Xero timesheets get your crew paid. On their own, they do not tell you what each job cost. The hours reach the payslip, and then someone has to work out which job they belonged to, usually at the end of the month and from memory.
The short answer: keep two totals from one timesheet. Payroll hours are what Xero pays. Job hours are what each job cost. Record a job number, a start, a finish and an approver on every row, then compare the two totals before each pay run. Below are the Xero and MYOB routes, a sample week and an Excel template to download.
- 01 · EnterThe crew log the day
Crew sheet Sample Tom, Mon Sample
- JobJ-1041
- Hours8.0
- 02 · CheckRules flag the gaps
- Job number on every Job row
- Approver named
- 03 · ApproveA person approves
Sample Tom, Fri: no job numberFix the row before the pay run
- 04 · PayPayroll pays the hours
Payroll Week of 19 Oct Sample
150.5 h
Every approved hour is paid.
- 05 · Job costJob cost reads job hours
Job costing J-1041 Sample
- Hours64.0
- Cost$3,392
At the end of the day Payroll pays every hour. Job cost only sees the hours that carry a job number.
What Xero’s own timesheets do
Staff enter hours
Staff submit timesheets in the Xero Me app or web portal, as total hours or start and end times.
A person approves
Someone reviews, corrects and approves. Approved hours go into the pay run.
Client time by project
Xero says to use a new timesheet for each project. Xero Projects adds time tools and needs the right plan.
Xero says staff fill in and submit timesheets in the Xero Me app or web portal, and can record total hours or start and end times.1 Someone reviews, corrects and approves them, and approved hours go into the pay run.1 For client time, the same page says you can “use a new timesheet for each project to track the hours spent on each project”, or upgrade to Xero Projects, which it says gives you “extra tools”.1 Xero’s time tracking page says recorded hours “automatically populate your invoices with the right figures”.2 That depends on someone recording each hour against the right job first.
Three routes to job hours
| Route | Where the hours land | What it needs | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xero’s own tools | Payroll timesheets: a new timesheet for each project. Xero says to “use a new timesheet for each project to track the hours spent on each project”.1 Xero Projects: project time in Xero. Xero says recorded hours “feed directly into invoices and Xero Payroll”.2 |
Payroll timesheets: one timesheet for each project. Xero Projects: the Ultimate plan, as project tracking is “included in the Ultimate plan for up to 10 people”.3 Ultimate 10 is usually A$143 a month, GST included, on Xero’s pricing page read 31 October 2026.4 |
Hours still need a job on each timesheet, and a timesheet holds hours, not cost per job. Every hour needs a project. Xero’s pages do not say what happens to an hour logged with none. |
| A crew sheet beside Xero | Job hours and job cost for each job, in a workbook | One row per person per day, with a job number and an approver (the template below) | Hours typed twice drift apart unless you compare the sheet with payroll every week. |
| Job software or an app that syncs | The job, with its hours and cost, in the job software | Timesheets in that software and a connection to payroll | Job numbers that differ between systems, and pay periods that do not line up. |
Pick by what you already pay for. Xero’s payroll route uses a timesheet for each project, and Xero Projects needs a plan you may not be on. A crew sheet needs no new software, only a weekly habit. Job software already holds the job, so the work is connecting it to payroll.
The crew timesheet template
| Part | What goes in it | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
| Job no. | The job number on every Job row | A job row with no number, flagged in the Check column |
| Start, finish, break | Times, and the break in minutes | A missing finish. Hours worked are worked out from these. |
| Job or non-job | Job for work on a job. Non-job for yard, workshop, training or travel. | Hours that belong to no job on purpose |
| Approver | Who approved the row | A row nobody has approved before the pay run |
| Weekly totals | By person for payroll and by job for job cost | Payroll hours that reach no job |
Download the Excel crew timesheet template. It has one row per person per day, the weekly totals, a filled sample week marked “Sample” and a short sheet on using it with Xero Payroll or MYOB. Replace the sample rates with your own loaded cost per hour: wages plus leave, super and other on-costs. It does not connect to Xero or MYOB.
What each sheet in the workbook does
- Crew. Each person and their loaded cost per hour.
- Timesheet. One row per person per day, with hours worked, job hours, non-job hours, cost and a Check message worked out for you. Add a second row if a day is split across two jobs.
- By person. Payroll hours, hours on a job number, hours on a job row with no number and non-job hours, with three Yes or No checks.
- By job. Job hours, optional quoted hours, the hours over or under the quote and job cost, with a line for hours that have no usable job number.
- Xero and MYOB. What each vendor’s own help says, with the date read.
