Accounting integrations are available on Pro and Advanced plans. Only the account owner or a team member with permission to edit settings can connect an integration or change its settings.
Connect Invoicer.ai to QuickBooks Online or Xero and your invoices, payments, estimates, and expenses are pushed to your accounting software automatically. Sync is one way, from Invoicer.ai to your accounting software, so make your changes in Invoicer.ai.
What syncs
Invoices are pushed when sent, and updated while they're unpaid.
Payments are recorded against the invoice. A refund (negative payment) is booked as a refund of the sale (a credit note or refund receipt), so the invoice balance doesn't reopen.
Estimates are pushed as quotes when sent or approved.
Expenses are pushed when created or edited, once they have a supplier name and an amount.
Clients and suppliers are created in your accounting software automatically when a document that uses them syncs.
Items are not created in your accounting software. In QuickBooks Online, invoice lines use one item called invoicer.ai Sales. In Xero, invoice lines are posted straight to your sales account. Line descriptions and amounts come across as they appear in Invoicer.ai.
What counts as sent
Drafts never sync. An invoice or estimate counts as sent when it's emailed from Invoicer.ai, whether you send it yourself or it goes out as a scheduled or recurring send. A document you only download as a PDF is not pushed.
Connect your accounting software
Go to Settings and open the Integrations tab.
Under Accounting integrations, click Connect on QuickBooks Online or Xero.
Sign in to your QuickBooks Online or Xero account and approve access. If you have more than one Xero organization, you'll be asked to choose one.
You'll be returned to Invoicer.ai and the card will show Connected, along with the company name, connection date, and last sync date.
Map your accounts and taxes (see below).
Click Sync now to bring over your history.
Most businesses only need to connect one. If you use both, each connection has its own settings.
Bring over your history
Connecting only pushes new activity. To bring over past records, click Sync now in the Sync activity section. It queues every sent invoice, payment, estimate, and expense from the last 12 months that isn't already in your accounting software.
Choose what to sync
Below the connection card you'll find the settings for that connection.
Sync enabled is the master switch for the connection.
Invoices, Payments, Estimates (as quotes), and Expenses (as bills) can each be turned on or off.
Turning a toggle off skips changes rather than saving them for later. Anything created or edited while Sync enabled or a document toggle is off is not pushed when you turn it back on. Click Sync now after turning it back on to pick those changes up. The same applies to expenses created before you turned on Expenses.
Map your accounts
Pick which accounts in your chart of accounts Invoicer.ai should use. The lists come straight from your accounting software. Not sure which to choose? Check with your bookkeeper or accountant before your first sync.
QuickBooks Online
Income account: where invoice sales are recorded, for example Sales.
Deposit account: where invoice payments are recorded, usually your business bank account.
Expense account: the default account for expenses.
Expenses paid from: the bank or card account paid expenses come out of.
Expense payment type: how paid expenses are recorded, for example Cash.
Purchase tax code: the tax code applied to expenses. Outside the US this is required for every expense, whether or not the expense was taxed. If it's not set, expenses won't sync.
In QuickBooks Online, paid expenses are recorded as purchases and unpaid expenses as bills.
Xero
Sales account: where invoice sales are recorded, for example 200 Sales.
Bank account for payments: where invoice payments are recorded. It must be an account that allows payments, usually your business bank account.
Expense account: the default account for expenses.
Bank account for expenses: the bank or card account paid expenses come out of.
Purchase tax rate: the tax rate applied to expenses.
In Xero, all expenses are recorded as bills. A paid expense is a bill with its payment recorded at the same time.
Map your taxes
Each tax you use in Invoicer.ai needs to be matched to a tax code (QuickBooks Online) or tax rate (Xero).
If you use QuickBooks Online in the US, QuickBooks calculates sales tax itself, but the mapping still matters: it decides which tax code the document is filed under.
Documents that use an unmapped tax won't sync until the tax is mapped. If you add a new tax in Invoicer.ai, make sure to map it.
Check sync status
Changes are pushed in the background every few minutes, so a document can show Syncing for a short time. Look for the sync icon beside the document number on your invoice, estimate, and expense lists, and in the editor, to see where each document stands.
The Sync activity section at the bottom of the integration settings lists anything that couldn't sync and why. When everything is up to date it shows Nothing needs attention right now. After fixing an issue, click Sync now to try again right away.
If a document is changed in QuickBooks Online or Xero
If you edit a synced document in your accounting software, Invoicer.ai stops pushing changes to it so your edit isn't overwritten. The document is flagged Changed in QuickBooks Online or Changed in Xero. Open the document, or go to Sync activity, and choose one:
Keep QuickBooks Online version (or Xero version): leave the accounting copy as it is. Invoicer.ai won't push further changes to it.
Overwrite with Invoicer.ai: replace the accounting copy with the Invoicer.ai version and resume syncing.
Editing an invoice after a payment
Once a payment has been recorded on an invoice, later edits to that invoice are not pushed. The invoice shows a notice in Invoicer.ai, and you'll need to make the same change in QuickBooks Online or Xero by hand. New payments and refunds on the invoice still sync.
Deleting documents and clients
Deleting an invoice voids it in your accounting software.
Deleting an estimate or expense removes it.
Deleting a client makes the customer inactive in QuickBooks Online or archived in Xero. It is not deleted.
Reconnect needed
QuickBooks Online and Xero authorizations can lapse. When that happens the connection card shows Reconnect needed. Syncing waits until you click Reconnect and sign in again, then picks up where it left off.
Disconnect
Click Disconnect on the connection card to stop syncing. Anything already pushed stays in your accounting software. You can reconnect at any time.
Common questions
Will my past invoices sync when I connect? Not on their own. Click Sync now to bring over sent invoices, payments, estimates, and expenses from the last 12 months.
Why didn't my invoice sync? Check that it was emailed from Invoicer.ai (drafts and PDF-only invoices don't sync), that its taxes are mapped, and that syncing was on when you made the change. Sync activity shows the reason for any failure. Fix it, then click Sync now.
Why hasn't my receipt synced? Expenses need a supplier name and an amount. A newly uploaded receipt waits until both are filled in.
Do I need to add my clients to my accounting software first? No. Clients and suppliers are created automatically the first time a document that uses them syncs.
Why was a payment refused by Xero? Xero doesn't accept a payment larger than the invoice balance. Record the overpayment in Xero directly.
Why does the Reference field keep changing in Xero? Invoicer.ai rewrites the Reference on every push, so a reference typed in Xero won't stick. Set it in Invoicer.ai instead.