This guide details the steps to integrate Tanda and Xero. It can be used as a checklist to configure a new integration or review an existing one.
Xero + Tanda Integration Checklist
1. Link Your Xero Account With Tanda
The first step to integrating Xero and Tanda is linking your accounts. To do so:
In Tanda, navigate to Settings > Integrations
Click +New Payroll Integration
Select Xero Australia from the list of integrations, then click 'Connect to Xero Australia.'
A pop-up will then display asking you to login to Xero (if you're already logged into Xero in another tab, you'll go straight to the authorised screen).
Enter your login details for Xero and click Login.
Click Allow Access to enable your Xero integration.
2. Ensure Staff Exist in Both Tanda and Xero
To import existing staff from Xero to Tanda:
In Tanda, navigate to Workforce > Staff and click + Add Staff.
Under 'Import Bulk Staff' select Import from... > Xero.
You will then be prompted to select the integration through which you wish to import staff. Select Xero.
A list of your staff available for import will appear. To remove any employee profiles you don't want to import, click Don't Import.
Click Complete Staff Import.
Your staff will now appear under Workforce > Staff.
What details are imported?
Tanda only imports the employee details that are required to use Tanda. This includes the employee's email, leave balance, base hourly rate, date of birth (to automate the application of junior rates) and phone number (for SMS functionality).
Some details that are stored in Xero are not required in Tanda and will, therefore, not be imported.
To learn more about importing staff from Xero, see our full help guide.
3. Link Your Award Rules
If you use one of Tanda's Modern Award Templates, follow the steps below to sync your award rules to Xero. If you aren't using an Award template, skip ahead to 'How to sync custom award rules to Xero.'
To sync your Modern Award Template rules to Xero:
In Tanda, navigate to Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations > Edit Integration.
Navigate to the Award Rules section and click 'Force Sync Now', as pictured below. To see which rules will be synced, click 'View Pay Items.'
Tanda will automatically creates pay items in your Xero account that match your rules in Tanda—this includes allowances, as pictured below.
How to Sync Custom Award Rules to Xero
Custom award rules are rules you have created yourself in Tanda. Each custom award rule must be connected to a pay item in Xero.
If you haven't created any custom award rules, you can skip this section.
To link your custom award rules to Xero pay items:
In Tanda, navigate to Time & Attendance > Compliance,
In the 'Customise Your Setup' section, click Manage next to Custom award rules.
Click into each of your custom award rules and scroll down to the 'Link to your payroll system' sub-heading.
In the Export name field, select the Xero pay item that you want the Tanda rule to match, as pictured below.
Note: Tanda displays the active pay items from your Xero account so you can see which pay items are available.
4. Link Your Allowances
If you use a Tanda Modern Award Template, any allowances in your award will have already synced with Xero when you linked your award rules during the previous step. If you haven't created any additional allowances, you can skip this step.
If you have created additional allowances independent of your award template, follow the below steps to link them to your Xero pay items:
In Tanda, navigate to Time & Attendance > Compliance.
In the 'Customise Your Setup' section, click Manage next to Allowances.
Click into each of your custom allowances and scroll down to the 'Link to your payroll system' sub-heading.
In the Export name field, select the Xero pay item that you want the Tanda rule to match, as pictured below.
5. Link Your Leave Types
Tanda accounts contain pre-configured leave types, as pictured below. You can use these default leave types or delete them and create your own.
To link each leave type to Xero:
In Tanda, navigate to Time & Attendance > Compliance.
In the 'Customise Your Setup' section, click Manage next to Leave Types.
In Step 4. Advanced Settings select the corresponding Xero pay item from the list as pictured below:
Alternatively, you can link all of your leave types in one go via the integration. In Tanda, navigate to Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations > Edit Integration
Then, click the Leave Types tab and choose the corresponding export name for each leave type.
Note: The intended behaviour in Tanda is to export only the leave hours as a leave request entry to Xero, without exporting the leave cost itself.
In Tanda, the equivalent of the loading is factored into the costing multiplier set against the leave type. This approach ensures accurate figures in timesheets and reporting.
Therefore, it is expected that leave loading should be directly accounted for in Xero. For guidance on making an employee eligible for loading in Xero, refer to this help guide: https://central.xero.com/s/article/Pay-employees-leave-loading.
Linking Public Holiday Leave Types
Tanda uses the leave functionality to automatically pay permanent employees for their ordinary hours on public holidays that they don't work. While Tanda leverages leave functionality for this process, it's best to link your automated 'Public Holiday Paid/Not Worked' leave type in Tanda to an ordinary earnings pay item in Xero, rather than to a Xero leave type. This ensures you can report the earnings correctly as ordinary earnings for STP purposes.
6. Match Your Pay Calendar in Xero with Your Pay Period in Tanda
To ensure your timesheets align in Tanda and Xero, your Xero pay calendar must match your timesheet pay period in Tanda.
