💼 Payroll Management System (COBOL)

A terminal-based Payroll Management System built using COBOL, designed to help organizations manage employee records, calculate salaries, and generate payroll reports efficiently.

📜 Table of Contents

🚀 Features
📂 Project Structure
🏗️ System Architecture
📊 Salary Calculation
🔧 Requirements
⚙️ Installation & Running
💻 Usage
📸 Screenshots
🗂️ Sample Data
✅ Future Enhancements
🛠️ Troubleshooting
📃 License
🙋‍♂️ Support

🚀 Features

✅ Add, Edit, Delete, and Search Employee Records
✅ Calculate Salary with Overtime, Bonus, Deductions, and Tax
✅ Generate Monthly Reports & Salary Slips
✅ Secure Admin Login
✅ Export Data to CSV
✅ Configurable Tax & Overtime Rates
✅ Simple CLI-Based Navigation

📂 Project Structure

File / Folder	Description
`main.cbl`	Main menu and navigation logic
`employee.cbl`	Employee CRUD operations
`payroll.cbl`	Salary calculation logic
`report.cbl`	Report generation & CSV export
`auth.cbl`	Admin authentication module
`employee.dat`	Flat file storing employee records
`payroll.dat`	Flat file storing payroll transactions
`reports.txt`	Output text report
`employee_export.csv`	Exported employee data (CSV)
`payroll_export.csv`	Exported payroll data (CSV)

🏗️ System Architecture

Main Menu – CLI with menu-driven options
Authentication – Validates admin access
Employee Module – Add/Edit/Delete/Search
Payroll Module – Salary computation logic
Reporting Module – Generates .txt and .csv reports
File System – Stores data using flat files

Data Flow:
Admin Login → Manage Employees → Process Payroll → Generate Reports → Export Data

📊 Salary Calculation

Gross Salary = Base Salary + (Overtime Hours × Rate) + Bonus
Tax (10%) = 0.10 × Gross Salary
Net Salary = Gross Salary - Tax - Deductions

Default Settings:

Base Work Month: 22 Days
Overtime Rate: $100/hour
Tax Rate: 10%
Minimum Salary: $30,000/year
Max Overtime: 80 hours/month

🔧 Requirements

Software

COBOL Compiler (GnuCOBOL recommended)
Terminal / Command Prompt
Text Editor (VS Code, Vim, Nano)

Hardware

512MB RAM minimum
50MB free disk space

⚙️ Installation & Running

1️⃣ Install GnuCOBOL

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gnucobol

macOS

brew install gnu-cobol

Windows Download GnuCOBOL from https://gnucobol.sourceforge.io/

2️⃣ Setup Files

mkdir payroll-system
cd payroll-system
touch employee.dat payroll.dat reports.txt

3️⃣ Compile the COBOL Source

cobc -x -o payroll main.cbl employee.cbl payroll.cbl report.cbl auth.cbl

4️⃣ Run the Program

./payroll

💻 Usage

🛡️ Login

Username: admin  
Password: payroll123

🧭 Menu Interface

+-------------------------------------+
|        PAYROLL MAIN MENU           |
+-------------------------------------+
| 1. Manage Employees                |
| 2. Compute Payroll                 |
| 3. Generate Reports                |
| 4. Exit                            |
+-------------------------------------+
Enter choice:

🧪 Sample Workflow

Add Employee

ID: 10001  
Name: John Smith  
Dept: IT  
Base Salary: 75000

Process Payroll

Days Worked: 22  
Overtime: 8  
Bonus: 1000  
Deductions: 200

Calculation

Overtime Pay: 8 × $100 = $800  
Gross: $76,800  
Tax: $7,680  
Net Salary: $68,920

📸 Screenshots

Payroll Report - December 2025
ID: 10001 | Name: John Smith  
Gross: $76,800.00 | Net: $68,920.00

🗂️ Sample Data

`employee.dat`

10001John Smith                  IT                  Software Engineer        75000.00
10002Jane Doe                    HR                  HR Manager               68000.00

