ZenHR’s Native Integration with Xero
Xero is a cloud-based accounting software that provides businesses with a range of financial management tools. ZenHR natively integrates with Xero allowing you to automate bookkeeping, invoicing, and expenses, and provides real-time visibility into financial data. With Xero, you access financial information from anywhere, at any time, and can collaborate with your bookkeepers, accountants, or financial advisors.
ZenHR’s native integration with Xero allows you to:
Sync GL accounts from Xero to ZenHR.
Store and transfer employee data and updates.
Customize journals created on the organization and employee levels.
Create off-cycle and provision journal entries.
Send payroll data as journal entries from ZenHR.
How to
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Activate
Activating the Xero Integration on ZenHR:
To activate Xero on ZenHR, first set up your Journal Entries Structure and generate the needed API keys to proceed with the integration process.
Step 1: Set Up Journal Entries Structure
To set up your Journal Entries Structure, follow these steps:
On ZenHR, click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup → Journal Entries Structure.
Set up the way you would like your journal entries structured by completing the following fields, then click “Save”.
Step 2: Generate API Keys
To generate the API keys, follow these steps:
Retrieve your Client ID and Client Secret from Xero by following these steps:
Go to https://developer.xero.com and log in to your Xero account:
On the My Apps page, click on the “New app” button.
On the “Add a new app” pop-up that appears, enter the App name.
Under Integration type, select “Web app”.
In the Company or application URL field, enter https://www.zenhr.com
In the Redirect URI field, enter: https://www.zenhr.com/integration/v1/integration/oauth_callback?locale=en
Check the box to agree to Xero’s terms and conditions.
Then click on the “Create app” button.
Click “Configuration” on the menu on the left side.
Click on “Add another URI” button, and add the URL:
https://www..zenhr.com/integration/v1/integration/oauth_callback?locale=ar
Click “Generate a Secret”.
Copy and save your Client secret, as it will only be visible to you once.
Then, on ZenHR, click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →API Keys.
On the API Keys page, click on the “Add API Key” button.
Then add the API key name and select your desired Permissions.
Add the IP addresses and select Oauth 2 as the Authentication type.
Under Oauth 2, paste your Client ID and Client Secret from Xero.
Click “Create” to generate the API key.
Step 3: Setup Xero
On ZenHR, click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Xero Setup.
Select the API key that you created from the drop-down list.
Activate the toggles in the Employee Data and Journal Entry sections.
Then click “Save”.
Click on the “Add New Token” button.
Click “Allow access” to allow the transfer of data between ZenHR and Xero.
Step 4: Adding Xero GL Account Identifiers:
Add Payroll GL Accounts on ZenHR by following these steps:
Click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup → Payroll Setup
Select the relevant GL Account for each field.
Then click “Update”.
Add Financial Transactions GL Accounts:
Click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→ Financial Transaction Types → Incomes & Deductions.
Click on “Edit” beside the desired Transaction Type record.
Enter the GL Account Number and Clearance Account.
Then click “Update Financial Transaction Type”.
Add Loans GL accounts by following these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→Financial Transaction Types → Loan Types
Click on “Edit” beside the desired Loan Type record.
Enter GL Identifier and Clearance account.
Then click “Update”.
Add Overtime GL Accounts by following these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→Financial Transaction Types → Overtime Types
Click on “Edit” beside the desired Overtime Type record.
Enter GL Identifier and Clearance Account.
Then click “Update Overtime Type”.
Add Vacation in-advance salaries GL account:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→ Vacation In-Advance Salary Setup
Enter GL Identifier and Clearance Account.
Then click “Update Setup”.
That’s it; your Xero Integration will now be complete! You can now post journal entries directly from ZenHR.
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Use the Integration
Using the Xero Integration:
Posting Salaries From ZenHR to Xero
To post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, follow these steps:
On the left side of the page, go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Salaries.
Filter the desired salary year and month for all employees, and click “Filter”.
Then click “Send to Xero”, and your salaries will be transferred as journals.
Posting Off-Cycle Payments From ZenHR to Xero
To auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle payments and post them with your payroll journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Activate the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle payments checkbox and click “Save”.
You can then post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, and the transferred journals will include separate journal entries for your off-cycle payments.