If you have multiple pay calendars, you should match the pay calendar for each employee in Xero to the pay period assigned to that employee in Tanda.
To add a pay calendar in Xero, follow these steps:
In the Payroll menu, select Payroll settings.
Click Add Pay Frequency.
Select your desired payment frequency.
Name your pay frequency.
Enter the start date of the pay period and the first date of payment.
Click Next. If everything is correct, click Next again to confirm the pay frequency settings.
For more information on setting your pay calendar in Xero, see Xero's Add a pay calendar guide.
To manage and update your pay periods in Tanda, navigate to Settings > Timesheets > Manage Pay Periods. For more information on setting your pay period in Tanda, see our help guide on Managing pay periods.
7. Link Your Payroll Tracking Categories (optional)
If you use payroll tracking categories in Xero to report on wage costs by department, you may also want to link these with Tanda. This step is optional. See our help guide on Tracking Categories & Wages Expense Account to learn how to integrate your tracking categories into Tanda.
8. FAQs and Troubleshooting
Is Tanda or Xero the source of truth?
Is Tanda or Xero the source of truth?
Xero payroll contains more information about an employee than is required in Tanda. For example, Tanda doesn't require information about an employee's postal address, tax file number or superannuation (although you can choose to collect these via Tanda Onboarding). For this reason, Xero is the source of truth for the employee record.
However, Tanda is the source of truth for an employee's Award classification and worked hours, including break times.
Can you integrate multiple Xero files into a single Tanda account?
Can you integrate multiple Xero files into a single Tanda account?
Yes. For more information, see Connecting multiple payroll files to Tanda.
When should I import staff via Xero vs when should I use Tanda Onboarding?
When should I import staff via Xero vs when should I use Tanda Onboarding?
For existing employees, it is easiest to import staff from Xero to Tanda. If you are changing payroll systems to Xero, we recommend importing your existing employees to Xero before importing them to Tanda.
However, for any new employees, the fastest way to collect their required details and create their profile in Xero is via Tanda employee onboarding.
Can Tanda Modern Award templates link to multiple wage expense accounts?
Can Tanda Modern Award templates link to multiple wage expense accounts?
No. To keep the integration and payroll simple, Modern Award templates can only link to one set of pay items in Xero. This single set of pay items will link to your default wage expense account. Allocating wages to multiple wage expense accounts in Xero requires duplicating award rules in Tanda and pay items in Xero. Consider the below alternatives:
Use Xero tracking categories to report on wage expenses in Xero based on the team an employee works in, or;
Use Tanda to report costs by department or team.
Why won't my template sync from Tanda to Xero (or why aren't there any pay items from Tanda in my Xero account)?
Why won't my template sync from Tanda to Xero (or why aren't there any pay items from Tanda in my Xero account)?
Usually, the sync won't work between Tanda and Xero due to issues with existing pay items in Xero. Ensure all of your expense accounts are set up correctly and all the pay items are linked to active expense accounts (including inactive pay items).
Why can't I can't see some staff in the list of employees in my Xero Integration?
Why can't I can't see some staff in the list of employees in my Xero Integration?
If some staff don't show on the Staff page inside your Xero integration, it is probably because they don't have a default team setup in their profile.
To fix this, navigate to the employee's profile (Workforce > Staff). On their profile, navigate to Personal > Teams. Then, ensure the 'default payroll team' field is filled in.
Following this, ensure this default team is included in the list of teams your Xero integration applies to, here:
Why aren't some of my employees syncing to Xero?
Why aren't some of my employees syncing to Xero?
There are a few possible reasons why employee profiles aren't syncing to Xero:
The employee hasn't fully completed the onboarding process in Tanda.
There might be errors in the employee's onboarding profile that need to be fixed.
The Xero integration might be disconnected.
I changed the name of a pay item in Xero and now it won't sync with Tanda. What should I do?
I changed the name of a pay item in Xero and now it won't sync with Tanda. What should I do?
If you update the name of a pay item in Xero, it will not automatically sync with Tanda. You will have to update the associated rule in Tanda.
To do so:
Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations > Edit Integration in Tanda.
Go to the Award Rules section.
Click on Sync award rules with Xero Australia to update the connection with the renamed payroll items in Xero.
For custom award rules, navigate to Compliance and click Manage next to Custom award rules.
Click into each award rule and scroll down to Link to your payroll system.
In the Export name field, select the newly named Xero pay item that you want the Tanda rule to match to.
Is there a way to import my pay items from Xero into Tanda, rather than the reverse?
Is there a way to import my pay items from Xero into Tanda, rather than the reverse?
No. Currently, pay items can not be imported from Xero to Tanda.
If you do not wish to use the award rules from one of our managed award templates, you will need to manually configure custom award rules to match your pay items in Xero.