`payroll.dat`

10001,22,8,1000,200,7680,76800,68920,12,2025

⚙️ Quick Start Installation

🚀 Automated Installation (Recommended)

Linux/macOS

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/JAGADISHSUNILPEDNEKAR/Payroll_Management_System.git
cd Payroll_Management_System

# Make install script executable
chmod +x scripts/install.sh

# Run installation
./scripts/install.sh

Windows

REM Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/JAGADISHSUNILPEDNEKAR/Payroll_Management_System.git
cd Payroll_Management_System

REM Run installation
scripts\install.bat

📋 What the Installation Script Does

The automated installation script will:

✅ Check for GnuCOBOL installation (and attempt to install if missing)
✅ Create necessary directories (scripts/, data/)
✅ Set up data files with sample employee data
✅ Compile the COBOL program
✅ Set proper file permissions
✅ Verify the installation

🧪 Verify Your Installation

After running the installation script, verify everything is working:

# Linux/macOS
./scripts/setup_test.sh

# Windows
scripts\setup_test.bat

This will run comprehensive tests to ensure:

GnuCOBOL is properly installed
All required files exist
File permissions are correct
The program compiles without errors
Data files have proper format

⚙️ Manual Installation

If you prefer to install manually or the automated script doesn't work:

1️⃣ Install GnuCOBOL

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gnucobol

macOS

brew install gnu-cobol

Windows

Download from https://gnucobol.sourceforge.io/
Or use Windows Package Manager:
```
winget install GnuCOBOL
```
Add GnuCOBOL to your system PATH

Fedora/RHEL

sudo yum install gnucobol

2️⃣ Setup Files

# Create necessary directories
mkdir -p scripts data

# Create data files
touch employee.dat payroll.dat reports.txt

# Add sample employee data to employee.dat
cat > employee.dat << 'EOF'
10001John Smith                  IT Department        Software Engineer        75000.00
10002Jane Doe                    HR Department        HR Manager               68000.00
10003Bob Johnson                 Finance Department   Financial Analyst        62000.00
10004Alice Brown                 IT Department        Senior Developer         85000.00
10005Charlie Wilson              Marketing Department Marketing Manager        71000.00
EOF

3️⃣ Compile the COBOL Source

cobc -x -o payroll payroll.cbl

For debugging mode:

cobc -x -g -o payroll payroll.cbl

To check syntax only:

cobc -fsyntax-only payroll.cbl

4️⃣ Run the Program

Linux/macOS:

./payroll

Windows:

payroll.exe

🛠️ Comprehensive Troubleshooting

Installation Issues

❌ "cobc: command not found" or "GnuCOBOL not found"

Problem: GnuCOBOL compiler is not installed or not in PATH.

Solutions:

Install GnuCOBOL:
- Linux: sudo apt install gnucobol
- macOS: brew install gnu-cobol
- Windows: Download from gnucobol.sourceforge.io
Check PATH (Windows):
```
echo %PATH%
```
Add GnuCOBOL installation directory to PATH if missing.
Verify installation:
```
cobc --version
```

❌ "Permission denied" when running install.sh

Problem: Script doesn't have execute permissions.

Solution:

chmod +x scripts/install.sh
./scripts/install.sh

❌ "Homebrew not found" on macOS

Problem: Homebrew package manager is not installed.

Solution:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Compilation Errors

❌ Compilation fails with syntax errors

Problem: COBOL source file has errors or incompatible syntax.

Solutions:

Check syntax only:
```
cobc -fsyntax-only payroll.cbl
```
Common issues:
- Missing periods (.) at end of statements
- Incorrect column alignment (COBOL is column-sensitive)
- Reserved word conflicts
Verify file encoding: Should be UTF-8 or ASCII
```
file payroll.cbl
```

❌ "error: EMPLOYEE-FILE: File name too long"

Problem: File path exceeds system limits.

Solution: Move project to a directory with a shorter path.

