1) What are entitlement types + entitlement balances & why is this important
2) Data ownership and recommended data match frequency
i) Data ownership - entitlement types
ii) Data ownership - entitlement balances
iii) Special considerations - Time in Lieu and Rostered Day Off
iv) Recommended data match frequency
3) Performing a manual entitlement type sync
i) Add an entitlement type to Xero
ii) Perform a manual entitlement type sync
4) Performing a manual entitlement balances sync
i) Adjust an entitlement balance in Xero
ii) Perform a manual entitlement balance sync
🔍 RELATED ARTICLES
Xero | Integration Information
Award | Entitlements
1) What are entitlement types + entitlement balances & why is this important?
It is important to understand and manage entitlement types & entitlement balances between easyemployer and Xero appropriately. This is because a user (may) see their entitlement balances on their payslip, but uses easyemployer (which may also be configured to display entitlement balances) for leave applications. Having an accurate balance reflected in easyemployer assists managers approving leave requests; to make effective decisions.
Additionally it's important to ensure that entitlement types (e.g. annual leave, paid sick/carers leave) are 'synced' between easyemployer and Xero. This ensures that the balances (when manually synced) are apportioned to the correct entitlement type in easyemployer.
NOTE: Be sure to delineate between the two similar sounding concepts discussed in this article.
Entitlement Type = The type of leave that can be requested e.g. Annual Leave (Xero calls this 'leave type')
Entitlement Balance = The balance of the entitlement type e.g. 82.60 hours (Xero calls this 'leave balance')
2) Data ownership and recommended data match frequency.
i) Data ownership - entitlement types.
For most entitlement types, Xero is considered the 'owner' of the entitlement type. Most entitlement types are added to Xero and these are then synced to easyemployer via a 'manual entitlement type sync'.
ii) Data ownership - entitlement balances.
For most entitlement balances, the payroll application Xero is the 'owner' of the entitlement balances. This is because entitlement balances can sometimes be altered outside of a standard payrun (e.g. termination payout, cash-out of leave, etc).
iii) Special considerations - Time in Lieu and Rostered Day Off.
There are specific entitlement types (and balances of these entitlement types) which are not 'owned' by Xero; meaning that easyemployer is the 'owner' of the entitlement type and the balance (and the balance accrual / deductions). For example these are Time In Lieu (TIL sometimes known as TOIL) and Rostered Day off (RDO).
In addition to easyemployer being the 'owner' of TIL / TOIL / RDO entitlement types and balances, easyemployer also manages the accrual and deduction process. Depending on your organisation requirements this may be an automated or manual process. A non-exhaustive list of examples is listed below:
- An RDO accrual could be clock 8 hours (per day), 7.60 hours as standard pay, and then 'auto bank' 0.40 hours as accrual towards RDO entitlement type.
- TIL / TOIL could be a user has a 38 hour standard week. Any hours clocked over and above the users standard weekly hours then 'auto banks' as accrual towards TIL entitlement type.
- TIL / TOIL could be a particular timesheet shift (for a separate role, which acts as the "trigger"). This timesheet shift under a separate role (e.g. 'TIL Accrual') then banks as accrual towards the TIL entitlement type.
NOTE: You can (optionally choose to) manually update the RDO / TIL / TOIL entitlement balances from easyemployer to Xero. This is a manual process as there is no function to send entitlement balances from easyemployer to Xero. The efforts to manually maintain balances in Xero (e.g. for purposes of displaying on a payslip) need to be balanced with the consideration that a user would (ordinarily) see their RDO / TIL / TOIL entitlement balance inside easyemployer (e.g. when applying for leave).
NOTE: Due to multiple use cases / configuration options existing (depending on your account design and organisation requirements) we recommend contacting our support team for further details about configuration options.
iv) Recommended data match frequency.
It is recommended (at a minimum) to perform a manual entitlement type sync (application sync) from easyemployer (to) Xero as a new entitlement type is required / created inside of easyemployer. It is strongly recommended this is actioned prior to the day of the payrun (so any matching issues / exceptions can be addressed prior to payroll export).
It is recommended (at a minimum) to perform a manual entitlement balance sync from Xero (to) easyemployer immediately after payslips for a pay period are generated / communicated. This ensures that the most recently generated entitlement balance(s) are also reflected in easyemployer, which is where end users are entering their leave request(s) into.
3) Performing a manual entitlement type sync.
i) Add an entitlement type to Xero.
NOTE: We have amended the instructions from your payroll application provider Xero (HERE) to match the process when Xero is connected to easyemployer.
Add an Entitlement type to Xero (when connected to easyemployer)
1. Click your organisation name, then select 'Settings'.
2. Under Features, click 'Payroll settings'.
3. In the Pay Items tab, select 'Leave'.
4. Click Add, then select 'Paid Leave' or 'Unpaid Leave'.
5. Enter a name for the leave type and the units type (typically 'hours'). The name entered will be the name of the entitlement type imported & synced into eaysemployer.
6. Click Add.
ii) Perform a manual entitlement type sync.
1. Select 'Organisation' from navigation bar.
2. Select 'Import/Export.
3. Select 'Import / Update Entitlement Types'.
4. Make sure the 'source application' is set to Xero and select appropriate payroll entity. Select 'next'.
5. This will bring you to the 'import entitlement types summary page'. By default the toggles will all be on.
In the example below we have 3x existing Xero leave types already synced to entitlement types in easyemployer. In the event the sync mapping is incorrect we can adjust this by selecting a new target easyemployer entitlement type (via the drop down box).
In the below example we have the three existing & synced entitlement types (Annual Leave, Long Service Leave, and Personal / Carer's Leave). We can see there is a new Xero leave type detected and the summary page is suggesting we create a new leave type. If you are creating a new leave type you will need to define an entitlement type code (in line with your organisations conventions).
We will import and sync the Xero leave type "My Special Leave" into easyemployer as a new entitlement type record, and assign the code 'spl' for the entitlement type in easyemployer.
6. To commit your sync mapping and/or entitlement type creation, click 'import records now' at the bottom of the 'import entitlement types summary page'.
4) Performing a manual entitlement balances sync.
i) Adjust an entitlement balance in Xero.
NOTE: There are limited examples where an entitlement balance would need to be adjusted. For synced entitlement types (therefore their balances also) please refer to the instructions from your payroll application provider Xero (HERE).
ii) Perform a manual entitlement balance sync.
1. Select 'Organisation' from navigation bar.
2. Select 'Import/Export.
3. Select 'Import / Update Entitlement Balances'.
4. Make sure the 'source application' is set to Xero and select appropriate payroll entity. Select 'next'.
5. This will bring you to the 'import entitlement balances summary page'. By default the toggles will only show issues. Depending on the volume of users and review need, you may choose to 'toggle all' the display toggles.
In the below example we have 1x existing user with annual leave and personal/carer's leave balances in Xero. We can click 'change' if the users have not been correctly matched.
6. If required, re-confirm the data to be imported (and which easyemployer entitlement type the balances are to be reflected upon).
7. To commit the updated entitlement balances to the easyemployer user profiles, click 'import' at the bottom of the 'import entitlement balances summary page'.