FINANCIAL PLANNER V1.4 (S3A Only)
---------------------------------

Following the success of my Home Accounts  program 
S3ABANK,  a number of people have  suggested that I 
issue some of the optional modules as standalone programs.  
This is the last of the modules.  The others are:  An 
Investment Tracker, S3AINVx.ZIP, a Fuel Consumption 
Tracker, S3AFUELx.ZIP, An Expense Account Manager, 
S3AEXPx.ZIP and a Home Inventory  program, 
S3AHOMEx.ZIP. (where 'x' is the version number)  

This program allows you to keep track of an annual Budget 
for up to 25 different billing agencies (Phone, Gas, 
Electricity, TV etc.).

To Install the program

     1.   Put S3APLAN4.APP in your \APP\ directory

     2.   If you want to use the optional On-Line Help (Highly recommended)
          put the file S3APLANH.OVL into an \APP\S3APLAN\ directory.

     3.   If you want to use the optional Print option put the file 
          S3APLANP.OVL into the \APP\S3APLAN\ directory and the file
          S3APRINT.DYL into an \OPD\ directory.  Note that this file is
          common to all my programs, so if you have more than one of
          them you only need one copy of this file.

     4.   Install (PSION-I) and go for it !!

Now go into the program.  The 'nag' screens can be 
removed by registering the program, which will also allow 
you 25 agencies.  The unregistered version allows you just 6 
entries, to see the capabilities of the program. Working 
through the MENU commands will show you the 
capabilities of the program. 

The program basically works on 3 different levels:

Level 1.  To start, use <PSION-E> (or <Enter>) to enter a 
couple of agencies who send you bills, such as Electricity 
and Phone (The usual Update, Delete and Move options are 
available as always).   You can now move the vertical 
highlight to the required agency (either using the cursor, or 
pressing the first letter), and the horizontal highlight to the 
required month, and use <PSION-C> (or <TAB>) to enter 
the estimated bill.  The bottom line will show the total for 
each month.  Note that, although it starts up with January as 
the first month, you can use the horizontal cursor to make 
any month the first to be displayed.  All the settings you 
have will be remembered between sessions.  Once a 
payment has been made, you can use <PSION-R> (or the 
Space-Bar) to show a cost in Bold as a reminder.  The 
default is for a 12-month display, which is usable for costs 
up to 999.  If you need more than 3 figures, there is an 
option to configure the display to, amongst other things, 
reduce the number of months on display to prevent overlap.

Level 2.  If, like me, you run a separate account to pay the 
bills, you can use the planner to decide how much to 
transfer into the account each month. Press <PSION-W> to 
switch the bottom line to 'Transfer' and use <PSION-T> to 
put an initial estimate in for the amount.  Note that you can 
put the amount in for individual months, to the end of the 
screen (if you have less than 12 months in the display it will 
fill up the remaining months as though they are displayed), 
or for all months.  Now press <PSION-W> again, and the 
line will show the Balance for each month.  You can now 
increase or decrease the transfer accordingly, depending on 
how much in debt you are willing to go.  There is also an 
option to adjust the initial balance in case you are not 
starting from zero.

Level 3.  This is the fully automatic mode that I operate.  
Use <PSION-A> to enter the mode once you have 
completed all the entries.  From now on, the present month 
will always appear in the second column, leaving the 
previous month in case there is an outstanding payment.  All 
future payments will be de-reconciled, and the bottom 
window will show the predicted balance based on the 
previous months total.  This total is shown in bold, and can 
be changed if required.  Once the next month arrives, 
everything will move one column to the left, so you 
continually have a prediction for 11-months ahead.

In V1.1, I implemented an 'Edit memo' function along the 
same lines as the option in 'Agenda'.  Just use <PSION-+> 
to open up a notepad to keep records of extra details, 
numbers and references.  I also implemented the status 
window switching using <CTRL-MENU>.

In V1.2 I have implemented decimal places.  The only 
problem this generates is that of overlap between entries if 
you have too many digits.  I have tried to make the program 
sensible enough to avoid this, but if you do have trouble, 
just reduce the number of months on display until the 
overlap disappears.

In V1.3, I have implemented the capability to move the 
positions of the vertical lines, to design your own screen, 
and a Jump to Month option.

In V1.4 I have implemented a proper Help function, and full 
printing support, including support for the PSIWIN 'Psion 
Print' driver.  The use should be self-explanatory, although 
remember you will almost certainly have to use the 
landscape mode.

If you find the program useful and wish to register it, please 
see the file REGISTER.TXT for up-to-date instructions on 
how to register.  Apart from giving you a 'warm' feeling, 
allowing  you  25 agencies, and getting rid of the 'nag' 
screens, registering will give you access to full support and 
notification of  regular, free, updates.   If anyone has any 
useful suggestions for improvements, I will always try and 
include them in the next version.  

Cheers

Al Richey
