Payroll system, any ideas

Am developing a payroll system, and don't know where to get information on how it works.

any suggestions and help will be appreciated


thanks

Try Googling around looking for existing software of that type. Most should have a trial version you can download and install, then check out the specs and features that you can include on your own.

For starters, you'll need a database. My personal preference is MySQL but you can use Access as well.

thats a good idea, but i think its an idea that will take excess time. Am browsing from a dailup connection, and don't have bandwidth to download large programs. Please help me If you could point me to such examples that are light

This one has a list of features on the page and the trial is 6.9MB http://www.realtaxtools.com/payrolls..._software.html

Be aware that most software of that kind will have features made specifically for the targeted country relating to the laws and regulations of the country.

Thanks, but how do i make something general. Like there should be at least basic features for this kind of application

That would be a question for someone who works in accounting. But the demo on that page should give you some ideas to start. Don't worry if you are not sure right now, take something to start and build from there. As you go along you'll get new ideas and features that you can incorporate into your application.

any more ideas as to calculations involved etc would be appreciated

thanks

I guess it really depends on the country, but these should make for an informative read on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payroll
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/payroll/index.htm
http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/

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Originally Posted by baja_yu

I guess it really depends on the country, but these should make for an informative read on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payroll
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/payroll/index.htm
http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/

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i downloaded the software, i don't get any idea from it at all.

1. i don't know how a payroll works

2. The only thing that makes it country dependent depends on the country it is being used

3. I would need to know the kind reports that being generated

While those links tries to explain what payroll is, they don't give detailed examples

sounds like it's time to talk to the users and get some business requirements done....

-tg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coolcurrent4u

i downloaded the software, i don't get any idea from it at all.

1. i don't know how a payroll works

2. The only thing that makes it country dependent depends on the country it is being used

3. I would need to know the kind reports that being generated

While those links tries to explain what payroll is, they don't give detailed examples

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Payroll systems can be very simple or very complex. I am not sure if you are doing this for school, work or fun. Anyways, I will try to help you with what I can.

Payroll systems are used to pay people. The system should know the rate of each individual person. The accountant would put in the total number of hours for the week and the payroll system would calculate a gross amount.

Code:

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Gross Amount = Rate per hour X number of hours worked

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From there, deductions would occur. This is where it matters where you live. If you live in the United States, you will pay federal and state taxes. You will also pay Social Security, FICA. You may also pay for insurance or put money into a 401K. NOTE: You must be careful about 401K's because those usually are not taxed. Once all the deductions are calculated you can find the net pay.

Code:

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Net Pay = Gross Pay - Deductions

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A (very) basic payroll system could be coded quickly. If this is to be for an actual company, you will be spending a lot of time on it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mbutler755

Payroll systems can be very simple or very complex. I am not sure if you are doing this for school, work or fun. Anyways, I will try to help you with what I can.

Payroll systems are used to pay people. The system should know the rate of each individual person. The accountant would put in the total number of hours for the week and the payroll system would calculate a gross amount.

Code:

---

Gross Amount = Rate per hour X number of hours worked

---

From there, deductions would occur. This is where it matters where you live. If you live in the United States, you will pay federal and state taxes. You will also pay Social Security, FICA. You may also pay for insurance or put money into a 401K. NOTE: You must be careful about 401K's because those usually are not taxed. Once all the deductions are calculated you can find the net pay.

Code:

---

Net Pay = Gross Pay - Deductions

---

A (very) basic payroll system could be coded quickly. If this is to be for an actual company, you will be spending a lot of time on it.

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Thanks Thanks Thanks for the reply, Am beginning to get some ideas here.

its not for fun, It is for a company.

I don't mind going in-dept, i don't mind the time i'll spend. I'll post any progress here for future use for other programmers.

Any idea about database structure?

Do i have to save all the workers info in db?

Please more tips.

Thanks once again

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coolcurrent4u

Any idea about database structure?

Do i have to save all the workers info in db?

Please more tips.

