CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
As the world's economies globalize the pace of innovation accelerates, and the use of
economic business presses grows, business organization companies and companies policy
makers are pressured to find new way to remain competitive and to provide better
customer services to end users and constituents. Every business has numerous processes
some simple other complex and cumbersome. But as the business grows acquires new
customers enter new market and keep pace with cc- s:ant change in information
technology; companies need to maintain highly acetate and up to date accounting,
inventory and statutory records. This is v. -ere a computerized inventory system helps
simplify, integrate, and streamline all the business processes, cost effectively and easily
and helps presents the true picture of all the business undertakings to users of financial
reports. With the decrease in the price of computer and accounting programs, this method
of keeping books is coming popular (Raymond and Bergeron, 1992) Automation and
simplification of business to business transactions through the adoption of invoicing
standards is critical for faster and more accurate processing reduced costs greater
business agility and processes that meet appliance with all suit of business need.
Invoicing system also makes common tax verification activities less intrusive and
disruptive to core business activities. Invoicing offers significant advantage over paper
based processes. Processing invoice electronically, or as sophisticated as delivering straight
through processing that eliminate the need for manual intervention in common tasks.
Suppliers avoid the cost of paper printers,, enveloping and postage. Faster transmission of
the invoice and automated processing speed up account settlement. Automated processing
reduces
1

opportunities for human errors that can have serious customers, partners, or tax
implications.

By

streamlining

trade

activities,

invoicing

fosters

innovation,

competitiveness, and growth. The maintenance of electronic trade data in electronic

formats can streamline business reporting filing and compliance related task.
Essential drug have been defined by the world health organization (WHO) as the drug that
satisfy the health care needs of the majority of the population. They should therefore, be
available at all times in adequate amount and in the appropriate dosage at all level of the
most common local disease. The pharmaceutical shops are design to make the attainment
of the goals of providing customers with different suit of drugs. One of the essential
element of the Amira pharmaceutical limited in Zaria is the provision of essential drugs. It
is obvious; therefore, that the present situation in which the organization transacts with the
customers cannot be ensured is not conductive to the attainment of the goal of health for
all. Following Anthony (1965) and ken and Scott Morton (1918), computer based systems
are usually classified as either transaction processing system or decision support systems.
The researchers see it very vital to produce invoicing system for the organization. Invoice
processing system will be used for capturing, processing, storing and reporting of day to
day transaction that occur in a firm to replace the manual process the pros to errors.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
When the amount of data grows in a company there is a need for a database system to store
the regularly. The need for an ant gallery database includes storing information, sales
information for monthly report. This project present the development of data management
systems for building cash information like the products sold monthly flow of cash, and
balance sheet information for the month.

The objective is to design a data management system that can store information like art
work, and sales information.
In developing the database system, there will be a need to decide what the best tools are for
this. The client selected PHP and MYSQL, since they were familiar. In order to achieve
these goals, important question that are asked include "What is the information that will be
stored in the data base?" The data base is where the work begins; it includes creating the
models for each table in the database, analyzing the content of the table, designing the user
interface that the client will use to input data information into the database. The PHP and
MYSQL will be used for creating dynamic interaction in the data base, like generating the
invoice reference number for each customer that buys goods and wants make the payment
online.
1.2 BRIEF HISTORY OF AMIRA PHARMACY
Amira pharmacy was established in 2011 by Alh. Hashimu Garba Anchau. The pharmacy
is located at NO.8 Hospital Road Tudun Wada, Zaria. It has one branch in Anchau. The
office is Alkamar Medicine Centre, is located at NO.A/234 Sani Abacha way Anchau.
The pharmacy performs various functions which include:
y A place where people buy drugs and medical cosmetics like antiseptic/medicated
soap, dusting powder, pampers, cotton wool, tissue paper e.t.c
> Where people can receive medical attention example injecting patient, treating cuts,
bruises and bums e.t.c
> And also people come for general medical advices.

The research main concern is how the sales of drugs are carried out; the need for customer
are not monotonous which makes it necessary for them t have various needs of customers.
Moreover, it is equally important to part moderate prices on drugs, because at various
times, the higher price, the lower the patients chances of purchasing drugs and thereby
increasing portability rate in some disease condition. The pharmacy has to plan their prices
to enable people afford its drugs at all times. As we are now in the computer age everything
is been computerized for quick efficiency, analysis and accurate results. This is not just
limited to the scientific world but in all fields of human life. Now every business
organization concern with processing it operation in order to provide the most accurate and
current information and management data, such information may .include summary and
analysis of optional using statistical and quantitative techniques. This is easy done with the
aid of computers.
In the course of this project, the research has tried to computerize the sales data of the
pharmacy. The researched is aimed at using the computer to compliment the sales of drugs
so that the process will be efficient,
1.3

