> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.visualcare.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Pay Cat Connect
> Set up Pay Cat Connect for automated SCHADS Award interpretation, award-aware rostering, and payroll export
Visualcare integrates with Pay Cat Connect to bring automated SCHADS (Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services) Award interpretation into your rostering and payroll workflows. This removes the need for manual award calculations and helps you stay compliant while controlling costs.
The integration delivers two features:
| Feature | What it does |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Award-Aware Rostering (AAR) | Displays real-time SCHADS award cost implications when allocating shifts on the client roster, so rostering staff can make informed decisions before finalising schedules |
| Timesheet Interpretation | Interprets completed timesheets against the SCHADS Award and exports costed payroll data to Xero or MYOB |
If you're using the legacy KeyPay-API integration, see [Pay Cat integration](/integrations/paycat) for that setup. Pay Cat Connect is a separate product with different configuration.
### Current scope
* **Supported award:** SCHADS Award only
* **Supported payroll systems:** Xero and MYOB (API and manual export)
* **Award-Aware Rostering** is available on the client roster only - location roster support is planned
* **One award sector per worker** - multi-sector support is planned for a future release
## Award-Aware Rostering
Award-Aware Rostering gives rostering staff live visibility of the SCHADS award cost implications for each shift they allocate. Rather than discovering payroll surprises after the fact, your team can see how scheduling decisions affect costs in real time and respond before shifts are locked in.
### How it works
When allocating a worker to a shift on the client roster, Visualcare sends the shift details - along with any previously worked shifts in the same pay period - to Pay Cat for award interpretation. Pay Cat returns a costed breakdown displayed on screen using colour-coded indicators.
Shift history is linked across the pay period. If a worker has already worked 11 hours earlier in the week, the system factors those hours in when costing the next shift, giving an accurate picture of cumulative overtime exposure.
### Warning types
| Indicator | What it means |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Informational (blue) | The shift attracts a penalty rate due to timing - for example, an afternoon or night rate. No action needed; this is for awareness only. |
| Payroll warning (amber or red) | A SCHADS condition has been triggered that increases the cost. Examples include overtime, broken shift allowance, or minimum engagement hours. Review the shift and consider reallocating. |
## Setting up Pay Cat Connect
Before AAR can display award costs, each worker needs to be correctly configured in Visualcare. There are three areas to set up: the worker profile, service payroll code mappings, and business-level configuration.
### Worker profile - Finance tab
Go to the worker profile and open the **Finance** tab. Set the following fields:
| Field | What to enter |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Payrate Level | The worker's SCHADS pay level. Maps to the correct pay item in Xero or MYOB when exporting. |
| Receive First Aid Allowance | Tick if this worker is entitled to a first aid allowance. Applied per hour worked. |
| Worker Type | Set to **Full-time**, **Part-time**, or **Casual**. This determines base award rates and conditions. Workers set to any other type (for example, Broker or Contractor) won't be sent to Pay Cat. |
| Accounting Code | The mapping code used in your payroll system. Needed for the Xero or MYOB export. |
| Email | The worker's email address. This needs to match Pay Cat. |
If **Worker Type** is not set to Full-time, Part-time, or Casual, the worker's data saves in Visualcare but won't be sent to Pay Cat. You may see an error message - this is expected behaviour. The worker also won't appear in award-aware rostering costs.
### Worker profile - Engagement Details tab
Scroll to the **Award Details** section within the **Engagement Details** tab and complete the following:
| Field | What to enter |
| ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Award | Select **SCHADS Award**. This is the only supported award. |
| Award Sector | Select the sector that best describes the worker's primary service type (see guidance below). |
| Award Pay Level and Pay Point | The worker's pay level within the award - for example, 2.1. Invalid combinations are rejected by Pay Cat with an error. The worker saves in Visualcare but the record doesn't sync to Pay Cat until corrected. |
When you save, Visualcare stores the data locally first, then sends it to Pay Cat. You may briefly see an "Updating Pay Cat" message. If Pay Cat rejects the record (for example, an invalid pay level and point combination), an error message appears. The data is saved in Visualcare but won't exist in Pay Cat until you correct the issue and save again.
