**********************************************************************
-> This file introduces BANK-PLAN, explains how to get started 
   etc. It should be read by all first-time users.

-> The file has been supplied as an integral part of the shareware
   version of BANK-PLAN, a cashflow planner for small businesses, 
   specially developed for use on a 'try-before-you-buy' basis 
   by Invest-Tech Limited. For contact details, see end of this file.

-> To print this file, type "PRINT README.TXT" at the DOS prompt.
**********************************************************************
		       
			    CONTENTS
			    ========

This file (README.TXT) covers the following topics in separate
sections below:

	1.  WELCOME

	2.  SUPPLIED FILES

	3.  GENERAL INTRODUCTION

	    3.1  System requirements & set up
	    3.2  Features - BANK-PLAN
	    3.3  Features - CASH-PLAN
	    3.4  Help system
	    3.5  System requirements
	    3.6  Registration
	    3.7  Invest-Tech

	4.  HOW TO RUN BANK-PLAN

	5.  WHAT IS SHAREWARE ?

	6.  USER LICENCE AGREEMENT
	
	7.  SOFTWARE REVISIONS

**********************************************************************

The supplied file VENDINFO.DIZ also contains important information.
It can be accessed by entering READ_ME.BAT at the DOS prompt.

**********************************************************************

1.  WELCOME
===========

BANK-PLAN (r3.3) is an easy-to-use software package for preparing 
monthly cashflow forecasts and projections of bank balances for a 
small or medium-sized business for a year ahead. It helps a manager 
to project cash inflows & outflows; to plan and control the 
business's net cashflows; and to determine its likely cash 
position/requirements over the coming twelve months.

This version of BANK-PLAN is shareware and has been developed for 
use on a 'try-before-you-buy' basis. If found useful, users may 
register to acquire the complete version of BANK-PLAN or one of our 
other packages for preparing financial projections. 

BANK-PLAN is NOT free software. If you continue using it after
a 30-day trial period, you must register with the author, Invest-Tech. 

In return for registering, you will receive a copy of the latest 
release of BANK-PLAN with its printing and file options fully
enabled, a spiral-bound 90-page manual incorporating tutorial exercises 
etc. and access to full support.

Registration only costs 50 pounds (sterling or Irish) plus VAT, 
or US$70. Further details are contained in the REGISTER.TXT file.

BANK-PLAN is fully protected by copyright. However, the shareware 
version may be copied in its entirety and without modification for 
FREE distribution to friends and, subject to the conditions set out
in the VENDINFO.DIZ file, by shareware libraries, BBSs etc.

BANK-PLAN was developed by Invest-Tech in association with the
Small Business Development Programme of the Irish Management
Institute (IMI) in Dublin, Ireland.

	     Good luck with BANK-PLAN.

		  Brian Flanagan, Invest-Tech Limited 

**********************************************************************

2.  SUPPLIED FILES
==================

See VENDINFO.DIZ.

**********************************************************************

3.  GENERAL INTRODUCTION
========================

BANK-PLAN is a powerful and easy-to-use software package specifically 
developed by Invest-Tech Limited to help small and medium-sized 
businesses to forecast their short-term funding requirements on the 
basis of cashflow projections, prepared on a monthly basis, for up 
to a year ahead. It can handle the wide range of variables and 
functions normally encountered during the preparation of cashflow 
forecasts and bank projections.  

BANK-PLAN can also be used by professional advisers, consultants, 
training organisations and financial institutions. It is suitable 
for businesses engaged in manufacturing, distribution or services.

Based on your forecasts and assumptions, BANK-PLAN compiles
detailed cashflow projections for twelve months ahead. It also 
produces reports detailing all the underlying assumptions. 
BANK-PLAN incorporates facilities for graphing key results; for
undertaking 'what-if' analysis; and for 'rolling-forward' assumptions 
and projections one month at a time.

BANK-PLAN is very suitable for users with limited or no prior 
experience of computers or financial planning as well as for 
more experienced users who do not wish to go to the very considerable
trouble, or waste valuable time, developing their own planning 
system on a spreadsheet. Bear in mind that BANK-PLAN involved many
hundreds of hours of development and years of "know-how".

While BANK-PLAN is aimed at smaller businesses (typically with annual 
sales in the range of 50,000 to 2,000,000 pounds/dollars), a more 
powerful version, CASH-PLAN, is available for small- to medium-sized 
businesses and subsidiaries of larger companies. Instead of
registering BANK-PLAN, a user can opt to register for CASH-PLAN.

