- How do Zigaflow & Xero Work Together?
- Getting Started
- Exporting Sales Invoices
- Bulk Export
- Exporting Supplier Invoices
- Exporting Individual Invoices
- Jumping to an Invoice in Xero Directly from Zigaflow
- Exporting Purchase Orders (POs)
- Disconnecting Zigaflow from Xero
- FAQs
How do Zigaflow & Xero Work Together?
Zigaflow was Quikflw so some screenshots have this name.
You can import clients, suppliers, and products into Zigaflow and push your sales invoices, purchase orders and supplier invoices into Xero.
This can be done in bulk, individually, and certain automations can be set up to automatically update Xero with customer invoices from Zigaflow.
There's more in this video:
Getting Started
Connecting / Disconnecting
To set up the connection:
- Select the cog at the top right
- Click on Integration Settings
- Click next to the Xero icon click on the connect button
- A pop-up screen will appear - put in your Xero username and password then click 'Login'
- At the next screen select the organization to log in to. You may have a 'demo Company' in Xero you can play with. If you want to experiment with the connection then select this one, otherwise select your organization.
- You are then taken back to the integrations screen where the button 'Revoke' is now shown next to the Xero icon.
- If this button is not visible you have not connected (or been disconnected).
Integration Settings
Once connected, the setting button is visible:
Click on this to see these settings:
Set up Your Nominal / Account Codes
The system will use the default account codes you have set in Xero for sales and purchases. However, if you want to get more in-depth reporting you can map to different Xero codes.
To do this:
- Go to Configure > Accounting
- Select 'Account Codes'
- Click on Import from Xero
- A screen listing all the available codes is presented. Select the ones you want by clicking on Import again each one.
- If you already have account codes set up that you want to continue to use, you can map these to the Xero ones using the 'Xero Account Code' column.
Next, make you can set your items to have an account code.
On existing invoices, if some items do not have Account Codes set, you can set them using the apply button:
If there is no nominal code in the line item the system will use the default you have set in Zigaflow (Cog -> Business Settings). If none is set, it will use your default nominal code in Xero.
Set up Your Tax Codes
In order for the integration to work properly, you need to map any tax codes in Zigaflow to Xero.
To do this:
- Go to the Configure > Accounting
- Select 'Tax Codes'
- Click on Import from Xero
- A screen listing all the available codes is presented. Select the ones you want by clicking on Import again each one.
- If you already have tax codes set up that you want to continue to use, you can map these to the Xero ones. For example, if I have 20% S set up as a tax code but want to map the Xero '20% (VAT on Invoice) to it, I will select the dropdown in the Xero Tax code column:
- Click on the tick button to confirm this.
Next, make sure all your items have a tax code set.
On an invoice, each line item must have a tax code that maps to Xero. If some have not been set on existing invoices, you can set them using the apply button:
Importing Contacts (Companies)
Contacts in Xero are equivalent to Companies in Zigaflow.
There are two ways to put Companies into Zigaflow from Xero - direct import or via Excel.
- All the contact/company data from Xero can be imported directly in one import (Import Data -> Items -> Items and Kits -> Import from Xero (if no button is visible you are not connected to Xero). From then on, Zigaflow will create new accounts in Xero when an invoice is pushed to Xero, or if you have ‘Auto Synch Contacts’ set to ‘Yes', when a new company is added to Zigaflow
- Companies/contacts are imported from Excel in Zigaflow. When an invoice is pushed to Xero it will check the name in Xero. If it matches it will not create a new company in Xero but post to that existing company.
Syncing with Xero
On the 'Settings' button in the Xero integration, you can set Zigaflow to update company and contact names directly back to Xero - so,
- If you change a name in Zigaflow it is immediately reflected in Xero
- If you add a new company it will be added to Xero
The synchronization does not work the other way.
Using Xero Tracking Categories
Xero tracking categories are set on the items, not on the overall invoice. However, in Zigaflow, you can set up the tracking codes on the invoice header as a custom field. When the invoice is exported to Xero it will update all the line items with the codes. If you set up the codes on the Items then these will be used. The precedence are:
- Header => Tracking code: XXX
- LineItem => Tracking code: YYY
The line item takes precedence so it will use YYY but where
- Header => Tracking code: XXX
- LineItem => Tracking code
It will apply XXX to the line item tracking codes.
You can set up two tracking code fields in Zigaflow that will be pushed over to Xero.
To set up a tracking code field:
- Click on Configure -> Items
- Select Custom Item Fields
- Click '+New Custom Field'
- Make sure the tag for the field is made up of:
- XeroTracking_XXXX
Where XXXX is the name of the field in Xero. In the demo account for Xero the tracking code is called 'Region' so in Zigaflow it should be:
XeroTracking_Region
You may wish to set this up as a dropdown to match the way that Xero works.
