09/25/1990 WELCOME TO LOAN$ TRACKER ***** NOTE TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE UPDATING FROM 1.0 ***** Version 1.1 of LOAN$ TRACKER has a slightly different file structure than version 1.0. This new version will automatically update existing files to the new structure. When LOAN$ TRACKER detects and old file, you will be notified that a conversion is about to take place. The actual conversion will take a minute or so. This only happens once. There have been a few additions to this version of LOAN$ TRACKER. At the request of several users, I have added bank and check number information on loans and payments, and this added info appears on the ledger as well. You can enter a 4 letter code to represent the bank, and up to 5 letters/digits for the check number. This makes it easier to track where the loan came from. If you loaned cash, enter "CASH" in the bank name, and leave the check number blank. Several small bugs that bothered me a lot have been fixed. The monthly interest assessment was having trouble with past months that were the same as the current month. Also, the annual notice was not check- ing the gap correctly, and consequently was not alert- ing of an assessment properly. These has been rectified. When a new file was created, the program was assigning the file startup date as the first loanee's last date of interest assessment. This caused a problem in that once a file was created, the transactions for the 1st loanee had to be later than the creation date. This, of course, was not acceptable, and has been fixed, and now the last interest assessment date will be entered as the date of the first transaction entered. *********************************************************** Finally, a Windows shareware program that isn't a clock, game, bitmap, icon, wallpaper, or notepad! LOAN$ TRACKER was created to keep track of all of those small loans (and the big ones too!) that one makes to family, firends, business associates and partners. "Hey bud, can I borrow a 'C' note?" Sure, but now, not only can you keep track of it, you can also make some bucks if you're not paid back on time! If you think about it, you probably lend out hundreds of dollars in small, 5, 10, 15 and 20 dollar amounts, not to mention the larger sums. Anyway, let's get started. To begin, create a new directory someplace on your hard disk.... Copy the Loansp.zip file to the new directory, and PKUNZIP it. The following files should now be in your new directory: LOANSP.ZIP.........The Distribution File LOANSP.EXE ---------------| LOANSP.FST | LOANSP2.FST | LOANSP3.FST | LTF.LTS | LTF.STF |---Necessary Files LTF.RLT | LTF.MSB | LTFB.MSB | LTF.NDB | LTFB.NBD | README.TXT (This File)----| All above files, except for the distribution file LOANSP.ZIP are necessary, and must be together in the same directory. Now you are ready to begin. This Promotional version of LOAN$ TRACKER has some built-in limitations. LOAN$ TRACKER will allow you to create one data file, with a 4 loanee ceiling. Also, the promotional edition only has one report which can be printed, the Accounts Receivable report. In the registered edition all reports are activated. There are also no help files other than this readme.txt file. This will give you a chance to take the program for a test drive. LOAN$ TRACKER is Shareware. It is not free. If you like what you see, choose "Register" from the main menu "File" choice, fill in the appropriate information, add Comments/Bugs if applicable, and send it in with $35.00 for each copy registered. Once your registration is received, a complete set of the program files will be sent to you within a few days. First you have to create a file. Like most Windows programs, in the full version you can divide up the loans into files of loanees, ie., business, personal, camp, office, etc. So start by creating a file. Enter your filename (Up to 8 chars) click on OK or hit the enter key. Once the file is created, you are brought to a loanee and transaction information screen. THE LOANEE INFORMATION WINDOWS... When this trio of screens are up on the screen, you can change the loanee information by clicking in the "General Information" window. The Transaction Ledger is a scrollable list of transactions for the currently active loanee. The "Loan Stats - Control" window shows the interest assessed for the current loanee, both for the entire loan as well as for the current year. It also shows the last interest assessment date, and the loan ID number. When these three windows are onscreen, the Main Menu choices, "Edit" and "Transactions" become activated. It is only while these three windows are active that you can add a new loanee, delete the active loanee, assess interest, make loans and credit payments. If you "Add a New Loanee" from the edit menu, a blank record is added to the