Connecting Xero to WorkGuru

To connect WorkGuru to Xero, the only requirement is that you must have Xero adviser level permission to connect securely.

• Connect to Xero
• Sync Xero Data
• Default General Ledger Accounts and Currencies
• Configure Xero Integration Settings
  • Accounting Integration Settings
  • Xero Data Management

Connect to Xero

Go to the Accounting -> Xero dashboard, and click the Connect to Xero button.

Click the Connect to Xero button. If you are planning on sending timesheets to Xero, ensure that you select the Connect to Xero Payroll? option. Note: if you select this option, the Xero user MUST have the Payroll Admin privilege (in Xero), otherwise you encounter errors trying to export timesheet data.

Xero will prompt you to securely login in and connect to your Xero file.  Select the required organisation and click Allow Access. Note: if you have access to multiple Xero files, ensure that you are selecting the correct organisation in the list).Xero will return to your Xero dashboard and WorkGuru now has access to your Xero organisation.  

Sync Xero Data

The next step is to sync  your Tax Rates, and Chart of Accounts from Xero into WorkGuru so we can set up default accounts. In the "Before You Start" Section. Click on the following and wait for the page to reload. This will load the relevant information into the WorkGuru database.

• Get Tax Rates - Import the tax rates setup in the connected Xero organisation.
• Get Chart of Accounts - Import the current chart of accounts setup in the connected Xero organisation.
• Get Tracking Categories from Xero - Import the current tracking categories setup in the connected Xero organisation.

Default General Ledger Accounts and Currencies

The most important setup step when connecting WorkGuru to Xero is to assign your default general ledger mappings in WorkGuru. This allows WorkGuru to pre-code the relevant line items before sending transactions to Xero. This prevents the need to double enter this information in Xero. These default accounts can be over-ridden by assigning alternate general ledger accounts on the product and/or task line item level.

Note: If the required general ledger accounts are not displaying correctly in the drop downs, ensure that the Get Chart of Accounts function has been run. If you need to create a new account in Xero, click Get Chart of Accounts to download the updated chart of account list.

Click Update Default Accounting Settings and use each dropdown to assign the Xero general ledger account. The list of accounts is contextual to the type of account is required for each setting (income accounts for sales, expense accounts for cost of goods etc):

• Accounting Integration - Defaults to Xero.
• Default Sales Account - Default income account. Recommended Xero Account Type: Revenue.
• Default Expenses Account - Default expense account for non-stock (not FIFO) products or project disbursement purchase orders.  Recommended Xero Account Type: Expense.
• Default Inventory Account - Default stock on hand account. Note: You cannot use Xero's built in Inventory account for your Stock on Hand. This is for Xero internal use only. Create a separate Current Asset account type for SOH value. 
• Default COGS Account - Default COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold) account for cost of sale, stocktake and stock adjustment journals.  Recommended Xero Account Type: Direct Cost
• Default Rounding Account - Default account to map to the rounding fields on WorkGuru invoices and purchases.  Usually mapped to the built-in Xero 860 Rounding account.
• Default Sales Tax - Default sales tax to be used.  Eg GST on Income (For AU).
• Default Purchase Tax - Default purchase tax to be used.  Eg GST on Expenses (For AU).
• Default Currency - Default currency, use IBAN ISO currency codes (AUD etc).   Must match your default Xero currency.
• Alternate Currencies - alternate currencies to be used for multi currency purchasing, use IBAN ISO currency codes (USD, EUR, NZD etc).
• Do You Sell in Foreign Currencies? - Enables foreign currencies on projects and stock sales.

Click Save to confirm the default general ledger mappings. You can update these in the future from the same link in your Xero dashboard Accounting -> Xero ->  Settings.

Configure Xero Integration Settings

The default GL and tax mappings are required to successfully send data from WorkGuru to Xero. The other settings allow you to configure the interface between WorkGuru and Xero to best suit your financial workflow requirements.

Accounting Integration Settings

• Append Invoice Product Line Description to Accounting Line Item? - Adds the WorkGuru line description to the Xero invoice line item.
• Append PO Product Line Description to Accounting Line Item? - Adds the WorkGuru line description to the Xero bill line item.
• Enable Background Sync To Accounting?  - Enable syncing automatically to Xero.   Common transactions are synced hourly (Invoice/Purchases etc), others are synced daily (COGS etc).  You can still manually send data if required.
• Default Status for Synced Documents - Set status of synced data in Xero to Draft or Approved.
• Send Files to Accounting - Enable the transfer of files stored against Invoices or Purchases to Xero's file system.
• Auto Allocate Supplier Credit Notes To Purchases - Automatically assign any available credits to the Supplier in Xero to synced purchase orders.
• Prepend Supplier Name to Disbursement Invoice Lines in Xero - When invoicing billable project purchases, add the supplier to the start of the line item on the Xero invoice.

Xero Data Management

• Make Reporting Categories Mandatory on Purchases? - Enable Xero reporting categories on purchase orders. By default, reporting categories are mandatory on projects/stock sales and optional on purchases.
• Manage Reporting Categories - Manage which Xero reporting categories are visible in WorkGuru.
• Manage Tax Rates - Manage which Xero tax rates are visible in WorkGuru.
• Manage GL Accounts - Manage which Xero GL accounts are visible in WorkGuru.

Click Save to confirm the integration settings. You can edit these in the future from the same link in your Xero dashboard Accounting -> Xero ->  Settings.

Once your Xero integration has been completely set up, you can start sending data from WorkGuru to Xero. See here for how to send Data from WorkGuru to Xero.