Abc accounting 11. 0 Reference Guide

Introduction 5

General Functions 7

* - Startup Screen 7

Lookup Window 17

W - Word Processor 19

N - Names Screen 29

'I - Loan Calculation 32

Z - Zip Code Screen 34

. Screen 39

6 - Utility Reports 41

8 - More Utility Reports 42

- 43

Report Generator 45

Accounts Receivable 46

C - Customer 46

I - Inventory Items 55

R - Receivable (Customer) Invoice 71

% - Invoice Mode Selection 90

D - Customer Deposits 91

S - Salesman Screen 97

1 - Inventory Reports 99

3 - Accounts Receivable Reports 106

= - Stock Adjustment Screen 112

A - Assemblies Screen 116

Q - Quoted Prices Screen 119

Y - Customer Type Screen 121

'F - Serial# Screen 123

Accounts Payable 125

V - Vendor Screen 125

B - Bill (Accounts Payable) Screen 131

A/P Terms Window 143

/ - Checkwriting Screen 146

( - Checkbook Balancing Screen 152

2 - Accounts Payable Reports 155

O - Purchase Order Screen 160

'V - Vendor 1099 Screen 165

Payroll 167

E - Employee Screen 167

P - Payroll Screen 176

K - Payroll Category Setup 184

'E - Employer Setup 190

General Ledger 196

G - General Ledger Accounts 196

L - Ledger (Checks and Adjustments) 219

- Ledger Selection 224

4 - General Ledger Reports 225

Setup 230

# - Setup Screen 230

& - A/P & A/R Setup 237

Macro Screen 244

'O - Modem Configuration 246

'P - Printer Configuration 248

'T - Terminal Configuration 251

Appendix 253

x Screen 253

Introduction

About the Program

Congratulations on your purchase of an Advanced Business Computers software product! ABC Accounting is a high-performance, easy-to-use, integrated accounting package for the 386, 486, and Pentium computer systems. The high performance of this package is due not only to the power of your computer, but also to the clean, efficient design of the program.

This package is easy to use. The program automatically performs mundane tasks like posting and rolling. Posting involves processing entered transactions and updating all related records; for example, adding an invoice amount to a customer balance. Rolling maintains information which is categorized by date - like moving month-to-date sales into prior sales. Consistency in the use of keyboard functions throughtout the program also eases the learning curve.

Accounting Software

ABC has developed an outstanding accounting package which includes the following features:
Parts Lookup Accounts Payable

Work Orders General Ledger

Invoicing Service History

Accounts Receivable Sales History

Inventory Control Purchase History

Serial Numbers Payroll

Purchase Orders

Hands-on Training

The first session will be on Company Setup, Parts Lookup and Basic Accounts Receivable; entering customers, making Work Orders and Invoices and tracking customer accounts. The goal of the first seminar is to get you up and running, able to enter all your day-by-day Accounts Receivable transactions.

The second session teaches Accounts Payable, Ordering Inventory and Inventory Control. Other sessions will teach other aspects of ABC Accounting, such as Payroll, General Ledger, Report Generation, Word Processing and Spreadsheet.

Live-Time Modem & Phone Support

ABC offers a high level of active modem and phone support. We can see what you're doing, you can see what we're doing, right on your screen.

Custom Logos on Laser Invoices, Workorders, Statements

ABC offers Custom Logos. We can customize the layout of your invoices, workorders, and statements with a Logo created especially for your business. Other details on your printouts can be customized, as well, to give you the look that you want for your company. (Custom Logos are available with Laser printers that support the following drivers; HP LaserJet IIP, HP Laser Jet III, Okidata OL400 & 400e, Okidata OL-1200, Okipage 16n, and Okipage 18.

Automated Price List Updates

If the manufacturer provides price updates on floppy disks, we can prepare that data for input into your computer. There are a number of things that you can specify such as Item Prefix, Description Update, List Price Adder, Cost Calculation, List Price Calculation, Minimum Markup, etc. There is a charge for this service.

Multiple Work Stations

ABC Accounting can be run on dozens of workstations at once. Usually existing equipment can be utilized as workstations when upgrading to ABC Accounting. It is important that the base computer have sufficient speed and capacity to run a mult-user system. A workstation must be at least a 386 machine.

Data Security

Every ABC multi-user system, with a workstation configured similarly to the base, is setup so that the workstation could be used as the base, in case of problems with the base computer.

Another available service, enhancing Data Security, is Data Backup Verification. This means that, for a small charge, we can periodically test your data backups for you, to make sure that your backup system is working properly. Backing up your data on a timely basis is rule number 1 for successful computing. But, if your backup data is garbage, you'll likely get a rude surprise sometime, and it won't be funny!

Guaranteed Service Contracts

All standard equipment sold by Advanced Business Computers comes with a one-year replacement warranty. This means that if an equipment problem surfaces that can't be resolved over the phone, replacement equipment will be sent to you, until your equipment is repaired. There will be no charge for the temporary replacement equipment and no charge for non-expendable parts and labor to repair your equipment. You do not have to wait for it to be fixed, rather we will ship replacement equipment, via UPS, by the next business day after you have notified us and an equipment problem is diagnosed.

ABC offers Service Contracts on all equipment that we sell, prior to the end of the first year. The Service Contract provides the same coverage as the first-year warranty. The next several pages contain a copy of ABC's Service Contract.

ABC Service Contract

In order to provide fast, reliable repair service at a reasonable price, we offer a service contract to all of our customers with ABC equipment. For a low monthly fee we will maintain an inventory of parts and equipment to keep your system operating. Our intent is to have your system operating as quickly as possible after we are notified. There will be no charge for non-expendable parts to get the equipment operating and labor to replace them. If the repairs cannot be made within reasonable time, we will provide temporary replacement equipment.

