind after the box has been selected once. When this is the case, the message "Sure?" will appear in the box. If you change your mind, depress the left mouse button while off of the box; otherwise select the box again. All boxes that give this type of second opportunity can be handled in the same manner. Error Messages All numeric input values in this package have a maximum value. For example, yearly interest and appreciation rates cannot exceed 99.99 percent. When the number of years is entered, it must be less than 100. All monetary values have various maximums associated with them. If a maximum is exceeded, the following error message will be displayed at the top of the screen: "Invalid Input - Try Again" The above message will also be displayed if the values input are inappropriate to arrive at reasonable results. For example, if monetary values that are negative or too large to display on the screen are input, the error message will be displayed. You may enter a value that is too large and the message will not be displayed. If this is the case, it will be apparent because upon hitting RETURN, the previous value held at that position will not be replaced with the new input. While all calculations are done to double precision or 16 decimal places, the result of all calculations will appear as output rounded to two decimal places. Financial Evaluation Upon selection of the Financial Evaluation option from the main Par Home menu, you will be given a menu with the following selection: Amortization Analysis, Affordable Load Determination, Home Appreciation, and Loan Length Determination. Each selection is described below in detail. Payment Determination This selection allows you to find the equal monthly payments necessary to pay off a given load amount over a given period. If you know the amount of a loan needed to purchase property or equipment, this module will allow you to compare the monthly payments needed as you vary the interest rate or number of years on the load. An amortization table may be viewed for each monthly payment calculated. Input - You need to input the following information: For future reference, first enter the date and name for this loan or analysis. Month of First Payment - enter the number corresponding to the appropriate month. Example: for October enter 10. You are not allowed to enter a value greater than 12. Otherwise, the message "Invalid Input - Try Again" will be displayed at the top of the screen. Amount of Loan - the total price or amount minus any down payment needed. Yearly Interest Rate - the yearly interest rate being charged for the loan. Number of Years of Loan - period over which the loan is outstanding. Output - The program will display the proper monthly payment and the interest paid over the life of the loan. You may then change the input information by using the up and down cursor keys. For more details see Section 2 (Editing). Three boxes are shown in red which may be selected with the mouse. Selecting the Table box allows viewing of the amortization of only the most current information on a yearly basis. Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be output to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the financial Evaluations menu. The amortization table displays the beginning principle for that year, and the monthly payment. Also displayed, for each month, are the amount of the payment that is applied on the principle and the amount applied toward interest. The yearly totals for the amount of principle and interest paid are given. To view the next year, select the Continue box with the mouse. To output this year's figures to the printer, select the Print box. The Exit box may be selected at any time to get back to the amoritization Analysis Screen. NOTE: If you desire the entire amortization table to be output to the printer, you must select the Print box after viewing each consecutive year. Up to 12 comparisons can be shown on the screen at one time. Affordable Loan Determination This module is similar to the amortization module, but it works in reverse. You may find out what value of a loan you can afford by entering the desired monthly payment. For example, if you can afford a payment of $200 per month; enter the $200, the current market interest rat and the period of time to pay for the item. The system will return an amount that represents the affordable load for the monthly payment entered, as well as the total interest that would be paid on that loan. You may vary the input by using the up and down cursor keys. For more details see Section 2 (Editing). Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be sent to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. Up to 15 comparisons can be made at one time. Home Asset Appreciation This module allows you to forecast the appreciated value of a home or asset. By inputting the current value of the home or asset. By inputting the current value of the home or asset, the expected appreciation rate and the period of years for which to calculate, the system will respond with an appropriate appreciated value of the home or asset. You may change any input information by using the up and down cursor keys. For more details see Section 2 (Editing). Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be set to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. For the best results, use an appreciation rate that is as close as possible to the historical appreciation rate in your community. A maximum of 15 comparisons can be shown on the screen at one time. Loan Length Determination. This module determines the number of payments needed to pay off a given loan amount. The loan amount entered may be the principle remaining on a current loan or the principle on a new loan. Use this module to compare different loan lengths while changing the principle, interest rate, or monthly payment. An amortization table may be viewed for each different set of input values. Input For future reference, first enter the date and name for this loan analysis. Month of first Payment - the &$number that corresponds with the appropriate month. For example, enter 3 for the month of March. If this value is greater than 12, the message, "Invalid Input - Try Again" will be displayed at the top of the screen. Amount of Loan - the amount of principle remaining on the loan. Yearly Interest Rate - the yearly interest rate being charged for the loan (Must be less than 100). Monthly Payment - the payment made on this load every month. Output The system will display the number of years and months it will take to pay off the loan and the total interest paid over this period. If the number of years is 3 and the number of months is 11, then the total number of payments made will be 47. (3*12+11=47) Selecting the