Deputy
Deputy handles rostering, time tracking, and award interpretation - and pushes approved timesheets directly into Xero for your pay run
Everything on this page comes from running Deputy alongside Xero Payroll for shift-based businesses - configuring award rules, reviewing timesheet exports, and making sure every pay run reconciles cleanly. This is what we have learned
What Deputy does
Features
Roster your team, track attendance, and push approved timesheets to Xero with hours, rates, and allowances pre-calculated Managers approve, Deputy exports. Pay runs that used to take hours take minutes
Scheduling & rostering
AI-powered scheduler builds optimal rosters in a single click. Drag-and-drop shifts, copy templates week to week, and see live wage costs before publishing
Time & attendance
Employees clock in via iOS, Android, or a shared kiosk. Geolocation and facial recognition confirm accuracy - digital timesheets reach managers automatically
Employee management
Leave requests, shift swaps, and open shifts in one place. HR onboarding collects bank, tax, and super details digitally so nothing gets missed on a new starter
Payroll integration
Approved timesheets flow directly into Xero with hours, rates, and allowances pre-calculated. Open the pay run and it is ready to review - no exports, no re-entry
Award interpretation
Automatically applies modern award rates, penalties, and allowances by work area and time of day - reducing underpayment risk without manual calculations
Reporting
Pre-built reports for wages, timesheets, and sales. Real-time wage cost data during roster building so you can see the impact before shifts are published
Best for
- hospitality, retail, and healthcare businesses
- casual, part-time, and rostered staff
- businesses covered by modern awards
- trades with multiple sites or crews
- anyone needing to eliminate manual timesheet entry
- hour-based client billing via Xero invoices
Integration mapping
Shared data between Xero and Deputy
Deputy handles the workforce side, Xero handles the financial side. The integration keeps both platforms in sync - what happens on the floor flows straight into your accounts, with no double-entry at any step
Employees & Pay
Timesheets & Leave
Getting started
How to connect Deputy to Xero
Authorise Deputy with your Xero organisation, configure your award rules and pay rates, then set up your team's schedules and timesheets
Before you start
- confirm Xero Advisor access - Standard users may lack payroll permissions
- identify the Fair Work award/s covering your team
Get access to Deputy
- Starting fresh: go to the Deputy listing on the Xero App Store click Get this app - starts your 31-day trial and links Deputy to your Xero organisation
- Already a Deputy customer: Business settings Integrations Xero tile Connect add-on follow authorisation prompts
Set up your locations and team
- create work locations - sites, areas, or departments
- add employees, assign to locations and roles
- set pay rates per area - or enable Award Interpretation and select the relevant Fair Work award
- enable Employee self-service to collect bank, tax, and super details digitally
Map pay items to Xero payroll
- in Deputy: Integrations Xero Pay items
- map each rate type (ordinary time, overtime, allowances) to the matching Xero pay item
- complete before any live timesheets - a mismatch flows through every pay run until fixed
Build your first roster and approve timesheets
- create and publish your first roster in Scheduling
- at end of the pay period: review timesheets Approve in Deputy
- Export to Xero - hours, rates, and allowances arrive pre-mapped
Complete your first Xero pay run
- in Xero: Payroll Pay runs - hours, rates, and allowances from Deputy are pre-populated
- review Submit Post
- leave balances sync back to Deputy automatically
Things to know
What to watch out for
Deputy is well-built but the Xero payroll integration has a few failure points - easier to fix during setup than after your first live pay run
Award setup errors
Misconfigured penalty rates or allowances export incorrectly to Xero. Validate pay calculations against a real payslip before going live - it is much easier to fix at setup than after three pay runs
Employee record sync
If staff already exist in Xero, check the sync brings them across correctly. Duplicate or mismatched records cause pay run errors - do a headcount check before processing anything live
Pay item mapping
Xero pay items (ordinary time, overtime, allowances) must map to Deputy rate types. A mismatch flows through to every pay run until you catch and fix it
Timesheet approvals
Deputy only exports timesheets once managers approve them. Configure your approval chain and make sure managers know to review before pay run day - unapproved timesheets won't appear in Xero
Geolocation setup
Location-based clock-in needs GPS boundaries set per work location. For kiosk setups, facial recognition needs enrolling before staff can use it - easy to miss in a rushed rollout
Multi-location complexity
Multiple locations with different awards add configuration layers. Plan location-level award settings carefully - rates bleeding across sites are hard to untangle mid-cycle
Pricing
What Deputy costs
Pricing model
Per user per month - separate tiers for scheduling, time & attendance, or the full premium suite
Free trial
31 days through the Xero App Store, no credit card required
Frequently asked questions