I'm using FM 3.0 on a 400 MHZ TiBook and designing a small business database. Part of the database involves tracking hours worked, bill and pay rates for employees and customers. From this it's a cinch to create invoices, but is there an easy way for FM to create payroll or is it better to output the data to another program, such as QuickBooks or MYOB?

FWIW, Completing payroll requires tax tables, and knowing the required data for the employees (# of exemptions, hours worked, rate of pay, etc). It looks to me like FM can do everything needed, it's just a matter of setting it up. Am I right about this?

The other question is about printing payroll checks. Let's say someone's pay is $1,000.48. Is there a way for FM to convert "$1,000.48" to "One thousand and 48/100"?

Any advice is warmly appreciated!

Russ Conte

Why develop in an old version? Version 3 is no longer supported -- it may not run well on the latest versions of Windows and MacOS, and there won't be a patch available to fix it either. FMP 3.0 has Y2K problems (only 3.0v6 is OK) but the real clincher is that new copies are no longer available, so you cannot get another client to let other people can use the solution at the same time. Not to mention all the features that have been added to later versions.

Originally posted by Vaughan:

[QB]Why develop in an old version?

A. Because they are currently using Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS, and I've not found a need for the features in the higher versions.

Version 3 is no longer supported -- it may not run well on the latest versions of Windows and MacOS, and there won't be a patch available to fix it either.

A. It runs just fine for me on OS 9.2 and Windows 98

FMP 3.0 has Y2K problems (only 3.0v6 is OK)

A. Not an issue here, no need to calculate back that far.

but the real clincher is that new copies are no longer available, so you cannot get another client to let other people can use the solution at the same time.

A. Just need one copy of it to work, probably on my TiBook. No plans to use on a network, much less the web.

Not to mention all the features that have been added to later versions.

A. I don't see the need based on the simple solutions I've been working on.

FWIW, I'm not a FM Pro developer, I'm simply trying to solve a problem for a small business. If I was a FM professional, then obviously I'd be on 5.5, but even my profile in this forum says I'm not a pro at this stuff. So far I've been very successful making what I need with 3.0 on my own equipment, (some of it also old), sorry this old version has hit such a hot button for others.

So if I may, back to the question: Can FM Pro be used for payroll?

Best wishes,

Russ Conte

With the possible exception of converting numbers to words ("One thousand and 48/100"), it's possible.

I suggest related files. Create a file for employees, which contains their general info (exemptions, pay rate -- oh yeah, and name, SS#, address, etc.). Create a second file for the "line items", specifically hours worked. Relate the files by something unique, like SS# (that way, if you ever have two employees with the same name, you won't have too much confusion). Make sure you create a relationship in both files.

The rest is just logistics. Have fun.

Before giving any thought at all to "CREATING" any kind of payroll sytem, even the simplest of which can get very complicated, do a search on Filemaker's website (or your favorite web portal) for existing payroll/small business solutions already created in Filemaker.

There are some of these available that will cost you some money, but should be far less than the time that you will have to invest otherwise.