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VFP and Accounting (Part II)
Rafael Copquin, Estudio Copquin
Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor; Fox programmer since 1987, starting with FPD and
upgrading to VFP. Vast experience in conversions from FPD to VFP, specialized in business and
accounting systems. Member of the Microsoft Users Group of Argentina's Board of Directors as
Treasurer.
When Microsoft discontinued development of Visual FoxPro, many would-be writers on VFP issues stopped sending articles to the
UniversalThread and as a result, no more articles on VFP were published, with a few exceptions.
Over the years, I kept receiving requests from many readers for a continuation of the VFP and Accounting article published in March
2007. I extend my thanks to Michel Fournier for allowing me to publish its continuation.
In the first part of this article I explained the fundamental parts of an accounting system, the most important accounting principles, the
tables that should be used, the reports to expect and briefly described how automated postings could be achieved.
It is evident that the most important data entry screen that we have to build is the accounting entry (shown in figure 1). In Visual
FoxPro there are many ways to enter data. However, I prefer to use grids. They are very easy to use, provide for a lot of flexibility, and
their columnar layout is the most adequate for the depiction and handling of accounting entries.
The tables needed
As described in the first article, all you need is but a few tables, namely:
Accounts.DBF (this is a listing of all the accounts in the system)
Journal.DBF (used to register all the accounting entries)
Details.DBF (used to register descriptions for the accounting entries)
Let me describe the use of each table and how they are part of an accounting entry. The ACCOUNTS table contains all the accounts
to be used in the system. These accounts can be divided, among others, into grouping accounts or posting accounts.
Grouping accounts are those that only serve to show group totals of related accounts. For example, if the Company operates with five
different banks, we would use one posting account for each bank but only one grouping account for the total balances of all banks, as
follows:
BANK ACCOUNTS
Bank Amount
Citibank 23,456.43
Bostonbank 15,800.00
Banco de la Nacion Argentina 55,245.65
Royal Bank of Canada 33,457.85
Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires 10,250.00
Total BANK ACCOUNTS 138,209.93
You can very easily show the above summary using a VFP report.
Postings to the General Ledger, for transactions involving Banks, can be exemplified with the following entry:
Account Description DEBIT CREDIT
11001 Citibank 5,254.00
11000 Cash 5,254.00
Deposit slip # 1223
The above entry reflects a very simple transaction: depositing cash into the Citibank account. Following the accounting principle of
double entry bookkeeping, the Bank account (Citibank) shows the money going into the bank account (deposit) and the Cash account
shows the money going out of the company and into the bank.
How do we use a grid to show this transaction ?
You need a form, a grid, a few labels and textboxes and some ingenuity, which I will describe below.
The accounting entry screen
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As you can see, we need a four column grid for the account code, the account description and the debit and credit amounts. The
white rectangle at the top is in reality two textboxes that will be used to enter a short description for the accounting entry. When the
entry is printed, this description will appear at the bottom, right after the last account. But it is easier to enter the entry description
before we enter the accounts, so Ive placed it at the top.
Look at figure 2 and see how the accounts are entered, with their respective debit or credit amounts. Each account has also a short
description to appear later on in the General Ledger sheet for the account. It is shown in the middle, in the brown form, which appears
briefly after the amount is entered. After the description is entered and the user presses the enter key, this brown form is hidden,
enabling the user to enter another account in the next line.
When the entry is complete, the user presses the save button and a dialog asks whether she wishes to save the entry. The save
operation performs a series of actions that I will describe shortly.
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But before going into the intricacies of the form, let us take a look at the data environment
The data environment
Only three tables are needed, namely:
Accounts.dbf (a listing of all the accounts in the Chart of Accounts)
Journal.dbf (the entries live in this table)
Jldetail.dbf (the short description that identifies the entry)
Simple isnt it ?
Initial steps
But let us analyze the form methods now, to understand how it all works. Since the first method that fires after the data environmet is
the LOAD method, well start from there:
Set Multilocks On
CursorSetProp("Buffering" , 5 , "journal")
CursorSetProp("Buffering" , 5 , "jldetail")
create cursor curJournal (account I ,;
amount N(12,2) null ,;
dbcr C(1) null ,;
debit N(12,2) null ,;
credit N(12,2) null ,;
accdesc C(30) ,;
gllegendC(30) null)
* Create a new first blank record for the grid
* making it ready for entering data
Select curJournal
Scatter name oJnl blank
Insert into curJournal from name oJnl
First we set multilocks to ON because we are going to be working with buffered tables. Second, we set the buffering for the journal
and the jldetail tables. We use the 5 option, optimistic table buffering. Then we create a cursor which will be the recordsource of the
grid and finally, we insert a blank record, to start entering data into the grid right away. Note the use of the NAME clause in the
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SCATTER and in the INSERT commands.
The INIT method fires afterwards and it simply makes a call to a grid configuring method.
Thisform.set_grid()
The SET_GRID method makes sure the grid is configured properly:
with thisform.grid1
.ColumnCount = 4
.FontBold = .f.
.DeleteMark = .F.
.Height = 200
.Left = 41
.Panel = 1
.ScrollBars = 2
.Top = 114
.Width = 527
.RecordSource = "curJournal"