Table box allows you to view the amortization of all payments. Only the most current input values can be viewed in the table. You can then vary the input information by using the up and down cursor keys. For more details, see Section 2 (Editing). For a description of the three boxes - (Table, Print, and Exit -- see Amortization Analysis in this section. If the values input are inappropriate to amortize a loan, the message "invalid Input - Try Again" will be shown at the top of the screen. For example, it is possible that the monthly payment input will not suffice to pay off the given principle at the given interest rate. This module allows up to 12 comparisons to be shown on the screen at one time. INVESTMENT ANALYSIS The Investment Analysis module allows you to make intelligent decisions regarding various annuities, IRA and CD investments, investing for college tuition, and determining appropriate life insurance amounts. Investment Analysis Annuities IRA vs. CD Planner College Investment Planner Life Insurance Planner Exit to Par Home Menu Make a Mouse Selection. ANNUITIES The four annuity options are discussed below. Future Value of a Monthly Investment. Select this option in the Annuities menu if you desire to know the total amount of money you will have in the future by investing a fixed amount every month. You may compare results by changing the interest rate, the amount you invest every month or the number of years to invest. The compounding method on the interest can even be changed to compare results. The calculations are based on the assumption that the investment is made at the first of every month. Input - The following are needed as input: Monthly Investment - the amount you plan to invest every month. Yearly Interest Rate (%) - the interest rate which the investment will earn. It can be compounded annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously. Number of Years - the number of years that you plan to make your monthly investment. Compounding Method - by choosing the appropriate box with the mouse, the investment si compounded annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, daily, or continuously. Once these values have been entered in any order, the output will be displaced. Editing of any or all input values, including the compounding method, is allowed as described in Section 2 (Editing). After receiving output, editing one field will display the new results. By changing the compounding method, you can see the advantage of placing your money in an account that compounds more frequently. NOTE: Do not change the compounding method if the message "Invalid Input - Try Again" appears on the screen. Wait until you have made the necessary corrections to receive new output. Otherwise, you will receive results based on the previous compounding method. Output - The program will display the input values and the following: Total Investment - the total amount invested over the number of years specified. Interest Earned - the total amount of interest earned over the number of years specified. Future Value of Investment - the total amount in the investment. This includes the amount invested and the interest earned. Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be set to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. This module allows up to 12 comparisons to be shown on the screen at one time. Future Value of a Yearly Investment Select this option in the Annuities menu if you desire to know the total amount of money you will have in the future by investing a fixed amount every year. You may compare results by changing the interest rate, the amount you invest every year or the number of years to invest. The compounding method on the interest can even be changed to compare results. The calculations are based on the assumption that the investment is made at the first of every year. Input - The following are needed as input: Yearly investment - the amount you plan to invest every year. Yearly Interest Rate (%) - the interest rate which the investment will earn. It can be compounded annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously. Number of Years - the number of years that you plan to make your yearly investment. Compounding Method - by choosing the appropriate box with the mouse, the investment is compounded annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously. Once these values have been entered in any order, the output will be displayed. Editing of any or all input values, including the compounding, method is allowed as described in Section 2 (Editing). After receiving output, editing one field will display the new results. By changing the interest rate, the benefit of obtaining even one-half or one percent more on your money can be seen. Output - The program 31will display the input values and the following: Total Investment - the total amount invested over the number of years specified. Interest Earned - the total amount of interest earned over the number of years specified. Future Value of Investment - the total amount in the investment. This includes the amount invested and the interest earned. Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be sent to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations Menu.42. This module allows a maximum of 12 comparisons on the screen. Retirement Contribution This option of the Annuities menu allows you to determine how much money you would need to invest to comfortably retire in a given number of years. You may choose how often you want to invest - annually, semiannually, quarterly or monthly. Input - The following are needed as input: Yearly Retirement Amount - the yearly amount you want to live on after retirement. Yearly Interest Rate (%) - the yearly interest rate that the investment will earn. Years Until Retirement - how many years you will invest. Retirement Years - how many years you plan to live off of your investment benefits. Investment Frequency - by selecting the desired box with the mouse, an investment frequency and a compounding method is chosen. For example, if semiannual is selected, then the amount you need to invest twice a year is calculated and output. The investment will also be compounded twice per year. Editing of any and all input values is allowed. Use the up and down cursor keys to get position on the desired input value. For more details refer to Section 2 (Editing). NOTE: Do not change the investment frequency if the message "Invalid Input - Try Again" appears on the screen. Wait until you have made the necessary corrections to receive new output. Otherwise, you will receive results based 75on the previous investment frequency. Output - The program will display the following as output: Investment Frequency - how often you will invest. Total fund for