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Integrating with Xero
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Written by Product Team
Updated over 4 months ago

This article contains the following:

Setting up your Xero and GeoOp integration

This article will give you a run through of the process of linking GeoOp and Xero, this process is called integration.

Initial Integration

When logged in as an Administrator, go to the Settings Cog in the navigation bar and click on "Integrations" in the menu. You will see the Xero logo, click on setup (step one) In the popup window, tick Enable, then click Save. (step two)

Note: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for a Xero Integration. If you do not already have MFA enabled you will be prompted on screen to do so. You can also read more about setting up MFA here.

Next, you'll be prompted to login into your Xero account and then prompted to grant access to GeoOp. Click on "Allow Access" to proceed.

Linking the accounts automatically enables some functions between the 2 services, such as Invoicing. Others functions can have more manual requirements to complete setup and are detailed below.

Top Tip: If you make a mistake at any point, or if you wish to deactivate your Integration, simply click the logo again, untick Enable, then click Save.

Note: once integrated you can unlink Xero by clicking "Disconnect".

GeoOp and Xero Field Mapping

Field mapping basically means matching data fields from one source (or program) to data fields in another, for the purpose of transferring data between the two.

Client Data Mapping

GeoOp Client data fields match Xero almost exactly, so all possible client data fields will transfer as you would expect.

Job Data Mapping

  • GeoOp job reference = Xero invoice number

  • GeoOp order number = Xero invoice reference

Invoice Data Mapping

Draft invoices in Xero will have an additional number attached to the invoice number. This number is the unique ID of the invoice run in GeoOp. For example:

  • Your GeoOp job reference is 4567

  • Your draft invoice in Xero might then have an invoice number like this: 4567 – 566

  • The 566 is the unique ID of the run of GeoOp invoices you 'pushed' into Xero

Xero Chart of Accounts

  • Please note Xero chart of accounts codes will only feed through to GeoOp if the account type is under Revenue or Asset

GeoOp Xero Invoice Customisation

When Integrated with Xero, any invoices you create in GeoOp are actually sent to Xero for creation and then the Xero Invoice is returned to GeoOp, which is the PDF attachment you will see on invoices in GeoOp. Therefore customising your invoices needs to be done within Xero. For customizing invoices under Xero, first you need to log into your Xero account.

From the Xero home page select "Settings > General Settings":

From General Settings click on Invoice Settings

On this screen you can click on "New Branding Theme" to create a standard invoice theme or a custom theme from a .docx file:

On the New Branding Theme window you can customize your invoice:

Then you can click on save.

After setting up your invoice theme you can then upload your company logo:


Now the invoice theme you've created will reflect on your generated invoice from GeoOp.

Disclaimer: Xero needs to be integrated with GeoOp when invoicing for these changes to have an effect.

Clients and Parts

When Integrated with Xero you can import all your Xero Clients and Parts into GeoOp.

Clients

Importing your Clients from Xero is optional, and is done through the Import Clients option. You can find this by going to the people icon in the navigation bar, select 'Clients' and then head to the three dots in the top right corner of the page. Under this menu you will find "Import Clients".

If you are already integrated you will see the option for Xero Client Import.

You can then opt in / opt out of the following:

  • Clients about to be imported might not have physical address in Xero, use their postal address instead

  • Do not import Suppliers from Xero

Once you have selected your options you can go ahead and start the import.

Client syncing (linking data directly) between Xero & GeoOp is not done automatically. However, any future Client Imports from Xero will update existing data rather than create duplicate Clients. When a Client is created via a Xero Import, it is given a unique identifier that is not visible or editable in GeoOp. This will allow Xero to update existing GeoOp Client records with new Xero information.

Top tips:

  • Clients that are added in GeoOp but not in Xero are added into Xero automatically when you 'push' an invoice into Xero.

  • During the Import process, you have the option to exclude Suppliers or not.

  • Xero matches customer information based on the Company Name, so if you have multiple Clients in GeoOp with the same Company Name, Xero will randomly choose one to match with.

  • GeoOp only adds the Primary Person and doesn't recognise any other People added to the contact.

Parts

Parts in GeoOp are equivalent to the 'Products and Services' in Xero.

To Import parts from Xero, go to the Settings Page and then click 'Parts'. From here you will see a button in the top right called 'Sync'. This will perform a sync between GeoOp and Xero to create new, update and/or delete parts.

Please note that GeoOp cannot differentiate between Active, Inactive and Archived parts in Xero. So Inactive and Archived parts will still show up in GeoOp - this is a limit on Xero's side as they dont support these properties in their integration. GeoOp is able to detect parts that have been deleted in Xero and upon syncing those parts will be deleted.

It is not possible to manage parts within GeoOp when parts are synced with another system. Parts need to be managed within your Xero. You can still add new parts into GeoOp but they wont be reflected into Xero

Top tips:

  • The part description needs to be entered in the 'Sales Description' of the inventory item in Xero for it to come over into GeoOp.

  • If you find that your parts in GeoOp are not up to date, or that some parts are missing the first step to troubleshooting this is to perform a Sync via the Parts page.

Xero and Tax Rates

Xero's Chart of Accounts codes are added into GeoOp automatically during the Integration process. The codes are added into the Tax Rates tab under Company Account, however you will still need to set the default codes to be used in GeoOp. For further information see Managing Tax Rates.

You can find the imported tax rates by going to the Invoicing icon in the navigation bar and then heading to the three dots in the top right and clicking on "Settings".

Top Tips:

  • If a tax rate is set as a 'payment' in Xero, it will display under the default Payments tax rate, but not under Labour Charges or Parts.

  • For bank accounts (Chart of Accounts), we only pick up accounts which have a code given.

  • In order to keep the invoiced jobs separate and recognizable, not all customization options are applied when invoicing "by Client"

Invoicing with Xero

When your Integration is enabled, from GeoOp's Invoicing screen you will see a Send to Xero button at the top-right of your items list. Below this you also will have an additional tick box for 'Approve Invoices'. This will define if your invoices are to go to Xero as 'Draft' or 'Approved'.

  • Draft: These will go to Xero marked as Draft and added to the Draft Invoices tab in Xero. These will then have to be approved in Xero. A PDF copy of the invoice will be returned (marked as Draft) to GeoOp for reference.

  • Approved: These will be added to the Approved Invoices tab in Xero.

Top Tips:

  • You can change the terminology of a 'Draft' invoice to whatever you want. Please see the latest Xero support documents for how to information.

  • Important Note: Invoices going from GeoOp to Xero will only add an address to the Xero invoice if it is in the Postal Address fields in GeoOp. Ensure you have these fields completed if you wish to show an address on your invoices.

For invoicing to Xero, you also have a range of options for displaying Job data (eg Job Address & Date) as line items on your Xero invoice. If you choose, you can also use Xero invoice numbering instead of GeoOp Job Reference numbering. This is particularly relevant for European invoicing that may require management of fully sequential invoice numbering. Go to Settings > Company Account > Document Manager to view all currently available options.

For further information please see our article on Invoicing.

Reference Fields

GeoOp forwards the Job Reference and Order Number to Xero. These are displayed under the Invoice Number and Invoice Reference fields, respectively.

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