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Integrate Xero with HR classic

Updated

Available for the following plans: Employment Plus, Employment Unlimited
Available for the following HR classic plans: Premium, Platinum
Available for the following User Access level: Admin

Integrating Employment Hero classic with Xero makes Employment Hero classic your source of truth for information such as company settings, payroll settings, and employee file data. When you connect the two platforms, Employment Hero classic will import your organisation details, payroll settings, and employee files from Xero automatically.

After this initial first connection, the data will only flow automatically from Employment Hero classic to Xero, as this data connection is not bidirectional. When you and your employees ‌update details on Employment Hero classic, once saved, those will automatically reflect in Xero.

If you have duplicated employee files, we recommend keeping the files that have already been synchronised to Xero.  Then from the People list in HR, you can simply click the Actions button followed by the Delete button. Which will permanently delete the file or, you can terminate the file if you wish to keep a record of it. Before actioning this, please make sure the information on Active files that you are keeping is true, correct, and up to date.

Warning

To read a complete breakdown of what fields and data points sync between HR classic and Xero, refer to the following article.

Getting started

Connect to Xero

Helpful Hint

When connecting your Xero account to Employment Hero classic, you can use the credentials of any Full Access User within Xero. The login email of the Employment Hero account being used does not have to match the login email used to log into Xero.

  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Connect button for Xero.
    screenshot of the add ons page, highlighting the connect button for xero
  4. Read the contents of the Connecting to Payroll screen.
  5. Click the Start button.
    screenshot of the connecting to payroll screen, highlighting the start button
  6. Read the contents of the Current Employees screen.
  7. Click the Next button.
    screenshot of the current employees screen, highlighting the next button
  8. Read the contents of the Terminated Employees screen.
  9. Click the Next button.
    screenshot of the terminated employees screen, highlighting the next button
  10. Read the contents of the Match Emails screen.

  11. Click Yes or No to the question Do you have your own employee file within payroll (are you paid from this payroll file?)

    Helpful Hint

    If you answered Yes, you need to confirm the email address used in your employee file in payroll.

    If you need to switch to another email for Xero, follow these steps:

    • Click No to the question Is this the email address used in your own employee file in payroll.
    • Type your email address in the text field that will appear.
    • Click the Update button.

    You will receive an email with instructions on how to verify your new email address.

  12. Click the Connect now button.
    screenshot of the match emails screen, highlighting the connect now button

    Helpful Hint

    After clicking the Connect now button, you will be redirected to Xero.

  13. Enter your username and password.
  14. Click the Log in button.
    screenshot of the xero log in page, highlighting the log in button
  15. Enter your two-factor authentication code.
  16. Click the Confirm button.
    screenshot of the screen where you input your two factor authentication code, highlighting the confirm button
  17. Select the required Xero organisation.
  18. Click the Allow access button.
    screenshot of the screen where to choose your organisation, highlighting the organisation dropdown and allow access button
  19. Select the required organisation from the Company File Selection drop-down.

  20. Click the Select button.

    Important

    Once Employment Hero has imported the data from Xero, you will see a status screen which will display any integration errors. If there are integration errors, you can click the View Conflicts button to learn more about the import conflicts.

    screenshot of the select organisation page, highlighting the select button

Daily activities

Manually import employee files

Important

New employees who are imported from Xero will not have invitation emails automatically sent out to them. To send invitation emails to these users, you will need to send invitations in bulk. To learn how to do this, click here.

  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Action   button for Xero.
  4. Click the   Update button.
    screenshot of the add ons page, highlighting the action and update buttons for xero

  5. In the Employees section, click the   Update From Payroll button.

    Helpful Hint

    The Update From Payroll button for the Employees section will turn into a green Updated button. This means the HR platform has successfully imported your employee files from Xero.

    screenshot of the update data screen for xero, highlighting the update from payroll button for the employees section

Manually import organisation details

Warning

Employing Entities are case and typography sensitive, i.e., when importing your Employing Entities from the payroll platform, make sure both the HR and payroll platform use the same type of case and that there is no .com or .au in the name.