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problem and inadequacies inherit in the manual invoice issued by shop keepers, and
sales control system in business transactions where many items are involved, the manual
cash invoice system becomes tedious and big to handle. Errors inherit in manual
calculation and balancing of sales lead to excessive cost operation and hence may lead to
wrong decision taking by the managers of a business form.
Customers come to purchase drugs with prescription from a doctor, the pharmacy issue the
drugs to the customers. There are people who have mild illness and come to order for
specific drugs. Example magnesium trisilicate for stomachache,
4

panadol for headache, maldox for antimalaria, tutolin for cough,

Augmentine for

antibiotics e.t.c To mention a few invoice are issued to customers after purchase of drugs.
This is to ensure the accurate record keeping. The invoice number, the amount of drugs
bought and the date are recorded.
1.4

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The mam objectives of this project work is to develop an application called point of sale
for the following reasons
The case of which an organization attends to their customers to enhance business
productivity.
To maximize profit and gain
To manage and effectively control the pharmaceutical inventory
To see how much we can proffer solution to the above name problems through the
introduction of internet advertising and ordering system.
It is aimed that on competition of the work the problem of congestion and accident
experienced by customers would have being reduced to its best minimum.
Another objective of this study is to bring down the amount spends on advertisement and
thereby reducing the cost of running the business. All this is possible because the customer
need to visit the website, go through the goods in stock and select the ones they want to
order and it will be sent them through waybill.
The web page design is expected to be very friendly and interactive that customers won't
find it difficult to navigate through it.

1.5

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The main significance of carrying out this study is not to help Amira pharmacy, but all
other pharmacies on the following important benefits
Computerization of information so as to have efficient service- in the pharmacy
when all information is properly handled.
Production available operational reports when needed.
Safeguard data and information in the system.
Reduce work load in the present system.
It makes the allocation of the bills easier and calculation is done with case and great
speed.
Keep accurate record on stock.
Reduce time wasted in data processing.
1.6

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This project work is designed to cover all aspect of sales, purchases, and stock keeping a
business transaction in Amira pharmacy. The system incorporates the items stock
recording, stock taking and recording. Recording system monitors current store level and
determines whether new item must be ordered. This system keeps statistics of each item
usage to determine the quality to be ordered. And this has been limited to any sales of
drugs and this is important in the pharmacy.
1.7

MOTIVATION

The benefits of computer cannot be over emphasized the speed, flexibility, simplicity, and
case of tracking information as well as generating, processing information are some among
many that can be listed. Due to the existing manual method of operation in keeping record
of invoice in the pharmacy which is basically a heap of customers organized manually one
upon the other and with the increasing number of customers which makes the work of the
staff difficult, having realized that the need of cash invoice is required by the pharmacy.
6

CHAPTER TWO
2.1

INTRODUCTION

Chapter highlights the relevant background information with respect to internet technology
and computer web based portal, it gives the relevant research with respect to web-based
information system. It also gives the overview of the existing system, its problem and
limitation, the proposed system, its features and its benefits.
2.2

LITERATURE REVIEW

The introduction of computer in invoice generating system has gone a long way to improve
the ways in which various activities are done including the processes of issuing invoice and
reduced the burdens encountered in the field work and administrative work when
computers were not yet introduced.
The introduction of computer to this context help in acquiring the basic skills and
knowledge that is required.
Pari so Bukola Deborah(2009), was one of the first student to carry out these research
work, Femi Erinosho (2012) went further to build more pn what Deborah did using a
different programming language they both explain how the command would use efficient
software to keep track of the transactions and every activities being carried out in an
organization.
According to Pariso Bukola Deborah (2009)" she design a software program that would
help keep track of the transactions using Microsoft access database, while Femi Erinosho
developed his own program using Microsoft Visual Basic.Net, which serve as the front
view of the program with Microsoft Access 2010 which serve as his backend. With the
research made so far, it is very important to improve the field of this study by going a long
way to improve the field of these programming techniques that the command will be using
to keep track of offenders record. I will go a long way to improve the field of this study
using to design and develop a program that the keep track of the transactions as far invoice
is concern. The literature review is wholly the products of my own efforts and investigation
5

based on the authorized information i got from the past writer and the information 1 have
been legally and helpfully given by Amira Pharmacy

