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Contractors are handled differently from employees in Visualcare. They’re created as suppliers or contacts in Xero (not as employees), and when you export contractor data, Visualcare exports the actual pay rate as an invoice under “Bills to Pay” in Xero rather than just hours.
Many providers don’t export contractor data from Visualcare - they handle contractor invoicing separately. Check with your finance team before setting up the full export workflow. If you’re not exporting, you only need to set Worker Type to Contractor on the worker profile.

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Setting up the worker profile

1

Open the worker profile

Go to Workers → Profile and select the contractor.
2

Configure the Finance tab

Scroll to the Finance tab and set:
  • Accounting Code - select the contractor from the Suppliers list (not from Employees). If they don’t appear in the list, they need to be created as a contact in Xero first.
  • Worker Type - select Contractor. This also allows them to add shifts for themselves in Vworker.
Click Save.

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Choosing a pay rate method

If you’re exporting contractor data, you need to decide how to handle pay rates. There are two methods:

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Method 1: Specific pay level per contractor

This method creates a unique pay level for each contractor (or group of contractors at the same rate).
1

Create the pay level label

Go to Settings → Data Export → Finance. Scroll to the Pay Level section, select an unused pay level, and rename it to identify the contractor (for example, “Contractor - John” or “Contractor Level 1”). Click Save.
2

Assign the pay level to the worker

Go to Workers → Profile, select the contractor, open the Finance tab, and set Pay Rate Level to the pay level you created. Click Save.
3

Add pay rates to services

Go to Maintenance → Services. For each service the contractor provides, enter their pay rate against the pay level you created. Click Save.
There is a hard cap of 48 pay levels. If you have multiple contractors at different rates for the same service, each needs a separate pay level. If you hit the cap, switch to Method 2.

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Method 2: Contractor-specific services

This method creates a unique service for each contractor. It involves more setup but has no pay level limit.
1

Create the contractor-specific service

Go to Maintenance → Services. Find the service the contractor provides and click Copy (or create a new service). Rename it to include the contractor’s name - for example, “Self-Care, Weekday, Daytime - Contractor Jack”. Enter the contractor’s pay rate for the appropriate pay level. Leave the billing and accounting codes the same. Click Save.
2

Assign the service when rostering

When rostering this contractor, select their contractor-specific service. The correct pay rate applies automatically.
Use clear naming conventions like “Service Name - Contractor FirstName” so rostering staff can easily find the right service.
  • No limit on the number of contractors
  • The service list gets longer (multiplied by the number of contractors)
  • Rostering staff need to select the correct contractor-specific service
  • Each contractor-specific service needs to be added to the relevant client agreements

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Exporting contractor data to Xero

Once contractors are rostered and shifts are confirmed:
1

Open data export

Go to Timesheets → Data Export and select your date range.
2

Select and export

Select the contractor shifts you want to export. Click Export Timesheets → Export Supply to Xero.The system checks that each worker has an accounting code mapped to a supplier and that each service has an accounting code.
3

Process the export

Click Process Export. In Xero, the export appears as an invoice under Bills to Pay with the contractor’s name and the amount based on their pay rate.
If you get a “No accounting code” error, make sure the service has an accounting code set (not the payroll code).

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Running into issues?

See Finance troubleshooting for common errors and fixes.

Creating a worker profile

Set up worker profiles in Visualcare

Pay rates

Configure pay rates and pay levels

Service management

Manage services and service codes

Exporting payroll data

Export timesheet data to your payroll software