The Accounting Export puts each pay run into your accounting system: its wages, allowances, super, deductions, PAYG withholding and net pay, each against the account you choose. Microkeeper sends it straight to Xero or Reckon, and makes an import file for other systems.

Required plan	All plans
Required access	Report and Payroll
To choose the accounting system and set up the Chart of Accounts	Settings

This guide covers how to:

Choose the accounting system for each ABN.
Map each line of a pay run to an account.
Fill blank lines with Smart Fill.
Break the export down by cost centre.
Send or export each pay run.

Accounting systems Microkeeper works with

Accounting system	How each pay run gets there	Guide
Xero	Sent to Xero as a bill	Xero
Reckon	Sent to Reckon as an invoice	Reckon
MYOB	A Transaction Journal file you import into MYOB	MYOB
QuickBooks	A journal CSV file you import into QuickBooks	QuickBooks
Microsoft Business Central	A general journal Excel file you import into Business Central	Business Central
Pronto	A journal CSV file you import into Pronto	Pronto
Companion Software	A journal CSV file	Below
Spreadsheet, or Other / Undecided	A journal CSV file for any other system	Below

Choose the accounting system for each ABN

Each ABN has its own accounting system, Chart of Accounts and mapping, so two businesses in one Microkeeper account can use different systems.

Navigate to Menu > Settings > General > Global, then click ABN and Pay Cycles.
Click the pencil beside the ABN.
In the Update ABN window, choose the system in Accounting.
Click Update ABN.

The ABN then shows its accounting system, and a Connect to Xero or Connect to Reckon button if it sends directly.

Before you've set up any pay cycles, you can choose it instead in Menu > Settings > General > Global > System Settings, under Accounting Suite. Once there are pay cycles, that setting shows Change Accounting Suite, which opens ABN and Pay Cycles.

Set up your accounts before the first export

The accounts you map pay run lines to come from the ABN's Chart of Accounts. For Xero and Reckon, connect and sync them from your accounting system. For every other system, add the accounts you post payroll to, using their codes from your accounting system. See Chart of Accounts.

Map each pay run line to an account

Navigate to Menu > Payroll > Payruns and open the pay run.
Click Complete Payrun, then 3. Export.
Under Assign Costs, give each line a Description, the words that appear on the journal line, and choose its Account. Choose a tracking category too, if the ABN has any.
Click Save Settings.

Assign Costs on Complete Payrun's 3. Export, with each line's Description and Account: Normal and Allowance to wages, SG Super to super, the Super expense to super payable, PAYG Withholding to PAYG payable, and Total Net to the bank account

Assign Costs lists the pay run in sections:

Total: the payments, split by Class, such as Normal, Allowance and SG Super.
Expenses: super and other costs you owe for your staff rather than pay them, usually mapped to a payable account such as super payable.
Deductions: amounts taken from pay, such as child support.
Tax: PAYG Withholding.
Total Net: what's paid into staff bank accounts, usually mapped to your bank account. Xero and Reckon don't take this line: you pay the bill or invoice from your bank.

The first time you open 3. Export, Microkeeper fills in the mapping for you from your account names, such as wages to your wages account. Check each line, change what's wrong, and click Save Settings.

Your mapping is saved for the next pay run. When a pay run has a line the mapping hasn't seen, such as a new allowance, that line is blank. Fill it in yourself, or click Smart Fill to fill it from your other lines (see Fill blank lines with Smart Fill), and save before you send.

Fill in many lines at once

Click Quick Fill to give lines the same Description, Account or tracking category. Choose Fill All or Fill Empty, tick what to fill, choose the values, and click Fill Fields.

To copy one line to another, click the copy button at the end of the line, then the paste button on each line to copy it to.

Quick Fill gives every line you tick the same values. To fill blank lines that each need their own values, such as each Location's wages to its own tracking category, use Smart Fill.

Fill blank lines with Smart Fill

Smart Fill fills in the Description, Account and tracking category of blank lines on Assign Costs. It learns from the lines you've already mapped, so a new allowance or a new Location's wages are filled the way you map lines like them.

On 3. Export, click Smart Fill at the top of Assign Costs.
If the Teach Smart Fill window opens, add the examples it asks for, then click Save examples & Smart Fill. See Teach Smart Fill with examples.
Wait while it fills the lines. This usually takes under a minute.
Check each highlighted line, then click Save Settings.

Assign Costs after Smart Fill: the bar says Smart Fill filled 1 line and 2 lines still need you, with Helpful?, Next line needing you and Undo all; the Super expense line is highlighted in purple with its own undo button, and PAYG Withholding and Total Net are still blank

Lines Microkeeper filled in from your account names count as blank until you save them, so save the first mapping before you click Smart Fill if you want it kept as it is.

Info

Smart Fill's values are suggestions. Check each highlighted line before you save, since the accounts you post to are your decision.

