Ever since the pocket calculator was invented, complicated mathematics has receded. The development of spreadsheet computing or, as some would call it, financial planning, has brought business calculations well within the grasp of everybody's abilities and pocket.

A spreadsheet acts like a blank sheet of paper on which both text and numbers are placed. Numbers form the basis of calculations and, if these change, it often causes automatic recalculation of all the results.

Spreadsheets can be used for any calculation - not only financial, but the majority of applications are usually for standard items, such as profit and loss, balance sheets, costing/estimating and analysis of expenditure.

The main benefit, apart from time saved in accurate calculations, is the possibility of what if predictions. Just changing a few pieces of data, or even editing a formula, can alter the forecast of any financial modelling.

Swift originates from the Commodore 64 version of Micro Swift. The disc contains XL and XE versions and the correct one for your computer is loaded automatically when you boot the disc.

It comes with a 50-page manual covering basic information, and gives plenty of examples and two tutorial lessons.

Unfortunately, all the commands are laid out for the C64, but there is a separate quick reference card for the Atari indicating which keys to use.

Swift has all the usual features found in spreadsheets together with user-defined screen colours and pop-up menus to aid data input and manipulation.

The size of the spreadsheet allowed by this program depends on the size of the computer's ram. For the XL version there are 6600 cells - 26 columns and 254 rows - and the XE version has 64 columns and 254 rows - 16,256 cells.

To take advantage of the package's many features, the unique pop-up menu system allows you to select commands without having to enter a sequence of special characters.

Many instructions have been grouped together in a logical sequence to further aid data input.

The menus are small windows which overlay about a quarter of the sheet but do not interfere with the data behind.

Some commands have additional menus linked to them, so there is often no need to type in specific instructions - just select the right one and press Start.

Using these menus can make the complicated calculating process structure seem easy to operate - see Figure I.

To move round the spreadsheet, the Control+cursor keys are used for single cell jumps while for bigger moves the Goto key allows you to go directly to any cell.

Entering and editing data is simple - just place your cursor on a cell and type the data in.

Features include the standard preparation of cells for width, numbers, currency signs and decimal places. You can also format a disk from within the program, or see the data in a basic graphical form.

One of the most important parts of any spreadsheet is the ability to be able to relate cell values to others. You do this using formulae.

For example, you can say that the value of D10 is the result of D3 * D6. You can transfer or copy that formula to other cells.

The printer section has some good facilities. You can select the output width and insert printer commands to customise it. All data can be saved to disc.

Swift operates effectively, but the programmers have tried too hard to be innovative.

although the little pop-up menus are impressive, they are difficult to use, but overall using the program is still quite easy.

The tree-like structure of the pop-up menus save you having to memorise complicated commands.

Spreadsheets for 8-bit micros are few and far between, and while Swift may not have the depth of other popular business programs, it has very good capabilities, is adaptable and well suited for beginners to both computing and financial modelling.