The Business Finance Recording System is a comprehensive book-keeping system for the small business owner. It provides all necessary records for the VAT-man as well as reporting such vital things as which accounts are overdrawn and who owes you money, it runs on the Dragon 64 under OS-9, and requires the Dragon Plus board from Compusense.

It must be said at the outset that the program has similar aims to Dragon Data's own Cash and VAT which was released as an OS-9 package. Indeed, the author of the present package, Llewellyn Robins, wrote it to remove some of the frustrations he had experienced while using Cash and VAT over a long period of time. His decision to make use of the of Dragon Plus board stems from a desire to improve the display of the all-important and extensive menus, which he had to split over several screens in the 32 column display of the original version, and to make use of the extra 64K of memory to vastly improve the speed of operation and give more room on the disc for accounts files. At the same time this does limit the number of potential users.

Llewellyn has not just modified Cash and VAT, however. Since the original authors have gone away, this new program is completely rewritten and includes extra headings and catagories suited to his own photographic business. The source files can of course be adjusted so that it can be tailored to the user's requirements, and will be supplied made to measure. The program is being offered to improve the range of business software available and has been thoroughly tested in the author's own business. The cost will depend on the amount of work entailed but the main aim in putting it on the market is to allow others to take advantage of the 'blood, sweat and tears' (not to mention the sacrifices made by his 'computer widow') in the writing of it rather than to make a substantial profit.

I must confess I found it an impressive package. My review copy had minimal instructions, but despite the complexity of the program. It is simple to use and the menu system is so well thought out that I was using it confidently after just a few minutes of experimenting with the disc of dummy data provided.

A small procedure first initialises the extra 64K of memory as a RAM disc and automatically copies onto this a number of special program modules. The disc is then replaced by a formatted disc and you are ready to go. From now on, response to commands is virtually instantaneous apart from when files are saved to or retrieved from the datedisc. The main menu offers the chance to enter new files, to update or amend existing files or to obtain reports. The reports may be to screen or printer and may be detailed or just summaries. The VAT register may also be consulted in several ways and will produce a full printed audit trail.

Other options allow reports on bank accounts and transfers between deposit and current accounts, payment of credit card accounts etc. A special option allows program parameters to be set, so that if the VAT rate is changed this can be entered permanently into the program, as can printer page length 5, etc. Cash and VAT required the VAT rate to be entered each time a transaction was recorded.

Once a transaction is requested a new menu with no less than eighteen different categones of income or expenditure is offered. Apart from the sale of one's grandmother it is hard to think of a category not covered. Having chosen the appropriate one you are prompted for full information including cheque numbers, whether payment has been in part or full, etc. At each stage you can correct errors or press the X key to escape. Once your information has been entered, a quick look at the Bank account enquiry shows that all necessary adjustments to your balance have been made and that all other necessary files have been corrected. At least 1,500 transactions are possible on one data disc three times as many as on the old program. Normally a new disc would be used for each quarter and necessary information on bank balances is automatically transferred onto the new one. Cash and VAT could not do this. The new program allows discs to be swapped to look at another quarter, and either monthly or quarterly summaries can be obtained.

I certainly could not fault the operation of the program, or its user-friendliness, and had to dig deep to find any niggles. My only suggestion for improvement is in the way the date is input. Firstly the pragram only accepts one date format, for example 01.06.88, and if you forget that and enter 01.6.88, it treats this as a different period of time. A small subroutine to accept various types of input would not have taken much more memory. Also, since OS-9 requires the date to be set at boot-up, could this not be automatically used if, say, ENTER is pressed?

Reviewing a program such as this makes me feel sad. If the Dragon had had a proper I/O column display mode built in and been properly marketed then a program such as this would have sold like hot cakes. After all, with the Dragonplus and OS-9 it makes CP/M computers and even PC DOS seem really clumsy, which they are. If there is anyone out there who operates a small business and has the necessary hardware, then you would be foolish not to take advantage of this excellent and efficient program. Because of its restriction in demanding special hardware I must give it four Dragons, othenwise I would certainly give it five.