Teach Smart Fill with examples

Smart Fill needs at least one mapped line for each Location, Role or Job, and for each Class such as Allowance, before it fills the others like it. When some have none, the Teach Smart Fill window lists one example line for each.

Give each example a Description and an Account, and a tracking category if the ABN has any. The bar at the top counts the examples you've added.
To fill the rest for you to check, click Suggest remaining examples. Its suggestions are highlighted until you change them.
Click Save examples & Smart Fill. Your examples are saved with the mapping, then Smart Fill fills the other blank lines.

To give several examples the same values, use the copy button at the end of a row, then the paste button on each row to copy it to. Each field also has its own copy button when you hover over it.

The Teach Smart Fill window showing 1 of 3 examples added: the Allowance example has the Description Wages and a wages account, the SG Super and Normal examples are still blank, with Suggest remaining examples and Save examples and Smart Fill at the bottom

A Location, Role or Job you leave without an example stays blank for you to map. Without an example for a Class, Smart Fill is more likely to leave those lines blank.

Check and save what Smart Fill filled

Each field Smart Fill filled is highlighted in purple. The bar above the lines shows how many lines it filled and how many still need you.

Next line needing you moves to the next line that's still blank.
The undo button on a line puts that line back as it was. Undo all undoes every line Smart Fill filled.
Changing a highlighted field makes it yours, and it's no longer highlighted.
Save Settings keeps every highlighted value you haven't undone.

If you click Smart Fill again before saving, it asks you to accept its changes first. Click Save & fill again to save them and use them as examples for the lines still blank, or Save changes when nothing is left to fill.

The thumbs up and thumbs down beside Helpful? tell us how Smart Fill did. With thumbs down, you can say which lines it got wrong.

Break the export down by cost centre

Click Breakdown By and tick how to split each section into lines:

Title: each payment title on the payslips.
Date: each day.
Location, Role or Job: each cost centre.
Class: each Class, such as Normal or Allowance. This is the default.

Each line then gets its own Description, Account and tracking category, so you can post each Location's wages to its own account or tracking category. Class alone is enough for most businesses. Date adds a line for every day, which you'd check each pay run, so leave it off unless you need it.

When you change Breakdown By, the new lines start blank. Click Smart Fill to fill them from your saved mapping: it uses your earlier lines with the same title and Class, and asks for an example for any Location, Role or Job it can't match.

Breakdown By applies to every ABN. To split by Location, Role or Job, pay runs need to keep them. See Cost Centre Reporting.

Send or export each pay run

Once the mapping is saved, the button for your accounting system shows at the top of 3. Export:

Send to Xero or Send to Reckon sends the pay run to the connected organisation or book.
MYOB Export downloads a Transaction Journal, in Legacy (v19 or earlier) or Current (2015+) format.
Quickbooks Export, Microsoft Business Central Export, Pronto Export, Companion Software Export, Spreadsheet Export or Other Export downloads a file to import.

Each line is dated the pay run's Payment Date. Send or export a pay run once it's locked, so its amounts don't change after you've posted them.

Export for Companion Software or a spreadsheet

Companion Software Export downloads a CSV with the columns GL ACCOUNT, DATE, DETAILS, QUANTITY, DR, CR and BAS.

Spreadsheet Export, and Other Export for an ABN set to Other / Undecided, download a CSV journal for any other system, with the columns Date, Journal Name, Description, Account Number, Account Name, Debit Amount, Credit Amount, Amount and a column for each tracking category.

Accounting Export troubleshooting

Where's the button to send or export my pay run?

It shows once every line has a Description and an Account and you've clicked Save Settings. Look for a blank line, often a new payment or allowance, fill it in or click Smart Fill, and save.

Where do I choose Xero or MYOB?

Each ABN has its own accounting system. In ABN and Pay Cycles, click the ABN's pencil, choose it in Accounting and click Update ABN. See Choose the accounting system for each ABN.

Why can't I find an account in the Account list?

The list is the ABN's Chart of Accounts. Add the account there, or for Xero and Reckon, click Sync Accounts to bring in accounts added since you last synced. See Chart of Accounts.

Why did Smart Fill leave some lines blank?

The bar above the lines says why. Smart Fill leaves a field blank:

When it isn't sure of the value. Fill it in yourself.
When the line's Location, Role or Job has no mapped line. Map one line for it, or click Smart Fill again and add an example.
When there are more lines than it fills in one go. Click Smart Fill again for the next lines.
When the service didn't answer. Click Smart Fill again.

Why does Smart Fill say it needs an example?

The lines still blank are all for a Location, Role or Job with no mapped line, so Smart Fill has nothing to learn from. Click Smart Fill and add an example for it in the Teach Smart Fill window, or map one of those lines yourself and save. See Teach Smart Fill with examples.

How do I undo what Smart Fill filled?

Before you save, click the undo button on a line to put it back, or Undo all to undo every line. After you click Save Settings, the values are your mapping: change them on the line like any other.

Guides

Accounting Export