Connecting Xero to Buildxact means you enter your expenses and income once, saving you time and money. This article covers how data flows between the two, how to connect, and how to set up syncing in each direction.
Watch the video below to see this in action, or continue reading for step-by-step details.
How data flows between Buildxact and Xero
Data can flow in two directions. You choose which suits your accounting and cost tracking process.
Buildxact to Xero
Purchases: purchase orders marked Received or Part Received are picked up and get ready to sync. When you sync, each one lands in Xero as a bill. You can then pay it with Xero's bill pay, or match it in Xero's bank reconciliation if you've already paid it by transfer or credit card.
Customer invoices: invoices marked Invoiced are ready to sync. Sending an invoice to your client marks it as invoiced automatically. It lands in Xero as a sale, so when your client pays, Xero can reconcile the payment against it.
Please note: once a customer invoice is marked as paid in Xero, the payment is recorded against the invoice in Buildxact. This doesn't happen instantly. The payment comes through the next time Buildxact syncs with Xero. See Auto-receipting below.
Nothing goes to Xero until you click Sync. This gives you time to fix mistakes in Buildxact, like an extra zero on a purchase, before they reach Xero and need fixing in two places.
How often should I sync? You don't need to sync after every purchase. Most people sync at the end of each day or every couple of days. If you have an external bookkeeper, sync before they start work.
Prefer to send invoices from Xero? You can mark an invoice as invoiced in Buildxact, sync it, then issue it to your client from Xero. Some businesses do this to use Xero's online payment options, which charge a fee per transaction.
Xero to Buildxact
This direction is for bills only (money you spend), not customer invoices. Buildxact looks in Xero for new bills that haven't been actioned yet, shows them to you, and asks which job and cost category each one belongs to.
This suits businesses with an established Xero process they don't want to change, for example if a receipt scanning app already feeds bills into Xero.
Connect Buildxact to Xero
In the left-hand menu, click Integrations.
Click Application Integrations.
Click Connect next to Xero.
If the Xero login page opens, enter your Xero login details. If you're already logged in to Xero, this step is skipped.
Click Allow access. This lets Buildxact and Xero share contacts, transactions, attachments and tax settings.
2-step verification
Xero requires 2-step verification on your Buildxact login. After you allow access, a message explains this. If you already have 2-step verification turned on, you'll go straight to the settings screen. If not, you'll be logged out and asked to set it up:
Scan the QR code with an authenticator app, such as Google Authenticator. Don't scan it with your phone's camera.
Save the recovery code somewhere safe, for example by emailing it to yourself. You may need it if you change phones.
Log back in as usual, then enter the code from your authenticator app.
Tip: on your own (not shared) computer, tick Remember me for 30 days so you don't need a code every time. If you have trouble after changing phones, contact our support team. For more detail, see How do I set up 2-step verification/multifactor authentication (MFA)?
Once you're back in Buildxact, go to Integrations and click the settings cog to set up your integration.
Buildxact to Xero settings
You can change these settings at any time.
What to sync
Received purchase orders: send your purchases to Xero as bills.
Sync the PO attachment to my Xero account: we strongly recommend this. It lets you, your bookkeeper or your accountant compare the Xero bill against the actual supplier invoice.
Invoiced job invoices: send your customer invoices to Xero as sales.
Sync item date
This sets how far back Buildxact looks for items to sync. It uses the received date on purchase orders and the invoiced date on customer invoices. It defaults to today.
Backdate it if you have existing items in Buildxact you want to catch up on in Xero.
Set a future date for a clean cut-over. Nothing before that date syncs, so you can keep your current process until then.
Expense accounts
These set which Xero account your purchases go to, based on how the contact on the purchase order is grouped in Buildxact:
Suppliers: purchases from contacts in the Suppliers group go to this account.
Contractors: purchases from contacts in the Contractors group go to this account.
The account must have a name and number. Accounts starting with 'null' won't work. We suggest adding separate accounts in your Xero chart of accounts for Buildxact purchases. If you need more detail, for example separate electrical and plumbing accounts, you can set an account for each contact (see How does Xero know which account to use? below).