❌ Linker errors during compilation

Problem: Missing system libraries.

Solutions:

Linux: Install development tools
```
sudo apt install build-essential
```
macOS: Install Xcode Command Line Tools
```
xcode-select --install
```

Runtime Errors

❌ "File not found: employee.dat"

Problem: Data file doesn't exist or program can't access it.

Solutions:

Create the file:
```
touch employee.dat
```
Check current directory:
```
ls -la *.dat
```
Run from correct directory: Ensure you're in the project root
```
pwd
```

❌ "File status 35" or I/O errors

Problem: File permissions or corruption issues.

Solutions:

Check permissions:

ls -l *.dat
chmod 644 employee.dat payroll.dat

Verify file format: Ensure no binary characters in text files
```
file employee.dat
cat -v employee.dat
```

Recreate data files if corrupted:

mv employee.dat employee.dat.backup
./scripts/install.sh

❌ "Login Failed" even with correct credentials

Problem: File format or encoding issues in authentication.

Solutions:

Default credentials:
- Username: admin
- Password: payroll123
Check for extra spaces: Ensure no trailing spaces when typing
Recompile the program:
```
cobc -x -o payroll payroll.cbl
```

❌ "Invalid numeric data" or calculation errors

Problem: Data file format doesn't match COBOL picture clauses.

Solutions:

Check data alignment: Each field must be in correct position
Verify numeric fields: Should contain only digits and decimal point

Use sample data template:

10001John Smith                  IT Department        Software Engineer        75000.00
^    ^                           ^                    ^                        ^
ID   Name (30 chars)             Dept (20 chars)      Position (25 chars)      Salary

Platform-Specific Issues

🐧 Linux Issues

Problem: "error while loading shared libraries: libcob.so.4"

Solution:

sudo ldconfig
# Or set LD_LIBRARY_PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

🍎 macOS Issues

Problem: "dyld: Library not loaded"

Solution:

# Reinstall GnuCOBOL
brew reinstall gnu-cobol

# Or set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

🪟 Windows Issues

Problem: "The code execution cannot proceed because libcob-4.dll was not found"

Solutions:

Reinstall GnuCOBOL
Add GnuCOBOL bin directory to PATH
Copy required DLLs to program directory

Problem: Line endings causing issues

Solution: Convert line endings to CRLF

dos2unix -k payroll.cbl

Performance Issues

❌ Slow file operations

Problem: Large data files or disk I/O bottleneck.

Solutions:

Check file size:
```
du -h *.dat
```

Archive old payroll records:

mv payroll.dat payroll_2024.dat
touch payroll.dat

Use indexed files (advanced): Modify file organization in COBOL

❌ Program hangs or freezes

Problem: Infinite loop or waiting for input.

Solutions:

Force quit:
- Linux/macOS: Ctrl+C
- Windows: Ctrl+Break
Check for input prompts: Ensure all ACCEPT statements work correctly
Add timeout to testing:
```
timeout 10s ./payroll
```

Data Issues

❌ Reports show incorrect calculations

Problem: Tax rate or formula issues.

Solutions:

Verify constants:
- Default tax rate: 10% (0.10)
- Overtime rate: $100/hour
- Working days: 22 days/month

Recalculate manually:

Gross = Base Salary + (OT Hours × $100) + Bonus
Tax = Gross × 0.10
Net = Gross - Tax - Deductions

Check data types: Ensure numeric fields don't have text

❌ Employee data appears corrupted

Problem: Records show garbled or incorrect data.

