文件列表:

accounts (565, 2000-06-03)
actvar.cpp (4350, 2001-03-17)
actvar.h (2444, 2000-06-12)
bs.frm (656, 2000-06-03)
dollar.cpp (4855, 2001-03-17)
dollar.h (711, 2000-05-29)
dollar.txt (4400, 2001-07-01)
general (1396, 2001-03-17)
general.cpp (562, 2000-06-05)
general.h (318, 2000-05-29)
gstring.cpp (1220, 2001-03-17)
gstring.h (458, 2000-05-18)
gstring.txt (1935, 2000-05-18)
guipost.cpp (13181, 2001-07-01)
guipost.rc (3229, 2001-07-01)
htab.cpp (4116, 2001-03-17)
htab.h (917, 2001-03-17)
htab.htm (7041, 2001-03-17)
is.frm (1162, 2000-06-03)
journal (5028, 2001-03-28)
makefile (739, 2001-03-29)
makefile.lin (499, 2001-03-17)
post.cpp (30632, 2001-07-01)
post.exe (78848, 2001-07-01)
post.h (86, 2000-05-26)
post.htm (3219, 2001-03-17)
xdate.cpp (4909, 2001-03-17)
xdate.h (315, 2000-05-29)

Plain Vanilla Posting Program 3.0 1. What the Posting Program Is The Plain Vanilla Posting Program is a simple program that takes over three of the most boring accounting tasks--posting from the general journal to the general ledger, drawing a trial balance, and putting account balances into a report. It does job this much faster and more accurately than you can, and it won't let you post an unbalanced entry. Your books will always be in balance. The posting program features open design. The input to the posting program and the output from the posting program are plain text files in familiar formats. The journals look like journals, the ledgers look like ledgers. You can use a word processor or text editor to create, modify, examine and print these files and move data from one file to another. With versions II and 3.0, source code is supplied with the posting program. If you have a C++ compiler, you can recompile and relink the posting program. You might want to do this if you have received the program from a questionable source and you suspect that unauthorized changes have been made to the object code. You might also want to make some changes to suit your own application, but you're on your own there. We can't assure you that your changes will work. If you outgrow the posting program and want to use a more comprehensive accounting package, you can take advantage of this open design to move your records, if the other accounting package is similarly accommodating. 2. What the Posting Program Is Not The posting program has no security features. There are no passwords, for example. So lock up your backup media if security may be a problem. Also, you should probably print out your files and manually sign and date the printed copies for authentication. The posting program is NOT copy protected. It is copyrighted, so you may not legally sell it, but you can give it away. In fact, we encourage you to distribute it as widely as possible. However, if you make changes, we ask you to pass on only the original, unmodified code. Finally, there is no accounting tutorial with the posting program. It is presumed that you are familiar with manual accounting procedures, with the operating system, with a suitable word processor or text editor, and with the necessity of keeping backup copies of everything. 3. What You Need to Use the Posting Program To use the posting program, you need a compatible computer. There is a version for Windows 95/***/2000/NT and another for Red Hat Linux. You also need a word processor, or at least a text editor, that produces ASCII files. There are many of them. To get full use of the posting program, you'll need a word processor that allows you to move text from one file to another. You'll want to do that quite often. 4. Getting Started The first thing to do is to make a backup copy of the distribution media and put it in a safe place. That's always recommended. Then copy the file POST.EXE from the distribution media to your own hard disk. If your word processor allows you to edit two or more documents at the same time (and the best ones do), and you need to refer to this manual while you're editing your journal file, you can call up the file README.TXT (under whatever name you have chosen to give it), use the text search feature of your word processor to find the part you need to refer to, read it right off the screen. Your word processor can probably turn the pages much faster than you can. The posting program will run under Windows, but you'll first have to open a DOS Window, because it is a command-line application. Invoking the posting program is easy. Just type the following command line: post The journal file contains not only the traditional journal entries, but also a number of commands to tell the posting program what to do. You can put all this information into a single journal file, as in the example described in the following sections. However, it will probably be