
			Working With Software
	
	After understanding the basic terms, now we come to the working of the software. The software is divided into various screens. Most of the screens, which are used to select other features like the main screen, have a menu provided with it. The software is created in such a way that all the major functions used frequently or have somewhat more importance than others are provided at the main screen. The functions which are used in less or they have a little less importance are provided as a link in the form of option in the menu of main screen.

	The software is created such that the user can maintain accounts of various unrelated businesses in the same copy of the software. For this purpose the term used for a single business is called a company. The user can create as many companies as he/she likes and can switch among all these companies by just selecting among the companies list.

	On firstly starting the software, their does not exists any company. So the user comes at the company menu, After the welcome screen.

There are four options in the menu named as: -

 1. Create Company                2.  Select Company

 3. Alter Company                 4. Exit

 

1. Creating  Company: -
			Because this is the first run of the software so there does not exist any company and at the top of the screen the company name is No Company Selected. The selection bar is at the first option of the menu. On pressing the enter key at first option or pressing the shortcut key of the first option i.e. c/C the Create Company option is selected and the current screen is replaced with another screen of company creation screen. 

              The fields are empty and the cursor is at the first field of Company name. Here enter the name of the business whose accounts you wants to maintain. The company name cannot be empty and the software forces the user to input at least one char name of the company. Some other fields like the tax number, address etc can be empty. On filling the various fields the software confirms for accepting the information. On pressing the yes button the company is created and on pressing the No button the cursor goes to the first field of company name to make the required changes. At any time the user can also come out of this screen by pressing the esc key and responding yes to the confirmation box.

              Some information like the repeat box comes automatically when the user moves to the appropriate places, in this case after the password entered. After the user accepted the company creation the company is created and the user comes back to company menu.

2. Selecting Company: -
                         As we have created now a company we can select it to work in it. On selecting the second option of Select Company a pop-up menu appears having the list of all the older companies. Here, select the company whose accounts you are going to work with. In this case we have just created a single company so select it.

              On selecting our above-created Company if security is disabled in the company creation screen than the company will open up. Otherwise it will ask for the user name and password (case sensitive). After typing the right user information and is confirmed by the software the selected company is opened. If the password or user name were incorrect the company would not open. Now the user is at the main screen of the software.

                The main screen shows various types of information and the user can perform various operations from the main screen. At the top of the screen the current selected company name is displayed. At the upper right corner is the current day and the current time is displayed. On the left side is the current period selected shown and below is the current date of accounting displayed. On the right side there is a list of buttons.  The function of each button is as follows:-

1.  F1 Date: -                                                                                This button brings a box in which the user can enter the current date of entry system. The date must lie within the current period selected. 

2.  Create Cmp: -                                                                               This button selected (shortcut key F2) would bring the screen of company creation screen for creating a new company.     

3.  Select Cmp: -                                                             	          This button selected (shortcut key F3) would bring the popup menu of company selection screen. Here the user can switch to another company if one exists.

4.  F4 Shut Cmp: -                                                                               This button selected would allow the user to close the currently opened company.

5.  F5 Period: -                                                                                 This button would allow the user to change the current period of entry system. The starting period and the end period are to be entered. Also the starting period should be greater than the book beg date of the company, which was entered at the time of company creation. And also the end date should be greater than the start date entered.

6.  F6 Backup: -                                                                                 This button would allow the user to take the backup of the current selected company data. The user would be asked to input the file name to store the backup data. The user can specify the full path of the company backup.

7.   F7 Restore: -                                                                               This option will allow the user to restore a company to its previous backup. The user has to specify the name of the backup file. After that the user will be provided with the necessary information like the backup system date, company name etc and a confirmation message to restore to that point. On confirmation the company would be restored to that file and a message would appear confirming it.

8.   Setting: -
	           This option would allow the users to change various settings of the software, like the reports style i.e. whether to show percentage with reports or not, scale (scaling means to view a report in different amount eg- you have entered the data in Rs. and you wants to view the report in millions).
                   The first option Log out after min would allow a user to enter a time limit (in minutes) after, which the company will be shut down automatically if no key is pressed. Note: - This option does not work at each and every screen during software working.

