Import Draft Invoices from Xero into Zahara

Import Draft Invoices from Xero into Zahara

Context

This feature is designed for those Xero users that use Receipt Bank, Auto Entry, EzzyBills or in fact anyone that created purchase invoices on your behalf. These services will export the invoice into Draft in Xero. From here the invoices can be imported into Zahara, routed for approval and then exported back into Xero when ready. 

How it works

First off, make sure Zahara is connected to Xero in Business > Settings > Integrations.
Clicking Synchronize is a good way to test the connection is all good.


Next, enable importing of invoices from Xero

As shown in red, you need to select a Division and a default nominal code.
One of the things Zahara has that Xero doesn't, is Divisions so you need to set a default Division. In fact, you could create a separate Division specifically for these invoices that follows a specific approval process.
Invoices can also land in Draft in Xero with key bits of information missing like Tax Rates and Nominal Codes. The default nominal code here is a fallback code for Zahara to use if the coding is missing. Zahara will flag up any missing or rogue entries.

The approval process

The invoice will be created and land in Zahara and will use the "Automatic Invoice Workflow" as it's default workflow. This means you need to create an invoice workflow for the Division selected that has a conditional entry point. If you just have one workflow for the Division, add a condition like "Net Value > 0" - This will ensure the invoice goes into the workflow. Our recommendation is to use the "Can edit" or "Must Edit" options on the workflow step and have the approver check the coding.

Purchase Orders

Its unlikely your recognition provider will find a Zahara purchase order number automatically and Xero simply doesn't have a field for us to map against to use. This means any invoice created in Xero Drafts and imported into Zahara will have to be manually matched with an order in Zahara and will be problematic.

Importing the Invoices

Finally, the step required to actually import the invoices is to use the new import icon that you will now see on the invoices list page as shown below:

Click the Up arrow cloud button to initiate the import.
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