Integrating your accounting software with Buildxact is a great way to streamline your workload. Enter your expenses and income once, saving you time and money.

The Buildxact/Xero 2-way Sync Process

The sync, or integration, process involves you (the user) defining whether you prefer the data to sync from Xero to Buildxact, or, from Buildxact to Xero. We have integration settings to support both options dependent on your preferred Accounting and Cost Tracking processes.

Establishing the Initial Connection

In the left-hand Buildxact Navigation menu, click Integrations.
Click Application Integrations in the sub menu.
Click the Connect button beside Xero.

When the Xero log in page opens, enter your log in details. If you are currently logged into Xero this step will be skipped.

In the pop up, click Allow access

If you have not yet set up 2-step verification or multi-factor authentication for Buildxact you will be asked to do so. See the following article for step-by-step instructions on how this is done.

How do I set up 2-step verification?

From here you will be taken back to Buildxact where you'll be prompted to set up the integration settings. To begin, click on the settings cog within the yellow box shown below.

Buildxact to Xero Integration Settings

The following settings need to be established but can be changed at any point.

You have the option to sync information relating to purchases made (Received Purchase Orders) and/or customer invoices (Invoiced Job Invoices). This option simply selects if you want to sync one or both into Xero. Sync the PO attachment to my Xero Account offers the ability for the Buildxact Purchase Order attachment to be synced to the Xero Bill created via the Buildxact to Xero Sync process.
The sync item date indicates how far back Buildxact will look for items to sync. It can be useful marker when changing from another program. This date will use the “Received Date” on purchase orders and the “Invoiced Date” on customer invoices to work out whether an item should sync.

“To” accounts - Expenses

For more information on how you can further customize where Buildxact sends things in Xero see the How does Xero know which account to use? section below.

3. This is the default account for all purchases made where the contact used on that order is set as a Supplier in your contacts section. The nominated account must have an account name and number. Accounts starting as 'null' won't work.

4. This is the default account for all purchases made where the contact used is set as a Contractor in your contacts section. The nominated account must have an account name and number. Accounts starting as 'null' won't work.

Expense Tax types for our old tax settings (old tax settings relate to jobs linked to estimates created prior to Nov/2020)

5. This will generally be pre-set. For purchases where there is tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

6. This will generally be pre-set. For purchases where there is no tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

Expense Tax types for our new tax settings (new tax settings relate to jobs linked to estimates created after Nov/2020)

7. This will generally be pre-set. For purchases where there is tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

8. This will generally be pre-set. For purchases where there is no tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

9. This is the account in Xero where we will send all customer invoices. The nominated account must have an account name and number. Accounts starting as 'null' won't work.

10. Invoice Default Status is the default status for all invoices being pushed into Xero. The idea is that they will land in a Draft status and need to be approved. You can update this once you are comfortable to allow the invoices to land in Xero already approved.

Income Tax types for our old tax settings (old tax settings relate to jobs linked to estimates created prior to Nov/2020)

11. This will generally be pre-set. For invoices where there is tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

12. This will generally be pre-set. For invoices where there is no tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

Expense Tax types for our new tax settings (New tax settings relate to jobs linked to estimates created after Nov/2020)

13. This will generally be pre-set. For invoices where there is tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

14. This will generally be pre-set. For invoices where there is no tax being added, we need to tell Xero which tax type to use.

15. Tracking categories - if you have Tracking Categories set up in Xero to track jobs they will be listed here, click the dropdown to choose the category. (See the Using Tracking Categories section below for more info)

Xero Contact Linking

There are three contact link scenarios that occur when you sync purchases or invoices in Buildxact with Xero. These scenarios are:

The contact doesn't exist in Xero, so Buildxact pushes info in to create it.
The contact exists in Xero, but Buildxact hasn't synced with them before, so we link for the first time.
The contact already exists in Xero and Buildxact has linked with them previously.

In each scenario, Buildxact displays the Xero link under the Buildxact contact. This means you can always check which contact is synced and you can change the contact Buildxact is synced with, if needed.

How does Xero know which account to use?

When Buildxact sends a purchase or invoice to Xero, we also attach the “to” account, which controls which account the item lands in in Xero. This is quite a flexible process meaning you can change the account an item will go to within Xero at several points.

The process is outlined below, the numbers indicate each possible place the account can be set/altered before the final bill/sale is approved in Xero.

Setting a default account on a contract

If you want to change the default account for a contact, head to the contact details. This is a good idea if each supplier you use needs to go to a different account to the main default account.

Changing the account on the order itself

Changing the account on the order itself (see below) is a good idea for exceptions, or when you want to change the account last minute.

Changing the account in Xero

You can change the account for either Bills or Sales before approving it. Each separate line on a Bill/Sale can be assigned to a separate account.

Using Tracking Categories

Using tracking categories allows you to filter your reports by your jobs in Buildxact. The following screenshot is an example of a Profit and Loss report from Xero split by the tracking categories.

How to set up Tracking categories in Xero

In Xero, click on the Accounting menu
Choose Advanced from the dropdown menu
Click on Tracking categories from the list that appears

4. In the next screen choose Add Tracking Category

5. Name the tracking category with a reference to jobs, as this is the data that will be transferred from Buildxact to Xero (the Category Options underneath stay blank)

6. Click Save.

Finishing the setup of Tracking categories in Buildxact

To finish the process head back to Buildxact and click on Integrations in the left-hand menu. Select Xero and then Settings.