2.3

BENEFIT OF COMPUTERIZATION

Accurate:- the computer satisfies the need for high degree of accuracy and its consistency
can be rely upon for information concerning a record of an offender, meanwhile the
computer does what is being instructed to do.
Efflciencyr:- computers have the ability to work all day to process information effectively
without having to sleep or rest.
Fast:- offenders record process would be achieved at a very high fast speed with fast
response time. This is because computer processed information often called data so quickly
that even the words used to describe the amount of time it takes them to do it, is not
common for example information that has range that are typed manually are now
computerized in the sense that they are set in a combo box for selection and this will fasten
the situation of tying manually. Update:- efficient means of modifying offenders record is
possible when the new system is developed.
Volume:- Computer process great quantities of information that would otherwise be very
difficult to repeat a similar record for two different offenders, the software program will be
suited for handling that aspect for instance, the offence being viola by the offenders.
2.4

INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES

The internet is the largest intercommunication network. It provides the capabilities for
electronic communication. Users may send and receive various types of media through the
computer network. Individuals use web brewer to request web pages from a particular
website. The number of website in the internet is rapidly growing. Sajjo Jarasrongraweom
and Somponjiwolsakul (2542:4) describe the internet as the largest public computer
network inking hundred of thousands of individual network all over the world via the
ICP/IP protocol. To access the internet, the individual computer uses IP Address to
6

reference itself. There are several ranges of services provided by the internet.
World Wide Web (WWW):- Is a system with universally standards for storing,

retrieving, formatting, and displaying the information on the internet users browser
the websites, and download relevant files using their web browser.
Uniform resource locator (URL):- Is the address of specific resources on the
internet. We must apply the connect method unless we could not connect to the
requested resource. When we apply the URL, we usually begin the requested
address with http://
Web client/web browser:- Is an application that interacts between user and web
server. Internet users usually use graphical web browser to browser the needed
information. The famous web browser are internet Explorer, Mozilla and Netscape
navigator.
Web server:- Is a dedicated application that processes the requested information
form the web client. The request are made through the HTTP . protocol. Microsoft
internet information services (IlS)and apache are examples of web server
programs.
Database server:- Is a system designed to manipulated the database. Its primary
function is to store, retrieve, and manage the information. Database servers plays
an important role in the web services.
Internet:- Is the internet like computer network. Internet technology is similar to
the internet technologies. It supports web authoring and bowering using web
browser. Internet technology is now very popular, its growth-rate is extremely high
as its is supported by many manufactures.
2.5

OPEN- SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES

There are many open source project. Apache, MYSQS, and PHP are all open source
projects that can be installed on a wide variety
of platforms. Open source projects are those
1

2
applications that are made available to everybody
to use, They are most popular on

Linux(giving the acronym "LAMP")although windows-based Apache, MYSQL and PHP

installation are becoming increasingly popular, especially for developers. The open source
movement is a collaboration of some of the finest minds in programming and development,
which make up the open source community to make for easier development and
standardization of system, application and/or programs. By allowing the open exchange of
source code and other information, programmers form all over the world contribute for
making truly powerful and efficient pieces of software usable by everyone.
2.5 APACHE
Apache all the work of web applications takes place on the server. A specific application,
called web server will be responsible for communicating with the browsers. A relational
database server stores whatever information the application requires finally a language is
needed to broker requests between the web server and database server, it will also be used
to perform programmatic tasks on the
information that comes to and from web servers. There are many web servers 00+ there,
the two major web servers dominate the market are Apache and Internet Information
Server (IIS). Apache' is a web server that is responsible for communicating with the web
browsers as well as the database using a scripting language such as PHP, ASP, ISP, PERL
and others.
2.6 MYSQL
MYSQL is a relational database management (RDMS), it Is a general purpose software
system that facilitates the process of defining, constructing and manipulating database for
various applications. Defining a database involves specifying the data o/pes, structures and
constraints for the data to be stored in the database. Constructing database is the process of
storing data itself on storage medium that is controlled by die RDBMS. Manipulating a
database includes querying the database to retrieve specific data, updating the database to
1

reflect changes in the mink world and generate

-Reports from the data. MYSQL uses
3
standard query language (SQL), the standard database query language.

MYSQL is an open source, SQL relational Databases Management System (RDBMS) that
is free for many uses. Over the past ten years\, MYSQL has truly developed into a World
class product. MYSQL now competes with even the most feature rich commercial database
applications such as Oracle and Informix Additions in the' 4x series has included much
requested features such as transactions and foreign key report. All this has made MYSQL
the worlds most used open source database (converse et al, 2004).
It is the web development language written by and for the web developers. PHP stands for
PHP Hypertext processor. The product was originally named personal Home page tools,
and many people stiff think that's what the acronym name was selected by scope, a new
and more appropriate name has selected by community vote. PHP is currently in its fifth
major rewrite, called PHP.
PHP is a server-side scripting language processed by a web server and not by user's
browser. It can be embedded in HTML or used as standalone binary. The first version of
PHP was written by RasmusLerdorf in 1994, he was basically looking for a way to make
maintain his web page easier. The second version was more formalized version and
improved the original version called Personal Home Page Tools (PHP). The third version
was released in 1998; it was renamed at this stage from Personal Home Page Tools to
Hypertext Preprocessor PHP. Version four was released on 1 March, 2007 and finally
version five was released on February 8, 2007.
2.8