Retirement - the total value of the investment including the interest earned...Interest Earned - the amount of interest that will be earned from the initial investment to the final investment. Periodic Investment - the amount you will need to invest annually, semiannually, quarterly, or monthly in order to reach your goal. Yearly investment 86- the amount you will have invested in a year. Total investment - the amount you will have invested from the initial investment to the final investment. There will be instances when the interest earned provides the yearly retirement amount indefinitely (not just the number of specified years). This means that you can live off of the interest alone without dipping into the principle. These cases are flagged with an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the output line. For example enter 30000 for the Yearly Retirement Amount, 11 percent for the Yearly Interest Rate, 20 Years Until Retirement, 20 for Retirement Year and select the Monthly box for the investment frequency. Notice the output given. Now change the Yearly Interest Rate to 12. The asterisk (*) will be shown at the beginning of the output line. Thus, if you can get 12 percent interest at these figures, you will have a yearly retirement income of $30,000 indefinitely. Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be set to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. This module allows up to 12 comparisons to be shown on the screen. Desired Future Value of an Investment This option in the Annuities menu allows you to determine the periodic investment that needs to be made to achieve a desired amount. You may compare results by changing the interest rate, the future amount desired, or the number of years to invest. The frequency of the investment and the compounding method can even be changed. Input - The following are needed as input: Desired Future Value - the amount of money you want to have available after investing. Yearly Interest Rate (%) - the yearly interest rate that your investment will earn. Number of Years Investing - the number of years you plan to invest. You will also be able to indicate, by using the mouse, how often you will be investing - annually, semiannually, quarterly, or monthly. The interest compounds at the same rate. Editing of any or all input values is allowed. Use the up and down cursor key to get position on the desired input value. For more details refer to Section 2 (Editing). By changing the Desired Future Value, the periodic investment needed can be compared. Output - The output will contain the following: Investment Frequency - how often you will invest. Total Value of Investment - the total amount in the investment. This includes the amount invested and the interest earned. Interest Earned - the total amount of interest earned from your initial to final investment. Periodic Investment - the amount of money you will need to invest each period. (annually, semiannually, quarterly, or monthly). Yearly investment - the amount of money you will invest each year. Total Investment - the total amount invested over the number of years specified. Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be sent to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. This module allows up to 12 comparisons on the screen at a time. Other Investment Analysis Options IRA vs. CD Planner Par Home's IRA vs CD Planner will compare the value of a CD against the value of an IRA. The value of the IRA will be greater since the taxes are deferred. This is strictly a comparison of monetary values. There amy be times when an IRA is not the best investment, especially if readily available money is needed without penalty. Input - Upon selecting the IRA vs CD Planner option from the Investment Analysis Menu, the following values must be entered: Yearly Investment - the amount you will place into the IRA or CD account each year. Yearly Interest Rate (%) - the percentage of interest that the investment will earn. It can be compounded annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously. Number of Years to Invest - enter the number of years you plan to place money into the IRA or CD account. CDs are assumed to be rolled over for the length of time chosen. Anticipated Tax Bracket (%) - the percentage you expect to be taxed on the interest of the CD each year or the IRA when it matures. Compounding method - by choosing the appropriate box with the mouse, the investment is compounded annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously. Once these values have been entered in any order, the output will be displayed. Editing of any or all input values, including the compounding method, is allowed as described in Section 2 (Editing). After receiving output, editing one field will display the new results. Output - The program will display the input values along with the following: Total Investment - the amount invested over the number of years specified. Value of the CD - the amount of money in the CD, after taxes, at the end of the number of years specified. Value of the IRA - the amount of money in the IRA after taxes, at the end of the number of years specified. Value of the IRA - the amount of money in the IRA after taxes, at the end of the number of years specified. Total Amount of Interest Earned on the CD over the specified number of years. Total Amount of Interest Earned on the IRA over the specified number of years. Total Taxes Paid on the CD over the specified number of years. Total Taxes Paid on the IRA over the specified number of years. Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be sent to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. This module allows up to 20 comparisons even though there is only room on the monitor for 6 comparisons. This is accomplished by scrolling the information. Use the printer in order to see all of the output. College Investment Planner Par Home's College Investment Planner determines the periodic investment that needs to be made to pay for a college education. You may compare results by changing the college cost, the interest rate, the number of years you want to invest, or the number of years to attend college. The investment frequency can also be changed. Input - Upon selecting the College Investment Planner option in the Investment Analysis menu, the following must be entered: College Cost Per Year - the amount it will cost for the student to attend college for each year. Yearly Interest Rate (%) - the interest rate which the investment will earn. It can be compounded annually, semiannually, quarterly or monthly. Number of Years to Invest - the number of years you plan to invest money toward a college education assuming your investments end when the student starts college. Years to Attend