Index

Introduction

What's New in Version 2.5

The File Menu

Creating a New Budget File

Opening a Budget File

Saving a Budget File

Saving a Budget File Under a Different Name

Exporting Transactions to an External File

Importing Transactions from an External File

The Print Function

The Printer Setup Function

Changing the Font for Reports

Exiting Home Accountant

The Reports Menu

Viewing Reports on the Display Screen

The TransactionReport

The Accounts Report

The Trends Report

The Account History Report

The Trends Graph

The Pie Chart

Copying the Report to the Clipboard

The Account Menu

Displaying and DefiningAccounts

Viewing Existing Accounts

The Category Menu

Displaying and Defining Simple Categories

Creating Major Categories

Viewing Existing Categories

Merging Categories

The Transaction Menu

Displaying and Defining Transactions

Splitting Transactions

Viewing Existing Transactions

Recalling Memorized Transactions

Consolidating Transactions

Searching for Transactions

Reconcilling Checks

The Options Menu

The Auto Save Option

The Auto Report Option

The Warn if Over Budget Option

The Auto Backup Option

The Allow Duplicate Transactions Option

The Compress Option

The Toolbar Option

Using the Toolbar

The Calculator Option

The Window Menu

The Tile Option

The Cascade Option

The Arrange Icons Option

The Close All Option

The Graph Menu

Changing the Fonts on the Chart

Changing the Chart Title

Changing the Bar Chart Axes

Changing the Thickness of the Borders in the Bar Chart

Displaying or Hiding the Legend

Changing the Category Characteristics

Registration


Introduction

The Windows Home Accountant program allows you to keep track of your household expenses, incomes, bank accounts, and credit cards.  You define three types of objects to the Home Accountant: Accounts, Transactions, and Categories.  Accounts represent either bank accounts, cash, or credit cards.  Transactions define a movement of funds into or out of accounts.  There are 3 different kinds of transactions: a transfer is a movement from one account to another; an expense is a payment made from an account; an income is a deposit into an account from an external source, such as a salary.  Categories are a way of classifying transactions.  There are two general types of categories: Expense and Income.

Expense and income transactions must define both an account and a category.  Expense transactions name an account from which the expense is being paid and an expense category.  Income transactions define an account into which the deposit is made and an income category.  Transfer transactions define two accounts: the 'from' account, where funds are withdrawn from; and the 'to' account, where funds are deposited into.  An example of a Transfer transaction might be the payment of a credit card bill, where money is transferred from a bank account into a credit card account.

You can define a special type of Category called a Major Category, which is used to group together other categories for reporting purposes.  For example, suppose you have two familty cars, and you want to keep track of the expenses separately.  You define a simple category for each cars expenses.  However, at times, you want a convenient way of looking at both categories together.  You can define a major category called Automotive Expenses, and associate both automotive categories with the new major category.  Now you can create reports or charts for the major category, which will include information from all sub-categories.

Home Accountant normally retains all detail information on accounts, categories, and transactions in a file called a Budget file.  Budget files are loaded and saved to and from disk using the File pull-down menu.  You can keep a complete history of all your transactions in your Budget file; however, to save space, Home Accountant includes a Consolidation function which allows you to combine older transactions by month, category, and optionally by account.  This saves space in the Budget file at the expense of some loss of detail.

A handy feature of Home Accountant is the ability to memorize commonly-entered transaction and recall them at a later time.  For example, monthly payment of the rent or mortgage could be a memorized transaction.  You store a model for the transaction within the budget file.  When you want to use the model as a live transaction, use the recall function to bring the model to the screen for entry as a real transaction.  The model transaction can contain all transaction detail with the exception of date and time, which are automatically updated with the current date and time when the transaction is recalled.

Three different reports can be generated by Home Accountant: an Account Status report, a Transaction report, and a Trends Report.  Two different kinds of charts can be easily created: a bar chart,which provides a history of one or more categories over time, and a pie chart,which breaks down the distribution of expenses or incomes by category. All reports and charts can be viewed on the screen or sent to your printer via the Print option.


Account

Something from which payments can be made, and income can be deposited into.  There are three types of accounts: Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, and Cash.


Transaction

An exchange of funds.  There are three types of transactions: Expense (a payment for something from an account); Income (a deposit into an account from an external source, such as a salary); and Transfer (a movement of funds from one account to another).


Category

A means of classifying either Expense or Income Transactions.  There are two general types of categories: Expense and Income.


Major Category

A means of grouping other, related Categories together for reporting purposes.  When you define a major category, you associate one or more other categories with it.  When you display the major category, information associated with the sub-ordinant categories is shown.


What's New in Version 2.5

The following features/changes have been made to Version 2.5 of Home Accountant for Windows:

o	The Search Transaction Dialog Box now has the capability of restricting the search to a date range;

o	The Define Transaction Dialog Box has a pair of Date Increment/Decrement buttons that can be easily used to change the date one day at a time.

o	The toolbar has 3 new buttons, for printing, searching transactions, and continuing a search.  In addition, the display of disabled buttons on the toolbar has improved.

o	Home Accountant is now sensitive to the settings in the International portion of the Windows Control Panel.  Dates and currencies will be displayed according to the International settings.

o	The cursor now changes shape (to a hand with pointing finger) when it is either over a push button on a dialog box, or over a selectable element in a report window.

o	A message window now appears on the bottom of the Main Window.  This message window displays the function associated with the currently selected menu item or toolbar button.

o	The Help file has been improved, including the implementation of Hyper-Graphics on the pictures displayed.  Keyword searches through the help information are now allowed.

o	Various bugs have been fixed:

-	The Windows menu is now handled properly if a maximized sub-window is deleted;

-	Transaction Import now works properly.


