"BankPlus" by Pete Sipple For the Psion Series 5/5mx, Revo, Revo Plus, Series 7/netBook BankPlus is a financial package which allows the user to create up to sixteen accounts, which can be either BANK or CREDIT CARD accounts. It will automatically pay standing orders, arrange inter-account transfers, and lets you print a statement to screen or printer. It allows the user to verify bank statements, and comes with a basic password facility, to prevent casual prying. BankPlus is not the most feature-packed program available, but is designed for users who want a quick & easy way of keeping their bank accounts in order. Installation: ============= BankPlus uses a .sis file to install the files into the correct location on your Psion. This makes installation straightforward. Here is how to install BankPlus: 1. Connect your Psion to your PC with the PsiWin lead. 2. Unzip the bankplus.sis file to any folder on your PC. 3. On your PC, double-click on the bankplus.sis file. This will start the Epoc Install program, and copy the required files will be copied to your Psion. 4. Click on your Psion's Extras button, you should see a new icon, "BankPlus". If you do not have access to a PC with PsiWin, you will need to copy a program called instexe (supplied by Psion) onto your Psion. Tapping this file will install support for sis files on your Psion. You can then copy the bankplus.sis file onto your Psion and install BankPlus by double-tapping. The instexe file is available for download from the BankPlus website, from Psion, or on the Palmtop Magazine CD. ================================================================================= Info on using BankPlus: ======================= Menu Options ============ The 'Account' Menu Card presents a list of the accounts that you have set up - Select an account to use. Find - Search the selected account for an individual item New Item - To enter a new item. Just pressing [Enter] does the same job Transfer - Transfer funds between accounts Standing Orders - Setup or edit standing orders View - View a list of transactions/balances in date order (Bank statement) Check - To verify BankPlus data with your bank statement Balances - Total balances on all accounts (press [menu] for other commands) Categories - For an overview of category spend Print - Print a list of transactions/balances in date order (Bank statement) Tidy - Tidy entries older than specified date (entries are deleted) Archive - Copy data from all accounts into a separate file for archiving Export - Export as Quicke, comma delimited or tab delimited (for spreadsheets) Currency Converter - A calculator for currency conversion Converter settings - Set currency conversion defaults Information - Bank account numbers, sort code, phone number and notes Display Graph - A visual representation of your accounts Setup Accounts - Change / setup bank account information Settings - To set basic defaults International - Setup currency details and number formats. Category settings - Up to 30 categories are allowed. Enter names here. Password - change password. Enhanced option protects BankPlus when multitasking Explanation of "Clearing" & "Stmt" ================================== By default, new entries are marked as "uncleared", which means that they haven't appeared on your monthly statement from your bank. The Balance shown on the main menu screen shows "Balance" (which includes all transactions, cleared or not, as of today's date) The 'Cleared' total shows the amount shown on your latest bank statement. To adjust "cleared", use the "check" option from the statement menu. Press [C] to confirm that an item is cleared, ie. has appeared on your statement. Note that items with a transaction date greater than today's date will not affect the current balance, until that date is reached. Standing Orders =============== There is no limit to the amount of standing orders that can be set up. At the beginning of each month, BankPlus automatically checks and pays any standing orders that are due in the current month, or the next month. This range can be expanded from the settings menu option if required. The automatic check once per month is all that is required, however there is a "force s/o check option" available if required from the Standing Order screen. Standing orders normally will be paid every month, but specific months can be excluded if required, to accomodate non-specific standing orders (such as quarterly payments). Weekly standing orders cannot be handled by BankPlus. Explanation of Credit Card accounts =================================== Some users have expressed confusion over how "credit card" account types work. Here is a summary of how they should be used. Definition - If you have a credit card account, it should be set up as such under the Setup Accounts option. Bank makes a 'Credit card' card works in an opposite way to a "Bank' account, in that debits are added to the balance, rather than deduced. This is why the balance on the statement issued by your credit