Question 1

Create a Mapping for Employee, Type or Tracking Code

Accepted Answer

When uploading a file you may see an error that has a link to Create a Mapping.

In Payroll, mapping is available for:

Employee,
Type (Earnings Rate)
Tracking Code (if enabled in Xero)

In Projects, mapping is available for:

Projects
Users
Tasks

This option enables you to map the value in your file to a valid value in Xero and will be applied to the current upload and any future uploads (until the mapping is edited or deleted).

Mappings can also be created without loading a file by selecting Mapping from the menu:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/4fVPPKVG6L/mapping.png (mapping)

Create a Mapping

To create a mapping simply click the link and select the desired value to map it:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/HhZb4wX1s7/map1.gif (map1)

Edit a Mapping

To edit a mapping simply click the mapped value, select a new value and click Save Mapping. The new mapping will be used for the current and all future uploads (or until the mapping is edited or deleted).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/mtXMKtRHQb/map2.gif (map2)

Excluding Lines

You may optionally choose to exclude mapped lines from your file if you don't wish to see them or process them. To do so, simply select *EXCLUDE* from the menu.

Any mapped lines will automatically be deleted from your file when it is validated. This can be useful if you have specific data in your file that does do not need to be uploaded.

In the example below - any line were the full_name is Jimmy Lebron would excluded.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/PZ6OzHOrgz/exclude_employee.png (exclude_employee)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/HKoq4Pwgnr/excluded_employee.png (excluded_employee)

To exclude values that are not in error, follow these instructions.

Delete a Mapping

To delete a mapping simply click the mapped value and click Delete Mapping.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/5oe5RZKn3R/map3.gif (map3)

Download All Mappings

To download a file with all of your defined mappings, Click Manage from the Organisations screen and click Download Mappings.

Question 2

Smart Formulas

Accepted Answer

What are Smart Formulas?

Smart Formulas can be used to calculate earnings rates based on the dates and times worked by an employee.

They can calculate different rates for such things as:

different times of the day
daily overtime
weekly overtime
minimum shift engagement
split shifts
public holidays

Enabling Smart Formulas

Option 1: Custom Smart Formulas Sourced from Xero

This option lets you define your pay items in Xero with a specific format that describes the rules and apply them to employees via their pay template.

For more information and setup, please see these instructions

Option 2: Pre-defined Smart Formulas Sourced from UpSheets

This option lets you select pre-defined Smart Formulas and assign them to your employees from within UpSheets. It updates the employee pay template and creates the required pay items in Xero automatically.

This functionality is currently in development and a limited number of awards are available:

AERA - Amusement, Events, and Recreation Award (MA000080) (CASUAL)
CleanA - Cleaning Award (MA000022)
FFIA - Fast Food Industry Award (MA000003)
HBIA - Hair and Beauty Industry Award (MA000005)
HIGA - Hospitality Industry General Award (MA000009)
MiscA - Miscellaneous Award (MA0000104)
RIA - Restaurant Industry Award (MA000119) (CASUAL)
SCHADS - Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (MA000100) (Home Care)
SPOA - Sporting Organisations Award (MA000082)

Click here to request the addition of a new award to the Smart Formula library

For more information and setup, please see these instructions

Availability

SMART FORMULAS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA ONLY

Please contact us if you need this in the UK/NZ

Question 3

Adding/Removing Users from Your Xero Organisation

Accepted Answer

If you have added your Xero organisation via the Connect/Add Organisation, you are able to administer the access of other users.

Adding a User

To Add a User, click Manage, or select Organisations from the drop-down menu.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/ph7Pd6uWRM/15.png (15.png)

Click Manage on the Organisation you wish to manage.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/qo3cxPiXNB/17.png (17.png)

Select Add User, enter an email address and then click Add User.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/P7xuZXkm4C/18.png (18.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/hkwbWMKka3/19.png (19.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/rsawnnPYaS/20.png (20.png)

Restricting User Access

User access can be restricted to specific employees along with the ability to create pay runs and approve timesheets - click here for more details.

Removing a User

To Remove a user, click the Remove button and click OK to confirm your choice. If you wish to add the user again, you can do so using the above process.

Question 4

Smart Formula Allowances (from Xero)

Accepted Answer

Introduction

Smart Formulas can be used to create allowances in addition to determining the earnings rates for employees.

