EASY ROR was created for a single purpose: to calculate the rate of return of 'portfolios'.

Rate of Return reports show the internal rate of return, either before or after (or net of) tax and before or after (or net of) fees, achieved by both individual portfolios and groups of portfolios between any two dates. Both total yield and annual rates based on either daily or annual compounding are reported. The internal rate of return (IRR) is the interest rate which, if in effect throughout the report period and taking into account the amount and timing of all deposits and withdrawals to and from the portfolio during the period, would cause the beginning balance to grow (or decline) to the closing balance.

Database files may be written to ASCII files which may be imported into editor, spread sheet or word processor programs.

Major changes added in Version 10:

• A new Rolling Period Average ROR Report and Graph shows your average rate of return for a specified rolling period over your portfolio's history.  For instance, if you have 20 years of investment history, you can see your average 10-year rate of return by averaging the return for every 10-year period in your history.  Many investment strategies are designed for specific time horizons, and this report provides a good way to gauge a strategy's effectiveness for an intended period. Both the report and graph also use a least-squares projection to estimate how the portfolio's rate of return is trending.
  
  
• Data integration with Fundwatch™ and EarlyRetire Pro™ lets you quickly import portfolio balances from your investment analysis or retirement planning software.
  
  
• A cumulative investment plot added to the Balance/Deposit Graph shows total portfolio investment in stair-step format.
  
  
• You can set a data path to access your data in a different folder on your computer or on a different computer in a network.
  
  
• An improved look and feel now leaves reports and graphs displayed so you can compare them side-by-side, and a new Options Menu lets you control graph colors.
  

Easy ROR Database

The Easy ROR transaction database is a file which contains all of the values you enter as Portfolio, Portfolio Transaction and Report Title data. When Easy ROR is loaded, the transaction database ez.mdb is automatically opened; it is not necessary to manually open it through using the Open Database command in the File menu. If the ez.mdb file is not present in the folder in which Easy ROR is loaded, a new empty ez.mdb file is created.

An 'individual' user would probably not have a need to create new databases and would prefer having all portfolios and their data in the same database. Since ez.mdb is the database which is automatically opened when the program is started, that database would likely be the preferred database.

A professional having clients might prefer having a separate database for each client if each client has multiple portfolios. These databases might be saved as smith.mdb, jones.mdb, etc.

It is not necessary to "save" a database before exiting the program. The database is updated when the Save button on the entry screen is clicked or the OK button is clicked on the Accept this Record dialog box after a new record is entered or an existing record is edited.

An Easy ROR database is a Microsoft Access type file; this type file has an extension of ".mdb". Changing data in a database can cause it to become fragmented and use more disk space than is necessary. When Easy ROR is closed after data has been added to the database, the database is compacted to defragment it; prior to this operation a copy of the database is created which is given an extension of “.bak”.

Technical Help

Technical help may be obtained, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm Mountain Time, by calling 303-795-5572.

Add Transaction Data

Two data entry functions are provided for entering transaction data.

When using the Single Portfolio - Add/Change/Delete function, select the portfolio for which you want to add transaction data and then enter one or more data records for that portfolio. The screen on which data is entered also lists all transaction records for that portfolio; these records may be edited and/or deleted from this screen. This is the preferable screen to use for entering multiple records for a portfolio. If the 'Include Balance Net Change Values' check box is checked, a 'Balance Net Change' column is included on the grid which displays the change in Balance value since the previous Balance value net of Deposits and Withdrawals.

When using the Multiple Portfolios - Add function, the data entry grid lists all portfolios. You select the transaction date and type of the record or records you want to enter and then enter the Amount value (and Comment and Tax Amount, if a Balance type record) for the applicable portfolio(s). This is the preferable screen to use for entering the same type records for a single day for multiple portfolios; for example entering end of month Balance records for all portfolios.

Add Transaction Data - Single Portfolio

To enter transaction data, select Transactions-Single Portfolio - Add/Change/Delete or press Ctrl+T. Select from the drop-down list box the Portfolio ID of the portfolio for which transactions are to be entered. To enter a new transaction, select the desired type record from the 'Add Record Type' frame. If the caption of an option button is framed with a dotted box, pressing Enter will initiate a new record for that type.

When entering transaction data, the new data is entered directly onto the top row (a blank row) of the grid on which existing data is displayed.

Note that you must press the keyboard Enter key after making an entry to cause the entry to be added to the grid. Each row of the transaction data grid represents a record.

Pressing the keyboard Enter key when entering data causes the data entry to be added to the grid and also advances the insertion point to the next entry field. Pressing Enter while the insertion point is in the Memo field causes an "Accept this Record" dialog box to appear with the OK button set as the default selection; pressing Enter causes the record to be saved. You may also click on the Save command button to save a new or edited record.

Clicking the "Recurring Entries" command button provides a means to enter a block of records. Records created in this manner have the same Amount, Tax and Memo entries. The Date entries are determined by the Frequency selection (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly) and the Beginning and Ending Date selections. For Frequency selections other than Daily, the day-of-the-month value on records created is determined from the Beginning Date selection; if the Beginning Date is the last day of a month, the dates on all records created will also be the last day of the month. This feature could be used, for example, to create monthly Deposit records over a two-year period.

You may choose to include a 'Balance Net Change' column in the grid by checking the 'Include Balance Net Change Values' check box. The values in this column apply to only Balance records and are the gain or loss since the previous Balance value, net of intervening Deposit and Withdrawal amounts.

Transaction Record Types include:

Balance - Used to record the Portfolio value on a given day. Balance records may also include a Tax value which represents the theoretical tax on accrued interest and on unrealized capital gains/losses as of the date of the Balance record. The tax entry on a Balance record is the tax which would be owed if the portfolio were liquidated on the Balance record effective date. To record the closing of a Portfolio, enter a zero Balance record for the date of the Portfolio closure and also a Withdrawal record in the amount of the Portfolio value on the closure date.

Deposit - Used to record funds added to the Portfolio. A portfolio deposit record should be entered only to record new money added to the portfolio from outside of the portfolio. Earnings from within the portfolio such as dividends or capital gains which are reinvested within the portfolio should not be recorded as Deposits; they are reflected in subsequent Balance values. For calculation purposes, funds recorded as deposits are considered to have been added to the Portfolio at the end of the Transaction Date.

Withdrawal - Used to record all funds withdrawn from the Portfolio. A Withdrawal record must also be entered to record a dividend paid by a stock held in a portfolio but not received by or retained in the portfolio since such income was generated by portfolio assets but is not reflected in subsequent portfolio balance values. Taxes paid on behalf of the portfolio are recorded on a Tax type record, even if the tax amount is also recorded on a Withdrawal type record. For calculation purposes, funds recorded as withdrawals are considered to have been removed from the Portfolio at the end of the Transaction Date.

Fee - Fees applicable to the named Portfolio for the date entered.

Tax - Actual federal and state taxes applicable to the named Portfolio for the date entered.

Each transaction record must have a Type, Date and Amount entry; Memo and Tax entries are optional. Tax values on Balance records and Tax records are used only if after-tax rate of return values are requested.

When dates are entered, the month, day and year values must be separated by a slash or dash (if your computer is set to display dates using a period as the separator character, you must use a period to separate month, day and year values when entering dates). If only the month and day are entered ("6/15" but not "6/15/"), the program will append a year value when the Enter key is pressed to record the date entry. The assumed year value will be the current year if the month/day entry is equal to or prior to the current date or the prior year if the month/day entry is later than the current date.

Add Balance Record from Fundwatch or EarlyRetire reads your selected Fundwatch™ or EarlyRetire Pro™ data file and adds a balance record to the selected portfolio for the date and portfolio balance in the selected file.  Fundwatch™ tracks portfolio information for investment analysis and portfolio design, and EarlyRetire Pro™ tracks net worth for retirement planning.

The maximum Amount (positive or negative) value for any type record is 2,147,483,647.00.

Add Transaction Data - Multiple Portfolios

This data entry function is designed to be used to create records of the same Type and Date for several portfolios. For example, it would be used to enter end-of-month Balance records for all portfolios. After entering a value, you must press Enter to cause the value to be saved; pressing Tab will not record the value. This function cannot be used to delete records.

To enter new transaction data, select the Transactions-Multiple Portfolios - Add function or press Ctrl+M. The data entry grid lists all portfolios. The Portfolio ID is shown in column 1 and the Portfolio Name in column 2. The column 1 value can be changed to Portfolio Account Number by selecting Account in the 'Column 1' frame. The grid display order can be changed by making the desired selection in the 'Grid Display Order' frame; double-clicking a selected option reverses the display order.

