The Checkbook Accountant Main Screen is where all functions available to checkbooks and budget lists are selected. The major portion of this Main Screen is occupied by the transaction list, a scrollable list of the currently viewable transactions (See View under the Preferences Menu for more information). Transactions entered into the checkbook are shown here. Any viewable transaction can be edited by double-clicking its entry in the transaction list. The lower-right of the screen displays the three types of balances: RUNNING BALANCE, CHECKBOOK BALANCE, and STATEMENT BALANCE. The running balance is the checkbook balance as a result of each transaction. The checkbook balance is the result of all the checkbook's transactions, or equally, the running balance after the last-entered transaction. The statement balance is the result of all the cleared transactions, calculated though the Reconcile function. As a visual aid, negative balances are shown in RED and positive balances in BLACK. The lower-center of the screen displays a column of gadgets, mimicking the functions available from the Project Menu. This is here for convenience only. The lower-right of the screen is currently unused by the program. The upper-right of the screen is used by the Show indicators (under the Preferences Menu). ---------------------------------------------------- The following lists, by menu, the operations possible from the Main Screen along with their keyboard equivalents. Some of the functions, mainly from the Project Menu, have equivalent gadgets, selected with the mouse. If you forget the keyboard equivalents, each gadget (except one) has a black underscored letter which is the key to press with the RIGHT-AMIGA key. The one exception is the About function. You can select this with the mouse by choosing the menu item, clicking on the "Checkbook Accountant 0.9" box in the upper-left corner of the display, or pressing the keyboard equivalent RIGHT-AMIGA ?. FUNCTION SELECTED BY -------- ----------- Project Menu ------------ New RIGHT-AMIGA N Prompts for information to record a new checkbook. If a checkbook is current being worked on, the user will be prompted to save any changes made to it before starting a new checkbook. If no changes were made to the checkbook, the program will immediately ask for the new checkbook's information. A default budget list can be loaded at the same time by selecting the Default Budgets gadget (For more information, consult the Budget Help Screen). Open RIGHT-AMIGA O Retrieves from disk an existing checkbook as the current checkbook. If a checkbook is currently being worked on, the user will be prompted to save any changes made to it before the new checkbook is loaded. If no changes were made to the current checkbook, the new checkbook is loaded immediately. Save RIGHT-AMIGA S Stores to disk the current checkbook under the current filename. If the checkbook has never been saved, the user is prompted for a filename to identify the current checkbook. Save As RIGHT-AMIGA W Saves the current checkbook under a new name, whether the checkbook has been previously saved or not. Reconcile RIGHT-AMIGA R Performs the statement reconciliation process, or in other words, checkbook balancing. The statement balance will appear in the STATEMENT BALANCE box at the lower-left side of the main screen. Print RIGHT-AMIGA P Outputs to the printer the transactions described in the current View selection. For more information, consult the View Help Screen. Information RIGHT-AMIGA I Shows the current checkbook's information, such as Account Number, Starting Check Number, and Initial Deposit. For more information, consult the Information Help Screen either after selecting New or Information. About RIGHT-AMIGA ? Shows the version number of this copy of Checkbook Accountant along with the amount of available memory (chip, fast, and total). Quit RIGHT-AMIGA Q Terminates execution of the current session. If the current checkbook has been modified, the user is prompted to save any changes before exiting. Edit Menu --------- Checks RIGHT-AMIGA C Allows the user to enter a new check into the current checkbook, void the current check (enters it but marks it as "** VOIDED **", or delete the current check (not entered into the checkbook). Other Debits RIGHT-AMIGA - Allows the user to enter a new debit into the current checkbook or delete the debit (not entered into the checkbook). Deposit RIGHT-AMIGA D Allows the user to enter a new deposit into the current checkbook or delete the deposit (not entered into the checkbook). Other Credits RIGHT-AMIGA + Allows the user to enter a new credit into the current checkbook or delete the credit (not entered into the checkbook). Batch Mode RIGHT-AMIGA ~ Toggle the status (ON or OFF) of Batch Mode. This allows the user to repeatedly and successively enter a particular type of transaction (check, deposit, etc.) into the checkbook. For more information, consult the Transaction Help Screen. Budgets Menu ------------ Edit RIGHT-AMIGA B Allows the user to edit (Add, Delete, Load, Save, Save As Default, and Clear) budget lists. For more information, consult the Budget Help Screen. Preferences Menu ---------------- View ---- ALL RIGHT-AMIGA A Display ALL the transaction in the checkbook. Select Group RIGHT-AMIGA G Allows the user to display select groups of transactions (Checks, Deposits, etc.), types of transactions (Cleared, Tax-Deductible, etc.), and range of transaction dates. Show ---- Batch Mode Indicator RIGHT-AMIGA @ Toggle the display (SHOW or HIDE) of the Batch Mode indicator ('B'). If SHOW, a 'B' will appear at the top of the screen if Batch Mode is ON; if OFF nothing will appear. If HIDE, nothing will appear no matter which state Batch Mode is in. Transaction Count RIGHT-AMIGA # Toggle the display of the number of viewable (selected by View) and total transactions. If SHOW, the top of the screen will show these two values (viewable / total). If HIDE, nothing will appear. Initial Deposit RIGHT-AMIGA $ Toggle the display of the initial deposit amount, as defined in Information. If SHOW, the amount will be shown just above the amount column of the transaction list. If HIDE, nothing will appear. Icon Creation ------------- Checkbook RIGHT-AMIGA ( Toggle the ability to save an icon with checkbook files. Budgets RIGHT-AMIGA ) Toggle the ability to save an icon with budget list files. ---------------------------------------------------- A FEW NOTES ABOUT NAVIGATING THROUGH CHECKBOOK ACCOUNTANT: Checkbook Accountant was designed to be as useful from either the keyboard or the mouse. Almost all operations can be performed from either device. For example, you can move through any of the scrolling lists (transaction, budget, help screens) by either dragging the slider gadget or using the cursor keys (along with the SHIFT or ALT keys or by itself). As explained above, almost all gadgets have corresponding menu selections and keyboard shortcuts. The letter to press with the RIGHT-AMIGA key is designated by either checking its appearance in the menu bar or, easier, by looking for an underscored letter in or next to the gadget, which are both the same. The only occurrences where menus do not accompany gadgets is during the cases when the program has to verify an action (OKAY or CANCEL response) or give you a message (OKAY response). These gadgets have the same underscored letters as their menu-attached counterparts, but they are selected from the keyboard by just pressing that key. They do not need the RIGHT-AMIGA key pressed at the same time, although doing so will not affect it (it is simply ignored). Also, if you try to press the HELP key when the cursor is in any string gadget, you will not get the requested help screen. Programming the ability to check if the user pressed the HELP key in this case would be too much extra work without real gain in functionality. So, if you need HELP for a requester, and you are not being asked a question or being notified by the program, be sure to click in the window anywhere other than in a string gadget and then press the HELP key. -- END OF MAIN SCREEN HELP --