These allowances can be either automatically or manually applied depending on how they are set up.

Getting Started

The following steps must be completed to use Smart Formulas for allowances:

Set up Pay Items in Xero
Assign Pay Items to Employee Pay Templates in Xero
Enable Smart Formulas in UpSheets
Refresh Smart formulas from Xero to UpSheets
Import your file using Smart Formulas

This document explains Step 1. Set up Pay Items in Xero for Allowances. Click here for detailed instructions on steps 2-5

1. Set up Allowance Pay Items in Xero

The steps below are for loading smart formulas to set up automatic and manual allowances with Smart Fomulas.

Pay Items are set up in Xero by navigating to Settings> Payroll Settings> Pay Items

To be used for timesheets the pay items must:

Have a Rate Type = Multiple; or
Have a Rate Type = Rate per unit and Type of units = hours
Have a Rate Type = Rate per unit and Type of units = The same time unit used for the Ordinary Earnings Type of the Employee (Days/Weeks etc)

To enable a pay item for use as an allowance Smart Formula, the name must use the following format:

NUMBER NAME [DAY][PERIOD][TYPE][MINMAX]

Example:

001 Daily Allowance [WEEKDAY][10~24][DAY]

For more information on defining NAME, NUMBER, DAY please see Smart Formulas (from Xero)

Period

The Period element can be used to define the minimum and maximum hours for applying the allowance, e.g.

[8~24] will apply the allowance only if 8 or more hours are worked.

[0~24] or [] will apply the allowance if any hours are worked.

This can be used to create different allowances for different periods e.g.

[0~10] Will be applied if the hours are less than 10

[10~24] Will be applied if the hours are 10-24

For allowances that require a time range, this can be defined as below and also limited by using the MINMAX element. To do so use the start_time - end_time option. Each time must be set using four digits and 24 hours clock.

Examples:

[0000-1300] = midnight to 1pm

[1400-1600] = 2pm to 4pm

[2000-0000] = 8pm to midnight

MinMax

The MinMax defines the number of hours when a time range is used for the period (e.g. [0000-0600].

The format is:

Examples:

[0~5] = the first 5 hours

[5~24] = From 5 to 24 hours

[0~24] = the first 24 hours

This element is only available for certain allowance types as defined in this guide.

Type

Determines the type of allowance. The code value below should be entered into the formula to define the type of allowance.

Time-Based Allowances

Other Allowances

Examples

Time-Based Allowances (HOUR / SHIFT / DAY / WEEK)

All of these allowances work in a similar manner and can be used with the DAY/PERIOD elements to determine when they are applied.

The main difference is how they are applied to imported lines:

HOUR - Applies the allowance to every hour worked in the period
SHIFT - Applies the allowance to every shift (i.e. once for every timesheet line imported even on the same day)
DAY - Applies the allowance once per day (i.e. once even if multiple shifts are imported on the same day)
WEEK - Applies the allowance once per week (i.e. once per week so long as a line is imported during that week). The DAY element is not used for this type)

001 Allowance [WEEKDAY][0000-0600][HOUR]

Will apply the allowance for every hour worked between midnight and 6am on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. This can be used to add an additional hourly allowance to a base rate. If an emplyee worked from 02:00 - 03:30 they would be allocated 1.5 x this allowance. This allowance is only configured to work for periods between set hours.

001 Allowance [WEEKDAY][1~24][SHIFT]

Will apply the allowance for every timesheet line imported for a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and the employee has worked at least 1 hour (and less than 24). This could potentially apply multiple times in a single day.

002 Allowance [WEEKDAY][8~24][DAY]

Will apply the allowance if one or more timesheet lines are imported for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and the total hours each day are between 8 and 24. This can only apply once per day, but could apply up to 5 times if each weekday is worked.

003 Allowance [WEEKEND][][DAY]

Will apply the allowance if one or more timesheet lines are imported for Saturday or Sunday. The number of hours is not a factor as it is left blank. This would apply 2 allowance lines if both days are worked.

004 Allowance [EVERY][40~168][WEEK]

Will apply the allowance if the total hours worked in a week is over 40 (but below 168). This would apply a maximum of once per week.

Broken/Split Shift (BS)

A Broken/Spilt Shift allowance will be applied when an employee works multiple shifts in a day that have a gap between them. The size of the gap between shifts is defined using the period element.

