User Guide - Ascendo Money - Personal Finance Manager for BlackBerry - Version 3

Chapter 3 - Using Ascendo Money for BlackBerry

When you install software on a BlackBerry, an application icon is placed on the home screen. On some devices, the application icon is placed in the Applications Folder or Download Folder. To start Ascendo Money, use the track ball or track wheel to move to the appropriate folder, highlight the Ascendo Money icon pictured in Figure 2, then click on the icon to start Money.

Figure 2

Section 3.1 - Managing Accounts

The first screen displayed when you start Ascendo Money is the Accounts screen, see Figure 3. A few sample accounts are created when you install Money but you can delete or modify them at any time.

Figure 3

Ascendo Money will display the total of the default currency in the lower left of the screen. If you have accounts with multiple currencies, you can use the track ball/wheel to move to and highlight the Total All value and click on it to display the totals of accounts in other currencies.  

To display the screen menu with the features available from the accounts screen (Figure 4), click on the BlackBerry Key to the left of the track ball/wheel.

Figure 4

View Account (View Register) will display the transaction Register when your expenditures and deposits are listed.

Edit Account will allow you to change the account name, icon, initial balance date, initial balance amount and user defined field label, see Figure 5.

Add New Account will allow you to create a new account.

Figure 5

To select a new icon, highlight the icon, click on the BlackBerry key and select Change Option. A screen will appear with 100 icons, see Figure 6. Use the track ball to navigate through the icons then click on the track ball to select an icon and return to the account edit screen.

Figure 6

To select a currency symbol, click on the “SYM” key on your BlackBerry.

When you create an account, you may want to set the Starting Balance Date and Starting Balance Amount using a bank statement. All transactions entered on or after the Initial Balance Date will be reflected in the account balance. If you fall behind on entering transactions, you may want to reset your Starting Balance Date and Starting Balance amount to the most current bank statement.  

Each account has a user defined field. You can set the field name to anything you like and it will be displayed on the transaction form along with a value field. In this example, the field name has been set to “Check Number” so that when you enter you checking withdrawals, you can record the check number.

Section 3.2 - Using Transaction Registers

The Account Register is used to manage withdrawals and deposits to as well as keep track of the account balance. To display the Account Register, go to the accounts screen, roll the track ball/wheel to highlight an account, then click on the track ball/wheel to display the account register.   

Figure 7

The transaction list displays several columns but there are more fields off the right side of screen. In addition, there may be more transactions below the screen depending on how many transactions you have entered. Ascendo Money provides a Roll & Scroll ^TM feature that allows you to navigate quickly and easily to the information you want. To use this feature, use the track ball/wheel to highlight one of the transactions. Then simply roll the track ball left or right to move horizontally across the fields or roll the track ball up and down to move vertically through the transactions.  

Section 3.2.1 - Searching and Filtering Transactions

When the register screen first appears, the cursor will be in the Search field. If you start typing characters, Ascendo Money will reduce the list to only those transactions for which Payee starts with the search string. For example, if you start typing “m”, only the McDonald’s entry will appear in the list. To clear the search field and display all transactions, click on the BlackBerry escape key or the pencil button to the right of the Search field.  

The Categories field allows you to reduce the list to only transactions of a particular category such as Meals, Clothing, Entertainment. To select a category, roll the track ball to highlight the Categories field value then click on the BlackBerry Key and select change option. Alternatively, you can highlight the Categories field and click on the space bar repeatedly to cycle through choices.

Section 3.2.2 - Adding, Editing and Deleting Transactions

The transaction register screen menu provides several options to manage transactions, see Figure 9. To display the screen menu, click on the BlackBerry menu key.

Figure 9

From this menu you can add a new transaction. Ascendo Money includes several features that allow you to add transactions quickly. The transaction date will be set to the current date and the cursor will be placed in the Payee field.

When you start typing characters into the Payee field, Ascendo Money will automatically suggest Payees. For example, if you start typing “E” then “Electric Company” will be suggested. If this is not the payee you want then continue typing. If it is the payee you want, then click on the return key to automatically complete the entry and move to the amount field.

Payees are stored in a separate database and have several default values associated with them for Payment Method, Status, Category and Type. So if you select a payee already in the databases, each of these fields will automatically be set to the default values you have selected. For example, if you select Electric Company, the Payment Method will automatically be set to ETF (Outgoing), status will be set to “Unpaid”, Category will be set to “Utilities” and Type will be set to “Personal Expenses”. You can override the defaults by moving the these fields and selecting other choices.  