convenient to put some things into separate files. Error messages, if any, are normally sent to the standard output device. They may be redirected to a file by including the filespecs as a second command line argument: post If you wish to use a graphical user interface (GUI), there is a second program that you can use with Windows ***. (It has not been tested with other versions of Windows.) It resides in the file GUIPOST.EXE. Make sure this file is in the same directory (folder) as POST.EXE. To launch this program, just create a shortcut to GUIPOST.EXE and put it on your desktop. The easiest way to do this, under most versions of Windows, is to use the Windows Explorer. Just right-click the file GUIPOST.EXE and select "Create Shortcut" from the context menu. A shortcut will appear. Then use the mouse to drag this shortcut to a vacant space on your "desktop". An icon will appear. You can launch GUIPOST.EXE by double-clicking this icon. When you launch the GUIPOST program, a window containing a list box called "Journal Files" appears. To add a journal file to the list, click on the "Add" button and select a file from the file dialog. To remove a jounral file, select it from the list box and click on the "Remove" button. To post from a journal file, select it from the list box and click on the "Post" button. The error messages (and any other message output) from the posting process will appear in the read-only edit window below the list box. Of course, to create and modify journal files, you'll need a regular text editor or word processor. You may use one that came with the operating system, or you may use any of many free or commercial text editors that are available. 5. Names The posting program needs names for a number of different things: (1) accounts (2) aliases (3) commands (4) companies (5) journals (6) variables You make up your own account, alias, company, journal and variable names; the posting program has its own list of command names. Nevertheless, they all follow the same rules. A name consists of one or more words. Each word begins with a letter. Subsequent characters in the word may be letters, digits or virgules (/). Words are separated by spaces or tabs. Hence "Equipment1991" is an acceptable account name (without the quotation marks, of course), but "Equipment 1991" is not. The reason for this rule is that the number "1991" might be mistaken for an account balance in some contexts. Punctuation marks, such a commas, may not be used in account names. However, the virgule (/) is very common in abbreviated account names (such as A/P), so it is permitted. The posting program does not distinguish between capital and small letters, so "CASH" and "Cash" are the same. The spacing between words is also unimportant, so "accounts payable" (with a single space between the words) is the same as "accounts payable" (with two spaces between the words), but "accountspayable" is different, and so is "payable accounts". Wherever a name contains two or more spaces or tabs in a row, the posting program reduces them to a single space. Spaces at the beginning and end of a name are removed. Hence the name " How now brown cow " is reduced to "How now brown cow". There is no particular limit to the length of a name, but excessively long names will slow the posting program down and may render trial balances almost unreadable. Journal names are truncated to 12 characters before posting, so there is no point in making them more than 12 characters long. 5. The Journal File Format An asterisk (*) in the journal file marks the beginning of a comment. The asterisk and everything to the right of it on the same line are ignored by the posting program. Items in the journal other than traditional journal entries are called commands. A command consist of a command name (which usually begins in the leftmost column, but may be indented), followed by a colon and any other information needed. Command names are case-insensitive. 6. Creating Ledger Accounts The first thing you need, with either the posting program or a manual accounting system, is a set of accounts. DEBIT ACCOUNT and CREDIT ACCOUNT commands create ledger accounts: * asset accounts DEBIT ACCOUNT: Cash DEBIT ACCOUNT: Accounts Receivable DEBIT ACCOUNT: Inventory * liability accounts CREDIT ACCOUNT: Accounts Payable * capital accounts CREDIT ACCOUNT: John Doe Capital * income accounts CREDIT ACCOUNT: Sales DEBIT ACCOUNT: Returns and Allowances * expense accounts DEBIT ACCOUNT: Purchases CREDIT ACCOUNT: Purchase Discounts CREDIT ACCOUNT: Inventory Change CREDIT ACCOUNT: Interest Income DEBIT ACCOUNT: Advertising DEBIT ACCOUNT: Rent DEBIT ACCOUNT: Utilities The account names may appear in any order, but it is helpful to arrange them in the order in which they will appear in the financial reports. You may not define two accounts with the same name. If you try, the posting program will declare an error. It is permissible to define two or more accounts of the same kind on the same line, if the names are separated by commas: DEBIT ACCOUNT: Cash, Accounts Receivable, Inventory You may also wish to give an account an abbreviated alias name: ALIAS: A/P = Accounts Payable You may use the alias "A/P" in postings, but the full name "Accounts Payable" will be used by the posting program in trial balances and reports. 