Last updated 12 Oct 2026
Integrations
Invoices to Xero, payments back
Send invoices to the right contact, see what's been paid, and send approved hours to Xero Payroll.
Connect Autonomy Care to Xero and your invoices go to Xero as sales invoices, with the right contact: the plan manager, the participant or the NDIA. Payments come back every 15 minutes, including part payments. Approved timesheets and paid leave can go to Xero Payroll as draft timesheets.
What does the Xero connection do?
One connection covers Xero accounting and Xero Payroll AU. Each provider connects one Xero organisation.
Sales invoices
Sent and paid invoices go to Xero as sales (accounts receivable) invoices in Australian dollars, with a tax rate and an income account on every line.
The right contact
The plan manager for plan-managed supports, the participant if self-managed, or the NDIA if agency-managed. Each contact is found or created just before their first invoice.
Payments come back
Every 15 minutes Autonomy Care checks Xero for payments and marks invoices paid, with the amount and date, including part payments.
Payroll timesheets
Approved SCHADS hours and paid leave go to Xero Payroll AU as draft timesheets, one per worker and pay period, ready for your pay run.
Cost centres
Split income, and optionally pay, by SIL house, region or support category, using the Xero tracking category you choose.
A log of every send
Each send is logged with its result. Temporary problems retry on their own. Anything else waits for you to fix it and press Retry.
What goes to Xero?
- Invoices you've sent or that are paid, as sales invoices. A voided invoice is voided in Xero too.
- The contact for each invoice: the plan manager if the plan is plan-managed, the participant if self-managed, or the NDIA if agency-managed.
- Approved SCHADS timesheets and paid leave, to Xero Payroll AU as draft timesheets for your pay run.
What comes back?
Payment status and amounts, including part payments, every 15 minutes, or straight away with Sync now on the Xero card.
When are invoices sent?
When you choose Push to Xero on an invoice, or Sync now on the Xero card in Settings, then Integrations, which sends every unsent invoice and then checks for payments.
You can also turn on Send invoices automatically, which sends any unsent invoices every 15 minutes. It's off until you turn it on.
Who can connect Xero?
- In Xero: a user with Standard access or above to the organisation. If you'll send timesheets to Xero Payroll, they also need Payroll admin access.
- In Autonomy Care: someone whose role has the Connect and manage integrations permission, usually an admin.
You connect once for your whole organisation. Autonomy Care holds its own Xero app, so you don't need to create one.
How do we connect Xero?
It takes a few minutes. You can change every mapping later.
Open Settings, then Integrations
In Autonomy Care, go to Settings, then Integrations, and choose Connect Xero on the Xero card.
Sign in to Xero and approve access
Xero asks you to sign in and approve access. Autonomy Care asks for invoices, payments, contacts and settings, and for payroll employees, timesheets and settings.
Choose the organisation
If your Xero login can reach more than one organisation, the card shows Choose organisation. Pick the one that holds your NDIS income. The card then shows Connected and when it last synced.
Check the suggested mappings
Autonomy Care fills in GST-free income, GST on income and a default income account (usually 200 Sales). It never overwrites a mapping you've already chosen, and lists anything it couldn't find.
Set up cost centres (optional)
Choose a cost centre rule (by house, by region or by service type), choose the Xero tracking category it uses, then match each cost centre to a tracking option.
Set up payroll (optional)
Map each SCHADS pay line and leave category to a Xero earnings rate, and link workers to Xero employees. Workers are matched to Xero employees by email, then by name.
Send a first invoice
Choose Push to Xero on one invoice and check it in Xero. Then use Sync now for the rest, and turn on Send invoices automatically when you're ready.
What syncs, and when?
| What | Direction | When |
|---|---|---|
| Sales invoices (accounts receivable) | Autonomy Care to Xero | Push to Xero on an invoice, Sync now, or every 15 minutes with Send invoices automatically on |
| Contacts: plan manager, participant or the NDIA | Autonomy Care to Xero | Found or created just before their first invoice |
| Payment status, amount and date | Xero to Autonomy Care | Every 15 minutes, and when you choose Sync now |
| Approved SCHADS hours and paid leave | Autonomy Care to Xero Payroll AU, as draft timesheets | When you choose Export to Xero on the Payroll page, for one pay period |
| Cost centres | Autonomy Care to Xero, as tracking options | On every invoice line, and on timesheet lines if you turn that on |
- Nothing else is read from Xero: no bills, bank transactions or contact changes.
How do accounts and GST work?