9.  Calculator: -
                   It will open a calculator (Shortcut key Alt + C). This option can be used to perform various basic arithmetic operations. 

10. Add user: -
                   This option will allow the user to add more users to the current company. It will only be activated if the security option is selected at Company Creation/Alteration screen. 

11. Modify User: -
                   This option will allow the users to modify the current user if security option is enabled.


           After the buttons functions had been understood, now we comes to the functioning of the main menu. The menu has seven (7) options as: - Accounts Info, Transactions, Balance Sheet, Profit&Loss A/c, Display Reports, Printings, Exit. Some options would further open new menus. The working is as follows:-

1. Accounts Info: -
                      This menu option is used to access all the information about Groups and ledgers/accounts. On selecting this menu an another menu would appear having three (3) more options as: - Groups, Ledgers and Back. 

 1.1 Groups: - 
	              This option would allow the users to access all information related with the Groups. On selecting this option a further menu would appear with four (4) more options as: -New, Show Old, Modify, Back.

1.1.1 New: -

                      This option would allow the user to create a new group. The new group created would be either primary or can be a sub-group of other existing group. In case of a primary group the user has to specify that on which sides of the books the ledgers created under the group would go on. In case of a sub-group the sub-group would inherit this property of its parent group.

1.1.2 Show Old: -
                    This option enable the users to view all the existing Groups whether are created by the user or are built-in. Firstly a screen would appear demanding the user to select the group to view information about. After the group has been selected the current screen will be changed to another screen, which shows the Groups information.

1.1.3 Modify: -
                     This option enable the users to modify all the Groups created by the user. Firstly a screen would appear showing all the user created Groups and demanding from the user to select the group to modify. After the group has been selected the current screen will be changed to another screen, which will be similar to the screen of show old Groups. The difference would be that now the user could also modify the Groups properties.

1.1.3 Back: -
                     On selecting this option the user will come back to the Accounts Info menu screen.


1.2 Accounts: - 
                   This option would allow the users to access all information related with the ledgers/accounts. On selecting this option a further menu would appear with the same four (4) more options as: -     New, Show Old, Modify, Back.

1.2.1 New: -
               This option would allow the user to open a new ledger/account. The new account created must be placed under one of the existing Groups. There can also be some opening balance for the new ledger opened which can be either debit balance or the credit balance. So provision is also made to provide place for the opening balance input for the ledger opened. 
                          One thing to be noted here is that the option named under, which is used to store the group under which an account is opened is implemented as a menu. It means that the user does not have to type the name of the group, but would select it from the menu, which is automatically appeared when the user moves to this option and after the option is selected it disappears.

1.2.2 Show Old: -
                    This option enable the users to view all the existing accounts whether are created by the user or are built-in. Firstly a screen would appear demanding the user to select the account to view information about. After the account has been selected the current screen will be changed to another screen, which shows the accounts information. Here the user can just see the information but can not modify it. 

1.1.3 Modify: -
                    This option enable the users to modify all the accounts created by the user or built in ones. Firstly a screen would appear showing all the accounts existed and demanding from the user to select the account to modify. In case of a built in account the user will be allowed to only modify the opening balance. After the account has been selected the current screen will be changed to another screen. The difference would be that now the user could be allowed to modify the accounts properties and the fields would contain the existing values of the accounts properties.
                          One thing to be observed here is that in case of built in accounts, the user cant modify the Groups under which a account is selected, neither the account name can be changed, only the opening balance of the account can be changed. 

1.1.3 Back: -
                   On selecting this option the user will come back to the Accounts Info menu screen.

1.3 Back: -
                   On selecting this option the user will come back to the main screen. Here the user can also press the Escape key or can also press the b/B key, which is used as a shortcut key for this option.

 

 2. Transactions: -
                       This menu option is used to perform various operations on the entries/vouchers. These are the entries, which are used to store actual transactions in the business. This menu option further opens another menu with five (5) options as: -New, Vouchers Query, Modify Voucher, Delete Voucher, Back.  