The Transaction Date of all records entered in the grid is the date set at the top left corner of the screen. Select the desired Record Type from the options in the 'Add Record Type' frame. Records of the specified type on the specified Transaction Date which are already in the database are displayed on the grid. Values on existing Balance records may be edited on the grid. If non-Balance type records are already recorded for the specified Transaction Date, they are displayed for information purposes only but values on these records cannot be edited; a new record of that type may be added by using the grid row in which the Amount value is blank.

Pressing the up or down Arrow key will move the insertion point up and down the grid.

Add Balance Record from Fundwatch or EarlyRetire reads your selected Fundwatch™ or EarlyRetire Pro™ data file and inserts the balance from the selected file's portfolio (it does not change the date you have designated for the records you are adding, even if it differs from the date in your Fundwatch or EarlyRetire file).  Fundwatch™ tracks portfolio information for investment analysis and portfolio design, and EarlyRetire Pro™ tracks net worth for retirement planning.

Backup Databases

To copy databases to a different directory or storage device, select the Backup Database command from the File menu. Select the names of the files to be backed up from the Database list. Hold down the Shift or Ctrl key while selecting files to select multiple files.

Select the drive on which the files are to be copied from the Target Drive drop-down list. Select the directory (folder) in which the files are to be copied from the Target Directory list. Click OK to cause the selected files to be copied to the selected directory on the selected drive.

To copy files to a CD you must use Windows Explorer or your CD burning software.

Create a Graph - Balance/Deposits/Withdrawals

To create a graph, select the Graph selection and then Balance/Deposits/Withdrawals command from the Performance menu or press Ctrl+G. The Graph Selection window contains selections which determine the graph to be generated. The selections to be made include: Portfolio, Beginning Date, and Ending Date.

A graph may be created which displays the Balance performance and cumulative investment amounts for a portfolio over a selected time period; the legend on the right side of the graph pertains to the line graphs of Balance and Cumulative Investment values and the legend on the left pertains to Deposit and Withdrawal amounts which are plotted as vertical bars. The Beginning and Ending Balance and Cumulative Investment values are displayed on the graph. Deposits and Withdrawals which occur on the same day are netted before plotting. The total return and the internal rate of return (annual compounding) achieved by the portfolio during the graphed time period are displayed at the top or the graph.

The graph may be maximized. The shape of the graph may also be altered by dragging the sides of the graph.

Operation of the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the graph causes a vertical time line to be displayed on the graph. The date represented by the time line is displayed to the right of the scroll bar on a command button; click on the command button to cause the time line to be plotted on the graph and the date to be placed on the time line.

Clicking on the graph causes 'cross-hairs' to be displayed on the graph and the Date and Balance values corresponding to the mouse pointer location to be displayed at the top of the graph. If the graph includes Deposit and/or Withdrawal values, Deposit/Withdrawal values corresponding to the mouse pointer location are also displayed at the top of the graph

Click on the graph with the right mouse button and drag the mouse pointer to cause the graph to be redrawn to the new date range indicated by the mouse. The new graph beginning date will be the date of the Balance record with a Date equal to or prior to the leftmost date of the range defined by the mouse sweep. The new graph ending date will be the date of the Balance record with a Date equal to or later than the rightmost date of the range defined by the mouse sweep. Click the UnZoom button to redraw the graph with the previous date range. The UnZoom button is available only when the original graph has been 'zoomed'.

Click the Print command button to cause the graph to be printed. The appearance of the printed graph is dependent on the dimensions of the displayed graph. Check the 'Print to File' check box on the Print dialog screen to save the graph to a file which can be copied to a Microsoft Word document.

Create a Graph - Total Return

To create a Total Return Graph, click the Graph selection and then Total Return from the Performance menu or press Ctrl+R. In the Graph Selection window you may select as many as 5 Portfolios to be included on a graph. You may also select the Beginning and Ending Dates for the graph.

Portfolios included in the list include those which have at least 2 Balance records. If a Portfolio has only 2 Balance records, the earlier Balance record must have a non-zero value to be included in the list. The Beginning Date and Ending Date drop down lists contain the Balance record dates pertaining to the currently selected portfolio(s). Beginning Dates listed are those earlier than the currently selected Ending Date. Ending Dates listed are those later than the currently selected Beginning Date. Only those Portfolios/Accounts having Balance records for the selected Beginning Date can be included on the graph.

The resulting graph is a plot of the Internal Rate of Return performance of the selected Portfolios from the Beginning Date to the date of each Balance record within the graph date range. The graph may be maximized or resized by dragging the sides.

Clicking on the graph causes 'cross-hairs' to be displayed on the graph and the Date and Total Return values corresponding to the mouse pointer location to be displayed at the top of the graph.

Select the Logarithmic Graph Check Box (Check Box includes an "X") to cause the rate of return values to be plotted on a logarithmic scale.

Click on the graph with the right mouse button and drag the mouse pointer to cause the graph to be redrawn to the new date range indicated by the mouse. The new graph beginning date will be the date of the Balance record with a Date equal to or prior to the leftmost date of the range defined by the mouse sweep. The new graph ending date will be the date of the Balance record with a Date equal to or later than the rightmost date of the range defined by the mouse sweep. Click the UnZoom button to redraw the graph with the previous date range. The UnZoom button is available only when the original graph has been 'zoomed'.

Create a Graph - Rolling Period Average

Click the Graph selection and then Rolling Period Average from the Performance menu. You must select Beginning and Ending Dates and enter a Period over which to calculate rolling averages (see Rolling Period Average Report). As many as 10 Portfolios may be selected for inclusion on the graph.

The resulting graph is a plot of annualized ROR for all 'Period Length' periods existing in the database for the selected portfolio(s) from the Beginning Date to the date of each Balance record within the graph date range. Each rolling average is plotted as a circle on the graph at the midpoint of the period it was calculated over. These are "Total Return" values in that they include the effect of both the change in balance value from the Beginning balance date to Ending balance date and also the effect of deposit and withdrawal activity within the calculation period. Only those Portfolios/Accounts having sufficient Balance records to calculate at least one rolling average within the selected Beginning and Ending Dates will be included on the graph.

Check the After Tax Checkbox to cause the portfolio rate of return values to include the effect of the tax records. For the after-tax normal rate of return calculation, the Program adjusts the beginning and closing balances by the values in the Tax Amount fields (if any) on the Beginning and Ending Date Balance records; in addition, Tax records during the calculation period are treated as portfolio deposits in calculating the after-tax rate of return.

Check the Net of Fees Checkbox to cause the portfolio rate of return values to include the effect of the fee records. For the net of fees rate of return calculation, the Program treats Fee records during the calculation period as portfolio deposits.

Clicking on the graph causes 'cross-hairs' to be displayed on the graph and the Date and Total Return values corresponding to the mouse pointer location to be displayed at the top of the graph. Click on the graph with the right mouse button and drag the mouse to zoom the graph to a new date range. Click the UnZoom button to redraw the graph with the previous date range.

Create a Portfolio

To create a new portfolio in the current database, select the Portfolio>Add Portfolio function. Enter the new unique portfolio ID in the Portfolio ID text box and the Portfolio name in the Portfolio Name text box. A maximum of 3 characters may used as a portfolio ID and up to 30 characters may be used for the portfolio name. Use the Portfolio>Change/Delete Portfolio function to edit any portfolio record field other than the Portfolio ID. Use the Portfolio>Change Portfolio ID function to change the Portfolio ID.

All Portfolio fields other than Portfolio ID and Name are optional fields.  Lists from which Portfolios can be selected may be sorted by ID, Name or Account Number.

If the database is to contain only a few personal portfolios it may be possible to assign meaningful Portfolio ID's such as IRA, HIS, HER, JT, MOM, DAD, etc. along with meaningful Portfolio Name entries.

After entering optional address, etc. data, if any, click on the Save command button to complete creation of the new portfolio ID.

Create a New Transaction Database

Selecting the Create New Transaction Database function under the Main Menu File selection generates an initialized, but empty, database temporarily named "{tmp}.mdb". Portfolio ID and Transaction records may then be added to this new file. Use the Save Transaction Database As function under the Main Menu File selection to assign a permanent filename to the file. If the new database has not been assigned a permanent filename when exiting Easy ROR or when opening a different database, you are given the choice of either assigning it a filename or discarding the new database.