Creating a New Budget File

Use the New option of the File menu to create a new Budget file.  This function clears all Account, Category, and Transaction entries and allows you to start a new Budget.  If you are working with another budget file when you select this function, and you have made changes to it since you last saved it, you will be prompted to save it.


Opening a Budget File

Use the Open option of the File menu to open and read in an existing Budget file.  You are then prompted with a Dialog Box for the file name.  Note that Budget files by convention end with the .BGT suffix on the file name.  Whenever you open a Budget file, the Account Balance report is displayed on the screen automatically.


Saving a Budget File

Use the Save option of the File menu to save your updated Budget file.  This option writes the current contents of the budget file back to the Disk under the name shown in the Window title.  If there is no name in the title, you will be prompted for a file name.


Saving a Budget File under a Different Name

If you have made changes to your budget file, but which to rename the Budget file when you save it, use the Save As option from the File menu.  You are prompted with a Dialog Box to enter a name for the new file.  Note that Budget files by convention end with the .BGT suffix on the file name.


Exporting Transactions to an External File

Use the Export option from the File menu to save a group of transactions (based upon date) to an external file.  This option is useful for maintaining a single budget from multiple systems.  One of the systems should contain the master copy of the budget file, while the other system(s) contain secondary copies.  You can enter transactions on one of the secondary copies, then periodically export the transactions to an export file.  This export file can then be imported into the master system to bring it up to date.

When you select the Export option, you will be prompted with two dialog boxes.  The first is used to prompt you with a date range for selecting transactions to be exported.  You must enter a To date which provides an end limit for the selection; the From date is optional, and provides a beginning limit for the transaction.  If no From date is provided, then all transactions entered up to and including the To date are exported; if you enter a From date, then transactions on or after this date, up to and including the To date, are exported.

The second dialog box is a file selection box which allows you to specify the name and location for the export file.  Note that by convention, export files have the suffix BEX.


Importing Transactions from an External File

Use the Import option from the File menu to cause a group of Transactions, exported from another system using the export option, to be read in and applied against your current budget.  This option is useful for maintaining a single budget from multiple systems.  One of the systems should contain the master copy of the budget file, while the other system(s) contain secondary copies.  You can enter transactions on one of the secondary copies, then periodically export the transactions to an export file.  This export file can then be imported into the master system to bring it up to date.

When you select the Import option, you will be prompted with a file selection dialog box, used for specifying the name of the export file to be read.    Note that by convention, export files have the suffix BEX.  When you select a file, the transactions in the file are read and processed by Home Accountant as if they had been entered manually.  Home Accountant checks for duplications, and will not process a transaction that has the same Description for the same date as an existing transaction.  If Home Accountant detects a duplicate transaction, it will prompt you with a dialog box, asking you if you want to edit the transaction.  If you select YES, then the Edit Transaction Dialog Box is displayed, allowing you to edit the transaction.

Note that for the Import and Export features to be effective, the secondary copies of the budget file must contain the exact same Account and Category definitions as the Master copy.  If you export a transaction that refers to an Account or Category that is not defined on the importing system, then the transaction will not be completely processed on the importing system.  The easiest way to keep the Master and Secondary copies in sync is to periodically copy the entire budget file from the Master to the secondary systems.


The Print Function

The Print option, located under the File menu, is used to send the report being shown on the screen to your current default printer.  You can use the Printer Setup option to check to see which is your current default printer prior to executing this function.


The Printer Setup Function

If you need to send a report to your printer, the Printer Setup option of the File menu can be used to choose a default printer and to specify setup parameters for the printer.  When you enter this option, you are prompted with a Dialog Box containing the names of all defined printers, as well as an OK button, a Cancel button, and a Setup button.  Select the printer you want in the list box, and press the OK button to make this your default printer.  Select the Cancel button to exit the Dialog without modifying your default printer.  Select the Setup button to enter a printer-specific dialog where you can enter Setup information for the selected printer.


Changing the Font for Reports

Use the Fonts sub-menu from the File menu to change the font (character style) used to create a report.  There are two options in the Fonts sub-menu: Screen and Printer.  Choose the Screen option to alter the appearance of text on the screen; use the Printer option to define the font to be used for printing reports. When you select either of these options, the Font dialog box is selected.  This dialog box allows you to select a new default typeface and character size for the reports you create.  If you select the Screen options, then the currently displayed report, as well as all other screen reports, will be changed to the new font.  If you select the Printer option, then all subsequent reports that you send to your printer will be written with the selected font.  Note that fonts sizes are measured in points.


Exiting Home Account
Exiting Home Accountant

Use the Exit option of the File menu to exit the Home Accountant.  If you have made unsaved changes to your Budget file, you are prompted with a Dialog Box asking if you want to save the file.


Registration

Registration for Home Accountant for Windows is only $15.  If you register , you will receive a Hardcopy User's Guide, plus you will be entitled to Technical Support from the author, including free upgrades.  To register, leave a message for the author at the following number:

Brad Winslow

310-582-4401

CompuServe ID: 71672,3344

or use the CompuServe Shareware Registration Process.


