How Do I Send Payroll Bank Transactions to Xero or MYOB (Bank Reconciliation)?

When creating a Direct Entry (ABA) file, Lightning Payroll can optionally submit matching bank transactions to Xero or MYOB. This gives each individual employee wage payment or super contribution its own entry in your accounting platform, making bank reconciliation easier. This is separate from the general ledger journal export — see How Can I Send Data To Xero From Lightning Payroll? or How Do I Submit General Ledger Journals and Bank Transactions to MYOB AccountRight? for journal-based exports.

In the Online (Web/Mobile) App

After selecting pays and reaching the Preview Payment Information step in the Direct Entry Wizard, you will see an optional dropdown labelled (Optional) Send Transactions To?. Select Xero or MYOB to enable bank transaction submission after the ABA file is generated.

Once you click Next from the preview step, the wizard will proceed to the relevant bank export screen.

Xero Bank Transaction Export

1. The Review Xero Transaction Export screen loads and displays the bank account that will be used for the transactions.
2. Select the Xero company (tenant) to submit to from the dropdown. If no tenant is connected yet, the app will open Xero in your browser to authorise access. Use Add Another Company/Tenant Connection to connect additional tenants if needed.
3. Confirm that the correct tenant is shown next to You are currently submitting to.
4. Click Submit to Xero. A success message will confirm the transactions were submitted. Any warnings returned by Xero will be displayed in a popup.

MYOB Bank Transaction Export

1. The Review MYOB Transaction Export screen loads, showing the MYOB company and the bank account to be used.
2. If this is your first time submitting, you will be asked to log in to MYOB in your browser.
3. Confirm the company shown next to You are currently submitting to is correct.
4. Click Submit to MYOB. A success message confirms the transactions were submitted.

In the Desktop App

In the Direct Entry Wizard (available from the Pays screen), the bank transaction export to Xero or MYOB is offered automatically on the Preview screen. Tick the option to send transactions to your accounting platform and then click Next. The wizard will present the Xero Authentication or MYOB Authentication screens, followed by the review and submission step, which works in the same way as the journal export.

The same bank transaction export is also available inside the SuperStream Direct Entry Wizard, allowing super contribution payments to be submitted as bank transactions to Xero.

Bank Account Requirements

Lightning Payroll matches each transaction to a bank account in your accounting platform using the accounts configured under Company >> Bank Accounts. The bank account names and details must match those in Xero or MYOB. If a match cannot be found, the submission will be blocked and you will be prompted to resolve the mismatch before proceeding.

In the desktop app, the relevant bank accounts for pays and super are set under Company >> Bank Accounts. These are used automatically during the export.

Important Note: Debit GL Codes (Desktop Only)

In the desktop app, only credit GL codes can be flagged to send to bank transactions. If you tick Send To Bank Transactions on a debit GL code under Company >> GL Codes, the setting will be cleared automatically with a warning. This restriction applies to the journal-based bank transaction option only; it does not affect the Direct Entry bank transaction export described above.