Neither BANK-PLAN nor CASH-PLAN are suitable for producing business
plans, compiling financial projections beyond one year or for preparing 
comprehensive financial plans. Instead, a user should enquire about 
our EASI-PLAN range of fully-integrated 3-year planners which can 
produce P&Ls, balance sheets, ratios and cashflows on a monthly basis
for the first year and quarterly for the full three years.


3.1  System Requirements and Set Up
-----------------------------------

To run either BANK-PLAN or CASH-PLAN you need the following system:
 
 * Industry-standard PC with DOS 3.30 or higher and a hard disk.
 * Conventional memory of 640k. 
 * VGA, GCA, mono, Hercules or LCD display (or equivalent). 
 
Please check the VENDINFO.DIZ file for latest information.

A printer (dot-matrix, ink-jet or laser) is desirable. If you wish, 
you can run BANK-PLAN as a DOS program within Windows (an icon, 
BANKPLAN.ICO has been supplied).

BANK-PLAN needs 500k, or more, of 'free' conventional memory.  This 
should not present any problem as it is well within the capacity of 
most PCs with 640k of RAM. If, for any reason, BANK-PLAN runs short 
of memory, it will use any expanded memory which might be available 
or it will create some 'virtual' memory on the hard disk.
			 
If you are using a PC with a Hercules display, you will not be able
to view BANK-PLAN's graphs unless you run the supplied utility, 
MSHERC.COM, before you run BANK-PLAN. 

If you are running BANK-PLAN on a portable PC with a LCD display, 
you will probably need to change BANK-PLAN's video setting once it 
has loaded in order to clearly distinguish the rectangular cursor 
which appears when you are viewing reports on the screen. To do this, 
press I (for Initialise) at the Main Menu, V (for Video) and L (for 
LCD/B&W). The Manual accompanying the full version of BANK-PLAN 
explains how to make these changes permanent.

If a laser printer is being used, BANK-PLAN must be set up to allow 
its monthly reports to be printed correctly. To do this, access the 
S (for Strings) option within the I (for Initialise) menu and enter 
the appropriate printer string. If the correct string is not 
available and the printer can be set to emulate a HP LaserJet 
printer, use the following string for 16 cpi, 8 lines per inch and 
landscape:

		   \027&l1o8D\027(s16.66H

This string must be entered exactly as indicated ("0" is the digit 
zero, "l" is the lower case letter L, "1" is the digit one and "o" 
is the lower case letter O as in oh!). In addition, the page length 
should be reduced to 58 lines per page by selecting the P (for Page) 
option. As an alternative to entering a string, erase any existing 
string and use the printer controls to print using condensed pitch 
and landscape orientation. Printer set up is explained in greater 
detail in Section 4.3 the Manual (MANUAL.TXT) and in the "online" 
help (press F1).

If, when using BANK-PLAN, the  pound symbol fails to print, i.e  
(000) appears instead of (L000), or is replaced by another character 
e.g. #, you can make it appear simply by changing the character or 
symbol set being used by your printer to an IBM Extended Character 
Set. If the pound sign is missing, you may notice that some rows get 
slightly knocked out of vertical alignment. If using a HP LaserJet or 
compatible laser printer, the default symbol set (e.g. HP Roman-8) 
may not print the pound sign. Check the printer manual and use the 
control panel to switch to another symbol set, for example, HP IBM-US 
or PCMultilingual. If using a dot-matrix printer, check the manual 
for guidance and use the control panel or dip switches to alter the 
character set being used. If you change the symbol or character set 
you may be able to keep the new settings as your permanent or default 
settings without upsetting any of your other software.


3.2   Features - BANK-PLAN
--------------------------

BANK-PLAN can handle a very wide variety of variables and financial 
functions. These include the following: 

 - Sales forecasts for six product/market groups defined by the 
   user 
 
 - Purchases of materials or goods can be entered as absolute 
   amounts or as percentages of sales for up to four months ahead
 
 - Direct labour inputs and several other user-definable categories 
   of direct expense payments
 
 - Numerous categories of overhead expense payments which can be 
   defined by the user
 
 - Purchases of fixed assets, lease/HP payments and asset disposals 
 
 - Variable VAT rates for sales and facilities for specifying 
   varying rates for inputs; accounting for VAT on a cash received 
   or invoice basis; and flexible VAT payment dates
 
 - Variable interest rates for cash deposits and overdraft 
 
 - Facilities for increasing long-term debt and making loan 
   repayments
 
 - Share issues, dividends, corporation tax and grants/subsidies 
 
 - Phasing-out opening debtor and creditor balances 
 
 - Facilities for handling current-year materials/goods creditors 
   and trade debtors with the distribution of payment terms 
   extending up to four months. 