Travel time and expense to and from your place of business are additional charges. If a service contract is not purchased before our normal one-year warranty is expired, the equipment must be inspected and/or repaired at regular time and material rates.

Customers with equipment not covered by a service contract may rent replacement equipment from us if it is available. We reserve the right to pick up such equipment if it is needed by a customer with a service contract.

Items not covered by a contract:

Travel time and expenses to and from your place of business. Labor and parts for expendable items, such as floppy diskettes, printer ribbons, print heads, toner cartridges and drums.

Items with damage from lightning, misuse or abuse.

Data and information loss, and time for recovering data backups.

Service contracts will be billed 30 days before the period covered and must be paid by the start of the period for the contract to be valid. Service contracts in excess of $100.00 per month will be billed each month. Other service contracts will be billed quarterly.

General Functions

* - Startup Screen

You can change the DOS and ABC Program time and date on the Startup Screen. Press F1 when your cursor is on the date field for an explanation of date changes.

If you don't want to change the system time or date, pressing the F10 key will take you directly to the next screen, the Selection Screen.

If you use a password to restrict access to certain screens, enter the password on this screen, by pressing Alt+P, typing the password and pressing Enter.

More information about the basics of ABC accounting is available at your fingertips. Press Shift+F1 and then Q for Questions and D for About ABC.

System Time (*)

Enter the current time. This does not affect the system's operation, but it is only for your information. Most computers have a timeclock and batteries installed which keep the time and date current even when your computer is turned off.

The computer uses this time and the date to print Run Date and Time at the top of your reports for your information.

ABC Program Date (*)

You can change the DOS and ABC Program time and date on the Startup Screen. When you change the date, the computer asks you to confirm your choice.

If you press Y for Yes, the computer then asks if it is a temporary date change. A temporary date change is when you set the date to something other than the actual calendar date. If you press Y for a temporary date change, the ABC Program date will be changed but not the Computer date. The next time you access the Startup Screen, the computer sets the ABC Program date automatically.

If you answer with N, that it is NOT a temporary date change, the computer sets the Computer and ABC Program date.

If the date you enter is in a different month from the date previously entered, the computer will ask for a password. Entering PASS will allow you to continue, unless some other password has been set up.

Do not skip months or you may cause some discrepancies in your data.

Startup Screen Error Messages

1. "Directory is '--'% full."

2. "Warning: Only '--' data blocks left."

If you receive one of these messages, your data file is nearly full. You may keep entering data, but should schedule an appointment with your dealer to increase disk space.

3. "Warning: No data blocks left." If you receive this message, your data file is FULL. You SHOULD NOT enter any additional data until your dealer increases disk space. Call your dealer IMMEDIATELY.

4. "Directory end-of-data marker not at end-of-data pointer."

If you receive this message, call your dealer IMMEDIATELY.

Procedures for Entry & Editing - Loading a Record (*)

The first field on a screen is usually the record code or reference number. This is the field the computer uses to reference the record. To load a record, simply enter its code here.

To see a list of the records that are in the computer, press F6. You can use the Up or Down arrows and Page Up and Page Down to move through the list. Or usually you can do a search by pressing Ctrl+F and typing a search word. Highlight the record that you want to load, and press Enter. To get rid of the F6 Lookup Screen, press F5, Esc, or Alt+C.

If the code is alpha-numeric, like Item Code or Customer code, it is not always necessary to enter the complete code. If you enter part of a code, the computer will find the first code that begins with the entered code. This is called a partial match.

If changes have been made to the currently loaded record since you saved it, the computer will ask, "Save changes before proceeding? Yes/No". If you do not want to lose the changes you made to the record, press Y for Yes. Y or F9 are the only keys that will save the record. N and most of the other keys will load the new record and omit the changes made to the prior record.

Following are other ways to load a record:

F7 - Loads the previous record in any screen.

F8 - Loads the next record in any screen.

Alt+B - Searches back and loads the previous record for the customer or vendor. This works in the Bill Entry, Deposit, Ledger, Receivable Invoice, Time Card Entry, Purchase Order, Material and Payroll Entry screens.

Shift+F7 - Indexes backwards in many different fields. For instance, with the cursor on the Zip Code field in the Customer (C) screen, you can index backward by Zip code, instead of by Customer code. With the cursor on the Location field of the Inventory (I) screen, you can page backward through the Inventory screen by physical location instead of by Inventory code.

Indexed fields in the Customer (C) screen: Attention, Address, Zip, Telephone #, Fax #, Home Phone #, Print Code and Old Code.

In the Bill Entry (B) screen: Job #.

In the Employee (E) screen: Attention, Address, Phone, SS # and Time Clock #.

In the General Ledger Accounts (G) screen: Alternate G/L#.

In the Inventory (I) screen: Vendor, New Item#, Print Code, Vendor field # 1, Group, Location and Stock fields.

In the Job (J) screen: Customer #, Phone # and End date.

In the Names (N) screen: Attention, Address, Zip, Telephone # and Print Code.

In the Invoice, Order or Quote (R) screen: Slip #, Order or Quote #, Ship Via and Bill Code.

In the Salesman (S) screen: Salesman Name.

In the Vendor (V) screen: Attention, Address, Zip, Print Code, Phone #, Fax #, Salesperson Phone and Salesperson Fax #.

In the Zip Code (Z) screen: City.

In the Inventory Serial Number ('F) screen: Inventory #, Serial # and Location Code.

F3 - Indexes forward in the same fields that F2 indexes backwards. For example, you can index forward by Zip code in the Customer (C) screen, or index forward by location in the Inventory (I) screen. The cursor must be on the field you wish to index.

Procedures for Entry & Editing Moving from Field to Field (*)

Pressing the Enter key tells the computer to accept what is in the present field and moves the cursor to the next field.

The arrow keys move the cursor from field to field also. The Down Arrow advances the cursor to the next field. The Up Arrow moves the cursor back to the previous field.

