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Sapling - Xero Integration Guide

Bolaji Elusogbon
Updated

Introduction 

The Kallidus Sapling platform helps HR and People Operations teams automate and streamline administrative tasks so they can focus on employee experience, retention, and creating an amazing culture for the most successful teams.​​

Our Xero integration allows you to sync new hire data with your Xero account, saving your HR, People Operations, and Payroll manual data entry and removing the risk of errors, while providing a great new hire experience.

Sapling is currently integrated with the Australian payroll version on Xero. There are two other payroll versions of Xero (United Kingdom and New Zealand) that are not currently supported.

With the Xero integration, Sapling will:

  1. Create Users: When a user completes their Sapling profile (completes Preboarding), they will automatically be created in Xero.
  2. Update User Attributes: When a user attribute is changed in Sapling and the user is mapped (a new hire or an existing team member), the corresponding user profile in Xero will automatically be updated.
    **Note: The changes are synced to Xero immediately. 

  3. Deactivate Users:When a user is offboarded in Sapling, the corresponding user profile in Xero will automatically be deactivated.

How it Works

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Overview of Xero

Xero is world-leading online accounting software built for small businesses.

  • Get a real-time view of your cash flow. Log in anytime, anywhere on your Mac, PC, tablet of phone to get a real-time view of your cash flow. It’s small business accounting software that’s simple, smart, and occasionally magical.
  • Run your business on the go. Use our mobile app to reconcile, send invoices, or create expense claims - from anywhere.
  • Get paid faster with online invoicing. Send online invoices to your customers - and get updated when they’re opened.
  • Reconcile in seconds. Xero imports and categorizes your latest bank transactions. Just click ok to reconcile.

Find out more or try Xero Accounting Software for free.

Setting Up the Integration

Step #1. Enable the Xero Integration in Sapling

  1. Navigate to the Integrations → Payroll Integrations → Xero AU
  2. Click the Yes Continue button (Before continuing, please double-check that you have employee groups setup in your company's Xero account.)

Step #2. Allow Sapling to access Xero

  1. You will be redirected to Xero → Login to Xero
  2. Complete logging in with the authenticator app
  3. You will see a popup box → Grant Access

Step #3. Configure Payroll Settings and Integration Filters

  1. Configure your Payroll Calendar, Employee Group, and Pay Templates
  2. Configure your integration filters - it is important to limit this integration to your Australian locations only! 
  3. Click Next

Step #4. Map Sapling PTO Policies to Xero Leave Types

  1. Map your Sapling PTO policies to their respective Xero leave types - you can map multiple PTO policies to the same leave type if needed
  2. Click Next and Activate

 

Supported Fields

Kallidus is continually expanding the number of fields that sync between Sapling and Xero.

  • Here is a full list of the Sapling and Xero Integration Fields.

Required Fields

In order to provision the new record in Xero, the following information is required in Sapling:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Home address
  • Date of Birth

Annual Salary

If you'd like to sync a user's salary from Sapling to Xero during onboarding, you'll need to include the following fields in your Compensation table:

  • Calculation Type (set to Annual Salary)
  • Annual Salary
  • Hours per Week

Banking Information

If you'd like to sync a user's banking information from Sapling to Xero during onboarding, you'll need to include the following profile fields under Profile Setup:

  • Account Name (32 characters max)
  • Account Number
  • BSB/Sort Code
  • Bank Name (18 characters max)
    • This field does not actual refer to name of the bank, but rather the Statement Text in Xero (which should we advise you set as the company name)
    • As such, we advise that you make this field accessible to admins only and use the company name as the default value

Key Factors to be aware of

Set-up Requirements

In order to enable the integration, the following information is set up requirements:

  • Payroll Calendar
  • Employee Group
  • Pay Template

Field Names in Sapling & Xero

  • For the Fields to sync correctly, the field options' naming conventions must match between Sapling and Xero.

Bank Information Sync

Bank info will only sync to Xero if all four fields below are populated:

  • Account Name
  • Account Number
  • BSB/Sort Code
  • Bank Name

If the Account Name exceeds 32 characters, we will automatically trim it to 32 before syncing to Xero.

Job Title Management

  • For user creations: 

    • Job Title in Sapling maps to the Job Title in Xero.

    • Title (custom field- if it exists in Sapling) maps to Title field in Xero.

  • For user updates:

    • Job Title in Sapling sends updates to the Job Title in Xero.

Employee Management

  • Sapling can only sync employees with Australian addresses to Xero.
  • If you have a remote/non-Australian employee and would like to sync their address to Xero, you can enter your Australian company address as a placeholder. 

Time Off Management

If you're using Sapling's Time Off module, we can sync approved leave requests from Sapling to Xero to help keep your payroll up to date. This feature is enabled by default when you turn on the Xero integration.

When the integration is first enabled, we will automatically create equivalent time off policies in Xero for all your existing Sapling time off policies. For any subsequent Sapling time off policies you may create after the integration is enabled, we will also automatically create equivalent time off policies in Xero for you. 

  • For example: If you have time off policy A in Sapling, we will create an equivalent time off policy A in Xero for you. Please note: This integration assumes Sapling is the source of truth for your time off policies. If you already had time off policy A in Xero prior to enabling the integration, a duplicate policy will be created - but only one of those policies are synced with its Sapling counterpart. 

As you create your Sapling time off policies, you'll want to review two additional fields available when the Xero integration is enabled:

  • Is this a paid leave? (On the Basic Policy Information step, make sure the Is this a paid leave? the field is set to yes or no, per your policy).
  • Display balances on payslips? (On the Time Off Balances step, make sure the Display balances on payslips? the field is set to yes or no, per your policy).

As leave requests in Sapling are approved, they'll be immediately synced to Xero against their equivalent policies - ready for your next pay run. 

Note: Please ensure that the policy name remains under 50 characters. Exceeding this limit may cause syncing issues with Xero, which could ultimately prevent leave requests from syncing over to Xero.

Termination and Offboarding

This integration will deactivate users in Xero once they are no longer active in Sapling. 

When a user is offboarded in Sapling, their profile in Xero will be deactivated based on the Access Cutoff specified during the offboarding workflow.

  • For example: If a user has a Termination Date of 08/31 but their Access Cutoff was set to 09/02, their Xero profile will only be deactivated on 09/02. 

Filters in Sapling

Sapling supports filtering, and allows you to identify what users you want to keep synced based on the following:

  • Location

  • Department

  • Employment Status

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