College - the number of years the student will attend college. Twenty years is the maximum allowed. Investment Frequency - by selecting the appropriate box with the mouse, an investment frequency and a compounding method is chosen. For example, if quarterly is selected, then the amount you need to invest four times per year is calculated and output. The investment will also be compounded on that quarterly basis. Once these values have been entered in any order, the output will be displayed. Editing of any or all input values, including the compounding method, is allowed as described in Section 2 (Editing). After receiving output, editing one field will display the new results. Output - The following results are output to the monitor. Investment Frequency - the input selected with the mouse. Needed Investment for College - the amount accumulated after the investment has been made for the number of years specified. Notice this amount is less than the total that will be paid out for college. This is because interest will be earned on part of this money while attending college. Interest Earned - the amount of interest earned over the number of years the investment is made. Periodic Investment - the amount invested at the frequency specified. For example, if the investment frequency is monthly, then the periodic investment is the amount invested every month. Yearly Investment - the total amount invested each year regardless of investment frequency. Total Investment - the total amount invested over the number of years specified. Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be sent to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. This module allows up to 12 comparisons at one time. Life Insurance Planner Par Home's Life Insurance Planner is used for determining the amount of life insurance a person may want to purchase. Comparisons are made by changing the input values. Input - Upon selecting the Life Insurance Planner option in the Investment Analysis menu the following values must be entered: Total Debt - the total amount you currently owe to all debtors. This value is added into the total life insurance needed so that the benefits can be used to pay debts upon death. If you do not want this value added in, enter a zero. Burial Cost - the costs expected to be incurred for funeral, burial, etc. This value is treated in the same manner as the Total Debt. Yearly Survival Amount - the amount the family of the deceased will need to survive each year. Number of Survival Years - the years the family will live off the insurance benefits. Tax Rate of Death Benefits (%) - the tax rate based on the tax bracket in which the income from the insurance will fall. Interest Rate on Benefits (%) - the yearly interest rate the survivors will earn upon receiving the benefits. Editing of any input information is allowed. Use the up and down cursor keys to position the cursor on the desired input field in order to change numeric values. For more information see Section 2 (Editing). Output - Once these values have been entered in any order, the output will be displayed. The total benefits needed (amount of the life insurance policy) is calculated and output along with the taxes that would be paid on the benefits. The benefits remaining after taxes is also output. At times, it is not accurate to tax the proceeds from death benefits at the normal tax rate depending on too many factors to take into consideration for purposes here. There will be instances when the interest earned provides the yearly survival amount indefinitely (not just the number of years specified). That is, the family could live off the interest without dipping into the principle. If that point is reached, the line of output is flagged with an asterisk (*). Selecting the Print box allows the information shown on the screen to be sent to the printer. The Exit box will take you back to the Financial Evaluations menu. A maximum of 12 comparisons is allowed at one time. Home Lease VS. Buy Par Home's lease vs. Buy lets you analyze the difference between leasing a home and buying one. It allows the comparison of total payments and costs over a period of years. For purchasing a home, the equity received upon selling the house after the same period of years in output. By comparing costs, payments and equity; you can decide whether it is better to buy or lease a particular home. Before using this module, be sure you know the monthly payment needed to purchase a specific home. Par Home's Amortization module in the Financial Evaluation menu allows you to determine your monthly payment. Input - Upon selecting the Home Lease vs. Buy choice in the main menu, the following information must be input: The number of years for the comparison. The purchase price of the home before the down payment is made. The down payment made toward the purchase price of the home. This value may be zero. The yearly interest rate charged if buying the home. The yearly rate at which the value of the home appreciates. This may be near the inflation rate. If possible, determine the historical appreciation rate of homes in your area from a real estate agency or investor. In many areas this is around 5 percent per year. You may enter zero if desired, which would allow you to see the results based strictly on equity buildup to loan payoff and not appreciation. The monthly payment that must be made to purchase the home. The total of all fixed yearly costs you will have. Property taxes and insurance are two examples. This value may be entered as zero. The deposit or down payment made on the home if you are renting or leasing it. This value may be zero. The monthly payment made if leasing or renting the home. This may be a different amount than the payment for buying the home. If the message "Invalid Input - Try Again" is displayed and it is not obvious that the input error is one that is described in Section 2 (Error Message), then it is possible that the monthly payment for purchasing the home is too low and would never pay off the load. Try decreasing the price of the home or increasing the monthly payment. Output - The following output is contrasted, purchase against lease: The down payment or deposit which was input. The total amount paid out in monthly payments over the number of years specified. The total yearly costs over the number of years specified for purchasing the home. The total costs - the sum of all monthly payments over the number of years specified, the down payment or deposit, and the total yearly fixed costs. For buying the home, there will be an equity if the home is sold after the number of years specified. The equity is the difference between the appreciated value and the remaining debt. These values are output. The costs after the home is sold. For a purchased