🎯 Instructions in this set-up guide are for Xero customers based in the UK.
Complete step 1 of Xero integration if you haven't, or see Xero integration FAQ here.

Step 1: Initial setup	Step 2: Final setup
◎	◉
⏱ 10 minutes	⏱ 15 minutes

Sync payroll data

Tip: Before you read this part, it is recommended to familiarise yourself with How to setup Salary codes in Planday.

This step will guide you through linking your existing pay items in Xero to Planday earning rates using salary codes.

Select the organisation for which you would like to sync your payroll data by clicking on its name or by clicking the edit icon. ⬇️

You will need to manually map your Xero earning rates (or pay items) to Planday using Salary codes in Planday.

Click on this arrow to see where you can set up Salary codes in Planday for your different earning rates

For regular hours - under Settings > Payroll > General > Salary codes.

For a wage based on the Employee group - under People > Employee groups.

The salary codes set here will take precedence over those set in the General settings under Settings > Payroll > General.
You can assign a salary code to a specific employee if you want to distinguish that employee's hours from the rest of the group. However, for scalability, we generally do not recommend applying a salary code at the employee level. Instead, it is advisable to use it through Employee groups. This approach will help avoid issues such as: if an employee has a specific salary code that is not mapped to the equivalent pay item in Xero, they will not appear in the payroll preview in Planday.
If your employees belong to two different employee groups and have different wages, click here to learn more.

For payroll supplements - under Settings > Payroll > Payroll supplements.

For shift types - under Settings > Schedule > Shift types.

Note: You would need to create your holiday shift types here to be able to map them with your Xero Leave types.

⬆️ To map your earning rates in Planday with their equivalent pay items in Xero, follow these steps:

Click on Add mapping, tick the earning rate(s) you want to add > click Add.
Insert your Planday Salary codes under the corresponding Xero pay item.
Click Next to configure Leave types.

Map your Planday holiday shift types to your Xero Leave types

Please note that leave type synchronisation is only currently available for the Australian Xero integration.
Completing this step requires that you have set up Shift types for Leave in Planday and applied salary codes to them.

⬆️ To map your Planday holiday shift types to your Xero Leave types, follow these steps:

Click on Add mapping, tick the Xero Leave types you want to map with your Planday shift types
Insert your Planday Salary codes (the one you used for your holiday shift types) under the corresponding Xero Leave type.
Click Save

Note: Planday will only send the date range of holidays taken to Xero, as we cannot currently send the hours or days of holidays or their monetary value. Therefore, any payment or balances will be handled within Xero.

Tip: For help regarding adding absence in Xero, please visit Setup an employee’s leave entitlements on Xero Central or contact Xero support team.

Export timesheets to Xero

Tip: Before you export your timesheets to Xero, you can do a Xero payroll health check to make sure you sync the right number of hours.

To preview and export approved timesheets from Planday to Xero, go to Payroll > Xero payroll.

Using the filters, you can specify the output and preview the hours that will be synced to Xero. Click the Create report preview button to see an overview of which employees have hours in the chosen period and select individual employees to see their hours.

Xero Organisation – Choose the name of the Xero organisation you are syncing.
Date range - Choose the date range you want to run the payroll for. By default the range will display a period of 3 months back from today’s date (though a period of up to 1 year in the past can be selected if needed).
Pay run – Select the appropriate pay run in the drop-down. You need to have a draft pay run in Xero before you can sync. Read more about processing a pay run at Xero Central.
Department: Select the departments that you want to sync the hours from.
Click Create report preview in the top right of your screen

Then, click on Filters and choose the following:

Employee type: Choose which employee types should be included.
Employee group: Choose which employee groups should be included. Note that you can select and deselect the individual employees by clicking the tiny arrow on the right-hand side of Employee type and Employee group.
Shifts: Select whether approved, non-approved, or all shifts should be included.

Note: all shifts synced will be created as approved timesheets in Xero.

Click on an employee’s name to see a detailed breakdown of the hours.

To sync the hours to Xero, click on Sync payroll in the top right corner. Once the sync is complete, head over to Xero to process your pay run.

Note: If you have timesheet export errors when syncing your hours to Xero, check Resolve payroll export errors - Xero UK.

Learn more - Xero payroll report overview

See related articles:

ℹ️ Need more help?

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