Assessment for Business Analyst Candidates

I. Review the project description below.

“The payroll department wants to purchase a new payroll software

package. Human Resources has received many complaints regarding
inconsistent calculations and delays in payment due to the current
manually intensive process. Senior management has approved this as a top
priority for the company.”

What departments would be involved with this project and

why?

B2T Training, L.L.C.

II. Review the project description below.

Project: Implement Training Scheduling Software

Project Statement of Purpose:
Our organization’s training department has become very large, often
holding several classes per week. We need a software application that can
register students for scheduled classes, print student rosters, reserve
classrooms, print student certificates, and report on department training
expenditures. The software should streamline the administration of the
training department and allow even more classes to be conducted in the
coming years. This application may be purchased or written in-house. It
must be installed by the beginning of our next fiscal year.

This project has been initiated because we have more demand for training
than our administrative personnel can handle. Classrooms and instructors
are available to meet this increased demand.

Project Objectives:
• Increase the number of classes by 30% that can be scheduled by the
existing number of administration personnel
• Allow student certificates to be printed and distributed on the last day
of class
• Provide instructors with an accurate list of students on the first
morning of each class
• Remind students of their registration one week before each class via
e-mail
• Notify students and instructors if a class is changed or cancelled via e-
mail

B2T Training, L.L.C.

What questions would you ask to begin to understand the
requirements of this project? Who would you ask them of?

Question Who to ask

B2T Training, L.L.C.

III. Example Requirements for a Payroll System
1. We need to use an Oracle database

2. Employees are not allowed to be paid for more than 80 hours

in one week.

3. The employee id number should be 6 digits long and

assigned sequentially by employee original hire date.

4. We pay about 10,000 employees per week.

5. Employees must be able to choose between direct deposit or

printed checks.

6. We must be able to withhold Federal, State, and City taxes.

7. Some employees reside in a different state than the one they

work in.

8. Payroll checks are 8 ½ by 11 inch voucher checks with a stub

and should be printed onsite on the existing Hewlett Packard
laser printer.

9. Employee timesheets must be approved by their supervisor

before being entered into the system.

B2T Training, L.L.C.

Group the requirements into two logical subsets (List the
requirements numbers in the boxes below). Explain you
reasons for the groupings.

Group 1 Group 2

Explanation of groups:

B2T Training, L.L.C.

IV. Review this dataflow diagram and answer the following
questions:

FR O M
D A TA STO R E: employee C ALC U LA TE
E M PLO Y EE G R O S S P A Y
IN F O
pay info A M OU N T

gr mo
em

os u n
a
pl par

sp t
oy am

ay
ee e

a sp
gro
m
wi ter

ou ay
s
th s

nt
ho
ld
ngi

C A LC U LATE net pay PA Y

ing
N ET P AY E M P LO Y EE

ith hold t
w un
amo

pa
C A LC U LATE
TAX

yc
net
W IT H H O L D IN G

he
ck
pay
TO
E XTE R N A L
tax ithh

PA Y R OLL A G EN T:
EM P LOY E E
w

H IS T O R Y
am el d
ou
nt

net
pay

TO E X TE R N A L TO
N O T IF Y
AG E N T:
GO V ER N M E N T B A N K - total E XTE R N A L

net pay
TOTA L AG E N T:B AN K
P AY R OLL
A M O U N T

B2T Training, L.L.C.

 1. Give at least two examples of data elements that
would be flowing through the dataflow arrow called
“employee pay info”.-->

2. Why does the process “Calculate net pay” have two

input arrows?

3. Would this diagram support an employee requesting

direct deposit of their pay?

B2T Training, L.L.C.