THE CLERK V.3.2. This is version 3.2 of the business system Clerk. It was developed to answer the day to day needs of the small business owner. Modules include accounts receivable, accounts payable,file cabinet and general ledger. As a small business owner and Amiga afficianado, I thought it was time to do something besides complain about the lack of PD business software for the Amiga. So I created the Clerk as an answer to my computing needs and hopefully yours. Now that major parts of the program have been in general use for several months, I feel it is mostly bug free. I have stuck with my original goal of keeping it simple to use and straight forward. Set-Up First rename the disk you intend to use this program on to "Clerk". If you are a hard drive user then you need to assign Clerk to DH0:.Second you must create a directory on that disk named "library".Third rename the file g.bmap to graphics.bmap. Place graphics.bmap, dos.bmap, exec.bmap and source in the library directory. Place all other files in your root directory. ROOT Directory LIBRARY Directory Book Clerk graphics.bmap Balance Clerk.info dos.bmap Bills.P Misc. exec.bmap Checks choices source Checks.Pc Clerk.doc months COA If you have been using earlier versions of Clerk, your files will be fully compatabile with this version. You must however, name your disk "Clerk", place the "source" file in your library directory and place the "months" file in your root directory. Operation Hopefully, most of the functions are self-explanatory. The only part that is tricky (and critical) is setting up your chart of accounts. I have included the chart of accounts I use and I'd suggest you take a look at it as a rough guide (or if it suits your needs you may use it for your business).You will be prompted that there is a limit to the number of accounts you may use (22) and a maximum number of characters per account(26). You must also use a set format (account number:account name). The tricky part to this is that there are two accounts set aside for auotmatic withdrawals, i.e. negative accounts. These are the 6th and the 9th account numbers. In my chart of accounts these are 750:Payroll Taxes and 810:Bank Charges. These are charges that are automatically withdrawn from my checking account. If you have no need for these then set them up as dummy accounts and simply don't use them. The 1st account is a deposit account (410:Receipts). Any entry made in the 1st account will show up on your income statement as income versus an expense item. In setting up the general ledger you will need to provide an opening balance for your checking account. If you should ever need to change the balance, you can go back to the Create file function of the General Ledger and change your balance without having to create a new file.(Ignore the warning message and exit after entering your new balance). You will need to enter your company name,address, telephone #. This information is used on various printouts. You will also be prompted for your password. If you wish to continue using "pass" then you still MUST enter this at the prompt. If you wish to use another word then don't forget it or you'll never gain entry again. You will also be asked to enter your vendor account numbers. If you look at any of the bills from your kindly creditors you'll note that they assign you an account number. Have those handy to enter in the system so that they can be printed on your check vouchers. In summary, you should create a chart of accounts (unless you use the generic version I've provided). Then use the company data menu to enter your company info, password, and vendor numbers. If you haven't used the earlier versions of Clerk, you will also need to use the create file functions for your receivables, payables and general ledger. New stuff & feedback from users One of the goals I had in creating this program was to have a system that I could load in the morning and it would handle all my business needs without having to switch to other programs. Since I do a lot of phone work, I needed a telephone directory as well as a place to keep employee info, tax numbers, and all the junk I normally keep on scraps of paper on the floor. The file cabinet module is for this purpose. It will hold 300 records and serves that purpose. I have been asked about how to enter cash receipts such as for a retail photo store that has few outstanding receivables but needs to keep track of the cash that comes in. You may now go to the new preferences module and answer "no" to the duplicate invoice checking. You will no longer need to enter a invoice number to enter receipts. (See new & improved for details on Preferences.) Enter the date, amount of bill,and payment received (which should agree w/ amount of bill). The system will tabulate all items in the amount field as SALES whenever you run a income report. When you make a bank deposit, this should be entered under category 410:RECEIPTS and you will now have a record of your monthly cash sales. Two other new items are "close month" and "yearend close". As the names suggest use "close month" at the end of the month and "yearend close" at the end of the year. It is important to use the close month at exactly the end of the month. Your cash in bank balance will change from day to day and if you procrastinate in closing your month, it will not give you a true picture of your balance for that month. The yearend close should ONLY be used once at yearend. Because the system will check EVERY record on file for various functions (such as checking for duplicate invoice #'s) it is necessary to eventually delete records for the sake of speed. The yearend close will delete all receivable records and general ledger records. I would suggest that you make hard copies and copy all the info to another disk. That way if you want to look up something from last year you can run your last year's disk to locate any check or invoice. ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES From much of the feedback I've received, it is obvious that there are very different levels of familiarity with standard accounting procedures. The most confusion centered on the chart of accounts which I'll elaborate on. A chart of accounts is NOT a listing of your customers. It is simply a list or chart of all the types of financial activities you conduct in the operation of your business. To use the same analogy that is associated with a varible in basic programming, an account number is like a bucket to hold pertinent information. When you write a check and enter the category number, this tells the system that x number of dollars goes into (is credited to) x bucket (account). When you want to know where all your money went, the chart of accounts tells you to the penny. The importance of this is obvious if you wish to run your business rather than have your business run you. I am not an accountant (and you've probably guessed not a programmer either), but if you don't understand the principals behind charts of accounts, I'd suggest you do like I did and spend about fifteen minutes in the library or with your accountant to master this basic business concept. Other questions I received concerned some definitions. A vendor is a supplier or creditor. Example: Jones paint store supplies all my paint and I pay them; Jones paint store is a vendor. A payable is a bill. Example: Jones paint store sends me a bill for paint and I enter it in accounts payable. A receivable is a bill owed ME. Example:Jones paint store has me remodel their store and I send them a bill (invoice) and enter it in receivables. Clear? So much for accounting. Custom programs, help Each different business has different needs. I sincerely hope that the Clerk will answer your needs. Unfortunetly, I don't have the time to customize Clerk for every possible application and make a living too. If you'd like some minor alteration to the program just drop me a line or call and if it's not too major, I'll be glad to help. If you just have a question about the operation write or call and I'll make time to help. Version 3.2 New & Improved Many of the changes in this version involve a revamping of the program code. This has made Clerk not quite as pokey and crash prone. I have also added many more mouse functions to make Clerk truly user friendly (whatever that really means). I have also added a "Preferences" module to the file cabinet. You may now enable or disable password protection, duplicate invoice checking, and the "thought for the day" message that appears on booting Clerk. Regarding the password protection, after you unarc Clerk, the password protection is disabled. If you wish to Enable password protection, be sure to enter a password in the company data section. For safety I have put the password "PASS" in these files and if you should enable password protection without entering a password you can still get back in by using "PASS". If you don't use invoice numbers or prefer speed over safety, you may disable the duplicate invoice checking function also. This is advisable in a all cash business. I have disabled all of the options in the file you have downloaded. I have also changed the delete and change invoice, payables, functions. If you wish to revise a invoice you should now use the search function to locate the record and then the program will ask if you wish to revise the record. Misc. quirks, info, etc. With a program this size, memory conservation was an important consideration. To keep memory useage down, I have used dynamic arrays that expand in relation to file sizes. There is a drawback in that should you enter a large number of records in one session, the system may crash (a small crash, no guru) I chose to accept this flaw since no records will be lost and you need only reboot the system which will then redimension the arrays to reflect your additional records. The alternative was to place a strict limit on record numbers. You will also note a orange box in the right corner with many of the operations. This is a "Click Me" box. To continue your task, simply click the left mouse once inside the box,then move the pointer out of the box until you turn the page again. You will notice some functions slow as the number of records increase. Again this was a trade-off (you can see programming involves a lot of tough decisions). One of my complaints with the commerical business programs available was their practice of deleting old records and only storing a summary. This of course kept the program zipping right along, but I'd rather keep all my records on disk then have to search through hard copies to look up a a check number or old invoice. Speaking of copies, Do make hard copies, and do backup your disks....To quote my production foreman and noted philosopher, big Mike Antonelli, "shit happens". Enjoy and direct your questions ,comments,money,etc. THIS PROGRAM IS SHAREWARE if you find it of use, please contribute ten ($10) to; Sanford Finley: Plink c/o Goodbar Compuserve c/o 71320,252 Genie c/o F700 or Jonathan Pepper Company 801 E. Ogden Suite 1099 Naperville, IL 60566 (312)-420-7070