OVERVIEW OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM

The system that the pharmacy has been using since the inception is a system whereby most
of its activities are carried out manually. These activities include keeping of records,
cataloging, processing invoice, searching for some records, etc. So with the new proposed
system, these activities will be carried out in a better way.
1
4

2.9

INVOICE

An invoice is a document certifying the delivery of a product or the provision of a service,

showing the date of accrual and the amount payable in consideration for the product or
service provided.
The invoice contains the
o issuer's
o recipient's details,
o a description of the products
o services provided,
o unit prices,
o total prices,
o discounts and
o taxes.
It is considered to be fiscal proof of deliver}' of a product or
provision of a service affecting the tax-paying issuer (the seller)
and

the

tax-paying

recipient

(the

purchaser).

In

another

perspective, Electronic invoicing is the transfer of invoices or

equivalent documents from issuer to recipient electronically
(computer files) and telemetrically (from one computer to the
other), these being electronically signed using recognized (or
qualified) certificates, which have the same legal validity as paperbased invoices.
A specific definition can be found in Article I of Law 56/2007: "The
electronic invoice is an

1
5
electronic

document which fulfills all the

legal and enforceable requirements for invoicing, and which also

guarantees the authenticity of its origin and the integrity of its

contents".
Even though there are several mechanisms for guaranteeing the
authenticity of origin, content integrity and legibility of both paper
and electronic invoices from the moment of issue to the end of the
invoice retention period, the electronic signature is the most
commonly-used form of electronic invoicing.
The terms electronic invoice, telemetric invoice and digital invoice
are interchangeable, even though the name most commonly used
in the regulation is electronically-transferred invoice (remission
electronica)

or

transferred

via

electronic

means

(remission

pormedios electronicos). Usually, the term digital invoice (factura

digital) is used for the type of electronic invoice using a digital
signature to guarantee the authenticity and the integrity of the
invoice.
Electronic invoices can be issued in different formats (EDIFACT,
XML, PDF, html, doc, xls, gif, jpeg or txt, among others), provided
that the relevant legally required contents are included and the
authenticity and integrity requirements are met, for example by
incorporating the qualified electronic signature.
An invoice or bill is a commercial document issued by a seller to a
buyer, indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for
products or services the seller has provided the buyer (Jihad,
2009).
An invoice indicates the sale transaction only. Payment terms are
independent of the invoice and

1
6
are

negotiated by the buyer and

the seller. Payment terms are usually included on the invoice. The

buyer could have already paid for the products or sendees listed
on the invoice. Buyer can also have a maximum number of days in
which to pay for these goods and is sometimes offered a discount
if paid before the due date.
In the rental industry, an invoice must include a specific reference
to the duration of the time being billed, so in addition to quantity,
price and discount the invoicing amount is also based on duration.
Generally each line of a rental invoice will refer to the actual
hours, days, weeks, months, etc., being billed.

1
7

In the rental industry, an invoice must include a specific

reference to the duration of the time being billed, so in addition
to quantity, price and discount the invoicing amount is also
based on duration. Generally each line of a rental invoice will
refer to the actual hours, days, weeks, months, etc., being
billed.
From the point of view of a seller, an invoice is a sales invoice.
From the point of view of a buyer, an invoice is a purchase
invoice. The document indicates the buyer and seller, but the
term invoice indicates money is owed or^ owing. Electronic
invoicing systems must strive to deliver business efficiencies
through end-to-end automations that permit straight-through
processing and reduce costly
... errors and manual processes while improving productivity.
Invoicing systems must ensure the integrity and authenticity of
data while complying with legal constraints and permitting
auditors to conduct their inquiries unfettered by technical
impediments (EU, 2006).
A typical invoice contains the following information:
The word invoice (or Tax Invoice)
A unique reference number (in case of correspondence about
the invoice)
*t* Date of the invoice.
Credit terms.
Name and contact details
1 of the seller

Tax or company registration details of s e l l e r N a m e and

contact details of the buyer
Description of the product(s)
*Unit price(s) of the product(s) (if relevant)
*** Total amount charged (optionally with breakdown of taxes,
ifrelevant)
*** Payment terms (including method of payment, date of
payment, and details about charges for late payment) etc.
TYPES