To move through a number of fields, hold down the arrow key until you reach the desired field. Like most other keys, the arrow keys repeat when held down.

The cursor will automatically skip over restricted fields, like Stock Quantity on the Inventory (I) screen.

In the repeating fields of the Assembly (A) screen, Bill Entry (B) screen, Purchase Orders (O) screen, Employee (E) screen, Category (K) screen, Ledger (L) screen, Receivable Invoice & Order or Quote (R) screen, Deposit (D) screen, Material (M) screen, Time Card Entry (T) screen, Paycheck Entry (P) screen and Word Processor (W) screen you may jump the cursor to the beginning or end by using Shift+Up arrow or Shift+Down arrow. Hold down the Shift key and press the Up arrow to move to the first repeating field. Hold down the Shift key and press the Down arrow key to move to the next available repeating field.

Procedures for Entry & Editing Editing Data Within a Field (*)

As soon as you start typing data into a field, that data that was there before disappears. When you press Enter, the computer accepts the new data and advances the cursor to the next field.

Before you press Enter, if you want to restore the original data to that field, press Ctrl+Z. Ctrl+Z will work even after you get off the field as long as you have not made a change to another field and moved on.

To change a field that has already been entered, use Left arrow then Right arrow to move the cursor back and forth within the field. Using these keys tells the computer that you want to edit the field.

There are two edit modes: Insert and Overstrike. In Insert mode, the entered character is inserted at the cursor, pushing all the characters from that point to the right. In Overstrike mode, the entered character overwrites the character that was there before.

Press the Insert key to switch back and forth between Insert and Overstrike modes. The mode you choose will remain in effect until you press Insert again, or until you exit the program.

When you press Insert, the computer displays the current mode at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, except on the Word Processor, the mode is constantly shown in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Press Delete to delete the character at the cursor. Press Backspace to delete the character to the left of the cursor. If the cursor is to the right of the last

character in the field, Delete works like Backspace, except in the Word Processor.

To clear a field, hold down Delete until all the characters are deleted, then press Enter. You can also press the Space Bar, then press Enter.

Again, you can restore the original data to the field by pressing Up arrow or Down arrow before pressing Enter.

When you press Enter, the computer accepts the new data, advances to the next field and exits the edit mode.

Remember the computer does not accept changes to a field until you press Enter. If you change a field and then press a function key like F9 before pressing Enter, the computer will forget the changes made to that field.

Procedures for Entry & Editing - Saving a Record (*)

Saving a record tells the computer to place it on the hard drive so that it may be retrieved by the record code at some later time. Without saving the record, the computer will forget the entry.

To save a record, press F9.

Sometimes, when you press F9 you are given some options. You need to choose one of the options in order for the record to be saved. For example, when you press F9 on an invoice, some of your options are; P to print the invoice, D to record a payment on the invoice, B to record a payment and to print the invoice, Enter to save the invoice without printing it.

Sometimes, when you press F9 you are given a message that indicates something must be changed or added to the record before it can be saved. For example, to save a record on the Bill Entry (B) screen, you must have a Vendor Invoice Number and the Invoice Amount at the top of the screen must agree with the total of all the lines in the bottom part of the screen.

Procedures for Entry & Editing - Deleting a Record (*)

Press Shift+F9 to delete a record. The computer will ask for confirmation before deleting.

If you attempt to delete a record that contains account balances or that is referenced by some other record, the computer will give you a message alerting you of that and will not delete the record. For example, if you press Shift+F9 on the Customer (C) screen record of someone who has invoices in the computer, paid or unpaid, the computer beeps and gives this message, "Invoice entered for this Customer. Will NOT delete."

Procedures for Entry & Editing - Background Posting (*)

Whenever a record is saved or deleted, the computer automatically updates all related records. This is called background posting because it doesn't affect the screen, and allows the operator to keep on typing while it is taking place.

Because posting takes place in the background, it will not automatically update the screens that already have the affected records loaded at the time posting takes place. For example, if you enter an invoice and then switch to the Inventory (I) screen, the currently loaded item will still show the old stock quantity. To view the new stock quantity for this item, first load a different item, then reload the original item. You may use the F7 and F8 keys to reload an item.

Fields that are updated by posting are usually restricted, which means they cannot be manually changed or saved.

Procedures for Entry & Editing Setting Up Default Records (*)

Suppose you have certain information that is always the same for nearly every customer you enter. You can set up a record with this information entered, so that you don't need to enter it each time. This is called a default record.

To set up a default record, enter a quote (") for the Code and the information you want to default. In our example of a customer you may enter Customer Type Credit Limit, Late Charge, Tax Status and Terms. Press F9 to save the record.

When a default record is set up, each time you enter a new code, the default information will be displayed and you may add the new information and make any necessary changes to the default information.

Default records may be set up in the following screens: Customer (C), Inventory (I), Quoted Price (Q), Salesman (S), Vendor (V) and Zipcode (Z).

Procedures for Entry & Editing Entering Uppercase Fields (*)

Many fields, including record codes, are uppercase fields. To enter data into an uppercase field, it is not necessary to press Shift or Caps Lock. All entered letters will automatically be uppercase.

We suggest using Caps Lock when entering Name and Address Information, because the US Postal Service prefers that.

Procedures for Entry & Editing Entering Numeric Fields (*)

There are several kinds of numeric fields; reference numbers, integer, money (which is 2-place), 4-place, 6-place and floating decimal point. You can tell which kind you are entering by the way the computer formats your number after you press Enter.

A reference number is a whole number from 1 to 999999. An integer field has no decimal places, a money field has two, a 4-place field has four and a 6-place field has six. A floating place field may have zero, two, four or six depending how many are entered.

To enter a negative number, use a hyphen or minus sign (-). Do not use a plus sign (+) to enter a positive number; simply enter the number without any sign. Do not use negative numbers for reference numbers.

