diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 496ee2c..2608ec2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
+.DS_Store
+.vscode
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/_file_information.h b/src/_file_information.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1cb5200
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_file_information.h
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#define MAX_LENGTH 100
+#define CUSTOMER_DATA_FILE "CustomerData.txt"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.c b/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.c
index 1f87d76..a91e306 100644
--- a/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.c
+++ b/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.c
@@ -13,36 +13,49 @@ float fetchBalanceFromBalanceString(char balance_String[MAX_LENGTH]) {
     return balance;
 }
 
-float getAvailableAccountBalance(int user_id) {
+float readFileAndGetAvailableBalance(FILE *file, char stringID[MAX_LENGTH]) {
+    float balance = 0;
     bool keep_reading = true;
-    float availableBalance = 0;
-
     char buffer[MAX_LENGTH];
-    char stringID[MAX_LENGTH] = "ID=";
-    char user_id_as_string[MAX_LENGTH];
     char balance_String[MAX_LENGTH];
 
-    sprintf(user_id_as_string, "%d", user_id); // converts user_id to string
-    strcat(stringID, user_id_as_string);
-
-    FILE *file = fopen("CustomerData.txt", "r"); 
-
     while(keep_reading) {
         fgets(buffer, MAX_LENGTH, file);
         if (feof(file)) {
             keep_reading = false;
         }
         else if(strstr(buffer, stringID)) {
-            fgets(buffer, MAX_LENGTH, file);
-            fgets(buffer, MAX_LENGTH, file);
-            fgets(buffer, MAX_LENGTH, file);
-            fgets(buffer, MAX_LENGTH, file);
+            for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
+                fgets(buffer, MAX_LENGTH, file);
+            }
             strcpy(balance_String, buffer);
-            availableBalance = fetchBalanceFromBalanceString(balance_String);
+            balance = fetchBalanceFromBalanceString(balance_String);
             keep_reading = false;
         }
 
     }
+    return balance;
+}
+
+float getAvailableAccountBalance(int user_id) {
+    float availableBalance = 0;
+    char stringID[MAX_LENGTH] = "ID=";
+    char user_id_as_string[MAX_LENGTH];
+
+    sprintf(user_id_as_string, "%d", user_id); // converts user_id to string
+    strcat(stringID, user_id_as_string);
+    // Now stringID is "ID=user_id"
+
+    FILE *file = fopen(CUSTOMER_DATA_FILE, "r"); 
+    if(file == 0) {
+        printf("Error: customer data file cannot be opened!\n");
+        return 0;
+    }
+    else {
+        availableBalance = readFileAndGetAvailableBalance(file, stringID);
+    }
+
+    
     fclose(file);
     
     return availableBalance;
diff --git a/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.h b/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.h
index 76725fe..2795450 100644
--- a/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.h
+++ b/src/currentCustomerAccountBalance.h
@@ -3,5 +3,8 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
-#define MAX_LENGTH 100
-float getAvailableAccountBalance(int user_id);
\ No newline at end of file
+#include "_file_information.h"
+
+float getAvailableAccountBalance(int user_id);
+float fetchBalanceFromBalanceString(char balance_String[MAX_LENGTH]);
+float readFileAndGetAvailableBalance(FILE *file, char stringID[MAX_LENGTH]);
\ No newline at end of file