For Admins and Managers: Use this article to review leave requests, manage impacted shifts, authorise leave, and create Xero leave requests when required.
Staff members should use Create Leave Request to submit their own leave request. They should contact their manager or administrator if they need help with an existing request.
Important: Creating or updating leave requests in Xero may affect payroll records, leave balances, staffing coverage, and rostered shifts. Only complete these actions when you are authorised to manage leave and payroll information.
Review Impacted Shifts
A leave request may overlap with rostered shifts.
Review the affected shifts before you authorise the request so you can understand whether the leave will affect staffing coverage, rosters, timesheets, or payroll.
The system may identify impacted shifts that overlap with the requested leave dates.
Important: Review the affected shifts before cancelling, converting, or changing them. Shift updates may affect timesheets, payroll, staff availability, and roster coverage.
Manage Impacted Shifts
When a leave request overlaps with scheduled shifts, review each affected shift and choose the appropriate action based on your organisation’s process.
Available actions may include:
Cancelling the affected shift, if it is no longer required.
Converting the shift to a different shift type, where appropriate.
Reviewing whether the shift should remain available for another staff member.
Managing the shift through the roster workflow before continuing with the leave request.
Use your organisation’s approved roster process before changing any affected shift.
Understand the Leave Request Process
The leave request process may include three stages:
Authorise Leave Request
Confirm that the leave request can proceed.Update the Request Status
Move the request to the appropriate status based on your organisation’s workflow.Create a Xero Leave Request
Create the corresponding Xero leave request when the request is ready for payroll processing.
Your organisation’s workflow may vary depending on permissions, configuration, and payroll setup.
Authorise the Leave Request
Open the leave request you need to review.
Before authorising the request, check:
Staff member
Leave type
Leave dates
Requested hours
Supporting notes or information
Any impacted shifts
Current request status
Important: Review the staff member, leave type, dates, requested hours, supporting information, and any impacted shifts before authorising the leave request. Authorising leave may affect staffing coverage, roster availability, payroll, and leave balances.
Select the authorisation action available in the leave request.
The request may then become available for the next stage in your organisation’s leave workflow.
Update the Leave Request Status
After the request is authorised, update the request status when required.
Available status options may depend on your organisation’s leave workflow and permissions.
Before changing the status, confirm that:
The request has been reviewed.
Any impacted shifts have been handled.
The leave request details are correct.
The request is ready for the next stage.
Do not change the status of a request unless you understand how the change affects payroll, leave balances, reporting, and staff visibility.
Check Xero Mapping Before Creating a Request
Before creating a Xero leave request, confirm that:
Xero is connected and authenticated.
The staff member is mapped to the correct Xero employee.
The leave type is mapped to the correct Xero leave type.
The leave request has reached the required status.
The number of hours is correct.
The correct pay calendar is selected.
You may need to review the staff member’s Xero mapping or Finance leave type setup before continuing.
Create a Xero Leave Request
Open the authorised leave request.
Select Create Xero Leave Request when the option is available.
In the Xero leave request window, review and complete the required fields:
Xero Leave Type
Number of Hours
Pay Period
Important: Confirm the correct staff member, Xero leave type, number of hours, and pay calendar before selecting Submit. Incorrect or duplicate Xero leave requests may affect payroll and leave balances.
Important: If the employee has no available leave balance in Xero, the Create Within Xero button may be unavailable. Review the employee’s Xero leave balance and payroll setup before trying again.
Select Create Within Xero to create the leave request in Xero.
The option may only appear after the leave request has been authorised and reaches the required status in your organisation’s workflow.
Review the Xero Leave Request
After creating the Xero leave request, confirm that it has been created successfully.
Depending on your setup, you may be able to review:
The mapped Xero leave type
The number of leave hours
The selected pay calendar
The staff member’s leave balance
The leave request record in Xero
After the leave type is mapped and the request is authorised, it may be available to create in Xero, depending on your organisation’s Xero integration, staff mapping, leave setup, and payroll configuration.
Important Notes
Only authorised users should authorise leave requests or create leave requests in Xero.
Review impacted shifts before changing, cancelling, or converting rostered shifts.
Confirm the staff member is mapped to the correct Xero employee before creating a Xero leave request.
Confirm the leave type is mapped to the correct Xero leave type before submitting.
Check the number of hours and pay calendar carefully before creating a leave request in Xero.
Do not create a second Xero leave request if one may already exist.
Changes to leave requests or Xero leave records may affect payroll, leave balances, roster coverage, and reporting.
Leave requests may require different actions depending on your organisation’s workflow and permissions.
Use Create Leave Request for staff instructions on submitting leave.
Use Review and Update Leave Requests to review or update internal leave request details.
Use Configure Leave Management to manage leave settings, employment type availability, and notifications.
Use Finance Leave Types to create and map leave types for Finance and Xero.
Troubleshooting
I cannot authorise a leave request
Confirm that you have permission to authorise leave requests.
Check that the request includes all required details.
Confirm that the staff member, leave type, and dates are correct.
Review any impacted shifts.
Ask an administrator to review your role permissions if the authorise option is unavailable.
I cannot create a Xero leave request
Confirm that Xero is connected and authenticated.
Check that the staff member is mapped to a Xero employee.
Confirm that the leave type is mapped to the correct Xero leave type.
Check that the leave request has reached the required status.
Confirm that the pay calendar and number of hours are correct.
Check that you have Finance or Xero permissions.
The Create Xero Leave Request button is missing
Confirm that the leave request has been authorised.
Check that the request is in the required workflow status.
Confirm that staff mapping and leave-type mapping are complete.
Check whether Xero is connected and authenticated.
Ask an administrator to review the Xero integration and Finance permissions.
The wrong Xero leave request was created
Do not create another Xero leave request.
Check whether the request already exists in Xero.
Notify the authorised payroll or Finance administrator.
Correct the request using your organisation’s approved payroll process.
Confirm the correct staff member, leave type, hours, and pay calendar before attempting another request.
The leave request overlaps with rostered shifts
Review all impacted shifts before changing the leave request.
Check whether the shifts should be cancelled, changed, reassigned, or managed through the roster workflow.
Confirm any changes follow your organisation’s rostering and payroll process.
Review the updated roster before finalising the leave request.