Arlo provides seamless two-way integration with Xero to manage your invoices. Orders are automatically exported to Xero and assigned to your account/GL codes, and payments against the invoices are synchronised back into Arlo.
Before using the Xero integration, we strongly advise that you test the integration thoroughly.
While Arlo Support can do their best to help you, we are not Xero experts. You should ensure you have somebody who knows how to use Xero competently managing your orders.
To test the Xero integration:
- Open your Demo Company.
- Navigate to the Settings.
- Click Xero.
- Connect to your Xero Demo Company Account.
- Follow the 'Set up Xero integration instructions' in your Demo-Company, and complete some test transactions until you are comfortable with the integration.
You can test credit card transactions in Arlo using the card number 4242 4242 4242 4242 and setting an expiration date in the future, when submitting test orders.
The following instructions describe how to set up the Xero integration. If you already have orders in Arlo before setting up the integration, these orders will not be exported to Xero. To get prior orders into Xero, you may export the orders from Arlo to import into Xero.
- Open the Settings menu.
- Click Xero.
- Press Connect to Xero. You will be redirected to Xero's website.
- Log in to Xero (if prompted) and select your organisation.
If your organisation is not listed then make sure your user account is a standard user or financial adviser role in Xero.
- Press Authorise.
This must be done if you are accepting credit card payments or Arlo won't be able to export orders as it won't know where to put the revenue in Xero.
- Carefully review the additional integration settings and behaviour.
- Press Save.
- (Optional) If you have multiple regions in Arlo and a separate Xero account for each region you can connect a separate Xero account to each region, provided the timezone in your Xero accounts matches your default Arlo regions timezone. Contact Arlo Support to turn on regionalised Xero integration. If you don't want to do this, orders for all regions in Arlo will go to a single Xero account and your Xero account will need to be set up with multi-currency capability.
This section explains the processes used with the Xero integration when an order/credit note is connected to Xero, such as the creation and exporting of orders, the addition or removal of payments, and managing cancellations and refunds.
- Credit card orders paid using the Arlo checkout are exported to Xero automatically, and the order is marked as paid in both systems automatically.
- Orders submitted with alternative payment methods are exported to Xero when the order is approved, or an invoice is sent. The order is marked as unpaid in both systems until you add payments to the order in Xero.
- You can view exported Arlo orders easily by clicking View in Xero.
- Unapproved orders in Arlo can be approved automatically when fully paid in Xero as long as this setting is enabled in your Xero integration settings in Arlo.
Once an order has been exported to Xero, you cannot add payments to it from within Arlo. Xero is the source of truth and all payments must be added in Xero. Xero synchronises payments back to Arlo automatically every hour.
- Learn how to reconcile credit card and other transactions in Xero.
- Learn how to add manual payments to orders in Xero.
If a contact has a credit balance within Xero, you can apply this to another one of Xero invoices and it will synchronise back to the matching order in Arlo as a form of payment.
Learn how to apply a credit to an invoice in Xero.
Remove payments from orders
To remove payments that have been synchronised against an order from Xero you need to remove the payment in Xero.
- Open the Orders menu item.
- Click View in Xero.
- In Xero, click Less Payment on the payment you wish to delete.
- In the Options menu, select Remove and Redo.
- In the Arlo order, click Sync payments.
- The details of the payments to be removed will be displayed. Press Synchronise with Xero.
Additional notes about payments from Xero
- After payments have been recorded, you can manually synchronise payments by opening the Xero Integration Settings page and clicking Synchronise Payments, or alternatively, by opening an order and clicking Sync payments. You only need to do this if you don't want to wait for the automated synchronisation.
- You can view all synchronised payments from Xero in the order payment log.
- If you need to void an order completely, you can cancel it in Arlo, then mark it as void in Xero.
- If you need to cancel registrations and reduce the balance due on an order or process a refund for a cancellation you can generate a credit note/refund and export it to Xero.
- If you need to process a refund or apply a credit balance to an alternate order, see how to process refunds on paid orders.
If you want to manage payments and credit notes against orders in Arlo, instead of Xero, you can disconnect the order from Xero.
- You can disconnect an order from Xero at any time by clicking Disconnect.
