Kilometres sync

How Visualcare captures, calculates, and exports kilometre data for client billing and worker reimbursement

Visualcare captures two types of kilometre data: kilometres for client transport (charged to the client and reimbursed to the worker) and kilometres between visits (paid to the worker but not charged to the client). Both types flow into the data export process for billing and payroll.

Types of kilometres

KMs for transport

Transport kilometres are recorded by the worker through the mobile app or manually entered in the timesheets area. The column header in timesheets is KM. These kilometres are:

• Charged to the client as part of the invoice export
• Reimbursed to the worker as part of the payroll export

You can override the kilometres entered by the worker from the mobile app if needed. Remember to click Save after making changes.

KMs between visits

Kilometres between visits are automatically calculated based on the client’s address and the time between shifts. These settings are configured in the Settings → Finance → Kilometre section. These kilometres are:

• Paid to the worker as a reimbursement
• Not charged to the client

In timesheets, the KM No Charge column shows these values after you press the Calc KM button at the bottom of the screen.

To prevent the KM No Charge column from reverting when you next press Calc KM, tick the Lock KM No Charge checkbox for that row after making your override. Remember to press Save.

Exporting kilometres

KM export for invoicing (charge to client)

To export kilometres charged to clients, use the Export KMs option under Export Invoices on the Data Export page. This exports the KM data between shifts that are invoiced to the next client.

KM export for payroll (reimburse to worker)

After you’ve exported timesheets, approved them, and started a pay run in your payroll software, export kilometres from the same Data Export page by clicking Export Timesheets → Export KMs. The process follows the same steps as the standard timesheet export.

The KM Pay Type in your Xero settings (Settings → Data Export → Xero) needs to match how your KM pay codes are set up in Xero. Select pay item if the codes are Ordinary Time Earnings, or reimbursement if they’re reimbursements.

Reviewing timesheets and KM data

Once all timesheets have been confirmed, create a Timesheet Report and Timesheet Summary to review the data before exporting.

How Calculate KM works

When you click Calc KM, Visualcare uses the Google Maps API to find the quickest route between two addresses. The first time a pair of addresses is calculated, the distance is saved in the database and reused for all future lookups between those same addresses. This means subsequent calculations are instant and don’t call the Google Maps API again.

The KM option in client agreements does not currently enforce limits or trigger alerts. It is a placeholder field and does not affect KM calculations or export behaviour.

KM charge rate showing as $0 on timesheets

If the KM charge rate on a timesheet saves as $0 even though the rate in **Settings** is greater than zero, this is caused by the KM charge rate storage setting. When the setting is configured to **Export use KM charge rate above**, the timesheet stores$0 by design. The export always uses the rate from Settings regardless of the value stored on the timesheet.

If you want to see the KM charge rate on the timesheet for reporting purposes, change the setting to store the rate directly on the timesheet. Either way, the exported amount uses the correct rate from Settings.

KMs and award interpretation

The Broken Shift Threshold setting in Settings → Data Export → Award Interpreter affects how travel time is calculated between shifts:

• When Use threshold to fill travel time is set to Yes, the system fills the entire gap with travel time if the gap is equal to or less than the threshold amount
• When set to No, travel time is filled using data from the Google Maps API

Configuring KM between visits settings

Before using Calc KM, set up the kilometres between visits options in Settings → Finance → Kilometre section:

Setting	Description
Max KM Warning	Sets a threshold distance. Travel that exceeds this triggers a warning for review
Pay Code (KM Between, No Charge)	Select the pay code from your accounting software to use for KM between visits
KM Between Charge/Pay	Controls whether KM between visits is charged to the client and/or paid to the worker. Options: Charge and Pay, Charge but No Pay, No Charge but Pay, No Charge No Pay

Once configured, navigate to Worker Timesheets or All Timesheets and click Calc KM. Google Maps calculates the distance between consecutive shifts. The first shift of the day is skipped. Click Save Changes to apply. The KM between values are then included in the next data export.

Running into issues?

See Finance troubleshooting for common errors and fixes.

Related articles

Exporting payroll data

Step-by-step guide to exporting timesheet data to your payroll software

Billing to accounting software

Export invoices to your accounting platform

Award interpretation and pay rules

How Visualcare interprets awards and calculates pay conditions

Claiming and invoicing overview

Overview of all billing and export options in Visualcare