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Integrating with Xero
Integrating with Xero

Avoid double entry of data and streamline your invoicing process with Xero

Bill Arconati avatar
Written by Bill Arconati
Updated over a week ago

You can link SortScape to Xero account so that information is synchronised between the two systems. Connecting SortScape with Xero will enable the following features:

  • Syncing between SortScape contacts and Xero customer contacts

  • Syncing between SortScape materials and Xero products and services

  • The ability to create Xero invoices from completed SortScape visits

Summary of Syncing Process

When you connect SortScape to Xero, SortScape imports your Xero customer contacts as SortScape contacts and your Xero products/services as SortScape materials.

Contact Synchronization

  • Automatic Contact Import from Xero: Upon connection, SortScape imports your Xero customer contacts and products/services, allowing you to manage these elements within SortScape.

  • Exporting SortScape Contacts to Xero: To prevent data clutter in your Xero account, SortScape contacts are NOT automatically exported to Xero. Instead, a new Xero contact is created from SortScape in two specific scenarios:

    • When Creating an Invoice: Automatically, when you generate a Xero invoice for a contact within SortScape.

      • Manual Creation: For other needs, such as generating a quote, manually add a contact to Xero by:

      • Navigating to the desired contact in SortScape using a web browser.

      • Clicking on the dropdown menu in the upper right corner of the contact record.

      • Selecting "Create contact in Xero."

After linking, contacts sync two-way, ensuring any changes in one system reflect in the other.

Material and Product Synchronization

  • One-Way Sync for Materials: Post-import, any Xero updates to products/services automatically refresh the linked material in SortScape. This sync is one-way; linked materials must be edited in Xero.

  • Creating New Materials: Manually created materials in SortScape won't add to Xero as products/services until used in a Xero invoice.

This structure ensures clarity and succinctly communicates how both systems interact, addressing the key processes for managing contacts and materials/products synchronization.

Enabling Xero Integration

To enable Xero integration, you must be logged in as an Administrator. To enable Xero integration, go to the “Integrations” admin screen and click the “Activate” button in the “Xero” box.

Once you click this button, you will be redirected to the “Xero Integration” settings screen.

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Connecting to Xero


Before syncing with Xero you must first connect SortScape to Xero as follows:

  • Click on the admin “Cog” in the upper right hand corner of the screen and click on “Xero Integration” in the dropdown menu.

  • Click on the “Connect to Xero” button and follow the prompts to sign into your Xero account.

  • If your Xero account has access to multiple companies, choose the company which you’d like to sync with SortScape.

  • At the end of the process you will be redirected to SortScape.

  • Once you are redirected back to SortScape, your first sync will begin.

Note - To prevent accidental data corruption, we prevent you from connecting to a different Xero account once you've already connected to a Xero account. If you wish to connect to a different Xero account or switch to QuickBooks Online, please contact support and we can reset your connection for you.

Synchronising with Xero

Once connected, SortScape will automatically sync with Xero every 30 minutes. You can also manually sync at any time by clicking the “Sync with Xero” button on the Xero Integration screen.

Click “Sync with Xero” to manually sync


Syncing Xero Contacts

When syncing SortScape with Xero, all of your Xero customer contacts are imported into SortScape as contacts. If a Xero contact has a shipping address specified, a SortScape property will be created using that shipping address (so you can schedule visits for that property). If no shipping address is specified for the Xero contact then a property will be created using the contact’s billing address.

We import the following Xero contacts in SortScape:

  • Xero customer contacts

  • Xero contacts that are neither customers nor suppliers

If SortScape imports a contact that you don’t want imported, you can archive the contact in SortScape and it won’t affect the contact in Xero.

Once a Xero contact is imported as a SortScape contact that Xero contact and SortScape contact will be kept in sync going forward – Any changes to the name, email, phone number or company name for that contact will update the related Xero contact on the next sync and vice-versa. Properties created from Xero contacts do not get synced with the source Xero contact going forward – it’s just a one-time import.

Any SortScape contacts that don’t exist as a Xero contact will get added as a new Xero contact when added to a Xero invoice (see below)

To prevent duplicate records, we first check to see if a contact with the same name, phone number or email address already exists before importing a Xero contact as a SortScape contact, . If that contact already exists we do not import the contact.

If during the sync process we suspect that a Xero contact already exists as a contact, you will see a link called “Link customers to existing contacts” under the “sync now” button:

This takes you to a screen listing all possible matches. Each possible match will show three columns:

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On the left side are the values from the Xero contact, on the right side are the values from the SortScape contact and, in the middle, are the proposed values. Left/right arrows will appear on any unmatched columns. Clicking the arrow on the left will update the field in the middle with the value on the left and likewise for the right. Clicking “accept values and link” will link the contact and contact and update them with the new values.

If a contact gets marked as inactive in Xero the sync will automatically try to archive the linked contact in SortScape including its properties. If there are any pending jobs or open issues for any properties associated with that contact the sync won’t archive that contact in SortScape until those jobs and issues are either resolved or deleted.

Syncing Xero Products and Services

When syncing SortScape with Xero we import all your Xero Products and Services into SortScape as materials.

To prevent duplicate records, SortScape will first look to see if a material with that same name already exists before importing a Xero Product / Service and vice-versa. If such a material or product/service already exists, we won’t import it. We will instead create an automatic link between the material and that Xero product/service for future syncing.

Once all the Xero products and services are imported into SortScape they will remain linked so that any updates made in Xero will flow through to the related SortScape material.

Materials in SortScape linked to Xero products/services cannot be edited in SortScape. They need to be managed in Xero.

Any SortScape materials that don’t exist as a Xero product or service will get added as a new product in Xero when the material added to a Xero invoice (see below)

Creating Xero Invoices

Once SortScape is connected to Xero, you can then create Xero invoices from completed SortScape visits. This is further described in Invoicing Customers.

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