Xero - Usage Guide

Syncing Invoices and Payments to Xero

Summary

This article explains the daily workflow of syncing financial documents from OpenSolar to Xero. It covers how invoices, credit notes, and payments are automatically transferred, and how to troubleshoot sync errors.

Table of Contents

• How Data Synchronization Works

• Syncing Invoices & Credit Notes

• Syncing Payments

• Managing Sync Status & Retries

How Data Synchronization Works

The integration is "event-driven," meaning actions you take in OpenSolar automatically trigger updates in Xero.

• Direction: One-way from OpenSolar to Xero.

• Contacts: OpenSolar attempts to match customers to existing Xero contacts by email address. If no match is found, a new contact is created.

Syncing Invoices & Credit Notes

Invoices: When you issue an invoice in OpenSolar, it is pushed to Xero immediately as a Authorised invoice (or per your Xero settings). Line items are mapped to specific ledger accounts based on your configuration (e.g., Sales, Incentives, Discounts).

Credit Notes (Cancellations): If you cancel an invoice in OpenSolar:

• A Credit Note is automatically pushed to Xero if the associated invoice was already pushed. 

• This Credit Note effectively zeros out the balance of the original invoice in Xero.

Historical Invoices: Unlike previous versions, you can manually sync invoices that were sent before you connected to Xero. Simply locate the invoice in the Payment Request table and click the sync action .

Syncing Payments

When a payment is recorded in OpenSolar (via CashFlow or manual entry) and reaches the Paid status, the transaction is pushed to Xero and applied to the corresponding invoice.

Managing Sync Status & Retries

You can monitor sync status in the Payment Requests table on the Project>Payments page or at CashFlow>Payment Requests.

• Tip: If you do not see the "Accounting Sync" column, click the columns manager icon to enable it.

Status Indicators:
 

	Synced: Successfully created in Xero.
	Pending: The system is attempting to sync.
	Not Attempted: An invoice that was sent before the accounting integration was established. Click the sync action to attempt to sync
	Failed: The sync failed. Hover over the chip to see the error message (e.g., "Missing Ledger Account").

Retry Logic: A common error occurs if an invoice is sent before ledger accounts are configured.

1. Hover over the "Failed" status to confirm the error (e.g., "Missing Ledger Account").

2. Go to the Accounting tab and complete your Configuration.

3. Return to the Payment Requests table.

4. Click Retry on the failed invoice. It should now sync successfully.