Procedures for Entry & Editing - Keyboard Functions (*)

The functions keys, F1 through F10, perform standard functions throughout the program. These functions are explained in the pages that follow.

Some screens have special functions which are accessed with the Alt, Ctrl or Shift keys. These functions are listed under "Keyboard Functions for ???? Screen", in your manual. They are also found by pressing Shift+F1 on that particular screen. To use an Alt function, hold down Alt and press the desired key. If you have several Alt key commands to use at one time, you can hold down the Alt key and press the desired keys without letting go of the Alt key. The Ctrl key and the Shift key work the same way.

Press Shift+F1 in any screen to display information about that screen.

Press F1 on almost any field to display information about that field.

To get help on reports, type the report number and press F1 in the report generator screen.

NOTE: As changes are made to the program, the F1 and Shift+F1 screens will be updated more frequently than the manual; therefore some current documentation that is not in the manual may appear on the F1 screens. On some computers the Help key may be used the same as the F1 key.

Procedures for Entry & Editing - Entering Dates (*)

There are several acceptable ways to enter a date.

If you are entering a date into a blank field, you must specify the month, day and year, in that order. You can use any of three different characters or delimiters to separate the month, day and year: the hyphen (-), the slash (/) or the backslash (\).

If you wish, you can leave out the delimiters and just enter the numerals. To do this, enter one or two digits for the month, followed by two digits for the day, followed by two or four digits for the year.

Here are some acceptable ways to enter July 4, 1997:
7/4/97 70497 7/04/97

7-4-97 070497 07-4-97

If you are changing a date that has already been entered, you only need to enter the parts of the date that will change.

To change the day only, enter one or two digits. To change the month and the day, enter three or four digits or enter the month and day with a delimiter between them.

You can also enter the date with delimiters, and leave out the parts you do not want to change. Some examples follow:
5 Change the day to 5.

805 Change month and day to August 5.

1205 Change month and day to December 5.

125 Change month and day to January 25.

8-5 Change month and day to August 5.

8- Change month to August.

--97 Change year to 1997.

Procedures for Entry & Editing Importance of Accurate Date Entry (*)

It is important that dates - especially the system date - be entered accurately, because they determine important recordkeeping functions. For example, the entry date of a receivable invoice determines finance charges and the discount date of a payable invoice determines whether the discount is taken when the check is printed.

Because dates are used to determine automatic rolling functions, a change of month or G/L period can have significant effects on data. For this reason, a password is always required when changing G/L period of the system date.

Try to avoid switching back and forth between months. End-of-month operations should be completed before entering any data for the new month.

Procedures for Entry & Editing - Global Functions (*)

Global Functions is the term used to describe functions that work identically in most screens of the program. Following is a list of global functions and how they perform:

Note: on some screens used throughtout the program, these commands are used for a special function other than is documented here. These are documented with the special functions for the individual screen.

Shift+F3 Pressing these keys activates the calculator at the bottom left corner of the screen. This works like an adding machine. Following are the keys used and their functions:

Places the record on a Word Processor list. This command has a very wide range of possibilities. Let's look at an example to give you an idea how it works and what its advantages are. Let's say we have about a dozen customers we wish to run several reports on. Instead of running separate reports for each of these customers, Ctrl+W will allow you to run the reports for all the customers at once using a list on the Word Processor (W) screen. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Customer (C) screen and pull up a customer you wish to put on the list. With this customer's record on the screen, press Ctrl+W. The computer sets up a record on the Word Processor called CLIST, (if there was no such record already). A message will appear at the bottom of the screen verifying that this code was put on the Word Processor list. Pull up each customer you wish to appear on this list and press Ctrl+W on each record.

2. You can view the list in the Word Processor (W) screen by pressing F10 and W. Make any needed alterations there.

3. You can now run various reports for this list of customers. Any report that generates from the Customer (C) screen can be run for this list of customers. The only exception would be a report that is sorted in the background. You can tell which screen a report generates

from by selecting the report and entering the report generator screen. It will say Printing __________ from file ___. If this says it is printing from file C, you can run the report for the Word Processor CLIST.

4. In the report generator screen, you must tell the computer to use the Word list. To do this, type apostrophe (') followed by CLIST on the line that says "Starting at." When you press Enter the cursor will skip the line that says "Ending with" and jump to the line that says "When ready, press P)rinter, S)creen or W)ord Processor..." If the cursor does not jump to the last line, but goes to the "Ending with" line, the report is sorted in the background and cannot run from your Word list.

This Ctrl+W command can be used in any screen, (except the Word Processor (W) screen and the Employee (E) screen), to make a list on the Word Processor screen.

Duplicate a record. This command is probably used mostly in the Inventory (I) screen, the Job (J) screen and the Assembly (A) screen. Suppose you have a number of inventory items to enter that are the same except for the code and the color of the item. It can be very time consuming to enter all the information each for each item when they are so nearly alike. With the Ctrl+D command you can duplicate the record; then make the few necessary changes. Follow these steps to duplicate a record:

1. Enter the code and all the information for one of the items and save it.

2. Type in the code for the next item and press Enter.

3. Press Ctrl+D. The computer will ask you to enter the code of the data to duplicate. Enter the code for the record you just saved and press Enter. The computer displays the record with everything the same except the code.

4. You may now make the necessary changes and save the record.

This procedure may be used in any screen, but note that this duplication does not change posted records. For example, if you would change a code in the Inventory (I) screen, the posted data, such as Stock quantity, purchases and sales would be under the old code and not under the new code.

Set up a macro. Press Page 12 for help on Setting up Macros. The same information is found by pressing F10, *, Shift+F1, selecting Questions, and then option M.

Dial Phone. This option allows you to dial the phone # of the customer, vendor, employee or person listed in the Names screen from your keyboard. You must have a modem properly installed, the Modem Options ('O) screen properly configured and phone numbers correctly entered for this to work.