Solutions:

Backup current data:
```
cp employee.dat employee.dat.backup
```
Check record format: Each record must be exactly as defined
- Employee ID: 5 digits
- Name: 30 characters (padded with spaces)
- Department: 20 characters
- Position: 25 characters
- Salary: 9 digits with 2 decimals
Manually fix or recreate: Edit with care to maintain alignment

Getting Help

If you're still experiencing issues:

Check existing issues: GitHub Issues
Create a new issue with:
- Operating system and version
- GnuCOBOL version (cobc --version)
- Complete error message
- Steps to reproduce
- What you've already tried
Contact maintainer: jsphere16@gmail.com
Community resources:
- GnuCOBOL Documentation
- COBOL Programming Guide

🔧 Advanced Configuration

Custom Installation Path

If you want to install to a custom directory:

# Create custom directory
mkdir -p /opt/payroll-system
cd /opt/payroll-system

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/JAGADISHSUNILPEDNEKAR/Payroll_Management_System.git .
./scripts/install.sh

Environment Variables

You can set these environment variables for customization:

# Linux/macOS
export PAYROLL_DATA_DIR="/path/to/data"
export PAYROLL_REPORTS_DIR="/path/to/reports"

# Windows
set PAYROLL_DATA_DIR=C:\path\to\data
set PAYROLL_REPORTS_DIR=C:\path\to\reports

Multiple Installations

To run multiple instances:

# Instance 1
mkdir payroll-dept1
cd payroll-dept1
git clone https://github.com/JAGADISHSUNILPEDNEKAR/Payroll_Management_System.git .
./scripts/install.sh

# Instance 2
mkdir payroll-dept2
cd payroll-dept2
git clone https://github.com/JAGADISHSUNILPEDNEKAR/Payroll_Management_System.git .
./scripts/install.sh

📊 System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

CPU: Any x86/x64 processor (1 GHz+)
RAM: 512 MB
Disk: 50 MB free space
OS: Linux, macOS 10.12+, Windows 7+

Recommended Requirements

CPU: Dual-core processor (2 GHz+)
RAM: 2 GB
Disk: 200 MB free space (for data growth)
OS: Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+), macOS 11+, Windows 10+

Tested Platforms

✅ Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04
✅ Debian 11, 12
✅ macOS Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma
✅ Windows 10, 11
✅ Fedora 38+
✅ RHEL 8, 9

🔄 Updating the System

Pull Latest Changes

# Save your data files
cp employee.dat employee.dat.backup
cp payroll.dat payroll.dat.backup

# Pull updates
git pull origin main

# Recompile
cobc -x -o payroll payroll.cbl

# Restore data if needed
cp employee.dat.backup employee.dat
cp payroll.dat.backup payroll.dat

Migration Between Versions

If data format changes between versions:

Export current data to CSV (if feature available)
Update to new version
Import data back or manually convert

🧹 Uninstallation

Complete Removal

Linux/macOS:

# Remove executable
rm -f payroll

# Remove data files (WARNING: This deletes all data!)
rm -f employee.dat payroll.dat reports.txt

# Remove entire directory
cd ..
rm -rf Payroll_Management_System

Windows:

REM Remove executable
del payroll.exe

REM Remove data files
del employee.dat payroll.dat reports.txt

REM Remove directory
cd ..
rmdir /s /q Payroll_Management_System

Keep Data, Remove Program

# Backup data
mkdir payroll-backup
cp *.dat reports.txt payroll-backup/

# Remove program
rm payroll
rm payroll.cbl enhanced_modules.cbl

📝 Quick Reference Commands

Compilation

# Standard compilation
cobc -x -o payroll payroll.cbl

# Debug mode
cobc -x -g -o payroll payroll.cbl

# Syntax check only
cobc -fsyntax-only payroll.cbl

# Verbose output
cobc -x -v -o payroll payroll.cbl

File Management

# View employee data
cat employee.dat

# Count employees
wc -l employee.dat

# Search for employee
grep "10001" employee.dat

# Backup all data
tar -czf payroll-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz *.dat reports.txt

Testing

# Run verification
./scripts/setup_test.sh

# Check file integrity
file *.dat

# Validate permissions
ls -la *.dat

🎯 Best Practices

Data Management

Regular backups: Backup data files weekly
Archive old records: Move old payroll.dat entries to archive files
Test on sample data: Use test data before processing real payroll
Validate inputs: Always verify data before saving