card company shows a positive balance and payments are deduced from the outstanding balance. This means that when you enter a transaction into Bank, you will enter it as a "debit", whereas payments are "credits" Balances - If an account is correctly set as a 'Credit card' account, the fact that your 'credit card' balance is money that you owe, is reflected in the Balances total. If you were to owe $100 to Visa/Mastercard, the "Balances" option would show a "debit" and reduce your total balance accordingly. Transfers - If you wish to make an inter account transfer to show that you have made a payment to your credit card company, you would select "Transfer", and set the "From Account" to be the bank account, and the "To Account" to be the credit card account. The "Transfer amount" should not be a negative amount. Categories ========== This option is for users who wish to keep a record of transaction types, for example, cash, cheque, payment, petrol, etc. transactions. The names of the transaction types are entered (max of 30 in the 'Category names' screen, and the Category function is enabled in the Settings menu. When new items are entered, you have the option to select that category. Reports / Find / View can then search or list by category. ================================================================================= Upgrading files from Series 3a/3c to Series 5/Revo version: ========================================================== Note that datafiles are NOT compatible. A separate utility, BP3EXP.OPO will need to be run on your Series 3/3a/3c machine to create export files which can be read by the Series 5 version. Settings files cannot be transferred, so you will need to re-input account & category names. 1. Install BP3EXP.OPO into the \OPO\ directory on your 3/3a/3c 2. From under the OPO icon, select BP3EXP and run the program 3. Select which account you wish to convert 4. Repeat this procedure for each account 5. Copy the files (.BP3) onto your Series 5 / Revo, in a directory called C:\BankPlus 6. Run BankPlus. You will need to manually create each account. 7. Select the first account that you wish to add data to. 8. Run "Import" from the menu and select the BP3 file which corresponds to the account. 9. Repeat the above for each account you wish to import Repeat the same procedure for standing order export, but select the file BANKSO.ODB, or a BankPlus archive file, if required. Upgrading registration from Series 3a/3c: ========================================= Note: Your Series 3a/3c registration code will work on the Series 5 / Revo version, but you may wish to upgrade to an EPOC registration code, which can be obtained from the author. Your existing code will remove the main "nag" screens and prompts which would appear after 30 days of unregistered use, but will show a very infrequent reminder after nearly two months of use. If you wish to support the ongoing development of BankPlus, you may wish to obtain an EPOC code to remove all nag messages. Normal registration price is £8 (unchanged since 1996), but existing users can upgrade for just £5. If you feel that BankPlus for the Series 5 is useful, then payment for the new version would be appreciated, to cover development costs and to motivate me for future releases. If you feel that you are due a Series 5 code free of charge, please let me know. Payment can be made in the usual way. Users may wish to register for an upgrade online. This can now be done at www.reg.net quoting ID 4155. You must supply your existing Series 3a/3c/Siena code prior to registration. ========================================================================= Latest Version: =============== The latest version of BankPlus can be obtained by any of the following methods: 1. Downloaded direct from the BankPlus homepage http://www.petesipple.co.uk/bankplus.html 2. From other shareware sources, inc the main FTP sites and 3lib 3. By sending a disk and stamped addressed envelope to the author ========================================================================= Contacting the author ===================== Comments, queries and bug reports are welcomed. I can be reached via www.petesipple.co.uk/contact.shtml (please remember to state the version number that you are using!) * PLEASE NOTE THAT TELEPHONE REGISTRATION & SUPPORT IS NOT AVAILABLE * Finally: ======== Thanks to William Nightingale and Martin Packer for their help with designing the BankPlus icon. A big thanks also to my beta testers, especially Nick Baker - Without your help, the program wouldn't be what it is today! Disclaimers, etc ================ I cannot accept any liability for loss, or damage, as a result of using this procedure. The procedures included with releases of BankPlus remain copyright of Pete Sipple. You may freely distribute the files to other users, but please make sure that ALL files including this documentation are kept together. Reverse translation to obtain the source code is not permitted. Written by: Pete Sipple 4th May 2002