- Sample sheets. The sample week used in this post, in orange tabs.
One week, four crew, two jobs
Hours · orange: over quote, no job
J-1041 is 8.0 hours over. The 3.0 hours with no job number may belong to either job.
Illustrative figures, not client data.
Sample data, not a client’s. Four crew worked Monday 19 to Friday 23 October on two jobs. J-1041 was quoted at 56.0 hours and used 64.0. J-1042 was quoted at 80.0 and used 79.5. A further 3.0 hours sit on a job row with no job number. If they belong to J-1041, it is 11.0 hours over its quote. The names, quotes and rates are made up.
Payroll hours against job hours
| Person (sample) | Payroll hours | On a job number | Job row, no number | Non-job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample Tom | 35.0 | 32.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Sample Ana | 39.5 | 39.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Sample Ravi | 36.0 | 32.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 |
| Sample Lee | 40.0 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Total | 150.5 | 143.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
Payroll pays all 150.5 hours. Job cost sees 143.5 until someone fixes the 3.0. The 4.0 yard hours are real wages that no job should carry, so payroll hours and job hours never match exactly. The sheet reconciles them: 143.5 plus 3.0 plus 4.0 is 150.5. At the sample rates of A$62 and A$44 an hour, the unnumbered 3.0 hours cost A$186 and the yard hours A$176.
Where the payroll sync breaks
A job row with no number
The hours are paid and never costed. The Check column flags the row before the pay run.
Corrections at approval
A fix made in the payroll software does not reach a crew sheet kept beside it.
A day split across jobs
A day on two jobs needs two rows, with the break counted once. One row hides the split.
Dates that do not line up
The pay run covers one date range and job costing another, so hours fall between them.
Xero says anyone with payroll admin can fix errors on a timesheet before approving it.1 A fix made there does not reach a sheet kept beside Xero. MYOB’s help gives dates that do not match the pay run as a reason hours go missing from a pay.5 Run one check before each pay run, and take the Check column to zero.
On MYOB
| What you want | What MYOB’s help says |
|---|---|
| Hours to the pay run | Timesheets sit under Payroll. Employees can submit them in the MYOB Team app, and once payroll is set up the feature is optional.5 |
| A job on the hours | The timesheet lets you “choose (or create) the Job assigned to the employee”.5 In Australia, a pay run can also assign jobs to pay items, with an amount for each job.6 |
| Start and finish times | They are “for your records and won’t affect the calculated Total hours value”. Minutes are entered as decimal hours.5 |
| Where it goes wrong | Pay run dates that do not match the timesheet dates, and hours that are also in the employee’s standard pay.5 |
MYOB’s help puts a job on the timesheet line, which makes its own job route a real option. The crew sheet still helps as a check on the hours before they go in. The browser and desktop versions differ, so check the steps for yours.
The weekly checklist
- Collect the rows. One row per person per day, with start, finish and break.
- Clear the Check column. Every row needs a name, hours, Job or Non-job, a job number for Job rows and an approver.
- Match payroll. Each person’s payroll hours should equal their approved timesheet in Xero or MYOB.
- Read the checks. Payroll hours equal job hours plus non-job hours, and no job hours sit without a job number.
- Approve, then pay. A person approves in Xero or MYOB. The sheet never does.
- Send job hours on. Take hours and cost by job to the weekly job cost check.
Do it before the pay run, not after. A missing job number is easier to fix on the day than to find a month later.
Minutes to decimal hours, and one correction
Sample figures Change them to one shift. Try 10 pm to 6 am for a shift past midnight. Nothing you type leaves this page.
- Decimal hours
- 7.50
- Start to finish
- 480 minutes
- After the break
- 450 minutes
- The same time as hours and minutes
- 7 h 30 min
7 h 30 min is 7.50 decimal hours, not 7.30.
Decimal hours are minutes ÷ 60, so 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.50, not 7.30. Shown to 2 decimal places: your payroll’s rounding rule decides what you enter. Clock times only. A shift that crosses a daylight saving change is not adjusted for, so check those by hand.
A crew sheet says 7 hours 30 minutes. Payroll wants 7.50, not 7.30. Decimal hours are minutes divided by 60.7 The checker takes off the break you approved as unpaid and handles a finish after midnight. It converts hours only, with no rates or award.
One correction, crew sheet to payroll
| Line (sample, hours) | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Job number on sample Tom’s 3.0 hours | None | J-1041 |
| Sample Tom’s payroll hours | 35.0 | 35.0 |
| Sample Tom’s hours on a job number | 32.0 | 35.0 |
| J-1041 job hours | 64.0 | 67.0 |
| J-1041 against its 56.0 quoted | 8.0 over | 11.0 over |
The weekly check flags the row. A person asks Tom, adds the job number and writes on the row what changed, who changed it and who approved it again. Payroll hours stay the same. Only the job they belong to moves.
