4 hrs
Monthly Payroll Time
reduced to minutes with Deputy and Xero integration
2
Process Failures Fixed
credit card separation and timesheet integration
1
Compliance Risk Flagged
uniform allowance not being paid under the award
-
INDUSTRY:
Dentist -
ISSUE:
Shared credit card across two companies causing bank reconciliation failures; non-integrated timesheet system producing four hours of manual payroll work per month; award entitlement not being paid -
OUTCOME:
Shared card separated, Xero bills workflow implemented, Deputy integrated with Xero, payroll time reduced, award compliance risk identified
The Situation
A dental practice owner came to a regular review session with a straightforward question: was there a faster way to manage the bills and payroll, because the current process was taking too long and the pressure on his administrative staff was beginning to reach the point where he was considering hiring an additional person to absorb the workload.
Rather than simply answering the question in isolation, Matthew worked through the accounts and the processes in detail with the practice owner during that session. What emerged was not one problem but three, each one independent of the others, each one with a solution that was available within or alongside the tools the practice was already using, and each one contributing to the administrative burden that was making the practice feel like it needed more people to run it.
Two of the three problems were resolved during or immediately following that conversation. The third was identified and formally flagged to the practice owner, but remains unresolved at the client’s own discretion.
All three are documented here because they represent the kind of practical, operational insight that a bookkeeper who knows a client’s systems well is positioned to provide, and because the unresolved issue carries compliance consequences that any business owner in a similar position should understand.
It’s another example of how we can help dental practices with their bookkeeping.
A bookkeeper's job is not only to maintain the accounts. It is to understand the processes behind the accounts well enough to identify when those processes are creating unnecessary cost, risk, or workload, and to say so clearly when they are
What We Found
1. One credit card being used across two separate Xero files
The practice operated through two separate companies, each with its own Xero file. This is a common structure for practices that have separated their operating entity from a property-holding entity, or that operate two distinct business activities under separate ABNs. The structure itself is appropriate and unremarkable. The problem was that both companies were using a single shared credit card for their expenditure.
When a single bank account or credit card feeds into two separate accounting files, the bank reconciliation breaks down immediately. Transactions that belong to Company A appear in Company B’s bank feed and vice versa, and the bookkeeper or the practice’s administrative staff must manually identify which transactions belong to which entity, code them to the correct file, and then process intercompany transfers to reflect the actual economic reality of what was paid by whom. For a credit card used across two active businesses, this process repeats with every statement cycle.
The receipt matching problem was equally disruptive. When staff were trying to match receipts to transactions, the same receipt might relate to a transaction that appeared in either Xero file, depending on which company had effectively paid for it through the shared card. Finding the right transaction in the right file, confirming the amounts matched, and completing the reconciliation was taking significantly more time than the task should require, and the risk of receipts being matched to the wrong entity was a standing reconciliation risk.
The solution was simple and required no new software. Matthew recommended applying for a second credit card from the same bank so that each company had its own dedicated card linked to its own Xero file. With one card per file, every transaction feeds into the correct accounting system automatically. The bank reconciliation works as it should. There are no intercompany transfers required to correct for shared card usage, and receipts match to transactions in a single file without staff needing to search across two systems to find them.
Matthew also recommended configuring the Xero bills inbox for each file using the Xero bills email address feature. Rather than staff manually uploading receipts by logging into each Xero file separately, receipts can be forwarded by email directly to the correct Xero file’s dedicated inbox address, where they are automatically queued in the draft bills section ready for coding. This removed another manual step from the process and reduced the search-and-match problem that had been creating delays.
Two companies sharing one credit card seems like a minor administrative convenience at the point the arrangement is made. By the time it has been running for several months, the reconciliation overhead it creates is anything but minor. One card per entity is the correct structure, and it is available from the same bank with a single application.
2. A non-integrated timesheet system producing four hours of manual payroll work every month
The practice was using a free timesheet application to record staff hours. Free timesheet tools vary significantly in their capabilities, and many are adequate for simple use cases where staff work fixed hours and payroll is straightforward. The tool the practice was using did not integrate with Xero, which meant that at the end of each pay period, the payroll person was manually transferring timesheet data from the timesheet system into Xero’s payroll module by hand.
This manual transfer was taking four hours every month. Four hours is not a trivial amount of time for a person who also has other responsibilities in a dental practice. It is the kind of ongoing time cost that accumulates without being formally acknowledged as a problem, because it is absorbed into the general workload rather than appearing as a discrete line item on anyone’s time sheet. The practice owner was aware that payroll took a while. He was not aware that the reason it took that long was a process inefficiency with a straightforward solution.
Beyond the time cost, there was a more significant problem embedded in the manual transfer process. Because the timesheet system did not apply award rate interpretation, the payroll person was manually calculating the applicable rates for each employee based on their own understanding of the relevant Modern Award. Modern Award pay rates in healthcare are not simple. They include base rates by classification level, penalty rates for evenings, weekends and public holidays, and various allowances, all of which vary depending on when the shift was worked and what the employee’s classification is. Calculating these correctly from a manual timesheet export, without software that interprets the award automatically, is difficult to do without errors, and difficult to verify without checking each calculation individually.
The solution Matthew recommended was Deputy. Deputy is a workforce management platform that integrates directly with Xero and is specifically designed for businesses operating under Modern Award conditions. Staff clock in and out through the Deputy app or through a tablet at the practice. When a pay period closes, the approved timesheets are exported directly from Deputy into Xero’s payroll module with the correct award rates already applied for each shift, each employee, and each time of day. The manual transfer step is eliminated entirely. The award rate calculation is handled by the software rather than by a person working from a spreadsheet.
