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Resolving timesheet export errors to Xero Payroll
Resolving timesheet export errors to Xero Payroll

Simply resolve timesheet export errors to Xero Payroll

Ryan Johnston avatar
Written by Ryan Johnston
Updated over a week ago

Occasionally you may receive an error exporting timesheets to Xero. The good news is that these can be resolved by updating your configuration in Tanda/Xero. If you're setting up a new integration, refer to our Xero: Payroll integration Checklist.

Finding the resolution to your export error

If you receive an error after exporting, simply find it in the list below to learn how to resolve it. Once you've made the relevant updates, simply re-export your impacted timesheet(s) to try again.


Error message: A timesheet for [employee] for this pay period already exists in Xero

This error suggests that the employee already has a timesheet in Xero for the pay period you are trying to export.

If the timesheet in Xero is correct, then you can ignore this error and process it as normal, however, if you need to make changes, you'll need to delete the timesheet in Xero and then re-export from Tanda.

To delete a timesheet from Xero, go to Payroll > Timesheets. Select the relevant timesheet or use the filters if you can't see it in the list.

In the bottom right corner, click Revert to Draft. Once the page reloads, you'll see a new button appear on the left, click Delete Timesheet. Confirm that you want to delete:


Error message: Tanda couldn't find [employee] in Xero

This error occurs in a few situations, it can mean that the employee hasn't been added to the Xero account, the profiles haven't synced between Tanda and Xero, or that the employee is inactive in Xero.

The most common issue in this instance, occurs when a duplicate profile exists in the inactive list of employee's in Xero. To resolve this issue, it is recommended to reactivate the inactive profile, and remove the duplicate that exists.

Next, check that you have added the employee to Xero under Payroll > Employees.

Next in Tanda, go to the employee's profile by clicking on Workforce > Staff > click the employee's profile > click on Payroll tab:

An employee's profile is synced between the two systems if you can see the name matched below Employee ID.

Some things to check from here:

  • In Tanda, if you can't see the profiles synced (as above), go to Workforce > Staff > Add Staff > Import from > Xero. The confirmation will either say that the employee has been imported or updated. You can then check in their profile to see it is now synced and re-export the timesheet.

  • If the profile is synced, check in Xero that their Start Date, Email Address and spelling of their name is the same in Tanda. These includes the spaces and capitalization of the name of the employee. If any of these are different, update and then try importing the employee into Tanda again. 

If you have located the issue, you can then try exporting again by clicking Export to Payroll in the Weekly Timesheets page or in the employee's individual timesheet.


Error message: Some earnings rates were not found in Xero

This can occur with both the Tanda Managed Award Template and Custom Rules. 

For the Managed Award Template, it means you haven't integrated the Award with Xero or it hasn't updated based on some recent changes. To do this go to Compliance > Award Template > Manage > click Connect payroll systems. If you're updating it may say "Force Template Update" instead: 

This will take about 5 mins for the Pay Items to be created in Xero. You can check when it has completed by refreshing the page and you will see the last updated date as the current time:

If this does not resolve the error then there may be an issue with the pay template sync. This can occur when you have a pay item in Xero without an expense account assigned:

To resolve this issue, you will need to ensure that all pay items in your Xero file (both active and inactive) have an expense account assigned.

For Custom Rules, this either means there isn't a Pay Item in Xero or the Award Rule in Tanda hasn't been matched against the Pay Item in Xero. To check this:

In Xero, go to Settings > Payroll Settings > Pay Items. Check the relevant Pay Item or create it if it wasn't there.

In Tanda, go to Payroll > Award Rules (or Allowances) > click on the relevant rule and check that the Export name is linked with the relevant Pay Item in Xero:

Once you've selected the correct export name, make sure to choose what type of Award it will be: Custom Payroll Setup if the said award rule was manually created or rge award template that you have enabled in your account. If you have located the issue, you can then try exporting again by clicking Export to Payroll in the Weekly Timesheets page or in the employee's individual timesheet.


Error message: [employee] isn't configured for payroll

This is either caused by the employee not being classified on the Award Template or Custom Rules or a Pay Item in Xero not having a Type of Units as "Hours".

To check how the employee is configured, go to Workforce > Staff > click on the employee's name > Payroll tab:

Ensure that the Award is select, the Employment Type and Classification/Level, as below:

If you can't select an Industry Award in the employee's profile, ensure you have enabled the award in your account first. 

For Custom Rules, ensure you have selected this option and the relevant Tags:

If all those areas are correct, it could also be how you have setup a Pay Item in Xero. Check the Pay Items that match with the employee who received the error in Xero, to ensure the Type of Units is Hours:

If you have located the issue, you can then try exporting again by clicking Export to Payroll in the Weekly Timesheets page or in the employee's individual timesheet.


