Introduction
FirstOffice's work area contains a single movable, tool palette, the Master Control panel, located by default in the centre of the screen. This contains the Personal Desktop and four rows of buttons. The buttons in the first row (entitled 'Personal') mostly control functions that cannot be operated in any other way. Those in the second row (entitled 'Routines') duplicate some of the functions on the
File menu, while those in the third and fourth rows (entitled 'Registers') can also be activated at all times using the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl-1-8 (Windows and Linux) or ⌘-1-8 (Macintosh). Since the Master Control panel is always visible, it is often simpler to use the buttons it contains than to select functions from the menus.
You can bring the Master Control panel to the front at any time using the 'Master Control' item on the File menu. Windows and Linux users can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-M, while Macintosh users can use ⌘-M. To close the Master Control panel, click the close box or use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl-F4/⌘-W.
The tools in the Master Control panel are divided into three sections:
- Personal
- These buttons allow you to change the Company you are working in, to organise your diary, and to start the process of backing up your database. Some of these buttons have a keyboard shortcut, as shown below, which you can use when the Master Control panel is the active (front) window.
- [Companies]
- Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-O
- Macintosh keyboard shortcut: ⌘-O
- If you have more than one Company in your database, use this button to move between Companies. For more information about using a multi-Company database, refer to the Working with Companies page.
- [Calendar]
- Click this button to open the Calendar: a graphic representation of your completed Activities and those of other users. Full details can be found on the Calendar page.
- [Tasks]
- This button allows you to organise your diary, providing a means of recording appointments and other tasks. Full details can be found on the Task Manager page.
- [Backup]
- In a single-user system, you can use this button to back up your entire database. Please refer to this page for details about backing up.
- Routines
- These buttons are equivalent to some of the commands on the File menu. In each case, clicking the button produces a list of options from which the required one can be selected by double-clicking. Each of these buttons has a keyboard shortcut, as shown below, which you can use at any time.
- [Reports]
- Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-R
- Macintosh keyboard shortcut: ⌘-R
- Click this button to produce reports. You can define some of the reports and choose where they are to be printed (e.g. to screen, to a printer or to a text file). General details about producing reports can be found on the Report Window and File Menu pages, while the reports themselves are described in detail in the Reports section of these web pages.
- [Documents]
- Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-D
- Macintosh keyboard shortcut: ⌘-D
- Use this button when you want to print documents intended for external use (e.g. Invoices). Details about printing documents can be found on the File Menu page, while the documents themselves are described individually in the Documents section of these web pages.
- [Exports]
- Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-E
- Macintosh keyboard shortcut: ⌘-E
- This is the button you use when you need to back up your FirstOffice database and to export data from FirstOffice. Exports are described individually in the Exports section of these web pages, and details about backing up can be found here.
- [Settings]
- Windows/Linux keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-S
- Macintosh keyboard shortcut: ⌘-S
- Settings allow you to set operating preferences within FirstOffice, to tailor its operations to your requirements. Before you start working with FirstOffice, you should consider the settings, since the program's functions depend on the settings being correct. Many settings take the form of options or preferences. Others require information or a number of records to be entered. Click the button to open the 'Settings' list window where you will find an alphabetical list of the settings that are available. Double-click an item in this list to add to or change a particular setting.
Use the other two rows of buttons to open registers. Each register is used to store information of a particular type. Click on a register button to open the browse window for the register. This window lists all the records contained in the register. In FirstOffice, registers are divided into two groups as follows:
- Transactions
- Each transaction register represents a particular type of accounting transaction. Invoices, Receipts (payments that you receive against Invoices that you have issued), Purchase Invoices and Payments (that you issue against Purchase Invoices) are each stored in separate registers. Use the Transaction register for all other kinds of transaction (e.g. credit card payments, salaries, transfers between bank accounts).
- Base Registers
- Base registers typically contain information that is then used elsewhere. This information will not itself be changed very often. For example, the Customer register is effectively a list of Customer names and addresses that will be referred to from the Calendar and from Invoices and Receipts.
