This article describes how to export Deputy timesheets using the Deputy pay rule library pay rates to Xero. In this article, it is assumed you have assigned Deputy as the source of truth for employee pay rates when setting up this integration.
If you instead need help with exporting timesheets using standard hourly rates to Xero read Export to Xero.
Before you export to Xero
Check permissions
- You need to be a Location manager or System administrator in Deputy to export to Xero
- You must have an active Xero Payroll subscription (in AU, NZ, UK or US) for your company with either Standard or both the Payroll Administrator and Advisor permission roles. If you aren't sure, you may check your permissions in Xero by going to Settings in the top right corner, then clicking General Settings, and then Users. If you can't see Settings at all, you do not have the required permissions.
Connect to Xero (first time only)
Read Connecting Xero and Deputy to connect your Deputy Location to your Xero organisation. You will only need to do this once. If you aren't sure if you are connected already or not, you can check if your location is listed under the Connect locations list on the Xero integration configuration page. 
Prepare to export
We strongly recommend following Xero's guide on employee and payroll setup before exporting from Deputy and ensure you have a Payroll Calender set up in Xero.
The steps detailed below may affect more than one employee. Please ensure you check the configuration of each employee you are exporting timesheets for.
To ensure the most successful import into Xero, there are several conditions in Xero and Deputy that must be met:
- Ensure employee names are identical in Deputy and Xero
- Set up your employees' pay rates in Deputy
- Assign a Payroll Calendar to the employees
- Configure the earnings rate in the employee's pay template
- Ensure a XERO draft Pay Run has been created
- If you are using timesheet tracking codes in Xero, they are set up in Deputy's Area export codes
- Ensure the leave codes in Deputy match Xero leave
Xero conditions
These are the items that may be reviewed for the configuration as a whole. The changes made may affect more than one employee. Please ensure you check the configuration of each employee you are exporting timesheets for.
1. Ensure employee names and email addresses match
When setting up your employees in each system you may have chosen to:
- sync your employee information from Xero to Deputy OR
- sync your employee information from Deputy to Xero OR
- enter your employee information manually into both systems
However you entered the information into both systems, it's important to understand that when exporting timesheets from Deputy to Xero, Xero matches its imported data to employees based on their email addresses, first and last names.
- Ensure the spelling is correct in Xero and Deputy and that there are no blank spaces after the typed name in Xero. If there is an empty space after the typed text, Xero will fail to match the employee.
- If the spelling of the employees' names and email addresses is not identical between Deputy and Xero, duplicate employees may be created in Xero. If the employee does not have an email address, Deputy will match based on the name. If they have both email address and name, we match based on email.
- Two employees in Xero may not use the same email address, as Deputy does not allow you to share emails.
Check the employee's name and email address in Xero at Payroll>Employees>Details:
2. Ensure you have set up your pay rates in Deputy
You can set your team member's employment type and pay rates in Deputy in People > Click Name > Employment > Edit > Pay details. Read Set up a team member's pay rates for more information.
If you are assigning the Deputy pay rule library pay rates to your employees in Deputy you can select the required one from the drop-down menu under Pay rates.
Once you have selected the correct pay rate, simply enter the employee's ordinary base rate and it will automatically populate the other fields.
Click Save when done.
Note: Deputy will automatically push our Pay Rule library pay rates to Xero when you export the timesheets. If you are exporting a timesheet with a never before utilised Deputy Pay Rule library pay rate, Xero will create it automatically as a new earnings rate in your Xero account. Everytime you use this Pay Rule library pay rate to export a timesheet, Deputy and Xero will attempt to match the pay rate and Xero earning rate codes.
Warning: If you decide to change the name of an earnings rate in Xero (that was created automatically by exporting a Deputy Pay Rule library pay rate in a timesheet from Deputy) then for subsequent timesheet exports, Deputy will no longer be able to match the correct pay rate to earning rates in Xero and may create duplicate earnings rate. Therefore, please do not edit the earnings rate names in Xero after they are created by the Deputy timesheet export. If there is an important business need to change these earning rate names in Xero, it is possible to edit the export codes before you export the timesheets from Deputy to ensure the timesheets will match with the new earnings rate names but this introduces an extra step of complexity that should be avoided if possible.
If needed, you can check the Pay Item Earnings name in your Xero account at Settings > Payroll Settings > Pay Items > Earnings and compare them against the codes in the timesheets to be exported from Deputy.
You can view (and edit if needed) the pay rate export code on the Export Timesheets page in Deputy.
3. Assign a Payroll Calendar to the employees
Relevant employees must be assigned to a Payroll Calendar in Xero on the Employment tab of the employee's profile so that Xero can accept the pay items for this period for the employee from Deputy.
Even if Xero assigns the employee an existing Payroll Calendar by default, you still need to review this on this tab and click Save for it to apply. (Note: Xero will not allow you to save this tab without entering a Start / Hire date for the employee).
4. Configure the Earnings rate in the Employee’s Pay Template
1. Click on the Employee's Pay Template tab and add earnings rates using Add Earnings Line.
Note: If you find you can't add the earnings rate you need for this employee in the drop-down list, it may mean that you haven't exported that pay rate type before for any other employee. If it's the first time you are ever exporting timesheets from Deputy that utilises this particular pay rate, they won't be configured in Xero yet so you will need then come back to complete this step after exporting the timesheets just for this first time you are exporting the pay rate.
2. Select the relevant Earnings Rate. It is recommended that the Use Earnings Rate option is selected for the ‘Calculation Type’ selection.
Click OK when done.
5. Creating the draft Pay Run
Before pay items can be successfully exported from Deputy to Xero, a Pay Run (based on a Xero pay calendar) must be created in the area shown below in Payroll > Pay Employees. The start and end dates of the draft Pay Run you create in Xero must match the exact start and end dates you later select in Deputy when exporting.
