Run a pay cycle
Every step from the hours your staff clock to a finished pay run in Xero, in order, with a link to the full guide for each.
A pay cycle in Shiftly runs from the hours your staff clock, through your review and approval, to a pay run in Xero. This page puts the steps in order and says why each one matters. Each step links to the guide with the detail.
Who this is for
Owners and managers using the Shiftly web platform who approve hours and run pay.
Before your first pay cycle
Set these up once. After that, every cycle starts at step 1 below.
- Give every employee a pay rate. Shiftly works out pay from each employee's award classification or the rate you set. Without one, their pay shows $0. See Classify staff and set their pay rate.
- Check your pay rules and pay week. Weekly overtime is counted across your business's pay week, so it needs to match the week your payroll runs on. See Customise your pay rules.
- Check each location's public holidays, so public holiday rates apply on the right days. See Set a location's public holidays.
- Connect Xero if you pay through it. Without Xero, you can export the hours to a spreadsheet instead (step 7). See Connect Shiftly to Xero.
Run the cycle
Staff clock on and off
Staff clock on and off in the Shiftly Me app. Each shift they finish becomes a Pending timesheet, ready for you to review. This matters because pay is worked out from the times they actually clock, not the roster.
See Clock on and off a shift to know what your staff see.
Close off shifts that are still running
At the end of the period, look for timesheets still showing On Shift. Someone may have forgotten to clock off. Select End Shift on the row, then fix the finish time. A timesheet can't be approved while it's still on shift.
Check and fix the hours
Go through the pending timesheets on Time → Timesheets. Shiftly flags late starts, early finishes, overtime and overlapping entries. Open any that look off and correct the times, breaks or position. Getting this right now is what makes the pay right later.
Approve the timesheets
Approve timesheets one at a time or several at once. Entries that are close to the roster can be approved with Approve as scheduled, which uses the rostered times. Only approved timesheets can be sent to payroll.
Approve leave for the period
Clear any leave requests that fall in this pay period. When Xero is connected, approving leave sends it to Xero, and the request shows whether it got there.
Post the timesheets to Xero
Open the Xero payrun tab on Time → Timesheets and post. Shiftly checks everything first and lists anyone it can't send, with the reason. Choose whether timesheets go to Xero as drafts or as approved.
Finish the pay run in Xero, or export the hours
In Xero, finish the pay run as usual. If you sent the timesheets as drafts, approve them in Xero first, or their hours won't be in the pay run. Once posted, a timesheet shows Posted and is locked in Shiftly.
Not using Xero? Select Export on Time → Timesheets and choose Export detail, Export with leave or Export summary to download the hours for your payroll. Apply a date range first so the file covers just this period.
If something doesn't look right
- The pay on a timesheet is wrong: see Pay looks wrong on a timesheet.
- Timesheets won't post, or hours are missing from the Xero pay run: see Xero isn't syncing.