When you press Ctrl+T on the Bill Entry (B) , Purchase Order (O) or Vendor (V) screens, the computer looks for the first phone number in the Vendor screen of the currently loaded vendor, and dials it.

When you press Ctrl+T on the Receivable Invoice (R), Make Workorder (M), Quote (Q), Deposit (D) or Customer (C) screens, the computer looks for the first phone number in the Customer screen of the currently loaded customer and dials it.

If you press Ctrl+T when you are in the Employee (E) screen, the Job (J) screen or the Names (N) screen, the computer dials the first phone number it finds for the currently loaded record.

If the number you want to dial is not the first phone number in the record, you must place the cursor on the field that has the phone number you want to dial. If the field has several phone numbers, place your cursor at the beginning of the phone number you want to dial before you press Ctrl+T.

Printing a Report (*)

To select a report submenu, press F10 and one of the numbers shown below.

1 - Inventory Reports

2 - Accounts Payable Reports

3 - Accounts Receivable Reports

4 - G/L and Payroll Reports

5 - Job Costing Reports

6 - Utility Reports

7 - Special User Reports

8 - Special Utility Reports

9 - Special User Reports

When you select one of the above report screens, you will be shown a list of report numbers that you can select from. For help with a report, type the report number and press F1. To run the report, type the report number and press Enter.

Sometimes you will have a number of options to choose from at the bottom of the screen. Choose the desired option by typing the capital letter that is part of the option or by pressing Enter for the default option. Sometimes additional information is requested. Follow the instructions that are at the bottom of the screen. Most of these reports numbers bring you to a Report Generator screen. For help on the Report Generator screen press Page 45. The same information is found by selecting any report and then pressing Shift+F1 on the Report Generator screen.

Message Screen - Use of (*)

To access the Message Screen, press F10 and then a period.

The codes used in the Entered By and For fields should be setup in the Salesman (S) screen. In a multi-user system, each user should enter their code in the Entered By field of the terminal that they use. This codes appears on each new record until it is changed.

To send a message to another terminal in your system, enter the user's code in the For field, type the message and press F9 to save and send the message. The terminal of the user will beep if or when it is turned on.

Just to the left of the Call Is From title is a field where you can specify C for Customer, V for Vendor or N for Name. By default, the system uses the Customer screen.

To get detailed help for each field on the message screen, press F1 when the cursor is on the field.

Macro Setup (*)

A macro can store a sequence of keystrokes (up to 255) and recall it for you with only two keystrokes. Suppose you decided to put a multiplier of 85 in all of your Inventory records. A lot of time could be saved by setting up a macro to do this. Here are the steps to set up such a macro.

1. Put your cursor on the Multiplier field and press Ctrl+G to identify the Multiplier field #. It is # 5.

2. Go to the first Inventory record that needs a multiplier of 85 and press F7.

3. Press Shift+F4. The message "Enter macro name" should appear.
4. Type a letter or number. For this example use 5. Press Enter.

5. The message "Enter macro description" appears. Type MULTIPLIER 85.

6. Press Enter. The message "Recording macro 5 . . ." should appear. This means the computer will now record each keystroke you make.

7. Press F8 to load the next Inventory item.

8. Press Ctrl+G. Type F5. Press Enter to put the cursor in the Multiplier field.

9. Type 85. Press Enter. Press F9 to save the record.

10. Press Shift+F4 to let the computer know you are done recording the macro.

11. Press F4; then press 5 to run your macro. It will automatically put a multiplier of 85 in the record after the one you are currently on any time you use the macro.

Here's a macro to go through the Inventory screen changing the Book price.

1. Put your cursor on the Book Price field and press Ctrl+G to identify the Book Price field #. It is # 8.

2. Go to the first Inventory item that needs the Book price changed and press F7.
3. Press Shift+F4. The message "Enter macro name" should appear.

4. Type a letter or number. For this example, use 6. Press Enter.

5. The message "Enter macro description" appears. Type BOOK PRICE UPDATE. This description will be displayed on the Macro Menu.

6. Press Enter. The message "Recording macro 6 . . ." should appear. This means the computer is now recording each keystroke you make.

7. Press F8 to load the next Inventory item.

8. Press Ctrl+G, type F8. Press Enter to put the cursor in the Book Price field.

9. Press Ctrl+Underline (_) to pause at this field. Type new price. Press Enter.

10. Press F9 to save. Then press F8 to go to the next record.

11. Press Shift+F4 to show that you are done recording the macro.

12. Now any time you want to use the macro, press F4 and then 6.

Macros may be set up the same way on any screen of the ABC Accounting program. The Macro menu displays available macros on the screen. You can view all macros by pressing apostrophe (') twice from the F10 screen. Pressing F6 on Macro Name will list the macros. Also Report # 6-19, MACRO LIST, will print your Macros.

Macro Screen (*)

The Macro Screen is accessed from the F10 screen by pressing the apostrophe key (') twice.

Enter the macro name or use F7 and F8 to page through existing macros. Press Alt+E to display the macro key strokes in the bottom part of the screen. This allows you to edit the macro. You can edit the macro by adding or subtracting key strokes. Put braces around special key strokes, such as {Space} {Enter} {Tab} {Alt+A} {Ctrl+G} {F10} or {Shift+Up}. Do not use braces for letters, numbers, or symbols, as B5%. Do not leave spaces between the keystrokes and other characters in the macro. Press F9 to return the cursor to the top part of the screen and save any changes you may have made to the macro. (If you do not want to save changes made to the macro, press F10, instead of F9, and press apostrophe (') twice to return to the Macro Screen.)

You can duplicate a macro by pressing Alt+M when your cursor is in the top part of the screen. Enter the name of the new macro and make any desired changes to the Screen, User and Description fields. Press Ctrl+D, then F9 to save the new macro.