What the law asks you to keep
Keep them for 7 years
The Fair Work Regulations say these employee records “are required to be kept by employers for 7 years”.
Overtime times
Where an overtime penalty rate or loading must be paid, keep the overtime hours worked each day, or when overtime started and ended.
Casual hours
For a casual or irregular part-time employee guaranteed a rate set by time worked, the record must set out the hours worked.
This is general information, not advice. Your award or agreement may ask for more, so check the current Regulations and your award.8 The template records a start and finish on every row because the hours come from them, not because the regulations ask for them on every shift.
Where a person stays in charge
Rules check
Hours, totals, the Check column and the payroll against job reconciliation, the same every week.
Claude reads
Notes on flagged rows, and drafts the message asking a crew member for the missing job number.
You decide
A named person approves the timesheets and decides what to do with hours that have no job.
I build workflows that read job software, timesheets and accounting software through their APIs. I keep the totals and the flags in rules and let the model draft the note to the crew member. A person approves the timesheets and decides what to do with hours that have no job.
The Job Profit Report build gives you each job’s margin every week from your job software and Xero or MYOB. It costs A$5,900 (AUD, no GST charged).9 Start with a free fit check by email at the foot of this page. If you are not sure which hours to record first, the next step is a Workflow Audit for A$990 (AUD, no GST charged). It is a 60-minute call, a read-only review of your systems and a written report, with a fixed quote for each of the top 3 things worth automating.9 This is the checklist I would work through with you in the audit.
Questions
Can you do job costing in Xero?
Xero says project tracking is included in the Ultimate plan for up to 10 people.3 On other plans, Xero says you can use a new payroll timesheet for each project to track its hours.1 A crew sheet or a job app then adds the job cost.
Can employees enter timesheets in Xero?
Yes. Xero says employees can fill in and submit timesheets in the Xero Me app or web portal.1
How do I approve timesheets in Xero?
Xero says you get a notification when a timesheet is submitted, then review, make any corrections and approve. Approved timesheets go into the pay run.1
Do I need start and finish times for every shift?
No. Where an overtime penalty rate or loading must be paid, regulation 3.34 asks for the overtime hours worked each day, or when overtime started and ended. For a casual or irregular part-time employee, regulation 3.33 asks for the hours worked.8 Your award may ask for more.
Sources
- 1. Xero, “Xero Payroll timesheet software: an engine for your pay” (Xero Payroll timesheets, AU), read 31 October 2026: xero.com/au/accounting-software/payroll/timesheet
- 2. Xero, “Time tracking and invoicing software for your team” (Xero time tracking, AU), read 31 October 2026: xero.com/au/accounting-software/track-projects/track-time
- 3. Xero, “Project tracking software that knows your numbers” (Xero Projects, AU, its FAQ on plans), read 31 October 2026: xero.com/au/accounting-software/track-projects
- 4. Xero, “Pricing Plans” (AU; prices in AUD and GST included, “Usually” list price, not the introductory offer), read 31 October 2026: xero.com/au/pricing
- 5. MYOB Support, MYOB Business, “Timesheets” (Payroll), read 31 October 2026: myob.com/au/support/myob-business/payroll/timesheets
- 6. MYOB Support, MYOB Business, “Jobs” (AccountRight), read 31 October 2026: myob.com/au/support/myob-business/projects/jobs
- 7. Harvest, “How to Calculate Hours Worked” (an undated page; used only for the minutes-to-decimal sum), read 3 November 2026: getharvest.com/time-tracking/how-to-calculate-hours-worked
- 8. Federal Register of Legislation, “Fair Work Regulations 2009”, Chapter 3, Part 3-6, Division 3 (employee records, regulations 3.31 to 3.44; Compilation No. 57, 1 October 2026, the current compilation, read 31 October 2026): legislation.gov.au/F2009L02356/latest/text
- 9. Works Better, “Pricing”, “Job profitability reporting” and “Workflow Audit”: worksbetter.ai/pricing (Job Profit Report A$5,900; Workflow Audit A$990; AUD, no GST charged), worksbetter.ai/job-profitability-reporting and worksbetter.ai/workflow-audit
Not sure which to fix first?
Get a free fit check by email and I will say whether it is worth automating. No call needed. The next step is a A$990 workflow audit: the top 3 things worth automating, with a fixed quote for each.
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