2.8

INVOICE

OF

Invoice can be categorized based on various factors some of which

include the following:
Standard Invoice
One of the most common choices, standard invoices are simple to
create either on paper or in digital format, yet complete enough for
a wide variety of billing transactions. This type is versatile enough to
be used for new, established, frequent or occasional clients.
Standard invoices typically include the following information

1
9

according to Semblance Systems Pty Ltd.: reference number, sent

and due dates, seller's name and contact information, itemized list of
goods or services, price, payment terms, and payment options.
Automatic Invoice
Regular billing cycles benefit from automatic invoicing, which is
spontaneously generated according to the client's terms. Details
such as buyer information, seller information, and service or product
itemization are entered into the first invoice, and then are used
repeatedly for each subsequent billing. This type is particularly
beneficial for businesses whose customers have the same monthly
pricing plans, such is Internet service providers or health clubs selling
memberships.
Pro Forma Invoice
Billing for payment before providing the service or product typically
calls for a pro forma invoice, whereby you revise or estimate the
work to be done. Itemization of this format includes the nature and
value of product or service to be rendered, as well as weight and
transportation fees, if applicable, Electronic Invoicing This is not
necessarily the same as EDI invoicing. Electronic invoicing in its
widest sense embraces EDI as well as XML invoice messages as well
as other format.
Self-billing Invoice
A self-billing invoice IS when the buyer issues the invoice to
himself I (e.g. according to the consumption levels he is taking
out of a vendor-managed inventory stock). The buyer (i.e. the
issuer) should treat the invoice as an account payable, and the

seller should treat it as an account receivable.

Commercial Invoice

A customs declaration form used in international trade that

describes the parties involved in the shipping transaction, the
goods being transported, and the value of the goods. It is the
primary document used by customs, - and must meet specific
customs requirements, such as the Harmonized System number
and the country of manufacture. It is used to calculate tariffs.
Purpose of Invoice
The main purpose is to computerized the cash invoice generation
system of a business transactions taking in Amira Pharmacy
Limited, Tudun Wada Zaria, This will help the manager know when
to make purchases of drugs, ascertain the exact number of each
drugs or stock available, to ascertain the stock that are either
mostly or sparsely sold as well as knowing the exact number of
each drugs that are lacking thereby helping to improve workflow in
the organization. Moreover to reduce time wasted in data
processing and information retrieval. And finally to Improve
management activities, which will lead to improved productivity,
accountability and business management of the pharmacy.
Invoice Processing
Invoice processing involves the handling of incoming invoices
fjpm arrival to post. Invoices have many variations and types. In
general, invoices are grouped into two types: 1. Invoices
associated with a request or purchase order 2. Invoices that do
not have an associated request. ( no purchase order). Most

organizations

have

clear

instructions

regarding

processing

incoming invoices. Different sets of insttuctions are commonly

found in most organizations regarding the handling of purchase
order

invoices

or

non-purchase

order

invoices.

The

main

department that processes invoices is known as accounts payable

department. The process involving a supplier invoice is also
known as purchase-to-pay.
Typical Process
A typical process involving paying a supplier invoice begins at
the arrival of invoice it the door of the organization regardless
of the methods of arrival such as via email, postal mail,
facsimile, etc. Once the invoice arrives, the accounts payable
clerk must ensure that the document is indeed an invoice.
Then the clerk classifies and sorts the invoice into various
categories. The definition of various categories is not always
the same across different organizations but is normally
defined by each organization.
Automatic Process *
Technology has long enabled the automation of invoice
processing from arrival to post. This means that at arrival of
the invoice, the same accounts payable clerk will only need to
scan the invoice into automation software. The automation
software then : inverts the invoice's scanned image into a
text researchable document. The different TTds on an invoice
can also be defined into the software so that it remembers

which fields it should capture and register into the ERP

systems, for instance, the amount purchase, the quantity, the
supplier name, the supplier code, and so on. The benefits of
an automatic processing work flow may include reduced
human error, ondemand reports, and data resilience. Automated invoice
processing system vendors include Artsyl Technologies, Inc.,
PSIGEN,

iPayables,

Kofax,

Perceptive

Software,

Hyland

Software, Open Text, Basware, Automation Centre, ITESoft

and ReadSoft. Most automation software today integrates into
common, organizational ERP systems such as4those offered
by SAP, Microsoft and Oracle.
Automation Software
Pay Stream Advisors, an industry analyst, has defined
accounts payable automation as the solutions and services
which automate the people and paperbased processing
invoices for approval and posting into the accounting
system. According to the Document Imaging Report, issue
no. 8-17-07, there are around 3757 invoice processing
applications in the world.
In the 2008 report, "Optical Character Recognition: Invoice
Imaging and Data Capture for Accounts Payable," Pay Stream
advisors writes:
Intelligent Data Capture (IDC) or learning systems enable end

users to extract content from invoices without the system having

to learn the layout of the invoice. Some intelligent engines are
able to correctly sort batches on the fly, locate data fields such
as invoice and PO number, as well as line item v information, and
then extract the desired content from those data fields.
PROBLEMS
SYSTEM

2.11

AND

LIMITATION

OF

THE

EXISTING

The existing system of the school has the following problems:

Poor Communication: there is no full communication between the

pharmacy, its staff and the customers for example; the
absence of an automated cash invoice generator may cause
the pharmacy to spend a lot of money in buying calculators,
payment of unnecessary salaries to cashiers who will carry
out the work manually.