Macros can be deleted with Shift+F9 if the cursor is in the top part of the screen.

Following is a description of each of the fields which can be used on the Macro Screen.

MACRO NAME - Enter the letter(s) or number(s) which will be used to activate your macro. Often only one character is used in order to save time when starting the macro.

Note: Some planning needs to be done when Macro Names are selected. When you try to activate a macro with a name of 2 or more characters and there is another macro (of the same Type) with a shorter name that is identical to the beginning character(s) of the longer macro, the shorter macro will be activated instead of the longer one. For example, if F and F1 are the names of same Type macros, only F will work, or if R12 and R1 are the names of same Type macros, only R1 will work. See Setting Up Macros in your manual for further help.

TYPE - See Macro Types in your manual for detailed help.

SCREEN - Enter the Screen where the Macro is used. If this is a Global or User Macro, or in other words a Macro that can be used in various screens, let this field blank.

USER - Enter the User number if this is a User Macro. A User Macro is a macro which is setup to be used only on one terminal in the computer system.

The User Number is displayed in the bottom left corner of the F10 screen.

DESCRIPTION - Enter a description of the macro, what the macro does.

Macro Types (*)

A macro, by default, is a LOCAL macro, meaning it can only be used on the screen (such as C screen) and computer where it was made, unless you specify another kind of macro when you are setting it up.

To make a USER macro, meaning it can be used on any screen by one user, type a ^U when you are asked for the macro name. Then the computer asks for the USER Macro name.

To make a SCREEN macro, meaning it can be used on one screen by any timeshare or network user, type a ^S when asked for the macro name. The computer then asks for the SCREEN Macro name.

To make a GLOBAL macro, meaning it can be used on any screen by any timeshare network user, type a ^G when asked for the macro name. Then the computer asks for the GLOBAL Macro name.

Here are some other rules about macros:

1. A macro cannot contain more than 255 keystrokes.

2. When using Ctrl+G in a macro, use the Field # (F followed by a number) instead of the location # to help make your macros compatible with future updates. Field #s will not work in repeating lines. Try using other cursor positioning keys such as Shift+Up and Shift+Down.

3. A Macro Name may be up to six letters or symbols, but with a longer name, you save less keystrokes and time. Use ONLY a single DIGIT (0-9) if you are making a looping macro, which is one that repeats itself.

4. If you enter two different macros using the same Macro Name, the second entry will replace the first. (See exception following).

Since there are four different types of macros, you could have up to four macros with the same Macro Name, as long as they are different types. In such cases, when you enter F4 and the Macro Name, the computer uses the following priorities to decide which macro to run (with 1 being the highest priority):

(1) Local......(2) Screen......(3) User......(4) Global

For example, suppose you had four macros named T: a global macro, a user macro for user 1, a screen macro for screen W, and a local macro for user 1 on screen W. Whenever user 1 presses F4/T on screen W, the local macro would run. If the same user presses F4/T on any other screen, the user macro would run. If any other user presses F4/T on screen W, the screen macro would run. If they press F4/T on any other screen, the global macro would run.

See page 129 for Setting up New Vendors (V)

New Company Setup (*)

GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE KEYBOARD

Become familiar with using the F10 key and then a Screen letter to go to different screens. Experiment with using the Up and Down arrow keys to move to different fields. Learn to use F1 to get help on a specific field and Shift+F1 to display information about the screen you're on. To get help on reports, type the report # and press F1. Remember that you must press Enter to tell the computer to accept data that has been typed in a field. Always use F9 to save information you have entered on the screen. This returns the cursor to the first field of the current screen and you can immediately enter a new record, if you wish, by typing a new code on top of the former code.

NEW COMPANY SETUP

Hit the F10 key and then # to go to the Setup Screen. Enter the company name and address in the appropriate fields.

Since the General Ledger chart of accounts is used in practically all other modules, this is the next thing to set up. Consult with your accountant, you may be able to use the account numbers which have been entered for your convenience.

To add new G/L numbers or change any that are there, press F10 and then G.

Press Page 209 for detailed help on setting up G/L accounts. The same information can be found by pressing F10, G, Shift+F1, selecting Questions, and then option N.

Now you need to make a decision as to what module or modules to get on line first. If you are planning to do only General Ledger on your computer, you are ready to enter vendor information into the V screen and enter financial data into the General Ledger. Press Page 129 for help on setting up New vendors. Press Page 7 for help on entering Financial data in the General Ledger.

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SETUP

You can do Accounts Receivable (Customer Invoicing) without setting up inventory. You will be entering item descriptions and prices directly onto the invoice, and the computer will maintain customer balances and print invoices. With this method you will not get the benefits of automatic pricing, sales history, inventory stock tracking, etc.

(If you use the preinstalled General Ledger, skip this paragraph.) On the # screen, enter the A/R Acct. #, A/R Discount Acct. #, and the A/R Prepayments Acct. #. If your chart of accounts does not include the discount or prepayments account number, use the A/R account number. On the & screen, enter the A/R Defaults in the first column.

Enter Customer information into the C screen and if you have decided to start using the Accounts Receivable module with inventory items, enter the Inventory information into the I screen.

In the Inventory (I) screen, enter an item with a code of PB and the description Prior Balance. Enter a sales G/L account number to which to apply current customer's open balances. Do not enter a list price. On the Receivable Invoice (R) screen, enter an invoice for each customer

that has an open balance. Enter the item code PB, ship quantity of 1, and sell price of the open balance amount. This will tell the computer what each customer's balance is. (An alternate method would be to enter all open invoices with actual date and amount.)

Enter any customer prepayments (that have not been invoiced).