The descriptions of many variables can be readily altered by the 
user to suit their business. 

BANK-PLAN incorporates a facility for preparing "rolling" monthly 
cashflow forecasts which simplifies the task of preparing and 
updating cashflow projections on a regular basis.


3.3  Features - CASH-PLAN
-------------------------

CASH-PLAN is a more powerful version of BANK-PLAN, suitable
for larger businesses. Its menus etc. are almost identical to 
those in BANK-PLAN. However, it handles about double the number 
of variables with more extensive features including the 
following:

 - Three user-definable sales groups for each of which separate 
   VAT rates, debtor terms etc. can  specified. Each group breaks 
   down into three sub-groups defined by the user.
 
 - Facility to forecast materials/goods purchases on the basis of 
   target raw material and finished goods stock levels for each of 
   the three main sales groups. VAT can be paid at point-of-entry
 
 - Handles accrued interest more comprehensively and includes 
   provision for a category of long-term debt where interest is 
   calculated separately from capital repayments.

CASH-PLAN's additional facilities include the following:
 
 - Special software for printing graphs
 
 - Weekly cashflow projections for the first month
 
 - Many calculated values contain "drill-down" facilities to enable 
   a user to quickly inspect their underlying assumptions
 
 - All reports can be exported as a Lotus 1-2-3 compatible WK1 file.

A user who outgrows BANK-PLAN can upgrade to CASH-PLAN at a discount 
to the normal price. 


3.4  Help system
----------------

BANK-PLAN is entirely menu-driven and incorporates very 
comprehensive context-sensitive help facilities. These include 
extensive menu prompts, error trapping, on-line Help Pages, pop-up 
Hint & Guidance Windows and annotated variable descriptions. 


3.5  Specification   
------------------
  
  =================================================================
   Number of reports                               9      (10)*  
   Number of graphed variables                     21     (21)*  
   Approximate maximum number of user assumptions  800    (1,300)* 
   Approximate total number of built-in formulae   1,700  (3,600)* 
  ==================================================================
	* Numbers for CASH-PLAN given in parenthesis


3.6  Registration                     
-----------------

BANK-PLAN is not FREE software. If you decide that you would like 
to retain and continue to use BANK-PLAN after a 30-day trial 
period, you must register with Invest-Tech, the author and 
copyright holder. 

In return for registering, you will automatically receive the 
latest fully-operational version of BANK-PLAN with its 100-page 
spiral-bound printed manual (incorporating tutorial exercises etc.) 
and gain access to full support.

If you prefer, you can remotely upgrade the supplied version of 
BANK-PLAN. Press U (for Upgrade) from BANK-PLAN's Main Menu for
details.

See the table below and REGISTER.TXT for further details about 
registration.

    ===========================================================      
			   Fee (IRL)   Fee (stg)    Fee (US$)
			      Pounds      Pounds          See
			   See Notes    See Notes       Notes
    ----------------------------------------------------------
    BANK-PLAN                     50          50           70
    CASH-PLAN                     95          95          150
    Switch up to CASH-PLAN 
       from BANK-PLAN             70          70          110
    ----------------------------------------------------------
    Note 1  Plus VAT at 21% for Irish customers and for purchasers              
	    in other EU States who are NOT registered for VAT.

    Note 2  No VAT applies to customers in other EU States who 
	    are registered for VAT and who quote their VAT 
	    number at time of ordering.            
	
    Note 3  No VAT applies to purchasers outside the EU.    
    
    Note 4  Users outside the UK and Ireland should add 10% to
	    cover additional post and packing.

    Note 5  You can register BANK-PLAN (but not CASH-PLAN) through 
	    "PsL" (Public software Library) or CompuServe 
	    (see REGISTER.TXT for full details).
    ===============================================================

You can also upgrade and register directly with Invest-Tech via 
our World Wide Web (WWW) site on the Internet using a credit 
card and its special built-in forms. See bottom of file for 
details of its location.  Our Web site, called PlanWare, 
contains downloadable versions of *ALL* our financial planners 
for businesses and the home. It also offers useful advice in 
the form of text files on such topics as business planning, 
cashflow forecasting etc. as well as lots of other interesting 
stuff.