2.1 New: -
                      This option would allow the user to enter an entry. The entry will be on the current date of the accounting system. As per the rules of the accounting system, the user would be asked to Dr/Cr another account until the debit side would not become equal to the credit side of the entry. Also the next amount shown in the next block of the entry would be difference of debit and credit side and the type selected i.e. Dr or Cr would also depends on the difference of the entry. If the screen becomes full of the blocks of current entry the screen would scroll up to give space to the remaining entry. At the bottom of the screen the current totals of both sides are shown. After the entry has been entered there comes the time to enter a brief narration of the entry. After the user inputs the narration, which can be empty, a confirmation box appears to confirm the acceptance of the entry. If the user responds no to the confirmation box the control goes back to the first block of the entry and the user is allowed to modify the entry. 
                    By pressing the UP arrow key at the input box of amount for any block of the entry the user can modify the automatic increment Voucher No. And can also modify the current date on, which the entry is entered.

Shortcuts: -          Ctrl + A   -       Copy
                      Ctrl + V   -       Paste
                      Alt   + C  -       Calculator

                                                      

2.2 Vouchers Query: -
                          This option is used to perform various types of the queries on the entries entered previously. Here, the user can display the entries by making various combinations. The vouchers can be sorted by various fields like: - Serial no., Entry date, amount etc and too in either ascending/descending order. You can also select particular vouchers satisfying your defined condition like vouchers between, greater than, equal to yours criterion. You can also move easily between the vouchers list by up-down etc keys.

2.2 Modify Voucher: -
                         This menu option would bring a submenu where the user can decide to find the entry by either as on current date or through the account contained in the voucher. If the date option is selected all the entries entered on the current date in the form of daybook would appear. The user can select among these entries, the entry which the user wants to modify. After the entry has been selected the screen will change to the screen where the voucher can be modified. The fields would not be empty but will contain the previous values of the entry entered earlier. The same other rules for entry creation will also apply here in the entry modification screen.

2.3 Delete Voucher: -
                        This menu option will allow the user to delete a previously entered entry in the entry system. This menu option would bring all the entries entered on the current date in the form of daybook. The user can select among these entries, the entry which the user wants to delete. After the entry has been selected a confirmation box would appear asking the user to confirm for entry deletion. If the user responds yes on this box the entry would be deleted.

2.4 Back: -
                     On selecting this option the user will come back to the main screen.

3. Balance Sheet: -
                     This is the most important report for an accounting system. This can be seen as the final report of an accounting system. The results of all transactions finally converge into balance sheet. This is the report for which all the persons related with the business are more interested. This is why it is placed on the main screen for easy access. The balance sheet shows the financial position of a business at a given date by disclosing the amount of capital contributed, the value of assets and liabilities and their respective nature.
                This report has two sides. The left hand side is called the liabilities side and the right hand side is called the assets side. The balance sheet is displayed for the current period selected and is also displayed till the current date. The user can easily see the balance sheet for also the later dates of current period by simply changing the current date. And for some other period by simply changing the current period.

4. Profit&Loss A/c: -
                         This is also an important report so is placed on the main screen for easy access. Every businessman is interested in knowing the net profit or loss. This statement is used to calculate whether there has been profit or loss occurred during some period of time.
                This report has two parts. The first part calculates the gross loss or gross profit. This balance is brought down into the second part, which finally calculates the net profit or net loss. The debit side of the report shows the expenses occurred during some period and the credit side shows the gains for some period. The profit and loss account is balanced, if there is credit balance than there will be net profit and if there is debit balance than there will be net loss. This balance is than transferred to the balance sheet. At the bottom of the report the total balances is shown which is always equal for debit and credit side because of balancing. 

        In the starting the selection bar is on the first item of the left side. The user can easily go between the left and right sides by pressing the left and right arrow keys. It is also to be noticed that the user can select a group under the bar by pressing the enter key on it. After the selection the selected group summary would appear. It is also to be noticed here that the user cannot select the items other than Groups e.g. the brought down statement of the gross loss or gross profit. Also if the user wants to move down to the last statement a small sound is produced to indicate an invalid operation. When the screen becomes full of items the screen would scroll to display other items.                 

5. Display Reports: -
                        Reports tell the successful story of software. These are essential for the completion of an accounting system. So there are various reports, which are created in this software. So this also becomes an important option. This option is used to display other reports other than on the main menu. The option would bring another menu on selection. The new menu would have five (5) options as: -Trial Balance, Day Book, Ledgers Summary, Group Summary, Back.                             