You choose the GST codes, a default income account (or one for each support category), and optional items. Cost centres, such as a SIL house or a region, go to Xero tracking categories. Suggested mappings are filled in after you connect.
- Tax rates: NDIS supports are usually GST-free. GST-free income maps to Xero's GST Free Income rate, and GST on income to your 10% rate.
- Amounts: invoice lines go to Xero excluding GST, so Xero adds GST only where the line's tax rate says so.
- Income accounts: a default account for every line, and optionally a different account for each NDIS support category.
- Items (optional): link NDIS support items to Xero items for reporting. Leave them unmapped to send the description only.
- Tracking: choose the tracking category your cost centres use, such as Region or Program. Only that category's options are offered when you map.
Before you export payroll, what needs to be ready?
Xero Payroll AU is strict about who and which dates a timesheet is for. Check these before your first export:
- Each worker is linked to a Xero employee. Workers are matched to Xero employees by email, then by name. You can change any match in the Employees mapping.
- Each employee has a payroll calendar. Set it on the employee's employment details in Xero.
- The export period matches the pay calendar. Xero only takes a timesheet that covers exactly one pay period of the employee's calendar, such as one whole fortnight.
- Every pay item is mapped. Each SCHADS pay line and leave category your workers used needs a Xero earnings rate.
- Names and emails are unique in Xero. Two employees with the same email or name can't be matched automatically. Give each their own email, or link them yourself.
- The employee is active. A terminated employee in Xero can't receive a timesheet.
- Cost centres on payroll (if you use them). Set the same tracking category as Timesheet categories in Xero Payroll settings, or Xero rejects the lines.
A setup check lists any worker who isn't ready to export, and why. Fix those, then export.
How do we send approved hours to Xero Payroll?
Hours are worked out under the SCHADS Award in Autonomy Care. Xero Payroll then runs the pay.
Approve timesheets
Only approved hours and approved paid leave are sent. Unapproved timesheets stay in Autonomy Care.
Choose the pay period
Pick the dates of one pay period from your Xero payroll calendar.
Run the setup check
Each worker with hours in the period is shown as ready or needing action, with the reason: not linked, no payroll calendar, the wrong period, or a pay item that isn't mapped.
Export to Xero
On the Payroll page, choose Export to Xero. Each worker gets one draft timesheet for the period. Exporting again replaces the same timesheets, so nothing is doubled.
Finish the pay run in Xero
Review the draft timesheets in Xero Payroll, approve them and run your pay run there.
What if something fails?
Every send is logged. Rate limits and outages are retried automatically; a missing mapping waits for you to fix it and press Retry.
Each record is sent once: Autonomy Care remembers what it sent, so a retry never makes a duplicate invoice.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Needs reconnecting on the Xero card | Xero stopped accepting the connection, for example because its access was removed in Xero | Choose Reconnect Xero. Your mappings and links are kept, so nothing is sent twice. |
| Choose organisation on the Xero card | Your Xero login can reach more than one organisation | Choose the organisation that holds your NDIS income. |
| An invoice is waiting for a mapping | A tax rate, income account or cost centre has no Xero match yet | Map it in Settings, then Integrations, then Xero. Then press Retry in the Sync log. |
| Xero rejected an invoice | Xero's own reason is shown in the Sync log | Fix the cause in Xero or Autonomy Care, then press Retry. |
| A send is waiting to retry | Xero's limits (60 calls a minute and 5,000 a day for each organisation) or a Xero outage | Nothing. It retries on its own, up to 6 times over several hours. |
| A worker isn't ready to export | Not linked to an employee, no payroll calendar, the wrong period or a pay item that isn't mapped | The setup check names the reason. Fix it, then export again. |
| Xero rejected a timesheet line's cost centre | The tracking category isn't set as Timesheet categories in Xero Payroll settings | Set it in Xero, then export again. |
| A payment hasn't shown yet | Payments are checked every 15 minutes | Choose Sync now on the Xero card to check straight away. |
What it does and doesn't do
It does
- Sends invoices and contacts to Xero
- Brings payments back every 15 minutes
- Sends approved timesheets to Xero Payroll as drafts
- Matches workers to Xero employees by email, then by name
- Checks each worker's payroll setup before you export
- Logs every send, with Retry
It doesn't
- Doesn't sync contacts both ways
- Doesn't connect more than one Xero organisation to a provider's account
- Doesn't approve timesheets or run your pay run in Xero
- Doesn't read bills or bank transactions from Xero
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See it with your own invoices
Book a demo and we'll show the Xero connection with your questions.