Time Consuming: the system consumes a lot of time in

collection, gathering, searching, and keeping of records of
sales and purchases of drugs in the pharmacy. Difficulty in
locating some particular records due the fact that so many
records are kept manually. Besides, physical efforts have to
be made when carrying out these activities. '
Prone to Damage: Paper based systems have to be kept safe
for a period of time. And these paper records are prone to
be damaged easily by various ways,

including

human

neglects

and

environmental

threats.

In

addition, there is a high possibility of losing some of these

small sized paper records e.g. receipt. Thus, proper care
is necessary, making the whole process tedious.
2.12

PROPOSED/NEW SYSTEM

The aim of the new system is to provide an alternative solution

to solve problems in the current system. The current way of
the manual system involves a lot of laborintensive work, time
consuming, low security and poor communication.
2.13

BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

Security: The new system will provide full security by
restricting access to authorized users. Hence improving the
system dependability and reliability.
Speed: When the system is developed and implemented, the
lengthy process of information insertion and retrieval will be
shortened.

Accuracy: Ensure the information correctness, consistency

and liability.
Instant delivery
When using online invoicing software, all you need to do is
send emails to clients containing links to an invoice online.
They can also print the invoice for future reference. All is done
within minutes, and you do not have to worry about problems

at delivery.
Important cost savings
Online billing also saves money on paper, ink, and postal
sendees.

CHAPTERTHREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1RESEARCH M ETHODOLOGY
Research can be defined as a systematic inquiry to describe,
explain, predict and control the observed phenomenon. Research
involves

inductive

and

deductive

methods

(Babbie

1998),

inductive methods analyze the observed phenomenon and

identify the general principles, structures or processes underlying
the

phenomenon

observed.

Deductive

methods

verify

the

hypothesized principles through observations. The purposes are

different, one is to develop explanations and the other is to test
the validity of the explanations.
Methodology is defined as a system which comprises the
principles, practices and procedures which are applied to a
specific branch of knowledge. Methodology refers to the way in
which information is found or the way something is done.
Methodology includes methods, techniques, and procedures
which are used to collect and analyze information.
In other terms Methodology is the systematic, theoretical
analysis of the method applied to a field of study, or the
theoretical analysis of the body of methods and principles
associated

with

branch

of

knowledge.

It

typically

encompasses concepts such as paradigm, theoretical model,

phases and quantitative techniques.
A methodology does not set out to provide solutions but offers
the theoretical -underpinning for understanding which method,
set of methods to be applied to a specific cases.

2
8

This study adopted a structural system analysis and design

method. The technique provides a hierarchy model, and a
modeling process for logical decomposing a problem into its
parts, it is design to.
i. Exposed details gradually in a controlled manner
ii. Encourage accuracy
iii. Focus attention on data and activity relationship

The complete structural system analysis and design method

model consist of both activity diagrams with supporting text
viewed from several perspectives.
The model begins with problems identification and definition. It
document users interview and documents the problems and its
boundaries. The result is a bounded functional model of what the
problems are and what they are not, it begins with getting
through the study of the available information about the problems
to be analyzed. Its boundary and an SSADM model reflection
current operation, identifying issues needs and deficiencies
(Whitelen 2000)
The techniques provides for decomposition of tackle system into
components which enables one to tackle the problems properly
and hence this decomposition stopped when a well-defined
solution is gotten for that particular problem.
3slow is the method which I use in carrying out my project or in
getting the data needed for my project, the primary and
secondary methods of data collection
3.2METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
Several methods/ techniques 2were use to gather information/

data but only three(3) were considered useful in carrying out

this research they includes:
a. PHYSICAL OBSERVATION: I took a closer look on the

techniques of . annual system by following up the step

involved in recording a new offender.
b. I went to the internet to check on the Federal Road Safety

Corp.

website

www.frsc.gov.ng

to

get

the

historical

background and other information relating to this particular

project
c. INTERVIEW:- this method is used by questioning Marshals

to get the exact picture on how offenders are booked and

how their reports are kept. Effort were made to ensure that
each response are understood, the ultimate goal of the
system and also to make the computerized keeping of
records of .offenders more useful.

