Please carry out the following steps:

1.    Make certain that you have backed up properly (Main screen: Utilities/backup account folder)

2.    Download Prime Entry version 5.09 and Prime Invoicing version 1.03

3.    Follow the instructions in this article regarding the “Alternative Rates”

Once you have downloaded the software you will need to check your

“ALTERNATIVE RATES”.

When you open one of your data files for the first time, you will be presented with the following screen

Your alternative rates for the earlier years will still be displayed if you have used them.  Please check and then click on the alternative rates for 2011 and “Next” to change the rates that you may need for the future.

Press F12 to save your changes and exit.  You can now continue working on your bookkeeping.

Should you need to access this screen again – from the Welcome Screen, choose Set up Books then Set up VAT

If you are in any doubt about any of these procedures, please do not hesitate to call us.

By downloading the setup file, either as a new installation or an upgrade the procedure is the same.  For new installation, obviously the download installs all the files needed to create a full working version, but for those users upgrading the software the installation system knows that you have a previous version and although updates all the system files, it does not overwrite any files that contain your data or personal settings.

On the right hand side of all our web pages you will see the download buttons for both prime entry and prime invoicing:

Click the appropriate button, and it will take you to a page as follows:

You will need to enter your email address, this helps us track who is using the software and from time to time we will send out information using this email address

then click:

At the thank you screen, simply click anywhere on the line that says

“Please click HERE to continue the download.”

Depending on which web browser you prefer to use will depend on the next instructions, but you should either have the option to save the file, or run the file.

Follow the on screen instructions, but essentially your goal is to “run the file”, you do not have to save it to your computer, particularly if you have a good internet connection.

If this is an upgrade you should be notified that you already have a previous version of the software and you should select “Yes” to continue.

First time installations will simply install the software

You are then presented with the installation screen, follow the simple instructions and once finished, your software will be updated to the latest version.

Which version are you using?

If you need to check that you are on the latest version, the download buttons within our web site displays the latest version number and when you open your application on your computer the version number is displayed at the top of the screen and also on the menu option Help and About.

A.        To save you time and money.  If you lose your data you or someone you pay will have to do the work again…

Before you start to upgrade your version of the software or after you have entered data, please take a moment to back up your data.  In the event you misunderstand any instructions, or there is some form of technical problem, if you have a backup of your data, we can easily return you back to the start point and start again.

“Use multiple backups -

it is far better to have 10 copies of the same data than no copies at all…”

You will be surprised, to learn that we know many people, who despite us continually reminding them, still do not back up their data regularly…

If you do not have a proper back up procedure for all your important data on all your computers, and we cannot stress enough how important this is, you should seek advice from your local computer retailer, or we will be more than happy to recommend our good friends at www.prodigypc.co.uk

To back up your primeentry data:

Note: This function can only be accessed from the Welcome screen.

This feature lets you back up all the files from a selected account folder.  The files are stored on a drive chosen by the user, which can include internal and external hard drives, USB memory sticks, or even floppy disks (only if the account folder’s size is less than that of the floppy disk’s capacity). The backup will be stored as

X:\Prime Entry\Backup

where X: is the letter of the drive you have selected.  The backup name will match that of your account folder, with the backup date appended. For example, if you were to back up a folder called Books on 12 May 2008, the backup would be stored as Books120508.

To back up an account folder:

1. From the Welcome screen, click Utilities on the menu bar, then select Back up account folder.

2. The file selection dialogue box will appear:

Note: Selecting a folder before clicking the OK button will back up all files within that folder (excluding any subfolders).

3. After clicking OK, the Back up selected account folder dialogue box will appear:

4. From here, you can select a drive on which to store the backup, then click OK or press Enter.

5. The system will inform you when the backup is complete, and will report the number of files that were backed up.

Note: The system will remind you to back up your data every 7 days.

