The Xero Deputy integration is built in. You add Deputy from the Xero App Store, or click Integrations in Deputy, then the Xero square, then Connect add-on. Staff details come over from Xero, and approved timesheets go to Xero payroll for the pay run. Where it stops: Deputy says the Xero link is for Australia, the UK and New Zealand. It sends the hours a manager approved, right or wrong. A timesheet that comes in after the pay run is closed has to be paid in a separate run. Nobody checks the hours before pay day. AI agents do that work.
What the Xero Deputy integration has to do
Deputy holds the roster and the hours your staff clock. Xero holds the pay run. If the two don't agree, someone is paid for a shift they never worked, or a missed clock off turns into overtime nobody meant to pay.
So connected has to mean more than hours moving across. The right people have to be in both programs, each pay rate has to match, and only hours a manager has checked should reach the pay run. Deputy's built-in connection moves the hours. The checking is the part people still do by hand.
Three ways to connect Deputy and Xero
Most businesses in Australia, the UK and New Zealand need only the first one.
Deputy's built-in Xero connection
- How it works
- You add Deputy from the Xero App Store, or connect it from the Integrations page inside Deputy. Staff details come over from Xero, approved timesheets go to Xero for the pay run, and leave requests and balances are kept in step. Deputy can also send hours to Xero to bill a client.
- Good for
- Shift-based teams in Australia, the UK and New Zealand who run payroll in Xero. This is the main connection.
- Where it breaks
- Deputy's own page says the Xero link is for Australia, the UK and New Zealand only. It sends approved hours as they are. On the Xero App Store, 18% of the 148 reviews give one star, and the recent ones are about the Xero link: a 401 error when signing in through Xero, a connection that showed as cut off before it was set up, and a month of trying with an accountant that never worked.
A Zapier zap
- How it works
- Zapier can start from Deputy when there is a new timesheet, a new leave request or a shift someone forgot to end. It can then make a sales invoice, a contact or an employee in Xero, or post a message.
- Good for
- A team that wants an alert when a shift was never clocked off, or that bills clients from Deputy hours outside the built-in link.
- Where it breaks
- The Xero steps Zapier lists are for invoices, contacts, bills and employees. We found none that adds a payroll timesheet, so it can't stand in for the payroll link. On Zapier's free plan it checks Deputy for new data every 15 minutes.
Export the hours and key them in
- How it works
- Someone pulls the timesheet report out of Deputy and types the hours into the Xero pay run, person by person.
- Good for
- A very small team, or a business outside the three countries Deputy's Xero link covers.
- Where it breaks
- It takes hours each pay day, and a typing slip goes straight into someone's pay. Nothing warns you when a number is wrong.
Arkeo agents
- How it works
- Agents read the approved timesheets in Deputy before they go to Xero. They flag a shift with no clock off, hours far over the roster, overtime nobody signed off and a pay rate that doesn't match. Then they send the manager one list to clear before pay day.
- Good for
- Teams with shift workers across a few sites, where a wrong timesheet means a wrong pay packet.
- Where it breaks
- Pay decisions stay with a person. The agent flags the problem and the manager says yes or no.
How to connect Xero to Deputy
These follow the getting started steps on Deputy's Xero App Store listing. Open it for the screens.
- 1
New to Deputy? Start in XeroClick Get this app on the Xero App Store listing, log in to Xero and follow the prompts. You get an email that takes you to Deputy to add your staff and finish setting up.
- 2Already on Deputy? Connect from Integrations
In the top bar of your Deputy dashboard, click Integrations. Click the Xero square, then Connect add-on, and log in to Xero to give Deputy access.
- 3Bring your staff over
Deputy can sync staff details from Xero, so you update a person in one place. Check that each person in Deputy matches the right person in Xero before your first pay run.
- 4Set pay rates and leave
Set each pay rate in Deputy, by work area, and turn on leave so requests and balances stay in step with Xero.
- 5
Approve, export and check one pay run
Approve the timesheets in Deputy and send them to Xero payroll. Open the pay run in Xero and check a few people line by line before you post it.
Where the Deputy Xero integration stops
The connection moves approved hours into Xero. Whether those hours are right, and whether they made it across at all, is still a person's job.
It only works in three countries. Deputy's integration page says the Xero link is for Australia, the UK and New Zealand. Anywhere else, someone keys the hours into payroll by hand.
It sends what was approved, not what was worked. A shift with no clock off can show as a very long day. Zapier even lists a Deputy trigger for a shift someone forgot to end. If a manager approves it, that is what goes to Xero.
Late timesheets miss the pay run. In Xero's own ideas forum, a thread asks for a way to add hours to a pay period that has already been paid. People there say a late timesheet means an extra pay run, and that once payroll is posted, the timesheet period closes. Xero's team replied in January 2026 that it is watching the idea.
The link can stop and someone has to notice. Recent Xero App Store reviews describe a 401 error when signing in through Xero, a link that showed as cut off before it was ever set up, and a month of trying, with hours spent alongside an accountant, that never worked. A dropped link shows up on pay day, when hours are missing.
None of it checks the roster against the hours, chases the manager who hasn't approved, or tells you before pay day that a number looks wrong.
The agents that do it
Each agent does one job from start to finish, in your own Deputy and Xero. Your team talks to them in Slack or Teams.
Payroll runs on hours you trust.
- Compares timesheets to the rosterevery day
- Finds missed clock-outs, long breaks and overtimeper timesheet
- Approves clean ones, sends the rest to the managerbefore payroll
Say yes to leave without leaving a hole in the roster.
- Reads each new leave requestas it comes in
- Finds the shifts it leaves open and who could coverper request
- Sends it to the manager to approvesame day
See when you had too many staff on, or too few.
- Pulls hours and pay from approved timesheetsevery Monday
- Compares them to sales for the weekper location
- Sends the report to the ownerMonday morning
Questions
Is my customers' information safe?
Yes. Agents work in your own Deputy and Xero and see only what their job needs. Staff and customer details never go into public AI. Agents connect to AI through business-grade connections audited under SOC 2.
Does Deputy integrate with Xero?
Yes. Deputy is listed on the Xero App Store and connects from the Integrations page in Deputy. It syncs staff details, sends approved timesheets to Xero payroll, keeps leave in step and can send hours to Xero for billing. Deputy says the Xero link is for Australia, the UK and New Zealand.
Can I use the Deputy Xero integration in the US?
Deputy's integration page lists the Xero link for Australia, the UK and New Zealand only. Outside those countries, you would send the hours another way, like a report you key into payroll.
What happens to a timesheet approved after the pay run?
It doesn't join the pay run you already posted. In Xero's ideas forum, people say they have to do an extra pay run for that period, and they have asked Xero to change it.
What does it cost?
You get the price on the call, along with the hours it saves your team.