Viewing Reports on the Display Screen

When you use the Home Accountant program to generate a report to the display, the report either appears as a report sub-window within the Home Accountant client area.  Each time you create a new report, a new report window is created.  Each report window can be controlled individually, and is totally independent from the other report windows.  The following shows a Home Accountant screen with two report sub-windows:

This screen contains two windows, each containing a Home Accountant report.  Only one of these reports can be active at a time.  You can activate a report window by clicking on it with the mouse, or by selecting the report name from the Window option.  When a report is active, the Home Accountant menu bar reflects the options appropriate for that report type.

If a report is to large to fit in a window, Horizontal and/or Vertical Scroll bars appear to allow you to scroll within the report.  You can use your mouse to control the scroll bars and scroll through the report in the usual manner.  In addition, you can use the following keyboard interface to scroll a report:

o	Use the up arrow and down arrow keys to scroll through the report one line at a time.

o	Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the report one page at a time.

o	Use the Home key to scroll immediately to the beginning of the report.

o	Use the End key to scroll immediately to the end of the report.

o	Use the Tab key to 'highlight' the next item on the screen, so that it can be selected for zooming.

o	Use the Escape key to remove highlighting from the current entry.

o	Use the Enter key to 'zoom' in on the current highlighted entry.  See the description of zooming below.

If you see an item on a report for which you wish to see more details, you can  'zoom-in' on the item in question.  You select an item for zooming by either clicking on it with the mouse, or by pressing the Tab key until the entry is highlighted.  Zoom in on the selected item by double clicking on it or by pressing the Enter  key.  The result of zooming-in on a report item is that either another report window or Dialog Box will be displayed, containing more details about the selected item.  For example, if you zoom in on a Category or Account name in a Transaction Summary report, a Transaction detail report for the selected item for the same date range is displayed in a new window.  If you are displaying a Transaction Detail report, and you zoom in on a particular entry, the Define Transaction Dialog Box for the selected transaction is then displayed.  If you zoom in on a dollar value on the Trends report, a Transaction Detail report for the corresponding month and Expense Category is displayed.

You can get rid of a Report Window either by selecting the Close option from the System menu for the sub-window.


The Transaction Report

The Transactions option, located under the Reports menu, allows you to see or print a report of your transactions.  When you select this option, the Select Report Characteristics Dialog Box is displayed.  The following parameters should be entered:

Start Date

Enter the date in standard format.  Only transactions occurring on or after the start date are included in the report.

End Date

Enter the date in standard format.  Only transactions occurring on or before the end date are included in the report.

Show Detail Box

Check this box to see detailed information for the transactions.  If this flag is not set, you will only see transaction summaries by category or by account.

Report By

This area indicates whether you want to see transactions broken out by Category or by Account.

Show Expenses or Income

These buttons indicate whether you want to see Expense Transactions or Income Transactions.  Only one of them can be checked.

Select Category (or Account)

The Select drop-down list allows you specify a Category (if you choose the Report by Category option) or Account (if you choose Report by Account).  If you do not select an entry in this box, a report is produced showing transactions for each simple Category or Account.

Output To

These buttons allow you choose whether you want the report to be written to the Screen or to the Printer.

Select Printer

This list box only appears if the Printer box is selected in the Output To area.  This list allows you to select a target printer for your output.

When you fill in the parameters that define your Transaction report, press the OK button and the report will be shown in a new report window, or will be sent to the printer.


The Accounts Report

The Accounts option, located under the Reports menu, is used to report the current status of each of your defined accounts. This report will be produced automatically  whenever you define a new transaction if the Auto Report option is checked.  Note that if you are overdrawn on a bank account, or have made purchases with a credit card that have not been paid yet, you will see a negative value for the current balance.  If you wish to print this report, select the Print option from the File menu.  Note that you can only have one Account Report window defined at any one time.  If you select this option when an Account Report window already exists, then the existing Account Report is refreshed.


The Trends Report

The Trends option, located under the Reports menu, is selected to display the Expense Category Trends Report.  This report shows you how much you have spent in each simple expense category by month.  The report also shows total expenses and total income.  If you wish to print this report, select the Print option from the File menu.


The Account History Report

The Account History option within the Reports menu allows you to generate a report which shows all the transaction activity against an Account for a specified period of time.  The first line of the report shows the Account's Balance at the start of the interval.  Each subsequent report line represents a transaction in which the account was involved.  You can track how the balance within the account changed over the course of the selected time period.

When you first select the Account History option, a dialog box is displayed which allows you to select the date range for the report, and the account for which the report is to be created.  When you press the OK button, the report is created in a new window.  Like other types of reports, it can be printed by selecting the Print option from the File menu.


The Trends Graph

The Trends Graph option, which is located under the Reports menu, is used to create a month-by-month bar graph of the total amounts in one or more categories.  When you select this options, a Dialog Box is displayed, which allows you to set control parameters for the Bar Graph.  Several parameters can be set:

o	The Graph by: option allows you to select either Expense categories or Income categories.

o	The Graph Total checkbox  allows you to generate a graph consisting of a single bar for each month.  Each bar represents the sum of all expense or income activity for that month.

o	If you select the Draw Budget Reference Line option, then a horizontal line is drawn across the chart for each selected expense category.  The horizontal line(s) represent the defined Budget values for each selected category.  This option does not appear if the Graph Total option is selected, or if you are graphing Income categories.

o	The Select {Expense | Income} Category list box allows you to select one or more categories for the graph.  This list box disappears if the Graph Total box is checked.

o	The Start Month and End Month fields allow you to specify the time period to appear on the bar graphs horizontal axis.  The default is the last 6 months.  You must enter these dates in MM/YY format (i.e. 4/92 to specify April of  1992).

