Occasionally, you may receive an error message when exporting your timesheets from Tanda to Xero Payroll. The good news is that these errors can be resolved by updating your configuration in Tanda/Xero. This help guide will explain how to resolve common timesheet export errors from Tanda to Xero Payroll.

If you're setting up a new integration, refer to our Xero: Payroll integration Checklist.

Please use the list below to navigate to the specific error message you received. Once you've made the relevant updates, simply re-export your impacted timesheet(s) to try again.

If none of these tips resolve your issue, please reach out to support@tanda.co for further assistance.

This error indicates that the employee already has a timesheet in Xero for the Pay Period you are trying to export.

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

To delete a timesheet from Xero, navigate to Payroll > Timesheets. Then, 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, then confirm you're sure you want to delete the Timesheet:

This error message can occur in a few different situations. It could indicate that the employee hasn't been added to your Xero account, the profiles haven't synced between Tanda and Xero, or the employee is inactive in Xero.

In this instance, the most common issue occurs when a duplicate profile exists in the inactive list of employees in Xero. To resolve this issue, we recommend reactivating the inactive profile and then removing the duplicate.

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

Following this, in Tanda, go to the employee's profile by clicking on Workforce > Staff > click the employee's profile > click on Personal tab:

If you can see the name matched below an employee's payroll ID, their profile is synced between the two systems.

From here, there are a few other things you can check:

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

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

If you're using a Managed Award Template, this error message indicates that you either haven't integrated the Award with Xero or it hasn't been updated based on recent changes.

To do so, go to Compliance > Award Template > Manage. Then, scroll to the 'Automatic Payroll Integration Sync' sub-heading and click Connect payroll systems. If you're updating, the button may say "Force Template Update" instead: 

This sync will take about 5 minutes for the Pay Items to be created in Xero.

You can check when it has been completed by refreshing the page. 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:

Once you've selected the correct Export name, make sure to choose what type of Award it will be. Select Custom Payroll Setup if the award rule was manually created. Otherwise, select the award template that you have enabled in your account.

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

This error message 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 set as "Hours."

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

Ensure that the correct Award, Employment Type, and Classification/Level have been selected.

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, the issue could also be how you have set up a Pay Item in Xero. Check the Pay Items that match with the employee who received the error in Xero and ensure the Type of Units is Hours:

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

When this error appears, there are a couple of potential solutions.

Check that pay items 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 the Unit Type set to Hours. These can also be set up as a “Multiple of employees ordinary earnings Rate”.

Note: It is also important to check that spaces are not added to the end of the Earnings Name or the Type of Units field.

Check your inactive list of Pay Items for any duplicates. If these match what is on a timesheet export, an error will occur.

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

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

For staff on a Tanda Award Managed Template, this is sent from Tanda, so you could also 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 the correct option 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 on the Weekly Timesheets page or in the employee's individual timesheet.

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

To export correctly, Tanda and Xero need the start date and period length to align.

To check your pay calendar in Xero:

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

Generally, this error message can be fixed by disconnecting and reconnecting your Xero account from Tanda. To do so:

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.

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

To resolve this error, 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:

You should also confirm 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 on the Weekly Timesheets page or in the employee's individual timesheet. 

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:
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(a) Check that the employee's base rate pay item has not been marked as inactive in Xero. For details on doing so, see Xero's guide 'Edit, inactivate or delete a pay item.'

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

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

1) Go to Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations in Tanda. 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) Navigate back to the Tanda Payroll integrations page and click on Reconnect your Xero integration.