Orca Solutions HRMS — User Guide
Version 1.0 · Windows Desktop (Electron) · Complete user & feature documentation
1. Introduction & overview
Orca Solutions HRMS is a powerful, offline-first desktop application built for businesses that need reliable HR operations without depending on a constant internet connection. It runs natively on Windows as a standalone EXE — no browser or server setup required.
The system handles every aspect of HR: managing employee records, tracking attendance, processing payroll, managing loans and deductions, and delivering reports via WhatsApp or downloadable PDFs. All data is stored locally, for complete privacy and speed.
- 100% offline — works without internet after installation
- Multi-company support — manage multiple businesses from one app
- Full payroll engine with loans, advances, loss deductions and ledger
- WhatsApp integration — send attendance and payroll PDFs directly to employees
- Automated attendance marking with a configurable module
- PDF & Excel export for all major reports
- Cloud backup support via rclone
- Clean, modern interface with responsive sidebar navigation
2. System requirements
| Operating system | Windows 10 / Windows 11 (64-bit) |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i3 or equivalent (2.0 GHz+) |
| RAM | Minimum 4 GB (8 GB recommended) |
| Storage | At least 500 MB free disk space for application + data |
| Display | 1280 × 720 pixels or higher |
| Internet | Optional — required only for WhatsApp integration and cloud backup |
| Active WhatsApp account on a mobile phone (for QR scan pairing) |
3. Getting started
3.1 Launching the application
Locate HRMS.exe in the extracted folder and double-click it to launch. No installation wizard is required — the application runs directly from the folder.
- Do NOT move the EXE out of its folder — it depends on the surrounding files.
- Windows Defender may show a SmartScreen warning on first run. Click "More info" → "Run anyway".
3.2 Splash screen
Every time the application launches, the Orca Solutions animated splash screen displays for approximately 4 seconds, then fades out — after which the main application loads automatically. No user interaction is needed.
3.3 Company setup
On first launch, you'll be prompted to create your first company. Fill in the company name, address, and optionally a logo. Once a company is created and activated, you'll proceed to the main dashboard. You can manage multiple companies from the same installation.
| Company name | The legal or trading name of the business |
|---|---|
| Address | Physical address (printed on PDFs and reports) |
| Logo | Upload a JPG/PNG logo — displayed in the sidebar and all PDFs |
| Theme hue | Optional colour accent for the interface |
| Active company | Only one company is active at a time; switch via the top sidebar |
4. Application layout & navigation
The application uses a fixed left sidebar for navigation and a main content area on the right. The sidebar is collapsible on smaller screens and shows the active company logo and name at the top.
| Dashboard | Quick access to employee, attendance, payroll dashboards and hierarchy chart |
|---|---|
| Employees | All employee records, add new employees, all departments, add new department |
| Attendance | Mark attendance, view history, manage holidays, and auto-marker (if enabled) |
| Payroll | Generate payroll, pending, history, loans, advances, loss deductions, ledger |
| Settings | Company profile, attendance module toggle, WhatsApp setup, and backup |
5. Dashboard module
The Dashboard module provides at-a-glance analytics and KPIs across employees, attendance, and payroll, across four dashboard views accessible from the sidebar.
5.1 Employee dashboard
A census overview of the entire workforce under the active company.
| Total employees | Count of all active and inactive employees |
|---|---|
| Gender distribution | Visual pie/bar chart showing male/female/other breakdown |
| Age distribution | Bar chart grouping employees by age range |
| Working hours | Hours-by-department for a selectable time period |
| Upcoming birthdays | List of employees with birthdays in the coming days |
| Work anniversaries | List of employees approaching service milestones |
5.2 Attendance dashboard
Shows attendance KPIs for the selected period (day / week / month / year / all time): present, half-day and absent counts, a department breakdown chart, a time-series trend, and a period selector.
5.3 Payroll dashboard
High-level payroll summary showing total payroll disbursed, pending amounts, loan balances, and deduction totals for the active period.
5.4 Hierarchy view
Displays the organisational structure — departments and their members — in a visual hierarchy. Click any department to drill into its detail view showing reporting lines, head count, and positions.
6. Employee management
The Employees module is the core of the HRMS. It stores comprehensive records for every employee and supports bulk import via Excel.