When you click on OK, a new window is created which contains the bar graph.  Here is an example of a Trends Graph:

Once the Bar Graph appears in the window, you can alter the appearance of the graph by selecting the options that appear on the Graph pull-down menu:  Fonts, Title, Axes, Border, Legend, and Category styles.

You can also Zoom in on the data that appears in a bar graph.  By double clicking on a bar in the graph, you will bring up a Transaction Report that shows the details for the selected category and month.


The Pie Chart

Use the Pie Chart option on the Report menu to create a Pie Chart of Transaction Categories.  The resulting chart shows the distribution of transactions by either Expense or Income for the specified time period.  When this option is selected, a Dialog Box is selected which allows  parameters to be set:

o	The Chart by: option allows you to select either Expense categories or Income categories.

o	The All Categories checkbox, which is checked by default, indicates that the Pie Chart should consist of  all simple categories of the selected type.  If you uncheck this box, you can select specific categories for the chart

o	The Select {Expense | Income} Category list box, which appears if the All Categories box is unchecked, allows you to select one or more categories for the graph.

o	The Start Date / End Date fields indicate the time span covered by the Pie Chart.

When you click on OK, a new window is created which contains the Pie Chart.  Each slice of the pie chart represents the total of each transaction referencing the category for the specified period.  The following is an example Pie Chart:

Once the Pie Chart appears in the window, you can alter the appearance of the graph by selecting the options that appear on the Graph pull-down menu:  Fonts, Title, Legend, and Category styles.

You can also Zoom in on the data that appears in a pie chart.  By double clicking on one of the pie segments in the graph, you will bring up a Transaction Report that shows the details for the selected category.


Copying the Report to the Clipboard

The Clipboard option, located under the Reports menu, is selected to copy the current report to the Windows Clipboard.  The report is pasted to the Clipboard in TEXT format, with Carriage Return-Line Feed sequences separating the lines, and tab characters separating the items on the lines.  The primary purpose of this option is to allow the report data to be imported into a Windows spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel, for further analysis.


Displaying and Defining Accounts

Use the New option of the Accounts menu to define a new Account.  You are prompted with a Dialog Box which will allow you to define the new Account:

 Four items of information can be associated with each account:

o	The Name of the Account, such as "Main Bank Account", or "Master Card".  This field is required.

o	A Description for the account.  This can be a longer description of the account than can be entered into the Name field.  This field is optional.

o	The Current Balance of the account, in dollars and cents.  For a credit card account, this could be a negative number, indicating that the card has been used for one or more expenses and that money is now owed for the use of the card.

o	The Account Type, which can either be Bank Account, Credit Card, or Cash.

o	If the account you are defining is a Bank Account, then Home Accountant keeps track of the next check number to write.  This information is displayed on this dialog box, but you can't change it from here.

Clicking the View button allows you to view all the transactions associated with this account. The Select Transaction Dialog Box is displayed, allowing you to select any of the associated transactions for viewing or alteration.

After defining the information for the Account, click on the OK button to complete the definition of the account.  Click on the Cancel button to cancel the new account definition.


Account Name

Enter the name to be associated with the account.  This field is required.


Account Description

Enter the a long description to be associated with the account.  This field is optional.


Current Balance

Enter the current balance (in Dollars and Cents) that currently exists within the account.  If this is a credit card account for which you currently owe money, enter a negative number.  This field is required.


Account Type

Click the appropriate button, indicating whether this is a Bank Account, a Credit Card, or Cash.


OK Button

Click on this button to complete your definition of a new account, or to save your changes to an existing account.


Cancel Button

Click on this button to cancel your definition of a new account, or to cancel your changes to an existing account.


View Button

When you click on this button, the Select Transaction Dialog Box will be displayed, containing all transactions that have been recorded against this account.  This Dialog Box will allow you to view or changes any of these transactions.


Viewing Existing Accounts

Use the View option of the Accounts menu to view and possibly alter the definitions and current status of existing Accounts.  You are presented with a List Box which shows each currently defined account.  Select an Account by either clicking on the account name and then on the Select button, or by double-clicking on the account name.  This will bring up the Define Account Dialog Box.  You can view and/or alter Account information from this Dialog Box.

To delete an account, click on the account name and then the Delete button.  The account is effectively deleted from the Budget file; however, transactions defined against the account are not affected.

Click the Done button to terminate the Select Account Dialog Box.


Displaying and Defining Categories
Displaying and Defining Simple Categories

Use the New option of the Categories menu to define a new Category.  Use this function to define a new simple category.  You are prompted with a Dialog Box which will allow you to define the new Category.

Five items of information can be associated with each category:

o	The Name of the Category, such as "Groceries", or "Bill's Salary".  This field is required.

o	A Description for the category.  This can be a longer description of the category than can be entered into the Name field.  This field is optional.

o	The Monthly Budget for the category.  This is only valid if the category type is Expense.  You enter into this field the amount you anticipate spending each month in this category.  The amount entered into this field is used by the Warn if Over Budget feature.

o	The Category Type, which can either be Expense or Income.

o	An Icon (picture) to be associated with the category.   This Icon is displayed next to the category name whenever it appears in a selection box. Choose one of the available Icons in the Select Icon box.

