Connect Xero to Roster Flow
A step by step guide to connecting Xero Payroll to Roster Flow, bringing your team across, and sending each week’s approved hours to Xero as draft timesheets, with what to do when something needs fixing.
Works with Xero Payroll for Australia. On the paid plans; a free account exports the same hours as a CSV.Before you start
Check these first and your first send goes straight through, instead of stopping to name who needs fixing.
- A Xero organisation using Xero Payroll for Australia.
- A Xero login with access to that organisation’s payroll, so you can approve the connection.
- An ordinary earnings rate on each employee’s record in Xero. Xero will not accept a timesheet without one.
- The same email address for each person in Xero and in Roster Flow, because that is how people are matched.
- The owner’s Roster Flow login. Only the owner can connect payroll.
Connect Xero
- Open Settings, then PayrollSigned in to Roster Flow as the owner, open Settings and choose the Payroll tab. Under Connect your payroll, choose Xero. When you first set up your account, the setup guide offers the same choice with Connect Xero.
- Approve the connection at XeroXero’s own sign in page opens. Sign in, choose the organisation and allow access. Roster Flow never asks for your Xero password.
- Check the organisation nameYou come back to Roster Flow, and Settings shows Xero connected with the name of your organisation. If your Xero login has more than one organisation, the first one is used, so check the name is the one you pay from.
Import your team
- Choose who to importStraight after connecting, the setup guide lists everybody in Xero who does not have a Roster Flow profile yet, all ticked. Untick anyone who does not work shifts. With more than one venue, choose which venue they work at; you can move anyone later from their profile. Then press Import.
- Nobody is added twicePeople are matched by email address, so anybody who already has a profile here is left off the list. They are linked to their Xero record by the weekly check the day before your week starts, or straight away by Import pay rates if nobody is linked yet.
- Invite them when you are readyImported people arrive as invited profiles and are not emailed yet. Press Invite everyone and each person gets an invitation to set up their own login.
- Import pay rates, if you want the cost estimateThe owner opens Settings, then Payroll, and presses Import pay rates. Each linked person’s ordinary hourly rate or annual salary comes across, so the roster can show what a week costs at base. Managers and the owner can see rates; employees never do. Penalties, casual loading, overtime and allowances are not included.
After that, the day before each week starts, Roster Flow checks Xero: people added since become invited profiles with their start date, while your plan has room for them, and anybody already here is linked by email. It never removes anybody, never overwrites a name or job title you changed, and never emails anyone.
Send approved hours
- Approve the weekOpen Timesheets on the week that has finished. Clear anything that needs attention, then press Approve all ready. Only approved hours can be sent.
- Press Send to XeroA window shows how many employees and hours are in the send, then lists everybody on the week: the people included with their hours, and anybody held back marked Not sent, with the reason.
- SendPress Send to Xero in the window. The approved hours for the venues you are looking at go across, and Timesheets shows Sent to Xero with the number of employees and hours.
- Finish the pay run in XeroThe timesheets are waiting in Xero Payroll as drafts. Check them, approve them and run your pay run in Xero as you normally would.
What arrives in Xero
- One draft timesheet per employee, dated from the first to the last day of your week.
- Seven daily totals in decimal hours against the employee’s ordinary earnings rate.
- Only approved timesheets, and only for people linked to a Xero employee.
- Nothing else: no leave, allowances, overtime, penalty rates, loadings or superannuation. Those stay in Xero.
Leave balances travel the other way: for a linked person, Roster Flow reads the balance from Xero when it is looked at and shows it exactly as Xero holds it. It never calculates leave or writes it back.
Fixing a problem
When a send cannot go through, nothing is lost: every timesheet goes back to approved, managers are told, and Try again sends the week again. These are the messages you might see, and what to do about each.
The limits, plainly
- Xero Payroll for Australia only. The New Zealand and United Kingdom payroll products are not supported.
- One Xero organisation. If your Xero login has several, the first one is used.
- Timesheets arrive as drafts. Somebody in Xero still approves them and runs the pay run.
- One week at a time, from the first day of your week. A fortnightly pay run is two sends.
- Somebody who is not linked to a Xero employee is held back from a send, marked Not sent, until they are linked.
Questions about Xero and Roster Flow
How do I connect Xero to Roster Flow?
As the owner, open Settings, then Payroll, and choose Xero. Sign in on Xero’s own page and approve the connection, and you come back to Roster Flow showing Xero connected with your organisation’s name. Roster Flow never asks for your Xero password.
Which Xero payroll does Roster Flow work with?
Xero Payroll for Australia. The New Zealand and United Kingdom payroll products are not supported.
What does Roster Flow send to Xero?
One draft timesheet per employee for the week, with seven daily totals in decimal hours against the employee’s ordinary earnings rate. Only approved hours are sent, only for people linked to a Xero employee, and only when a manager presses Send to Xero.
Does Roster Flow run the pay run in Xero?
No. Timesheets arrive in Xero as drafts. Somebody in Xero approves them and runs the pay run, where penalty rates, leave, superannuation and Single Touch Payroll reporting are handled.
Why does Xero say an employee has no ordinary earnings rate?
Xero needs an ordinary earnings rate on an employee’s record before it accepts their timesheet. Set one on the employee in Xero, then send again. The send stops before anything leaves, and every timesheet stays approved.
Can I import my employees and pay rates from Xero?
Yes. The setup guide imports name, email and job title, matched by email address so nobody is added twice. The owner can also import each linked person’s ordinary hourly rate or annual salary for the roster’s cost estimate. Penalties, loadings and overtime are not imported.
Does Roster Flow read leave balances from Xero?
Yes, for anybody linked to their Xero employee record. The balance is read from Xero when it is looked at and shown exactly as Xero holds it. Roster Flow never calculates leave or writes it back.
What happens if a send to Xero fails?
Nothing is lost. Every timesheet goes back to approved, managers are told, and Timesheets shows the reason with a reference such as SYNC-48213 and a Try again button. Nothing is retried automatically, so nothing is sent twice without somebody deciding to.
Are new employees added in Xero picked up?
Yes. The day before your week starts, Roster Flow checks Xero, adds new people as invited profiles with their start date while your plan has room, and links anybody already here by email. Nobody is emailed until you invite them.
How do I disconnect Xero?
The owner opens Settings, then Payroll, and presses Disconnect, which stops hours being sent. To remove the connection on Xero’s side as well, remove Roster Flow from the connected apps in your Xero account.
Does the Xero integration cost extra?
No. The connection costs nothing on top of your plan. Connecting payroll is on the paid plans; the free plan exports the same approved hours as a CSV.