How to use Gennai with Xero

Gennai sends the invoices you receive to Xero as draft bills, with the original document attached. You review and approve them in Xero, as you always do.

In this guide:

• How Gennai works with Xero
• Connect Xero
• Send invoices to Xero
• Send invoices automatically
• Accounts and tax
• Several Xero organisations
• Disconnect Xero
• Security and your data
• Frequently asked questions
• Troubleshooting

How Gennai works with Xero

Gennai uses one direction sync: it sends bills from Gennai to Xero and never brings your Xero bills into Gennai. Gennai will never modify bills in Xero that are already there. It only creates new drafts for the invoices you send.

This is what goes from Gennai to Xero:

Gennai also reads this information from Xero:

Connect Xero

1. In Gennai, open Integrations.
2. Find Xero and click Connect.
3. Click Connect to Xero.
4. Sign in to Xero. If you have more than one Xero organisation, choose the one whose bills Gennai should create.
5. Xero shows the access Gennai is asking for. Click Allow access.
6. You are back in Gennai and see the message "Xero connected" with the name of your organisation. The Xero card shows Connected.

Your Xero password is never shared with Gennai: you sign in on Xero's own page.

Connecting Xero and sending invoices to it is included in every plan.

What Gennai asks Xero for

Gennai only asks for what it needs to prepare your bills:

• Your name and email address, to sign you in.
• Your contacts, to find the supplier, add it if it's new, or fill in a missing tax number or bank account.
• Your bills and credit notes, to create the drafts and learn how you code each supplier.
• Read-only access to your organisation settings, such as your chart of accounts and tax rates.
• Permission to attach documents, so the original invoice goes with each bill.
• Permission to stay connected, so it can keep sending your bills.

Gennai never asks for access to your bank feeds or payroll, and it never reads or creates sales invoices. You can review or remove Gennai's access at any time in Xero, in Settings › Connected apps.

Send invoices to Xero

1. Open Invoices and select the invoices you want to send.
2. In the bar at the bottom, click ERP and choose Xero.
3. If you've connected more than one Xero organisation, the Send to Xero window shows how many invoices go to each one. Check it and confirm.

Gennai shows the progress while it sends them and, when it finishes, how many it sent.

Each invoice becomes a draft bill in Xero, and each supplier credit note becomes a draft credit note. The original document is attached, so you can open it from the bill without coming back to Gennai.

If the supplier isn't in your Xero contacts yet, Gennai adds it. If the contact is missing a tax number or bank account that the invoice shows, Gennai can add it. It never replaces one that's already there.

See what's already in Xero

The ERP column on your Invoices page shows Xero for each invoice that's already in Xero, and Failed if Xero didn't accept it. Hover over Failed to see why; if it doesn't say, contact support. To see only some of them, use the filter in the column header: Not exported, Approved, not exported, Exported or Failed.

Sending an invoice again

Gennai remembers every invoice it sends. Sending it again never creates a duplicate and never changes the bill that's already in Xero, whether it's still a draft or already approved: Gennai tells you it's already in Xero. To correct a bill, edit it in Xero.

• If you deleted or voided the bill in Xero, sending the invoice again creates a new draft.
• If an invoice shows Failed, fix what the message says and send it again.

Send invoices automatically

On the Growth plan and above, Gennai can send each new invoice to Xero on its own, as a draft bill.

1. Open Integrations and click Manage on the Xero card.
2. Turn on Auto next to your Xero organisation and confirm.

• Gennai sends the invoices that arrive after you turn it on. Invoices you already had aren't sent automatically, and neither are the ones you bring in with Find past invoices or upload several at a time. Send those yourself once you've checked them.
• With several Xero organisations, turn it on for each one. Invoices without a company aren't sent. Choose their company; if one still hasn't gone to Xero, send it yourself.
• If Xero doesn't accept an invoice, it shows Failed in the ERP column. Fix it and send it yourself.
• You can turn it off at any time. Disconnecting Xero turns it off: turn it back on when you connect again.

