Listing of file='BUDOC2.SRC;05' on disk='vmedia/chip_110-sector.ccvf'
To a user responce N (CR), the computer will screen
print a table consisting of the budget file records. At this
time the user is free to initialize or change any of the fields
individually. When the user enters a category number followed
by (CR), the category name and amount are erased and the cursor
is positioned waiting for two inputs. To make the entries, the
user must first enter the category name (CR), followed by the
category amount (CR). Do not use commas between the entries.
Remember that the category amount is the annual amount. To
terminate the budget file editing, the user enters (CR) to the
prompted category number. The edited file is then written to
the disc and control is returned to the main menu.
Module 3:
INPUT MONTHLY INCOME & EXPENSES
This module facilitates the entry of income and expense
data for each month of a twelve month fiscal year to a file
separate from the budget file. This module is the workhorse of
the PERSONAL BUDGET PROGRAM after the budget has been created.
Following the user selection of Option 3, a module menu
requires a response to either screen print a monthly expense
report or return control to the main program menu. Selection
of Option 1 results in a prompt for the user to specify the
month of the expense report desired. Entry of the month number
(CR) results in a report of 28 expense (24), income (2), and
cash (2) category names and amounts for the month specified.
All data entry to this file is prompted by the program.
Each monthly report can be initialized from the budget file by
answering Y (CR) to the first prompt. This option results in
each expense category amount being set to 1/12 of the yearly
budget amount. This is useful for repeating expenses. The
prompt following requests the category number to be entered or
edited. An integer response from 1-24 followed by (CR) will
erase the category amount and require the user to respond with
a new amount (CR). Use only integer amounts rounded to the
nearest dollar. A (CR) response to the category number to be
edited will return control to the module menu. At this point
the user may specify another expense report or a return to the
main menu. The latter response causes the edited file to be
written to the disk followed by a return to the main menu.
-4-
MODULE 4:
PRINT SUMMARY REPORTS
Summaries of expense and income performance against a
budget can be made by selecting Option 4 on the main menu. The
Module menu then offers two types of summary reports. The first
report provides a cummulative (year-to-date) report of expenses
against planned budgeted amounts by category from the user's
designated files.
The second report option on this module menu is a six
month tabulation of each expense amount by budget category. In
addition a summation of each month's expenses and income is
provided. Since only six months data can be displayed on the
screen at any given time, the initial month for the report must
be specified. Any initial month specified greater than seven
(7) will default to seven. The report is printed after the user
enters a month number (CR) in responce to a prompt.
Either report may be sent to a printer instead of the
screen by selecting Option 3 on module menu before specifying
the report desired. This sets a flag which must be reset before
each subsequent report can be sent to the printer.
Budget Reconciliation
The first summary report (year-to-date) contains an
important feature which assists the user to determine if his
monthly data input from Module 3 'balances' and if his 'net
worth' is increasing or decreasing. Three items of information
are provided at the bottom of this report. The first gives
the net increase or decrease in the user's combined savings/
checking/cash position since the beginning of the fiscal year.
The second item is the total income for the year, while the
third item, called variance, is the difference between the
total income and total expenses for the year-to-date. The
change in the 'net worth' should equal the variance. Any
differences between these two items should be reconciled each
month to maintain the integrety of the user's budget data.
Small differences can be corrected by using a 'contingency'
budget category, but large differences should be found and the
amount placed in the proper category. Common errors can be
made by not includung interest on savings accounts as income;
not including cash-on-hand as part of the 'net worth' category;
not properly explaining out-of-pocket expenses; and not
including income from miscellaneous sources.
-5-
Module 5:
PLOT TREND LINES
This module provides a graphic summary of the user's
performance against his budget. After the user is prompted to
enter the month desired for the 'Trend Plot', the computer
loads a display containing the plot axes and then plots data
from the user's budget and expense files. This data includes a
straight line budget for the year, along with cummulative
income and expense data for each month up to the month desired.
A year-ending-estimate of expenses is computed and plotted for
the user based on a rate determined from the specified month
and the previous month's expense data. The program scales the
vertical axis based on total budget amounts up to $600,000.
"DEMO" FILES
Two files are included with the program for the purpose
of demonstrating the program modules. The budget file name is
BUDDEM and the expense file name is EXPDEM. These names should
be used whenever file names are prompted during execution.
-6-