Add-on: Xero

1. Prerequisites
2. Key integration details
3. Step-by-step setup guide
4. Site tracking (optional)
5. Viewing payments
6. Understanding the reconciliation process
7. Map Xero payments to Storeganise invoices using Zapier
8. Troubleshooting common errors
9. Limitations
10. FAQs

The Xero Add-on helps you sync invoices, payments, and customer details from Storeganise to Xero. This guide shows you how to configure the integration, map your data, and troubleshoot common issues.

Prerequisites

• This Add-on is only available to self-storage operators
• You must have a Xero business account
• Storeganise must enable the Add-on for your account

Key integration details

• One-way sync: Data flows from Storeganise to Xero only

  Scope:

  • Invoices (sent, paid, failed, credit notes)
  • Payments (manual and automatic)
  • Invoice-related contacts
• Sync timing: Happens automatically when a non-draft invoice is generated
• Account link: All Storeganise sites link to the same Xero account, but each site can be configured individually

Step-by-step setup guide

This interactive guide only covers adding accounting codes and tax rates. Part 2 (adding payment methods) can be found below

Step 1: Contact us to enable the Add-on

1. Reach out to support@storeganise.com to request the Xero Add-on installation
2. Once installed, you’ll see a setup link in Storeganise
3. Click the link and follow the prompts to authorize your Xero account
4. Log in to Xero and select your organisation

Step 2: Configure Add-on settings

1. Go to the Xero Add-on settings
2. Set these required fields:
   • Default account code: Used when line items are not mapped
   • Automated payment method account code: Used for gateways like Stripe
3. (Optional) Add site tracking fields:
• Tracking category name (e.g. "Site")
• Category option (e.g. {"site1ID": "Broadway Storage"}) - can be found by exporting your site data
4. Leave Default tax type blank unless troubleshooting

Step 3: Match tax settings

Ensure tax settings match between systems:

• In Storeganise:
  • Main settings > Accounting > Self-storage tax
    • Set your tax to either inclusive or exclusive
  • Main settings > Accounting > Accounting codes and tax rates
    • Set your Tax rates for each Account code
  • Main settings > Accounting > System charges
    • Set your Tax rates for each system charge
• In Xero:
  • Accounting > Advanced > Tax rates
    • Set up tax rates to match your tax rates in Storeganise
  • Settings > Invoice settings > Edit invoice theme > Show taxes as: Inclusive or Exclusive (must match your settings in Storeganise (as above)

Step 4: Map account codes and tax rates

In Xero

1. Go to Accounting > Chart of Accounts
2. Create or update accounts to match Storeganise codes
3. Set the Tax rate for each account (must match Storeganise)
4. Tick "Enable payments to this account" for all relevant accounts

In Storeganise

1. Go to Main settings > Accounting > Accounting codes and tax rates
2. Ensure each account code matches exactly with the codes in Xero (case sensitive)

Important: You must check "Enable payments to this account" in Xero for all manual payment methods and account codes added in Xero. Otherwise, any payments made on these accounts will not be tracked in Xero.

Key points

Every account code added in Xero must have

• A matching code in Storeganise
• A Tax rate - defined using the drop-down selector
• Checked "Enable payments to this account"

Once you have confirmed that each account code meets the above criteria, move on to Configuring your payment methods.

Configure payment methods

The interactive guide below covers adding payment methods and invoice examples.

You must enable a payment method on your Xero account.

Bank accounts can be added to your Xero account so you can view your bank feeds and link bank account payments made in Storeganise to invoice records.

If you manually mark invoices as paid in Storeganise using a bank transfer, follow these steps:

Add a bank account in Xero:

• Go to Accounting → Bank Accounts → Add a Bank Account.
  • Search for your bank and follow the prompts to add it.
• Set up the Bank account code in Xero:
  • Once added, navigate to Accounting → Chart of Accounts.
  • Find the newly added bank account and click on it.
  • In the Code field, enter a relevant identifier (e.g., hsbc for an HSBC account)
• Add a manual payment method in Storeganise:
  • Go to Storeganise → Accounting → Manual Payment Methods.
  • Create a new manual payment method and set the Code to match the one used in Xero (e.g., hsbc )
• Mark payments in Storeganise:
  • When manually marking an invoice as paid in Storeganise, select the code (e.g., hsbc ).
  • The payment will now be linked to the corresponding bank account in Xero.

