Abstract: The present invention is directed to a computer system for administering employee benefits. The computer system comprises a first tier. The first tier includes a plurality of users. At least one user is a workstation having a processor and memory. At least one other user is a system processing means. The workstation is configured for inputting rules into the computer system. The rules are for controlling the computer system. The system processing means is configured to generate and execute transactions based upon the rules. A second tier includes memory configured to store the rules. The rules are organized into tables within the memory of the second tier. A third tier includes memory configured to store benefit data. The benefit data is organized into tables in the third tier memory. The benefit data can be manipulated only by the system processing means executing the rule-based transactions.