How-to
Customising Xero account codes
Settings > Payroll > Account codes. Override the 6 defaults (477 wages, 478 ERNIC, 479 ERPension, 814 wages payable, 815 PAYE/NI payable, 816 pension payable).
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Default Xero chart-of-accounts mapping
The Xero CSV export uses these account codes by default:
| Code | Account name (Xero defaults) | What flows here |
|---|---|---|
| 477 | Wages and Salaries | Gross pay (debit) |
| 478 | NI - Employer NICs | Employer NI (debit) |
| 479 | Pension - Employer Contributions | Employer pension (debit) |
| 814 | Wages Payable | Net pay (credit — what you'll pay employees) |
| 815 | PAYE & NI Payable | Tax + employee NI (credit — what you'll pay HMRC) |
| 816 | Pension Payable | Employee + employer pension (credit — what you'll pay provider) |
The CSV creates one balanced manual journal per pay run, dated as the payment date, with these accounts.
Why customise
Your Xero chart of accounts might use different codes. Common reasons:
- You've renamed Wages Payable to something else (e.g. 825)
- You split staff costs by department (different code per cost centre)
- You use multi-currency and need region-specific codes
How to override
- Settings > Payroll > Account codes.
- Edit any of the 6 fields:
- Wages account (default 477)
- Employer NI account (default 478)
- Employer pension account (default 479)
- Wages payable account (default 814)
- PAYE/NI payable account (default 815)
- Pension payable account (default 816)
- Save.
Future pay-run exports use the new codes. Existing exports are unchanged.
Validation
The Xero API rejects journals with non-existent account codes. If your codes don't exist in Xero's chart of accounts, the import will fail. Always set up the chart of accounts in Xero first, then map here.
Sage + BrightPay
Sage 50 Payroll and BrightPay use their own internal account models — no customisation needed in Blankitt. The CSV is per-employee variable-pay data; both systems ingest it without needing chart-of-account mapping.