If you are looking at or altering an existing category, and the category type is Expense, the Dialog Box displays another field called Month Expenses.  This field indicates how much has been spent so far this month in this expense category.

Clicking the View button allows you to view all the transactions associated with this category. The Select Transaction Dialog Box is displayed, allowing you to select any of the associated transactions for viewing or alteration.

After defining the information for the Category, click on the OK button to complete the definition of the category.  Click on the Cancel button to cancel the new category definition.


Category Name

Enter the name to be associated with the category.  This field is required.


Category Description

Enter the a long description to be associated with the category.  This field is optional.


Monthly Budget

The Monthly Budget for the category.  Enter into this field the amount you anticipate spending each month in this expense category.


Category Type

Click the appropriate button, indicating whether this is an Expense or Income category.


Category Icon

If you wish, you can select a picture, or Icon to be associated with this Category.  This is optional


OK Button

Click on this button to complete your definition of a new category, or to save your changes to an existing category.


Cancel Button

Click on this button to cancel your definition of a new category, or to cancel your changes to an existing category.


View Button

When you click on this button, the Select Transaction Dialog Box will be displayed, containing all transactions that have been recorded against this category.  This Dialog Box will allow you to view or changes any of these transactions.


Creating Major Categories

Use the Major... option of the Categories menu to define a new Major Category.    You are prompted with a Dialog Box which will allow you to define the new Major Category.

Six items of information can be associated with each Major category:

o	The Name of the Category, such as "Groceries", or "Bill's Salary".  This field is required.

o	A Description for the category.  This can be a longer description of the category than can be entered into the Name field.  This field is optional.

o	The Monthly Budget for the category.  This is only valid if the category type is Expense.  You enter into this field the amount you anticipate spending each month in this category.  The amount entered into this field is used by the Warn if Over Budget feature.

o	The Category Type, which can either be Expense or Income.

o	An Icon (picture) to be associated with the category.   This Icon is displayed next to the category name whenever it appears in a selection box. Choose one of the available Icons in the Select Icon box.

o	The categories that will be associated with this Major Categories are selected in the Select Sub-Categories list box.  Select the sub-categories that are to be associated with this Major Category.

If you are looking at or altering an existing category, and the category type is Expense, the Dialog Box displays another field called Month Expenses.  This field indicates how much has been spent so far this month in this expense category.

Clicking the View button allows you to view all the transactions associated with this category. The Select Transaction Dialog Box is displayed, allowing you to select any of the associated transactions for viewing or alteration.

After defining the information for the Major Category, click on the OK button to complete the definition of the category.  Click on the Cancel button to cancel the new Major Category definition.


Major Category Sub-Categories

Select in this list box the categories that will be associated with this Major Category.


Viewing Existing Categories

Use the View option of the Categories menu to view and possibly alter the definitions and current status of existing Categories.  You are presented with a List Box which shows each currently defined category.  Select a category by either clicking on the category name and then on the Select button, or by double-clicking on the category name.  This will bring up the Define Category Dialog Boxnewcat.  You can view and/or alter Category information from this Dialog Box.

To delete an Category, click on the name and then the Delete button.  The category is effectively deleted from the Budget file; however, transactions defined against the category are not affected.

Click the Done button to terminate the Select Category Dialog Box.


Merging Categories

The Merge option on the Category pop-up menu is used to create new expense or income categories by merging old simple categories together.  When you merge categories, Home Accountant defines a new category with the name you specify, deletes one or more existing categories, and modifies all existing transactions that reference any of the deleted categories to now reference the new category.

When you select the Merge option, the following Dialog Box is displayed:

Key in the name of the new category in the field labelled New Category Name.  This name may not duplicate the name of any existing category, although it may have the same name as one of the categories that you select to be merged.

You may also key in an optional description for the category.

You can define the new category as either an Expense or an Income.  The list box  underneath the Select Categories to Merge prompt is filled with each defined Category of the type you select.  You can select one or more categories in this box for merging.  These categories are deleted when you merge them into the new category.

You can optionally associate an ICON with the category.  This ICON is displayed next to the category name whenever it appears in a selection box. Choose one of the available ICONs in the Select Icon box.

Click the OK button to complete the Category merge process.  Click the Cancel button to return without performing a category merge.


New Category Name

Enter the name of the new category.  It may duplicate the name of one of the categories to be merged.


Description

You can enter a long description for the Category in this field.  It is optional


Category Type

Indicate here whether the new Category is an Income or an Expense.  You may only merge categories of the same type as you are defining.


Select Icon

You can optionally associate an ICON with the category.  This ICON is displayed next to the category name whenever it appears in a selection box. Choose one of the available ICONs in this box.


Select Categories to Merge

In this List Box, you select one or more categories to merge.  These categories are deleted when you merge them into the new category.


OK

Click this button to cause the selected categories to be merged into the new category.


Cancel

Click this button to cancel the merge process.


