CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION


The following bits of information may help you to use this manual and the RASER Accounting Software more efficiently.


USING THIS MANUAL

Throughout this manual, information will appear in the following formats:


Special Keys

Special keys (such as function keys) are enclosed in brackets [] as follows:

[F1] or [RETURN]


Prompts

Computer prompts will appear as follows:

    Save this Record? _


User Input

When the manual says to ENTER something, you are to type in the information indicated and then press the [RETURN] key. If the manual says to PRESS a key, this means only that key - no [RETURN] is needed. Information that you are to enter into the computer appears as follows:

    Y or DELETE or [F1]

Computer Screens

Computer screens will appear as follows:




Reports

Computer reports will appear as follows:




USING THE SOFTWARE

Function Keys

The following function keys may be used throughout the RASER Accounting Software:

[F1] Answers "Yes" to a Yes/No question
Enters your terminal date for a date prompt
Selects an option from a lookup screen
[F2] Answers "No" to a Yes/No question
Moves to the "Next" item/record
[F3] Moves to the "Previous" item/record
[F4] Ends or quits this option
[F7] Invokes a LookUp Screen depending on your current prompt
[F8] View Checks when in Cash Receipts Entry
[F12] Invokes a System-Wide LookUp Screen


Edit Keys

The following edit keys may be used throughout the RASER Accounting Software:

­ Moves up to the previous line
¯ Moves down to the next line
[LINE DEL] Deletes the current detail line
[LINE INS] Inserts a new detail line
[CHAR DEL] Deletes the current character
[CHAR INS] Inserts a new character
[CLR LINE] Clears field to blanks
[PAGE UP] Scrolls up one page
[PAGE DOWN] Scrolls down one page
[HOME] Goes to the beginning
[END] Goes to the end
[INS] Turns "Insert" mode on
[RPL] Turns "Replace" mode on


LookUp Screens

LookUp Screens are a list of valid codes from which you may select. For example, when you need to enter a Customer Code, you may press [F7] to invoke a lookup similar to the following:


 

You may also "prime" the lookup by typing in a letter and then pressing [F7]. For example, if you were to press J [F7], you will get the following lookup:




The following keys may be used while in the lookup mode:

[F1] Selects the current code
[F3] Starts the lookup over at the beginning
[F4] Exits without making a selection
[F7] "Reprimes" the lookup
Press a letter and [F7] to "prime" to a particular place
­ Moves up to the previous line
¯  Moves down to the next line
[HOME] Goes to the top of the lookup screen
[PAGE DOWN] Scrolls down one page

To select a code from within the lookup screen, you may use the ­ and ¯  keys to move your cursor to the code you want and press [F1]. Or you may just enter the code that you want to select.


Printer Selection

The system prompts you for printer selection as follows:

Select Printer 1 2 3 or 0 for terminal

Enter the number of the printer to which you want to print. Printers 1 through (n) coincide with each of the printers that are set up on your system. Printer 0 will display the report on your screen instead of printing on paper.

For those reports that perform an update afterwards, you are required to print a "hard copy" if you want to update. The system will detect the fact that you are displaying the report on your screen and will not allow you to perform the report update. This is to prevent you from accidentally updating without having the report on paper.

When displaying the report on the screen, you will be prompted with one of the following messages at the end of each page:

Press <RETURN> for MORE - <F3> to START OVER - <F4> to END:

<< END OF REPORT >> Press <RETURN> to Continue - <F3> to Start Over:

If there are more pages, you may press [RETURN] to see them or press [F4] to abort the report. If you are at the end of the report, just press [RETURN] to go back to the menu.

You may also press [F3] to start the report over. If you choose to start the report over, you may be allowed to reselect a printer. This allows you to view the report on the screen to make sure that it is what you want and then print it on paper without having the system repeat any sorting necessary to run the report.


G/L Accounting Period

Many A/R options require a General Ledger Accounting Period. Depending on how your General Ledger is set up, you may be prompted for the Accounting Period, or the system may base the period on your terminal date. See the Accounting Period Record File Maintenance section of your General Ledger manual for more information. If your system is set up to ask all the time, you will be prompted as follows:

    Company: XX G/L Accounting Period: pp/yy Ending: mm/dd/yy

Enter the period and fiscal year for which you are working on. You will then be prompted to double check as follows:

    Are you sure G/L Period 'pp/yy' is correct? (Y/N) Y

Enter Y to accept the period indicated or N to go back and change it.

NOTE: If you are not on a calendar year, the G/L accounting period will not correspond to the month of the year. For instance, let's say that your fiscal year starts July 1. Period 02/99 is not February, 1999; it is August, 1998.

Y/N/ABORT/DELETE

Throughout the RASER Accounting Software, you will be prompted to answer questions similar to the following:

    Data Correct? (Y/N/ABORT/DELETE)

Enter Y - or press [F1] - if you agree with the prompt and want to continue (usually to save the information on your screen). Enter N - or press [F2] - if you want to go back and make changes.

Enter ABORT if you want to exit without saving any of the changes that you have made. The "ABORT" option is only available when you are changing an existing record.

Enter DELETE if you want to delete the information. This option is not always available when you are changing an existing record. For example, if you are applying an existing check to invoices, you are not allowed to delete the check.


Automatic Expansion

Occasionally, you may need to perform  a file expansion. When updating a file, the system automatically expands the file if there is no more room to add new records. Enter Y to expand the file as indicated, or enter N to override the New Number of Records that the system suggests.



GETTING STARTED

Before you use your system "live", you may be required to first load information into a few files. The files need to be loaded in the following order:

See Chapter 8 - File Maintenance for more information.