TEST DRIVE ..... the Home Budget Management System Welcome to the HBMS "test drive". This file and the sample data has been included for demonstration purposes. Following the steps in this document can be the most efficient way to acquaint you with HBMS, show off SOME of its capabilities, and help you decide if the program will serve your needs. The time period for this data is from January through April, 1984. However, in the interest of disk space, the ledger files for January, February, and March are missing. This means that you will be unable to view or print transaction entries for these three months. Also you should not try to reopen March. The actual totals for these months are still recorded in the ACCOUNTS.84 file. Be aware that this data is fictitious. If some of the amounts or descriptions seem odd, bear with me. Please follow the steps closely and resist the temptation to experiment on your own until you have been completely through this "Test Drive". Make sure that the files HBSETUP.EXE, HBMS.EXE, HBMS.OVR, CATS.84, ACCOUNTS.84, and LEDGR-4.84 are on your disk. It might be helpful to check off the steps as you go along. Having a printed copy of HBMS.DOC can be handy, but not absolutely necessary for the Test Drive. Throughout this document the verb "strike" will mean to tap the intended key only. You will not have to use the ENTER key. The verb "enter" will mean type in your data and then use the ENTER key. ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** 1. Start the program by typing HBMS and strike ENTER. You will be greeted with a message about Shareware. Registered users are provided with information on how to bypass the short delay. If you have not already run the HBSETUP program, you will be warned about it, but for now just continue. HBMS will use the system date in your computer to prompt you for the Year of Account Data. We want to load the sample data for 1984 so change it to "84". This number also happens to be the file extension of all the data files. If the sample data is in the same directory you ran HBMS from, the Data Path should be correct, so just hit ENTER. You should now be at the Main Menu screen. Notice that it reminds you of the current open month, fiscal year, and exactly where the data files are. First we will explore the Reports section, as these reports will be the end result of your financial record-keeping. 2. Select "R" for Reports. Accept "4" as the Month to Report. At this point you will be prompted for an Account Code. HBMS uses short codes (abbreviations), to refer to accounts. Since you don't have a printed example of the different accounts in the sample data, you can strike the F1 key to bring up a Chart of Accounts help screen. All the Categories and Accounts are available for your inspection, but for now use the ESCape key to get back to the Account Code prompt. 3. Enter "EL" to select Electricity, and you will be presented with the "Monthly" view of this account. The data inside the heavy outlined box is for the "EL" Account only. Notice that an asterisk flags both April, and Year To Date Actuals as being outside the budgeted limits. Looking below you will see that Electricity falls in the UTILITIES category. Similarly, UTILITIES is part of the EXPENSES money group, which is used to calculate NET INCOME. 4. Notice the prompt on the bottom line of the screen, and strike "A" for an annual view of Electricity. The data in this screen is pretty much self-explanatory. 5. Strike the ENTER key and you will be prompted with the code of the next account to report on. Striking the ENTER key again will accept that prompt. You will find that by just using the ENTER key alone you will be able to step through the accounts in the order they appear in the Chart of Accounts. 6. Bring the Repair/Improvement account on screen by entering "RI" at the account code prompt. 7. Strike "S" to select a Sorted Ledger view of Repair/Improvement. 8. You will be prompted with a beginning month of 4 (April). NOTE: In a normal budget you would be able to start at the beginning of the year, but since the first three months of ledger entries have not been included in the sample data, please accept 4 as a starting point. All the transactions involving Repair/Improvement for April will be displayed. The numbers under the "Rec" column are the record numbers of the transactions as they were entered in the Ledger Posting section. 9. Before leaving the sorted ledger screen, enter "CK" in the account code field to view the checking account. Notice that the screen will pause when it fills so you can view the data before it scrolls off. At this point you can strike to continue scrolling or strike to end this account and select another. By now you should have the idea of how to select the different views and step through the accounts, but there is one more way of observing data on screen, and it resides in the Ledger Posting section. 10. Leave the Screen Reports section by using the ESC key. 11. From the Main Menu, strike "L" for the Ledger Posting section. 12. Notice the bottom line on the screen and enter a "V" at the action prompt to view the previously entered transactions. 13. Accept month 4 as a starting point. You will be presented with the first transaction screen in April, exactly as it was entered. You can browse through the other transactions by using the Up, Down, PgUp, PgDn, Home, and END keys. 14. When finished, use the ESC key to get back to the Ledger Posting screen. At this point you have seen SOME of the screen reporting capabilities of HBMS. The printed reports are just as informative, but please wait until later to try them. You will have to configure your printer first, by using HBSETUP. If you have stayed with me this far and have been favorably impressed, please continue and I'll demonstrate two different methods of entering ledger data into the system. 15. You should be at the Ledger Posting screen with the Action prompt waiting. Accept "D" for Decrease. 16. Enter "CK" for Checking as the "source" account. The current balance for that account will be displayed. 17. Enter "123" as the check number. 18. Enter "16" as the date. 19. Enter "The Drug Store" for the Payee. (Source description) 20. Enter $14.73 for the amount of the check. Notice how the amount turns to a negative value. That's because you will be decreasing the balance of the CHECKING ACCOUNT (by writing a check). Now you will disburse the money to the "target" accounts. 21. Instead of accepting the full amount, enter $9.95 as a target amount. 22. Enter "FC" for the target code. 23. Enter "Processing" for the target description. 24. You will be prompted with the remaining $4.78 as the value for the next target amount. Accept it. 25. Enter "RX" for the account code. 26. Type in "Vitamins" for the description but DO NOT hit ENTER. 27. This will be a good chance to experiment with the editing keys of HBMS. Try the HOME key, the END key, the INSERT and DELETE keys. Save the ESC key for last. 28. Striking ESC should blank the description field. Type in the Tilde "~" character only and hit ENTER. This action will automatically enter whatever was in the Payee/Payor field above. It can come in handy on certain types of transactions. 29. At this point you will have to decide whether the above information is ok. Strike "N" for no. Now you are in the "EDIT" mode. Use the ENTER key to step through the fields by accepting each value until you get back to the Rx Drugs description. Change the description back to "Vitamins". 30. Accept the information as being ok. For the second and last screen we will do a Spending Cash transaction. 31. Strike "D" for Decrease, enter "SC" for Spending Cash, and accept the same date. There is no check number, and in this case, enter nothing in the Payee field. 32. Leave the source amount field empty also for this transaction. When the source amount is left empty, HBMS will keep a running total as you disburse the money to the target accounts listed below. 33. Enter $2.05, "BM" for Books/Magazines, and any description you desire. 34. Enter $3.53 and "EO" for Eating Out. Notice how a running total is being tallied for Spending Cash in the source amount field. 35. At this point you could continue to list all the items that you bought with spending cash on this date. When finished leave an amount value empty and you should be prompted for the "Above Ok" decision. 36. You can return to the Main Menu by striking ESC at the Action prompt. Please be aware that HBMS has many more features, and even some short cuts. By now though, you should have an idea of what HBMS is designed to do. I hope it suits your needs. If you haven't done so already, please print (and READ) the documentation, and run the setup program HBSETUP.EXE. Then you will be able to print the sample data reports. This is something I highly recommend. There are examples of many things that you may have questions about, before you start your own budget system. You should start by printing the Sample Chart of Accounts as a minimum.