Integrating Shopfront to Xero

By integrating with Xero, Shopfront streamlines data entry by automatically sending sales and purchase information.

The Xero integration is available to all stores on all plans.

{note}We highly recommend having your accountant assist you with setting this integration up.{/note}

Preparing Xero and Shopfront for Integration

Before you integrate Xero and Shopfront there are a number of things you should do:

1. Add ABN numbers to Xero and Shopfront suppliers,
2. Enable payments to Xero accounts which should be able to receive payments,
3. Setup Tracking Categories in Xero for multi-outlets,

Adding ABN Numbers to Xero and Shopfront Suppliers

Shopfront automatically matches suppliers to Xero by using the ABN number stored in both, if a match isn't found then we attempt to find the supplier by the exact name and if that's not found, we create a new supplier. Because of this, we recommend adding ABN numbers to all Shopfront and Xero suppliers before integrating the two applications.

Adding ABN Numbers in Shopfront

To add ABNs to suppliers in Shopfront, open the menu > expand Stock Management > press Suppliers and then press edit on the supplier you wish to add the ABN to.

On the supplier edit page, you'll need to enter the ABN into the Business Number field in the General Information section.

Once entered, save the supplier.

Adding ABN Numbers in Xero

To add ABNs to suppliers in Xero, expand the Contacts menu > press Suppliers.

Find the supplier you wish to add the ABN to and press their name then press the edit button on the right-hand side.

On the edit page, scroll down to Financial Details and enter their ABN in the ABN field next to Tax.

Once entered, save the supplier.

Enable Payments to Xero Accounts

Any account that you wish to receive payments into will require you to enable receiving payments into the account. Bank accounts automatically have this setting enabled by default but any other account type will require enabling manually.

In Xero, open the Chart of accounts (Accounting menu > Advanced) then press the name of the account you wish to enable payment to. In the popup screen which appears, tick the Enable payments to this account checkbox and then press Save.

Setup Tracking Categories

Tracking categories allow you to report on different channels in Xero, Shopfront sends Tracking Categories for both sales and purchases which allow you to individually report on different locations for accounts with multiple stores.

In Xero, open the Tracking categories settings (Accounting menu > Advanced) then press Add Tracking Category. On this screen you can name the category and set the options available to use.

Once you've finished adding options, press Save.

Integrate Shopfront to Xero

Once you've prepared both Xero and Shopfront for integration, you'll need to perform the integration.

In Shopfront, open the menu > expand Setup > press Integrations and then press Integrate

You'll be presented with the Shopfront integration approval screen, which you'll press to press AUTHORISE on.

Once this has been selected, you'll be directed back to the Xero integration settings. Within the appropriate outlet, locate the Tenant dropdown menu and select 'Connect New Tenant.'

You will be redirected to the Xero website, where you may be required to log in and select the relevant organisation. Once this has been completed, you'll need to allow Shopfront to access your Xero data by pressing Allow Access.

After allowing access, you'll be redirected back to Shopfront where you'll need to map your Xero accounts.

Map Your Xero Accounts

Before Shopfront can send data across to Xero, you'll need to map a number of Xero accounts to functionality in Shopfront.

{note}The Shopfront support team are unable to assist with selecting which accounts are best to map to, we suggest contacting your accountant to assist you with this.{/note}

Tenant

This determines which Xero "file" is used to map and send all of your data across to. If you change this after you start using the Xero integration, we would suggest contacting us after you change this so we can ensure all references to your old tenant file have been removed.

Toggles

The Shopfront to Xero integration has four main functions which can be toggled on or off.

Send Sales to Xero

This sends each register closure across to Xero as a sales invoice. Sales will be grouped by tax rate and separate lines will be sent for loyalty, gift cards and rounding.

Attach Payments to Sales

This will attach the payment methods in the register closure to the created sales invoice in Xero. It will also add till shortages as a new line on Xero sales invoices if they exist. This is only available if Send Sales to Xero is enabled. We would suggest turning this setting off if you perform a large number of account sales and prepayments.

Send Cost of Goods Sold to Xero

This will send the Cost of Goods Sold for the register closure across to Xero as a bill. If Send Purchases to Xero is enabled, your stock account will also be reduced.

Send Purchases to Xero

This will send each individual invoice / return through to Xero as a bill which is marked as Awaiting Payment. Invoices will come across as they appear in Shopfront (line-by-line, not aggregated) with the fees, freight and discounts extracted to separate lines.

Outlets

We can send each Outlet's data across with a Tracking Category to make segmenting report data in Xero easy. Setting a Tracking Category is not required.

Sales Accounts

If Send Sales to Xero is enabled, the Sales Accounts fields will be visible (Till Shortages will only be sent if Send Payment Methods with Sales is enabled).

Till Shortages is a Current Liability or Expense account which tracks the difference between the expected values in your register closure to your received values. A till shortage normally occurs when incorrect change is given to a customer.