Security

Change default password: Modify WS-VALID-PASS in payroll.cbl
Restrict file permissions: chmod 600 for sensitive data
Use separate user accounts: Don't run as root/administrator
Audit trail: Keep logs of who accesses the system

Performance

Keep data files reasonable size: Archive after 1000+ records
Index frequently searched fields: Consider indexed file organization
Regular maintenance: Clean up temporary files
Monitor disk space: Ensure sufficient space for reports

📚 Additional Resources

Documentation

CONTRIBUTING.md - How to contribute
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md - Community guidelines
LICENSE - MIT License terms

External Resources

✅ Future Enhancements

🔐 Role-based Authentication
📊 Graphical Report Output (CSV/HTML)
🌍 Web Interface using COBOL-Web bridge
🗃️ VSAM / Indexed File / SQL DB Integration
🔁 Backup & Restore functionality
🛡️ Better Input Validation & Logging

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
❌ Compilation Error	Check COBOL syntax and ensure `IDENTIFICATION`, `PROCEDURE` divisions
🗂️ File Error	Ensure `.dat` files exist and have correct permissions
🧮 Wrong Output	Validate inputs and verify salary formula

📃 License

🙋‍♂️ Support

If you like this project, give it a ⭐ at Payroll_Management_System. For issues or suggestions, open an Issue.

📅 Last Updated: June 2025 📦 Version: 1.0 🚀 Status: Production Ready

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 19 Commits
scripts		scripts
.gitignore		.gitignore
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md		PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
README.md		README.md
employee.dat		employee.dat
enhanced_modules.cbl		enhanced_modules.cbl
payroll		payroll
payroll.cbl		payroll.cbl
payroll.dat		payroll.dat
reports.txt		reports.txt

License

Aman-Cool/Payroll_Management_System

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

💼 Payroll Management System (COBOL)

📜 Table of Contents

🚀 Features

📂 Project Structure

🏗️ System Architecture

📊 Salary Calculation

🔧 Requirements

Software

Hardware

⚙️ Installation & Running

1️⃣ Install GnuCOBOL

2️⃣ Setup Files

3️⃣ Compile the COBOL Source

4️⃣ Run the Program

💻 Usage

🛡️ Login

🧭 Menu Interface

🧪 Sample Workflow

📸 Screenshots

🗂️ Sample Data

employee.dat

payroll.dat

⚙️ Quick Start Installation

🚀 Automated Installation (Recommended)

Linux/macOS

Windows

📋 What the Installation Script Does

🧪 Verify Your Installation

⚙️ Manual Installation

1️⃣ Install GnuCOBOL

2️⃣ Setup Files

3️⃣ Compile the COBOL Source

4️⃣ Run the Program

🛠️ Comprehensive Troubleshooting

Installation Issues

❌ "cobc: command not found" or "GnuCOBOL not found"

❌ "Permission denied" when running install.sh

❌ "Homebrew not found" on macOS

Compilation Errors

❌ Compilation fails with syntax errors

❌ "error: EMPLOYEE-FILE: File name too long"

❌ Linker errors during compilation

Runtime Errors

❌ "File not found: employee.dat"

❌ "File status 35" or I/O errors

❌ "Login Failed" even with correct credentials

❌ "Invalid numeric data" or calculation errors

Platform-Specific Issues

🐧 Linux Issues

🍎 macOS Issues

🪟 Windows Issues

Performance Issues

❌ Slow file operations

❌ Program hangs or freezes

Data Issues

❌ Reports show incorrect calculations

❌ Employee data appears corrupted

Getting Help

🔧 Advanced Configuration

Custom Installation Path

Environment Variables

Multiple Installations

📊 System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Recommended Requirements

Tested Platforms

🔄 Updating the System

Pull Latest Changes

Migration Between Versions

🧹 Uninstallation

Complete Removal

Keep Data, Remove Program

📝 Quick Reference Commands

Compilation

`employee.dat`

`payroll.dat`

Packages