home, this is the difference between the total costs and the equity received. For a rented or leased home, this is the same as the total lease cost. Compare these two values to see which actually costs more - leasing or buying. If the value in the purchase column is negative, that amount of money has actually been made by buying and selling the house. Editing of any and all input values is allowed by using the up and down cursor keys. For more details see Section 2 (Editing). Changing one input value will give new results. Ten changes of this type may be made. Selecting the Print box at any time will output all analyses to the printer. If you have changed input values three times to receive three different outputs on the screen and then select the Print box, all three comparisons that were made will be output to the printer. Be aware that if you have made the maximum number of comparisons allowed (ten), all ten will be output to the printer. Example: Enter 5 as the number of years for a home-lease comparison. Enter the following values, assuming the house is for sale: Price of House - 110000.Down Payment - 10000.Yearly Interest Rate - 10.Yearly Appreciation Rate - 5.Monthly Payment - 1000.Yearly Costs (taxes, etc) - 2000. Assume that to rent the house, you must pay a deposit of $300 and the monthly payment is $650. The total cost after 5 years indicates that more money is spent for purchasing than leasing ($80,000 for purchasing and $39,300 for leasing). Notice, however, that if the home is sold, the purchasing cost is less than the leasing cost $26,702.09 for purchasing and $39,300 for leasing). This is because equity is received from selling. This makes buying this home better than leasing after 5 years assuming a 5 percent appreciation rate. Now change the appreciation rate to 1 percent and notice that leasing is less expensive ($39,300 for leasing and $51,482.72 for purchasing). Personal Financial Statement This option enables you to input all assets and liabilities under bank designated categories. When complete, a financial statement can be printed out, signed, and used for legal banking and loan requests. The option to save the statement is also given for later use, output, or editing. A bar chart compares assets to liabilities as well as net worth. Upon selecting the Personal Financial Statement choice in Par Home's main menu, you are given the option to create a new personal financial statement, edit a previously created statement, delete a previously created statement, or exit back to the Main menu. Personal financial Statement Create Delete Edit Exit Make a mouse selection Create Two input screens are given. After completing the first, select the Continue box to input the remaining information. First Input Screen Information such as date, name, address, social security number or other ID number, and occupation is required here. This information may be edited according to the method described in Section 2 (Editing). Use the up and down cursor keys to position the cursor on the appropriate input field. However, be aware that you cannot get back to this screen to change any of this input once you continue to the second input screen. Do not be concerned, however, if you realize you want to change an input but you have already continued. You may complete this statement, save it, and edit it later. Second Input Screen This screen allows you to input all current and noncurrent assets along with all current and noncurrent liabilities. Notice that the totals are calculated as you input values. If a particular field is zero, you need not enter the zero. Any field with no value is accepted as zero. Edit the input information by moving the cursor to the desired line (input field) with the up and down cursor keys. To get from assets to liabilities use the down cursor key. to get from liabilities to assets use the up cursor key. Definitions Current Assets - any assets that could be liquidated within a year's time. Cash - the cash you have on hand in checking, savings, and any other funds. An example of another fund is the cash value of your life insurance policy. Vested Retirement - the amount of cash you can readily extract from your retirement funds. Accounts Receivable - the total value of any debts owed to you that can be collected in a short term (one year or less). Stocks and Bonds Listed - stocks and bonds listed on an exchange and thus can be easily sold..Noncurrent Assets - any assets that would not likely be liquidated in less than a year. Stocks and Bonds Unlisted - cannot necessarily be easily and quickly converted to cash. Real Estate and Buildings - the current appraised value of these properties. Machinery and Equipment - the current value of such items as computer, appliances, farming equipment, etc. Personal Property - the current value of properties you own other than automobiles and those mentioned above, such as furniture. Automobiles - the current value of all motorized vehicles. Notes and Contracts Receivable - the value of all long term debts owed to you. Other Assets - such as partial or total business ownership. Current Liabilities - debts requiring payment within a year. Loans - the amount left to pay on automobiles, equipment, and other bank loans. This does not include debts on real estate and other contracts. Credit Cards - the total amount currently payable on all credit cards. Accounts Payable - the total amount owed to other credit accounts or businesses. Due to Relatives - the total amount owed to relatives. Accrued Taxes and Assessments - any and all unpaid taxes or other assessments on property. Noncurrent Liabilities - liabilities for which payment is not likely to be made within a year. Real Estate Mortgages and contracts - the total amount due on real estate or other long-term contracts. Other liabilities - such as business debts for which you as an individual are responsible. Options The Print, Exit, Save, and Bar Chart boxes may be selected at any time. The Print box will output the current financial statement to the printer. Multiple printouts can be obtained by continuing to select the Print box. The save box will allow you to save the current financial statement so it can be changed or output to the printer later. A maximum of 12 financial statements may be saved at one time. A list of previously saved files will be shown, if there are any. To enter the desired file name, you must select the corresponding window with the mouse. If 12 financial statements already exist, you may save over one by typing the same name. If, after viewing the list of previously created finance statements, you decide not to save the current one, just hit RETURN instead of entering a file name. The Bar Chart Box enables the comparison of total assets, total current