3.3INTRODUCTION
Methodology

is

the

way

in

which

you

find

information,

methodology describe how something will be (or was) done. The

methodology includes the methods, procedures and techniques
use to collect and analyze information.
3.4SOURCE OF DATA
There are principally two (2) sources of data: primary and
secondary sources. Primary Source
These are data collected by the research for purpose of
demographic analysis. In this method various methods are

3
available ranging from interview,
questionnaire, records and
0

documentation will be considered for use in this study.

Secondary Source

These are data collected from other sources outside the ones
mentioned above. Here various methods are available ranging
published and unpublished data like textbooks, news papers and
past project
3.3 SYSTEM DESIGN
System design provide a details information of a new system, it
requires an acceptance by management as the requirement
specification does. It purposes is to transform the conceptual
design into a detail one for information.

The system, is designed to ease the keeping of stock records as

well as to ensure an efficient and accurate computation of cash
invoice. Also is the collection of various component to work
together

to

accomplish

the

task.

There

are

three

major

components namely: input, processing, and output.

3.4 REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION
Requirement specification comprises of the
following
Input specification.
Output specification.

Software and hardware requirement

Input Specification.
the aim of the program developed is to keep track of the
inventory of sales at the Amira pharmacy, as such the input of
the program is designed in such a way so as to facilitate easy
management of data.

3
1

Basically data input to the program exists in many portions of

the problem. First and foremost before the program could be
used, a record of drugs must be entered to the program through
the home page.
This comprises the description of the input data and their
components, i.e. record layout. And all these data items or field
are the input data to be process by the computer.

Output specification
This comprises of all the screen such as report on customers cash
invoice, all other related output screen and printed papers for the
personal documents for the personal document for the reference
of the invoice.
Hardware Requirement
The hardware requirement for the implementation of this program
is any modem computer that has (preferable) a Pentium grade
processor and the following features for optional performance.
Central processing unit (CPU) comprises random Access Memory
(RAM) Read only Memory' (ROM), and has substantial memory
capacity,
3.5 DATABASE DESIGN
A web database application is a long term memory that stores
data (information) for the application. A database is an electric file
cabinet that stores information in an organization way, easy to
find, when needed. Database can be small, with structure for
example, database can contain the name and data of invoice or
database can be huge with extremely complex structures.
A web database application is design to help a user to accomplish

3
the task. It can be simple application
that displays information in
2

a browser window (for example current job operating when the

user selects job title) or a complicated program with trended
functionality. The database is the long term memory of the
database application. The application cannot fulfill its purpose
without the database.

3
3

3.6

ADVANTAGES OF DATABASE
Reduction of data redundancy (i.e. controlled redundancy)
Enhance of data integrity
Data independence is ensured.
Database facility, data sharing and integration.
It improved access data.
Centralized of security.
Reduction of cost.

3.7

DISADVANTAGES OF DATABASE
Complexity
Initial expense.
Need for substantial conversion efforts.
Need for special training of users.

3.8

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE METHOD USED

This work will be of little or no significance if certain problems are not

pointed out me existing manual system. Otherwise there will be no

need for any other improvement. The first obvious impediment of the
continued use of the manual of keeping sales records is the cost of
maintaining the system. Money is :g spent annually to print file
jackets, receipt books, invoice etc, and the cost of capers used for
documentation, other stationeries plus overhead cost used in the
recess.
ither setback is the inefficiency of the system is that files and
records (e.g. -ipt books) are being mixed, misplaced, mutilated or

3
4

missed (lost) in the course ' cay to day activities in the pharmacy,
inaccurate figures are kept for the quantity crags left on the
shelves ,drugs disappear without trace etc. iging from the present
technological trends in the world whereby almost tything is
computerized, there is every need to design a system that should
take
ire of these lapses. The computerized program designed in this
project not only ikes care of these problem, but by far is faster to
accomplish a task, very and up to ate record at point in the time,
insofar as it has been duly fed into the system.

3
5

CHAPTER FOUR
IMPLEMENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULT
4.1INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the results obtained in the entire project
work; the implementation can be presented by means of the
system developed under the study which is the result of the data
Input specification that is processed by the computer.
4.2SYSTEM TESTING
System testing involves the testing of the functional requirement
specification and :he system requirement specification. Both the
functional and system requirement specification describe the
functionality that the system developed and the users have agreed
with it. System testing tends to be more of an investigatory testing
chase, where the focus is to have almost a destructive attitude test
not only the design, but also the behavior and even the believed
expectation of the untended ui'fr System testing is intended to test
up to and beyond the bounds defined in the ?: frware hardware
requirement specifications. The two types of testing are carried cut
during the discussion of the result system. They are:
i. Functional testing
ii. Performance testing

FUNCTIONAL TESTING
This is the testing that required function from the software
specification which can be assessed, Functional testing typically
involves:
a. The identification of functions that the software is expected to

perform.
b. The creation of test data that will exercise those functions.

