Award Winning Personal Accounts the easiest way to look after your money

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers

General

Where can I get help?

Help is available FREE on our dedicated Personal Accounts Forum where you will get answers from experts. You can also send messages to other users from the forum.

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Where are the 'Categories' and 'Sub-categories' (ex-quicken, ms-money users may ask this)

The terms 'category' and 'sub-category' are generally used to describe a group of accounts and the accounts contained within that group. In Personal Accounts, an account is an account whether it tracks your bank, your income or your outgoings. However, you can categorize groups of accounts by enclosing them within a section heading and section total. You can group as many sets as you like, and group and sub-group those groups ad infinitum.

This screen shot shows 4 groups of accounts:

Money
Expenses
Income
Shares

The 4 groups have then been combined into a single group called Assets.

You can see:

Each individual account
Each individual group
The overall balance

If you created another group for your liabilities, you could then group
your assets and liabilties together creating an instant and always up
to date balance sheet.

nb. there are no restrictions on the number of accounts within a group or on the number of groups

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But can't I do all this in a spreadsheet?

No. Can you guarantee that your functions and formulas will always be in place when you create new rows? Can you create a replicating formula that will guarantee all new groups will show the correct total? Can you create an entirely automatic real time function which will :

a) physically create new rows

b) replicate existing formulas

c) sort, update and forecast balances

d) update itself so it knows when to stop?

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Other systems have options to alter the amount of the first payment of a standing order, why doesn't PA?

Our aim is to keep all displays as simple and consistent as possible. You can alter any amount, anywhere, wherever you want - so it is easy to alter the first payment amount either before or after it has appeared in the entries window. A better way is to use two automated entries, one for the first payment and the second to cover the remainder (you can make a second copy of an automated entry by pressing Ctrl+Insert to insert a blank row under the original, then press Shift+Ctrl+C to copy the whole entry or Ctrl+C to copy a field at a time).

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Other systems use a sophisticated 'split' or 'multiple' entry function. Why doesn't PA?

Our philosophy is to keep the interface as clean and simple as possible and to ensure nothing is ever hidden. [Back to the top]

Can I?

Can I download bank statements?

Not at the moment. This may be added in the future, however, there are very real problems with downloading bank statements:
- You cannot download all the data from any UK bank: All you get is the amount, date and some reference. That means you will need to manually step through each entry to finish it and therefore give it some meaning if you want to analyse your income and expenditure.
- You will need to check for duplicates (part 1): You will need to ensure you do not download statements more than once or that they do not overlap in any way.
- You will need to check for duplicates (part 2): Personal Accounts will auto-insert your standing orders and direct debits for you. This also allows the software to forecast ahead, giving you information in advance about pending overdrawn balances. If you download transactions from your bank it will result in duplicate entries. There is no way round this in any software of this type, that is why we have made data entry in Personal Accounts so fast.
- Always know what your REAL balance is: Downloading transactions will only give you your bank's idea of your balance:
  What about uncashed cheques?
  What about credit card payments that have yet to be processed?
  What about money paid into your account?
  What ATM or debit card transactions that have not yet been debited?
- Spotting fraudulent or error transactions: Unless you keep your receipts, or at least a note of what you have spent, you are relying on the bank or credit card company's idea of your transactions.
Personal Accounts has been designed to let you enter data rapidly, far more quickly that any other accounting software. The Preset entries mean single key input. Automated entries save you entering commonly occuring entries. All you have to do is keep your receipts and remember to add them to Personal Accounts from time to time. It is a very fast process and typically takes no more than 10 minutes a week.

The benefits are that you will always know EXACTLY how much you REALLY have to spend. You will also be informed in advance of pending direct debits such as TV licence payments that most people forget about until they suddenly appear on their bank statement. The same can be said of insurance payments, water, gas, rates, electricity and telephone direct debits.

So, downloading bank statements sounds like a great timesaver until you try it.

And why are we adding it? Simple, it will allow you to download historical data. You will still need to go through it, but at least you can build a picture of your previous spending to compare to your current spending.
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Can I move columns around?

Yes. You can move the columns where you like by dragging the column heading. Column widths can also be adjusted. The same applies to rows as well.

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Can I create a new file complete with carried forward balances?

Yes. Open the File-- > New (Continuation file) option from Personal Accounts menu bar.

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How do I?

How do I load my version 4 file into version 5?

Select File-- > Open Choose Personal Accounts 4 files from the Files of type menu at the bottom of the Open dialogue. Navigate to your version 4 file and load it.

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How do I make a transfer?

Because your transactions are held in accounts (and not a mixture of categories, sub-categories and accounts), a transfer is just the same as any other entry in Personal Accounts (ie.from one account to another). It really is that simple.

