Payroll -- Is it even possible?!

[Keith Wilby]

Contact me, you have nothing to lose.

.... except money, time, the hair the OP will tear out ...

How about another page on your web site called "Decorum and Respect". You
could have "coming soon" on it for the rest of your life on the basis of the
ineptness you demonstrate on here.

 

[Keith Wilby]

Good afternoon,

I am attempting to create a Payroll Database. I work for a boating
business. I need the database to contain:

Employee Number (linked to Employee Table)
Employee Name (linked to Employee Table)
Rate of Pay (linked to Rate of Pay Table)
Extra Pay
Boat assigned to (linked to Vessel Information Table)
Date

That's pretty sensitive data and you might come unstuck if it fell into the
wrong hands because Access isn't that secure. Others have suggested a COTS
package and that's where I'd invest my time and money if it were me. Steer
well clear of anyone on here who asks you for money.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

 

[Keith Wilby]

Good afternoon,

I am attempting to create a Payroll Database. I work for a boating
business. I need the database to contain:

Employee Number (linked to Employee Table)
Employee Name (linked to Employee Table)
Rate of Pay (linked to Rate of Pay Table)
Extra Pay
Boat assigned to (linked to Vessel Information Table)
Date

That's pretty sensitive data and you might come unstuck if it fell into the
wrong hands because Access isn't that secure. Others have suggested a COTS
package and that's where I'd invest my time and money if it were me. Steer
well clear of anyone on here who asks you for money.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

 

[Wayne-I-M]

Hi

I think the point that most people are making (except Steve including
you is that a pay role system is "probably" above the skill level of some
asking general questions in a forum like this. OK many MVP's and other ask
specific questions but general "can this be done" type question leads you to
think that the OP may be better just buying an off the shelf application.

OK - some people may shout at me for this, sorry - but I do agree with Steve
here. If an off the shelf application is not do the job then it "may" be an
idea to get someone in to do it for you when it comes to pay role DB's. NOT
saying that Steve is right to run adverts in this forum but just that he is
right about it being a good idea to get outside help. I have made a small
Pay Role app and it was a pig :0) as there is no off the shelf app that will
cope with outdoor instructors (they work very strange hours, don't take paid
holidays, but do get holiday pay, some clothing allowances are tax free (as
they are for safety) some isn’t, etc, etc).

So Ron - have a look at the suggestions that Brendan suggested. I have just
looked at them and they would seem to be a good place to start.

OK - another suggestion (I know nothing about working on ships and rules
that go with this by the way) but you "may" be able to contact someone who
have already made a specific Ships app and see if they would be prepared to
sell you this. You could contact Noëlla and speak to them and see if this is
a possibility.

Good luck with your app

 

[Wayne-I-M]

Hi

I think the point that most people are making (except Steve including
you is that a pay role system is "probably" above the skill level of some
asking general questions in a forum like this. OK many MVP's and other ask
specific questions but general "can this be done" type question leads you to
think that the OP may be better just buying an off the shelf application.

OK - some people may shout at me for this, sorry - but I do agree with Steve
here. If an off the shelf application is not do the job then it "may" be an
idea to get someone in to do it for you when it comes to pay role DB's. NOT
saying that Steve is right to run adverts in this forum but just that he is
right about it being a good idea to get outside help. I have made a small
Pay Role app and it was a pig :0) as there is no off the shelf app that will
cope with outdoor instructors (they work very strange hours, don't take paid
holidays, but do get holiday pay, some clothing allowances are tax free (as
they are for safety) some isn’t, etc, etc).

So Ron - have a look at the suggestions that Brendan suggested. I have just
looked at them and they would seem to be a good place to start.

OK - another suggestion (I know nothing about working on ships and rules
that go with this by the way) but you "may" be able to contact someone who
have already made a specific Ships app and see if they would be prepared to
sell you this. You could contact Noëlla and speak to them and see if this is
a possibility.

Good luck with your app

 

[Keith Wilby]

Thank you for the advice John.