.column1.ControlSource = "curJournal.account"

with .column2
.ControlSource = "curJournal.accdesc"
.Width = 261
endwith

.column3.ControlSource = "curJournal.debit"
.column4.ControlSource = "curJournal.credit"
endwith
As grids loose their configuration when the recordsource is changed, I use this method to reconfigure the grid every time a change in
the underlying cursor is necessary. The construct would be:
* Kill the recordsource
Thisform.grid1.recordsource =
* Recalculate the cursor with a select statement or other
* Call the grid reconfiguring method
Thisform.set_grid()
Entering data
Now it is time to start entering data. The first thing that happens is that we enter the date of the transaction. The textbox used for the
date has code that validates the date entered, making sure that an error message appears if a non valid date (such as for instance
February 31st is entered). By the way, once the date is validated, is is stored into a form property, dDate, to be used at the time of
saving the entry.
Likewise, the two textboxes at the top store the details into two form properties, cDet1 and cDet2, also used at the time of saving the
entry.
The next thing is to start entering accounts into the grid.
The account column
In the INIT method of the textbox for this column, I added a property that will be helpful in the account validation
this.AddProperty("lFound",.f.)
as can be seen in the VALID code for that textbox:
* This construct allows for moving the mouse outside the grid without
* running the below validation code
If Empty(this.Value) or ;
Lastkey() = 27 or ; && escape key
lastkey() = 28 && F1 function key
this.lFound = .f.
Return 1
EndIf
* From here, the account validation code
if this.lFound = .t.
Local nAccount
nAccount = this.Value
If Seek( nAccount,"accounts","account")
this.lFound = .t.
Return 1 && exit the valid event and enter the lostfocus event
Else
this.lFound = .f.
this.Value = ""
Wait "INVALID CODE" window at 30,45 timeout 1
Return 0 && stay here until a valid code is entered or F1 or escape key is pressed
EndIf
endif
And the LOSTFOCUS code only fires if the lFound property is true. The accounts table is selected so we take the account code and
description into local properties of this method, replace the cursor record accordingly and place the account description in the second
column of the grid. That column has a RETURN .F. statement in the WHEN event, to prevent the user from entering into the
description field, thus jumping directly into the DEBIT column. with thisform
If this.lFound = .t.
Local nAccount,cDescrip
nAccount = accounts.account
cDescrip = accounts.descrip
This.parent.parent.column2.Text1.value = cDescrip