| If you deliver... | Select... |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ |
| NDIS or disability services | Disability Services (under Social and Community) |
| Support at Home or aged care | Home Care |
| Mixed NDIS and Support at Home | Select the worker's predominant service type |
Only one award sector can be assigned per worker. If a worker regularly provides both NDIS and Support at Home services, this scenario isn't yet fully supported. A sector override capability is planned for a future release.
### Service payroll code mapping
When Pay Cat Connect is enabled, a payroll category mapping screen becomes available under **Maintenance** → **Services**. Each SCHADS payroll category needs to be mapped to the corresponding pay item in your Xero or MYOB account. When Pay Cat interprets a timesheet, it uses this mapping to assign the correct pay code in the export.
Go to **Maintenance** → **Services** and open the **Pay Cat Mapping** screen.
For each payroll category listed on the left, select or enter the matching pay item from your payroll system. Once all applicable codes have been entered, click **Save**.
If you use the Xero or MYOB API, the dropdown auto-populates with your live pay items. For MYOB without API access, enter the code manually.
Categories that need to be mapped as a minimum:
* Casual hours
* Afternoon shift and night shift
* Sleepover
* Saturday, Sunday, and public holiday
* Overtime 1.5x and overtime 2x
* Shift spans (double time) - distinct from overtime 2x, with different tax and super implications, so map it to its own pay item
* Broken shift allowance
* Top-up hours (minimum engagement)
* Vehicle allowance - taxable and non-taxable (two separate codes)
* Overtime meal allowance
If any of the above Pay Cat categories haven't been mapped when you export, you'll see an error.
The legacy integration used a service-level payroll matrix where you mapped a payroll code for each pay level for each service. With Pay Cat Connect, you map pay categories once. Pay Cat's interpretation determines which category applies based on the time worked, and the mapped pay code is used in the export.
### Business configuration
A small amount of business-level setup is needed under **Settings** → **Integrations**:
* **Pay period configuration** - weekly or fortnightly. This determines how pay period overtime is calculated (38 hours weekly, 76 hours fortnightly)
* **Payroll start date** - the day your pay period begins. This isn't always Monday - some providers run Wednesday to Tuesday - and it's how Pay Cat knows where the period starts and finishes
* **Business or provider name** - passed to Pay Cat for account identification
The interpretation logic itself is configured by Pay Cat and doesn't need to be set up by the provider. All new providers get the base SCHADS implementation by default.
## AAR scenarios and warnings
The following scenarios describe the SCHADS award conditions that Visualcare and Pay Cat detect and surface to rostering users.
To interpret a shift, select a worker when creating a service in the client's roster and click **Interpret Award**. If shift conflicts exist in the worker's roster, you'll need to resolve them before interpretation can succeed. Go to the worker's roster and identify conflicts highlighted in orange.
### Daily overtime
Under the SCHADS Award, a worker who works more than 10 hours in a single day is entitled to overtime rates for the additional hours.
| Hours worked (day) | Rate applied |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------ |
| Up to 10 hours | Ordinary rate |
| First two hours after 10 hours | 1.5x ordinary rate |
| After 12 hours | 2x ordinary rate |
Visualcare chains shifts across the pay period. If a worker has already completed an 11-hour shift earlier in the week, any additional hours rostered immediately attract higher overtime rates. The AAR panel reflects this cumulative position.
A long shift may also trigger an overtime meal allowance. You can configure whether this applies based on whether a meal has been provided during the shift.
A worker already has 11 hours logged for the day. A new two-hour shift is rostered.
* Hour one of the new shift = 1.5x (their 12th hour for the day)
* Hour two of the new shift = 2x (their 13th hour for the day)
The rosterer should consider reallocating to a worker with fewer hours logged.
