PSIBANK DOCUMENTATION

SUMMARY

Title        : PsiBank - Version 2.0
Supported    : Series 3a / Series 3c
Description  : Compact, easy-to-use bank account manager
Terms of use : Freeware
Author       : A.W. van der Giessen
E-mail       : agiessen@worldonline.nl


INTRODUCTION

I could write a huge manual, but who would read it? Therefore, included with
PsiBank is this short manual. It informs you - in a nutshell - how to install
and work with PsiBank. If you have questions after reading the manual, send an 
e-mail to  the abovementioned address. Feel free to report possible bugs, 
criticism or suggestions.


WHY DEVELOP PSIBANK

PsiBank is a simple and compact Bank Account Manager. It's been kept simple
for a good reason. A lot of other programs are available with lots of
powerful functions,  such as VAT handling, budgeting, etc. As there was no
simple Bank Acount Manager to my knowledge, I created one.


OVERVIEW

PsiBank offers you the following:
- Support for up to 5 groups, holding a maximum of 15 accounts each;
- Support for up to 20 categories;
- A category view, showing the expenses and earnings divided by category;
- A balance view, showing the balances of all accounts in the current group;
- A 'Balance as of' graph, showing the balances of an account or group over time;
- An In vs Out graph, graphically displaying expenses and earnings over time
- Payment of Standing Orders;
- An import/export function;
- A basic printing facility;
- Password protection with variable protection level. 


INSTALLING

PsiBank consists of four files, PSIBANK.OPA, PSIBANK.OVL, PSIBANK.HLP and PSIBANK.UPD. 
Copy PSIBANK.OPA to the \APP directory, the others to the \APP\PSIBANK directory on 
drive A,B or M. (If you don't need the online help, just skip PSIBANK.HLP. If you don't 
need to import/export, skip PSIBANK.OVL. If this version of PsiBank is the first one,
skip PSIBANK.UPD). Then use <Psion>-I to install PsiBank. 

If you're upgrading from a previous version of PsiBank, be sure to remove PsiBank from 
the System screen before installing the new version. This is very important, you can 
get unexpected results when skipping this step!


FIRST THINGS FIRST

The first time you start PsiBank, you will be asked to enter your accounts
and - if you wish - to enter the categories to want to use. After entering
these, you will be prompted for preferences. These preferences will be OK for
most people, check if that goes for you too.

With Psion-Shift-I you can check the international settings.

Now you're ready to go!


DATA ENTRY

To enter data, you can use the hotkeys as they appear in the 'Item' menu. 
This is, Psion-T to enter a transfer, Psion-N to enter a new item, Psion-U
to update an item and Psion-D to delete an item.

In version 1.1, these keys still work, but other keys have been added to make
data entry easier. You can now use the Enter key to update the item that is 
selected. If the empty line is selected, the Enter key will add an item.
The Tab key will always add a new transfer. Use Del to delete an item.

When setting preferences, you can choose if you wish to use the Del key as a
hot key or not. Set it off if you are afraid that deleting items will be a little
bit too easy.


HANDLING WITH STANDING ORDERS

I define Standing Orders as items that occur frequently, regular as well as 
irregular. This definition is broader than in most Bank Account Managers. 

In PsiBank, you can enter items of which you know you will have to pay them
repeatedly. To enter these, do the following:

Use Psion-Shift-S to go to define Standing Orders. Press Enter on the empty 
line (or Shift-Enter on any line) to enter the data. First of all, enter the
date the Standing Order is usually paid. Then, enter the description, amount,
type (debit/credit), category and the account. 

Enter the number of days that PsiBank should prompt you about paying  the 
Standing order and the number of days in advance that PsiBank should remind 
you of an upcoming Standing order. (You can enter a number between 0 and 14.)

The last thing you enter, are the months in which the Standing Order should be
paid. Select 'Yes' for each month that this is the case.

When you have entered Standing Orders, PsiBank will perform a check every time
you start it. When it is time to pay or warn about Standing Orders, you will
be prompted. You can then choose to pay the Standing Order at that time, at a 
later time and to skip the Standing Order.

To pay a Standing Order at any given time, use Psion-Shift-S and select the 
appropriate item. Then press Psion-P to insert that Standing Order.


IMPORT/EXPORT

Using the import function, you can import any comma separated file, as long as a 
few conditions are met:
- The amount must use a decimal point, no comma, as that is the separator.
- Descriptions may only contain a comma if there are quotes surrounding the whole
  description.

Next to a filename and date range, you will be prompted which fields contain the 
date, description, category and amount. When you accept these values, they will 
be stored for later use. This means that they will be used as defaults the next 
time you import a file.

The export function created a comma separated file. A decimal point is used in 
the amount, descriptions are surrounded by quotes. Exporting files is very 
simple: just enter the  filename, the date range and whether or not categories 
and balances should be written to the file as well. 


FUNCTIONS

Group
- Select	Select the group to work with.
- Move account	Move account to another group.

Account
- Select	Select the account to work with.
- Tidy		Delete all items before a specified date.
- Info		Show name, description, full filename, file length and the
                number of items in the file.

Item
- New		Create an item. 
- Transfer	Transfer to another account.
- Update	Update an item.
- Delete	Delete an item.
- Find		Show all items that fit your selection criteria.
- Jump to ...	Move the cursor to the first item on a specified date.

View
- Categories	Shows in more detail where you spend your money on and get it
                from.
- Balances 	Shows the balances of all accounts
  as of	
- Balance Pro-	Displays a graph of the balances over 1, 3, 6 or 12 months.
  gress Graph
- In vs Out	Displays a graph of income and expenditure over 3, 6 or 12 months.
  Graph
- Print		Prints all items in the selected period.

Settings
- Groups        Add, replace or delete groups.
- Accounts	Add, replace or delete accounts.
- Categories	Add, replace or delete categories.
- Standing      Add, replace or delete standing orders.
  orders
- Preferences	Set general preferences, such as file locations.
- International	Change international settings.
- Password	Set or change the password.

Special
- Import	Imports a comma sepatared file.
- Export	Makes an comma sepateted export file.
- About		Shows program information.
- Exit		Leave PsiBank.

The following hotkeys can be used:
- Enter		When the cursor is on an item, update the current record.
		When the cursor is on the empty line, enter a new record.
- Tab           When the cursor is on the empty line, enter a transfer.
- Del           Delete the record the cursor is currently on. (Notice that
		you can turn this funtion on and off in the preferneces menu.)


TERMS OF USE

PsiBank is released as freeware, you owe me nothing. I only hope that you will 
enjoy it.

Using PsiBank means you run it at your own risk. It take no responsibility for 
any bugs you might encounter, nor for their result. However, if you report 
bugs, I will do my best to solve them.


FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, read the online help or contact the author by e-mail.
