COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

1. PROBLEM ANALYSIS AND SPECIFICATION

1.i. BACKGROUND OF THE SYSTEM

This is a salary calculation system. The salary is calculated by the salary calculation department. When calculating the salary various calculations have to be done. There are deductions which are to be deducted from the gross salary. The deductions are the EPF (Employee Provident Fund) and the other loans which are taken by the employee during the course of the month. The additions which could be done are the bonuses which the employee gets. An employees EPF is accounted by the 8% which is deducted from his/her salary and 12% of the salary which is added by the company.

1.ii.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

Colonial Hardware Stores started 34 years ago. The partners of this Company are Mr. P. Nadaraja, Mrs. Nadaraja and Mr. S. Mahendran. Its situated at 472 Old Moor Street Col-12. Colonial Hardware Stores started as a single but as time passed, it grew into colonial Group of Companies. The companies in this group are: Colonial Hardware Store. Colonial Hardware Stores (PVT) Ltd. Colonial Engineering Co. Colonial Electricals. Colonial group of companies

Colonial hardware store

Colonial hardware stores (PVT) ltd.

Colonial Engineering co.

Colonial Electricals

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES Colonial Hardware Stores is a leading and well recognized Importer and Trader in steel items. There Ware-House is situated at Mattakkuliya. They have a total work force of 200 employees.

1.iii.

EXISTING SYSTEM

The current salary calculation system has to follow a lot of stages and also it has to be handled by many people. According to the current system if an employee wants to take a leave he/she has to fill in a small form saying that he/she will be taking on the following days and then send it to the personal clerk who has to then calculate the relevant deductions which will be deducted at the end of the month. He also has to keep all these leave slips in a file which is separately kept for each employee. Even when an employee takes extra allowance from the company, the same steps have to be followed when calculating the salary. So every time the clerk deals with an employees salary he has to file a document.

1.iv.
parts:

PROBLEMS EXISTING IN THE SYSTEM

The problems of the current system can be divided into several Procedures There are many steps that have to be taken when preparing the salary for an employee. The records from the employee file have to be accounted when before calculating the net salary. Time when you go through the file you have to go through it about two times to avoid mistakes. Misplacements since the records have to be filed and kept in filing cabinets they can get lost. If a record is lost then there can be errors when the salary is calculated.

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

1.v.

ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM

The advantages of the new system would be: Accurate calculations would be very accurate because they would be calculated automatically Faster We dont have to be filling many forms and referring past records. Easy storage As the data will be stored in the database we dont have to be keeping files and filing cabinets. There wont be any loss of data as regular backups can be taken. The employees personal details would be protected because passwords can be set and there will be only authorized access

1.vi.

USERS POINT OF VIEW

The chairman of the company Mr. P. Nadaraja said that he wanted a new system because there had been conflicts between some employees because their salaries werent calculated correctly. He said that such conflicts happen because the records of the employees are lost and the false deductions are deducted. He also said that it takes a lot of space to store these files and now they have used up one whole room and have no other space. He also said that employees personal details can be misused.

1.vii.

ANALYST POINT OF VIEW

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

1.viii.

SUCCESS CRITERIA

The new system which I creating would have 5 tables: Employee personal information Leave control Transactions Salary calculations Employee provident fund

The employee personal information table would have all the personal details of the employee and also would be used as a form which is to be filled when an employee joins the company. The leave control table will have details of the employees leaves. An employee can take up to 4 leaves per month. The transactions table will contain all the details about the transactions that happen with the employee. Page 4

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES The salary calculation table will calculate the employees salary after adding and deducting from the gross salary. The EPF table has details about the details of the employees EPF collected for the month.

2. DESIGN AND PLANNING OF SOLUTON

2.i SOFTWARE DISCUSSIONS
I had to choose a suitable software to create the system. I had to choose out of the following: Spreadsheets Visual Basic Ms Access Spreadsheets

Advantages Very easy o perform calculations Easy to remember formulas As the system is about salary calculation its suitable Can be learnt easily Disadvantages

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

Cannot be used as a database Not attractive Less functions Less security Can mainly perform only calculations

Visual Basic Advantages

Provides a more stable and secure production of code. Project wizards When creating a new project, or just adding a new form or button, the environment will automatically generate the default coding. Codes work accurately.

Disadvantages

Cannot handle pointers directly This can be a disadvantage because there is more required coding and thought to handle a pointer. Codes can be complex. A small mistake in the coding can make a big difference Not very user friendly.

Ms Access

Advantages

Reduced data redundancy Reduced updating errors and increased consistency Greater data integrity and independence from applications programs Improved data access to users through use of host and query languages Improved data security Reduced data entry, storage, and retrieval costs Facilitated development of new applications program Page 6

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

User friendly More attractive Suitable for a database Disadvantages

Database systems are a bit complex, difficult, and time-consuming to design Initial costs are very high for conversions and software Initial training required for all programmers and users

After going through all the software I decided to use Ms Access for the system. Although its initial cost is very high, it will make a suitable system which would easy for the staff to use and also not complex. This make the system to be used as a database and also it will be more user friendly and attractive.

2.ii

SUITABLE SOFTWARE
Recommen dation Windows XP 2004 Professional Access 2007 Kaspersky Reason for Recommendation Many facilities User-friendly Improved Programs User-friendly Many facilities Updated User-friendly

Item Operatin g System Database Anti-virus Protectio n

Minimum

Optimum

Windows 98

Window XP 2002

Access 98 Fire-walls

Access 2003 Norton Antivirus 2004

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

2.iii
Item Processor RAM Hard Disk Mouse Monitor Keyboard Printer

HARDWARE DISCUSSIONS
Hardware Pentium 4 512 MB 80 GB Normal LCD Plasma 19 inch Standard Keyboard Laser Printer Reason Many facilities Reliable Fast and Efficient Good Storage Suitable for the system Suitable Storage Easy to use Suitable for system True Colour User-friendly Easy to use Less maintenance cost

A digital camera could be used to take pictures of the employees which would be attached in there forms.

