ANGLO ASCOT OFFICE TRACKER
Public beta 2.1.0-beta.3 | Free local tool for 64-bit Windows 10 / 11

Keep company accounts and VAT dates, document checklists and notes in one
place, with Windows reminders. No account, subscription or hosting needed.
This is a record and reminder tool. It does not file accounts or VAT returns,
send documents to an accountant, or verify your official filing deadlines.

FIRST INSTALL
1. Download the complete ZIP and choose Extract All into a new folder.
2. Double-click setup.cmd using your normal Windows login.
3. Setup downloads a portable Node.js runtime from nodejs.org if a suitable
   installed tracker runtime is unavailable. Internet is needed for that
   download. Setup checks the official SHA256 download checksum.
4. Open the Office Tracker desktop shortcut for future use.
5. Run Office Tracker - Test Reminder to check the native pop-up on this PC.
No administrator account or global Node.js installation is normally required.
The tracker works offline after installation. Windows security policies can
restrict scripts and Task Scheduler; follow your organisation's IT policy.

START WITH YOUR OWN COMPANIES
New installations start empty. No business records or company list is bundled.
Open Companies, then Add company. This is the single place to add and manage
company details, notes and assignments. New companies are assigned to Accounts
and VAT by default. Turn either assignment off when it does not apply.
Dates stay blank until you enter a period end. No VAT quarter is invented.

DATES AND CHECKLISTS
Accounts due dates default to nine calendar months after the entered year end.
VAT due dates default to one month and seven days after the entered quarter end.
These are editable scheduling defaults, not a determination of legal deadlines.
Verify every date with your accountant or the official records. First accounts,
changed accounting periods and different VAT arrangements can need other dates.

Every annual accounts period and VAT quarter has separate Bank statements,
Purchase invoices, Sales invoices and Cash invoices checks, plus period notes.
Mark each item Pending, Sent or Not applicable. Completing the checklist does
not stop reminders. Close the period explicitly when its work is finished.
Closed periods stay in History and can be reopened.

The next annual period appears when its calendar year begins. VAT recurrence
shows relevant quarters in the current year. Prior unfinished work is retained.
Use Periods in Companies to add older periods, edit dates or delete mistakes.
Archive pauses a company while preserving its records. Delete removes the
company and its periods after confirmation. Re-entry starts fresh.

REMINDERS
Open periods have two reminder events: on the period end and one calendar
month before the due date. Due-date changes create a new deadline event.
Each event is shown once. Dismiss, closing the pop-up and Open tracker mark
shown events as seen. These controls do not snooze a reminder.
Archived companies, disabled assignments and closed periods do not remind.

The daily check is 09:00 in the PC's local time, with a check at sign-in.
The PC must be on and signed into the same Windows account for pop-ups.
The browser can be closed. Checks catch up at the next sign-in if the PC was
off. Setup uses a per-user task or a Startup watcher if scheduling is restricted.
Keep the PC date, time and timezone correct. Run Test Reminder after setup.

LOCAL RECORDS AND BACKUPS
Data lives outside the installed app in:
  %LOCALAPPDATA%\AAG-Office-Tracker\data.json
The tracker does not send your business records to Anglo Ascot Group.
There is no account, tracking analytics, advertising or cloud sync in the app.
Website and email links contact an external service only when you choose them.
See PRIVACY.txt for the local-data and setup-network details.

Records are local files, protected by your Windows access controls. They are
not separately encrypted by the tracker. Keep the PC and exported backups safe.
Use Download full backup in Settings & backups and keep a separate copy on an
existing backed-up drive or location. Built-in backups on the same PC do not
protect against loss of the whole computer. Updates and uninstall preserve
records and backups; setup also makes a dated before-update snapshot.

ONE WINDOWS ACCOUNT, ONE MASTER PC
This package is intended for one Windows account on one computer. Everyone
using the same records should use that Windows sign-in. Different Windows
accounts have separate data. Simultaneous multi-PC access and shared cloud
records are not supported. The app server listens only at 127.0.0.1.
There is no separate tracker sign-in. People who can access the running tracker
on this computer can see and change its records; use a trusted office PC.

UPDATES AND REMOVAL
For an existing tracker, close its browser tab and pop-ups, extract the new
package into a fresh folder and run update.cmd under the same Windows login.
Your records are reused. The public release does not add sample companies.
See UPDATE-AND-UNINSTALL.txt before updating, restoring or removing the app.

PUBLIC BETA CHECKS
This beta includes engine, API and frontend workflow checks. Native automated
release checks cover PowerShell 5.1 install, update, tasks, uninstall and a
synthetic reminder preview, with results saved in release evidence. Physical
Windows 10 / 11 PCs, actual due-event popup timing and minimized shortcut
launch remain unverified. Complete these checks on your PC before relying
on reminders:
1. Install, open the app and add a fictional temporary company with dates.
2. Run Test Reminder and try its Open tracker button.
3. Save a company note, checklist and edited due date. Close and reopen the
   app and confirm the values persist.
4. Check sign-in reminders, then remove your temporary company.
5. If updating, confirm existing notes, checklists and dates remain intact.

HELP AND FEEDBACK
Website: https://angloascotgroup.com
Email: contact@angloascotgroup.com
Include the app version, Windows version and error message when reporting an
issue. You do not need to email company records or backups for an initial report.
For setup errors, see setup.log in the data folder; for server errors, see
server-error.log. Reminder errors are recorded in reminder-errors.log.
After a failed update, retry setup once the error is resolved. Reminders may
remain disabled until setup succeeds. Do not remove a maintenance lock while
setup or uninstall is still running.