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How do I start with an empty file?

Open the File-- > New (clear everything) option from Personal Accounts menu bar, or turn off the Always start with the last file option in the Auto-save tab of the Preferences window.

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How do I produce a bank statement?

Double-click on any account's statement balance.

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How do I produce a current bank statement?

Double-click on any account's current balance.

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How do I produce a forecast statement?

Double-click on any account's forecast balance.

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How do I export a report to a spreadsheet?

Click on the Save button on the left of any report window's toolbar. Save the report with a suitable filename to any folder. Load the file into any spreadsheet (use File- > Open or File- > Import from your spreadsheet).

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How do I open a new account?

Press Ctrl+Insert in the row you want the new account created in in the Accounts window and enter a name and shortcut code of your choice. Press F4 or open the Accounts Database if you want to store further information for that account.

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How do I keep track of my possesions and assets?

Open a new account for each asset. Enter as much detail as you like for each asset (e.g. when it was bought, guarantee period, telephone support numbers). Group all your asset accounts together so you always have an up to date picture of their total value (useful for insurance purposes as well as keeping an inventory.

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How do I keep track of my share portfolio, ISA's, Tessa's?

In exactly the same way you would for any other assets - see previous FAQ above.

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I have split a file to archive off last year's data. Now, whenever I open it, it updates the standing orders and direct debits. Is there a way to stop this?

Yes. There are 2 methods:

1. Set your system clock back to the year of the file (or earlier). Load the file, open the Automated tab in Preferences and turn off the Auto feature. Save the file. Reset the clock back to today.

2. Load the file, turn off the auto feature (as above), delete the extra entries (they will be obvious since it is every entry after the year end of that file). Save the file.

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Entries Window

Can I produce a report from the Entries window?

Yes. You can double-click on any field for an instant report, you can open the user-definable reports window where you can specify everything from the account you want to see, to a range of dates you wish the report to include.

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Can I edit entries?

Yes. You can edit any entry, anywhere, at anytime. Just place the cursor wherever you want and edit the contents.

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Can I unreconcile entries?

Yes. Remove the reconcile character(s) from the relevant side of the entry you want to un-reconcile.

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Can I lock entries so I don't accidentally edit them?

Yes. Go to the Reconcile tab in the Preferences window and select the Lock reconciled option.

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Can I get a report of just my unreconciled entries?

Yes. Click the Reports button (right hand side of button bar) in the Entries window, select the account, tick the Unreconciled box, click Create Report.

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How do I delete an unwanted entry?

Press Ctrl+Delete to delete a complete row in the Entries window. Ctrl+U will delete the contents of a field.

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Can I sort the Entries on a column other than by date?

Yes. You can sort any window by any column at anytime by double-clicking on the columns heading. If you sort the Accounts window, the groups will remain intact.

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Accounts Window

Can I see which of my expense accounts I am spending the most on?

Yes, the balances are always on display and up to date...but if you sort your accounts by Current Balance, each group will be sorted by balance order. Perfect for an instant management report.

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Can I re-group my accounts?

Yes, and you can do it at anytime. Move any account from one row to another (or from one group to another) by dragging its row number button up or down the list of accounts.

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How do I delete an unwanted account?

Press Ctrl+Delete to delete a complete row in the Accounts window. You can only delete an account if there are no entries relating to it - if there are, you will be told where.

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How many accounts can I have?

You can create as many accounts (of any type) as you need - and at any time. There is no limit other than the available memory/disc space in your machine.

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Can I rename an account and/or its code whilst it is in use?

Yes. You can rename anything anywhere anytime. All changes will be reflected 'across the board' as you type.

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How do I pay several accounts with a single cheque? (and reconcile it later?)

Use a 'temporary' account and make multiple entries. Suppose we have just spent £100 in a supermarket and rather than enter this under the general heading " food " we wish to split it further between food, drink, magazines and cash (i.e. cash back):

The advantages are many:
- There is only a single (£100) entry to reconcile from the bank.
- We can check for mistakes: temporary account will return to zero if all the money is correctly allocated.
- We can see all the components of the split. Nothing is hidden - and that is the philosophy behind PA.
You can use the same procedure for incoming money:

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You have used the same account " temporary " for both the incoming and outgoing examples above. Won't this mess up the system?

No. The temporary account will always balance to zero after each transaction (and therefore always start at zero for the next one). All we have to do is create a single temporary account and use the same one everywhere

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Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

General

Can I?

How do I?

Entries window

Accounts window

Answers

General

Can I?

How do I?

Entries Window

Accounts Window