3.7  Invest-Tech Limited
------------------------

We are management consultants specialising in financial and 
business planning software. Formed in 1983, Invest-Tech is a 
Registered Practice within the Institute of Management Consultants 
in Ireland and the UK. Our banker is Bank of Ireland, Dublin and our 
auditors are Deloitte & Touche, Dublin.

In addition to BANK-PLAN and CASH-PLAN, our range of financial 
planning software includes the following commercial products:

PERS-PLAN: A personal or household cashflow and financial 
	   planner which can be used to plan 12 months ahead. It 
	   accommodates a very wide range of income and expenditure 
	   variables and can handle income tax, interest, credit 
	   card calculations etc. Supplied with a 90-page manual. 
	   Price: 29 pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT 
	   (US$40). Available as shareware in a file called 
	   PERSP*.ZIP.

YOUR-PLAN: Shareware version of PERS-PLAN available from good 
	   libraries in the UK, US etc. Only covers a six month 
	   period and handles fewer variables than PERS-PLAN.
	   Look for a file called YOURP*.ZIP.

EASI-PLAN: Range of comprehensive and fully-integrated financial 
	   planners (P&Ls, cashflows, balance sheets, ratios etc.)      
	   covering 12-months plus 8 quarters. To our best                 
	   knowledge, no other package even remotely offers the 
	   same range of features or facilities for business and 
	   financial planning. Runs 'stand-alone' with similar 
	   general structure to BANK-PLAN. 
	   
	   A "MICRO" version for new and very small businesses (with 
	   annual sales of up to 250,000 pounds). Price: 45 
	   pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT (US$70). 
	   
	   A "LITE" version for new and small businesses (with 
	   annual sales of up to 2 million pounds). Price: 75 
	   pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT (US$120). 
	   
	   A "PRO" version for larger businesses and/or professional
	   advisers. Price: 145 pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding 
	   VAT (US$230).
	   
	   Note: These are shareware versions of EASI-PLAN Micro, 
		 Lite and Pro. Look for files called EASI*.ZIP.

FIN-PLAN:  Wide range of comprehensive and fully-integrated
	   financial planners (P&Ls, cashflows, balance sheets,
	   ratios etc.) covering 12-months plus 8/16 quarters. 
	   Versions are available to run on Lotus 1-2-3 (any
	   release for DOS or Windows). Easily expanded by user. 
	   Price: 95 pounds (sterling or Irish) excluding VAT 
	   (US$150).

Comprehensive descriptions, specifications and 'demos' are available 
for each of the foregoing products.

**********************************************************************
 
4.  HOW TO RUN BANK-PLAN 
========================

Note that you can run BANK-PLAN as a DOS program within Windows.

Before exploring BANK-PLAN, you need to know that:

	All commands are executable from a Main Menu, sub-menus
	or function key menus. At any stage, the Main Menu can be
	retrieved by pressing the F10 function key once. You can
	access context-sensitive Help Pages by pressing F1 at any
	time.

	Whenever a report is being displayed on the screen, you can
	use certain function keys to perform the actions explained 
	in the menu strip displayed at the bottom of the screen.
	Additional function key commands can be used to navigate
	around reports etc. These can be accessed by holding down 
	the CTRL key on the keyboard while tapping one of the
	indicated function keys (press CTRL+F1 for help).

If you get lost at any stage, try pressing the function key F10 
to return to the Main Menu. If a system error is encountered, 
press the RETURN key (or CTRL+BREAK) and then F10. If a 'secured 
cell' message is encountered, press RETURN to clear it.

The following guidelines assume that you have already installed
(i.e. copied, unzipped, unarchived, uncompressed etc.) the
complete set of BANK-PLAN files onto a hard disk.
  
 a) Get into the sub-directory on your hard disk where you have 
    copied/installed all BANK-PLAN's files (for example if the 
    sub-directory BANK was used, type "CD BANK" and press RETURN 
    at the DOS prompt).        
    
 b) Run an introductory program called GO.BAT by typing "GO".
    If your PC uses a very old type of display, do not select this 
    option - choose d) or e) below.

 or
 c) For guidance about the syntax for loading BANK-PLAN
    etc. type "BP". 
 
 or
 d) Type "BP MASTER" to load BANK-PLAN along with a set of
    specimen assumptions in a file called MASTER.ASS.

    Next, skip through the introductory screens, by pressing any 
    key, to reach BANK-PLAN's Main Menu.