6.1 Employee list
| Search | Search by employee name or mobile number in real time |
|---|---|
| Status filter | Filter to show only Active or Inactive employees |
| Department column | Displays the department each employee belongs to |
| Quick actions | View profile, edit, or delete an employee from the row |
| Delete confirm | A confirmation dialog prevents accidental deletion |
| Bulk import | Upload an Excel (.xlsx) file to import multiple employees at once |
6.2 Add / edit employee
| Personal information | Full name, date of birth, gender, nationality, CNIC/ID number, address |
|---|---|
| Contact details | Mobile number, email address, emergency contact |
| Employment details | Department, position/designation, employment type, joining date |
| Salary information | Base salary, pay per extra work day, applicable allowances |
| Status | Active / Inactive toggle — inactive employees are excluded from payroll |
| Qualifications | Education history, degrees, institutions and years |
| Documents | Upload and attach employee documents (contracts, certificates, etc.) |
| Profile photo | Upload a photo to display on the employee profile and PDFs |
6.3 Employee profile
Clicking any employee opens their full profile page — a read-only overview of all their data, with action buttons to edit, view attendance history, view payroll history, and access uploaded documents.
6.4 Department management
| Department list | Table of all departments with member count |
|---|---|
| Add department | Create a new department with name and description |
| Edit department | Update department details or reassign the head |
| Department profile | View all employees assigned to a department |
| Holiday exemption | Mark a department as exempt from public holidays (works extra days) |
7. Attendance management
The Attendance module records daily attendance for all employees, manages holidays, and provides historical reporting with PDF export.
7.1 Mark attendance
| Date selector | Choose any date to mark or review attendance |
|---|---|
| Present / Absent | Full day present, or not present |
| Half day | Employee attended only half the working day |
| Leave | Employee is on approved leave |
| Extra work | Employee worked on a holiday or rest day (earns extra pay) |
| Holiday auto-status | On public holiday dates, status may be auto-set based on department exemption |
| Bulk save | Save all attendance entries for the selected date at once |
7.2 Attendance history
Browse the full attendance record for any employee or the whole company across any date range — with employee and department filters, status breakdown, PDF export, and an employee detail drill-down.
7.3 Holiday manager
Maintain the company's official holiday calendar. Holidays affect attendance auto-marking and payroll calculations. Non-exempt departments are auto-handled on holiday dates.
7.4 Auto marker
An optional feature that can automatically mark attendance based on configurable rules. It must be enabled in Settings → Attendance Module before the menu item appears in the sidebar.
8. Payroll management
The Payroll module automates salary calculations, manages loans and advances, handles loss deductions, and maintains a complete financial ledger per employee.
8.1 Generate payroll
| Period selection | Choose the payroll month and year |
|---|---|
| Employee calculation | Automatic calculation from base pay, attendance, extra work days, loans, advances and deductions |
| Attendance deductions | Absent days and half-days reduce the calculated salary proportionally |
| Extra work pay | Extra work days are added at the configured per-day rate |
| Loan / advance deductions | Outstanding instalments and advances are automatically deducted |
| Loss deductions | Any approved loss/damage deductions are applied |
| Preview & confirm | Review the calculated amounts before finalising |
| Generate PDF | Export the full payroll sheet as a PDF report |
8.2 Pending payroll
View all payroll records that have been calculated but not yet finalised or distributed — useful for multi-step payroll approval workflows.
8.3 Payroll history
A complete historical archive of all processed payrolls. Filter by employee, department, or period; each record links to its full payroll detail and PDF.
8.4 Loans & advances
| Add loan | Record a new loan with amount, instalment, and start date |
|---|---|
| Add advance | Record a salary advance — deducted in the next payroll |
| Outstanding balance | Track remaining balance for each employee's loan |
| Instalment schedule | View and manage the repayment plan for each loan |
| Automatic deduction | Active loans are automatically deducted during payroll generation |
8.5 Loss & deductions
Record and manage deductions for loss or damage caused by an employee. Each deduction is linked to an employee and applied during the next payroll run, with full edit/delete before processing and a visible link in the payroll detail.
8.6 Payroll ledger
A full accounting ledger view of all payroll transactions — useful for finance teams and audits. Shows net pay, total deductions, and gross pay per employee per period in a structured table.
9. Settings
9.1 Company profile
Update the active company's name, address, logo, and theme colour. Changes take effect immediately and are reflected in all PDFs and the sidebar.