2.iv

METHOD OF DATA CAPTURE

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES DESCRIPTION Employee ID is a unique FOUR DIGIT number with letter E in front which is given to the employee by the company. The employee is also identified by this number. Date joined is the date that the employee joined the company.

2.v

SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS

The solutions which I came up for the problems of the existing system (refer 1.iv) were: To create a simple database that contained all the employee information and employee leave information. To create the database that would be able to calculate the employees net salary when its given the relevant additions and deductions. To store all the records in a database instead of having files.

2.vi

FILE STRUCTURE

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

DESCRIPTION When an employee joins the company, The HR Dept. gives him/her an Employee ID. This number is a unique (E####). Then this number is given to the Transaction dept, Salary Calculation dept, Leave Control dept and EPF dept. The leave control dept keeps track of the employees leaves. The transaction dept calculates the additions and deductions which are to be added or deducted from the employees gross salary. The salary adjustments will contain 8% of the employees gross salary which will be transferred to the employees EPF. The employees EPF contains 8% which was deducted from the gross salary and 12% which is added by the company. The net salary is calculated after adding and deducting from the gross salary.

2.vii

VALIDATION

The validations I have done are: Employee ID Four digit number greater than 1000 with E in front. The date joined should at least 16 years after the date of birth.

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

2.viii DATABASE DESIGN AND RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM.

2.ix 2.x

DATAFLOW DIAGRAM SCREENFLOW OF THE SYSTEM

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

2.xi

GANTT CHART

2.xii

TESTING
The system has to be tested so that we can find out

whether the: System runs correctly Validations work properly The calculations are accurate System rejects unnecessary data

The following has to be tested in three ways: Normal data These are valid data in the range which the system is designed to handle. Extreme data These are still valid data at the limits of acceptability. Abnormal data these are invalid data, which sooner or later could be entered accidentally or purposely. These data should be rejected by the system.

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF DESIGN

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

3.i IMPLEMENTATION METHODS

These are the ways that the system could be implemented: Parallel The computerized system is used in parallel along with the manual system until the staff is ready to use the computerized system. Temporary installation - The computerized system is installed completely for sometime and then checked whether the staff is able to use it. The computerized system is installed after giving a training course to the staff.

3.ii

ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF THE SOLUTION

The other alternative method of solution was to improve the manual system into a well organized system where there will be a proper order in which the procedures happen and to have a proper storage for the past records. Even though this method was possible. It still had many disadvantages: Calculations will not be 100% accurate. Time consuming than computerized system There still can be misplacements Keeping backups would be a problem Maintenance cost would be high

ESTIMATED COST FOR IMPROVED MANUAL SYSTEM ITEM 10 Files per employee QUANTITY 2000 COST 40000.00

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES Filing Cabinets Modern Calculator Papers Other stationery Annual Cost 3 2 5000 sheets 30000.00 4000.00 10000.00 5000.00 89000.00

ESTIMARED COST FOR THE COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM ITEM All Inclusive Computer All Software Laser Printer Digital Camera Total Cost QUANTITY 1 1 1 COST 100000.00 10000.00 30000.00 2000.00 142000.00

Even though the computerized system is much expensive to invest, there wont be a major maintenance cost. Even in the improved manual system you will have to be renewing items like files, stationery and filing cabinets.

3.iii 3.iv

DETAILED DESCRRIPTON OF THE INPUT SCREEN DETAILED DESCRIPTON OF THE OUTPUT SCREEN

3.v

TABLES
I used four tables to make the system. They are: Employee Personal Information Leave Control Transaction Salary Calculation Employee Provident Fund

EMPLOYEE PERSONAL INFORMATION

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

Field Employee ID Employee Name D.O.B Address Contact No. E-mail ID Department Date Joined Other Details Service (yrs) Picture

Data Type Text Text Date/Time Text Number Text Text Date/Time Memo Number Attachmen t

Length 6 50 100 20 11 -

Validation/Input Mask C ########## 99/99/0000;0;_ ## -

Require d yes yes yes yes no no yes yes no yes no

LEAVE CONTROL

DARSHON SACHITHANANTHAM

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

Field Employee ID Months (jan-dec) Extra Leave Total

Data Type Text Number Number Number

Length 6 -

Validation/Input mask Like 1; 2; 3; 4 -

Required yes no no yes

TRANSACTION Field Employee ID Gross Salary Loan EPF 8% Deductions Additions Data Type Text Currency Currency Currency Currency Currency Length 6 Validation/Input Mask Require d yes Yes no yes yes no

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

SALARY CALCULTIONS Data Type Text Currency Currency Currency Currency Validation/Input Mask Require d yes yes no yes yes Page 17

Field Employee ID Gross Salary Additions Deduction Net Salary

Length 6 -

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

EMPLOYEE PROVIDENT FUND Field Employee ID Gross Salary Self 8% Company 12% Total Data Type Text Currency Currency Currency Currency Length 6 Validation/Input Mask Require d yes yes yes yes yes

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

3.vi

REPORTS

EMPLOYEE INFO

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COLONIAL HARDWARE STORES

LEAVE CONTROL

3.vii

PROVIDING SECURITY TO THE SYSTEM

I have provided security to the system by having: Backups Every time you quit the system you can take a backup file every time you quit the system Passwords for the time being the password is DARSHON

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