### Pay period overtime
In addition to daily overtime, the SCHADS Award sets an overtime threshold for the full pay period:
* **Weekly pay period:** 38 ordinary hours per week
* **Fortnightly pay period:** 76 ordinary hours per fortnight
Once a worker exceeds these thresholds, additional hours attract overtime rates. The threshold resets at the start of the next pay period.
| Hours worked (pay period) | Rate applied |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| Up to 38 hours (weekly) or 76 hours (fortnightly) | Ordinary rate |
| First two hours over threshold | 1.5x ordinary rate |
| All further hours beyond that | 2x ordinary rate |
This is most likely to be triggered when a worker has a regular series of shifts for one client and picks up additional shifts for another, pushing them over the threshold without the rosterer necessarily noticing.
### Broken shift allowance
A broken shift occurs when a worker has two shifts in a day with an unpaid break of more than one hour between them. Under the default Pay Cat configuration, any break exceeding one hour triggers the broken shift allowance.
| Condition | Outcome |
| ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Break between shifts under one hour | No broken shift allowance (travel time assumed) |
| Break between shifts over one hour | Broken shift allowance triggered |
| 12-hour span rule | If the total span from start of first shift to end of last shift exceeds 12 hours, a separate broken shift condition may also apply |
The one-hour broken shift threshold is adjustable. If your enterprise agreement or internal policy uses a different threshold - for example, 30 minutes - contact Pay Cat to update this setting.
Travel time isn't accounted for at the rostering level because it's captured at the timesheet level after the shift is worked. You may see a broken shift warning on the roster for a shift with, say, a 90-minute gap, even though some of that gap will ultimately be paid as travel time. Once travel time is recorded on the timesheet, Pay Cat recalculates and the broken shift may no longer apply.
### Minimum engagement (top-up hours)
Under the SCHADS Award, workers are entitled to a minimum number of hours per engagement depending on their sector and employment type. The minimum engagement is two hours for workers in the Disability Services and Home Care sectors, and three hours for workers in other sectors. If a rostered shift is shorter than the minimum, the worker is paid for the minimum period regardless.
Pay Cat detects this and surfaces a warning in the AAR panel. The system also calculates and includes the top-up hours in the timesheet interpretation when the export is processed.
A casual worker's minimum engagement is two hours. The rosterer schedules a one-hour shift. Pay Cat returns a top-up of one additional hour, so the worker is paid for two hours in total.
### Allowances
Pay Cat detects and applies the following allowances where relevant:
| Allowance | When triggered |
| -------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| First aid allowance | The worker has **Receive First Aid Allowance** ticked in their profile. Applied per hour worked. |
| Overtime meal allowance | The worker works an extended shift and a meal has not been provided. Configurable per provider at roster level using unpaid break. |
| Vehicle allowance (taxable) | Kilometres recorded where tax applies above the ATO threshold. |
| Vehicle allowance (non-taxable) | Kilometres recorded within the ATO tax-free threshold. A separate pay code needs to be mapped. |
| Afternoon and night penalty | Informational only. The shift falls within a penalty period. No action needed. |
| Saturday, Sunday, public holiday | Higher rates apply automatically based on when the shift falls. |
Previously, kilometre reimbursements were exported as a single amount and you had to manually split the taxable and non-taxable portions. With Pay Cat Connect, this split happens automatically. You just need to map each portion to the correct pay item in your payroll software.
## Timesheet interpretation
Timesheet Interpretation automates the SCHADS award calculation for completed timesheets and exports a costed payroll file to Xero or MYOB. This replaces manual award calculation and the reliance on vAir for payroll interpretation.
### How it works
Review timesheets in Visualcare as per your normal processes.
Go to **Timesheets** → **Data Export**, select the timesheet data you want to export, and click **Send to Pay Cat**.
A loading bar appears while Pay Cat applies the award rules.