assets, and total noncurrent assets to corresponding liabilities. Net worth is also shown on the bar graph. If the net worth is negative, the bar is red with a minus sign (-) shown at the top. If the net worth is positive, the bar is black with a plus sign (+) shown at the top. Edit This option lets you select a previously saved financial statement with the mouse in order to examine or change that financial statement. After making the required changes, you can save the statement under a new name, thus preserving the first statement. To replace the first statement, save it under the same name. The options to view the bar chart and send output to the printer may be selected just as under CREATE. Use the cursor keys to edit the information as described in CREATE. If no statements exist on the disk, selected, the CREATE option must be used. For a description of the input fields and the mouse selections, see CREATE a personal financial statement. Delete If 12 financial statements have previously been saved, one must be deleted to allow room for another. You are given the list of previously saved statements. Select one with the mouse and you can view the contents of the statements before deleting it. If you change your mind, you can get back to the menu by selecting the Cancel box; otherwise select the Delete box. You may delete the statement at either the first or the second screen of information. To view the second screen, select the Continue box. Exit This option will back out to Par Home's main menu. Spendaholics Examination A "spendaholic" is anyone having difficulty managing his or her personal finances. Upon selecting the spendaholics examination choice in Par Home's main menu, you will be shown 20 statements one at a time on the screen. The program will ask for a response concerning your level of agreement with the statement. After all 20 of the statements have been rated, a total score will be output to the screen followed by a system response. The response indicate whether or not your are a spendaholic and to what degree. Input - The 20 statements are selected randomly from a list of 40 statements. Therefore, the questions will vary each time you take the examination. Sample Statement: Every payday I put a set percentage of my earnings into a savings type of investment. 1) Strongly Disagree 2) Disagree 3) Neutral 4) Agree 5) Strongly Agree Output - Sample output after all statements have received a response. Your score is 50 out of a possible 100. You may be a borderline spendaholic. Have you considered outside advice? There is much room for improvement!! NOTE: For best results, try to choose the "neutral" response as little as possible. Budget Management This option in Par Home's main menu enables you to enter amounts in 17 expense categories for accurate expense tracking. Actual expenses are tracked in the accounting module to allow direct comparison of actual and budgeted monthly expenses. A budget may be output to the printer or saved for future reference or editing. A bar chart shows the percentage of your budget each expense category uses. Upon selecting this choice in the main menu you are given the option to create a new monthly budget, edit a previously created budget, compare a previously created budget to actual expenses that month, delete a previously created budget, or exit back to the main menu. Create Input Monthly Income - enter the primary, secondary and other income received for this month after taxes. Monthly Expenses - 17 expense fields are given. Edit the input information by moving the cursor to the desired line input field with the up and down cursor keys. To get from the income values to the expense values, use the down cursor key. To get from the expense values to the income values, use the up cursor key. If a field is left blank, it is considered to be zero. As each monthly expense is input the Income Remaining, and Total Spent values are adjusted accordingly. You are not allowed to enter an expense greater than the Income Remaining. If you attempt to do so, the value will not be accepted. The Print, Exit, Save, and Bar Chart boxes may be selected at anytime. Output The Print box will output the current budget to the printer. Multiple printouts can be obtained by continuing to select the Print box. After selecting the box with the mouse, ready the printer and then select the same box. If you do not want to Print at this point, depress the mouse button while off of the box. The Save box will allow you to save the current budget so it can be changed or output to the printer later. A maximum of 12 budgets may be saved and later accessed for editing or comparison. A list of previously saved budgets will be shown, if there are any. To enter the desired file name, you must select the corresponding window with the mouse. If 1us2 budgets already exist, you may save over one by typing the same name. If after viewing the list of previously saved budgets, you decide not to save the current one, just hit RETURN instead of entering a file name. The Bar Chart box enables the comparison of all budget categories to total income by percentage. If no value was input for a budget category, a bar will not be shown for that category. Edit This option enables the selection of a previously saved budget with the mouse so that it may be examined or altered. After making any required changes, the budget can be saved under a new name, thus preserving the first budget, or saved under the same name. The options to view the bar chart and send output to the printer may be selected just as under CREATE. Editing of the income and expense values are allowed as described in CREATE. Compare This option will enable the comparison of actual expenses for a selected year and month to budgeted expenses. This option has been included in order that you may determine how you are spending your money and in what areas you might be spending too much money. Select the appropriate budget file with the mouse and them select the appropriate year and month for actual expenses. Actual expenses must exist for the year and month input. These expenses are registered by the Accounting module. The expenses can then be compared on the screen. If there are large discrepancies in any of the fields listed, the results here could be used to create a more "realistic" budget for next month. To send the information on the screen to the printer select the Print box. The Bar Chart box shows a bar graph of the actual versus budgeted expenses. Delete If 12 budgets have previously been saved, one must be deleted to allow room for another. Upon selecting the DELETE option in the Budget Management menu, you are given a list of previously saved budgets. Select the desired one with the mouse and you can view the contents of the budget