1. From the Welcome screen, click on Set up books on the menu bar.
2. Click on the Set up VAT codes option.

You will then see this screen:

This is a single screen that shows the VAT rates that you can change if legislation is altered. The old rates are on the left and in the middle, the current rates are on the right. The start date at the top of the column defines when the changes were made, and the system will then apply the correct rates to items either side of the date of change.

Enter the date of the latest VAT rate change and alter the rates accordingly:

Rate 1, 2, 3 and 4 can be used for alternative rates, so that when entering data, instead of choosing rate S to calculate the standard VAT rate, you can use rates 1, 2, 3 or 4 to calculate a different rate. An example of this would be rate 1 being 5% for some fuels or building rates within the construction industry.

Cash based VAT Y/N

The other part of the VAT setup involves deciding if you are running cash-based VAT or not. – There is a button to the top right of teh menu bar to take you to this part of the set up.

Under the cash accounting scheme, you only account for and pay VAT to the VAT office when your customer pays you, and when you pay your suppliers. This means that if you don’t get paid by your customers, you don’t have to pay the VAT office the VAT, although scheme users can’t reclaim VAT on purchases until they pay their suppliers. It is ideal if your customers take a long time to pay you, and can help your cashflow.

Your accountant can advise you further on this decision, and the system will also allow you to make the change during the year, so long as you put the date of change either from or to cash accounting. The reporting will do the rest.

Important

This change should only be made at the start of a VAT period, and done before entering any transactions for that period.

If you are using the cash accounting scheme, as you pay off invoices through the Payments and Receipts cashbooks you will see the VAT totals recorded in a separate box just below the page total VAT.

If you are unsure about any of the VAT settings and how they affect your cashflow and reporting to the VAT office, then please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you find yourself using all the available lines in a book for a particular month, simply create another instance of that month on the summary page and you will have another 300 lines to use. Use the Notes column to help distinguish the parts that make up the selected month, e.g. “January 2009 (1/2)” and “January 2009 (2/2)”.

What the summary page shows you

You are shown the following details for each month:

1. Total of bank receipts
2. Total of bank payments
3. Bank balance
4. Total of cash receipts
5. Total of cash payments
6. Cash balance
7. Total value of sales invoices issued
8. Total value of sales invoices paid
9. Total unpaid sales remaining outstanding (due to you)
10. Total of purchase invoices received
11. Total value of purchase invoices paid
12. Total value of purchases remaining outstanding (due for payment)

Brought-forward and carried-forward totals

The figures in the B/F Totals boxes at the top and C/F Totals boxes at the bottom of the summary page show all the balances brought forward from your previous accounting period, and carried forward to the next accounting period. These figures include the bank balance, cash balance, unpaid sales and unpaid purchases.

Page totals

The figures in the boxes at the bottom of the screen will give you the totals to date, for every column.

Access to all of the books (Sales day book, Purchase day book, Receipts cash book, Payments cash book) is available from this page. Simply click on the line for the relevant month, then click one of the buttons on the tool bar, or press the corresponding keyboard shortcut.

If you move to a different page and then come back to the summary page, the cursor will always return to the current calendar month.

Totals will be automatically recalculated after you have entered data in one of the books and then saved the data with the F12 key.

Inserting new lines

Inserting new blank lines on the summary page is done in the same way as in other pages – place the cursor on the line below where you want to insert a new line, then press Alt + F7 on the keyboard.

Inserting subtotals

Subtotals can be inserted in two ways – by placing the cursor below the line where you want the subtotal to be inserted, then either pressing Ctrl + F3 on the keyboard, or by clicking the Subtotal button on the tool bar near the top of the screen.

Deleting subtotals

To delete a subtotal, highlight the line by pressing the F9 key (you can highlight multiple subtotal lines by pressing F9 on each line), or by double-clicking the line number(s), then simply press the Delete key.

Printing the screen

As with any of the main pages in the system, you can print the current contents of the screen by clicking Print on the menu bar at the top of the screen, then selecting Print current screen. You can also press the Alt + F6 keys.