To manually generate your off-cycle payments journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Clear the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle payments checkbox and click “Save”.
Go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Financial Transactions → Off-Cycle Payments
Use the “Date from” and “to” filters to filter out the duration of the transactions you wish to include in your journal entries, and click “Filter”.
In the Employee ID column, select the transactions you wish to include in your journal entries.
Then click “Send to Xero”, and your off-cycle payments will be transferred as journals.
Post Off-Cycle Vacation In-Advance Salaries From ZenHR to Xero
To auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries and post them with your payroll journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure
Activate the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries checkbox and click “Save”.
You can then post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, and the transferred journals will include separate journal entries for your off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries.
To manually generate your off-cycle vacation in-advance journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup → Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Clear the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle vacation in-advancecheck box.
Then click “Save”.
Go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Vacation In-Advance Salary.
Filter out the vacation in-advance salaries that fall within a specific time period by using the “In-advance from date” and “In-advance to date” filters.
Select “Off-cycle” under Payroll status and click “Apply Filters”.
Then, under the Employee No. column, select the in-advance salaries you wish to include in your exported journal entries. Or you can select all the filtered salaries by clicking the “Select all” checkbox.
Then click “Send to Xero”, and your off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries will be transferred as journals.
Posting Provisions From ZenHR to Xero
To auto-generate journals for provisions and post them with your payroll journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure
Activate the Calculate employees' provisions toggle.
Activate the Auto-generate journal entries for employees' provisions toggle.
Then select the desired option under “How to generate provision journal entries”.
Click “Save”.
You can then post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, and the transferred journals will include journal entries for your provisions.
To manually generate provisions journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Activate the Calculate employees' provisions toggle.
Deactivate the Auto-generate journal entries for employees' provisions toggle.
Then select the desired option under select “How to generate provision journal entries”.
Click “Save”.
On the left side of the page, go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Salaries.
Filter the desired salary year and month for all employees, and click “Filter”.
Then click the“Send to Xero” drop-down menu and click on “Provisions journal entries” and your provisions will be transferred as journals.
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View Failed Events
Xero Event Viewer:
To view all events and retry sending failed posts, go to User Menu → System Preferences → Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations →Xero.
On the Event Viewer page, click “Retry” to send journal entries again.
Activating the Xero Integration on ZenHR:
To activate Xero on ZenHR, first set up your Journal Entries Structure and generate the needed API keys to proceed with the integration process.
Step 1: Set Up Journal Entries Structure
To set up your Journal Entries Structure, follow these steps:
On ZenHR, click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup → Journal Entries Structure.
Set up the way you would like your journal entries structured by completing the following fields, then click “Save”.
Step 2: Generate API Keys
To generate the API keys, follow these steps:
Retrieve your Client ID and Client Secret from Xero by following these steps:
Go to https://developer.xero.com and log in to your Xero account:
On the My Apps page, click on the “New app” button.
On the “Add a new app” pop-up that appears, enter the App name.
Under Integration type, select “Web app”.
In the Company or application URL field, enter https://www.zenhr.com
In the Redirect URI field, enter: https://www.zenhr.com/integration/v1/integration/oauth_callback?locale=en
Check the box to agree to Xero’s terms and conditions.
Then click on the “Create app” button.
Click “Configuration” on the menu on the left side.
Click on “Add another URI” button, and add the URL:
https://www..zenhr.com/integration/v1/integration/oauth_callback?locale=ar
Click “Generate a Secret”.
Copy and save your Client secret, as it will only be visible to you once.
Then, on ZenHR, click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →API Keys.
On the API Keys page, click on the “Add API Key” button.
Then add the API key name and select your desired Permissions.
Add the IP addresses and select Oauth 2 as the Authentication type.
Under Oauth 2, paste your Client ID and Client Secret from Xero.
Click “Create” to generate the API key.
Step 3: Setup Xero
On ZenHR, click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Xero Setup.
Select the API key that you created from the drop-down list.
Activate the toggles in the Employee Data and Journal Entry sections.
Then click “Save”.
Click on the “Add New Token” button.
Click “Allow access” to allow the transfer of data between ZenHR and Xero.
