The Xero integration is a native, two-way connection between Avaza and your Xero organisation. It copies the invoices and supplier bills you create in Avaza to Xero, keeps them up to date, and can copy payments in either direction, so both systems show what's been paid.

What syncs

From Avaza to Xero:

  • Invoices and supplier bills, when you create, update or send them. Drafts arrive as drafts and the rest as approved, with the same currency, exchange rate and number (prefix included), unless you let Xero number them.
  • Payments you record in Avaza on synced invoices and bills, if you switch this on.
  • Contacts and items: customers and suppliers are matched to Xero contacts by name, and inventory items to Xero items by SKU, or by name if there's no SKU. Missing ones are created in Xero. Xero allows item codes of up to 30 characters and item names of up to 50, so keep your SKUs and item names within those limits: see troubleshooting.

From Xero to Avaza:

  • Payments applied in Xero to a synced invoice or bill, if you switch this on. A payment is never copied back to the system it came from.

These don't sync:

  • Retainer invoices. Until the credit is used, the money is a liability, and copying it would count the income twice. Invoices that draw on a retainer are copied, but the retainer credit isn't sent as a payment, so Xero still shows that part as owing. See retainer subscriptions.
  • Credit notes. Credit applied to an invoice isn't sent as a payment either. See credit notes.
  • Void and deleted invoices and bills. Their copies stay in Xero, so void them there too.
  • Edits made in Xero, and edits in Avaza to an invoice or bill that already has a payment or credit in Xero.
  • Later changes to a payment. Each payment is copied once.
  • Discounts on bill lines, so the Xero bill shows the full price. Invoice line discounts are copied.
  • Estimates, expenses and timesheets, except as lines on invoices.

Before you start

  • You need to be an Administrator in Avaza, and able to sign in to the Xero organisation. Anyone else who clicks Connect sees "You don't have the required security role(s) to install this app."
  • The integration works as the last Administrator who opened its settings, with that person's permissions. If they're archived, the sync stops until another Administrator opens the settings.
  • Set up your taxes in Settings › Tax first, because each tax you use needs a Xero tax rate. See setting up taxes.
  • Other currencies: invoices and bills keep their customer's or supplier's currency, so add those currencies in Xero as well. See multiple currencies.
  • On a Mac, use Chrome or Firefox for the setup. Connecting to Xero from Safari is a known problem.

Connect Avaza to Xero

  1. Go to Settings › App Marketplace. Xero is listed under Featured and under Accounting.

    The Xero card among the featured apps in the App Marketplace, next to the Stripe card

  2. Click the Xero card, then click Connect in the popup. The popup opens its Settings tab.

    The Xero popup in the App Marketplace on its Details tab, with the Connect button at the top right and the invoice, bill and payment workflows it supports

  3. Click Grant Access to Avaza, so the integration can read and update your Avaza account.

  4. Click Connect to Xero. In the Xero window, sign in if asked, choose your organisation and allow access. The window closes, and the Xero panel shows your organisation as Connected.

Once connected, the Xero card shows a Connected label and is listed under Connected Apps. Open it there to change the settings later.

Choose your settings

The Integration Settings are below the two connection panels. Fill them in before you start the sync: the first run copies everything since your start dates.

  1. Integration Start Date for Invoices and Integration Start Date for Bills: a date and time. Only invoices and bills created after it are copied, even if older ones are edited later. Once saved, it's fixed: to change it, untick the invoice or bill box, save, then tick it again with a date after the last sync.
  2. Tick When an Invoice is created or updated in Avaza, create or update an Invoice in Xero. Its options appear:
    • Default Revenue Account: used for an invoice line when neither the Xero item nor the Xero contact has a sales account.
    • Only copy Avaza invoices to Xero that are in status of: Draft, Sent, Partially Paid and Paid. Late invoices count as sent or partially paid. See invoice statuses.
    • Automatic Invoice Number: tick it to let Xero number the invoices instead of copying Avaza's numbers and prefixes (see invoice and bill settings). Decide before the first sync.
    • Send Payments from Avaza to Xero, then under Deposit Payments into Account choose a Xero bank account or another account with payments enabled.
    • Send Payments from Xero to Avaza.
  3. Tick When a bill is created or updated in Avaza, create or update a bill in Xero. It has the same options for bills: a Default Bill Account, the statuses Draft, Verified, Partially Paid and Paid (see bill statuses), Automatic Bill Number, and the two payment options with their own account.
  4. Under Map Tax Codes, choose a Xero tax rate for each Avaza tax, with exactly the same percentage. Map every tax your invoices and bills use, including No Tax. If you add a tax later, for example for a new rate (see how tax is calculated), map it here too.
  5. Click Save Settings, then Start Sync.

Record each payment in one system only. If you enter the same payment by hand in both, the second copy fails, because the invoice is already paid.

Run the sync

  • Start Sync switches the sync on, and the button then reads Pause Sync. The buttons stay greyed out until Xero is connected and you've saved the invoice or bill box with a status ticked.
  • The sync then runs whenever an invoice or bill is created, updated or sent in Avaza, and whenever an invoice changes in Xero. Click Sync Now to copy what's already waiting. It works even while the sync is paused.
  • Pause Sync stops the automatic runs. Nothing is deleted, and changes made meanwhile are copied at the first run after you restart.
  • Last Invoice Sync and Last Bill Sync show when each last ran.
  • Payments copied from Xero show in Avaza under the name of the Administrator who last opened the integration's settings.

When a sync fails

If the integration can't update Xero or Avaza, it logs the error and emails it.

  • Activity Log: click View Details on the Activity Log panel at the top of the Settings tab. Each transaction shows Ok or Error. Filter by Errors, Ignored or Not Ignored, and click a row to see its Error Message.
  • Error emails, such as "Invoice […] failed to copy to Xero", go to your Account Email (in Settings › General) and to the Administrator who last opened the integration's settings. They quote the error and link to the Avaza invoice.
  • Retries: a failed transaction is retried each time the sync runs, up to 5 times, and then ignored. Click Ignore to stop retrying an error, or Undo on an ignored one to allow 5 more tries once you've fixed the cause.

For common errors and their fixes, see troubleshooting the Xero integration.

Disconnect

To stop for a while, pause the sync instead.

  • Disconnect Xero: click Disconnect from Xero in the Xero panel on the Settings tab, then Yes. All the integration's settings and sync records are deleted, and reconnecting doesn't restore them. Choose new start dates after the invoices and bills already in Xero, or they're copied again. Connecting a different Xero organisation clears everything too.
  • Remove its access to Avaza: click Disconnect at the top of the Xero popup in the App Marketplace. The integration's settings are kept for when you reconnect.

Use QuickBooks Online instead? Its integration syncs invoices and payments, but not supplier bills. See the QuickBooks Online integration.