Corona, the Mac OS X application for managing a checking account dedicated to a cash-basis business, has been updated with functions that make it more than just a check register.
“I have worked very hard to craft an upgrade for Corona that significantly increases its value,” author R. Charles Flickinger told MacCentral. “Corona is now more like a double-entry accounting application.”
Version 1.5 now provides general form entry and payroll accounting in addition to its checking register and reports. The interface has been enhanced with dynamic popup selectors for descriptions and accounts. Font size can now be adjusted for transaction views. Plus, a new online help facility has been implemented.
“It was pretty clear, while writing the payroll section of the help facility, that Corona needed to be taken to a level beyond a simple check register application,” Flickinger said. “The accrual nature of payroll accounting demanded the need for a general entry form. The result is a more sophisticated product that has not sacrificed simplicity.”
Corona now provides standard payroll features: employee data, calculation of earnings and deductions, payroll journal reports and calculation of amounts for employer’s quarterly reports. Corona’s general entry form provides a means to enter beginning trial balances, adjusting entries and other general forms of transaction entry. The general form entry sports the same use of dynamic popup selectors for descriptions and accounts as the cash entry form. The general entry form also displays monthly payroll entries for subsequent posting to the main transaction register at the click of a button.
“Because of the new general entry form and payroll accounting, Corona now includes a balance sheet report in addition to the original income statement, trial balance and bank reconcilement reports,” Flickinger said.
Corona’s files can be opened by any common spreadsheet software that imports tab-delimited data. Corona can also open exported information from spreadsheets and databases, a feature designed to make transaction data easy to share between software applications.
For record keeping, Corona facilitates transaction entry and bank reconcilement, it helps you find items in the transaction data, and quickly gleans monthly detail by account. Corona also provides monthly or total reports for income and trial balance. All of the application’s queries and reports can be printed or saved as files on disk.
Corona is currently available online, from the Corona Web site. The Corona package (2.8 MB) includes a manual in PDF format, a sample data file and sample chart of accounts. Corona can be used on Mac OS X or since it’s Carbonized, Mac OS 7.5 through 9.1 if the CarbonLib extension is loaded. Corona provides a 30-day evaluation copy; a serial number and support may be purchased for US$34.95.