How to integrate Archdesk with Xero

Archdesk integrates with the accounting system Xero. What it means is that you can seamlessly transfer your financial documents from Archdesk to Xero with just one click. 

In this article you will learn:

 

Things to keep in mind: 

  • Archdesk allows you to create invoices and credit notes and helps you exchange them with your clients and suppliers in a fast and easy way. 
  • Archdesk has the Financials functionality in order to be able to track the financial health per project and for all the projects cumulatively. 
  • The Financials functionality allows for reporting on the projected cost vs real spend. 
  • HOWEVER Archdesk is not an accounting system. Xero is. That's why we join forces so that Archdesk does best what we do best which is help you manage your construction and production projects and Xero can do what they do best, which is your full accounting. 

 

FIRST ACTIVATION

To activate the integration between Archdesk and Xero you need to go to Settings&Preferences -> Integrations -> Activate.  

Click on ACTIVATE. This will bring up the Xero login window.
 
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Log into your Xero account. 
 
 
The system will bring you back to Archdesk and will ask you to connect your Accounts to Xero (so that the nominal codes match).
 
Match the accounts. Don't forget to Save and Activate
 
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The popup in the bottom right corner will inform you about the integration activation. 
 
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🚨Your Chart of Accounts should be the same in Archdesk as it is in Xero. During the implementation we have added the Nominal Codes provided by your company but if during the integration you notice they are different, please contact us at support@archdesk.com  
 
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🚨The first integration is very important. Please read carefully what happens upon your first transfer. 

  1. Once you activate the integration, Archdesk starts transferring the invoices automatically meaning you don't need to export CSV to then import it to Xero. The systems connect directly.

  2. When performing the first activation, Archdesk will try to transfer all your invoices as the system needs to learn which invoices have already been transferred and are already in Xero. If you had transferred some of your invoices manually, you will need to delete the drafts of the "duplicates" in Xero.

  3. After the first integration the system will only send out the new invoices you create from that point on.

  4. The integration is active for ~30 minutes so when performing the first activation, you may need to activate the integration a couple of times because the system transfers the documents in batches of 50-100. Depending on the number of documents to be transferred you may need to hit ACTIVATE a few times. Please do so until all the documents show as drafts in Xero. 

  5. The transferred invoices in Xero will be saved as drafts. You need to go to Xero and approve the ones that are new in Xero. Bulk approval is possible in Xero.
     

 

FOLLOWING TRANSFERS

Whenever you need to have the invoices issued in Archdesk to appear in Xero, you activate the integration through going to Settings&Preferences -> Integrations -> Activate as they don't transfer in real time. This is to minimise the possibility of an error. If the invoices transferred the minute they were created in Archdesk it could cause discrepancies between what's in Archdesk and what's in Xero.

For the transfers that follow the first activation, the system will only move the new invoices as it has already learned what documents (by reference numbers) are already in Xero and won't try to pair them again. 

That's why the activation needs to be performed when you are certain that your documents in Archdesk are correct and can be mirrored in Xero. 

Such procedure also gives you more control over your documentation.  

 

🚨Make sure that the invoices and credit notes are assigned to a specific existing contact in Archdesk. If you type in the contact's details manually, Xero will not know what to do with that invoice and will not transfer it.  

🚨Each contact in Archdesk has a reference number that has to match the reference number in Xero. If Archdesk can't find the reference number in Xero, it will create the contact that is why it's ESSENTIAL that those numbers match hence it's better to create contacts in Archdesk first and then let the system mirror them in Xero. 

If the contact exists in Archdesk, click on the yellow bar to select the client from the Contacts list. If the contact doesn't exist in Archdesk, you can quickly create it without leaving the Invoice Creator. Click on the shortcut clock icon-> create contact-> Business/Individual Contact. Create the contact, save, and then select it by clicking yellow button.

 

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 ISSUES WITH INTEGRATION

Sometimes during the activation the Integration Status Report shows that not all of the transfers have been made. 
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Depending on the error message there may be a few reasons this happens: 
  • if the error message indicates that the a document cannot be transferred due to incorrect tax, check the data on the invoice and correct it, then remove the record on the integration Status log and sync again.
  • if the error message indicates that there has been an issue with the token, then it may mean that you tried to activate the integration twice. As mentioned the integration is active for 30 minutes. Delete the record and sync in 30 minutes. 

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If the error keeps occurring, please contact Archdesk support.