Rounding is a Current Liability account which tracks rounding differences between Shopfront and Xero as well as rounding from payment methods.

Cost of Goods Sold

The Cost of Goods Sold account will be used to track the cost of products sold in Shopfront and will be sent across at each register closure.

COGS Account Map is a Direct Cost account, if you also send purchases we'll offset the amount against the Stock Account. The default tax setting for this account within Xero should be set to BAS Excluded.

Customer Loyalty

If you're using loyalty through Shopfront you'll need to setup two loyalty accounts, one which tracks the loyalty liability and one which tracks the loyalty expense, if you don't use loyalty in Shopfront, this section can be safely ignored.

Loyalty Liability is a Current Liability account which also has Payments Enabled. The liability is increased when loyalty is earned and is decreased when a payment using loyalty is applied to a sale.

Loyalty Expense is an Expense account which is used to offset the amount of loyalty earned.

Gift Cards

If you're selling and redeeming gift cards through Shopfront, you'll need to setup the gift card liability account.

Gift Card Liability is a Current Liability account which also has Payments Enabled. The liability is increased whenever a gift card is sold and is decreased whenever the gift card is redeemed or expires.

Sales Tax Rates Map

We group sales sent from a register closure by tax rate. Select the account you wish for each tax rate to be sent to.

Each account must be either a Sales or Revenue account.

Payment Methods Map

These payment methods will be used to pay off the sales invoice created in Xero by the register closure in Shopfront.

Each payment method must be mapped to either a Bank account or an account which has Payments Enabled.

Orders

You are able to set the default status for Orders sent to Xero, setting it to Draft will ensure that you can review the Bill in Xero before Authorising it.

Orders will send each line to the specified Stock Account with fees, freight and discounts all extracted and sent to their respective accounts.

Stock Account is a Current Asset account to send each item from an invoice or return to.

Freight Account is an Expense account to receive the cost of freight from an invoice.

Fees Account is an Expense account to receive the cost of fees from an invoice.

Discounts Received is either a Sales, Revenue, Other Income or Current Asset account to receive the discounts from an invoice.

Order Tax Rates Map

When receiving an invoice, we'll map each line item's tax rate to the specified tax rate depending upon which tax rate the product has been setup with.

Each tax rate in Shopfront must have a corresponding tax rate in Xero.

Once all fields have been mapped, don't forget to save the integration settings. You'll now see register closures and invoices (if each is enabled) appear automatically in Xero.

Any register closures or invoices that you wish to send over to Xero from before the integration will have to be manually sent by going into each invoice or register closure and pressing the Resend to Xero button under Integrations. You'll also be able to quickly navigate to Xero once it has been sent by clicking on the View on Xero button.

Commonly Asked Questions

How do I disconnect Shopfront from Xero?

Xero can be disconnected from Shopfront at any stage by following the steps below.

1. In Shopfront, select the Menu
2. Select Setup
3. Select Integrations
4. Locate the Xero Integration and Select Revoke
5. Confirm by pressing Revoke once more

Once this has been completed, you will might also want to disconnect from Xero's side as well, this can be done by following Xero's documentation, located here.

What does the Xero integration do?

The Xero integration in Shopfront is a one-way integration that enables the sending of sales and orders from Shopfront to Xero. The integration does not allow data to be sent from Xero to Shopfront.

When and how does the data send to Xero?

If the sales component is turned on for Xero, the data will be sent to each time the register is closed.

For supplier orders connected to Xero, the data will attempt to send immediately after the order has been processed.

If you perform a large number of account sales, it is strongly advised to turn off the feature that sends payment methods to Xero. It is recommended to reconcile them manually, as it can be challenging to match the initial sale to the payment when they appear at different times.

How do I resend a register closure to Xero?

You can resend register closures to Xero at any time by following the steps below:

1. In Shopfront, select Menu
2. Select Reporting
3. Select Register Closures
4. Locate the register closure(s) requiring resending (for a narrower date range you can select a date range)
5. Select View for each register closure requiring resending
6. Select the Integrations button
7. Select Resend to Xero

Shopfront will display a message at the top of your page to indicate whether the invoice has sent successfully to your accounting software.

How do I resend a supplier invoice to Xero?

If you need to resend supplier invoices to Xero that have already been received in Shopfront, you'll need to find the view page of the received order. For instructions on how to do this, please refer to How to find a previously received invoice.

Once you've located the order that needs to be resent, follow the steps below:

1. Select View
2. Select Integrations (if you have an active integration, you will see the option to Resend to Xero

Shopfront will display a message at the top of your page to indicate whether the invoice has sent successfully to your accounting software.

How to clear supplier mappings

Errors relating to the mapping of suppliers between Shopfront and Xero, such as duplicate suppliers, or the supplier name not matching, will need to be amended in your accounting software, once amended, you may need to clear the supplier mapping cache in Shopfront, to do this, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Menu
2. Select Setup
3. Select Integrations
4. Locate the Xero integration and select Settings
5. Select Clear Supplier Mapping Cache