Counting people on payroll from Xero pay runs
This guide covers Australian Xero Payroll only. Ask Alex can count how many different employees appeared in posted pay runs between two dates, with a receipt listing every pay run and payslip behind the number.
By Manny Sidhu · Practical guide · Published · Updated
Australian Xero Payroll only
The payroll count works only for Xero organisations set up in Australia, because it reads Xero's Australian payroll records. For an organisation in any other country, Ask Alex says the payroll reader supports Australian Xero organisations and gives no count.
Xero Payroll for New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other regions is not read today.
What the count means
The figure is the number of distinct employees who had a payslip in at least one posted pay run whose payment date falls within your dates. Each employee is counted once, however many payslips they received in that time.
Draft pay runs are not included. Payslips with zero net pay are included, because the employee still appeared in a posted pay run.
This is not the number of people employed on the last day of the period, it is not a full-time equivalent figure, and it does not prove that wages reached anyone's bank account.
Permission it needs
Reading pay runs needs separate, read-only permission in Xero. On the Integrations page, the Xero card has a button called Enable payroll and reports for Alex. Until that permission is approved, Ask Alex says so and gives no count.
The Xero user who approves the connection also needs access to payroll in Xero. If the pay runs cannot be read in full, Ask Alex suggests checking that the user has Payroll Admin access, or asking about a shorter period.
Complete, or no number at all
Ask Alex reads the list of posted pay runs for your dates, then every payslip in each one, then reads the list again. If any pay run was added, removed, or changed in between, no count is given.
A count is also withheld if any pay run or payslip is missing, if a pay run has no payslips, or if the period holds more than 10,000 payslips or 2,000 or more pay runs. In each case the answer says that no partial employee count was returned.
Questions it answers differently
Questions about headcount on a particular date, full-time equivalents, current employment status, or named employees need employment history that Ask Alex does not read yet. For those, it explains what it can count instead and gives no substitute figure.
A payroll question has to be asked on its own. If it is combined with a sales or cash question, Ask Alex asks you to send the payroll part separately so neither part is left out.
Questions about wages, salaries, or payroll costs are a different measure, and no headcount is given in place of an answer to them.
What the receipt shows
The receipt shows the dates covered, when the pay runs were read, the assumptions above, and the calculation: count distinct employee IDs across every payslip in the complete list of posted pay runs.
It also lists each pay run with its payment date and the payslips it contains, so the count can be checked against Xero line by line.