Click **View Details** to review the costed breakdown. Pay Cat applies the SCHADS award rules and returns a breakdown of hours and pay codes.
Select the items you want to export, click **Export to Payroll**, and select the appropriate accounting software export option. Confirm the export.
Visualcare maps the interpreted results to your Xero or MYOB pay items using the payroll category mappings you set up earlier.
### Who this applies to
Timesheet Interpretation is relevant for providers using Xero or MYOB who don't have native SCHADS award interpretation in their payroll system. If you already use KeyPay or Pay Cat as your payroll software, you won't typically use this export - your payroll system handles award interpretation natively.
### Workers included in the export
Only workers with **Worker Type** set to Full-time, Part-time, or Casual are included in the Pay Cat export. When you send to Pay Cat from **Timesheets** → **Data Export**, you may see some errors. This can be due to accounting codes missing or workers not existing in Pay Cat.
Workers classified as Broker, Contractor, or other types can still be exported using the existing payroll export method in Visualcare Data Export - the two processes run independently.
### Custom variations and enterprise agreements
The base SCHADS implementation applies to all providers. Some providers may have:
* Variations to standard SCHADS provisions - for example, different meal break rules
* Enterprise agreements with their own classifications and rates
These are supportable by Pay Cat but need a scoping consultation with the Pay Cat team to configure.
## Common issues
| Error or issue | Cause | Fix |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Worker saved but Pay Cat error appears | Invalid pay level/point combination, or Worker Type not set to Full-time, Part-time, or Casual | Correct the field and save again. The worker saved in Visualcare but was rejected by Pay Cat. |
| "Cannot calculate shift costing" | Shift conflicts exist in the worker's roster | Go to the worker's roster, identify conflicts (highlighted in orange), and resolve them |
| Worker not appearing in award-aware rostering | Worker Type not set to Full-time, Part-time, or Casual | Update **Worker Type** on the **Finance** tab |
| Worker not appearing in Pay Cat export | Worker Type not set to Full-time, Part-time, or Casual | Update **Worker Type** on the **Finance** tab. Use legacy export for Broker or Contractor types. |
| Broken shift not showing where it used to | Pay Cat's default threshold is one hour; the previous system triggered on any gap | Expected behaviour. If the gap is under one hour, no broken shift allowance applies. |
| Accounting code missing on export | Accounting code not set on the worker's **Finance** tab | Add the accounting code |
| "Updating Pay Cat" message then error | Configuration issue on the worker profile | Check all required fields: Worker Type, Award, Award Sector, Pay Level/Point |
| Travel time not reducing broken shift at roster level | Travel time is captured at timesheet level only | Expected behaviour. Once travel is recorded on the timesheet, Pay Cat recalculates. |
| Costing differs from expectations but the data looks correct | The dayworker or shiftworker designation is wrong, or Pay Cat tags are missing or incorrect | Check the Pay Cat tags are set correctly - this is a data configuration issue, not an interpretation problem. Note that uniform and laundry tags are not available in the Visualcare integration. |
| Workers not synced after setup | Workers were configured before Pay Cat Connect was enabled on the database | Re-save each affected worker profile to trigger the sync (change a Pay Cat-relevant field and save, then change it back) |
| Export to Xero shows error but data may have arrived | Known issue with blank response | Always check Xero draft timesheets before retrying the export |
| "Timesheet with ID cannot be sent to Pay Cat because the worker does not exist in Pay Cat" | Worker was configured before Pay Cat Connect was enabled, or Worker Type is not Full-time, Part-time, or Casual | Re-save the worker profile to trigger sync. If Worker Type is wrong, correct it first. |
## Running into issues?
See [Integration troubleshooting](/troubleshooting/integration-issues) for more errors and fixes.
## Related articles
The legacy KeyPay-API integration for payroll export
How award interpretation works during rostering
Export timesheet data to your payroll software
Sync worker data and compliance from Employment Hero