The fourth [MinMax] element can be used to determine the maximum number of allowances to be applied in a day or week. e.g. [1~3] is once per day and 3 per week. This is optional and if left out it will apply the allowance every time the condition is met.

Examples

001 Split Shift [EVERY][1~3][BS][1~7]

Will apply the allowance if the gap between two shifts is more than one hour but less than 3. This will be applied a maximum of once per day and 7 times per week.

002 Split Shift [EVERY][3~21][BS][2~3]

Will apply the allowance if the gap between two shifts is more than three hours but less than 21. This will be applied a maximum of twice per day and three times per week.

003 Split Shift [WEEKDAY][1~23][BS]

Will apply the allowance if the gap between two shifts worked on a weekday is more than one hour but less than 23. There is no limit to how many times this will be applied each day or week.

Minimum Engagement (ME)

A Minimum Engagement allowance is applied when a shift is less than a set number of hours. The number of units is automatically calculated as the difference between the hours worked and the set number of hours. In this way, it can be used to pay an employee a minimum number of hours even when fewer are worked.

The MINMAX element is used to determine the minimum and maximum hours where the allowance should be applied.

Examples

001 Minimum Engagement [EVERY][][ME][0~4]

Will apply the allowance if any shift is worked for less than 4 hours. The number of units applied will be equal to 4 less the number of hours worked. If 1 hour is worked, the allowance will be for 3 hours. If more than 4 hours are worked, no allowance is applied.

002 Minimum Engagement [EVERY][][ME][1~2]

Will apply the allowance if a shift is worked for more than 1, but less than 2 hours. The number of units applied will be equal to 2 less the number of hours worked. If 1.5 hours are worked, the allowance will be for 0.5 hours. If more than 2 hours or less than one hour are worked, no allowance is applied.

Top Up (TU)

A Top Up allowance applies one unit of the allowance whenever an employee works at a particular time.

Examples

001 Top Up [MON-FRI][1900-0000][TU]

Applies the allowance if a shift is worked that starts, finishes or encompasses the period of 7pm to midnight on a Monday - Friday. This is usually set up In Xero as a rate per unit allowance to pay a set amount as an extra payment for a shift.

Manual (MAN)

A Manual allowance is not applied automatically, but can be added in UpSheets after importing your file and then uploaded to Xero.

Please note, these allowances must be added to all employee pay templates in order for them to be applied.

Examples

100 Manual Allowance [MAN]

When assigned to an employee an Add Line link will be displayed within UpSheets:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/FMpop3v7tb/add_line.png (add_line)

Clicking the link will display all manual allowance to be selected and applied to the employee on that date:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/YGG357leyO/add_line_modal.png (add_line_modal)

Question 5

Connecting UpSheets and Xero

Accepted Answer

UpSheets requires a connection to Xero to validate and upload your data.

Connecting to a Xero Organisation

Clicking the Connect to Xero Button after logging in to Upsheets;
Clicking the Manage link and then clicking Add Organisation; or
Having an Administrator Add the Organisation to your user (see Adding/Removing Users from Your Xero Organisation).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/PEtJZ0f67B/1.png (1.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/dQo7G5tiE6/2.png (2.png)

After clicking Connect/Add Organisation you will be redirected to Xero where you will need to login and Allow access to an Organisation.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/j0x2GOjMS3/resources/yI0MLEMVGd/select%20xero%20org.png (select xero org)

You will then be redirected back to UpSheets

After connecting, you will see your connection status (also visible at the top right of each screen).

To manage your connection(s), you can click the Manage link at any time - see Managing your connection with Xero (and how to disconnect).

Question 6

Video: How to Upload a File

Accepted Answer

Watch how easy it is to upload your file to Xero using UpSheets:

Question 7

Using a Xero Demo Company

Accepted Answer

When testing new features or functionality, it is often a good idea to use a demo company, rather than your real Xero company.

Xero provides the option of setting up a demo company for exactly these situations.

Some things to be aware of:

They are free to set up and use (no charge from Xero or UpSheets)
They come pre-loaded with data, so you can get started immediately
If you make a mess, you can reset them and start again
They expire after 30 days (keep this in mind if setting up anything complicated)
You can use Xero Projects
You can use Xero Payroll - but renmember to complete the setup in Xero before connecting to UpSheets

Xero's instructions to set up a Demo Company are below:

Setting up the Xero Demo Company