before deleting it. If you change your mind, you can get back to the menu by selecting the Cancel box; otherwise select the Delete box. Exit This option will back out to Par Home's main menu. Accounting This module will automate your checking and saving transactions. The current balance of each checking or savings account is updated as you record transactions in the register. As checks and withdrawals are registered, the tracking of all actual expenses is allowed in order to facilitate comparisons with budgeted expenses. The accounting is accomplished by allowing you to create checking or savings accounts; record print and reconcile transactions for the month; start a new month when necessary; and delete an entire account when the account is no longer needed. Create an account..Before any transactions can be recorded, an account must be created. A maximum of 12 accounts can be created. These accounts can all be created on the same disk or on separate disks. However, to ensure record keeping for many years of transactions, it is recommended that you use one disk for each account. Checking and savings accounts are handled by Par Home in exactly the same manner. Input Account Number - can be a maximum of 15 characters in length. Be sure that this account number does not match any which were previously created or the information for the previous account will not be accessible. If, for a particular bank, your savings and checking account numbers are the same, then you could proceed or append the savings account with an S. Bank Name - can contain a maximum of 24 characters. Current Balance - be sure this value balances with your bank statement. If this is left blank, it is taken as zero. For this reason do not wait to enter it last. Year - This should be a four digit year. Use the up and down cursor keys to edit this information. For information on editing see Section 2 (Editing). Month - select with the mouse. Selecting the month last allows a chance to edit the other information. Both the year and month selected are used for the first month's transactions. After reconciling the first month, select New Month under the Accounting menu to begin a new month and/or year. An account should only be created once. Once all the above values have been input, an account is created by generating the necessary files. You may specify the disk on which you want to store this checking account. If this is the first checking account you have created, select the New Disk box and then enter the name of the initialized disk on which you desire to store the account. This disk must be a workbench initialized disk. DO NOT use your Par Home disk to store checking and savings accounts. Although upon purchase there is plenty of room to do so, the space available on the Par Home Disk is utilized~ by this software. All budgets, personal financial statements, and actual expense files are stored on Par Home so this space must remain available. If you have previously created accounts, the list of disks you have specified will be given. One of these may be selected, or New Disk may be selected, to add a disk to this list. It is recommended that on each disk you store only one checking account. If this is followed, years of transactions may be kept on file in an organized fashion. A total of 12 checking and savings accounts may be stored. For those who change banks frequently and may eventually use all 12, an account may be deleted and erased from a disk to make room for another on that disk. Record Transactions Select this choice to record check transactions, withdrawals, deposits, interest earned and service charges in the checking/savings register. The tracking of all actual expenses for a particular month occurs here. This enables the comparison of actual versus budgeted expenses under Budget Management. The account's balance is automatically updated. If more than one account has been created, the list of accounts available will be given. Select the one you wish to update. The desired month must be selected if more than one month has been initiated for an account. The desired year must be selected if more than one year exists. The checking/savings register will appear on the bottom half of the screen. For each transaction, a value should be entered for the date, check number, description and amount. For a withdrawal enter a "W" in the check number field. For deposits enter a "D" for interest earned enter an "I" and for service charges, enter as "S" in the check number field. For withdrawals and check transactions you are required to select one of the 19 expense fields listed at the top of the screen. The first 17 are the same fields used under Budget Management. Select one of these if you desire to compare actual expenses to budgeted expenses later. (The comparing is handled under COMPARE of the Budget Management module). You may select Void if that is the status of the check. If this check or withdrawal is a transfer to another checking account or any other non-expense, select the None field and no expense field will be updated. Recording checks - enter the date, check number, description, amount and select the box that best describes the expense. A maximum amount of $99999.99 is allowed. A description need not be entered to move to the next line in the register. The other information must be entered before the cursor will move to the next line in the register. The date, check number, description, and amount fields can be edited for the transaction currently being entered. Use the left and right cursor keys to move to the desired field. Once on the desired field type the new information and hit RETURN. This will replace the information that was previously there. Editing of the current transaction only is allowed. Once all information for a transaction has been entered, the cursor will move to the next line in the register. For this reason, it is recommended that you choose the expense category after all other information has been entered for a transaction. This gives you a chance to edit the date, check number, description, and amount. The upper half of the screen will change color when the expense category is the only field that hasn't been entered. It is possible to edit the expense category by selecting another with the mouse if all other information has not been entered. None and Void are valid expense categories. If a check is voided and you want to type a description be sure and enter the description before selecting Void with the mouse. Once a date and check number are entered and Void is selected, the cursor will move to the next line in the check register. If a check was previously registered and now you're voiding the same check, it will not update the current balance. The balance can be adjusted by entering a