Send automatically for some suppliers only

In the AI Assistant, write "Send to Xero the invoices from @", pick the supplier from your list, check the summary and click Create rule. From then on, the new invoices from that supplier go to Xero on their own, as drafts. Like automatic sending, this needs the Growth plan or above. Use it when Auto is off: with Auto on, every new invoice is already sent.

If something doesn't look right, for example a possible duplicate, your rule doesn't send the invoice and the ERP column shows On hold. Hover over it to see why, and send it yourself if it's fine.

Accounts and tax

Gennai suggests the account for each bill from your choices in Gennai, the supplier's default purchases account in Xero and how you've coded that supplier in past bills. If you pick an account yourself, Gennai uses it for the bill. Lines that have their own account keep it whenever possible.

To pick an account, use the Account column on your Invoices page or open the invoice. Gennai remembers your choice for that supplier's next invoices. If you've edited that supplier's rule in your categorization rules, the rule stays as you set it.

When there's nothing to go on yet, for example with a new supplier, the bill goes to Xero without an account. Choose one in Gennai before you send it, or code the bill in Xero: once you approve it there, Gennai learns from it for that supplier's future invoices.

When you pick the account of an invoice, the list shows the active accounts in your Xero chart of accounts, except revenue and bank accounts. Archived accounts don't appear. If you rename an account or change your chart of accounts in Xero, Gennai picks up the change on its own.

Gennai sends the amounts tax inclusive or tax exclusive, depending on the invoice, and uses the tax rates in your Xero organisation. As every bill arrives as a draft, you can check the account and the tax rate of each line before you approve it.

Your categorization rules

To see which account Gennai uses for each supplier, open Integrations, click Manage on the Xero card and then Manage categorization rules.

• Each rule shows the supplier, the account and where it comes from: Set manually, Confirmed by you, Set as default in Xero or Learned from your Xero history.
• Edit a rule to change its account. A rule you edit becomes Set manually: Gennai never replaces it with what it learns, and that supplier's invoices that aren't in Xero yet switch to the new account, unless you chose an account for them yourself.
• If you delete a rule, Gennai can learn it again from your Xero history. To change it for good, edit it instead.
• Refresh now brings in your latest chart of accounts from Xero.

Several Xero organisations

If you manage several companies in one Gennai workspace, connect each one's Xero organisation:

1. Open Integrations and click Manage on the Xero card.
2. Click Connect company, sign in to Xero and choose the organisation.

If you've already given Gennai access to other Xero organisations, Gennai offers to add them in one click.

Gennai works out which company each invoice belongs to, mainly from who it's billed to, and shows it in the Company column. If it can't tell, the invoice shows No company and waits until you choose one. With only one Xero organisation connected, invoices go to it, except those that belonged to an organisation you disconnected: connect it again to send them.

• To change the company of an invoice, use the Company column. For several at once, select them, click Company and choose the company.
• Gennai remembers your choice for the next invoices billed to that company.
• When you send invoices, the Send to Xero window shows how many go to each company before you confirm. Invoices without a company are left out until you choose one.
• The company marked Default is listed first. Invoices without a company don't go to it: they wait until you choose one. To make another company the default, click Default next to it.
• Choose an invoice's company before you pick its account, so the account comes from that company's chart of accounts.

Disconnect Xero

1. Open Integrations and click Manage on the Xero card.
2. Click Disconnect from Xero and confirm with Yes, disconnect from Xero.

When you disconnect:

• Gennai removes its access to Xero straight away and stops sending bills. The Auto switch is turned off. Your AI Assistant send rules are kept: they start working again when you connect the same organisation. Pause them in the AI Assistant if you don't want that.
• The bills already in Xero stay there. Gennai doesn't delete them.
• Your invoices stay in Gennai, with the record of what was sent, a copy of your Xero settings, such as your chart of accounts and tax rates, your contacts and your categorization rules, so you can reconnect quickly. To delete them as well, see Security and your data.