The practical outcome is that the four hours of monthly payroll processing time is reduced to the time required to review and approve the export, which is a fraction of the previous effort. The award rate accuracy improves because the interpretation is handled by software configured for that purpose rather than by manual calculation. And the practice does not need to hire an additional administrative person to absorb a workload that was, at its core, a process problem rather than a volume problem.
Four hours of manual payroll processing every month is not a staffing problem. It is a systems problem. The right integration between a timesheet platform and the payroll software reduces that four hours to a review task measured in minutes, not an entry task measured in hours.
3. A uniform allowance required by the award was not being paid
During the review of the payroll setup and the Modern Award conditions applicable to the practice, Matthew identified that the staff were not receiving a uniform allowance to which they were entitled under the relevant award. The Health Professionals and Support Services Award, which covers dental assistants and practice staff, includes a uniform allowance for employees who are required to wear a uniform as a condition of their employment. This is not an optional entitlement and it is not something the employer can elect not to pay on the basis that it has not been paid historically.
Matthew raised this with the practice owner directly and documented the issue clearly. The practice owner was advised of the obligation, the applicable allowance amount under the current award, and the fact that the non-payment of the allowance represents an ongoing underpayment of all relevant staff for every pay period in which it has not been included.
The practice owner has chosen not to implement the change at this time. That is the client’s decision to make, and it has been recorded and acknowledged. It is documented here because the obligation does not disappear because it is not acted upon. An entitlement that is not paid accumulates as a liability with every pay run that passes. Under current Australian wage theft legislation, a pattern of systematic underpayment of an award entitlement is not treated as a minor administrative oversight. It is treated as a compliance failure with consequences that extend well beyond the back-payment of the amounts owed.
A uniform allowance that is not being paid is not a discretionary cost saving.
It is an award entitlement.
The liability for non-payment accumulates with every pay run, and the fact that it has not been paid historically does not reduce the obligation — it increases the exposure. This issue has been formally identified and remains the client's responsibility to address.
What did I do as the bookkeeper
Two of the three issues identified have been resolved.
1. The shared credit card arrangement is being separated, with a second card applied for to give each Xero file its own dedicated card and eliminate the intercompany reconciliation overhead. The Xero bills email inbox has been configured for both files so that receipts flow directly into the correct draft bills section without manual upload steps across two systems.
2. Deputy has been implemented and integrated with Xero, removing the four-hour monthly payroll processing task and replacing it with a review and approval step that takes a fraction of the time, while also improving the accuracy of award rate interpretation for every shift type.
The combined time saving from these two changes removes the operational pressure that was driving the practice owner to consider hiring an additional administrative person. The administrative workload has not been reduced because the practice is doing less. It has been reduced because the processes behind the work have been configured correctly.
The third issue, the uniform allowance, has been identified and documented but not yet resolved. The advice has been given. The risk has been explained. The decision about when and how to address it rests with the practice owner.
The outcomes
|
Two companies sharing one credit card causing bank reconciliation failures and intercompany transfer overhead |
Second credit card applied for — one card per Xero file; Xero bills email inbox configured for both files; receipt matching and reconciliation simplified |
|
Non-integrated timesheet system requiring four hours of manual payroll data entry every month |
Deputy implemented and integrated with Xero; timesheets export directly into Xero payroll with award rates applied; manual transfer eliminated |
|
Award rate interpretation done manually by payroll staff without software support, creating ongoing accuracy risk |
Deputy applies award rate interpretation automatically for each shift type, employee classification, and time of day; calculation accuracy no longer dependent on manual checking |
|
Uniform allowance required under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award not being paid to staff |
Issue identified and formally advised to the practice owner; compliance obligation documented; resolution pending client decision |
|
Administrative workload sufficient for the practice owner to consider hiring an additional admin staff member |
Two process changes implemented; equivalent of several hours per month returned to existing staff without additional headcount required |
Key Takeaways for dental practice owners
This case study is useful not because the problems it describes are unusual, but because they are exactly the kind of problems that go unaddressed for months or years in practices where the bookkeeper is managing the accounts but not reviewing the processes behind them.
- A shared bank account or credit card across two entities does not just create accounting complexity. It creates a reconciliation structure that will never work cleanly regardless of how much time is spent trying to make it work. The correct solution is one account per entity, not more effort applied to an incorrect structure.
- A timesheet system that does not integrate with the payroll software is not a free timekeeping tool. It is a manual data entry obligation that recurs every pay period. The time cost of that obligation, multiplied across twelve months, will typically exceed the cost of a properly integrated solution many times over.
- Modern Award interpretation should not be done manually by administrative staff working from memory or a reference document. A workforce management platform that applies award rates automatically reduces both the time cost and the compliance risk of payroll in a way that manual calculation cannot reliably replicate.
- An award entitlement that is not being paid does not become less of a liability because it has been overlooked for a long time. It becomes more of one. If a regular bookkeeping review identifies an entitlement that is not being met, acting on that advice promptly is significantly less expensive than acting on it after a Fair Work investigation.
- The question of whether a practice needs more administrative staff is sometimes a staffing question. It is often a systems question. Before adding headcount to absorb an administrative workload that is growing, it is worth establishing whether the workload exists because the business genuinely needs more people or because the processes are not as efficient as they could be with the right tools and integrations in place.