Note: If an employee has approved timesheets for this pay period already in Xero please revert them to draft otherwise an error will appear when you export.
You can check this by selecting Payroll > Timesheets and checking the status. If the Timesheets are from the period you wish to export and they are already Approved then open the timesheet in Xero and click on Revert to draft before you export any timesheets from Deputy.
6. Area export codes
7. Leave export codes
If you are exporting leave timesheets from Deputy (Australia only), you may export the following leave types:
| Xero | Deputy |
| Annual Leave | dp_annual_leave |
| Personal/Carer's Leave | dp_sick_leave |
| Compassionate Leave (paid) | dp_bereavement_leave |
| Community Service Leave | dp_community_leave |
| Long Service Leave | dp_long_service_leave |
| Time Off In Lieu | dp_rdo_leave |
Note: The leave names in Xero and Deputy export codes must match those displayed above exactly for the leave to be exported correctly.
You can check your leave in Xero by selecting Settings from the menu under your organisation name. Then Payroll Settings> Pay Items > Leave as shown below:
You can check your Deputy Leave export codes by following How to set up leave entitlements.
Once you have prepared Xero and Deputy for the export you are ready to export your approved timesheets from Deputy.
Exporting to Xero
On the Export Timesheets page select:
- the Location you are exporting timesheets for
- the date range that exactly corresponds to the draft pay run you created in Xero
- the employees you wish to export timesheets for. You can select them individually or click Select all.
If you to review or edit any item,click on the timesheet line then click on Original item to make any changes.
Once you are happy with the timesheets, click on Export Select Items.
In the popup, you should see that Xero Payroll is already selected and the name of the Xero organisation you are connected to will be displayed. If it is the incorrect organisation you can disconnect and connect to the correct one.
- You will now have the option to decide whether you'd like to export to Xero using Timesheets or Payslips. Most of our customers choose timesheets for this export option.
- IMPORTANT: Tick the check box to replace Xero's hourly rate with Deputy's base hourly rate. If you do not check this box then the value of each pay rate will not be exported to Xero along with the hours worked.
- Tick the check box to indicate the pay items in this timesheets are reportable as W1 (if required by AU customers)
Click Export to send the timesheet information to Xero.
You will then see the following pops ups.
Including this one, if the export is successful.
If you have any errors while exporting please:
- check you have completed all the steps listed in this article for all employees you are exporting timesheets for
- read Troubleshooting Common Xero Export Errors
- submit a request for help with Deputy support.
Next steps in Xero
After a successful timesheet export from Deputy (if you have exported the data as timesheets) you can check the hour units for each earnings rate line have synced to your employees in Xero.
Click on Payroll > Timesheets then select each employee to review the hours exported from Deputy and add any manual allowances or other adjustments you may need to make.
Click Approve.
If the hours don't appear in the timesheet as expected check that the pay rate names in the Deputy timesheet you exported match the earnings names in Xero.
Once you approve the timesheet in Xero it will transfer the hours to the draft Pay run you created and apply the matching earnings rate for each relevant earnings line.
If the hours or rate don't appear in the pay run as expected check you have assigned all relevant earnings rates for each employee to their pay template in Xero. If you find they are missing from the Pay template:
- just add them in to the employee's profile in Xero
- revert the timesheet in Xero to draft
- reapprove the timesheet
and the earnings lines should now appear in the pay run including hours from the approved timesheets.
Once you are satisfied that the timesheet data has been exported from Deputy to Xero correctly you can process your pay run as usual.
FAQs
Can I make pay items Reportable as W1 in Xero?
- Yes. When Australian customers are exporting to Xero, you can choose to have any new Pay Items created in Xero to be Reportable as W1 on Activity Statement.
- If you have existing Pay Items in Xero, you will need to go into your Xero's Pay Item settings and manually update the Pay Items as Reportable as W1 on Activity Statement.
Should I export to Xero as Timesheets or Payslips?
Export as Timesheets
- If you'd like to make additional adjustments to the timesheet information you are exporting to Xero (such as adding deductions or additional allowances) we recommend using the Timesheet option when exporting from Deputy.
Export as Payslips
- If you are happy with the rates applied to the timesheets in Deputy and need to make no further adjustments we recommend using the Payslips option, as it will enter the Pay Run directly and you may process it from there as usual.
I got an error when exporting
Please read Troubleshooting Common Xero Export Errors.
When an error with the export process occurs, it is recommended that you check the pay run in Xero to confirm which employees' timesheets have come across to Xero and which ones have not and as this will narrow down the scope for troubleshooting. If you have isolated the employee or timesheet causing the error and corrected it, it is recommended to only export the affected timesheets that were not successfully bought across the first time.
Note: If all timesheets are exported again, they will overwrite any previous export.
Which countries offer Xero Payroll?
Xero Payroll is currently offered in Australia, NZ, the US and the UK. Trying to export from Deputy to Xero to any other country will result in a "scope not recognised" error.
How do I export my timesheets to Xero if I use Deputy's standard hourly rates to set my employee's pay rates and not Deputy's Pay Rule library rates?
Read Export to Xero for more information.
What should I do if I realise I've accidentally exported timesheets with Deputy's Pay Rule library pay rates to Xero before I updated an employee's pay rates and the old rates have come across?
- In Xero, revert the affected timesheets to draft
- In Deputy, unapprove the affected timesheets
- In Deputy, amend the team member's pay rate to the correct pay rate.
- In Deputy, approve the affected timesheets. You can check the new pay rate has been applied by reviewing the Timesheet history.
- Export the affected timesheets again from Deputy and approve the timesheet in Xero.
- Check the employee's draft pay run to ensure the new pay rates have been exported this time.