9.2 Attendance module settings
Enable or disable the Attendance Module. When disabled, the Auto Marker menu item is hidden. Configuration lets you set the rules governing how the auto-marker operates (shift times, thresholds).
9.3 WhatsApp integration
Connect the HRMS to a WhatsApp account to send reports and payslips directly to employees' mobile numbers, using the Baileys WhatsApp Web library to maintain the connection.
| QR code scan | Open WhatsApp on your phone → Linked Devices → scan the QR code shown in the app |
|---|---|
| Connection status | Live indicator showing Connected / Disconnected status |
| Disconnect | Log out of the current WhatsApp session safely |
| Messaging preferences | Choose which events trigger automatic WhatsApp messages |
| Manual message | Send a custom WhatsApp message to any employee's number directly from the app |
| Bulk PDF sending | Generate and send monthly attendance PDFs to all active employees with saved numbers, in one action |
9.4 Backup & data
Upload a compressed copy of all company data to a cloud storage destination via rclone, protecting against local hardware failure or accidental data loss.
10. PDF & Excel reports
The system generates professional reports at multiple points. All PDFs include the company logo, name, and generation date, and can be saved to disk or sent via WhatsApp.
| Employee attendance PDF | Full attendance report for a single employee across a date range |
|---|---|
| Department attendance PDF | Attendance summary for an entire department |
| Payroll sheet PDF | Full payroll calculation sheet with itemised deductions and net pay |
| Payslip PDF | Individual payslip for a single employee for a specific month |
| Excel import template | Download/use the employee import template for bulk onboarding |
| Payroll Excel export | Export payroll data to Excel for further processing in spreadsheets |
11. Multi-company support
Orca Solutions HRMS supports multiple companies within a single installation. Each company has its own isolated employee records, attendance history, payroll data, and settings. Switching companies is instant and doesn't require a restart.
| Company selector | On first launch, or when no company is active, a selection screen appears |
|---|---|
| Create company | Add a new company at any time from the company management screen |
| Switch company | Use the active company display in the sidebar to switch between companies |
| Isolated data | All data (employees, attendance, payroll) is stored per company — no cross-contamination |
| Delete company | Remove a company and all its data (irreversible — a confirmation is required) |
12. Keyboard shortcuts & tips
| Sidebar collapse | Click the collapse arrow on the sidebar to gain more screen space |
|---|---|
| Search employees | Start typing immediately in the employee list — results filter live |
| Date navigation | Use the calendar picker to jump to any date for attendance |
| Quick employee profile | Click the employee name in any list to open their full profile |
| Export at any time | PDF and Excel export buttons are available on all list and history screens |
| Refresh data | If data appears stale, switch company and switch back — this clears and reloads the cache |
| Check WhatsApp status | Always confirm the green "Connected" badge before attempting to send messages |
| Backup before major changes | Always trigger a manual backup before bulk imports or bulk deletions |
13. Troubleshooting
| App does not open | Ensure all files are in the same folder as the EXE. Try right-click → "Run as administrator". |
|---|---|
| Blank screen on launch | Wait for the splash animation to complete (~4 seconds). If still blank, close and reopen the app. |
| WhatsApp QR code not appearing | Check your internet connection. Navigate to Settings → WhatsApp and click Connect again. |
| WhatsApp shows Disconnected | Re-scan the QR code. Ensure your phone has an active internet connection and WhatsApp is open. |
| Payroll calculation seems wrong | Verify the employee's base salary, extra-work-day rate, and all active loans/advances in their profile. |
| PDF export is empty | Ensure attendance records exist for the selected date range before exporting. |
| Bulk Excel import fails | Check that your Excel file follows the required column headers exactly. Remove merged cells. |
| Backup fails | Confirm the rclone folder exists beside the EXE and rclone.conf is correctly configured with valid credentials. |
| Employee not appearing in payroll | Check that the employee status is set to "Active". Inactive employees are excluded from payroll. |
| Auto Marker not visible | Go to Settings → Attendance Module and enable the module. The menu item appears after enabling. |
14. Support & contact
For technical support, feature requests, or customisation enquiries, please contact Orca Solutions.
| Company | Orca Solutions |
|---|---|
| Product | Orca Solutions HRMS |
| Support email | sparrow.ai.solutions@gmail.com |