The Xero tracking categories will be listed down the bottom, click the dropdown to choose the category.
Click Save Settings and Close.

Syncing with Xero

This section will show you the two ways to sync data from Buildxact to Xero, how to know if it is ready to sync, and the results of a sync.

Buildxact will want to send data (sync) to Xero when there are:

Purchase Orders marked Part Received
Purchase Orders marked as Received

3. Customer invoices marked as Invoiced

4. Customer invoices marked as Received

How to sync

5. The Integrations tab will have the number of items to sync

6. Click the green Sync button
OR

7. Click the blue Sync now button on the integrations screen

8. A message appears, as the sync occurs

9. Once sync is completed a message appears notifying the last successful sync

10. Click View Log if you want to see a list of the sync history

Xero to Buildxact Integration Overview

Xero to Buildxact Integration Settings

This enables the transmission of Xero Bills in to Buildxact's Imported Bills feature.
Once enabled the user will see:
Select account codes: this drop down supports a multi-select of your Xero account codes which you can use to filter which Xero Bills come in to Buildxact.
Tracking Categories: support two Xero Tracking Categories being configured. For example, Job ID and Actual Costing Category. This will attempt to automatically set this information in Buildxact based on what was configured in Xero when viewing the Imported Bills feature. For more information see the How to set up tracking categories in Xero section above.
Attachments Settings: when enabled this will save the Xero Bill attachment to the PO/WO document widget in the Buildxact PO/WO after it is saved.

Viewing your imported bills & receipts

The bills you have entered into your accounting software will appear in Buildxact under Jobs in the left-hand menu.

Click on Jobs.
Select Imported Bills.

Please note that only bills created in the last 30 days will appear in this list. If you are connected to Xero the status of your bill will also need to be marked as 'approved', 'awaiting payment' or 'paid', to appear here.

The order in which bills appear in this list is determined by the date attached to the bill in your accounting software.

3. Select the job associated with this bill by clicking on the search box and selecting from the drop-down menu. The search function displays 20 jobs at a time.

4. To expand and view the line items attached to this bill click 'View line items'.

5. Click on the 'Ignore Bill' button to hide bills or items that aren't related to any jobs.

6. You can view any attachments connected to the bill by clicking on 'View Attachments':

Creating a purchase or work order

It's possible to create a purchase order for an entire bill, category or individual item. Please note however, a job must be selected for the '+Create Order' button to become live.

1. Once you have selected the job, category and item (as needed), click '+Create Order'

Splitting a bill into multiple purchase orders

To do this, select a Job (1), Category (2) or Item (3) from the line items shown.

You can create a new category and/or item by typing into the relevant text box.

Click '+Create Order' (4)

Linking bills to existing purchase orders

Select a Job (Button becomes enabled)
Click the button Link to an Existing Order

3. Select a Purchase Order (PO) from the list of POs within the Job you are filtering by. Click Next.

4. A PO side form will open displaying newly added items from the Bill. You can edit existing/new PO items, delete items and invoices as needed.
5. Click Save & Close or Save & Send.

What the data looks like in Xero

Supplier and Contractor Purchase Orders

A PO in Buildxact will become a Bill within Xero.
It will have a Draft status allowing it to be easily moved to another account.
The Reference number is the combined Buildxact job number, purchase order number and Supplier reference number entered at the time of receipting the PO in Buildxact.
Click on the dropdown to shift this bill to another expense account.
If you are using tracking categories (see the section in this manual on tracking categories for more info) they will show up here.
Click Approve to submit the expense.

**It is important to note that there may be a discrepancy between the receipted item in Buildxact and Xero. This is because Buildxact calculates to four (4) decimal places, but Xero rounds up to two (2).

Client invoices

A client invoice within Buildxact will become a Sale within Xero.

It will have a Draft status allowing it to be easily moved to another account.
The Reference number is the combined Buildxact job number and invoice number generated at the time of invoicing in Buildxact.
Click on the dropdown to shift this sale to another income account.
If you are using tracking categories (see the section in this manual on tracking categories for more info) they will show up here.
Click Approve to submit the expense.

Identifying contacts

If you want Buildxact to send items to a Supplier Expense account and a Contractor Expense account in Xero, then we must know which of your contacts are Suppliers and which are Contractors. Please be doubly sure to have this set right for all your contacts as shown.

General business overheads

As Buildxact is very job focused we often get the question of where overheads such as phone bills/car lease/office lease are best entered. In our opinion these are best to enter directly into Xero as they are very difficult to fit into any one job.

Archived contacts

If your sync log shows the error below, it means is that the purchase order or invoice you're syncing is linked to a contact in Xero that has been archived. Buildxact can't sync the purchase order or invoice across because the contact isn't live.

"The contact with the specified contact details has been archived. The contact must be un-archived before creating new invoices or credit notes."

To fix this you need to either bring the Xero contact out of archive (if it was archived accidently) or correct the Buildxact link to an active contact via the steps below.

Open your Buildxact Contacts
Search for and open the contact that is marked as archived.
Edit the Contact details
The last property 'Xero Link' needs to be updated.

Xero Default Status

Altering the sync status in Buildxact affects how and where items land in Xero.

The sync status for Xero is found under the Xero sync settings. We'll look at each status and what it does for a bill/expense and invoice/income.

NOTE: The settings here control both bill/expenses and invoices/income together you cannot select different settings for each.