Displaying and Defining Transactions

Use the New option of the Transaction menu to define a new Transaction.  You are prompted with a Dialog Box which will allow you to define the new Transaction.  Here is what the Transaction Dialog Box looks like:

The following items of information can be associated with each transaction:

o	The Date and Time that the transaction took place.

o	A Description for the transaction.  This field is required.

o	A To field for the transaction.  This field is required for an Expense Transaction, and is optional for other types of Transactions.  This field indicates the party to which a payment for an expense transaction was made.

o	The Amount of the Transaction, in dollars and cents.  This field is required.

o	The Transaction Type: this can be either Expense, Income, or Transfer.

o	You must also define the Account(s) and Category associated with this transaction.  These are specified in two drop-down lists whose contents depend on the Transaction Type:

o	Expense:  Pick the account from which the money for the transaction is coming from in the left box.  Pick the expense category in the right box.

o	Income: Pick the account into which the money is to be deposited in the left box.  Pick the income category in the right box.

o	Transfer: Pick the account where the money is being transferred from in the left box.  The account that the money is being transferred to is selected in the right box.

o	If you are defining an Expense or Transfer Transaction, and the Account is a Bank Account, then two additional fields appear on the screen.  These fields are the Check Number field, and the Check Reconciled button.  You can key in the number of the check written for the Expense or Transfer  in the first field.  Home Accountant automatically keeps track of the next check number to write, and fills the number into this field when you select the Account.   If the transaction did not involve writing a check, the Check Number field should be 0.  The Check Reconciled button can be checked to indicated that this Transaction has been reconciled with your Bank Statement.

Note that you can only associate a simple category with your Expense or Income transaction.

If you find that the account and/or category you want to associate with the transaction does not currently exist, you can dynamically create the account or category.  Click the left New button to create a new Account, or the right New button to create a new Category.  Clicking either of these buttons will cause the corresponding Create Dialog Box to appear.  Once you define the Account or Category, the new item is placed in the selection field of the corresponding drop-down list.

Click on the Memorize button to cause the information on the screen to be stored as a Memorized transaction.  Memorized transactions can be later recalled and used to create new transactions.

The Split button is used to create multiple transactions (either expense or income) that are performed at the same time, defined against the same account, but need to be associated with different categories.  An example of splitting a transaction may occur if you go to the grocery store to buy groceries, but also purchase some household items at the same time.  You could enter the purchase as two separate transactions, but the Split button offers a short cut.  It allows you to enter the information common to the transactions on the Define Transaction screen, then enter the Descriptions, Categories, and amounts on another screen.  You can split new transactions, or existing transactions.  When you click on the Split button, the Split Transaction dialog box is displayed.

After defining the information for the Transaction, click on the OK button to complete the definition of the transaction.  The accounts and/or categories affected by the transaction are automatically updated.  Click on the Cancel button to cancel the new Transaction.


Date

Fill in the date that the transaction occurred.  The format of the date is sensitive to the setting of the International Date Format setting in the Windows Control Panel.


Date Increment/Decrement Buttons

Use these buttons to increment or decrement the Date one day at a time.


Time

Fill in the time that the transaction occurred, in HH:MM:SS format.


OK Button

Click on this button when you are done defining a transaction.


Description

Key in a description for the transaction.  This field is required.


To Field

For Expense or Income transactions, specify the name of the party with whom the transaction was conducted.


Amount

Fill in the amount of the transaction, in dollars and cents (cents are optional).


Transaction Type

Click the appropriate button, depending on whether your transaction is an expense, income, or transfer.


Cancel

Click this button to cancel the definition of the current transaction.


Split

If you click this button, the Split Transaction Dialog Box will appear.  This allows you split a new or existing transaction into several transactions that were performed at the same time, and involved the same account


Memorize

Click on this button to cause the information on the screen to be stored as a Memorized transaction.


Account Box

Select the Account involved in the transaction in this box.  For Transfer transactions, select the 'From' account.


Category Box

Select the Simple Category involved in the transaction in this box.  For Transfer transactions, select the 'To' account in this box.


New Account Button

Click on this button to create a new account by means of the Create Account Dialog Box.


New Category Button

Click on this button to create a new category by means of the Create Category Dialog Box.


Viewing Existing Transactions

Use the View option of the Transactions menu to view and possibly alter the definitions of existing Transactions.  You are presented with a List Box which shows the dates and descriptions of each currently defined transaction.  Select a transaction by either clicking on the transaction and then on the Select button, or by double-clicking on the transaction.  This will bring up the Define Transaction Dialog Box.  You can view and/or alter Transaction information from this Dialog Box.

To delete a Transaction, click on the name and then the Delete button.  The Transaction  is deleted from the Budget file.  The transactions is 'backed-out' of the file: i.e., the effect that the transaction had on the defined Account and/or Category is reversed, as if the transaction had never taken place.

Click the Done button to terminate the Select Transaction Dialog Box.


The Split Transaction Dialog Box

When you click on the Split button from the Define Transaction dialog box, the Split Transaction dialog box appears.  This dialog allows you to take a transaction (either new or pre-existing) and create multiple transactions.  All the transactions share the same Date, Time, To field, Check Number, and Account fields, but each has a unique Description, Category, and Amount.  You enter the last three fields for each transaction on the Split Transaction dialog box.  When you click the OK button, a transaction is created for each line on the screen for which you have entered data.