You can view or edit a transaction by highlighting and click on it in the transaction list or by choosing View/Edit from the screen menu. To save your modifications, click on the BlackBerry key or track ball and select Save from the screen menu, see figure 10.

Figure 10

Section 3.2.3 - Splitting Transactions

Each transaction amount can be split across several categories. For example, you might purchase food and gifts in an airport store and classify the food as a business expense and the gifts as a personal expense. To do this, select Split from the screen menu to display the transaction splitter screen, see figure 11.

Figure 11

In the list below the remainder field, select categories an type amounts to allocate to each category. Ascendo Money will display the total of the amounts you have allocated in the Split Total field.  The difference between the transaction amount and the total allocated is displayed in the remainder field. When the remainder is 0, you have allocated the entire transaction amount.

Section 3.2.4 - Transferring Money between Accounts

Transfers can be used to move money from one account to another. For example, you may want to move money from your checking account to your savings account. Instead of having to create two transactions manually, Ascendo Money allows you to create a transfer in one step. 

To display the transfer screen in figure 12, select Transfer from the accounts screen menu. Enter the amount you want to transfer and select the account from which you would like to withdraw the money and the account into which you would like to deposit the money. To select an account, use the track ball/wheel to highlight the account selection value and click on the track ball/wheel to display the choices. Highlight your choice and click on the track ball/wheel to select the new value.

Ascendo Money will create two transactions; a debit from the source account with Payee set to "Transfer to Account Name", and a credit in the destination account with the Payee set to "Transfer from Account Name". Both transactions will be set to the amount you specified.

Figure 12

Section 3.3 - Managing Payees

Payees are people or companies that receive payments from you, or that make payments to you. For example, you may create a Payee named Vons Supermarket and record debit card payments for groceries or a Payee with your employer’s company name to record automatic salary deposits.  

To manage Payees, go to the Accounts Screen, click on the BlackBerry key and select “Manage Payees” from the screen menu. The Payees will appear in a list displaying the Payee name and Memo fields, see figure 13.

Figure 13

To add or delete a Payee, roll the track ball/wheel to highlight a Payee, then click the BlackBerry key to and select the desired action from the screen menu. You can edit a Payee using the screen menu or by simply highlighting and clicking on it with the track ball/wheel.

When you shop at a store on a regular basis, you probably pay with the same credit card want to categorize the purchase the same way. Ascendo Money allows you to set up Payees with default values for Payment Method, transaction Status, Category and Type, see figure 14.

When you create a transaction and select a payee from the Payee database, these fields will automatically be set to their default values. This speeds transaction entry considerably however, you can override the defaults at any time.

Figure 14

In addition, each payee record includes a memo field to store information specific to that Payee such as vendor contact information or purchasing tips.

3.4 Payment Methods, Status, Categories & Types

Each transaction includes information on the payment method, transaction status, category and type of the transaction. You can use this information to sort transactions and display reports on your spending habits.

You can add, edit and delete Payment Methods. The default Payment Types are listed in the table below. Each payment method must be declared as a withdrawal or a deposit to that Ascendo Money knows whether to add or subtract the amount from the account balance.

For example, if you enter a payment to your cable company and select EFT (Bill Pay), the amount will be recorded as a withdrawal and subtracted from your balance. If you enter a transaction for your salary and select EFT (Direct Deposit), the amount will be recorded as a deposit to your account and added to the account balance.

A transaction's Status indicates whether it has has been processed by your bank. For example, you may write a check for a purchase but the check may clear the bank a week later. Tracking the status of transactions can be useful to verify if your account is about to go negative in order to avoid bank fees or interest payments.

You can add, edit and delete transaction status types. The default status types are listed in the table below.

Categories and Types allow you to classify transactions in order to better understand you spending habits. For example, you might want to create a category for Meals to track how much you spend each month. Types allow you to further classify transactions. For example, some of the transactions in the Meals category could be personal while others could be business related. 

You can add, edit and delete categories and types. When you start Ascendo Money for the first time, there are several predefined categories such as Automotive, Clothing, Entertainment, etc. and types such as Business Expense, Personal Expense, etc.

