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Setup Your Store's Xero Integration
Step 1 - Connect to Xero (Required)
To connect your Shopify store to your Xero account, simply click on the Connect button in the "Setup - Xero" screen.
This will redirect you to Xero, and prompt you to log into your Xero account.
Once you've logged in, you will be prompted to allow access for the "Post from Shopify" app to be able to post data from your Shopify store to Xero. Click on the "Allow access" button.
Once you've done so, you'll be redirected back to the "Post to Xero" app page with the Xero connection showing up as "Account connected".
Step 2 - Default Settings (Required)
For the integration to work, you'll need to specify default accounts and tax settings in Xero for the app to post your Shopify orders to.
| Sales / Revenue Account | The default account all orders are posted to. You can further configure this for specific products and product types in the Setup - Products page. |
|---|---|
| Shipping Account | The default account where shipping lines or shipping revenue are posted. |
| Refunds Account | Choose whether to track refunds separately. Select Use original Sales / Revenue Account from Order to post refunds back to the order's original account, or Use a specific Refunds Account to track them separately, then select the Xero account. |
| Rounding Account | Where the app posts the small differences that come from currency conversion rounding on multi-currency orders, so invoices balance correctly. Only used if you sell in more than one currency. |
| Gift Cards Liability Account |
Set this if you sell gift cards. Select Use a specific Gift Cards Liability Account and choose the Xero account where gift card sales are posted. Note: ensure "Enable payments to this account" is checked for that account in Xero. |
| Tax on Income | The default Xero tax rate applied to orders that have tax attached. |
| Tax Free Income | The default Xero tax rate applied to orders that have no tax attached. |
Hit the Save button once you've selected the appropriate accounts and tax settings from Xero.
For US taxes: You will just need to select AVALARA for both the Tax on Income and Tax Free Income fields. Xero and Avalara will handle the tax mappings within Xero itself.
Tip: If you're unsure about setting up default accounts and taxes, we recommend speaking to your accountant or bookkeeper.
Step 3 - Invoice Prefix (Optional)
Add a prefix to every Xero invoice created from a Shopify order. This makes Shopify-sourced invoices easy to identify in Xero alongside invoices from other sources.
For example, if your Shopify order number is 1234 and you set the prefix to "SHOP-", the invoice in Xero will appear as SHOP-1234.
To set this up, choose Add a prefix and enter the prefix you'd like, then click Save. If you'd rather keep the invoice number identical to the Shopify order number (e.g. 1234), choose Do not add prefix.
Step 4 - Customer on Invoice (Optional)
Choose which customer appears on the invoices created in Xero. This is useful if you use Xero to track customers or to send out invoices.
You have two options:
- Use the Shopify customer — each Xero invoice uses the customer's first name, last name, and email address / phone number from the Shopify order.
If you choose to assign a single customer to all invoices (e.g. "Shopify"), every invoice in Xero will use that customer. You can select one from your existing Xero customers, or create a new one from the app and it'll be added to Xero automatically.
- Use a single customer — every invoice is assigned to one customer you choose (e.g. "Shopify"). You can pick an existing Xero customer, or create a new one from the app and it'll be added to Xero automatically.
Step 5 - Match Product SKUs (Optional)
Enable this if you're tracking COGS and Inventory in Xero. When on, orders are matched to the items you've set up in Xero, so each line posts to the right Sales, COGS, and Inventory accounts for that item.
For more detail, see Tracking COGS and Inventory
