Xero Trigger¶

Overview¶

The Xero Trigger starts a workflow each time a payment is recorded in your Xero organisation, whether someone enters it by hand, reconciles it from the bank feed, or a customer pays online. Each payment starts the workflow once, with the amount, the invoice it pays and the customer available to the steps that follow.

It can also wait for the invoice instead of the payment: An invoice is paid in full starts the workflow once per invoice, when the last of it is paid.

When to use this trigger:

• Mark the matching invoice as paid in BaseCloud when it is paid in Xero.
• Tell the account manager the moment a customer pays.
• Thank the customer, or start their onboarding, once their first invoice is paid in full.
• Keep an eye on large payments to suppliers.

flowchart TD
    A[Payment recorded in Xero] --> B[Trigger starts the workflow]
    B --> C[Find the BaseCloud invoice it pays]
    C --> D{Invoice found?}
    D -->|Yes| E[Mark it as paid]
    D -->|No| F[Workflow note for a person to check]

Connecting Xero¶

The trigger uses the same Xero connection as the Xero task. Pick it under Xero Account, or choose + New Connection to connect Xero, then pick the Organisation to watch. See App connections.

Configuration¶

Builder fields¶

The Field column is the label as it appears in the task builder; Key is the name the value is stored under and referenced by.

Which bank accounts is optional: leave it empty to watch payments into every bank account in Xero, or pick the ones your customers pay into. Only when the reference contains checks the payment's reference and the invoice's number and reference; capital letters do not matter.

How it behaves¶

• It checks Xero about every 10 minutes, and within a few minutes when Xero lets BaseCloud know an invoice changed.
• Each payment starts the workflow once. Reconciling or editing a payment in Xero later does not start it again. With An invoice is paid in full, each invoice starts it once.
• Only payments on invoices and bills. Refunds and payments on credit notes, prepayments and overpayments are left out, as are deleted payments.
• Nothing dated before the day you first switch it on is picked up. A payment entered today but dated earlier than that day is left out too.
• It catches up on what it missed. If the workflow is switched off for a while, or the Xero connection needs reconnecting, the workflow runs for every payment recorded in the meantime as soon as it can read Xero again — about 100 payments every few minutes, so a long gap on a busy organisation takes a little while to work through.
• An invoice settled without a payment is not picked up. An invoice paid off with a credit note, an overpayment or a prepayment has no payment of its own, so An invoice is paid in full does not start for it.
• Changing the organisation or what starts the workflow starts it afresh from now. Picking another Xero connection to the same organisation does not.

Output Fields¶

Testing¶

In the trigger's Input panel, select Load my payments to bring in the latest payments in the organisation that match the trigger's settings. Pick one and run the rest of the workflow on it.

Running later steps by hand does the real thing. If a step marks an invoice paid, test with an invoice you are happy to change.

Real-World Examples¶

Mark the BaseCloud invoice as paid when it is paid in Xero¶

Xero Trigger                       an invoice is paid in full
  └─ BaseCloud Accounting          Fetch Quote / Invoice with {{invoice_number}}
      └─ If Statement              invoice found
          ├─ true ─ BaseCloud Accounting   Mark Quote / Invoice Paid
          └─ false ─ Workflow Note         ask a person to check the payment

This works when your BaseCloud invoices are sent to Xero with the same invoice number, for example by a workflow that uses the Xero task to create the Xero invoice. See BaseCloud Accounting.

Tell the account manager a customer has paid¶

Xero Trigger                a payment is recorded, payments from customers
  └─ Workflow Note          tag the account manager with {{amount}} and {{invoice_number}}

Watch large payments to suppliers¶

Xero Trigger                a payment is recorded, payments to suppliers, at least 5000
  └─ Email                  send the amount, the supplier and the bill number to the owner

Best Practices¶

• Keep invoice numbers the same in BaseCloud and Xero. It is the most reliable way to match a Xero payment to a BaseCloud invoice.
• Use "An invoice is paid in full" to mark invoices paid. With A payment is recorded, a part-payment starts the workflow too; compare amount with invoice_total, or check invoice_fully_paid, before marking an invoice as paid.
• Send what you cannot match to a person. An invoice marked paid by mistake is worse than one that waits for someone to look at it.

Troubleshooting¶