Recalling Memorized Transactions

Use the Recall option of the Transactions menu to view and possibly use the current set of Memorized Transactions.  You are presented with a List Box which shows the descriptions of each currently defined memorized transaction.  Select a transaction by either clicking on the transaction and then on the Select button, or by double-clicking on the transaction.  This will bring up the Define Transaction Dialog Box.  You can view and/or alter Transaction information from this Dialog Box.  The appropriate fields in the Dialog Box are filled in with the information from the memorized transaction, with the exception of the date and time, which are filled in from the current date and time.

To delete a memorized Transaction, click on the name and then the Delete button.  The Transaction  is deleted from the Budget file.

Click the Done button to terminate the Select Memorized Transaction Dialog Box.


Consolidating Transactions

Use the Consolidate option of the Transactions menu to consolidate old transactions by category and possibly by account.  When you consolidate transactions, you lose detailed information about individual transactions and create consolidated transactions records.  Consolidated transactions contain the sum of all activity for a month in a particular category.

The Transaction Consolidation Dialog Box allows you to enter three fields:

o	The Date field which indicates the range of transaction dates for which consolidation is to take place.

o	The Maximum Value for Consolidated Transactions field. Only transactions which have amounts less than or equal to this value are consolidated.  If this field is blank, all transactions are consolidated.

o	The Track by Account button, which indicates that you want to consolidate by account, as well as by category.  If you select this option, Home Accountant will consolidate transactions for the same category, account, and month.  If this option is not selected, transactions are consolidated only by category and month, and account information is effectively lost.

Description fields for consolidation records always contain the word Consolidation followed by the category name.  The date of the transaction is the first day of the consolidated month.


Searching for Transactions

Use the Search option of the Transactions menu to search through the entire set of defined transactions looking for those transactions that contain certain text in the Description or To fields.  When you select the Search option, a Dialog Box is displayed which then allows you to enter the parameters for the search:

The Next option from the Transactions menu is used to continue the search by locating the next matching transaction.  This option is only valid if the original search did not use the Find All option.  When Next is selected, the next Transaction which matches the original search parameters is displayed in the Define Transaction Dialog Box.


Enter Text to Search For

Enter the text you want to search for in this field.  The Description field and/or the To field of the transactions will be searched for a match.


Ignore Case Button

Check this button to cause the search to ignore upper/lower case when making the search.  If this box is blank, the search is case-sensitive.


Find All Button

This button is used to specify that you want to locate all transaction entries containing the specified text with a single search.  If you click this option, a new Report Window is created which will contain line items for each matching Transaction.  If the button is not checked, the first transaction that satisfies the request is displayed.


Exact or Containing Buttons

Exact means that the specified search text must exactly match the text in the Description or To fields in order to satisfy the search.  If Containing is selected, it means that the Description or To fields must only contain the specified search text in order to be considered a match.


Fields to Search

These two checkboxes indicate which fields of the transactions should be searched for the specified text.  At least one of these boxes must be checked.  Both boxes may be checked, which indicates that a match will occur if the text is found in either the Description or the To fields.


Search Direction

Use these buttons to indicate in which order the search is to proceed.  Select Forward to start the search at the beginning of the Transactions; select Backward to begin the search at the end.


OK Button

Click on the OK button to cause the specified search to proceed.


Cancel Button

Click on the Cancel button to cancel your search request.


Start Date

Enter the date, in standard format, the search is to start.  This field is optional.  If it is entered it indicates that transactions prior to this date will not match the search.


End Date

Enter the date, in standard format, the search is to end.  This field is optional.  If it is entered it indicates that transactions after this date will not match the search.


Check Reconcilliation

Use the Reconcileoption of the Transactions menu to reconcile the checks you have written against your Bank Statement.  When you select this option, a pop-up menu is displayed showing each of your defined Bank Accounts.  Select the Account for which you wish to perform reconcilliation, and the Check Reconcilliation Dialog Box is displayed.

The Check Reconcilliation Dialog Box allows you to see each unreconciled Expense or Transfer Transaction defined against the selected Bank Account.  Each Transaction is represented by an item in a list box, showing the check number, the date of the Transaction, the Transaction amount, and the To field entered in the transaction.  By selecting a transaction and clicking on the Reconcile button, or by double-clicking on an item, you will cause the Reconcile flag to be turned on for the transaction.  You will normally do this when you receive your statement from the Bank and wish to mark each transaction appropriately.


The Auto Save Option

If the Auto Save option of the Options menu is checked, it means that the budget file is automatically saved to Disk whenever you define a new transaction.  This is convenient as it reduces the risk that transaction definitions will be lost because of unexpected outage prior to a manual save.


The Auto Report Options
The Auto Report Option

If the Auto Report option of the Options menu is checked, it means that the Account Balance Report will be automatically re-generated whenever you define a new transaction. If this option is not checked, the screen will continue to show the original (and probably inaccurate) the Account Balance Report after a new transaction is defined.


The Warn if Over Budget Option

If the Warn if Over Budget option of the Options menu is checked, it means that Home Accountant will check the expense category each time an expense transaction is defined to see if the monthly budget for the category has been exceeded.  If the budget is exceeded, a warning message box is displayed.


The Auto Backup Option

If the AutoBackup option of the Options menu is checked, Home Accountant will automatically create a backup copy of the Budget File the first time you change it after loading it.  The name of the backup file will be the same as the original file, except it will have a '.BAK' suffix instead of '.BGT'.  A Message Box will let you know when this backup file is being created.