Assign a Filename

Selecting the Save Database As function under the Main Menu File selection duplicates the existing database and assigns the "Save As" filename to the new file. If the existing database is Add Balance Record from Fundwatch or EarlyRetire reads your selected Fundwatch or EarlyRetire Pro data file and inserts the balance from the selected file's portfolio (it does not change the date you have designated for the records you are adding, even if it differs from the date in your Fundwatch or EarlyRetire file).  Fundwatch tracks portfolio information for investment analysis and portfolio design, and EarlyRetire Pro tracks net worth for retirement planning.

{tmp}.mdb, a newly created file, the file is not duplicated but instead is renamed.

Add Transaction Data

Upon selection of a Transaction Type, the selection is placed in the top cell of the Type column of the data grid and the insertion point is advanced to the top cell of the Date column. Pressing the keyboard Enter key after making an entry enters the value on the grid and advances the insertion point to the next applicable data cell; pressing the Enter key while the insertion point is located in the Memo column causes the Save button on the Transactions window to be selected. The Save button on the entry screen must be pressed (or clicked) to cause the new data entries to be saved.

Balance Record

A Balance record contains the Portfolio value (accrued interest on bonds should be included) on a stated date (at 11:59 PM). Rate of return calculations consider that the Balance value on a given day includes the effect of deposits and withdrawals made on that date. A Balance record is required for both the Beginning Date and the Ending Date when creating a Rate of Return Report. This record also includes a field for the Portfolio's theoretical tax liability on accrued interest and unrealized capital gains. This value is used only when after-tax ROR values are calculated.

Fee Record

Fee records are used only if net of fees Rate of Return reports are needed. If funds are withdrawn from a portfolio to pay fees and net of fee reports are to be generated, a Withdrawal record reflecting the withdrawal must be entered in addition to the Fee record. If the 'Create Withdrawal record in amount of Fee record also' check box is checked when a new Fee record is created, a Withdrawal record in the same amount will also be created. When calculating an after-fee ROR, the Program treats Fee records as deposits thus resulting in a lower performance value.

If fees are deducted from portfolio funds (thus reducing the portfolio value), but a Withdrawal record reflecting the deduction is not entered, ROR values calculated will actually be "net of fees" even when the "Net of Fees" check box on the report entry screen is unchecked.

Tax Record

The tax amount values on Tax records are used only in the calculation of the after-tax Rate of Return reports; these records are required if both before and after tax reports are to be generated. The value entered should be the tax amount due to income and/or gains resulting from investments in the portfolio; it should not include taxes resulting from non-investment income such as salaries, pensions, etc. If funds were withdrawn from a portfolio to pay taxes and both before and after-tax reports are to be generated, a Withdrawal record reflecting the tax payment must be entered in addition to the Tax record. If the 'Create Withdrawal record in amount of Tax record also' check box is checked when a new Tax record is created, a Withdrawal record in the same amount will also be created. When calculating an after-tax ROR, the Program treats Tax records as deposits.

What is a Portfolio

For Easy ROR, a 'portfolio' is any asset or collection of assets for which you want to calculate performance over time. A 'portfolio' may be comprised of a collection of stocks, bonds, etc. such as a brokerage account or a mutual fund family or it may be a single mutual fund or stock or a rental property, etc. Since, to calculate performance, you will need to enter Balance (portfolio value) records, a 'portfolio' should be something whose value is acceptably easily determined. A monthly brokerage statement or periodic mutual fund statement shows the value of the brokerage or mutual fund account on the statement date, however establishing account values on other days may be difficult. Since the only Balance values needed by the program are the values on the Beginning and Ending Dates of a performance period, the statement values may be sufficient for your needs.

A Rate of Return performance report may include as many Portfolios as you want. When more than one Portfolio is included on a report, you may elect to also calculate the Composite Performance of the selected Portfolios as a group.

If you set up a single mutual fund as a 'portfolio' so you can measure the performance of your investment in that mutual fund you would enter the total value of your mutual fund holding as the Balance value. If dividends and other distributions are being reinvested in the fund, the effect of these distributions is reflected in the total fund value which is determined by multiplying the fund price by the number of shares you own on the price date. The total cost of new shares purchased would be recorded using a Deposit record and a partial or total redemption would be recorded using a Withdrawal record. If you use the share price as the 'Balance' value and enter distributions as '$/share' Withdrawal records, the performance calculation would measure the performance of the mutual fund itself, assuming cash distributions (not reinvested) and would not include the effect of additional purchases or redemptions which could significantly affect the calculation. To measure the dividend reinvested performance of a fund (excluding the effect of additional purchases or redemptions), you could use for Balance values either dividend adjusted prices or use the actual fund value adjusted to exclude the number of shares purchased or redeemed after the initial purchase. To enter the balance, deposit and withdrawal data, select one of the functions under the main menu Transactions selection.

A primary consideration in defining a portfolio is that you have a means of periodically determining the value of the portfolio. For example, the total assets held in a brokerage account might be considered a "portfolio" since the account value obtained from the monthly statement would be conveniently available. A single stock holding or mutual fund could also be considered a "portfolio" if either you want to be able to measure the performance of that holding or that is level at which the cash flow (Deposit and Withdrawals) and value (Balance) data is available. Rate of return can also be calculated for a group of portfolios.

All Portfolio records use the Portfolio ID to identify the Portfolio to which the record pertains. When a Portfolio is created, the User must enter at least either a unique Portfolio ID. The Portfolio>Change Portfolio ID function may be used to change an existing Portfolio ID.

Create a Portfolio Data Listing

To create a portfolio data listing, select the Portfolio ID's command from the Listings menu. Select the portfolio(s) to be included in the listing, select a Report Mode of either Display or Print and then click the OK command button.

To restrict Portfolio records listed based on Memo field entries, check the 'Screen by Memo' box. To base the restriction on the total Memo entry, select 'Total Memo' and enter that Memo entry in the text box. To base the restriction on a single character string, select 'String' and enter the string in the text box. To base the restriction on a two or more character strings, select 'String(s)' and enter the strings, separated by spaces, in the text box.

A character string of 'gi' or 'if' or 'ft' would cause records having the word 'Gift' in the Memo field to be listed. The Screen function is not case sensitive.

Portfolio ID Listing - Portfolio Selection

A Portfolio Listing can be created for a single specified portfolio or for each of a group of specified portfolios. Select from the Portfolio Selection List Box the portfolio(s) you want included in the report. Double-clicking any Portfolio ID causes all portfolios to be selected for inclusion in the report. Multiple portfolios can be selected by depressing the Ctrl key while clicking on a portfolio entry in the Portfolio Selection List Box.

The Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry Text Box may be used to cause all portfolios whose ID's match the wild card entry to be selected.

A previously saved Portfolio Group selection may be used to select portfolios by clicking on the Drop-Down Text Box control button and then clicking on the desired Group Name.

To print the displayed report or to write it to an ASCII file, click the Print Command Button to display the Windows Print Dialog Box. To write the report to an ASCII file, select the Print to File Check Box and then enter or select a file name and path in the Windows Save As Dialog Box.

Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry

To select all portfolios whose ID's have three characters and have the same first character, enter in the Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry Text Box that character followed by ??, eg. E??. To specify a group of portfolios having the same third character, enter two question marks followed by the common character, eg. ??E. A group of portfolios having two-character ID's and having E as the second character is identified as ?E.

Entering an asterisk (*) will select all portfolios. Entering a character or group of characters followed by an asterisk selects all portfolios for which the initial character(s) of their ID matches the character or group of characters preceding the asterisk.

A group of one or more characters enclosed in brackets ([ ]) can be used to match any single character in a Portfolio ID.

To match the special characters left bracket ([), question mark (?), number sign (#), and asterisk (*), enclose them in brackets. The right bracket (]) cannot be used within a group to match itself, but it can be used outside a group as an individual character.

Use a hyphen (-) separating the upper and lower bounds of a range to specify a range of characters. For example, [N-R] results in a match if the corresponding character position in a Portfolio ID contains any letter in the range N-R. When a range of characters is specified, they must appear in ascending sort order (from lowest to highest). [A-Z] is a valid pattern, but [Z-A] is not. An exclamation point (!) at the beginning of a character range means that a match is made if any character except the characters in the range is found in a Portfolio ID. When used outside brackets, the exclamation point matches itself. Multiple ranges are included within the brackets without delimiters. Use a number sign to indicate a single digit (0-9).