deposit in the amount of the voided check. Withdrawals - for checking and savings accounts, typing a "W" registers a withdrawal in the check number field. An expense category can be selected just as when recording checks. If the money taken out is spent under more than one category, for more accurate expense tracking, register a withdrawal for the amount of each expense. For example, if $200 was withdrawn from your account and $50 was spent on clo thes and $150 was spent on food, then register the $200 as two withdrawals (one for food and one for clothes). Editing of the current transaction is allowed just as with recording checks. Service Charges - for checking and savings accounts, typing an "S" in the check number field registers a service charge. Service charges will automatically update the Miscellaneous expense field. You may edit the current transaction. Deposits - for checking and savings accounts, typing a "D" in the check number field registers a deposit. Interest Earned - for checking and savings accounts, typing an "I" in the check number field registers interest earned. If you wish to abort all transactions entered, select the Cancel box. When all desired transactions have been recorded, select the Save box and the file of transactions for this month will be updated. Up to 50 transactions may be entered before you are required to Save. To enter more than 50 transactions, choose the Record Transactions selection in the Accounting menu again after saving the first 50. If a transaction is found to be in error after you have saved, it is necessary to make a correcting entry. You may use the same check number as the entry in error when making the adjusting entry. Simply enter the compensating amount. The description field can be used to explain the error. To view the entire checking and savings register for a given month, select the Print an Account box under the Accounting menu to send a listing to the printer. Print an Account To see the transactions saved for an account under a specific month, a listing must be sent to the printer. Before reconciling an account for a month, send a listing of that month's transactions to the printer. If more than one account has been created, the list of available accounts will be given. Select the one you wish to see. The month must be selected if more than one exists. The year must be selected if more than one exists.. The transactions will be listed on the printer in the order they were entered. Next to the check number field for each transaction is printed. Use this area to mark those deposits in transit and outstanding checks. Then use the listing to refer to when reconciling the account. This may then also be used for tax purposes. Reconciliation Select this choice in the Accounting menu to reconcile your account once you've received your bank statement for a specific month. As deposits in transit and outstanding checks are entered, the bank balance is adjusted. If more than one account has been created, the list of accounts available will be given. Select the one that needs to be reconciled. The desire month must be selected if more than one exists. The desired year must also be selected if more than one exists. Before attempting to reconcile an account, you should print the needed month of that account. Then mark those transactions that the bank has not yet received. Don't forget to record service charges and interest earned for the account. Enter the balance shown on your bank statement. Referring to the print out of transactions, enter the deposits in transit and outstanding checks. As deposits are entered the adjusted bank balance will be increased accordingly. As checks are entered the adjusted bank balance will be reduced accordingly. The current balance stored for this account is displayed at the bottom left of the screen. You may watch the adjusted bank balance approach the same value as the current balance. When these two values are equal, you have reconciled the account. You may or may not enter the dates and check numbers corresponding to the deposit in transit or outstanding checks. A maximum of 8 deposits and 12 outstanding checks may be entered. If you need to enter more than this to get the balances to reconcile, note the adjust bank balance, or print the reconciliation screen and then select Exit. Now choose Reconciliation in the Accounting menu again. Enter the previous adjusted bank balance for the bank statement balance and proceed as before. The input information may be edited using the cursor keys. The up and down cursor keys will move the cursor up and down through the deposits in transit or outstanding checks. To quickly get from deposits to checks, use the right cursor key. To get back, use the left cursor key. Selecting the Print box will display the message Ready. Ready your printer and select this box again. This will send the reconciliation screen to the printer. If you change your mind after selecting the Print box, depress the mouse button once while outside the box. Start a New Month To allow reconciliation at the end of each month, start a new month by selecting this choice in the Accounting menu. If more than one checking account has been created, the list of accounts available will be given. After selecting an account, you will be requested to insert the disk on which this account was created. For this reason, you should not rename any disks that are being used to store your checking accounts. The month succeeding the highest in chronological order can be automatically created. Therefore, if you start with the correct month when you create the account, the next month is created by selecting the Yes box with the mouse. If you choose not to create that month, select No and type in the year desired. Up to 12 years of checking transactions may be stored for each account. If you desire more, create a new account and append a letter to the existing account name. Then 12 more years may be stored. The list of months that have not been created for that year will then be available for you to make your selection. Please do NOT start non-sensical months and years for an account. For every month and year initiated, an actual expense file is created on Par Home taking up disk space. Close (Delete) an Account Beware, only those checking accounts which will never be accessed again should be deleted! Once it is deleted, you cannot obtain any information on that account again. If 12 accounts already exist, this module can be used to delete one of those accounts, making room for another. If more than one account has been created, select the account you desire to be closed. You will be given the chance to cancel if you so desire. If the disk needed to delete the account is not in a drive, you will be requested to insert it.