PERFORMANCE TESTING
in software development, performance testing is determined how
fast some aspect of a system performs under a particular
workload, performance testing can serve as different purpose, it
can compare two systems find which one perform better, it can
aIso measure what part of the system or workload causes the
system to perform badly, in the diagnosis cases, software
engineers use tools such as profilers to Measure what part of a
device or software contributes most to the poor Performance or
to establish through level for maintained acceptable response
time.
4.2 SYSTEM REVIEW AND MAINTENANCE
This analyzed virtually all aspect of invoice generating system.
User will find it very easy to open after a substantial/orientation.
To ensure the security of the system it shall be access only by the
user and management of the pharmacy using a particular
password. The management should also try to provide a light
security to these packages from viruses, warm, Trojan horses and
other physical hazard by lunching a powerful and latest antivirus
and hardware security
4.3

FEATURES OF THE SYSTEM

Is a distinctive attributes or aspect of system, a part of the face making s s

contribution to its overall appearance.
HOME PAGE
This provides face description of the system, its objective and links of log in user
to access it.

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1SUMMARY
This project work was aimed at computerizing the sales of drugs system r. pharmacy
in order to make it more effective, efficient and secured and was studied to developed
application software and compare with an automated system the application
consisting of a database and user friendly interface designed with PH?. MYSQL, HTML,
and CSS. From this research work, it is evident that when proper computerization of all
data involving ordering and billing is carried out the pharmacy can always retrieve any
information or check financial calculation w ith case. A sales customer record can be
keeping the record in the database, update and also print on papers which can be
effectively and efficiently. Whereby with ordinary filling system or records keeping in
book, it is difficult to find or locate information, especially when it involves a lot of
records (volumes) or if a very huge amount is to be calculated. The formula is simply
fed into the program code and computer does the calculation fast and accurate. These
and more lead or tell why a computerized-data is very importance.
5.2CONCLUSION
w.
The primary aim of employing a computer system to replace an (manual) system of
any organization is to provide an efficient, accurate, fast and easy to operate, and
higher performance of that system. This system wall surely lead to great improvement
of invoice system activities in the pharmacy. Indeed, most of the problems
encountered with manual method of invoice are now solved with computerization

system.

Thus, the versatility of computer is portrait with packages, which

shows its capability to handle both database and interface activities
together and very efficiently.
It is important to note that computers are not restricted to a
particular task. Thai may only appear to you perhaps because you
are using it for that task.
5.3RECOMMENDATION
From this point of view, pharmacies especially larger ones are
recommended to computerize their services for better result or
output. This project could be upgraded to cover all areas of
accounting and other financial aspect in the pharmacy. It is also
recommended that Amira pharmacy looks into this study and
observe the benefit of the work carried out for adoption in other to
motivate future work and to enjoy the favor of computerization
especially in the accounting section for proper profit generation and
for fraud reduction or elimination.

REFERENCES
Invoice Processing Procedure (Account payable)
Invoice

illustration

adapted

from

Meigs

and

Meigsfmancial

Accounting 4th edition (McGraw-Hill, 1970), p.190 ISBN 0-07041534-X

Business process: Vendor payment - PO Invoices
RamezElmasri and shankant B, Navathe (2002). Fundamentals of
database system, 5th edition, person Education, Inc Publisher.
Jay Greenspan and Brad Bulger, 2001: "MYSQL/PHP Database
applications", M & T Books. ISBN: 0-7645-3537-4
Micheal V, Mannino (2001), "Database application Development
and Design", McGraw-Hill, Irwin, ISBN: 0-07-303345-6.
Jennifer Niederst Robbins (2007). Learning Web Design, Third
Edition, United State of America o' Rielly Media, Inc, 1005
Gravestein High way North Sebastopol, CA 95472 Publishers.
hmothy Boronczy, Elizabeth Naramore, Jason Gerner, Michael K.
Glass, 2009: Beginning PHP, Apache, MySQL Web development,
Wiley publishing, Inc.978-0 -470-39114-3
v.
IraigGrannell (2007),The essential guide to CSSS and HTML web
design, United hate of America 987-654321: Mac World, PC
advisor Publishers.
ItigSaetherBakken. AlexandarAulbach, EgonSchmid, Jim Wintead.
Lara forben Wilson, RasmusLerdorf and Zeersuraski (2000). PHP
manual iftware foundation publisher.

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