Portfolio Group

A group of selected portfolios may be saved for future use by clicking the New command button to create a blank text field in the Portfolio Group Text Box, entering a name (up to 9 characters) in the blank field and then clicking the Save command button. A previously saved Portfolio Group selection may be used by clicking on the Drop-Down Text Box control button and then clicking on the desired Group Name. Clicking the Portfolio Group Delete command button deletes a Portfolio Group from the list. To change the portfolios included in an existing group, select that group, make the desired changes to the portfolio selections and then click the Save command button.

Portfolio ID Listing - Report Mode

Select Display to have the listing displayed or select Print to have the listing printed to file or to a printer without first being displayed. Displayed listings can be printed by clicking the Print command button on the display window.

The maximum length of the listing is 2000 lines. If the displayed listing will exceed the length limitation, you are given the option of displaying the top portion up to the limit or canceling the listing generation.

Portfolio ID Listing - Report Mode

Select Display to have the listing displayed or select Print to have the listing printed to file or to a printer without first being displayed. Displayed listings can be printed by clicking the Print command button on the display window.

The maximum length of the listing is 2000 lines. If the displayed listing will exceed the length limitation, you are given the option of displaying the top portion up to the limit or canceling the listing generation.

Portfolio ID Listing - Report Mode

Select Display to have the listing displayed or select Print to have the listing printed to file or to a printer without first being displayed. Displayed listings can be printed by clicking the Print command button on the display window.

The maximum length of the listing is 2000 lines. If the displayed listing will exceed the length limitation, you are given the option of displaying the top portion up to the limit or canceling the listing generation.

Report Mode

Select Display to have the listing displayed or select Print to have the listing printed to file or to a printer without first being displayed. Displayed listings can be printed by clicking the Print command button on the display window.

The maximum length of the listing is 2000 lines. If the displayed listing will exceed the length limitation, you are given the option of displaying the top portion up to the limit or canceling the listing generation.

Create a Portfolio Gain/Loss Report

To open the Portfolio Gain/Loss Report Entry screen, select Portfolio Gain/Loss Report from the Performance menu. This report shows the selected portfolio's gain or loss over the report date range. The report entry screen contains selections which determine the nature of the report to be generated. If each of the selected portfolios has Balance records on both the Report Beginning Date and Report Ending Date, Grand Total values are included on the report. The selections to be made include:

Portfolio Selection - ALL, Single ID, Multiple ID's, Wild Card Entry, Portfolio Group
Beginning Date - Report Beginning Date
Ending Date - Report Ending Date
Report Period - Monthly, Yearly, Quarterly, Single, All
After Tax - Yes or No
Net of Fees - Yes or No
Cumulative - Yes or No
Include Composite - Yes or No
Report Type - Summary or Detail

Portfolio Gain/Loss Report - Portfolio Selection

Portfolio Gain/Loss Reports can be created for a single specified portfolio or for each of a group of specified portfolios. Select from the Portfolio Selection List Box the portfolio(s) you want included in the report. Double-clicking any Portfolio ID causes all portfolioss to be selected for inclusion in the report. Multiple portfolios can be selected by depressing the Ctrl key while clicking on a portfolio entry in the Portfolio Selection List Box. The sort order of the list is determined by selecting the desired ID, Name or Account Number option button located above the list.

The Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry Text Box may be used to cause all portfolios whose ID's match the wild card entry to be selected. 

A previously saved Portfolio Group selection may be used to select portfolios by clicking on the Drop-Down Text Box control button and then clicking on the desired Group Name.

Beginning & Ending Dates

The Beginning Date and Ending Date drop down lists contain the Balance record dates pertaining to the currently selected portfolio(s). Beginning Dates listed are those earlier than the currently selected Ending Date. Ending Dates listed are those later than the currently selected Beginning Date.

Since a Balance record is interpreted by Easy ROR to be the value of a portfolio at the end of the day on the record date, to obtain a report for the calendar year 2004, the Beginning and Ending Dates should be 12-31-2003 and 12-31-2004, respectively.

If multiple portfolios are selected and each has a Balance record recorded for both the Beginning and Ending Date and Single is selected as the Report Period, a Grand Total is included at the bottom of the report.

Report Period

The Portfolio Gain/Loss Report shows a portfolio's gain or loss between two dates on which Balance records have been recorded for the portfolio. If Single is selected as the Report Period, the gain/loss will be shown for the earliest balance value within the Beginning to Ending Date range to the latest balance value within that date range.

Select either the Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly Option Button in the Report Period frame to obtain "period" results. For example, selecting the Monthly Option Button causes the report to contain monthly gain/loss values for the specified portfolios. If the 'Calendar Periods' check box is NOT checked, monthly values are specified and the Beginning and Ending Dates are 12-15-2004 and 3-15-2005, gain/loss values are calculated for the periods 12-15-2004 to 1-15-2005, 1-15-2005 to 2-15-2005 and 2-15-2005 to 3-15- 2005. If the Ending Date had been 3-01-2005, the final monthly value calculated would be for the period 1-15-2005 to 2-15-2005. Similarly, select either the Quarterly or Yearly Option Buttons to generate quarterly or yearly gain/loss values. As described regarding monthly values, quarterly values are calculated for full quarters (3-month periods) beginning with the Beginning Date and yearly values are calculated for full 12-month periods. If the 'Calendar Periods' check box IS checked, monthly values are specified and the Beginning and Ending Dates are 12-15-2004 and 3-15-2005, gain/loss values are calculated for the periods 12-15-2004 to 12-31-2004, 12-31-2004 to 1-31-2005 and 1-31-2005 to 2-28-2005. If the Beginning Date is the last day of a month, the anniversary dates are also ends of months. Calculation of multiple period gain/loss values requires that Balance records in the Transaction File exist for the affected portfolios for each needed anniversary date.

Note that the Beginning Date selection determines anniversary date of the periods.

If the Beginning and Ending Dates encompass multiple periods, gain/loss values are calculated for each period for which beginning and ending Balance records exist.

If All is selected the gain/loss is calculated between each date for which a Balance record exists.

After Tax

If the After Tax option button is selected the Portfolio Gain/Loss values will include the effect of recorded Tax values. Displayed Balance values are net of Unrealized Tax values on those records and Tax values are displayed in the Tax column.

Net of Fees

If the After Net of Fees option button is selected the Portfolio Gain/Loss values will include the effect of recorded Fee values. Fee values are displayed in the Fee column.

Report Type

Select Detail to cause the report to display the date and amount of all Deposit and Withdrawal values. If multiple Deposit and/or Withdrawal values exist on a single date the net of the values is displayed. If After Tax or Net of Fees is selected, the Tax and/or Fee values are displayed by date.

Select Summary to cause the sum of the Deposit/Withdrawal, Tax and Fee values over the Gain/Loss period to be displayed.

Create a Rate of Return Report

To open the ROR Report Entry screen, select Rate of Return from the Performance menu or press Ctrl+P to make the 'with Portfolio ID' selection. The ROR Report Entry window contains selections which determine the nature of the Rate of Return Report to be generated. The selections to be made include:

Period Returns - Single, Yearly, Quarterly or Monthly
Calendar Periods - Yes or No
Cumulative Returns - From Beginning Date
Cumulative Returns - To Ending Date
Report Type - Summary or Detail
Extended Report - Yes or No
Multi-Year Report - Yes or No
Rolling Period Average Report - Yes or No
Portfolio Selection - ALL, Single ID, Multiple ID's, Wild Card Entry, Portfolio Group
Beginning Date - Report Beginning Date
Ending Date - Report Ending Date
Composite Report - Yes or No
Compounding Frequency - Daily or Annual
Report Width - 80 characters or 132 characters
Report Mode - Display or Print
Before/After Tax - Yes or No
Net of Fees - Yes or No
Include Cents - Yes or No

Rate of return values are calculated using the Internal Rate of Return method. Note that values are calculated from the Balance record value on a beginning date to the Balance record value on an ending date, therefore, a minimum of two Balance record values are required to calculate a rate of return. Note also that the program does not interpret a Deposit record as a Balance record, even if it is a portfolio's first record. Since a portfolio whose value is zero cannot grow, regardless of the growth rate, a rate of return cannot be calculated for a period in which the beginning date Balance record value is zero.

After report selections have been made click the OK button. If the Period Returns selection is "Single" and the Composite Report selection is not checked, the rate of return calculated for each of the selected portfolios is based on a portfolio's oldest Balance record having a date later than the Beginning Date entry and the portfolio's latest Balance record having a date prior to the Ending Date entry.

