First Time Setup

Once you are Connected to Xero you can begin setting up your integration. You should talk to your Setup Specialist if you have any specific requirements, or you can begin right away.

Step 1: Sync Initial Data

Before you make any changes on the integration settings page, you should sync an initial subset of data from Xero so you're ready to start.

  1. Log in to your CareMaster installation as an administrator
  2. Navigate to Admin => Xero => Dashboard
  3. You can load all data by clicking the Update Data from Xero button. If you only want to sync Invoices created by CareMaster, you should first go to Settings => Xero and tick Only sync invoices created by Care Master

If you have a large amount of data, you may prefer to sync each item individually. If you do this, you should sync Accounts, Earnings Rates, and Payroll Calendars before syncing Workers.

Step 2: Customise Settings

Once your initial data sync is complete, you can start to customise your integration setttings. Each setting and section under Settings => Xero has a help button that will provide more detailed information when clicked. A brief description of each setting and section can be found here.

Step 3: Chart of Accounts

Currently, CareMaster only charts four accounts. The Chart of Accounts box is on the Settings => Xero page and consists of

  • A Get From Xero Settings button, that will reset the Wage and Salary Expenses account to match what you have set in Xero for Wages and Salaries
  • A help icon
  • A list of account selection boxes
    • Wage and Salary Expenses: the account used when CareMaster creates Earnings Rates.
    • Employee allowances (generic): the account used when CareMaster creates Allowances
    • Employee travel allowance: this account is not currently used and can be left unset
    • Default services income: the account selected by default when CareMaster creates Products/Services

Step 4: Xero Payroll Settings

The Xero Payroll Settings box is on the Settings => Xero page. These should be automatically set when you connect to Xero for the first time, but will need to be refreshed if you make changes in Xero to your Payroll Settings. Click Refresh from Xero to resync the data from Xero.

Step 5: Automatic Template Settings

The Xero Payroll Settings box is on the Settings => Xero page and controls how Invoice Line Items, Invoice References, Item Codes, and Item Descriptions are created when sending Invoices or Products/Services to Xero. The help icon next to each line will give you details on how to build your own template so everything appears just the way you like it.

Step 6: Rate Assignment Settings

The Xero Payroll Settings box is on the Settings => Xero page and controls which Pay Item is used for a particular Award pay event, such as Saturday Rates and Night Shifts. The Ordinary Earnings Rate allowance is also what will be used as the default suggested Ordinary Rate when you send Workers to Xero.

  1. Make sure you have already synced your Earnings Rates from Xero if you already have rates you wish to use
  2. Click the help icon and expand the section "Which Rates Should I Use?" to be shown an explanation of the recommended Earnings Category, Rate Type, and Multiple / Rate per Unit values for each Pay Item, if you want to manually generate your own Pay Items. To comply with the award we recommend using our automatically generated rates.
  3. Once you have selected the existing rate assignments you want to use, or if you don't have any, click Generate Missing Rates to automatically create the appropriate Pay Items in Xero and assign them in CareMaster

Step 7: Allowance Assignment Settings

The Xero Payroll Settings box is on the Settings => Xero page and controls which Pay Item is used for a particular Award Allowance, such as First Aid Allowance and Sleepover Allowance.

  1. Make sure you have already synced your Earnings Rates from Xero if you already have rates you wish to use
  2. Click the help icon and expand the section "Which Rates Should I Use?" to be shown an explanation of the recommended Rate Type, Units, Rate Value, SGC Exemption and Withholding Exemption values for each Allowance, if you want to manually generate your own Allowances. To comply with the award we recommend using our automatically generated Allowances.
  3. Once you have selected the existing Allowance assignments you want to use, or if you don't have any, click Generate Missing Allowances to automatically create the appropriate Allowances in Xero and assign them in CareMaster.

Step 8: Syncing Workers and Employees

Once you have synced your Earnings Rates and Payroll Calendars you are ready to sync existing Employees from Xero, and send any remaining Workers to Xero. You can see the Syncing Workers page for more information. In summary:

  1. As an administrator, navigate to Admin => Xero => Workers
  2. Click "Get From Xero" to update existing Worker data from Xero, and to try and match unlinked Employees
    • Employees from Xero are matched by full name and date of birth
  3. Once you have synced workers FROM Xero, if there are any remaining unlinked Workers you can click the "X Missing from Xero" button
  4. For each worker select an Ordinary Rate and a Payroll Calendar, and click the box to select them.
  5. When ready, click "Send Selected" to create a new Employee in Xero for each selected Worker.