Going back to my original database question, if it is possible, how can I
create the desired table? I would like to be able to enter the
information
in a view similar to my Excel Time Sheet. The columns across the
spreadsheet
are labeled:

Employee Name / Employee Number / Day of Month (1-15 or 16 – End of Month)
/
Rate of Pay / Extra Pay

Thanks again

You need to get out of spreadsheet mode. You'll likely need more than one
table, from the above I'd say you'd need an employee table and a "hours
worked" table for starters. Have a look at the example database (Northwind)
that ships with Access, it'll give you an insight into how entities are
represented in tables and how they are related to each other. My 2p worth:
you have a steep learning curve and quite a big task ahead of you.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

 

[Keith Wilby]

Thank you for the advice John.

Going back to my original database question, if it is possible, how can I
create the desired table? I would like to be able to enter the
information
in a view similar to my Excel Time Sheet. The columns across the
spreadsheet
are labeled:

Employee Name / Employee Number / Day of Month (1-15 or 16 – End of Month)
/
Rate of Pay / Extra Pay

Thanks again

You need to get out of spreadsheet mode. You'll likely need more than one
table, from the above I'd say you'd need an employee table and a "hours
worked" table for starters. Have a look at the example database (Northwind)
that ships with Access, it'll give you an insight into how entities are
represented in tables and how they are related to each other. My 2p worth:
you have a steep learning curve and quite a big task ahead of you.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

 

[BruceM]

Unless you have your own off-the-shelf software package you cannot begin to
design a custom database with functionality exceeding what is available in
commercial products for less than the commercial product costs. You don't
know what kind of searches are needed other than the one mentioned, so your
claim is based on a guess at best.

Stop soliciting here. You will not be allowed free rein, or any rein at all
for that matter.

 

[BruceM]

Unless you have your own off-the-shelf software package you cannot begin to
design a custom database with functionality exceeding what is available in
commercial products for less than the commercial product costs. You don't
know what kind of searches are needed other than the one mentioned, so your
claim is based on a guess at best.

Stop soliciting here. You will not be allowed free rein, or any rein at all
for that matter.

 

[BruceM]

Do not contact Steve. He is a fraud.

Steve, you make it very difficult to be polite. The OP has no interest in
your offer. Stop groveling. You have too little dignity left to be able to
afford that.

 

[BruceM]

Do not contact Steve. He is a fraud.

Steve, you make it very difficult to be polite. The OP has no interest in
your offer. Stop groveling. You have too little dignity left to be able to
afford that.

 

[BruceM]

I agree to the extent that an off-the-shelf propgram may be inadequate, but
the idea that it can be done simply, quickly, and cheaply as an alternative
to off-the-shelf is an unsustainable boast, particularly in the absence of
project details.

I like the idea of contacting other companies in a similar line of work to
see what they do.

 

[BruceM]

I agree to the extent that an off-the-shelf propgram may be inadequate, but
the idea that it can be done simply, quickly, and cheaply as an alternative
to off-the-shelf is an unsustainable boast, particularly in the absence of
project details.

I like the idea of contacting other companies in a similar line of work to
see what they do.

 

[BruceM]

In reading my posting in this part of the thread I'm not sure I made it
clear I agree with you in principle.

 

[BruceM]

In reading my posting in this part of the thread I'm not sure I made it
clear I agree with you in principle.

 

[REJesser]

Good morning,

Thank you all very much for the input. It is greatly appreciated.

I guess I made this sound much more involved than it needs to be. I need to
create something that can track the number of days a crewmember is at work.
I would like to be able to go back up to 5 years to find out how many days
the person worked, which boats they worked on, and how many days on the
specific boat they worked. For example, Captain Popeye worked a total of
1000 days in the last five years as a wheelman (driver). He worked on the
Titanic for 250 days, the Mayflower for 125 days, and the Super Ron (I
couldn’t resist) for 625 days.

Our company has a program (Great Plains) that deals with taxes and all that
other stuff. I am the HR guy for the company. I basically need a glorified
attendance sheet that I can assign pay rates to. I am sorry I made is sound
much more complex than it actually is.

Thanks for any help you can provide. As for Steve, thanks, but no thanks
for your offer.