Connect a Stripe account

If you use automatic payments via Stripe, follow these steps:

1. Add Stripe feeds to Xero:
   • Follow this link to learn how to add your stripe feed.
   • Note: Stripe feeds sync to Xero per transaction, not in bulk.
2. After you've connected your account
   1. Stripe will appear in your Chart of Accounts list
   2. Open the account and add a code to the "Code" field (case sensitive) eg Stripe or Stripe_GBP
3. In the Add-on settings:
   1. Set Account code for automated payments to the same code as set in #2.

Other automatic payment methods

If you're using other automatic payment methods with Storeganise, such as Cybersource, follow the same steps as outlined above for Stripe.

Add manual payments

1. Any manual payments added in Storeganise such as Cash, Cheque or other must also be mapped to Xero's payment accounts.
   1. In Storeganise: Main settings → Accounting → Manual payment methods .
   2. In Xero: Accounting → Chart of Accounts .
   3. Example: If the payment method is "Cash" in Storeganise with code cash , create a new account in Xero with code cash and check "Enable payments to this account"

Inclusive Vs exclusive tax

To ensure accurate tax calculations, match the tax settings in Storeganise and Xero to either inclusive or exclusive pricing.

In Storeganise

• Go to -> Main settings → Accounting → Self-storage tax settings
• Check whether the tax setting for your account is set to Inclusive or Exclusive :
  • Inclusive: The total price of the line item includes the tax amount.
  • Exclusive: The tax is added on top of the line item’s price.

In Xero

• Navigate to Settings → Invoice settings.
• Edit the invoice theme:
  • Find the invoice theme you want to modify.
  • Click Options , then select Edit .
• Match the tax setting:
  • Look for the option labelled "Show taxes as".
  • Choose either Exclusive or Inclusive , ensuring it matches the setting in Storeganise.

Site tracking (optional)

The interactive guide below covers setting up site tracking

Site tracking allows you to configure tracking categories in Xero, enabling you to monitor multiple site records within a single Xero account. This feature helps you segment financial data by site for more detailed reporting.

Setting up site tracking in Xero

1. Create a tracking category in Xero:
   • Navigate to Xero → Advanced Accounting → Tracking Categories or click here.
   • Set up a Tracking Category Name, such as "Site," to organize all your site records.
   • Within the tracking category, add each site as a Category option , e.g., "Broadway storage."

Configuring site tracking in Storeganise

1. Access Xero Add-on settings for each site:
   • Open Storeganise and navigate to the Xero Add-on settings for the desired site.
   • Click the pencil icon to open the settings section.
2. Enter tracking information:
   • In the Tracking category name field, enter the category name from Xero (e.g., Site ).
   • In the Category option field, input the site-specific details in the required format:

{"site1ID": "Site1 name", "site2ID": "Site2 name"}

• The siteID is a unique alphanumeric identifier, which can be found by doing a CSV site export from your Storeganise site list (ensure "siteID" and "title.en" are selected during export).
• The Category option should match the entry in Xero exactly (e.g., "Broadway storage" ).

Testing site tracking

If any issues arise during setup, verify that:

• The category option in Storeganise exactly matches the Xero entry (case-sensitive).
• The formatting of the JSON structure in the Add-on settings is correct, ensuring proper use of {}, :, "" . Incorrect syntax will prevent the Add-on from functioning correctly.

Once all settings are confirmed, click "Update."

Viewing site tracking in Xero

After setup, invoices in Xero will display the site to which they are attributed. This allows you to structure financial reports and track performance by site efficiently.

Successful invoice sync example

1. Name of the customer and alphanumerical code which refers to the customer's Storeganise ID number
2. Storeganise invoice date and due date
3. Sequential invoice number found on the invoice in Storeganise
4. Storeganise long invoice ID number. Which can also be used to search for invoices in Storeganise
5. The account code for each line item
6. The tax rate for each line item
7. Whether taxes in Xero are inclusive or exclusive
8. Link to view the payment method

Viewing payments

Payments on invoices can be viewed in the payment view, not in the invoice view. Click the payment link in the invoice to see its details.

In Chart of Accounts, you can view all payments made on a specific payment type by clicking on the amount listed for that method on the Chart of Accounts page.