The codes will be visible in the line items for the invoices, PO's, etc. if you have set them to be visible in those modules.
When a PO or Sales invoice is pushed to Xero the code will be copied across as well.
If the name of the code is not recognized by Xero it will ignore it.
To set up tracking fields against the invoice set up the fields in Configure -> Invoices -> Custom Fields
Exporting Supplier Invoices
Assuming that you are connected to Xero you can export supplier invoices in the system to Xero.
To do this:
- Select Go To > Purchase Orders
- At the top, click on the 'Supplier Invoices' button
- Click on 'Export'
- Click on 'Xero Export'. If you do not see this, you are not connected to Xero through Zigaflow
- On this screen, you can review the invoices before exporting
- When they have been exported, the date they have been exported is marked so they will not be exported again
- Select the date range for the supplier invoices on the left
- Click on 'Xero Export' to push them to Xero
Notes:
Supplier invoices will only be exported if their statuses are:
- Approved
- Paid
- Received
Also, if a PO is deleted the attached supplier invoices are not exportable.
The tax for each item is taken from the PO the supplier's invoice is attached to. If the export fails due to this, go back to the PO and add the correct tax to each line item.
Exporting Sales Invoices
Invoices will only be exported if their statuses are Approved, Sent or Paid.
You can export invoices in bulk or individually. When they are exported they are marked with their export date and will not be re-exported unless you reset this date. On the image below you can see where the date is listed.
Bulk Export
- Go to the invoices list screen
- Click on 'Export'
- Select 'Xero API Export'. If this is not visible you may have timed out and will need to re-connect to Xero (see above).
Use the filters at the top to select the month or a custom range of dates. Check that the account codes per line are the ones you want to use. If they are not, go back to the invoice and adjust each line item (if you can't see the account code column on the invoice screen use the show/hide link at the bottom to show it).
Click on 'Xero Export' to complete the export.
Where do the Invoices go?
If the status of an invoice in Zigaflow is 'Sent' it will be put into 'Awaiting Approval' in Xero so you will need to approve them.
If the status is any other status (except for canceled or draft) it will be automatically put into 'Awaiting Payment'.
Exporting Individual Invoices
- Open the invoice to export
- Click on 'Show links to....'
- Click on the 'Export to Xero' button. If there is no button you will need to reconnect to Xero and come back to the invoice.
- The invoice is exported to Xero into Draft invoices and the exported date in Zigaflow is set
Jumping to an Invoice in Xero Directly from Zigaflow
Once you have a sales invoice exported into Xero you can now open that directly from Zigaflow .
On the invoices’ list screen you click on the Xero icon. This opens the invoice in the accounts software in another browser tab.
You can also open it from the invoice edit screen using the Xero icon.
If you can't see the icon, make sure you click on 'Show More Settings'. The icon will not appear if the invoice has not been exported.
Exporting Purchase Orders (POs)
When you have exported a PO to Xero its exported date will be entered and you cannot re-export it unless you reset the date.
A PO can have any status and still be exported to Xero. There is no bulk export of PO's to Xero, just individual exports.
You can see what PO's have been exported in the Purchase Orders list screen but looking at the exported date column. If there is a date, it has been exported.
To export a PO, edit the PO and click on the 'Show links to...'
- Click on the 'Export to Xero' button. If there is no button you will need to reconnect to Xero and come back to the PO
- The PO is exported to Xero into Draft Purchase Orders and the exported date in Zigaflow is set
Disconnecting Zigaflow from Xero
This is useful where you have disconnected from Xero within Zigaflow but when you try to reconnect Xero tells you that you are still connected.
If you are having issues connecting and disconnecting from Xero within Zigaflow it might be worth disconnecting Zigaflow from Xero instead. To do this:
- Login to Xero
- Click on your company name at the top left to bring up the menu
- Select 'Settings'
- Click on 'Connected Apps'
- Click on the Disconnect' button next to the Zigaflow name
FAQs
How do I disconnect Xero from Zigaflow?
- Go to the Cog
- Integration Settings
- Click on the 'Revoke' button next to the Xero logo. If it is not visible you are not connected to Xero.
What doesn’t your integration do?
Currently, the system does not automatically update Xero from Zigaflow without manual action. This might be to push an invoice into Xero or performing another action that triggers an automation in Zigaflow that pushes the invoice.
Do I have to Send one Invoice at a Time?
No, you can use the bulk export described above, for example at the end of a week?
Does Zigaflow Update Automatically When Xero Registers a Client Payment?
No, this is planned for later in 2020.