replace curJournal.account with nAccount,;
curJournal.accdesc with cDescrip
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thisform.refresh
EndIf
endwith
The KEYPRESS event of this columns textbox fires when the F1 key or the Escape key are pressed. In the first case, a call is made
to an account selection form, which lets the user choose an account from the Accounts table. This is just a private data session form
that shows the accounts in a grid. When the user presses enter or double clicks on the grid, the form hides and the account and its
description are brought into the entry grid.
The escape key causes the form to close if the grid is empty or fires the SAVE method if it contains any records.
LPARAMETERS nKeyCode, nShiftAltCtrl
do case
case nKeyCode = 28 && F1 function key
thisform.accounts()
case nKeyCode = 27 && escape key
Select curJournal
Locate for account > 0
If not Found()
Release thisform && if the grid is empty, get out
else
thisform.save() && else attempt to save the entry
endif
otherwise
endcase
The debit and credit columns
The LOSTFOCUS event of this two columns have the same code. The value entered is made absolute, just in case the user enters a
negative value (which would cause havoc in the accounting system by preventing the debits and credits to balance). In the case of
the debit column, the value entered is stored into the DEBIT field and the DBCR field is replaced with a D. Contrarywise, the code in
the credit column would store the amount into the CREDIT field and a C in the DBCR field.
Please take a look at the third snippet. If, after an amount was entered into the debit side and the user realizes that she made an error
and the amount should have gone into the credit side, she would simply repeat the amount in the credit column. However, the debit
column would be made zero automatically. The same happens in the credit column. If a value were to be entered in error there, when
it should have gone into the debit side, an equivalent snippet would zero the credit side. This is just a little perk I introduced in the
code, to make error correction easier.
* LostFocus event of debit column
* same code for the credit column (only dbcr field is replaced with 'C'
* for credit,debit field with 0.00 and credit field with value)
this.Value = Abs(this.Value)
replace curJournal.debit with this.Value,;
curJournal.dbcr with 'D'
If this.Value > 0.00
replace curJournal.credit with 0.00
endif
* Adds the debit and credit columns and
* determines the difference between them
thisform.add_dbcr()
this.Parent.Parent.Refresh
Finally, a call to the ADD_DBCR method of the form performs the following action:
Applies redundancy by ensuring that the D or C marks are stored in the DBCR field and fills up the AMOUNT field with the amount
(positive) of the debit column or (negative) of the credit column. In other words, at the time of saving, only the AMOUNT field will be
stored in the journal table. The DEBIT and CREDIT fields in the curJournal cursor are only used as auxiliaries for purposes of the
grid. But the real thing will be either a positive or a negative amount, as applicable, into the AMOUNT field of the journal table.
In addition, both columns are added and the difference between the debit side and the credit side is shown at the bottom, as well as
the totals for those columns. In this manner, the user is always aware of the fact that there is a difference between the debit and the
credit side. Only when the difference is zero, she will be allowed to save the entry (see the save method below).
The next line
One thing that I noticed by looking at how other programmers add a new line to a grid, if they use it for data entry, is that they resort to
a separate form with textboxes, where the user enters the data for each field and then an insert is made into the grid cursor from this
form. To me, this is cumbersome and not very elegant.
So I use the last column of the grid for this purpose, or rather, the KEYPRESS method of its textbox, thus:
LPARAMETERS nKeyCode, nShiftAltCtrl
if nKeyCode = 13 && enter key
with thisform

local nDebit,nCredit,nRecord
nRecord = recno()
nDebit = .grid1.column3.text1.value
nCredit = .grid1.column4.text1.value

if nDebit <> 0.00 or nCredit <> 0.00
.gllegend() && enter legend for G/L account

Go nRecord

replace curJournal.gllegend with thisform.cGL_Legend

Append Blank

keyboard "{dnarrow}"
This.Parent.parent.column1.setfocus
endif
endwith
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endif
When the user presses the enter key, the keypress method fires. I save the record in the nRecord local property and the debit and
credit amounts in the nDebit and nCredit properties. If any of them is greater than zero, then I make a call to the General Ledger form
(the brown form), let the user enter the G/L description and position the pointer back on the record by going to nRecord, replace the
applicable field with the legend and perform the line addition action:
Append a blank record, send a down arrow movement with the KEYBOARD key word and set the focus to the first column of the grid.
Make sure the AllowAddNew and DeleteMark properties of the grid are set to false. This is so to avoid accidentally deleting a record
when clicking on any line of the grid and also to prevent a new record to be added if the down arrow is pressed.
That is all there is to it. Simple and straight forward.
The Save method
When the user intends to save the entry, the first control to be carried out is to see whether the debit side equals the credit side. If this
is not the case, an error message is shown and the cursor goes back to the first column of the grid. This is done by the
CHECKTOTALS method:
* Checktotals method
Local lOK,nDb,nCr
lOK = .t.
Select curJournal
Sum debit,credit to nDb,nCr for not Deleted()
Do case
Case ( Abs(nDb) = 0.00 and Abs(nCr) = 0.00 )
lOK = .f.
MessageBox("All accounts have zero values",16,"Attention!!!",3000)