file. You must enter a Loanee Name before you can proceed. Without an account name, LOAN$ TRACKER cannot proceed. If you want to eliminate the new entry, add the name, and then delete the loanee. You can only delete the currently visable loanee when the Loanee Information Windows are onscreen. At all other times, the "Add a New Loanee" and "Delete This Loanee" choices are enabled. This also applies to "Assess Interest", "Make a Loan", and "Credit a Payment." YOU CAN ONLY EXIT FROM THE LOANEE INFORMATION WINDOWS WHEN THE "Loan Stats - Control" WINDOW IS THE FOREGROUND WINDOW, AND THE "OK" and "Cancel" BUTTONS ARE ENABLED. "OK" brings you back to the "Choose a Loanee" window so that you can make another loanee choice. "Cancel" returns you to the Main starting window with the LOAN$ TRACKER logo. INTEREST.... When you assign an interest rate, it should be the rate for the entire year. LOAN$ TRACKER will automatically take the percentage of that total annual rate and compound it by the interest interval you have chosen. The program monitors elapsed time periods on loans made to loanees, based upon Annual, Quarterly, Monthly, and Daily interest intervals. Interest, when assessed, will be calculated from the last date interest was assessed. In other words, you cannot enter a loan or payment amount which has a date earlier than the last interest assessment date. You are warned when the proper interest time period has expired and an interest assessment is due for that particular account. YOU ARE ONLY NOTIFIED THAT INTEREST IS DUE WHEN YOU HAVE OPENED THAT PARTICULAR ACCOUNT. If you have not been warned that interest is due, it isn't! If you try to assess interest before it's due, you'll get an error message. Interest, in the case of Annual, Quarterly, and Monthly, will always be entered into the file on the first day of each applicable time period i.e. first day of the month, first day of the year, first day of the quarter (January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, October 1st.) LOAN$ TRACKER will reevaluate the ledger file each time an interest amount is assessed, so if you have not assessed interest for 14 months, but have entered loans and payments during that time, when interest is assessed, the program goes back to the last assessment, inserts each interest amount, then re-evaluates the file entries for the next period, including the past interest each time. Daily interest can be assessed at any time, and is posted to the ledger on the day of assessment. DAILY INTEREST IS ONLY PHYSICALLY POSTED ONCE, NO MATTER HOW MANY DAYS HAVE TO BE ASSESSED. This has been done so that the ledger remains an intelligent size for the user. For example, say you did not assess interest for 50 days, it wouldn't make sense to make a ledger entry for each day or 50 interest entries for the period. Of course, if you assess interest each day, daily entries will be made in the ledger. REPORTS........ Only one report is available in the promotional edition, the Accounts Receivable Report. You can access the printing of this report only when the LOAN$ TRACKER logo is visable in the main window. ************************************************************************ --------------------------- FINAL NOTES -------------------------------- ************************************************************************ I hope you enjoy LOAN$ TRACKER. The registration section has a comments/bugs area, which I encourage you to use for suggestions, remarks etc. I have tried LOAN$ TRACKER on a variety of machines and configurations running Windows 3.0. But I can't try all of the possible combinations. Therefore, if you do experience problems, please do not hesitate to let me know about them. If you have a problem, contact me by either of the two methods listed below. Describe the problem, and also list the type of equipment on which Windows and LOAN$ TRACKER are running on. And now, the business side....This program is copyrighted by Enis Moran, 1990, all rights reserved. I reserve the right to revise, modify, update or change the program and its accompanying files at any time. Using this application is the sole responsibility of the end user, and Enis Moran assumes no liability in the event of failure of any kind, errors or ommissions. The user may distribute the LOANSP.ZIP file freely, as long as no files have been modified, and all files in the ZIP exist as they were originally distributed. No compensation of any kind can be charged for its distribution without the explicit written consent of the author. If you want to contact me, you can write to: Mr. Enis Moran LOAN$ TRACKER P.O. Box 2 Southampton, NY 11969 I can also be reached on Compuserve, ID #: 71167,2117. I hope you enjoy using LOAN$ TRACKER, and that it helps --YOU-- keep up with --YOUR-- generosity! Sincerely..... Enis Moran