Xero integration

Overview

The Xero integration links Cura to your Xero organisation. It can send approved invoices to Xero, and it can post worker reimbursements and kilometre allowances into Xero Payroll AU. It lives under Settings, then Integrations. Only Administrators can set it up. Staff Members cannot see the Integrations entry.

Please read the notes under Tips about what has been tested. Connecting to Xero has been checked against a live Xero organisation. Payroll posting is built but has not yet been confirmed against a live Xero payroll setup.

Common tasks

Connect Xero

1. Open Settings and click Integrations.
2. On the Xero card you will see the badge Not Connected and a Connect Xero button.
3. Click Connect Xero. Your browser goes to Xero’s own sign-in page.
4. Sign in, choose your Xero organisation and click Allow access.
5. You return to Cura with the message “Xero connected”. The card shows Connected, your Xero organisation’s name and “Last synced: never”.

If you click Deny or cancel on Xero’s page, you return with “Xero connection was not completed” and nothing changes.

Set the default sales account and tax type

1. Once connected, the Xero card shows Default sales account code (starts as “200 Sales”) and Default tax type (starts as “GST Free Income”).
2. Change them if your accountant uses different ones.
3. Click Save mapping. A message reads “Xero mapping saved”.

You need to save this before invoices can go to Xero.

Choose the expense accounts for payroll

1. On the connected Xero card, find Reimbursement expense account and Km allowance expense account. Until chosen, each reads “Choose an account”.
2. Open each one. It lists your Xero organisation’s active expense accounts, by code and name.
3. Choose an account for each.
4. Click Save expense accounts. A message reads “Xero expense accounts saved”.

If an account you saved has since been archived in Xero, the selector says so and asks you to choose another. If Cura cannot load your Xero accounts, you see “Couldn’t load your Xero accounts” and your saved choices are kept. Try again later.

Send an invoice to Xero

1. Open Invoicing, then the review queue.
2. Open an invoice and click Approve and send.
3. The button shows “Sending to Xero…”. A message then reads “Invoice sent to Xero”.
4. On the invoice list, the Xero column reads Synced. On the invoice’s page it reads “Already synced to Xero” with the invoice number.

Approving the same invoice again does not create a second invoice or contact in Xero.

If it fails, the invoice is still approved in Cura. Only the Xero step is refused. A Retry Xero sync button appears on the invoice page. The message tells you why, for example that the default sales account and tax type have not been set, or that the account code does not exist in your Xero organisation.

Post payroll lines to Xero

Posting sends reimbursements and kilometre allowances. It does not send normal pay.

1. Open Workers, then Payroll, then a payroll run that has a receipted expense or a vehicle allowance.
2. Click Post to Xero. The button reads “Posting to Xero…”.
3. If it works, each worker shows a Posted badge and the header shows “Already posted to Xero”.
4. Clicking again shows “Already posted to Xero” and nothing is duplicated.
5. If Xero rejects a worker, that worker shows Failed with Xero’s message. The others still show Posted. The button changes to Retry Xero posting.

Before posting, you need a draft pay run in Xero for the same period. Workers are matched to Xero employees by name.

Reconnect Xero

1. If the Xero card shows Reconnect needed, or a Reconnect button, click it and approve access again.
2. You also need to reconnect if you connected before payroll access was added. Posting then shows a message asking you to reconnect with payroll access.

Disconnect Xero

1. On the Xero card, click Disconnect.
2. Confirm in the dialog. It says invoices already pushed to Xero are not affected.
3. The card goes back to Not Connected.

Tips

• Export for Xero on a payroll run still works without posting. It downloads a file you can import into Xero Payroll AU yourself.
• Connecting your Xero organisation has been checked live. Sending invoices is built and described above, but check the first few in Xero yourself.
• Payroll posting has not been confirmed end to end against a live Xero organisation. The screens and messages above exist, but do not assume a successful post until you see Posted and check the lines in Xero. Check the first post carefully.
• Xero Payroll AU withholds the tax. Cura does not calculate it.
• Pay items you post are created using the expense accounts you chose above, so choose them before the first post.

Troubleshooting

“Choose the Reimbursement expense account and the Km allowance expense account” appears when posting. Go to the Xero card, choose the missing account or accounts, and click Save expense accounts.

Posting says Xero needs to be reconnected with payroll access. Go to Settings, then Integrations, click Reconnect and approve access.

A worker shows Failed. Read the message under their name. A common cause is that no Xero employee matches the worker’s name. Fix it in Xero or Cura, then click Retry Xero posting.

Invoice sync failed. Read the message. Set the default sales account and tax type, or fix the account code, then click Retry Xero sync.

I cannot see Integrations in Settings. It is for Administrators only.