A web based teachers’ payroll management system for secondary schools in Uganda
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Date
2026-05-27
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Publisher
Uganda Christian University
Abstract
Payroll management is a critical administrative function in educational institutions, directly affecting financial accountability and staff satisfaction. In many private secondary schools in Uganda, payroll operations are still managed manually or through spreadsheet-based systems, which are prone to computational errors, delayed salary processing, weak audit controls, and inadequate compliance tracking. This project presents the design and development of EduPay, a web-based Teachers’ Payroll Management System developed to automate salary processing and improve payroll accuracy, security, and transparency. The system is implemented as a monolithic web application using Node.js and Express.js for backend processing, PostgreSQL for relational database management, and HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the frontend interface. It is deployed on the DigitalOcean App Platform with secure environment configuration. EduPay implements role-based access control (RBAC) supporting system administrators, human resource personnel, accountants, and teachers. The system incorporates secure authentication using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) to enhance access security. Core features include automated salary computation, configurable salary structures, statutory deduction calculations (PAYE and NSSF), structured payroll approval workflow, salary
advance and leave management, Excel and PDF report generation, individual payslip generation, notification handling, and comprehensive audit logging. Payroll processing is executed within PostgreSQL transactions to ensure atomicity, consistency, and data integrity. The system enforces payroll lifecycle states (processed, approved, paid) and maintains immutable payroll records for traceability. Additional security mechanisms include bcrypt password hashing, parameterized SQL queries to prevent injection attacks, HTTPS enforcement, and role-based middleware protection. System evaluation using simulated payroll data demonstrated high computational accuracy, reliable workflow management, improved data security and enhanced reporting capabilities. Although features such as attendance integration and advanced tax band computation remain areas for future enhancement, the developed system successfully achieves its objective of automating payroll management while improving efficiency, accountability, and institutional transparency in Bishop Senior secondary Mukono.
Description
Undergraduate