Thanks once again

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You really should be talking about this with the people you are making the application for. Nobody but them can tell you what information they want to keep for each person. If I told you to keep shoe and dress sizes it might seem funny, but maybe they issue work clothes and equipment to them so they need that too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by baja_yu

You really should be talking about this with the people you are making the application for. Nobody but them can tell you what information they want to keep for each person. If I told you to keep shoe and dress sizes it might seem funny, but maybe they issue work clothes and equipment to them so they need that too.

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Baja_yu is absolutely correct here. We keep shoe sizes at my current place of business because our employees need to purchase Shoes for Crews.

Other things to think about:

• Are multiple users using this?

• Will there be different security levels?

• What database structure will you use?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by baja_yu

You really should be talking about this with the people you are making the application for. Nobody but them can tell you what information they want to keep for each person. If I told you to keep shoe and dress sizes it might seem funny, but maybe they issue work clothes and equipment to them so they need that too.

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The problem is i don't have anybody to talk to, am not doing it for a particular company, or do i?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coolcurrent4u

The problem is i don't have anybody to talk to, am not doing it for a particular company, or do i?

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I think you are saying that this software isn't for a specific company. If this is true, you have even more work to do. You will need to include miscellaneous fields so your users can customize them.

Take a look at this screenshot at the bottom of the page.

Additionally, you would need different security levels and have an easy way to set them for users.

You should include things like:

• Auditing

• Report Viewing

• Customizable Report Building

• Forms Library (IRS Forms)
  
  Take a look at this software.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mbutler755

Baja_yu is absolutely correct here. We keep shoe sizes at my current place of business because our employees need to purchase Shoes for Crews.

Other things to think about:

• Are multiple users using this?

• Will there be different security levels?

• What database structure will you use?

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Quote:

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Are multiple users using this?

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yes i'll implement this

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Will there be different security levels?

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yes i'll implement this

Quote:

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What database structure will you use?

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Structure as in how? tables layout or what?

thanks for anothe great idea, but

Quote:

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Forms Library (IRS Forms)

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What is this?

Quote:

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Take a look at this software.

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i downloaded that software, it is not user friendly if you ask me.

i used it but cant get tangible result from it.

i don't know what is going on under the hood.

thought it may be a good software, but i can't learn from it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coolcurrent4u

thanks for anothe great idea, but


What is this?



i downloaded that software, it is not user friendly if you ask me.

i used it but cant get tangible result from it.

i don't know what is going on under the hood.

thought it may be a good software, but i can't learn from it.

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The reason you think the software is not very good is because you don't understand it. What payroll experience do you have? If there is nobody that you can talk to, maybe you can get more information from an accountants association.

This is a great resource for you: http://www.accountantforums.com/. Additionally, they have an entire section on software. The forums discuss software they like and dislike. It also covers topics of features accountants would like to see added. If you can compile this type of information, you may be able to get a grasp on what is required to make good accounting software.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coolcurrent4u

Am developing a payroll system, and don't know where to get information on how it works.

any suggestions and help will be appreciated


thanks

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Hi dude,
I am also developing payroll system.There is no single source to get all the information about this you have to spend your valuable time to progress inch by inch.As said by one of the posters "Payroll systems can be very simple or very complex".So you have to learn visual basic,database programs,improve your programming skill.Download the following pdf file to get rough idea about the factors involved in payroll.


http://www.jsmtechnologies.com/downl...llBrochure.pdf

Hello thanks for the manual

i already know these thing you mentioned, plus i have written so many software about database etc.

I just need structural examples and calculations/ ideas.

I already registered in an accountant forum for information, but they have not responded to my questions

any help

Guys please,

Can any one offer me some more ideas

thanks

The problem is that you're talking about something that is extremely massive and not necessarily simple. There's a lot of rules and laws and other things involved. Go through the SDLC ... get some requirements... find out what the system needs to do. People don't just wake up one day and say to themselves "I'm going to create a payroll system." Something like that is generally need driven. Someone had to come to you and say "I need this" ... go back to them and find out what the system needs to do, understand the business needs/requirements... find out what's being used now, what do they like, what do they not like about it. Why do they want something new vs a pre-built system.