5.1 Trial Balance: -
                         Because we are using here the double entry system, the basic principal of double entry system is that for every debit there must be a corresponding credit and vice-versa. It implies that the total of debit balances must be equal to the total of credit balances. Thus after balancing the ledger accounts a statement is prepared to check whether the debit balances agrees with the total of the credit balances or not. This statement is known as the trial balance.
              In this statement all the Groups with having some balance are shown the Groups with the null or zero (0) balances are not shown. Each group may have a debit balance, credit balance or both the debit and credit balance. Whatever the case may be both the debit and credit balances are shown.
              The second last option of the report is profit and loss account. This is not the total of the profit and loss account report but is actually the balance of the built-in profit and loss account/ledger balance.
              And the last item in the report is the difference in opening balances of all the accounts. As we can see from the report that without giving these two balances the debit and credit side of the report does not balances.

5.2 Day Book: -
                    This is also a useful report in many cases. It shows the entire entries list for the current date. It does not show the whole entry but it actually shows the first block of the entry to make the list small and to allow easily analyze the report.

5.3 Ledger Monthly Summary :- 
                                This report shows the monthly summary of the account selected for some specified period limit. This report is shown from the beginning of the current selected period to the current date. The user can easily increase the last date for the period shown by changing the current date and can also decrease the last date changing the current period selected can also change it. The report is shown such that the user can see the closing balance of the account after each month.
              The report has four fields as Months - this field shows the month names of the specified period for which the report is seen. The second field shows the debit balance of the selected account for each month shown. The third field shows the credit total for each month shown. The fourth and the last field shows the closing balance for all the months shown. It also takes care for the last month balance of the account or the opening balance for the account. It also shows whether there is net debit or credit balance for each month. This can also prove useful while analyzing the changes in the cash inflow and outflow.  

5.4 Group Summary :- 
                        This report shows the summary of a group for the selected period. This report has three fields as particulars, debit, and credit. The report can contain both further Groups totals and the accounts total. On the top of the report all the Sub-Groups of the group selected for details is shown. These Sub-Groups may have debit or credit balance or both the debit and credit balance. Whatever the case may be the details is shown. After all the Sub-Groups have been shown now comes the turn to display all the accounts under the currently selected group. The accounts may have either the debit balance or the credit balance, and only one side of the fields of accounts has the balances. To distinguish between the Groups and accounts the label (G) is added with the names of all the Sub-Groups shown and the label (A) is added with all the accounts shown to easily identify whether the item shown is a group or an account. One more thing to notice over here is that the report is not balanced, so the debit side total at the bottom shown is not equal to the credit side total.

6. PRINTINGS: -
                      Printing is an important part of any successful software. Its need increases in an accounting system, without which all the efforts of reducing the manual work of accountants will not be successful. So I have chosen to provide the facility of printing all the major reports needing a hard copy.
                Further the resources with any company or firm are limited to use. So there may be changes required in the printing so there is need to firstly taking a printing in a file so that if some changes are needed, it can be taken before the final copy printing. So I provided two means of printing one is on the file with the name and path specified by the user and the other is on the printer. These two types of printing modes are applicable to all the reports in the printing menu.
                The printing menu has six (6) options as: - Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Daybook, Ledgers, P&L account and back. When the selects one of the options among them (except the last option of Back which brings the user back to the main menu ) the user comes to another menu in the text mode. This new menu has 3 options as Print Settings, Print,  Back.

                The first option Print Settings enables the user to alter various settings of the printing. The user can specify among the various settings as number of copies, page break after row number, show continue with the page break etc. the second option Print will bring the user to another menu with two (2) options of print to file Or Print to printer. If the user chooses to print to file the user will be asked to specify the name of the file. After giving the name of the file the report will be printed to the specified file. On selecting to print to printer the report will be printed to the printer attached to the system.

7. Exit: -                                                                                    This option enables the user to quit from the software. On selecting this option a confirmation box appears confirming the action of exit and a small sound is produced. If the user responds yes to the menu the user can come out of the software.

         
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