After the report is displayed, the font used to display the report may be changed by selecting the desired font from the drop-down list at the upper left corner of the display. The selected font will be the default font for subsequent reports. Most available fonts have more than one available font size. When such a font has been selected, changing the report width by maximizing or by dragging a report left or right edge will cause the font size to adapt to the new report width.

After the report is displayed, it may be printed or written to an ASCII file by clicking the Print Button. After clicking the OK Button on the Report Setup Dialog, the Windows Print Dialog is displayed. To write the report to an ASCII file, select the Print to File Check Box and then enter or select a file name and path in the Windows Save As Dialog. If the report is an 80-character, multi-portfolio, non- composite report, the option to have each portfolio begin on a new page is available only by Selecting "Print" as the Print Mode in the report entry window.

Two performance values, Total Return and Annual Return, are calculated. The Total Return value is the performance over the period defined by the Beginning Balance date and the Ending Balance date. The Annual Return is the annualized performance assuming an average year of 365.25 days. Both values are "Total Return" values in that they include the effect of both the change in balance value from the Beginning balance date to Ending balance date and also the effect of deposit and withdrawal activity within the calculation period.

If the report was created using a 'Period Returns' selection of 'Single', a Total Return graph of up to 5 Portfolios may be created by selecting the desired portfolios from the Rate of Return Report and then clicking the Graph button. Select or de-select a Portfolio by clicking any row related to that Portfolio on the report. The graph options are not available if the 'Composite Report - Composite Only' option is selected.

For reports covering more than one portfolio and for which each portfolio has a Balance record for the Ending Date, click the Chart button to create a pie chart representing the Ending Date Balance values of the portfolios. If the pie chart is created from an after- tax report, option buttons are provided to cause the depicted balance values to be either before-tax or after-tax values. The after-tax value is the Ending Date Balance value minus the Balance record tax value.

Rate of Return Report - Period Returns

Select the 'Period Returns' Single Option Button to calculate the performance over the 'single' period defined by the selected Beginning and Ending Dates. Select either the Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly Option Button in the Period Returns frame to obtain "period" results. If the Calendar Periods check box is checked, a Monthly period is the interval from the last day of one month through the last day of the succeeding month, a Quarterly period is the 3-month interval following December 31, March 31, June 30 and September 30 and a Yearly period is the interval from December 31 of one year through December 31 of the succeeding year; if the Beginning Date is not the end of a calendar period, the first period extends from the Beginning Date through the normal period end date. If the Calendar Periods check box is not checked, the period begin and end dates are determined by the selected Beginning Date; a Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly period is the interval from the beginning day of a period through that day one month, three months or twelve months later.

If cumulative return values are also desired, check either the Cumulative From Beginning Date or Cumulative To Ending Date Check Box. Calculation of multiple period ROR values requires that Balance records in the Transaction File exist for the affected portfolios for each needed anniversary date.

If the Beginning and Ending Dates encompass multiple periods, rate of return values are calculated for each period for which beginning and ending Balance records exist; however, if a Balance record is not available for the end of the first period for a portfolio, no period returns are calculated for that portfolio.

Annualized Performance

The Annual Return is the performance over a period of an average year consisting of 365.25 days.

Rate of Return Report - Extended Report

Select Extended Report to generate a performance report which lists for each portfolio the performance during up to eight different periods. All periods end on the Ending Date. The Beginning Date of the calculation periods is determined by the selected Ending Date and the length of the Period except for the 'YTD' period for which the Beginning Date is December 31 of the year preceding the Ending Date. An 'N/A' is displayed for periods for which Balance records for both the Beginning and Ending dates do not exist.

Three Performance Annualization options are available. Select "All Periods" to cause the performance values for all periods to be annualized. Select "No Periods" to cause none of the performance values to be annualized. Select "Periods => 1 Year" to cause the performance values for only those periods equal to or greater than one year to be annualized.

When "Periods => 1 Year" is selected for Performance Annualization, the Last Month, Last Qtr and YTD periods are not available. Note that an 'N/A' will be displayed as the Since Date and/or Since Inception time period performance value for a portfolio if either period is less than one year.

When the Extended Report selection is made, the Beginning Date selection is disabled and the Period Returns and Report Type selections are replaced by the Report Design selection.

If more than one Portfolio is selected for the report and a Composite Report is selected, the data for all selected portfolios are combined and the composite rate of return for each period is calculated as if the portfolio group were a single portfolio.

Rate of Return Report - Multi-Year Report

Select Multi-Year Report to generate a performance report which lists for each selected portfolio the annual performance for each calendar year within the selected date range. If the ‘Before/After Tax’ check box is checked, both ‘Before’ and ‘After’ tax performance values are shown. If the ‘Net of Fees’ check box is checked, the performance values are calculated ‘net of fees’.  End of year Balance values are shown in the ‘Assets’ column.

Since calculation of calendar year performance requires use of December 31 Balance values selecting ‘Multi-Year Report’ causes the Beginning and Ending Date selections to be limited to December 31 dates.

The report shows the annual performance value and Ending Date portfolio value for each selected portfolio and calendar year within the report date range. If more than one portfolio is selected, the report also shows the percent of the total Ending Date portfolio value represented by each portfolio. If a Composite performance is calculated the number of portfolios included in the Composite is shown.

Rate of Return Report - Rolling Period Average Report

Select Rolling Period Average to generate a report which summarizes and averages the ROR for all 'Period Length' periods existing in the database for the selected portfolio(s).  The report lists for each selected portfolio the performance over the selected 'Period Length' for periods beginning with the first period for which the portfolio has a Balance record on or later than the selected 'Beginning Date' and also a Balance record for the date later than that date by the 'Period Length' time.  Additional performance results are listed for successive periods for which required Balance records are available within the the report 'Beginning Date' through 'Ending Date' period.  The Average Return values listed at the bottom of the report are the arithmetic averages of the Total Return and Annual Return values. 

The report also lists Annual ROR% Trend values for Portfolios for which at least 3 performance periods are displayed in the report.  Trend values are obtained from a linear least-squares regression drawn through the Annual ROR values vs the mid-period date values (ROR vs time).  Displayed values include the Beta (trendline slope as of change in ROR per day), the Alpha (theoretical ROR of the trendline on the Beginning Date) and theoretical trendline ROR values for Ending Date, Ending Date plus 1 year and Ending Date plus 3 years.

Extended Report - Report Design

The Extended Rate of Return Report may display the performance during the most recent month, most recent quarter, current year-to-date, 1-year, 3- year, 5-year, 10-year and "Since Inception" periods. Periods checked in the Report Design frame will be included in the report. The available dates are the dates of the Balance records recorded for the selected portfolio(s).

Rate of Return Report - Report Type

Select either the Report Type Summary or Detail Option Button to indicate the report type wanted. The Summary report lists only the portfolio value on the beginning and ending dates and the portfolio rate of return. The Detail report lists the Portfolio cash deposit and withdrawal activity and tax and/or fee amounts in addition to the data listed on the Summary report.

Rate of Return Report - Report Width

After-Tax Summary type Rate of Return reports can be created in either an 80 or 132 character format. The wide format uses one line to display the same data displayed on two lines in the 80-character format. The Extended Report is available in only the 80- character format. When printing a wide- format report on 8-1/2 inch wide paper, be sure to use a condensed print (16 to 17 cpi) fixed pitch font to prevent the report from scrolling.

Rate of Return Report - Portfolio Selection

Rate of Return Reports can be created for a single specified portfolio or for each of a group of specified portfolios. Select from the Portfolio Selection List Box the portfolio(s) you want included in the report. Double-clicking any Portfolio ID causes all portfolios to be selected for inclusion in the report. Multiple portfolios/accounts can be selected by depressing the Ctrl key while clicking on a portfolio entry in the Portfolio Selection List Box.

The Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry Text Box may be used (if 'with Portfolio ID' was selected) to cause all portfolios whose ID's match the wild card entry to be selected.

A previously saved Portfolio Group selection may be used to select portfolios by clicking on the Drop-Down Text Box control button and then clicking on the desired Group Name.

Rate of Return Report - Beginning & Ending Dates

The Beginning Date and Ending Date drop down lists contain the Balance record dates pertaining to the currently selected portfolio(s). Beginning Dates listed are those earlier than the currently selected Ending Date. Ending Dates listed are those later than the currently selected Beginning Date.