INVENTORY SETUP

To get the full benefits of the Inventory module, enter each item into the I screen. Be sure to put the proper G/L sale account # on each item. Check with your manufacturers for price lists on diskette. If this is available, contact ABC about transferring these to your program. This can save you having to type all the information by hand. For detailed help on entering Inventory items, press Page 68. Or press F10, I, Shift+F1, Q for questions, and then H.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SETUP

Accounts Payable can also be done with or without inventory items. To track purchase history and stock quantities you will need to use inventory. The alternative is to enter G/L account numbers on the invoices.

(If you use the preinstalled General Ledger, skip this paragraph.) On the # screen, enter the A/P Acct #, Inventory Start and End Acct #s, and Purchase Start and End Acct #s. If Payroll and A/P will be using the same check ledger, enter the Payroll & A/P Ledger #. On the & screen, enter the A/P Defaults in the center column.

Enter Vendor information on the V screen and if you have decided to start using the Accounts Payable module with inventory items, enter the Inventory information on the I screen.

Press Page 129 for help with setting up Vendors and press Page 68 for help with setting up Inventory items.

Enter any A/P invoices you currently have open. This is done on the Bill Entry Screen. (Press F10 and then B.)

Press Page 140 for detailed help on entering A/P invoices.

Payroll can be set up any time after the G/L chart of accounts is entered.

Consult with the dealer from whom you purchased the ABC system to determine the best setup procedure for you and your company.

Procedures for Entry & Editing Moving From Screen to Screen (*)

You can switch screens at almost any point within the program by pressing F10. The Selection screen will appear. Press a single character to select the screen you want.

You don't have to wait to make a selection until the computer is finished displaying the Selection screen. The F10 key may be immediately followed by a selection key.

You can move from screen to screen without losing information that has not been saved except in the following cases:

1. Printing a report that uses one of the files being entered. For example, a customer listing will affect the data on the Customer (C) screen.

2. Going into a screen which references another file. For example, going into the Receivable Invoice (R) screen will erase any unsaved information on the Customer (C) screen. Entering a receivable invoice can change the information on the Customer (C) screen, the Zip Code (Z) screen, the Inventory (I) screen, the Job (J) screen and the G/L Accounts (G) screen.

3. Pressing F10 in the Checkwriting (/) screen, will clear out any invoice numbers on the screen. If you want to save them, press F9 before pressing F10.

4. Pressing F10 in the Report Generator screen. To return to this screen after leaving it, you will need to go through the appropriate report selection screen and reselect the report.

5. Switching between the Invoice and Workorder or Quote modes of Accounts Receivable. If you have not saved an invoice, workorder or quote and you switch to another A/R mode, the computer alerts you and asks if you want to convert the information to the new mode. If you press N, you will lose whatever had not been saved with F9.

6. Switching between ledgers when entering G/L checks without saving them. You must press F9 before switching ledgers if you desire to save your entry.

Lookup Window
EDIT HELP (LOOKUP SCREEN)

You can use the Up and Down arrow keys and the Page Up and Page Down keys to view the Lookup list and place the cursor on your selection. When you press Enter on your choice, you are either given another Lookup screen with further choices or you are taken back to the former screen with your choice entered on the screen.

When you are in the help screens choosing options, you can press the Left arrow to go back one level at a time.

The Right arrow will go forward one level at a time if you have used the Left arrow previously.

TOOLS HELP (LOOKUP SCREEN)

On many Lookup screens you have the option to Add a new customer, item, vendor, G/L # and so on by using Alt+A. This takes you to the screen where you can set up a new customer, item, vendor, G/L # etc.

Pressing Ctrl+F on the Lookup screen allows you to search for information in any of the fields displayed on the Lookup screen. For more information press Page 17 to see "Lookup Search."

To print the information accessed on the Lookup screen, press Ctrl+P. You are given the message "Print All Records. Use Alt+M to Mark Beginning. Enter Device P,0-9,W,D." Press P or the printer # to print the entire list.

To print a partial list, follow these steps:

1. Place the cursor where you want the printing to begin and press Alt+M.

2. Place the cursor where you want the printing to end and press Ctrl+P.

3. Enter P or the printer # to print the partial list.

You can also print to the Word Processor with W or to the Hard Drive with D. For more help, see the paragraphs on printing to the word processor and printing to the hard drive by pressing Page 45. The same information is found by selecting a report, and then in the Report Generator screen, pressing Shift+F1.

EXPLANATION OF LOOKUP SCREEN

A Lookup screen is available on hundreds of fields throughout the ABC program. This gives you a list of names, items, bill numbers, etc., in alphabetical order. To get a Lookup screen, press F6 on a field. If a lookup is available, it will pop up. If not, nothing happens. Many of fields with lookups will automatically display the Lookup screen if you enter a code that has not been set up in the computer. Also, a mouse click displays the Lookup screen on the fields that have available lookups.

LOOKUP SEARCH

Pressing Ctrl+F on the Lookup screen, allows you to look for information in any of the fields displayed on the Lookup screen.

For example, to find a certain customer, press F6 when the cursor is on the Customer Code field. (This could be on the C, R, D, J, or Q screens). A Lookup screen appears. Then press Ctrl+F. A message appears at the bottom of the screen, "Enter Space to Clear Search or Search for" Because Code, Name and Phone # are listed on the Lookup screen, you can search for information from any of these three fields. To search by name or code, type a name, code or part of a name or code and press Enter. The computer will display any customer that has that string of letters in their code or name. To search by Phone #, type a Phone # or part of a Phone # and press Enter. The computer will display any customer that has those digits in their phone number.

NOTE: The computer will look for exact matches. If the phone number sought for is 827-7781, a search using 777 will not find the number, but a search using 7-77 would find it.

CHECK WRITING LOOKUP SCREEN (/)
Selection options:

* - To select open bills for payment, due or not

+ - To select open bills for payment, if they are due

/ - To clear bills from the payment list

If you use *, + or / on the top line, TOTAL TO BE PAID, it will apply to all of the bills on the list. If you use *, + or / on a line that has a vendor's name, it will apply to all the bills listed for that vendor.

