Creating a Payroll Calculator Flowchart in Microsoft Visio 2010

April Popchoke

Do you need to create an exceptional flowchart for a business or technical function? There are many

different ways to create unique visual tools with Microsoft Visio 2010. This guide is designed to help

you navigate through creating a Payroll Calculator using a Basic Flowchart with the Visio program.

Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2

Creating a Payroll Calculator using Visio ....................................................................................................... 2

Opening Visio ............................................................................................................................................ 2

Opening the program ............................................................................................................................ 2

Starting a new Basic Flowchart ............................................................................................................. 3

Creating the Flowchart ............................................................................................................................. 3

Selecting Shapes with AutoConnect ..................................................................................................... 3

Creating additional shapes in your flowchart ....................................................................................... 4

Creating Text outside of a Shape .......................................................................................................... 4

Finishing your flowchart ........................................................................................................................... 5

Adding more text boxes ........................................................................................................................ 5

Saving your Flowchart ........................................................................................................................... 5

Printing your Flowchart ........................................................................................................................ 6

2

Introduction A flowchart is a diagram showing a logical process in steps utilizing shapes and arrows. This

diagrammatic representation connects the shapes with arrows to represent the flow of control. They

are used to analyze, document, design, or manage processes and programs in various fields.

Creating a Payroll Calculator using Visio

To help you learn some of the basics of Microsoft Visio, you will create a basic flowchart to chart the

logical process of a payroll calculator.

Opening Visio

There are many different types of templates in Visio, including business, engineering, flowchart, general,

maps and floor plans, network, schedule, and software and database templates. Each of these

categories has multiple types of templates you can select to start your project. Since we are going to

create a payroll calculator using a flowchart, we need to open up that particular template.

Opening the program

Move your mouse to the lower left hand corner of the

desktop and click on the Start Orb.

Move the mouse up to All Programs.

Select Microsoft Office 2010 from the list of

applications.

Select Microsoft Visio 2010 and click to open the

program.

3

Starting a new Basic Flowchart

Click one time on the Flowchart template folder.

Make sure that Basic

Flowchart is selected, and

then click the Create Button

on the lower right of the

interface.

Creating the Flowchart

Selecting Shapes with AutoConnect

Select the Start/End oval and drag it to the center of the top of your workspace. Double click the

oval and add text reading “Start”. Click your mouse on any empty spot of your workspace to

exit text mode.

Move your mouse over the oval until the blue triangles appear. Hold

your mouse over the lower triangle and select the Process box. This will

automatically add an AutoConnection between the two shapes.

4

Creating additional shapes in your flowchart

Double click the Process box and add the text ‘Get hours worked and hourly wage’.

Hover over the lower blue triangle and select the diamond Decision shape.

Add text reading ‘Are hours greater than 40?’ to the Decision shape.

Select two Process boxes from the Decision shape and position each one slightly lower and on

each side of the diamond.

Add the same text to each of those two text boxes reading ‘Calculate Regular Pay (hrs *wage)’.

Creating Text outside of a Shape

Move to the top of the Home tab, in the Tools group, and select

‘Text’.

Click a spot above the connection point to the left of the Decision

diamond.

In the text box, write ‘If NO’.

Repeat on the right side and write in the

text box ‘If YES’.

5

Finishing your flowchart

Adding more text boxes

Under the right side of the

flowchart, create three more Process boxes

for a total of four.

Add the following text to the

second box: ‘Calculate OVT hours (Total

hrs-REG hrs=OVT hrs)’.

Add the following text to the third

box: ‘Calculate OVT Pay (wage*1.5)*OVT

hrs’.

Add the following text to the

fourth box: ‘Calculate Total Pay (REG

Pay+OVT Pay=Total Pay)’.

Create one additional Process box

underneath of the fourth box, centering it

directly under the Decision diamond.

Add a connection from the Left

hand side of the chart by clicking on the

lower blue arrow of the Left Process box and dragging it to the side of the bottom box.

Add the text: ‘Display Pay’ to the last Process box.

Choose a Start/End oval from the mini toolbar of the Display Pay Process box and place it

directly underneath the box.

Add the text ‘End’ to the End oval to signal the end of the logical flow.

Saving your Flowchart

Now that the flowchart is complete, you need to save your work.

Click on the File tab in the upper left hand corner of the interface.

Select the ‘Save As’ button.

Choose a location to save your diagram

and rename the document if you choose.

Click the Save button.

6

Printing your Flowchart

After you save your finished flowchart, you can print it.

Click on the File tab in the upper left hand

corner of the interface.

Select the ‘Print’ option.

Ensure that the correct printer is chosen.

Click the Print button.

7

Here is what your finished flowchart should look like:

That is how you create professional and effective flowcharts that you can use for a wide variety of

purposes.