Department

1Purpose #

• Names the departments the Employee master can assign staff to.
• Payroll and attendance reporting group and subtotal by department, so the list here decides how those reports break down.
• It does not control pay, leave or shift rules — those come from the pay head, leave policy and shift. A department is a label for grouping, nothing more.

2Your first department, step by step #

Suppose the organisation needs a Sales department. The page opens ready to type — the Mode card at the top right already reads Add .

1. Type Sales into Department Name . This is the only field you must fill; everything else is optional.
2. Press Enter and type the department head's name if you want it on record — it is a plain note, not a link to an employee.
3. Press Enter and type the planned strength into No. of Employees if known — also just a note; the system does not count heads for you.
4. Press Enter , add a description if useful, then Enter again — focus lands on Save (F5) . Confirm, and the banner reports the save.
5. Press F3 and repeat for Purchase, Accounts, Administration and the rest. A typical company enters its whole list in a few minutes this way.

Once departments exist here, they appear in the Department list on the Employee master, and every payroll and attendance report can subtotal by them.

To rename one later: F2 , pick it, F4 , retype the name, save — employees stay attached, because the record itself is kept. To remove one: load it and press Delete ; the database refuses the delete while any employee, pay-bill batch or asset still references it, so reassign those first.

3How to use it #

1. Find (F2) lists every department; pick one to load it.
2. Add (F3) starts a new one with the cursor in Department Name.
3. Modify (F4) edits the loaded department and Delete removes it; both ask first.
4. Save (F5) commits and leaves the record on screen in View mode — press Add (F3) for the next.
5. Enter moves field to field and lands on Save.

4Field details #

• ID is assigned on first save and never changes; it reads "Auto" until then.
• Department Name is required and must be unique — it is what employees are linked by, and what reports show.
• Department Head is free text, not a link to an employee record. Renaming or removing the person named here changes nothing else.
• No. of Employees is a planning figure you type; it is not maintained from the employees actually assigned.
• Description is optional free text.

5Shortcut keys #

• F2 Find · F3 Add · F4 Modify · F5 Save · Esc Cancel.
• Enter moves to the next field; from the last one it lands on Save.
• Keys belong to the focused copy of the page; a dialog's own keys win while it is open.

6Why is a pick-list empty? #

• This page has no pick-lists — every field is typed, so nothing depends on another master being filled in first.
• If the Department list is empty on the Employee master, no departments have been created here yet. Add them on this page, or use the create option in that combo's footer.

7Rules and integrity #

• The name is unique. It is the table's primary key. The page checks before saving and the server checks again, because two people can save the same name at once.
• Department Name is required; saving without one is refused.
• Renaming a department is allowed and keeps the same record, so employees stay linked to it.
• Deleting a department that employees, pay-bill batches, fixed assets or OP registrations still reference is refused by the database — reassign them first, or simply rename the department instead (the rename carries through on its own).
• Permission triggers record who created and changed each row, and a delete-cleanup trigger removes linked documents.