7. Standard Journal Entries The standard journal entries are easy to recognize. If the account name is indented--even a single space--the amount is a credit amount. Otherwise, the amount is a debit amount. You might want to align the debit and credit amounts vertically as they would appear in a ruled journal book. A good text editor will help you do that. It is not required by the posting program, but it makes the journal a lot easier to read. Here is an example: Accounts Payable 5000.00 Cash 5000.00 Dollar amounts are written without dollar signs. Commas are optional; but it you use them, you must put them in the standard positions. If a dollar amount is a whole dollar amount, you may omit the characters ".00" at the end. Blank lines should be used to separate journal entries. The posting program uses blank lines to tell where journal entries begin and end so it can determine whether each one is balanced. If the posting program encounters an unbalanced entry, it will declare an error. Each account name must match one created by a previous CREDIT ACCOUNT or DEBIT ACCOUNT command. If not, the posting program will warn you. Errors of this kind often result from simple typing errors. The posting program is very strict about spelling. It has no way of knowing that "Accounts Payable" is the same as "Acounts Payable". 8. The DATE Command The DATE command determines the date of all subsequent entries until the next DATE command. You may express the date in any of several formats: DATE: 5/6/2001 DATE: May 6, 2001 DATE: 5-6-2001 If you omit the year, it is presumed to be the same as the year in the preceding DATE command. Entries before the first DATE command are assigned the current date according to the system clock. The posting program will check dates for validity, but not for reasonableness. Hence it will accept "July 5, 2075" but not "February 29, 2002". 9. The JOURNAL Command The name of the journal is normally the same as the name of the file. However, you can use the JOURNAL command to specify a different name: JOURNAL: General The journal name has the same restrictions as the name of an account. There is no specific limit to its length, but it should be short, because it is truncated to 12 characters when postings are entered into the ledger. 10. The COMPANY Command If you keep books for two or more companies, you may want to use the COMPANY command: COMPANY: XYZ Company The company name has the same restrictions as the name of an account. There is no specific limit to its length. The posting program will declare an error if two COMPANY commands with different company names appear in the same invocation. 11. The TRIAL BALANCE Command At any place in the journal, you may draw a trial balance with either of the following two commands: TRIAL BALANCE: tbfile CONDENSED TRIAL BALANCE: tbfile The trial balnace is written to the specified file, in the form of a journal entry suitable for posting. In fact, you will probably want to use the post-closing trial balance as the opening entry in next year's journal. If you put a plus sign (+) immediately before the trial balance file specifications, the trial balance will be appended to any text already in the file; otherwise, any text already in the file will be lost. A condensed trial balance omits all accounts with zero balances. 12. The LEDGER Command The LEDGER command writes a ledger to the specified file: LEDGER: ledgerfile It is normally the last command in a journal. If you put a plus sign (+) immediately before the ledger file specifications, the ledger will be appended to any text already in the file; otherwise, any text already in the file will be lost. 13. The REPORT Command The REPORT command writes a report: REPORT: templatefile, reportfile The posting program copies the contents of the template file to the report file, replacing special character sequences called tags by account balances or other information. An account name enclosed in braces is replaced by the current balance in the account. If the account is a credit account with a debit balance, or vice-versa, the amount is enclosed in parentheses. In most financial reports printed on typewriters or standard PC