Setup Payouts

Every payment method your store accepts needs somewhere to go in Xero. On Setup - Payouts you tell the app, for each payment gateway, which Xero bank account its money lands in and where its fees are recorded. The app then adds each payment to its invoice in Xero, marks the invoice paid, and posts the gateway's fee as a bill.

How to Set Up Your Payment Gateways

Your payment gateways are listed in a table, one row each. A gateway is added automatically the first time an order paid through it is posted to Xero. The quickest way to set them up is to let the app fill in its recommended settings, then check them.

1. Open Setup - Payouts.
2. Click Auto-fill all gateways. The app picks the accounts, tax rate and supplier for every gateway that isn't set up yet. Anything marked (will be created in your Xero) doesn't exist in Xero yet, and is created when you save.

3. Fill in the highlighted cells. This is usually the bank account, because only you know which account each gateway pays into. Click the cell and pick the account.

4. Check what was picked for each gateway, and change anything that doesn't suit your books.
5. Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.

That's it. Gateways marked Active are set up, and new orders paid through them post their payments and fees to Xero. If some gateways still have highlighted cells, the finished ones are saved and you can come back to the rest later.

Prefer to be guided? Click Walkthrough at the top right of the page. The rest of this article is reference, for when you want to know what a setting does.

What the Status Means

• 4 to fill in: some settings are missing. The cells that need a value are highlighted, and View lists them.
• Ready to save: everything is filled in, but not saved yet.
• Active: saved, and used for new orders.
• Inactive: saved, with Post payments to Xero and Post fees to Xero both switched off. Orders paid through the gateway still get invoices, but no payments or fees are posted. A bank account isn't needed while both are off.
• Error: a value can't be used, for example an account that has been archived in Xero, or a clearing account that is the same as the bank account. Fix says what to change.

What Each Setting Means

Click a gateway's name, or Edit at the end of its row, to open that gateway's form. It has three sections, covered below in the order they appear. Most of these settings can also be changed straight from the table by clicking a cell. When you are finished, click Done, then Save at the top of the page.

Where payouts land

• Post payments to Xero: when on, each payment is added to its invoice in Xero, which marks the invoice paid. Switch it off and invoices for this gateway stay unpaid, for you to record the payments yourself.
• Bank account for payouts: the Xero bank account the gateway's money is deposited into.
• Does the gateway pay many orders in one deposit? Answer Yes if deposits arrive as a lump sum, as they do with Shopify Payments. Answer No if money arrives one order at a time, or if the gateway has its own bank feed in Xero, as PayPal can.
• Clearing account: shown when you answer Yes. A holding account for money the gateway has collected but not yet paid you. Pick an existing account, or type a new name to have it created when you save. Learn more about clearing accounts.

The diagram under the fields shows where each order's money will go with the accounts you picked.

The table shows the same two accounts under Payouts land in: the clearing account on top, or No clearing account, then an arrow and the bank account. When a gateway has a clearing account, the line under them says what happens next. For Shopify Payments, each payout is transferred to the bank account automatically. For any other gateway there is no automatic transfer, and you reconcile each deposit in Xero yourself.

Fees

• Post fees to Xero: when on, each gateway fee is posted to Xero as a bill marked paid. Switch it off and no fee bills are posted for this gateway.
• Expense account for fee bills: the Xero expense account the fees go to.
• Tax rate on fee bills: the Xero tax rate used on the fees. The fee amount is treated as tax included.
• Supplier on fee bills: the Xero contact the fee bills are addressed to. Type at least three letters to search, or type a new name to create one when you save.
• Fee per order (optional): what the gateway charges you on each order, as a percentage, a fixed amount, or both, with tax included. The example underneath shows the fee on a $100 order, so you can check it against your statement. Shopify Payments has nothing to enter here, because Shopify reports its own fee. If your fees in Xero don't match your statement, see Why your payment gateway fees don't match.

A Check tag beside a field means Auto-fill made a best guess there, so look at it before saving.

How orders are synced to Xero

• Invoice mode: how this gateway's orders become invoices in Xero.
  • Per order: one Xero invoice for each Shopify order. This suits most stores.
  • By payout: one invoice for each Shopify payout, matching the bank deposit. Shopify Payments only.
  • Daily summary: one invoice a day for the gateway. We switch this on for you, so email us at help@hyvelabs.co if you need it.
• Xero contact for summary invoice: shown for By payout and Daily summary. The Xero contact every summary invoice for this gateway is addressed to.
• Create refunds as credit notes: tick it to post refunds as separate credit notes, so they can be reconciled against the summary invoice in Xero.
• Post fees as a separate fee bill: tick it to put each payout's Shopify fees on one bill, in place of a fee line on the summary invoice.

In By payout or Daily summary mode, orders paid through the gateway can no longer be posted one by one from Dashboard - Orders. They are grouped and shown in Dashboard - Summarise. See Summarised invoices for more.

How to Add or Remove a Gateway

1. To add one, click Add payment gateway under the table, pick the gateway from the list in the new row, then fill in its cells.
2. If the gateway you want isn't in the list, create an order in Shopify that uses it and post that order from Dashboard - Orders. The gateway is then added to the table for you.
3. To remove one, click Edit on its row, then Remove. You can Undo until you click Save. Its orders will still get invoices, but no payments or fees. Shopify Payments can't be removed.

If you get stuck, email us at help@hyvelabs.co with your shop URL and the name of the payment gateway, and we'll help you set it up.