Display options:

Alt+M Marks the beginning of a list to print.

Ctrl+P Prints a list of open accounts.

Alt+T Shows the next level of A/P detail.

Ctrl+F Searches by vendor name or amount.

Shift+Up Places cursor on the top line of the screen.

Shift+Down Places cursor on or below the last line.

Alt+C, Esc or F5 Returns to the first screen.

W - Word Processor
WORD PROCESSOR EDIT HELP

Add a blank line at the cursor. This pushes the following lines down.

Erase the line at the cursor. This brings up the following lines if there are any.

Cancel line changes. You may be typing changes on a line and then decide you don't want it changed after all. You may press Ctrl+Z to cancel your changes, providing you have not moved the cursor from the line or used any other Alt or Ctrl functions since you made the change.

(dash) This gives a help line which is useful for counting characters and spaces on the screen. This help line appears on the line below the cursor position when you press Alt+-, and disappears when you move the cursor over the help line.

This gives a help line which is useful for centering text on the screen. This help line appears on the line below the cursor position when you press Alt+=, and disappears when you move the cursor over the help line. Alt+H is also used for centering text.

Add text from another page. This command asks which page of data you want and inserts it at the current cursor position. Using a new page will duplicate a record.

Define beginning of block (for use with Alt+K and Alt+R.) Place cursor at the beginning of the block that you want to move or delete and press Alt+B. The computer beeps to confirm your action. Place the cursor at the opposite corner of the block and press Alt+K. This removes the block. To insert the block, move the cursor to the top left corner of where you want the block and press Alt+I to insert it. You can use Alt+I repeatedly if you want a number of copies. For each copy move the cursor to where you want it and press Alt+I.

Divide line. Place the cursor where you want to divide the line and press Alt+D. Beginning with the character at the cursor, the line will move down to the next line, pushing the following lines down if there are any.

Encrypt document. Press Alt+E. Enter a password. Re-enter the password. To unencrypt the document, press Alt+E. Enter the password. DON'T FORGET YOUR PASSWORD!

Format a page of text. Alt+F will search the page of text for a ^M command and begin formatting the text on the line below the command. You may enter a ^M command line at the beginning of the page or at any point within the page where you want to set or change the margins. The text and the ^M command must be against the left side of the screen for this command to work properly. The right margin may be adjusted on the screen, but the left margin may only be adjusted when printing the page.

Here is an example of a margin command: ^M0540 The numbers 05 specify a left margin of 5, and 40 specifies a right margin of 40. The computer will find the difference between 5 and 40 and format the page of text to that width when you press Alt+F.

Indentations in the left margin tell the computer that this is the beginning of a paragraph. The left margin will not change on the screen, but when printed the margins will be as set by the ^M command.

The ^M must be followed by the desired left and right margin widths. These numbers must always be entered as two digits.

You may also insert commands within the page to center, right justify, or left justify the text. Following are these commands:
<^<> Left justify text

<^*> Center text

<^>> Right justify text

These commands are activated only when you print the page. They are not part of the ^M command, but they use the margins specified by the ^M command to determine where to place the text. For another method of formatting text, from the Shift+F1 screen select Questions and then the Formatting Text option.

Center one line of text. To center the line where your cursor is, press Alt+H. The text is centered within the first 80 columns of the Word Processor screen. The cursor moves down a line at the same time, allowing you to use Alt+H to center the next line down if you desire to.

Insert text removed by Alt+K or Alt+R. This command inserts text, that you removed with the Alt+K or Alt+R command, into your document at the cursor. This command may be used repeatedly because it stores the block in memory until you remove another block with the Alt+K or Alt+R command, or until you leave the Word Processor (W) screen. This command copies lines or blocks.

Define end and remove a block of text. This command is much the same as Alt+R, except it allows you to cut a block of text that is not the full width of the screen. (Alt+R removes all the text on the line or lines, the full width of the screen.) Place the cursor at the opposite corner from where you pressed Alt+B to cut out the block. The width of the column depends on the cursor position when you define the beginning and end of the block using Alt+B and Alt+K.

Define end of screen-width block and remove it. This command removes from the beginning of one line to the end of another line. Use Alt+B to mark the first line. Use Alt+R to define the last line and remove the entire block from the document. If you wish, Alt+R without Alt+B can be used to remove one line of text. To remove only a partial line of text use Alt+B with Alt+K. Either way, use Alt+I to insert the block or line of text.

Move cursor up 22 lines.

Move cursor down 22 lines.

Move Word Processor Screen to the right. This works in conjunction with F12. It moves the Word Processor screen in the opposite direction as F12, 10 characters at a time.

Move Word Processor Screen to the left. Since ABC Version 5, you are not limited to lines of 80 characters on the Word Processor. When you press F12 the whole screen with the text moves 10 characters to the left. You may have lines of up to 190 characters.

Jump cursor to the top line of the document.

Jump cursor to bottom of document. This places the cursor immediately below the last line of the document.

Jump cursor to left side of screen, unless you are in the active part of a spreadsheet or have tabs set. If you are in the active part of a spreadsheet, the cursor will jump to the next column division to the left. If you have tabs set, the cursor will jump to the next tab definition to the left.

Jump cursor to right side of screen, unless you are in the active part of a spreadsheet or have tabs set. If you are in the active part of a spreadsheet, the cursor will jump to the next column division to the right. If you have tabs set, the cursor will jump to the next tab definition to the right.

Tabs are automatically set to every eighth place, but may be defined otherwise. To define tabs, begin a line with a capital C followed by a Space and a capital T. Place a stile (|) where you want the tabs. A page may contain as many tab definitions as desired. The computer always uses the nearest tab definition line ABOVE the cursor location. Tab definitions are saved with the page but do not print.