Most Xero sync problems show up in two places: the integration's Activity Log, and the error email it sends. To open the log, go to Settings › App Marketplace, click Xero, and on the Settings tab click View Details on the Activity Log panel. Click a row to read its Error Message.

Only Administrators can open the integration's settings. For the setup itself, see the Xero integration guide.

An invoice or bill didn't sync

Check these, in order:

  1. The sync is on. The button at the top of the Integration Settings reads Pause Sync. If it reads Start Sync, nothing is copied automatically.
  2. Invoices or bills are switched on. The box When an Invoice is created or updated in Avaza, create or update an Invoice in Xero must be ticked, or the matching box for bills.
  3. Its taxes are mapped. With no tax mapped at all, no invoice or bill syncs, and the error email says "Invoices failed to copy to Xero". If one line's tax isn't mapped, that invoice fails with "Unable to create or update invoice given some of the tax codes used are missing mapping". Map every tax you use under Map Tax Codes, including No Tax.
  4. It was created after the start date and time. What counts is when it was created in Avaza, not its issue date. Older ones never sync, even if edited later, so add them in Xero yourself.
  5. Its status is one you send. Late invoices count as sent or partially paid. Void invoices and bills are never copied.
  6. It isn't a retainer invoice. Retainer invoices aren't copied, but the invoices that draw on a retainer are. See retainer subscriptions.
  7. It hasn't been ignored. See "Retry a sync that was ignored" below.

Changed an invoice in Avaza, but the Xero copy stayed the same? Once a payment or credit is applied to it in Xero, the integration stops updating it. Make the change in Xero as well.

Nothing syncs, and there are no errors

Open the Xero app's Settings tab:

  • The Xero panel says Disconnected. The integration can't reach your Xero organisation, for example because the connection was removed in Xero. No error email is sent for this. Click Connect to Xero and choose the same organisation.
  • It shows Grant Access to Avaza. Click it. Avaza asks again when the integration's access has expired, or when the Administrator whose access it was using has been archived.
  • It says your account has reached the Xero API limit. Xero limits how often an app can call it. The sync resumes at the time shown, and anything that hit the limit is retried at the next sync.

Retry a sync that was ignored

A failed transaction is retried each time the sync runs. After 5 failed retries it's ignored, so it won't sync even once you've fixed the problem. You can also click Ignore on an error yourself, to stop the retries and the emails.

Typical causes are a tax that isn't mapped, an item Xero couldn't create, or a customer or supplier Xero couldn't create. For an item, the message starts "There is no Xero Item related to Avaza Line Item" and gives Xero's reason. The usual reason is length. Xero allows item codes of up to 30 characters and item names of up to 50. The Xero item code is the item's SKU, or its name if it has no SKU, and the Xero item name is always the item's name. So an item with a long name fails even when its SKU is short.

  1. Fix the cause. Map the tax under Map Tax Codes, or correct the customer or supplier. For an item, open it in Settings › Inventory Items and give it a SKU of 30 characters or fewer and an Item Name of 50 or fewer (see inventory items).

  2. In the Activity Log, choose Ignored in the filter and find the transaction.

  3. Click Undo, then Sync Now on the Settings tab. The transaction is tried again, and it syncs if the problem is fixed.

Then check the invoice's payments in Xero. A payment recorded in Avaza while its invoice couldn't sync isn't copied later, so add it in Xero yourself.

Invoice numbers don't match Xero

  • Automatic Invoice Number is ticked in the integration settings (for bills, Automatic Bill Number). Xero then gives each one its own number instead of copying Avaza's. Untick it to copy Avaza's numbers, prefix included.
  • The number was typed by hand. Keep the Invoice Number Avaza suggests. A number with letters doesn't count towards the next suggestion, so the series drift apart. See changing the starting invoice number.
A new invoice for Fernleaf Media with the Invoice Number box showing the prefix INV and the suggested number 2063
  • Xero says the invoice number already exists. Invoices in Xero were created another way, by hand or by another app, and used the same number. Give your next Avaza invoice a number above the highest one in Xero, and Avaza carries on counting from there. If you'll keep creating invoices in Xero, tick Automatic Invoice Number instead, so that Xero numbers them all.

To jump from a synced invoice or bill in Xero to the same one in Avaza, click Go to Avaza Integration in Xero. On an invoice it's a link at the bottom right, below History and notes. On a bill it's a button at the top, next to the status. You need to be signed in to Avaza: if you aren't, the Avaza sign-in page opens first.

A payment from Xero failed to copy

The error email's subject is "Payment for invoice […] failed to copy to Avaza", and it starts "Xero payment of amount … for Avaza invoice … failed to Copy". The error message says "The Allocation amount is more than the remaining invoice balance. Invoice with TransactionID … would be overallocated".

It means the payment applied in Xero is more than the invoice still owes in Avaza. The two no longer match, for example because:

  • the invoice amount was changed in Xero;
  • the same payment was also entered in Avaza;
  • part of the invoice was settled in Avaza with a credit note or retainer credit, which isn't copied to Xero.

To prevent it, make changes to synced invoices in Avaza, and record each payment in one system only. Then click Ignore on the error in the Activity Log to stop the emails about it.

Supplier bills work the same way, with "The Allocation amount is more than the remaining Bill balance". A discount on a bill line can cause it too, because bill discounts aren't copied, so the Xero bill shows the full price.

An email saying "Unable to find Avaza invoice […] to apply Xero payment to" means the invoice was deleted in Avaza. If you need help putting a payment right, contact support.

Avaza says it isn't connected to Xero

Xero lists Avaza Integration among its connected apps, but the Xero panel on the Settings tab says Disconnected:

  1. In Xero, open the organisation menu and go to Settings › Connected apps. Click Avaza Integration, then Disconnect.

  2. In Avaza, click Connect to Xero on the Settings tab.

  3. Check that Xero offers the right organisation, choose it and allow access.

Choose the organisation you used before. Connecting a different one deletes the integration's settings and sync records. On a Mac, do this in Chrome or Firefox: connecting to Xero from Safari is a known problem.

Still not connected? Contact support.