  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Action   button for Xero.
  4. Click the   Update button.
    screenshot of the add ons page, highlighting the action and update buttons for xero

  5. In the Organisation Details section, click the   Update From Payroll button.

    Helpful Hint

    The Update From Payroll button for the Organisation Details section will turn into a green Updated button. This means the HR platform has successfully imported your organisation details from Xero.

    screenshot of the update data screen for xero, highlighting the update from payroll button for the organisation details section

Manually import pay items
  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Action   button for Xero.
  4. Click the   Update button.
    screenshot of the add ons page, highlighting the action and update buttons for xero

  5. In the Pay Items section, click the   Update From Payroll button.

    Helpful Hint

    The Update From Payroll button for the Pay Items section will turn into a green Updated button. This means the HR platform has successfully imported your pay items from Xero.

    screenshot of the update data screen for xero, highlighting the update from payroll button for the pay items section

Manually import payslips
  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Action   button for Xero.
  4. Click the   Update button.
    screenshot of the add ons page, highlighting the action and update buttons for xero
  5. In the Payslips section, click the   Update From Payroll button.
    screenshot of the update data screen for xero, highlighting the update from payroll button for the payslips section
  6. Select the required payslip from the drop-down menu.

  7. Click the Import button.

    Helpful Hint

    The Update From Payroll button for the Payslips section will turn into a green Updated button. This means the HR platform has successfully imported the payslips you selected from Xero.

    screenshot of the import pay slips pop up, highlighting the pay run you need and the import button

Manually import tax and National Insurance details
  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Action   button for Xero.
  4. Click the   Update button.
    screenshot of the add ons page, highlighting the action and update buttons for xero

  5. In the Tax and National Insurance Details section, click the   Update From Payroll button.

    Helpful Hint

    The Update From Payroll button for the Tax and National Insurance Details section will turn into a green Updated button. This means the HR platform has successfully imported tax and National Insurance details from Xero.

    screenshot of the update data screen for xero, highlighting the update from payroll button for the tax and national insurance details section

Re-authenticate your payroll integration

Important

You can re-authenticate your payroll integration if the connection between your HR and payroll platforms is lost. For example, this might be the case if the person who previously did the authentication has left your organisation.

  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Action   button for Xero.
  4. Click the   Update button.
    screenshot of the add ons page, highlighting the action and update buttons for xero
  5. In the Re-authenticate section, click the  Re-authenticate button.
    screenshot of the update data screen for xero, highlighting the update from payroll button for the re-authenticate section section
Upload timesheets to Xero
  1. Click the  Time menu.
  2. Under Timesheets, click Timesheets Management.

  3. To filter timesheets, input details in Timesheet Approvals:

    • Date range.
    • Personnel.
    • Cost Centre.
    • Group By.
    • Status.

    Important

    Timesheets need to be approved before you upload them to Xero.

  4. Click the Run report button.
  5. Click the Upload to Xero button.
  6. Choose a Pay schedule and Pay period.

  7. Click the Upload button.

    Important

    Once the 'Upload to Xero' button is clicked, the platform will upload all approved timesheets for the selected pay period.

  8. Approve the timesheets in Xero before running pays.

Removing data

Disconnect from Xero

Warning

After disconnecting from Xero, the HR platform will no longer synchronise your employee data between the two platforms. However, all existing employee data will remain within the HR platform.

  1. Click the Settings menu.
  2. Under Security & Access Control, click Add-ons.
  3. Click the Action   button.
  4. Click the   Disconnect button.
    screenshot fo the add ons page, highlighting the action and disconnect button for xero
  5. Click the Disconnect Application button.
    screenshot of the disconnect application pop up, highlighting the disconnect application button

Further information

How do I import pay slips automatically

Employment Hero will check once a day for eligible pay slips and requires two conditions to import pay slips automatically from Xero; they are:

  • A posted pay run.
  • The payment date is within three days of the current date, i.e., four days prior and/or four days after the current date.
How do I import leave balances

Employment Hero will update an employee's leave balance each time a new pay slip imports from Xero over to Employment Hero classic. This payslip import process can either be an automatic or manual process depending on the urgency needed with having payslips available to your employees.

The only time the Leave feature in Employment Hero classic will automatically import your leave balances from Xero is when an approved leave request syncs over from Employment Hero classic to Xero.

What actions do I need to take in Xero when onboarding a new employee?
  1. Onboard the employee to Employment Hero.
  2. Once the employee has completed their portion of the onboarding experience in Employment Hero, their profile will automatically sync to Xero.
  3. From there, navigate to the new employee’s profile in Xero and under the Employment tab.
  4. Assign the Holiday Group.
  5. Assign Ordinary Earnings Rate.
  6. Assign Pension memberships.
  7. Click Save.
  8. Next, under the Leave tab, assign leave types.
  9. Click on Save.
  10. Under the Pay Template tab, add the Earnings Rate and Pension Fund.
  11. Click on Save.

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