Error message: An Invalid Pay Item Has been used in your Xero Payroll

Fix 1:

Check pay item’s on the erroring timesheet are set up correctly in Xero under payroll Settings. Tanda requires the item to be set to Rate Per Unit with Unit Type Hours. They Can also be set up as a “Multiple of employees ordinary earnings Rate”.

It is also Important to check that there are no spaces added to the end of the Earnings Name or Type of units Field.

Fix 2:

Check your inactive list of pay items for Duplicate items, if these match what is on a timesheet export an error will be encountered.

If inactive items match any active items you will need to reactivate them and either delete them or change the name to something unique and then deactivate them again.


Error Message: [employee] doesn't have an Ordinary Earnings Rate

In Xero, the employee needs to have an Ordinary Earnings Rate set in the Employment tab:

For staff on the Tanda Award Managed Template, this is sent from Tanda, so you could try updating from Tanda first. This is located under Compliance > Award Template > Manage > click Force template update:

You can then check this in Xero, it might show as --- Restaurant - Base Hourly. 

For staff with Custom Rules, you will have to manually select in Xero as above, generally it is Ordinary Hours.

If you have located the issue, you can then try exporting again by clicking Export to Payroll in the Weekly Timesheets page or in the employee's individual timesheet.


Error Message: [employee] doesn't have a payroll calendar in Xero or the Xero Payroll Calendar for [employee] doesn't match the Tanda payroll calendar

This means that the payroll calendar in Xero doesn't match the timesheet pay period in Tanda.

Both Tanda and Xero need the same start date and period length.

To check you pay calendar in Xero:

  • In Xero, navigate to Settings > Payroll Settings > Calendars

  • If you have multiple pay calendars, you can also check this on a per employee basis - on the Employment tab

Check the Pay Calendar in Xero matches your pay period in Tanda. For further information on pay periods in Tanda, see Managing pay periods.


Error message: An Unknown Error Occurred

The majority of the time, this can be fixed by disconnecting and reconnecting your Xero account from Tanda.

  • In Tanda, navigate to Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations.

  • Click on your Xero integration and in the bottom right corner, click Edit Integration > Deactivate Integration

  • Your Xero integration will display a red warning in the top right corner, just click anywhere in the box and then click Reconnect your payroll integration in the top right corner.

  • Enter your Xero login details or if you're already logged into Xero in another browser, you will be prompted to grant Tanda access. When it loads back to Tanda, just click Save in the bottom left corner.

You can then try re-exporting your Timesheets.

If this does not fix the issue, Xero may be experiencing a fault or doing maintenance on their API, meaning Tanda cannot communicate with your Xero account. To see if this is the case, check the Xero Platform Status page.


Error message: TrackingItemID is required for each timesheet line

If you're using Tracking Categories, ensure you have set this up correctly in Xero by checking Xero's help article

In Tanda, check that you have configured this information by going to Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations > click your Xero integration > ensure the Tracking Category name and default option have been populated:

Check that the spelling is the same in each system and update if necessary. 

If you have located the issue, you can then try exporting again by clicking Export to Payroll in the Weekly Timesheets page or in the employee's individual timesheet. 


Error Message: Invalid OrdinaryEarningsRateID

This error message occurs when the pay item containing the employee base hourly rate in Xero doesn't match the corresponding rule containing the employee base hourly rate in Tanda.

The most likely reasons for this are:

(a) Check that the employees base rate pay item has not been marked as inactive in Xero. To see how to check, see Xero's guide 'Edit, inactivate or delete a pay item'

(b) Check that the employees base rate pay item is still assigned to the employee pay template in Xero


Error Message: Xero account is not connected

This error message occurs when the integration between TANDA and Xero needs to be re-authenticated. To fix this:

1) Go to Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations. Once there, Click on your Xero integration, and in the bottom right corner, click Edit Integration > Deactivate Integration.

2) Outside of TANDA, log in to your Xero profile using an admin account and disconnect all Tanda instances on the "Connected Apps" page:

3) Going back to the Tanda payroll integrations page click on Reconnect your Xero integration.


FAQ's

We've onboarded a staff member in Tanda but they are not coming across to Xero, why?

First, check the employee onboarding status to corroborate whether the form has been completed and submitted.

To check the onboarding status, please head to Workforce > Employee Onboarding > Onboarding History.

If the status isn't marked as completed, you might need to reach out to them directly so they can complete the form and submit their details.

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If the status is marked as completed but the Payroll Push Status is Blank or An error has occurred please head to the employee onboarding profile to check what the error is.

If there are no errors, please check that your Xero integration is connected to TANDA. If not, follow the reconnection steps listed here.

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If there are errors under the employee onboarding profile. Once the error is identified and fixed, you should be able to manually push the employee from the same onboarding tab by clicking on the below button:

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