 

[REJesser]

Good morning,

Thank you all very much for the input. It is greatly appreciated.

I guess I made this sound much more involved than it needs to be. I need to
create something that can track the number of days a crewmember is at work.
I would like to be able to go back up to 5 years to find out how many days
the person worked, which boats they worked on, and how many days on the
specific boat they worked. For example, Captain Popeye worked a total of
1000 days in the last five years as a wheelman (driver). He worked on the
Titanic for 250 days, the Mayflower for 125 days, and the Super Ron (I
couldn’t resist) for 625 days.

Our company has a program (Great Plains) that deals with taxes and all that
other stuff. I am the HR guy for the company. I basically need a glorified
attendance sheet that I can assign pay rates to. I am sorry I made is sound
much more complex than it actually is.

Thanks for any help you can provide. As for Steve, thanks, but no thanks
for your offer.

 

[Keith Wilby]

I guess I made this sound much more involved than it needs to be. I need
to
create something that can track the number of days a crewmember is at
work.
I would like to be able to go back up to 5 years to find out how many days
the person worked, which boats they worked on, and how many days on the
specific boat they worked. For example, Captain Popeye worked a total of
1000 days in the last five years as a wheelman (driver). He worked on the
Titanic for 250 days, the Mayflower for 125 days, and the Super Ron (I
couldn’t resist) for 625 days.

Our company has a program (Great Plains) that deals with taxes and all
that
other stuff. I am the HR guy for the company. I basically need a
glorified
attendance sheet that I can assign pay rates to. I am sorry I made is
sound
much more complex than it actually is.

Thanks for any help you can provide. As for Steve, thanks, but no thanks
for your offer.

The first thing I would say is that you would derive the total number of
hours worked and not store it. You would calculate it in a query. I would
also store each crew member's details in a lookup table, you could then
choose a crew member for a period of work to store in your main table. Each
period of work would equate to one record in your main table where you would
store start and end times/dates. You could then run a report against start
and end dates for a given crew member to show what they were doing and when.

This is all very high level stuff, I'm just trying to nudge you into the
right direction ... as I said before, a look at the relationships in the
Northwind example might help.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

 

[Keith Wilby]

I guess I made this sound much more involved than it needs to be. I need
to
create something that can track the number of days a crewmember is at
work.
I would like to be able to go back up to 5 years to find out how many days
the person worked, which boats they worked on, and how many days on the
specific boat they worked. For example, Captain Popeye worked a total of
1000 days in the last five years as a wheelman (driver). He worked on the
Titanic for 250 days, the Mayflower for 125 days, and the Super Ron (I
couldn’t resist) for 625 days.

Our company has a program (Great Plains) that deals with taxes and all
that
other stuff. I am the HR guy for the company. I basically need a
glorified
attendance sheet that I can assign pay rates to. I am sorry I made is
sound
much more complex than it actually is.

Thanks for any help you can provide. As for Steve, thanks, but no thanks
for your offer.

The first thing I would say is that you would derive the total number of
hours worked and not store it. You would calculate it in a query. I would
also store each crew member's details in a lookup table, you could then
choose a crew member for a period of work to store in your main table. Each
period of work would equate to one record in your main table where you would
store start and end times/dates. You could then run a report against start
and end dates for a given crew member to show what they were doing and when.

This is all very high level stuff, I'm just trying to nudge you into the
right direction ... as I said before, a look at the relationships in the
Northwind example might help.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

 

[Wayne-I-M]

H Bruce

the idea that it can be done simply, quickly, and cheaply as an alternative
to off-the-shelf is an unsustainable boast, particularly in the absence of
project details.

I think that is just Steve's way of "hooking" new cutomers. I also think
that everyone on this forum knows that it would be quite a detailed project
to start.

But as I have never met Steve so (as my mum has alwasy told me to do) I will
give him the benifit of doubt and assume that he can do a good job - but I
still dis-agree with his idea of using this forum to advertise. There is a
place for advertising, but (I thinktthat) most people come here for what they
imagine will be free advice - or just a chat about access applications.