3.5 Managing Budgets

Budgets allow you to specify an amount that you would like to spend every month for transactions of a certain category. For example, you may budget $250 per month on clothing. If you buy a shirt and jeans for $125, you will have spend 50% of your budget.

Budgets are set in the Category management screen. To set budgets, go to the Accounts screen, click on the track ball/wheel to display the screen menu and select Manage Categories, see figure 15.

Figure 15

To set a budget, use the track ball/wheel to scroll down the list of categories and click on the track ball/wheel to open the category edit screen. You can set the Monthly Budget and choose if the category is an Expense or Income Budget. Expense budgets are things you spend money on like meals or utilities. An income budget could be used for revenues like salary or consulting fees.

To determine whether you are over or under budget for a category, go to the accounts screen and select Budgets from the screen menu, see figure 16.

Figure 16

The category budget screen contains the Category Names in alphabetical order and several other columns. The Amount column contains the sum of all transactions of a category for the current month. The Budget column contains the budget you choose for the category. The "%" column is the percentage of budget that you have attained. A percentage under 100% signifies that you have money left to spend on the category. A percentage over 100% signifies that you have gone over budget.

You can set a budget and display a bar chart from the Budgets screen by clicking on the track ball/wheel and select the option from the screen menu. Bar charts display the categories in descending order of budget percentage attained, see figure 17. You can use the track ball/wheel to move to categories off the bottom of the screen.

Figure 17

3.6 Reports

Ascendo Money provides numerous reports to help you analyze your financial situation. To select a report, go to the accounts screen and select Reports from the screen menu. A dialogue box with several report options will appear, see Figure 18.

There are several report types; Spending by Payee, Spending by Category, Spending by Payment Method, Spending by Type and Deposits vs Withdrawals. You can choose to display the data from one account or from all accounts. The beginning and ending dates will determine the transactions that Ascendo Money uses to create the report. You can choose to view the report as a Pie Chart, Bar Chart or in List View.

           
Figure 18                                                                   Figure 19

3.7 Scheduling Recurring Transactions

Some transactions occur repeatedly, such as salary deposits or mortgage payments. To avoid entering the same transaction over and over, Ascendo Money enables you to schedule recurring transactions for a payee based on the frequency that you specified.

To schedule a recurring transaction, go to the accounts screen and select Schedule Transaction from the screen menu. A list of scheduled transactions will be displayed. Now select Add Recurring Rule from the screen menu to display the Recurring Rule screen, see Figure 20.

Figure 10

Scheduled transactions will be created every time you start Ascendo Money based on the date and the frequency you selected. For example, you could set up a scheduled rent payment of $850.00 to occur every month. The Next Date is the first date on which the transaction would occur. If you select next date to be June 1st, then a Rent transaction would be created when you start Ascendo Money on June 1st, July 1st, August 1st etc. You can specify a certain number of occurrences or choose unlimited by checking the box. 

3.8 Customization Options

Ascendo Money for BlackBerry includes numerous user defined settings to to customize fonts, colors, screen layouts and navigation. To set these parameters, select Options from the Accounts screen menu, see Figures 21 and 22.

           
Figure 21                                                            Figure 22

3.9 Other Features

Ascendo Money for BlackBerry contains many of features to help you achieve your financial goals.

3.9.1 Reconciling Accounts

Reconciling bank statements with transaction registers can be useful to determine if there are fraudulent charges or expenditures that you forgot to make note of. Ascendo Money provides an account reconciliation feature for this purpose. To reconcile an account, select Reconcile Account from the transaction register screen menu. Enter the beginning and ending date of the period you want to reconcile. Ascendo Money calculates beginning balance, ending balance, sum of reconciled transactions and the difference, or un-reconciled amount.

3.9.2 Forecasting Account Balances

Ascendo Money allows you to forecast account balances at future dates. This can be helpful to adjust your spending until the next payday. Ascendo Money will calculate your balance at any date based on your current balance and scheduled transactions. To forecast a balance, go to the transaction register screen and select Forecast from the screen menu.

3.9.3 Purging Transactions

Over time, the number of transactions that you store in Ascendo Money may begin to effect performance. You can purge transactions between a date range to improve performance. Ascendo Money will remove these transactions and update account balances. To purge transactions, go to the accounts screen and select Purge from the screen menu.