Since a Balance record is interpreted by Easy ROR to be the value of a portfolio at the end of the day on the record date, to obtain the rate of return for the calendar year 2004, the Beginning and Ending Dates should be 12-31-2003 and 12-31-2004, respectively.

The Beginning Date entry also establishes Period Returns anniversary dates.

When the Extended Report check box is checked, only the Ending Date list is displayed.

Rate of Return Report - Before/After Tax

Select the Before/After Tax Check Box (Check Box includes an "X") to cause the report to include rate of return values both before and after taxes; if the Before/After Tax Check Box is not selected, the report calculates only before-tax values. For the after-tax normal rate of return calculation, the Program adjusts the beginning and closing balances by the values in the Tax Amount fields (if any) on the Beginning and Ending Date Balance records; in addition, Tax records during the report period are treated as portfolio deposits in calculating the after-tax rate of return.

Rate of Return Report - Net of Fees

Select the Net of Fees Check Box (Check Box includes an "X") to cause the report to calculate net of fees rate of return values. For the net of fees rate of return calculation, the Program treats Fee records during the report period as portfolio deposits thus resulting in a lower performance value.

Rate of Return Report - Include Cents

Select the Include Cents Check Box (Check Box includes an "X") to cause currency values in the report to include cents. If the Include Cents Check Box is not selected, currency values are rounded to the nearest whole number for display.

Rate of Return Report - Compounding Frequency

Select from the Compounding Freq Option Buttons the desired compounding frequency to be used in rate of return calculations. Rate of return values may be calculated using compounding frequencies of daily or annual. For compounding calculations, the number of days in a time period is the actual number of days including the effect of leap years and a year is assumed to contain 365.25 days. The period defined by beginning and ending dates of 12-31-93 and 12-31-94 contains 365 days but in annual compounding calculations is considered to comprise .9993 years (365/365.25); the period defined by 12-31-90 and 12-31-94 comprises 4.0000 years (1461/365.25).

Rate of Return Report - Cumulative From Beginning Date

When a Period Returns selection other than "Single" has been made, the performance of each period (month, quarter or year) within the selected date span is calculated. Check the Cumulative From Beginning Date Check Box to also calculate the rate of return from the initial period Beginning Date to the end of each period (month, quarter or year).

Rate of Return Report - Cumulative To Ending Date

When a Period Returns selection other than "Single" has been made, the performance of each period (month, quarter or year) within the selected date span is calculated. Check the Cumulative To Ending Date Check Box to also calculate the rate of return from the beginning date of each period (month, quarter or year) to the end date of the latest period in the report.

Rate of Return Report - Composite Report

When multiple portfolios have been selected and either the Show Each Portfolio or Composite Only Check Box is marked, depending on Balance record requirements, rate of return values are calculated for a composite of the selected portfolios. If the Show Each Portfolio Check Box is marked the report also includes rate of return values for each selected portfolio. If the Composite Only Check Box is marked, only the composite rate of return value is displayed. If the Balance record requirements are not met, no report is generated since a composite performance cannot be calculated.

To obtain a composite internal rate of return report, one or more of the selected portfolios must have a Balance value (greater than zero) on the Beginning date and also a Balance record for the Ending date.

The composite rate of return is calculated as if the selected group of portfolios were a single portfolio; the composite beginning and ending date balances are the sums of the individual portfolio balances and the individual portfolio deposit and withdrawal activity is treated as if it all applied to a single composite portfolio.

Since Easy ROR never assumes the value of a portfolio, a portfolio which does not have Balance values on either or both the Beginning and Ending dates will be included in the composite report only if its data records indicate it did not exist on either or both the Beginning or Ending dates but did exist during the report date span.

A portfolio which does not have a Balance value on the Beginning date may be included in the composite report if it has a Balance record for a date later than the Beginning date and has no earlier data records (other than a Deposit record having the same amount and date as the initial Balance record) thus indicating the portfolio was initiated during the report time span.

A portfolio which does not have a Balance value on the Ending date would not be included in the report unless it has a zero value Balance record whose date is prior to the Ending date indicating that the portfolio was either liquidated (as evidenced by a Withdrawal record having the same date as the zero Balance record) or became worthless during the report time span. The portfolio would not be included if it has other later transaction records.

Rate of Return Report - Report Mode

Select Display to have the report displayed or select Print to have the report printed to file or to a printer without first being displayed. Displayed reports can be printed by clicking the Print command button on the display window.

The maximum length of a displayed 132-character report is 142 lines; the maximum length of a displayed 80-character report is 2000 lines. If the displayed report will exceed the length limitation, you are given the option of displaying the top portion up to the limit or canceling the report generation.

Report Setup

If no Header Title is wanted on the printed report or report written to an ASCII file, enter 0 in the Report Title Lines Text Box in the Report Setup Dialog. If a Header Title is wanted, enter the number of header lines desired and make Report Title Placement and Report Title Pages selections. The Report Title Placement Drop-Down List selections provide for the Header Title to be centered (left-right) on the page or left-justified. The Report Title Pages Drop-Down List selections provide for the Header Title to be placed on only the first page of the report, on only the even-numbered pages, on only the odd-numbered pages or on all pages of the report.

Enter a Left Margin Adjustment value to increase the left margin. The top margin can be increased by increasing the Report Title Lines value if a number of blank lines has been saved at the top of the Report Title.

For 80-character, multi-portfolio, non-composite reports, check the "Page Break on Portfolio" Check Box to cause the report for each portfolio to begin on a new page.

The currently selected Printer Font Name, Italic/Oblique, Bold and Size selections are shown. Click the 'Change Font Setting' option button if you want to change the font setting before printing the report or click the 'Use Current Font Setting' button to retain the current settings. The Font Setting options do not apply if you select the 'Print to file' check box in the Print dialog box to print the report to a text file.

After the desired entries have been made, click the OK Button.

Create a Report Header Title

A report header title can be included at the top of reports sent to file or printed. A Header Title would likely be a name and address but could be only blank lines which could be used to create a top margin. To create a new header title or to edit an existing one, select Report Title from the Listings menu. After entering or editing a header title, click the OK command button to save the entries made in the Report Title text box. When you elect to print a report, you are given the opportunity to use from zero to all of the lines established for the Header Title. If seven lines of Header Title have been saved and you elect to use three lines as a Header Title, the top three lines are used.

After entering a Header line, press Enter to advance the insertion point to the next line.

Create a Transaction Listing

To create a transaction data listing, select the portfolio(s) whose transaction data is to be listed. The transactions included in the listing can be limited to those of a given Type by selecting that Type from the Type drop-down list box; select All to include all transaction types in the listing. The transaction date range is limited by the Beginning Date and Ending Date selections. Select a Report Mode of either Display or Print and then click the OK command button.

Total Fee, Tax, Deposit, Withdrawal and Net Deposit/Withdrawal values are shown for listed transactions for each Portfolio included in the listing. Grand total values are also shown for all listed portfolios. Balance record totals are also shown if multiple portfolios are selected to be included in the report and the Beginning and Ending Dates are the same.

Transaction Listing - Portfolio Selection

A Transaction Listing can be created for a single specified portfolio or for each of a group of specified portfolios. Select from the Portfolio Selection List Box the portfolio(s) you want included in the listing. Double-clicking any Portfolio ID causes all portfolios to be selected for inclusion in the listing. Multiple portfolios can be selected by depressing the Ctrl key while clicking on a portfolio entry in the Portfolio Selection List Box.

The Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry Text Box may be used to cause all portfolios whose ID's match the wild card entry to be selected.

A previously saved Portfolio Group selection may be used to select portfolios by clicking on the Drop-Down Text Box control button and then clicking on the desired Group Name.

To print the displayed listing or to write it to an ASCII file, click the Print Button to display the Windows Print Dialog. To write the listing to an ASCII file, select the Print to File Check Box and then enter or select a file name and path in the Windows Save As Dialog Box.

Transaction Listing - Report Mode

Select Display to have the listing displayed or select Print to have the listing printed to file or to a printer without first being displayed. Displayed listings can be printed by clicking the Print command button on the display window.

The maximum length of the listing is 2000 lines. If the displayed listing will exceed the length limitation, you are given the option of displaying the top portion up to the limit or canceling the listing generation.