Understanding the reconciliation process

How Storeganise payments and Xero bank feeds work together

When you use both Storeganise and Xero with payment gateways like Stripe, it's important to understand how these systems interact to prevent confusion about potential duplicate payments.

The payment journey

1. Invoice creation: Storeganise generates an invoice (e.g., $100).

   Payment processing:

   • When a customer pays via Stripe (or another payment gateway), Storeganise automatically marks the invoice as paid.

   • This paid invoice and its associated payment record are synced to Xero.

     Bank feed: Simultaneously, if you've connected your Stripe feed to Xero, the same transaction appears in your bank feed.

     Reconciliation in Xero:

   • Xero's reconciliation system is designed to match these two records together.
   • The payment record from Storeganise and the bank transaction from Stripe represent the same transaction from different perspectives.
   • During reconciliation, you (or Xero automatically) match these records together, confirming they are the same money movement.

Why you don't see double payments

The payment appears twice in your Xero account (once from Storeganise and once from the bank feed) because these are different record types in Xero's system:

• The Storeganise payment is an accounting entry (showing who paid what invoice).
• The Stripe bank feed entry is a bank transaction (showing actual money received).

These two records are matched when properly reconciled, confirming they represent a single financial transaction. This prevents any duplication of revenue in your financial reports.

Map Xero payments to Storeganise invoices using Zapier

Automate adding payments to Storeganise invoices whenever they're received in Xero, using Zapier.

Follow these steps to set up your automation:

Step 1: Trigger - New Payment in Xero

• Select Xero as the trigger app.
• Set the trigger event as New Payment.
• Connect your Xero account.

Step 2: Action - Formatter by Zapier

• Choose Formatter by Zapier to format dates correctly.
• Select Format under Transform.
• Input the date from the Xero payment and format it to YYYY-MM-DD .
• Set Timezone fields appropriately (typically UTC).

Step 3: Action - Find Invoice in Storeganise

• Select Storeganise app.
• Use action Find invoice.
• Match the Invoice ID from the Xero payment data.
• Set the option If no search results are found to your preference (typically "False").

Step 4: Filter Conditions

• Add a Filter by Zapier step.
• Set filter conditions to proceed only if the invoice state is not already "paid". (This prevents double-payment issues.)

Step 5: Action - Add Payment to Storeganise Invoice

• Choose Storeganise again.
• Action: Add a Payment to an Invoice.
• Populate fields as follows:
  • Invoice ID: use Invoice ID from earlier Xero lookup.
  • Method: Provide the payment method details from Xero (account code and payment ID)
  • Date: Use the formatted date from Step 2.
  • Amount: Map the payment amount from Xero payment details.

Troubleshooting common errors

1. Account code or tax code errors
   1. Ensure codes exactly match between Storeganise and Xero (case-sensitive).
   2. Check that all accounts in Xero have "Enable payments to this account" selected.
2. Missing payment methods in Xero
   1. Verify that all payment methods in Storeganise are mapped to Xero accounts.
   2. Bank accounts and Stripe feeds are automatically mapped when added to your Xero account.
3. Invoices not syncing
   1. Only non-draft invoices created after the Add-on is enabled will sync.
   2. Use the default account code in the Add-on settings as a fallback. Any unmapped line items will sync to the default account.
4. Tax errors:
   1. Refer to the "Map account codes and tax rates" section above.
   2. Default tax type should be left blank during setup.
   3. Verify tax settings (inclusive/exclusive) are consistent across Storeganise and Xero.
   4. Ensure all account codes and tax rates in Xero align with Storeganise.
   5. If troubleshooting, set Default tax type to OUTPUT in the Add-on settings and re-test.
   6. Avoid using INPUT , which causes sync failures for sent and paid invoices.
5. Paused Add-on:
   1. The Add-on pauses automatically after 10 errors.
   2. Resolve errors and reactivate the add-on.
   3. Errors are posted on the failed invoice

Limitations

• Changes to invoices already synced as paid in Xero (e.g., reverting to draft in Storeganise) will not sync to Xero.
• Draft invoices and invoices created before enabling the Add-on will not sync.
• Changes to paid invoices in Storeganise (e.g., reverting to draft) do not reflect in Xero.
• Invoice field updates are not supported – once an invoice is created and synced to Xero, any edits to invoice lines or custom fields in Storeganise will be ignored. Only payment updates will sync after invoice creation.

FAQs

If you need further assistance, contact support@storeganise.com .