    Then, make a "working" copy of MASTER. From the Main Menu, 
    press F (for File), N (for New) and enter a file name (WORKING 
    is the recommended name).
 
By following the on-screen Hints and Guidance Notes and by accessing 
Help Notes and Help Pages, have a go at building your first set of 
projections. Good luck !

Running BANK-PLAN through Windows
---------------------------------
To set up BANK-PLAN to run within Windows, install it using the DOS
commands etc. before you load Windows.

Next, run the Windows Program Manager and proceed as follows:

  1. Select the Applications Group which you want to contain BANK-PLAN.
  2. Select File and New options from the Program Manager's menu.
  3. When the New Program Object box appears, select Program Item
     and OK.
  4. When the Program Item Properties box appears, proceed as
     follows:
	- Type "BANK-PLAN" as the Description.
	- Type "C:\BANK\BP X" as the Command Line. Make sure you enter
	  a single space between BP and X. This command assumes that
	  BANK-PLAN has been installed to the BANK sub-directory on
	  a hard disk called C.
	- Enter "C:\BANK" as the Working Directory.
	- Select Change Icon and select OK when the Change Icon message
	  box appears.
	- When the next Change Icon box appears, enter
	  "C:\BANK\BANKPLAN.ICO" as the File Name and select OK.
	- Once you return to the Program Item Properties box select
	  OK twice to complete installation.

To run BANK-PLAN within Windows, double-click on its icon and wait while
it loads. Press RETURN to ignore the 'File does not exist' message and
then use the cursor keys and RETURN to select the desired *.ASS file in
response to the instruction 'Enter Data File Name" which appears at the
top of the screen. If more than five such data files exist, press the F3
Function Key to display them in a larger window.

***** WATCH OUT ****

If you try to display graphs when running BANK-PLAN in a DOS Window (i.e.
less than full screen) when running in Enhanced Mode, the graphs may not
show and the display may lock. To unlock it, return to a full DOS screen
by pressing ALT+RETURN. Always use a DOS full screen when displaying
BANK-PLAN graphs.

Using a LCD display
-------------------
If you are running BANK-PLAN on a portable PC with a LCD display, you
will probably need to change BANK-PLAN's video setting once it has loaded
in order to clearly distinguish the rectangular cursor which appears when
you are viewing reports on the screen. To do this, press I (for
Initialise) at the Main Menu, V (for Video) and L (for LCD/B&W). The
Manual explains how to make these changes permanent.

Other Information
-----------------
The following text files contain more detailed information about
BANK-PLAN etc.:

  Register.txt     -   Registration details, form etc.
  Readme.txt       -   Extensive introduction to BANK-PLAN
  Manual.txt       -   Comprehensive manual

To read a text file:
    - Enter "TYPE *.TXT|MORE"
    *or*
    - Use DOS Edit or Windows Notepad.
**********************************************************************

5.  WHAT IS SHAREWARE ?
=======================

"Shareware" is a method of software distribution designed to
give users a chance to test a package before purchase at a very
competitive price. Copyright rules apply to shareware and the
authors retain all the rights except as indicated in their 
licence agreements. 
********************************************************************
	
6.  USER LICENCE AGREEMENT
==========================

See VENDINFO.DIZ

**********************************************************************

7.  SOFTWARE REVISIONS
======================

r2.0   1-JAN-1994
-----------------
First shareware release of BANK-PLAN.   

r2.1   10-JUL-1994
------------------
We added some extra rows for entering direct and overhead costs
and did some minor tidying up.

r3.0   26-JUN-1995
------------------
Added further rows for sales groups,  direct and overhead cost
variables. Introduced facility for suppressing the printing of rows 
with zero values. Added the remote upgrade facility.

r3.3  15-OCT-1995
-----------------
Minor changes. Inclusion of info about Web site etc.

**********************************************************************
BANK-PLAN (c) Copyright Invest-Tech Limited 1993-95   
All Rights Reserved     

    Invest-Tech Limited  
    27 Ardmeen Park, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland
    
    Irish Tel: 01-283 4083      UK Tel: 01232-315454
      (Call 9 to 9 weekdays and 10 to 6 weekends - GMT/BST)  
    Fax: 278 2391 
      Fax codes: Irish:01-  UK:00-353-1-  Inter'l:+353-1-
    CompuServe:   100606,2665
    Internet:     brianf@iol.ie
    WWW URL:      http://www.planware.ie/resource/planware

**********************************************************************
	   
	    To print this file, type "PRINT README.TXT"
		*** End of README.TXT file ***