Delete a Portfolio

To delete a portfolio, select the Change/Delete Portfolio function from the Portfolio menu. Either enter in the Portfolio ID text box the portfolio ID of the portfolio to be deleted or select the portfolio by selecting it from the drop-down list box. The portfolio data for the selected portfolio is displayed in the Change/Delete Portfolio ID window. To delete the portfolio and all transactions for the portfolio, click on the Delete command button.

Delete Transaction Data

To delete transaction data, select the Transactions>Single Portfolio>Add/Change/Delete function from the Transactions menu or press Ctrl+T. Select from the drop-down list box the portfolio ID of the portfolio for which a transaction is to be deleted. Click on any cell (clicking on the Type cell of a Deposit or Withdrawal transaction causes a 'Type-change' option to appear) of the transaction which is to be deleted and then click the Delete command button. The record is then highlighted and you are asked in a dialog box to confirm that you wish to delete the highlighted record. Click the Yes command button in the dialog box to cause the record to be deleted.

To delete a block of records, highlight the block by clicking on a cell in one record and then shift-click a cell in another record. Click the Yes command button to cause the highlighted block of records to be deleted.

Duplicate a Portfolio

To duplicate a portfolio, select the Duplicate Portfolio function from the Portfolio menu. Enter the portfolio ID of the portfolio (source) to be duplicated in the Portfolio ID text box and the portfolio ID of the target portfolio in the Target Portfolio ID text box. The Portfolio ID/Name drop-down list can also be used to select the source portfolio. Click the OK command button to cause the transactions of the source portfolio to be duplicated in the target portfolio.

Edit Portfolio ID Data

To edit portfolio ID data, select the Change/Delete Portfolio function from the Portfolio menu. Enter in the Portfolio ID text box the Portfolio ID of the desired portfolio and press Enter, or enter in the Account Number text box the Account Number of the desired portfolio and press Enter or select the portfolio by selecting it from the drop- down list box. After making the desired changes to the portfolio data, click on the OK command button.

The Change/Delete Portfolio ID Record window also provides the means to delete a portfolio and all of its transactions.

Edit Transaction Data

To edit transaction data, select the Single Portfolio>Add/Change/Delete function from the Transactions menu or press Ctrl+T. Select from the drop-down list box the portfolio ID of the portfolio for which transaction data is to be edited. Click on the cell containing the data which is to be edited and enter the desired change(s). Press the Enter key on the keyboard to record the change on the grid. Click on the Save command button to save the edited record. Each row of the transaction data grid represents a record.

The transaction Type field cannot be edited except that Deposit records can be changed to Withdrawal records and vice versa. Otherwise, if the Type field on a record is incorrect, delete the record and re-enter it with the correct Type.

Export Portfolio Data

To export portfolio data, select Export from the File menu and then select Portfolio Data. The Export Data function is used to create an ASCII file containing Easy ROR portfolio data; the resulting file is capable of being imported by popular spreadsheet programs. Each line in the export file contains all of the data in the portfolio file for the selected portfolio(s). Two formats are available for the exported file: comma delimited and text. An export file created using the comma delimited format may be used in the File>Import>Easy ROR format>Portfolio ID Data function.

If the comma delimited format is chosen, data fields are separated by commas.

If the text format is chosen, alphabetic data is placed within double quotation marks.

Select the portfolio(s) whose portfolio data is to be exported. After making the desired selections, click on the OK command button and then enter or select a file name and path in the Windows Save As Dialog for the export data file.

Export Portfolio Data - Portfolio Selection

Portfolio data for a single specified portfolio or for each of a group of specified portfolios can be exported. Select from the Portfolio Selection List Box the portfolio(s) whose data you want to export. Double-clicking any Portfolio ID causes all portfolios to be selected. Multiple portfolios can be selected by depressing the Ctrl key while clicking on a portfolio entry in the Portfolio Selection List Box.

The Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry Text Box may be used to cause all portfolios whose ID's match the wild card entry to be selected.

A previously saved Portfolio Group selection may be used to select portfolios by clicking on the Drop-Down Text Box control button and then clicking on the desired Group Name.

Export Transaction Data

The Export Data function is used to create an ASCII file containing Easy ROR transaction data; the resulting file is capable of being imported by popular spreadsheet programs. Two formats are available for the exported file: comma delimited and text. Transaction data exported using the comma delimited format may be imported into an Easy ROR database.

If the comma delimited format is chosen, data fields are separated by commas. Dates are formatted as mm/dd/yyyy.

If the text format is chosen, alphabetic data is placed within double quotation marks and numeric data is separated by spaces. Dates are written as a number equal to the number of days since December 31, 1899. Each line in the export file contains up to 73 characters of data for each Transaction data record.

To export transaction data, select Export from the File menu and then select Transaction Data. Select the portfolio(s) whose transaction data is to be exported. The transactions to be exported can be limited to those of a given Type by selecting that Type from the Type drop-down list box; select All to include all transaction types. The transaction date range is limited by the Beginning Date and Ending Date selections. After making the desired selections, click on the OK command button and then enter or select a file name and path in the Windows Save As Dialog Box for the export data file.

Export Transaction Data - Portfolio Selection

Transaction data for a single specified portfolio or for each of a group of specified portfolios can be exported. Select from the Portfolio Selection List Box the portfolio(s) whose data you want to export. Double-clicking any Portfolio ID causes all portfolios to be selected. Multiple portfolios can be selected by depressing the Ctrl key while clicking on a portfolio entry in the Portfolio Selection List Box.

The Portfolio ID Wild Card Entry Text Box may be used to cause all portfolios whose ID's match the wild card entry to be selected.

A previously saved Portfolio Group selection may be used to select portfolios by clicking on the Drop-Down Text Box control button and then clicking on the desired Group Name.

Import Data

Data may be imported from comma delimited files (*.csv) created using the Easy ROR Export (in Easy ROR format) function and from Portfolio Analyzer and The Investor's Accountant database files. Data may also be imported from user defined ASCII data files. To import data, select Import from the File menu and then either select the program from which data is to be imported or select "User Defined". If either Easy ROR, Portfolio Analyzer or The Investor's Accountant is selected, an Import File Dialog appears; identify the path and directory in which the database files to be imported are located.

The Undo Transaction Data Import function may be used to delete transaction records (other than Balance records) imported from an import file.

Selecting "User Defined" causes an Import file description window to appear. From this window either select a previously saved file description from the Import Descriptions drop-down text box or define the import file by making entries in the file description fields. To be able to define the import file layout, you must first determine how data in the file is arranged by printing the data file or by observing the file in a text editor such as Windows Notepad.

The User Defined Import file description window contains the following selections:

Import Descriptions
Portfolio(s)
Datafile Name
Datafile Path
Comment
Fields separated by
One Record/Line
Record Length/Number of Fields
Position or Location & Length

To test the accuracy of your file description, Click the Test command button and then enter or otherwise select the name of the import data file in the "Select Import File" Directory List Box. The first record on the import data file is displayed above a scale at the bottom of the Import Data window and the values of the various fields, as determined by the file description, are displayed to the right of the field description values. The Record Length or Number of Fields entry determines the length of the record displayed above the scale; if the Record Length field is set to a blank or zero, a record length of 255 is used, otherwise the actual entry is used. Click the Next command button to read the values on the next record; if the file Description is correct, the values for each field on every record will be correctly displayed to the right of the field description values. When you are satisfied that the file Description is correct, click the Import command button to cause the data from your import file to be read into the Easy ROR database. If the data pertains to a single portfolio, you are prompted to select that portfolio from the Portfolio ID selection list.

Import User-Defined Data, Portfolio(s)

Choose the "Multiple" option if the data file includes data for more than one portfolio; each record in such a file must contain a portfolio ID. Choose the "Single" option if all of the data in the file pertains to a single portfolio; when you click the "Import" command button, you will be prompted to indicate the portfolio ID.

Import File - Datafile Name

Entry of a 'Datafile Name' is optional. If a 'Datafile Name' is saved as a part of the Description, that name is the default File Name when the Select Import File window is opened by clicking either Test or Import.

Import File - Datafile Path

Entry of a 'Datafile Path' is optional. If a 'Datafile Path' is saved as a part of the Description, that path is the default 'Look in:' path when the 'Select Import File' window is opened by clicking either Test or Import. If no Datafile Path' is a part of the Description, the default 'Look in:' path when the 'Select Import File' window is opened is the path to the folder in which Easy ROR is installed.

Import User-Defined Data, Comment

A comment related to the Import File Description may be entered; an entry is not required. This comment field is provided for your use to enter text or numbers which you might find useful regarding the file description; the field is not used by the Import function.

