individual fields are separated by tabs
there are five sections:

section 1 which says what the date of the new state-file will be
DATE
February 15, 2005

section 2 which lists the contribution made by each member at the previous
meeting
name-key	dollar-contribution

MEMBERS_BEGIN
Alice	25
Bob	25
Chuck	25
Eve	25
Uwe	20
MEMBERS_END

section 3 which lists the transactions
stock prices get updated by listing a zero-share transaction at the new price

TRANSACTIONS_BEGIN
TRANSACTIONS_END

section 4 which lists the maintenance-account transactions
this is stuff like postage, envelopes, checking-account fees, etc

MAINTENANCE_BEGIN
100.00	everyone chips in 20 to start the maintenance account
-10.00	monthly checking account fee
MAINTENANCE_END

section 5: comments by the treasurer: straight TeX

NOTES_BEGIN
Welcome to WHOMP! We're assuming that we've started out the club last
month, with 0 investment contributions prior to that, and at last
month's meeting each member contributed \$20 to the maintenance
account, and \$25 as that month's investment contribution (except Uwe,
who blew too much money on lottery tickets and so can afford only
\$20). For the next several months, we'll be in ``cash-accumulation''
mode, so there won't be any investments. That'll change eventually.

Disclaimer: all of these numbers are made up. They're fake! This program is
free, there's no warranty express or implied. It's {\it your} responsibility
to verify the accuracy of your records.
NOTES_END