Xero Integration

Modified on Wed, 3 Sep at 4:30 PM

Magnetic can integrate seamlessly with Xero's accounting software. Check out the guide below to get your Magnetic account integrated with Xero.

Overview
Data Flow
Setting up the integration
Exporting your accounts
Common errors you may encounter
FAQ's
Need Help?

Overview

The Magnetic ↔ Xero integration makes it easy to sync your business and financial data, reducing manual work and ensuring accuracy across systems

With this integration, you can:

Export Tax invoices, credit notes, supplier invoices and supplier credit notes from Magnetic into Xero.
Export item types
Maintain consistency in document states (draft, cancelled, etc.).
Reflect payment statuses from Xero in Magnetic - only Paid/Part-paid

Data Flow

Below is a simple list overview of what data flows from Magnetic and Xero.

Client and Suppliers
Tax invoices and Credit notes
Supplier Invoices and Credit notes
Item types
Document states* (e.g Issued, Cancelled etc.)
Payment states* (Paid, Part-Paid)
*Denotes a two way sync. Any document state and payment status changes made on Xero will be reflected in Magnetic

Note: The integration does not support the exporting Cost Estimates, Purchase Orders and Expenses.

Setting up the integration

Step 1: Connecting to Xero

Note: Only admin users can access company settings page and configure a Xero integration

Log in to your Magnetic account.
Navigate to Company Settings > Finance
Select the billing entity that you want to integrate with Xero and edit it
Scroll down to Accounts Integration Settings
Select Xero from the Accounting platform dropdown (leave Cost Estimates & Purchase Orders at None)
Select your export method either Automatically or Manually export
Select Connect to Xero
You’ll be redirected to the Xero login page. Sign in with your Xero Credentials
Choose the Xero organization to link the Magnetic billing entity to. (This option is only applicable if you have more than one organisation set up in Xero)
Authorize Magnetic to access your Xero account
Your accounts will now be linked and you will be redirected back to Magnetic to configure your tax mappings (See Step 2 below)

IMPORTANT:

Your integration with Xero needs to have an active associated Magnetic Account.
Your Magnetic Billing entity and Xero organization need to share the same base currency

Step 2: Configure your Default Sales/Purchase Accounts and Tax Mappings

Configure your tax settings and how these are mapped to Xero from Magnetic. For example, No Tax in Magnetic, will be mapped to NO VAT in Xero
Specify the Default Sales and Cost Of Sales Codes that are used when creating items in Xero
Save
You can check the status of your integration via your billing entity in Company Settings> Finance

Step 3: Configure your item types

Note: If an item type does not exist in Xero, it will be automatically created the first time it is used in Magnetic. This will only update when you create an Invoice or Credit Note using that item type.

For item types do not exist in Xero:

Navigate to Finance> Item Types
Select New Item type
Fill in your item type details
Select the relevant Sales Code and Cost of Sales code for the item type
- The sales codes/cost of sales codes seen in the drop down will be pulled automatically from the Xero account that has been authorised
Leave the Item Code field blank
Save

For item types that already exist in Xero

Navigate to Finance> Item Types
Select New Item type
Fill in your item type details
Specify the Item Code obtained from Xero (This will link the Item Type in Magnetic to the Item in Xero)
Save

Exporting your Accounts

If you've set your integration exports to automatically export, you do not need to do anything as your accounts will be auto-exported once you've saved the document.

If your integration export is set to manually export, please follow these steps to export manually:

For a bulk exports
1. Navigate to Finance > Finance Exports
2. Click on the Billing entity that you wish to export for
3. Click Retry Export to Xero
4. Alternatively, if you wish to export documents grouped by type e.g tax invoices, then click the arrow icon and choose the relevant option
5. Confirm
6. Wait a few minutes for your accounts to export.
For individual exports
1. Navigate to the relevent list view
2. Hover of the document in the list and select Actions
3. Select Retry Export to Xero
  
  TIP: You can multi-select multiple records on the list view and use the Bulk edit function to Export multiple documents to Xero, instead of one by one.
  
  NOTE: You can check the export status on the relevent list view and checking the export icons indicated on these pages.