The Allow Duplicate Transactions Option

Home Accountant will not normally allow you to create two transactions with the same description and the same date.  If the Allow Duplicate Transactions selection of the Options menu is checked, however, duplicate transactions will be allowed.


The Compress Option

When the Compress option is checked, it means that the next time the Budget file is saved to your disk, it will be written in a compressed format.  This saves space on your hard disk, although it takes longer to save and open compressed files than normal files.

You don't need to set this option prior to OPENing a compressed Budget file.  Home Accountant will figure out whether the file you are trying to open is in normal or compressed format, and set the option accordingly.  You can change this option yourself, but Home Accountant will always re-set the option when you open a file.


The Toolbar Option

If the Toolbar option of the Options menu is checked, Home Accountant will automatically display a toolbar at the top of the Main Window, immediately under the Menu.  The toolbar provides shortcut buttons to commonly-used functions.


Using the Toolbar

The Toolbar is the area of the screen on the Main Window that contains 10 graphical push-buttons.  These buttons are shortcuts to several commonly-used Home Accountant functions, and a click with the mouse is the equivalent of activating these functions through the menu.

This button is used to quickly access help for Home Accountant.  Clicking on this button is the equivalent of Selecting Introduction from the Help menu.

Use this button to exit from HomeAccountant.  It is the equivalent of selecting the Exit option from the Files menu.

Clicking this button is the equivalent of selecting Open from the Files menu.

Clicking this button saves the current budget file.  It is like selecting the Save option from the Files menu.

Clicking this button prints the current report or graph.  It is like selecting the Print option from the Files menu.

Click this button to define a new transaction.  It is the equivalent of selecting New from the Transaction menu.

This button recalls memorized transactions, like the Recall option on the Transaction menu.

Click this button to bring up the Search Dialog Box.  It is the equivalent of selecting the Search option from the Transaction menu.

This button continues a previous search, like the Next option on the Transaction menu.

Clicking this button allows you to define a transaction report.  It is the same as selecting Transaction from the Report menu.

Selecting this button creates a Trends report, as if you had selected Trends from the Report menu.

This button represent the Account History option from the Reports menu.  If you click this button, the Account History dialog box appears.

If you select this button, the Create Transaction Trends Bar Graph Dialog Box is displayed, allowing you to define a Transactions Bar Graph.

If you select this button, the Create Category Pie Chart Dialog Box is displayed, allowing you to define a Category Pie Chart.


The Calculator Option

The Calculator option, from the Options menu, is merely a convenient method of accessing the Windows Calculator function.  When you invoke this option, the standard Windows calculator appears in a separate Window.


The Window Option

Use the Window option of the Main Menu to display a set of options for controlling the appearance and behavior of the report sub-menus appearing within Home Accountant.  Four options always appear:  Tile, Cascade, Arrange Icons, and Close All.  In addition, the title of each currently defined report window appears.  To make one of these reports into the currently active sub-window, simply select it.


The Tile Option

Use the Tile option to cause Home Accountant to arrange each of the report sub-windows in a tiled fashion.


The Cascade Option

Use the Cascade option to cause Home Accountant to arrange each of the report sub-windows in a "cascade"  fashion.


The Arrange Option
The Arrange Icons Option

Use the Arrange Icons option to cause Home Accountant to arrange the icons which represent the minimized report sub-windows.


The Close All Option

Use the Close All option to cause Home Accountant to close all report sub-windows.


Changing the Font on the Chart
Changing the Fonts on the Chart

The Fonts option on the Graph pull-down menu allow you to change the appearance of text on the Chart.  Three sub-options are displayed when you select this option: Title..., Axis... (for Bar Charts only), and Legend....  When either of these options are selected, Home Accountant displays a standard Font editing Dialog Box, allowing you to enter the characteristics for the font being altered.


Changing the Chart Title

Use the Title... option on the Graph pull-down menu to modify the title at the top of the Chart.  A Dialog Box is displayed when this option is selected, allowing you to modify the title.


Changing the Bar Chart Axes

The Axes... option on the Bar Graph Graph pull-down menu allows you to define the width of the X and Y Axis on the bar chart.  The default width for the Axis lines is one pixel; if you desire a thicker line, you can select the thickness you want from a list box which is displayed when you pick the Axes... option.


Changing the Bar Border

Use the Bar Border... option on the Bar Graph Graph pull-down menu to select a new border thickness for the bars in the graph.  The default width for the border  is one pixel; if you desire a thicker border, you can select the thickness you want from a list box which is displayed when you pick this option.


Displaying or Hiding the Legend

By default, the Chart window includes a sub-window containing a legend for the graph.  This legend indicates the color and pattern associated with each category shown on the graph.  You can cause the Legend window to disappear or re-appear by selecting the Legend option from the Graph pull-down menu.  The checkmark next to the Legend option indicates that the Legend is currently being displayed.


Changing the Category Characteristics

Normally, a default color and hatch pattern is used for each selected category.  This color and pattern is used to fill in the bars of a Bar Chart or the slices of a Pie Chart.  You can select alternate colors and/or patterns by selecting the Category Styles option on the Graph pull-down menu.  Each category appearing in the graph is included in the sub-menu which is displayed.  By selecting a particular category, you cause a Dialog Box to be displayed.  This dialog box contains two selection boxes;  the first allows you to choose a new color for the category; the second allows a new pattern to be selected.