Import User-Defined Data, Fields separated by

Indicate whether the data fields on the Import File are separated by Commas or Tabs or are Not Separated. When the import file is displayed or printed, tab characters (ASCII value of 9) may appear as an open circle ( ).

The location of comma or tab delimited data fields is described by identifying the position sequence of each data field in the data record. For example, if the record date appears in the third field on each record, enter a "3" in the Position field for "Date".

If the data fields are not separated by commas or tabs then the location of data fields is described by identifying the length of each data record and identifying the location of the left-most character of each data field and the length of each data field. For example, if the first character in the field containing the Portfolio ID in each record is located above 42 on the scale and the last character in the field is located above the 52 on the scale, enter "42" in the Location field for "Portfolio" and enter "11" in the Length field. If each record does not begin on a separate line when the Import file is printed or displayed in an Editor program such as Windows Notepad, you must cause the "One Record/Line" check box to be blank and you must enter the total number of characters in an individual record in the "Record Length" field.

Import User-Defined Data, One Record/Line

A group of data fields (Portfolio ID, Data Type, Date, etc.) which contain data for a single day is a data record. Indicate if each record in the file begins on a new line, ie. one record per line. Whether or not each record begins on a new line can be determined by printing the Import file or by displaying it in an Editor program such as Windows Notepad.

Import User-Defined, Record Length/Number of Fields

If the "Fields separated by" choice is "Not Separated" and the records in the data file are not "One Record/Line", but instead, one record follows another on the same line, you must enter a value for Record Length. The Record Length is the number of characters and spaces in a single record. If the "Fields separated by" choice is commas or tabs then a value must be entered for the Number of Fields. The Number of Fields is the number of possible data fields in each record; the correct value is usually one more than the number of commas (or tabs) in the record.

Import User-Defined Data, Position or Location & Length

If the data fields are separated by commas or tabs you are required to indicate the Position (or sequence) of the various data fields in the data record. If the data fields are not separated by commas or tabs you are required to indicate the starting location and length of the various data fields in the data record.

Portfolio - If the data being imported pertains to Multiple portfolios, rather than to a single portfolio, each data record must include an alpha-numeric field containing the portfolio ID. The Import function reads the first three characters in the Portfolio ID field.

Type - Each import data record must include an alphabetic field which identifies the record Type as either Balance, Deposit, Withdrawal, Fee or Tax. Since the Import function reads only the first character of the Type entry, a single-character entry (B, D, W, F or T) is sufficient.

Date & Format - Each import data record must include a numeric field containing the record date. The date format may be either mmddyy, mmddyyyy, mm/dd/yy, mm/dd/yyyy or serial; specify the "Serial" notation when the date is represented by the number of days occurring between December 30, 1899 and the record date, eg. January 1, 1900 is day 2.

Amount - An import data record must include a numeric field containing the record Amount value, eg. the portfolio value on a Type B record, the deposit amount on a Type D record, etc. 

Tax Amount - An import Balance Type data record may include a numeric field containing a Tax Amount. The tax value is the approximate tax liability (not actual payment) on accrued interest and unrealized capital gains included in the Balance value; these tax values are needed only if you want Easy ROR to calculate after-tax performance. Use record Type T to record actual tax payment amounts.

Memo - An import data record may include an alpha-numeric field containing a comment or memo.

Import User-Defined Data, Import Descriptions

To save the data entries and selections on the User-Defined Import window as an "Import Description", enter a name (up to 9 alpha-numeric characters) in the "Import Description" list box and click the Save command button. To select a previously saved Description, click on the list box control button and then click on the Description name. A displayed Description may be deleted by clicking the Delete Command button.

Undo Transaction Data Import

The Undo Transaction Data Import function is used to delete non-Balance records from the current transaction database which had previously been imported from an import file.

Easy ROR Format

Select the desired import file from the 'Select Import File' window and click 'Open' to initiate the Undo operation.

Investor's Accountant/Portfolio Analyzer Database

Select the desired import file from  and click 'Open' to initiate the Undo operation.

User Defined

Select from the drop-down list the Import Description which describes the import file. Click the Undo button to open the 'Select Import File' window, select the desired import file, and click 'Open' to initiate the Undo operation.

The main use of this function is to delete duplicate records which were mistakenly added to the database by importing data from a file from which data had already been imported. Since the database does not allow a Portfolio to have more than one Balance record for a given day, importing data from a file from which data had previously been imported results in duplicate records of all types except Balance records. Since duplicate Balance records are not created, the Undo function does not delete Balance records.

Restore Backup Database

To copy data files from the Backup drive/directory to the directory (folder) in which you keep your databases, select the Restore database command from the File menu.

Select the drive on which the Backup files are located from the Backup Drive drop-down list. Select the directory in which the Backup files are located from the from the Backup Directory list. Select the names of the files to be restored from the Database list. Hold down the Shift or Ctrl key while selecting files to select multiple files. Similarly select the drive and directory to which the backed-up files are to be copied. Click OK to cause the selected files to be copied to the selected directory.

Make Anonymous Database

The purpose of the File>Make Anonymous Database function is to make a duplicate copy of a selected Transaction database file which is identical to the original except that the Account Number, Address, Phone Number Taxpayer ID and Memo fields on the Portfolio records are blanked and the Portfolio ID is assigned as the Portfolio Name. The default filename of the duplicate database is the filename of the original database with ‘Anon’ appended.  For example, the default filename of the anonymous database made from the ‘smith.mdb’ file would be ‘smithAnon.mdb’.  The default name can be overridden if desired.

Merge Portfolios

To copy the combined transaction data of two portfolios to an empty portfolio, select the Merge Portfolio function from the Portfolio menu. Identify the portfolios to be merged and enter the portfolio ID of the target portfolio in the New Portfolio ID text box. Click the OK command button to cause the portfolios to be merged.

Note that the Amount and Tax values on Balance records placed in the "merged portfolio" are the sum of the Amount and Tax values on Balance records of the individual portfolios. If only one of the portfolios being merged has a Balance record on a given day and both portfolios existed on that day, that record is ignored since its Amount and Tax values do not represent the values of the combined portfolio.

Change a Portfolio ID

To change the ID of a portfolio, select the Change Portfolio ID function from the Portfolio menu. Select the portfolio to be renamed from the Portfolio ID/Name drop- down list or enter its ID or Account No. in the Portfolio ID or Account No. text box and enter the new portfolio ID in the New Portfolio ID text box. Click the OK command button to cause the portfolio ID to be replaced on the Portfolio record and on all Transaction records.

The New Portfolio ID must indicate a portfolio which does not already exist.

Use Sample Data

To load the Sample data, select Load Sample Data from the File menu. This causes the sample.mdb file to be the active datafile.

Site Map

The Site Map is a complete outline of all Easy ROR menu functions. Clicking on a function name will cause the Site Map to close and the function to activate.

The Site Map is obtained by clicking 'Help' on the Main Menu and then clicking 'Site Map'.

Calendar Periods

The Calendar Periods check box is included in the Period Returns frame and is enabled when a Period Return other than Single is selected. Select either the Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly Option Button to obtain "period" results. If the Calendar Periods check box is checked, a Monthly period is the interval from the last day of one month through the last day of the succeeding month, a Quarterly period is the 3-month interval following December 31, March 31, June 30 and September 30 and a Yearly period is the interval from December 31 of one year through December 31 of the succeeding year; if the Beginning Date is not the end of a calendar period, the first period extends from the Beginning Date through the normal period end date. The last 'period' on the report is the period from the end of the last 'calendar period' date through Ending Date.

If the Calendar Periods check box is not checked, the period begin and end dates are determined by the selected Beginning Date; a Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly period is the interval from the beginning day of a period through that day one month, three months or twelve months later. The last 'period' on the report is the period from the end of the last 'period' date through Ending Date.

Internal Rate of Return

The internal rate of return (IRR) is the interest rate which, if in effect throughout the report period and taking into account the amount and timing of all deposits and withdrawals to and from the portfolio during the period, would cause the beginning balance to grow (or decline) to the closing balance.

Set Data Path

Click 'Set Data Path' from the Main Menu 'File' list to describe the path to the folder/directory in which the default Transaction Database file ez.mdb resides. After clicking 'Save' you will be advised that the 'Data Path' will be saved and the program will close. When the program is next opened, the new data path will be in effect. If the Data Path entry is left blank, the Data Path is assumed to be the folder in which Easy ROR is installed.