Showing unpaid sales and purchases

If you want to see a list of unpaid sales, press the F2 key on the summary page. The Select personal code dialogue box will appear. To show all unpaid sales, leave the selection blank. To show unpaid sales for a particular personal code, select the code in the list.

To see a list of unpaid purchases, press the F3 key on the summary page. The Select personal code dialogue box will appear. To show all unpaid purchases, leave the selection blank. To show unpaid purchases for a particular personal code, select the code in the list.

Quick VAT lookup

At any time you can check the VAT return figures for a specific period. To do this, press the F4 key, or click Utilities on the menu bar, then select Quick VAT lookup. You will be shown the VAT account dialogue box, where you will need to enter a start and end date (in MM/YY format) and then click the Calculate button. You will then be shown the calculated VAT return figures for the chosen period.

Note: This report should not be used for your actual VAT return. It should just be used as a guide. For VAT reporting you should use the Print VAT account option from the Print menu.

If you have any questions about using the summary page, or any other part of Prime Entry, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Sales day book

The main areas of the Sales day book include:

1. The Invoice No column
2. The Customer Details column
3. The Invoice Total, Vat ind (VAT indicator) and VAT Output columns
4. Up to four named columns used for nominal anaylsis
5. Columns for further nominal analysis
6. Totals for the various columns

Data is entered across the columns, starting with the Invoice No column. The system will automatically calculate the VAT amount in the VAT Output column once a VAT indicator has been entered into the VAT ind column. The remaining amount should then be allocated to either one of the four named columns, or alternatively, into the A/c code column.

Importing sales invoices

Prime Entry can import sales invoice data from comma-separated values (CSV) files from any software that supports exporting to that format, including our own invoicing software, Prime Invoicing.

To import a sales invoice into Prime Entry:

1. In the Sales day book, click Utilities on the menu bar.
2. Move the cursor down to Import facilities.
3. Select the Import sales invoices option. The following dialogue box will appear:
   
4. Select the CSV file you want to import from, then click the OK button. The following message will be displayed, showing details for the imported file:
   
5. Click the Yes button to confirm the import and the data will be imported. You will be shown the following screen:
   
6. The upper part of this screen shows the end of your current list of sales invoices. The lower part of the screen shows the data that has been imported. You will notice the numbers at the top of each column. This allows you to match data from the imported file to the columns you have already set up.
7. Press the F9 key on each line you want to import into your day book, or press Ctrl + F9 to highlight all lines.
8. Press the F12 key to save the changes and complete the import process.

The Purchase day book

The main areas of the Purchase day book include:

1. The Voucher No column
2. The Supplier column
3. The Total Amount, Vat ind (VAT indicator) and VAT Input columns
4. Up to four named columns used for nominal anaylsis
5. Columns for further nominal analysis
6. Totals for the various columns

The breakdown screen

If you need to input more complex purchases, a feature of Prime Entry that you will find useful is the breakdown screen. This lets you break down complex transactions that may need to be allocated to multiple nominal or cost centre codes.

To break a purchase down into a breakdown screen:

1. Firstly, you will need to enter the voucher number in the Voucher No column.
2. Press the Alt + F9 keys to enter the breakdown screen. You will now have an extra 300 lines to enter the details of the transaction.
3. Once you have finished, press the F12 key. You will be taken back to the Purchase day book. Your breakdown entry will be shown in blue, with a “B” shown in the VAT ind column, and “BREAKDOWN” shown on the information bar at the bottom of the screen.

Sorting data in the Sales and Purchase day books

If you find that you need to sort data by a certain column, you can use the Sort by specified column option from the Utilities menu on the menu bar, or simply press the Ctrl + F2 keys anywhere on the Sales or Purchase day books. You will see numbers appear at the top of each column, and a dialogue box will appear:

Enter the number of the column which you want the data to be sorted by, then click the OK button. The data will be sorted into the required order.

If you have any questions about using the sales and purchase day books, or any other part of Prime Entry, please do not hesitate to contact us.