printers, rows of minus signs or equal signs are used to underscore partial and total sums. The special tags {-}, {=} and { } are converted into sequences of minus signs, equal signs or blanks, respectively, just long enough to underscore an amount. Blanks are inserted to guarantee alignment with amounts enclosed in parentheses. The posting program always leaves room enough for the largest possible amount with parentheses. By default, amounts are limited to 18 digits, so it may yield something like the following: 100.00 ( 10.00) ------------------- 90.00 =================== This wastes a great deal of space when all numbers are much smaller than the largest amount, as they often are in small companies or organizations. To prevent this, you can use the CONFIGURE command to specify a different number of digits: CONFIGURE: DIGITS 8 You must do this at the beginning of the journal, before defining any amounts or variables. The sum above then becomes: 100.00 ( 10.00) --------- 90.00 ========= The tag {company:} is replaced by the name specified in the COMPANY command. The tag (date:} is replaced by the date in the most recent DATE command. 14. Variables Financial reports contain balances in ledger accounts, of course, but they also contain many other dollar amounts that do not appear in any ledger account. In our example, there are accounts called "Purchases" and "Purchase Discounts". The total net balance in these two accounts (remembering that they normally contain debit and credit balances, respectively) is called "Net Purchases" on the income statement, but it is not a ledger account. You can define such non-ledger amounts, which are called "variables", by the CREDIT VARIABLE and DEBIT VARIABLE commands: DEBIT VARIABLE: Net Purchases CREDIT VARIABLE: Net Sales Variable names obey the same rules as account names. You cannot define a variable with the same name as an account, or vice-versa. If you try, the posting program will declare an error. The value of a variable is zero when it is defined. It can be changed by appropriate sequences of CREDIT, DEBIT, ADD, SUBTRACT and TOTAL commands in what might be called a pseudo-entry: ADD: Purchases ADD: Purchase Discounts TOTAL: Net Purchases The posting program adds the balances in the two ledger accounts (netting debit and credit amounts as required) and puts the result into the non-ledger amount called "Net Purchases". The balances in the two ledger accounts are not changed. There is also a SUBTRACT command that switches an account balance from debit to credit, or vice versa, before adding it: ADD: Net Income SUBTRACT: Interest Income TOTAL: Operating Income When three or more account balances are to be added, and the accounts are listed together in the chart of accounts, you can use a kind of shorthand. For example, the non-ledger amount called "Total Expenses" is calculated as follows: ADD: Advertising ADD: Rent ADD: Utilities TOTAL: Total Expenses If the accounts "Advertising", "Rent" and "Utilities" have been defined together in that order, then this can be abbreviated ADD: Advertising .. Utilities TOTAL: Total Expenses This is why it is so desirable to have accounts defined in the order they will appear on the financial statements. It facilitates this kind of shorthand. It is also possible to add previously computed variables. The total must be a variable. The addends may be either accounts or variables. 15. Closing Entries There are also special posting commands for closing accounts, with optional shorthand when the accounts to be closed are consecutively defined. The entry CLOSE: Sales .. Utilities INTO: John Doe Capital is equivalent to CLOSE: Sales CLOSE: Returns and Allowances CLOSE: Purchases CLOSE: Purchase Discounts CLOSE: Inventory Change CLOSE: Interest Income CLOSE: Advertising CLOSE: Rent CLOSE: Utilities INTO: John Doe Capital and its meaning is obvious. The INTO command may also be used to supply a balancing amount in a non-closing entry. For example, if several payments are made by check, you might want to use an entry of the form: Advertising 123.67 Rent 400.00 Utilities 67.92 INTO: Cash Of course, the posting program will be unable to detect any imbalance, but in this case the checkbook reconciliation will serve this purpose. If you design a report to follow the proper format, and it has no parenthesized amounts, it can be used as a journal file. 16. Messages A journal for the Plain Vanilla Posting Program 3.0 is something like a program in itself, expecially if it contains a lot of special posting commands. You probably won't get it right the first time, and you'll have to do a little debugging. The special posting command MESSAGE: will display the speci ... ...

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