otherwise
If Abs(nDb) - Abs(nCr) <> 0.00
MessageBox("The entry is not balanced",16,"Attention!!!",3000)
* if debit side is not equal to credit side return false
lOk = .f.
EndIf
EndCase
Return lOK
If the entry balances out, that is, the debit and the credit side are the same (remember the question the girl asked me when I was in
the Ottawa company? See the heading of the first article of this series), then we have to calculate the next entry number. This can be
done in many different ways, by using a separate table, or a special function. To make things simple and for the purpose of this
article, I chose to simply get the next higher value from the journal table.
* ENTRYNBR METHOD
* Get the next entry number
local nEntryNum

Select journal

If Reccount("journal") = 0
nEntryNum = 1
else
Calculate Max(entrynum) for not Deleted() to nEntryNum in
journal
nEntryNum = nEntryNum + 1
endif
return nEntryNum
For clarity, below is the SAVE METHOD in full
Local nEntryNum,lOK
if !thisform.checktotals() && if entry does not balance
If MessageBox("Do you want to exit",36,"") = 6
Release thisform
Else
ThisForm.grid1.column1.setfocus
endif
Else && if entry balances, then proceed to save it
nEntryNum = thisform.entrynbr() && get next entry number

BEGIN TRANSACTION

Select journal

cTable = "journal" && save table name for error message

* Create an empty record object for journal.dbf
* Remove PK field because it is readonly and is entered
* automatically (it is autoincremental)
* This avoids the "attempt to save to read only field" error
Scatter name oEntry blank fields except jnlid

Select curJournal

* Save only those lines that have a non zero value and *!* that have not been deleted

Select curJournal
Delete For ;
(curJournal.debit = 0.00 and curJournal.credit = 0.00)
Scan for ;
(curJournal.debit > 0.00 or curJournal.credit > 0.00) and not Deleted()

With oEntry
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.trandate = thisform.dDate && from txtDate
&& lostfocus method
.entrynum = nEntryNum
.account = curJournal.account
.dbcr = curJournal.dbcr
.amount = curJournal.amount
.gllegend = curJournal.gllegend
endwith
Insert into journal from name oEntry
endscan

lOK = TableUpdate(.t.,.t.,"journal")
If lOK = .t.

cTable = "jldetail"

Select jldetail
Scatter name oDetail blank fields except dtlid
With oDetail
.entrynum = nEntryNum
.details1 = thisform.cDet1 && from txtDetails1 lostfocus method
.details2 = thisform.cDet2 && from txtDetails2 lostfocus method
endwith
Insert into jldetail from name oDetail
lOK = TableUpdate(.t.,.t.,"jldetail")
endif

If lOK = .t.

END TRANSACTION

Else
ROLLBACK
TableRevert(.t.,"journal")
TableRevert(.t.,"jldetail")
=aError(aErrorArray) && Data from most recent error
MessageBox("An error occurred when ;
attempting to save"+Chr(13)+;
"this entry.The entry was not saved"+Chr(13)+;
"Table : " + cTable +;
"Error #: "+; Transform(aErrorArray(1))+Chr(13)+;
"Error message: "+aErrorArray(2),16,"Save error")

endif
endif
thisform.cleanup()
The cleanup method
* This method prepares the grid for a new entry
Select curJournal
zap
Scatter name oJnl blank
Insert into curJournal from name oJnl
Go top in curJournal
With thisform
.txtDetails1.value = ""
.txtDetails2.value = ""
.cDet1 = ""
.cDet2 = ""
.cgl_legend = ""
.dDate = {}
.grid1.column1.SetFocus
.Refresh

endwith
To save space, I did not explain the EraseLines method, but direct the readers to try it by themselves.
In a subsequent article, I will describe how to show the accounting information in screens and reports.
For now, have fun with the accounting entry grid !!!
More articles from this author
No Title Date
1. A class that builds an object for making cursor adapters April 2006
2. How to use a grid as a pick list April 2002
3. How to use a grid as a pick list (part II) June 2002
4. Making invoices with grids October 2002
5. Making invoices with grids and cursor adapters March 2006
6. Pagination in Visual FoxPro July 2006
7. Using grids to show Account Statements August 2002
8. VFP and Accounting - Part I March 2007
9. VFP menus and XML September 2006
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