If you have disconnected an order, and you add payments to it in Arlo, when you reconnect it to Xero, Arlo will remove any payment lines that do not exist in Xero, as Xero is the source of truth for payments. For example, if you mark an order as paid in Arlo, but that payment line does not exist in Xero when you reconnect it, the payment line will be deleted from the order in Arlo.
This section explains the settings used with the Xero integration, including settings related to the creation and export of orders, management of order contacts and organisations, managing the default account codes for order, setting the designated error contact, and the management of tracking codes and invetory items.
- Choose which state invoices in Xero are created in.
Don't use the draft option if you have credit card payments enabled as Arlo can't send payments to Xero if the invoice is in a draft state.
- Choose whether or not Arlo exports zero value orders, e.g. where no payment is required.
- Choose which system sends invoices for Arlo created orders.
If you select Manually send invoices and credit notes from Xero invoices will no longer be sent from Arlo.
If you want to manage payments and credit notes against orders in Arlo instead of Xero for any reason, you can prevent certain orders from being exported. This allows you to add payments to the orders using Arlo.
- You can choose to only export website orders when either an invoice is sent, or the order is approved. If you do this, you'll need to also ensure your website orders aren't set to be approved, and automated invoices from Arlo are disabled.
- You can choose to export management platform orders only when they are approved.
- When creating management platform orders, you can deselect all options to approve the order, send an invoice from Arlo, and export the accounting system.
- Arlo allows you to mark orders billed to a specific organisation as "Requiring attention". The order will not be exported to Xero until you dismiss the message on the order. If you do eventually export the order, Arlo payments will be synchronised to Xero.
- You can also disconnect an order manually from Xero that has already been exported. This should only be done if you want to manage payments in Arlo, and you don't plan to reconnect the order to the Xero. If you do reconnect, Arlo will remove any payment lines on the order that do not exist in Xero.
Contact updates are disabled if you are using regions in Arlo and are connected to multiple Xero accounts.
- Contacts in Xero are copied to Arlo during the initial integration setup.
- New contacts created in Xero can be copied periodically (hourly).
- Contacts updated in Xero periodically update contact details in Arlo.
- Billing contacts on orders in Arlo will be created in Xero when those orders are exported.
- Billing contacts updated in Arlo that have been exported to Xero will be updated in Xero.
- Contact updates are not supported for regionalised Xero integration (linking Arlo regions to separate Xero platforms).
The following settings must be filled in, in order for your Xero/Arlo integration to work correctly. For a full breakdown of Xero/Arlo processes, see Managing orders in Arlo.
If you need to create accounts or contacts for these settings, you may need to refresh (F5) the settings page in Arlo to see them coming through.
- Open the Settings menu.
- Click Xero. (If you are not connected, you will need to connect to Xero).
- Set the default accounts for order line revenue associated with the following Arlo entities. You can also set unique GL codes on events manually if required.
- Set the accounts for revenue/credits processed through Arlo to be sent to in Xero. These can be different, or the same.
The General payments and Credit card payments account should be either a Bank account or a dedicated Current Asset account. These accounts should not be the same as your Sales account. If you are unsure about what to use we suggest seeking advice from an accountant.
- Accounts selected must have a numerical account code. If they do not have a numerical account code (usually shown as a blank space before the hyphen), you will see an error.
- In order to resolve this issue, you will need to open the account in Xero and add a numerical account code.
- Once you have added a numerical account code, Arlo will allow it to be selected and saved.
- (Optional) If you use Stripe, add an 'Expense' account for Credit card fees as Arlo splits out transaction fees making reconciliation simple.
The Credit card fees account must not be the same as the Credit card payment account (above), and the Enable payments to this account setting must be active in Xero. Learn how to set up an expense account in Xero.
- (Optional) If you use Stripe, add a contact in the Credit card fees contact. This will be the contact listed on the expense item for the Stripe Fees. We recommend creating a contact in Xero called 'Stripe Fees'.
The integration error contact is used to notify an administrator if there are any problems with the integration.
Arlo supports automatically assigning tracking codes to invoice line items when an invoice is created in Xero. Read how to set up, view, and manage Xero tracking codes in Arlo.
If you use Xero's inventory feature, you can set up Arlo to automatically create inventory items using event template codes and match future invoice lines for reporting on your inventory. Inventory items will be created in Xero when an invoice is sent from Arlo to Xero.
Choose this setting if you wish to have your event template codes pushed through to Xero as inventory items so that you can report on them in Xero.
