PayCat

The PayCat integration connects Astalty to your payroll so approved timesheets flow straight through, without exporting and importing CSV files by hand.

What it does

• Sync timesheet batches directly to PayCat, or export them as a compatible CSV.
• 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, creating a matching leave application automatically.
• Configure sleepover shift export behaviour to match your payroll requirements.

How it works

Once connected and configured, the integration is driven from your timesheet batches. When you export or sync a batch, Astalty pushes each timesheet line to PayCat using the pay group (and any cost code) attached to the shift. Leave approved in Astalty is created in PayCat in the background.

Mappings are set once and then applied on every sync, so day-to-day you simply 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, because PayCat derives them.
• 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

Setting up PayCat is a two-step process - first choose it as your payroll platform, then connect 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 map your pay groups, cost codes, and leave types, and to set your sleepover export behaviour.

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.

PayCat runs on the same payroll platform as Employment Hero, so Businesses and employing entities there explains this in full.

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 on the batch shows the outcome, including any lines that failed and why.
• 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.