You can also remove Gennai's access from Xero: open Settings › Connected apps in Xero, find Gennai and click Disconnect.

To use Xero again, connect it from Integrations. If you used the Auto switch, turn it back on.

Security and your data

• Gennai keeps all Xero access tokens encrypted at rest, uses them only to work with your Xero organisation and never shares them.
• All traffic between Gennai and Xero is encrypted.
• Gennai keeps a copy of your Xero settings, such as your chart of accounts and tax rates, and of your contacts with your Gennai account, to suggest accounts and to reconnect quickly.
• To delete all your data, open Settings › Data & privacy, go to Delete account & workspace, type DELETE, click Delete my account and then Confirm. If you own the workspace, this deletes all its data, including your invoices and the record of what was sent to Xero, and disconnects Xero. You can also ask us from the support page. See the privacy policy.

Frequently asked questions

Does Gennai change bills that are already in Xero?

No. Gennai only creates new drafts. It never changes the bills that are already in Xero.

When does Gennai send bills to Xero?

When you send them yourself. On the Growth plan and above, it can also send new invoices on its own if you turn on automatic sending or create a rule in the AI Assistant. It never sends anything you haven't asked for.

What doesn't Gennai do in Xero?

Gennai doesn't approve, pay, void or delete bills, doesn't read or create sales invoices, and doesn't touch your bank feeds, reconciliation or payroll. It also doesn't bring bills from Xero into Gennai.

I edited an invoice in Gennai after sending it. Does the bill change?

No. The bill in Xero stays as it was sent. Make the same change in Xero.

How do I disconnect Gennai from Xero?

From Gennai or from Xero, whichever you prefer. See Disconnect Xero.

I already entered some bills in Xero myself. What should I do?

Don't send those invoices from Gennai, so the same bill isn't in Xero twice. You can archive them in Gennai.

Why doesn't an account appear when I pick one for an invoice?

The list only shows active accounts, without revenue or bank accounts. Archived accounts don't appear. If you've just created the account in Xero, Gennai picks it up on its own. To bring it in straight away, click Refresh now in your categorization rules.

Troubleshooting

"Your Xero connection has been lost"

Xero stopped Gennai's access, for example because someone removed it in Xero. Open Integrations, click Connect on the Xero card and connect again. Your categorization rules and the record of what was sent stay. If you use automatic sending, turn Auto back on. Then check the ERP column and send any invoice that arrived in the meantime and isn't in Xero yet.

With several Xero organisations, an organisation that lost its access disappears from the list in Manage. Click Connect company to connect it again.

An invoice isn't in Xero

• Look at the ERP column. If it says Failed, hover over it to see why, fix it and send the invoice again.
• If it says On hold, your AI Assistant rule held it back. Hover over it to see why, and send it yourself if it's fine.
• If it's empty, the invoice hasn't been sent. Send it yourself. Automatic sending only covers new invoices that arrive after you turn it on.
• With several Xero organisations, check the Company column: invoices with No company aren't sent.
• If you deleted or voided the bill in Xero, send the invoice again to create a new draft.

"Already in Xero"

The bill for that invoice is already in Xero, so Gennai doesn't send it again. Look for it in Xero. With several Xero organisations, it may be in another one.

"Some invoices won't export"

Xero only accepts bills in the currencies turned on in your organisation. Add the currency in Xero, or upgrade your Xero plan if it only handles one currency. Then click Re-check. You can send the rest of the invoices straight away.

The bill has no account

Gennai didn't have an account for that supplier yet, or the account it had is archived in Xero. Choose the account in Xero before you approve the bill. To have that supplier's next invoices arrive with it, pick it in Gennai too. If you set that supplier's rule yourself, edit that rule in your categorization rules instead.

Need more help?

Contact support and we'll help you.

Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. Gennai Invoice Manager is not affiliated with or endorsed by Xero Limited.