Expense tax types
These tell Xero which tax rate to use on purchases with tax (for example GST on Expenses) and without tax (for example GST Free Expenses). They're usually pre-set.
You'll see two sets that look the same. One is for older jobs (linked to estimates created before November 2020) and one is for newer jobs. Both sets should match.
In the UK? Your Xero tax rates will show VAT instead of GST, for example 20% (VAT on Expenses) or 20% (VAT on Income). For help setting up VAT in Buildxact, see VAT Settings in the UK.
Income account, status and tax
Income account: the Xero account your customer invoices go to, for example Sales. It must have a name and number.
Invoice default status: the status items land in Xero. We recommend Draft to start with, so you get into the habit of reviewing items in Xero. See Xero default status below for each option.
Income tax types: as with expenses, set the tax rate for income with tax (for example GST on Income) and without tax (for example GST Free Income), for both older and newer jobs.
Job tracking category
If you use tracking categories in Xero, choose the one for jobs. Buildxact then sends the job number with each bill and sale, so every Xero transaction knows which Buildxact job it relates to. This makes reporting much easier. See Using tracking categories below to set one up.
Click Save Settings when you're done.
Sync with Xero
Buildxact is ready to send items to Xero when there are:
Purchase orders marked Part Received or Received
Customer invoices marked Invoiced or Received
How to sync
The Integrations menu item shows the number of items waiting to sync.
Click the green Sync button, or the blue Sync now button on the Integrations screen.
A message appears while the sync runs. It usually takes around 30 seconds and no more than a few minutes.
When it's finished, you'll see when the last successful sync happened.
Sync log
Click View Log to see everything Buildxact has sent to Xero. This is useful if something isn't showing in Xero, for example if it was synced weeks ago and later deleted.
Exclude or resend items
Synced purchase orders and invoices show a sync icon next to the order number and a banner at the top. Before an item syncs, you can open it and choose Exclude from sync, which is useful during a changeover. After it syncs, that option becomes Resend, in case you need to send it to Xero again.
What the data looks like in Xero
Purchase orders become bills
Buildxact fills in the contact, descriptions, quantities, prices and tax.
If the supplier or customer doesn't exist in Xero yet, Buildxact creates them for you.
The Reference combines the Buildxact job number, purchase order number and the supplier reference entered when receipting.
If you turned on attachment syncing, the purchase order attachment is added to the bill.
Bills arrive in your chosen default status. In Draft, you can change the account, then click Approve.
Please note: there may be a small difference between the amount in Buildxact and Xero. Buildxact calculates to four decimal places, but Xero rounds to two.
Customer invoices become sales
The Reference combines the Buildxact job number and invoice number.
Any variations attached to the invoice appear as separate lines, to keep things clear.
If you use tracking categories, the job shows on each line.
Identifying contacts
To send purchases to separate supplier and contractor accounts, Buildxact needs to know which of your contacts are suppliers and which are contractors. Double-check this is set correctly for all your contacts.
General business overheads
Because Buildxact is job focused, we recommend entering overheads like phone bills, car leases and office rent directly in Xero, as they're hard to fit into any one job.
Xero to Buildxact settings
Use this if you want bills entered in Xero to come into Buildxact. In Integrations, open your Xero settings. If you're pulling purchases in from Xero, turn off syncing received purchase orders to Xero. If there's a special reason you need both turned on, contact our support team and we can advise.
Import bills: turns on Xero bills coming into Buildxact's Imported Bills.
Select account codes: choose which Xero accounts to pull bills from. We recommend leaving this blank to start, so Buildxact checks everything. If too much comes through, narrow it down later.
Tracking categories: choose the Xero tracking category you use for jobs, and the one you use for Buildxact's actual cost categories (for example "Job" and "Area"). Buildxact uses these to fill in the job and category for you.
Attachments: we strongly recommend turning this on. It saves the Xero bill's attachment to the purchase or work order in Buildxact, so you have the full context.
Click Save.
Work with imported bills
Click Jobs in the left-hand menu.
Select Imported Bills.
Only bills created in the last 30 days appear, and they must be Approved, Awaiting Payment or Paid in Xero. Bills that Buildxact sent to Xero don't come back. Set up a regular routine, such as once or twice a week, to action your bills.