IMPORTANT:

The details per line item will also be exported through to Xero.
Xero does not have per-line markup as seen in Magnetic, therefore the value sent through to Xero is inclusive of markups.
Discounts in Magnetic will be for the entire invoice instead of per line, in Xero each line will specify the discount.
Magnetic only pulls in revenue(sales) accounts and cost of sales (purchase/expense) accounts. Balance sheet accounts e.g asset, liability and equity accounts aren't part of the integration and they won't appear in Magnetic

EXPORT ICONS:

If there is a failure you will receive an in-app notification. View the in-app notification to learn more about the reason for the error.

There are 3 different Magnetic export states for Xero.

Red icon:
- Possibility 1: The account has never been exported to Xero before - doesn't exist in Xero
- Possibility 2: The account has tried to export but contained errors - doesn't exist in Xero. You can view the errors when hovering over the red icon.
Orange Icon
It has previously exported successfully to Xero, BUT the last attempted export contained errors. This means that there may be a mismatch between the accounts in Xero and Magnetic. You can view the errors when hovering over the orange icon.
Green Icon:
The account has been successfully exported to Xero.
You can view the account on Xero by simply clicking on the green icon. This will open the Xero version of the invoice for quick access. Below is an example of what an exported invoice from Magnetic would look like in Xero:

Note: You can navigate back to Magnetic by clicking "Go to Magnetic" at the bottom of the page.

Common errors you may encounter:

I am getting and error that says ‘account code does not exist or cannot be applied to Items’. How do I fix this?
This error happens when a user exports an invoice/credit note but one or more of the item types that are specified in the line items have incorrect sales, cost of sales or item codes. Check that your item types in Magnetic have their relevent codes and re-try to export again.
I am getting an error that says "Invoice not of valid status for modification". How do I fix this?
To resolve this issue, locate the invoice in Xero and manually update the invoice on Xero.
I am getting an error that says "Invoice # must be unique". How do I fix this?
Xero doesn't allow duplicate document numbers. This occurs when the document number of the document you're trying to export, matches an existing document number in Xero.
To resolve this, find out what your last document number is in Xero, and then navigate back to Magnetic and set the "Next Tax Invoice Number" in your Magnetic billing entity settings to the very next number.
I am getting an error that says "The specified contact details matched an archived contact. Archived contacts cannot currently be edited via the API". How do I fix this?
This means the contact you're trying to export for is archived in Xero. To solve this, restore the contact in Xero by following the instructions by clickin here
I am getting an error that says "Invoice not of valid status for modification. This document cannot be edited as it has a payment or credit note allocated to it."How do I fix this?
Xero does not allow modifications to invoices that have a payment allocated to it. The only way to resolve this is to remove the payment and/or edit it directly in Xero
I am getting an error that says "No Xero currency for [CURRENCY] exists". How do I fix this?
This happens when you're using a currency that has not been added to your organisation in Xero. Please add the currency in Xero first, then try the export again.
You can find out how to add currencies for Xero by clicking here

FAQ's

How are the payment statuses mapped between Xero and Magnetic?
Below shows how the Magnetic statuses map to those in Xero:
Below shows how the Xero statuses map to those in Magnetic:
How do I disconnect from Xero?
This can done from Magnetic or Xero's end.
- To disconnect from Magnetic
  Navigate to Company Settings>Finance and edit your billing entity
  Click Disconnect from Xero
- To disconnect from Xero, follow these instructions by clicking here
How often does data sync?
If set to automatic, sync happens in near real-time, though some updates may take a few minutes.
Can I connect multiple Xero organizations?
A single Magnetic billing entity can link to a single organization in Xero. If you have another organization in Xero that you wish to import for then you'd need to add another billing entity in Magnetic for the other organization
Why does my integration disconnect automatically?
Xero having an outage can result in your integration becoming inactive. It's a simple solve, all you need to do is re-authorize with Xero by clicking the Connect to Xero button in your billing entity settings.
What happens if I disconnect my integration? Will I lose any data?
No, everything stays exactly as it is. You just won't be able to export documents to Xero anymore.
My invoices aren't syncing to Xero. How do I fix it?
There may be a few reasons why this isn't happening. Check that your integration status is Active. If not, then re-authorize with Xero and re-try the export afterwards. If you're integration is active, then hover over the export icons in the list view to find the reason why the document will not export. You will then need to resolve the error and try the export again.

If you have any other questions, feel free to let us know by sending us an email. We'd be happy to assist.

Need help?

If you have questions or encounter issues, let us know by emailing support@magnetichq.com