Step 4: Adding Xero GL Account Identifiers:
Add Payroll GL Accounts on ZenHR by following these steps:
Click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup → Payroll Setup
Select the relevant GL Account for each field.
Then click “Update”.
Add Financial Transactions GL Accounts:
Click your user icon on the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→ Financial Transaction Types → Incomes & Deductions.
Click on “Edit” beside the desired Transaction Type record.
Enter the GL Account Number and Clearance Account.
Then click “Update Financial Transaction Type”.
Add Loans GL accounts by following these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→Financial Transaction Types → Loan Types
Click on “Edit” beside the desired Loan Type record.
Enter GL Identifier and Clearance account.
Then click “Update”.
Add Overtime GL Accounts by following these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→Financial Transaction Types → Overtime Types
Click on “Edit” beside the desired Overtime Type record.
Enter GL Identifier and Clearance Account.
Then click “Update Overtime Type”.
Add Vacation in-advance salaries GL account:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Financial Setup→ Vacation In-Advance Salary Setup
Enter GL Identifier and Clearance Account.
Then click “Update Setup”.
That’s it; your Xero Integration will now be complete! You can now post journal entries directly from ZenHR.
Using the Xero Integration:
Posting Salaries From ZenHR to Xero
To post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, follow these steps:
On the left side of the page, go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Salaries.
Filter the desired salary year and month for all employees, and click “Filter”.
Then click “Send to Xero”, and your salaries will be transferred as journals.
Posting Off-Cycle Payments From ZenHR to Xero
To auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle payments and post them with your payroll journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Activate the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle payments checkbox and click “Save”.
You can then post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, and the transferred journals will include separate journal entries for your off-cycle payments.
To manually generate your off-cycle payments journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Clear the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle payments checkbox and click “Save”.
Go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Financial Transactions → Off-Cycle Payments
Use the “Date from” and “to” filters to filter out the duration of the transactions you wish to include in your journal entries, and click “Filter”.
In the Employee ID column, select the transactions you wish to include in your journal entries.
Then click “Send to Xero”, and your off-cycle payments will be transferred as journals.
Post Off-Cycle Vacation In-Advance Salaries From ZenHR to Xero
To auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries and post them with your payroll journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure
Activate the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries checkbox and click “Save”.
You can then post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, and the transferred journals will include separate journal entries for your off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries.
To manually generate your off-cycle vacation in-advance journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup → Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Clear the Auto-generate separate journals for off-cycle vacation in-advancecheck box.
Then click “Save”.
Go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Vacation In-Advance Salary.
Filter out the vacation in-advance salaries that fall within a specific time period by using the “In-advance from date” and “In-advance to date” filters.
Select “Off-cycle” under Payroll status and click “Apply Filters”.
Then, under the Employee No. column, select the in-advance salaries you wish to include in your exported journal entries. Or you can select all the filtered salaries by clicking the “Select all” checkbox.
Then click “Send to Xero”, and your off-cycle vacation in-advance salaries will be transferred as journals.
Posting Provisions From ZenHR to Xero
To auto-generate journals for provisions and post them with your payroll journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure
Activate the Calculate employees' provisions toggle.
Activate the Auto-generate journal entries for employees' provisions toggle.
Then select the desired option under “How to generate provision journal entries”.
Click “Save”.
You can then post salaries from ZenHR to Xero, and the transferred journals will include journal entries for your provisions.
To manually generate provisions journal entries, follow these steps:
Click your user icon in the upper right corner and go to System Preferences→ Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations→Journal Entries Structure.
Activate the Calculate employees' provisions toggle.
Deactivate the Auto-generate journal entries for employees' provisions toggle.
Then select the desired option under select “How to generate provision journal entries”.
Click “Save”.
On the left side of the page, go to Main Menu→Payroll →Manage Financials →Manage Salaries.
Filter the desired salary year and month for all employees, and click “Filter”.
Then click the“Send to Xero” drop-down menu and click on “Provisions journal entries” and your provisions will be transferred as journals.
Xero Event Viewer:
To view all events and retry sending failed posts, go to User Menu → System Preferences → Integration Setup →Marketplace Integrations →Xero.
On the Event Viewer page, click “Retry” to send journal entries again.