Job: select the job for the bill. This is the only required field. Use the search to find it quickly.
Category: we recommend always choosing one. Without it, the bill is added to the job in its own new category.
Item: optionally match it to an existing line. If you don't, a new item is added to the category.
View line items: see each line on the bill. You can assign lines to different jobs, categories or items.
View attachments: check the attachment and notes from Xero to help you decide where the bill goes.
Ignore bill: hide bills that aren't related to any job.
Create a purchase or work order
You can create an order for a whole bill, a category or an individual item. Select a job first, so the +Create Order button becomes active.
Select the job, and the category and item if needed.
Click +Create Order.
Buildxact fills in the contact. If it can't match one, the contact may not exist yet in Buildxact, so you'll need to create it.
Add a description if you like, then click Save & Close.
The new order appears in the job's purchase orders with a sync icon.
Split a bill into multiple purchase orders
Click View line items, then select a job, category or item for each line. You can create a new category or item by typing in the box. Then click +Create Order.
Link a bill to an existing purchase order
If you've already created or sent a purchase order for this bill, link the bill to that order instead of creating a new one. This keeps the cost from being counted twice in your job.
This process is slightly different to the regular imported bills flow. See the article below for the specifics.
Using tracking categories
Tracking categories let you filter your Xero reports by Buildxact job, for example a profit and loss report split by job. When pulling bills from Xero, they also let Buildxact fill in the job and cost category for you.
Set up tracking categories in Xero
In Xero, click the Accounting menu.
Choose Advanced.
Click Tracking categories.
Click Add Tracking Category.
Name it with a reference to jobs, for example "Job". Leave the Category Options blank, as Buildxact fills these in with your job numbers.
Click Save.
If you'll pull bills from Xero into Buildxact, you can add a second tracking category for cost categories, for example "Area".
Finish the setup in Buildxact
Click Integrations in the left-hand menu.
Select Xero, then Settings.
Choose your tracking category from the drop-down at the bottom.
Click Save Settings and close.
How does Xero know which account to use?
When Buildxact sends a purchase or invoice to Xero, it includes the account it should land in. You can change this at several points:
Default accounts: the supplier, contractor and income accounts in your integration settings.
On a contact: set a default account in the contact's details if a supplier always needs a different account from the main default.
On the order: change the account on a purchase order for one-off exceptions or last-minute changes.
In Xero: change the account on any line of a bill or sale before you approve it.
Xero contact linking
When you sync purchases or invoices, one of three things happens with each contact:
The contact doesn't exist in Xero, so Buildxact creates it.
The contact exists in Xero but hasn't synced before, so Buildxact links to it for the first time.
The contact exists in Xero and is already linked.
The Xero link shows under the contact in Buildxact, so you can always check or change which Xero contact it's linked to.
Archived contacts
If your sync log shows this error, the purchase order or invoice is linked to a Xero contact that has been archived:
"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 it, either un-archive the contact in Xero, or link the Buildxact contact to an active Xero contact:
Open your Buildxact Contacts.
Find and open the contact.
Edit the contact details.
Update the Xero Link field.
Xero default status
The default status in your Xero sync settings controls where bills and invoices land in Xero. The same setting applies to both bills and invoices.
Draft
Items land in Xero's draft folder. Next, you approve them. We recommend this to start with.
Submitted
Items land in Xero's awaiting approval section. Next, you approve them.
Authorized
Items land pre-approved in Xero's awaiting payment area. Next, you pay or reconcile them. This suits people who've used the integration for a while.
Auto-receipting
When a customer invoice you've synced to Xero is marked as paid in Xero, Buildxact creates a matching receipt and updates the invoice to partially or fully paid.
Please note: this doesn't happen instantly. The payment is recorded in Buildxact the next time Buildxact syncs with Xero.
To turn on auto-receipting:
Go to Integrations > Application Integrations and select Xero.
Turn on Invoice payment syncing.
Try it out
There's a lot here. A great way to learn is to connect Buildxact and Xero and play with a test job in both. If you get stuck, click Need help at the bottom right of the main menu, or contact your trainer if you've been working with one. We'd much rather help you get it right than have items going to the wrong places.
Need help? Reach out to our support team — we're here to help!