There's rates, hours, taxes, personal information that needs to be stored... and with that comes all sorts of privacy laws that kick in, which means security on the data. And then there's banking... automatic deposits... means even more sensitive data, meaning more security, which includes audits, reports.... you can quickly see how this spirals out of control.

I'm not trying to talk you out of doing it... just making sure you're thinking this through.

-tg

You forgot to mention superannuation and insurance tg

Not to mention compatibility. For instance if the accountant is using (Just picked any old one) Quickbooks for the company finances and your payrole system cannot exchange data then they will not want to know about it. You really need to find a company and work with them to find out exactly what they need.

Then comes the other problem. For example a certain well known commercial accounting package was adapted for general use after it was originally designed to work for service stations. Try adapting that for an art gallery. You have sculptures going into pump 1, paintings going into pump 2 etc. This is bad enough for a start but wait until the 16 year old art student mans the till on Saturday mornings and you have to spend most of Monday putting all the transactions back in the correct pump or your inventory is going out the window.

The upside of course is when you get a gig working for a wholesale nursery. Then you get to learn how to drive a tractor through a muddy paddock. Never thought I would end up doing that when I first started this caper. :)

You seem to be stuck on design, specifically database design. So lets go back to college, at least in your mind, and remember your class in database normalization. Now, payroll is basically the junction of two sections of a DBMS or could even be characterized as two different databases that are only linked by a single field (iEMPID or employee ID number).

So first up, is to design the employee information part of the database and as noted above, there could be many different types of optional fields that you will need to employ to make your system more generic. One place to start on this information gathering is to go around to several different types of businesses and quickly explain to them, if you need to do so, and get from them an application for employment. You will quickly find out that there are more than several simularities between the various applications.

Now, once you have that part designed, it is time to work on the payroll part and don't forget that a company can have more than one type of employee. There can be the salaried, the hourly, the contract, and the temporary employee. And then again, I'm not getting into out of state employess or out of country employess that are exempt from certain taxes or depending upon the country, are not exempt from certain other taxes. Each of these types of employees are both handled the same and handled differently so when you are designing this part of the database, keep those things in mind. Now, unfortunatly, this part of the database will take more research than most will care to undertake, but if you have an old classmate that is an accountant, well then your struggles may be lessoned by rekindling that friendship...



Good Luck

A good tool for DB modeling and design that I like to use is Sybase Powerdesigner.

Moved from the Visual Basic 6 and Earlier forum.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mbutler755

I think you are saying that this software isn't for a specific company. If this is true, you have even more work to do. You will need to include miscellaneous fields so your users can customize them.

Take a look at this screenshot at the bottom of the page.

Additionally, you would need different security levels and have an easy way to set them for users.

You should include things like:

• Auditing

• Report Viewing

• Customizable Report Building

• Forms Library (IRS Forms)
  
  Take a look at this software.

---

Thanks, this is some more good tips. any more ideas, most especially with the calculation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vb5prgrmr

You seem to be stuck on design, specifically database design. So lets go back to college, at least in your mind, and remember your class in database normalization. Now, payroll is basically the junction of two sections of a DBMS or could even be characterized as two different databases that are only linked by a single field (iEMPID or employee ID number).

So first up, is to design the employee information part of the database and as noted above, there could be many different types of optional fields that you will need to employ to make your system more generic. One place to start on this information gathering is to go around to several different types of businesses and quickly explain to them, if you need to do so, and get from them an application for employment. You will quickly find out that there are more than several simularities between the various applications.

Now, once you have that part designed, it is time to work on the payroll part and don't forget that a company can have more than one type of employee. There can be the salaried, the hourly, the contract, and the temporary employee. And then again, I'm not getting into out of state employess or out of country employess that are exempt from certain taxes or depending upon the country, are not exempt from certain other taxes. Each of these types of employees are both handled the same and handled differently so when you are designing this part of the database, keep those things in mind. Now, unfortunatly, this part of the database will take more research than most will care to undertake, but if you have an old classmate that is an accountant, well then your struggles may be lessoned by rekindling that friendship...



Good Luck

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Thanks for this short tutorial.
I just registered with accountant forums so i could get tips for calculations, but they haven't answered me since i asked my first question.