VT Final Accounts

Spreadsheets are not normally very good at handling text more than one row long. To overcome this, VT Final Accounts uses borderless Excel text boxes placed over a row of cells. Text boxes behave like a mini word-processing area. Because they are borderless, the text boxes used by VT Final Accounts can be a little difficult to see. However, they can be identified by the absence of the grid lines around the cells that they cover or by clicking on them.

Editing text boxes

To change the text in a text box:

1. Click on the box to select it
2. Click again where you wish to begin typing
3. To exit word processor mode, click on the border of the box or on any ordinary cell

Automated text boxes

The text in text boxes cannot contain embedded formulae, but it is possible to link the text box to the contents of another cell, and hence a degree of automation can be achieved. VT Final Accounts uses this technique to automate some of the text in the directors report.

When you select an automated text box, you will find that the text cannot be directly edited. Instead, a reference in the formula bar (the white row just beneath the toolbar buttons) links it to a cell on the Library worksheet. If you want to edit the text, edit the cell on the Library sheet. If you want to break the link, remove the formula in the formula bar.

Text longer than 255 characters cannot be automated in Excel, and hence you have to manually alter the wording in the auditors/accountants reports.

Re-sizing text boxes

Text boxes do not re-size automatically. If a text box is too big or small, alter the height of the row behind the box. To quickly alter the row height, drag the bottom line of the square containing the row number up or down with the mouse. If a text box becomes mis-aligned from its row, choose the Re-align Text Box command from the VT Final Accounts Format menu.

Inserting text boxes

1. If necessary, create a new row by clicking on a row number with the right mouse button and choosing the Insert command from the pop-up menu

2. Select the cells to be covered by the text box

3. Click on the Insert Text Box Across Columns button on the VT toolbar. Do not use the Excel text box button, as this does not create a borderless box Insert Text Box Across Columns button.

Deleting text boxes

1. Select the text box (In Excel 97 or higher you can only select a text box by clicking on its border)
2. Press the Delete key

Note The boxes used for notes such as Transaction with directors automatically hide if they are left blank.