Travel Expenses or TE is an application used to store expenses incurred when out of the office. I had created TE when I was working as an Integration Engineer and travel quite a bit around the U.S. I found that when I returned, there were some items I didn’t write down, no matter the cost amount. This, in the end, added up over time. I decided to use a spreadsheet, but the sheet was too small to see on the hand held, and I didn’t always want to open my laptop at the hotel.
I began creating TE, and over the course of a few months, I had weeded out most unwanted features and added just what I wanted it to do. At one time I had tied TE other applications (project Report and calculator) , but this wasn’t feasible since most people were just looking for an easy to use expense report.
I had even created an MDB file which I created using Microsoft Access. I disconnected this also because most people wanted to export the expense file out of their hand held device and into a spreadsheet on the desktop for further modification.
There is one person I MUST give credit to: Tippy, a great person who has taken TE on the road and essentially used it. His comments and suggestions were detrimental to the success of this application. Thank you Tippy!
There are two versions, the freeware version v1.2.6 and the registered version, v1.3.4. For this post, I will be covering the registered version, in the hopes of educating you on some of things the application is capable of.
When first run the splash image is shown. Selecting anywhere on the display starts TE.
When TE opens, the database will show the last record entered. This first display is what I call the Read-Only mode. This mode is to protect the user from accidently overwriting a record. You will see I have done this to many of the grumpydragonsoft applications.
From this display, you can see an entire entry except for one item: Notes. I have included a notes section that is easily viewed by selecting Record | Expense Notes. This is a quick button feature where an icon appears at the top right of the screen in the event text is entered in the notes section.
Selecting this button and the notes box will appear.
TE provides you with two main filters: Today and Sum.
The Today screen lists all the expenses incurred for the date shown. By selecting the date field, the user can choose a specific date. You will see the subtotal is listed on the bottom right and only adds costs for that date.
A list of all expenses entered for that specific date will be displayed and each listing shows the category and the amount billed. To go to a record, just highlight and double-click.
The Sum screen is similar, but it filters according to the Category Type. The dropdown here will only list those categories that are used so if you only created a breakfast record, then that will be the only category available to you.
Again, you will see the subtotal is listed on the bottom right and only adds costs for that category.
A list of all expenses entered under that category will be displayed. Each listing shows the date and the amount billed. To view a specific record, just highlight the one of interest and double-click.
To edit a particular record, select Edit|Edit Current Record. The screen changes to a display allowing modification of any field. Selecting the + button on the main screen will also bring you here, but the record shown would be empty.
Selecting the date field will prompt a calendar to appear, allowing you to select a specific date, great if you forget to add an expense on a previous day.
Category lists all the standard categories used when traveling: breakfast, lunch dinner, hotel car rental, flight costs, baggage costs, etc. If you do not find what you need, simply type it in the dropdown field and that item will be stored to be used with later entries.
Selecting Category: Mileage will change the cost field to a mileage field. This function works in conjunction with the Settings found under the Misc. menu.
Payment lists all standard types of payment such as cash, American Express, Master Card, Visa, Diners Club Card etc. There is also a category called No Payment. This is used when entering items such as mileage costs, but you just charge your mileage.
Expenditure Type is used to differentiate between business and pleasure expenses. An example would be that room movie you purchased that cost $11.99 but you can’t exactly add it to the final expense sheet. 
Remember To Save Receipt is used to display a reminder that you must keep an actual receipt somewhere for turning in to the company.
The last item I want to talk about is the exporting feature of TE. This is found by selecting Option|Export Records. The Export feature is only available in v1.3.4 and is worth worth mentioning.
The From and To fields will display a calendar when selected. Select the dates you would like to either display filter on, or export. To
Selecting the List button will bring up a list of all records between those dates. Double clicking any record will display that record in Edit mode and a small green filter button will be displayed on the top left of the screen to alert you that you are in a filter mode and are only able to edit those records. selecting the filter button will remove the filter and all records will once again be available.
By selecting Filter, you cause TE to filter only those records to prepare for exporting. You will see a reading Records to be Exported. This also allows you to go to the main screen and move through these filtered records to be sure you entered what you wanted. A small green filter button will be displayed on the top left of the screen to alert you that you are in a filter mode and are not seeing all the records.
The Filename field is where you type the name you want the exported file to be called. if you leave it blank then the application will automatically store it as Travel Expenses.txt and will be stored in the Travel Expenses folder.
If you want the file to have a specific name and be a text file, select the field and a save as dialog box will appear. Be sure to add .txt after the filename.
if you would rather export at an XML file, select the field and a save as dialog box will appear. Be sure to add .xml after the filename.
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