Flat Accounting Made Easy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Kelvin Schick 1998



Select the notepad 'Word wrap' option from the edit menu to view this document correctly.

Contents
~~~~~~~~

   Author's contact details
   Setup
   Details
   Freeware	
   Version History


Author's Contact Details
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am looking for suggestions to improve 'FAME', and welcome any ideas. Please feel free to contact me.

FAME Homepage
      http://schick.home.ml.org/fame
Author's Homepage
      http://schick.home.ml.org
Author's Email
      mr_plow@ihug.co.nz


Setup
~~~~~

Flat Accounting Made Easy (FAME) is a Microsoft Excel 97 Spreadsheet is designed to help arrange finances in a flatting situation, where there is a shared bank account. The spreadsheet assumes you have a basic knowledge of Excel. 

Once the necessary file has been extracted (FAME.xls) to the desired directory, open it in the normal fashion.

If you have more than 4 flatmates, unhide columns H to K by selecting columns G and L and right-clicking. Hide any unnecessary columns and type in the flatmates names. Leave the 'Collective' column there - this is where 'collective flat funds' go. 

The 'sample' sheet can be looked at to get an idea of how the spreadsheet basically works.

Details
~~~~~~~

-> The 'Collective' Column

This column is designed to keep a collective pool of funds for joint flat expenses - groceries, rent, power, etc. Money comes into the collective when flatmates pay for rent and expenses. Money goes out of the column whenever the flat buys groceries, pays rent, etc. 

Look at the sheet 'sample' to get an idea of how the column works. The first transaction, 'rent and collective' shows that all four flatmates have been charged $200, which is to cover the rent and expenses for the period 13th Feb until 26th Feb. The second transaction 'payments' shows that all four flatmates have paid the $200 into the account, with the exception of Gordon who has paid $600 to cover future expenses. As cell O6 shows, this leaves Gordon with a $400 credit. This credit does not make any difference to the Collective fund. 

When the flat pays for groceries and rent, the money comes out of the flat collective fund, as well as the bank account.

-> Reconciling

Putting an 'F' in the reconciled column indicates to FAME that this transaction has not yet affected the bank balance. As can be seen from the third sample transaction, the cheque from the groceries has not yet been presented. The bank balance shows the figure assuming the cheque has been presented, $620. The reconciled bank balance shows the actual bank balance. When the cheque has been presented, remove the 'F', and watch the reconciled bank balance change.

Note:  The reconciliation function uses a hidden column W. If you insert rows in the spreadsheet, the formula in column W will not copy. It is not recommended that you insert rows.

Freeware
~~~~~~~~
This spreadsheet is freeware. If you distribute it, distribute the original archive. Thankyou.

Version History
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-> Version 1.1

o  The documentation was changed to a text file.
o  A 'sample' sheet was added to the file, to make it easier to see a range of basic transactions. More sample transactions were added, and commented with Excel notes.
o  The excel macro was removed.
o  A 'split' was added to the sheet, so that balances can always be seen.
o  The reconciling was improved. For a bank transaction to be counted in the 'reconciled bank balance, it must not be marked as 'F', and the transaction date must have passed. This is useful for automatic payments, uncleared cheques, etc where the item will come out of the balance on a certain date.
o  200 transactions can now be reconciled, however this can be extended by filling down the hidden formula in column W. A note to this effect is in row 200.