PayCat

The PayCat integration connects Astalty to payroll so an approved timesheet batch can be validated and sent directly, or exported as a compatible CSV.

What It Does

• Sync timesheet batches directly to PayCat, or export them as a compatible CSV.
• Link your team to PayCat employee profiles.
• Map pay groups so each shift is paid at the right rate - including per-shift pay group overrides and separate work types for work either side of a sleepover.
• Map cost codes to PayCat locations so wages are split across your business.
• Sync approved leave into payroll when Leave is available, leave types are mapped and Sync leave automatically is enabled.
• Configure sleepover shift export behaviour to match your payroll requirements.
• Send custom allowances from shifts as their own timesheet lines, each mapped to a work type.

How It Works

Once connected and configured, the integration is driven from timesheet batches. When you export or sync a batch, Astalty uses the pay group attached to each shift and its optional cost code mapping. When automatic leave sync is enabled, approved Astalty leave is queued for creation in PayCat.

Astalty reuses the mappings on every sync. After setup, approve timesheets and send the batch.

PayCat Interprets the Award, Not Astalty

Astalty sends PayCat the hours worked and the work type each line belongs to - ordinary hours, kilometres, sleepover, and so on. PayCat applies your award rules to those lines and works out penalties, overtime and allowances.

This is the opposite of the Xero payroll integration, where Astalty interprets the award itself and sends Xero pay lines that are already classified. Two consequences on a PayCat account:

• Pay group mapping has work types only - there are no Saturday, Sunday, public holiday, afternoon, night, overtime or allowance slots to map for shifts, because PayCat derives them.
• On-call is the exception. Astalty interprets it itself and sends each on-call rate on its own work type, so a pay group whose workers are on call maps its on-call rows too. See Mapping On-Call Pay Items.
• A timesheet batch's Award Interpretation tab still shows Astalty's own interpretation of the shift, with a note that PayCat calculates award pay itself from the timesheets Astalty sends, so what it pays can differ from these figures.

Astalty still interprets the award for scheduling costs, award alerts and the Award Pay Report, but they use Astalty's implemented rules and rates. They can differ from PayCat, so review the relevant award limitations and the final pay run.

Connecting It

Choose PayCat as the payroll platform before connecting the integration.

1. Set PayCat as your payroll platform. Go to Settings > Scheduling and, under Payroll & Awards, set the Platform to PayCat.
2. Connect the integration. Go to Settings > Integrations - the PayCat card now appears. Select Connect and follow the prompts to authorise the connection. Once authorised, choose the PayCat business Astalty should sync with. See Businesses and employing entities.
3. Configure it. Once connected, select Configure to link employees, map pay groups, cost codes and leave types, and set sleepover export behaviour.

Cost Codes appears only when cost codes are enabled for the account. Custom Allowances appears when your account uses custom allowances; map each one to the PayCat work type that pays it.

Businesses and Employing Entities

The business you choose is a payroll file, with its own employees, settings and pay runs. The list contains every business the PayCat user who authorised the connection can access, so if a payroll file is missing, that user needs access to it in PayCat.

Additional employing entities - extra ABNs that pay some of the employees inside that same payroll file - are never listed there, because PayCat assigns each employee to an entity on their own employee record. Once a business is selected, the PayCat card lists any additional employing entities inside it, so you can confirm your other entity is already covered.

Astalty uses the same payroll connector and mapping workflow for PayCat and Employment Hero, so Businesses and Employing Entities there explains the shared behaviour in full.

Employees

Open Settings > Integrations > PayCat > Configure > Employees. Link each Astalty user who will appear in a timesheet batch to one PayCat employee. The bulk link drawer automatically suggests employees with matching email addresses; review every suggestion before selecting Link Employees. One PayCat employee cannot be linked to more than one Astalty user.

For the complete filter, bulk link and bulk pay group workflow, see Employees. The controls use the PayCat label on a PayCat account.

Sending Timesheet Batches

Once employees and pay groups are mapped, open a timesheet batch and use the Actions menu:

• Send to PayCat - validates the batch, then creates the timesheets in PayCat. The PayCat Sync Results card shows the status, number of timesheets sent, any failure reason and employees whose lines were dropped.
• Replace in PayCat - available after a batch has been sent. Deletes every timesheet in PayCat between the batch's start and end dates and replaces it with the current batch, so use it instead of sending twice.
• Export PayCat Timesheet (CSV) - produces a CSV you can import into PayCat by hand.

Validation runs before anything is sent. Blocking errors stop the send; warnings don't, and leave an Export anyway button. See Employment Hero validation errors - the checks are identical, just named after PayCat.

Switching From Another Payroll Platform

Changing Settings > Scheduling > Payroll & Awards > Platform changes labels and the authorisation host, but it does not remove the saved payroll credentials or selected business.

1. Open the existing payroll integration under Settings > Integrations and select Disconnect.
2. Change Platform to PayCat.
3. Connect PayCat, choose its business and review every employee, pay group, cost code and leave mapping before sending a batch.