Receiptor sends receipts and supplier invoices to Xero without blindly creating a new accounting transaction. Each export first looks for a reliable match, attaches the source document when a match exists, and creates a new transaction only when the accounting details are safe.
The core rule is simple: match first, create second, and ask when the evidence is not strong enough.
Open Destinations in Receiptor.
Select Add integration, then choose Xero.
Sign in to Xero and authorise the organisation or organisations you want Receiptor to use.
Return to Receiptor. Each connected Xero organisation appears as its own workspace with separate export settings, chart of accounts and saved mappings.
Receiptor imports the chart of accounts for each workspace. Use Refresh all charts in the Xero settings when accounts or tax defaults have changed in Xero.
Process the document. Receiptor extracts the document data, validates the accounting lines and applies categorisation or automation rules.
Use the selected Xero workspace. A manual export uses the Xero organisation you select, while an automation uses the destination saved in its rule. Receiptor separately checks that the document has a legal entity before the accounting export continues.
Look for a match. Receiptor checks recorded Xero IDs and available evidence such as reference, amount, currency, date and counterparty before creating anything.
Reuse or create. A reliable existing transaction is reused and the document is attached. If no match exists, Receiptor follows the document type and workspace settings described below.
Pause when necessary. Unresolved accounting choices appear as Needs action in Export Activity. Receiptor does not perform the unresolved ledger action until you decide; any earlier safe steps remain visible in the timeline.
You can export manually from Receiptor or use automation rules to send eligible documents to Xero. Both routes use the same matching and safety checks.
Supplier invoice → Bill. When the workspace is configured to create automatically and no suitable transaction exists, an invoice becomes an Accounts Payable Bill. New Bills use the status configured for that Xero workspace: Draft by default, or Awaiting Approval or Awaiting Payment if you choose another status.
Standalone paid receipt → Spend Money. A receipt becomes Spend Money only when it is confirmed as paid and Receiptor can safely resolve the Xero bank or credit-card account, amount and currency. Unknown, unpaid, partially paid or refunded standalone receipts are not silently posted as Spend Money.
Linked invoice and receipt → one Bill. When an invoice and its payment receipt are linked, Receiptor keeps one Bill as the accounting transaction and attaches all missing source documents to it. It does not create both a Bill and Spend Money for the same purchase.
Explicit receipt fallback → Bill awaiting payment. If the paid-from account or exact settlement cannot be determined, you can explicitly choose Create Bill awaiting payment instead. This is a one-off fallback for reconciliation in Xero, not the normal or automatic receipt treatment.
Invoice matches a Bill: Receiptor reuses the Bill and attaches the invoice if it is missing.
Paid receipt matches Spend Money: Receiptor reuses the Spend Money transaction and attaches the receipt.
Paid document matches a Bill awaiting payment: Receiptor attaches the document and records only the remaining payment when the Bill status, payment account, amount and currency are safe.
Paid document matches a Draft or Awaiting Approval Bill: Receiptor attaches the document but does not force the Bill into Awaiting Payment or create a payment.
The match is ambiguous, both a Bill and Spend Money match, or the existing object has the opposite type: Receiptor pauses for review instead of creating a second transaction or choosing one arbitrarily.
The default workspace behavior is Create automatically. After the matching checks, invoices become Bills and eligible paid receipts become Spend Money.
If another Xero workflow or rule may create the transaction first, select Wait for Xero match. Receiptor retries after 1 hour, 1 day and 1 week. If there is still no safe match, the export moves to Needs action rather than waiting forever or creating a possible duplicate.
Needs action is a review state, not a failed export. Receiptor asks only when an unresolved choice could change the accounting result. Common examples include:
The document's legal entity is missing, or the selected Xero destination is no longer available.
The bank or credit-card account that paid a receipt is unknown.
Document tax evidence matches more than one live Xero tax treatment or conflicts with the extracted totals.
A cross-currency Spend Money amount needs your approval.
More than one existing Xero transaction is a plausible match.
Accounting line items do not add up to the document total.
Open Export Activity to see the extracted evidence, make the required choice and retry. Receiptor keeps the full attempt timeline, shows what was completed safely and provides a direct Xero link when the export finishes.
When Receiptor cannot identify the Xero payment account, Export Activity shows the live bank and credit-card accounts for that workspace. Select the account that actually paid the document.
If you choose Remember this payment method, Receiptor saves a workspace-specific mapping from the payment method and last four digits on the document—for example, a credit card ending 8785—to the selected Xero account. This is not a blanket default payment account. The target account is checked again before every reuse, and the export summary tells you when a saved mapping was used.
You can inspect and delete payment-account and tax mappings under Saved mappings in each Xero workspace. Removing a mapping affects future exports only.
Receiptor treats the active tax rates and account defaults in your connected Xero organisation as authoritative. It never creates a new Xero tax rate automatically and does not apply an arbitrary zero-rate fallback.
No extracted tax evidence: Receiptor lets Xero use the selected expense account's valid default tax treatment. If no valid default exists, the export pauses for review.
Exact or uniquely compatible evidence: Receiptor uses the matching live Xero treatment or the selected account's compatible default.
Several compatible treatments: Receiptor may use AI only to select among those already-compatible live Xero candidates using the extracted tax label. It cannot invent a tax treatment or infer one from the merchant alone.
Ambiguous or inconsistent evidence: Export Activity shows the extracted label, rate, amount and expense account that are relevant, then asks you to select the correct live Xero treatment.
If you remember a tax choice, Receiptor saves the combination of the normalised document tax label, validated rate and expense account with the selected Xero tax treatment for that workspace. The mapping is revalidated against current Xero data before reuse.
Automatic categorisation is on by default. Receiptor selects from the connected workspace's live expense accounts.
Per-line categorisation is optional. Enable it when individual items need different expense accounts.
A default expense account is required when automatic categorisation is off. Receiptor checks that the configured account still exists before export.
Line totals are validated before Xero is changed. Receiptor does not invent a balancing line. If the accounting lines do not reconcile to the document total, it asks for review.
Merging line items is optional. When enabled, Receiptor merges only lines whose account and tax treatment are compatible.
Bills. Receiptor preserves the document currency when Xero multicurrency is available. Otherwise, it converts the accounting entry to the Xero organisation's base currency automatically. For a cross-currency Bill awaiting payment, open Find & Match in Xero and turn off Show [account currency] items only to find it.
Spend Money. Spend Money must use the selected bank or card account's currency. If that currency differs from the receipt, Receiptor calculates a dated provisional amount using the stored document rate when available, otherwise a historical or current rate, and shows both amounts for approval. The estimate is not presented as the final bank settlement: verify it during Xero reconciliation and adjust any exchange-rate or card-fee difference there.
Remembering this choice saves permission to use a dated estimate for that payment instrument; it does not save one permanent exchange rate. Receiptor recalculates the estimate for every future receipt.
Most teams can use Receiptor without changing the Xero defaults:
When nothing matches: Create automatically
Status for new Bills: Draft
Automatic categorisation: On
Per-line categorisation: Off
Merge line items: Off
Currency: Automatic, based on the Xero organisation's multicurrency capability
Change these only when your accounting workflow requires it—for example, use Wait for Xero match when Xero-side rules create transactions, choose another Bill status for an established approval workflow, or merge line items when your accountant prefers summary entries.
Why did Receiptor ask instead of guessing? A wrong account, tax treatment, currency amount or duplicate transaction is harder to correct than a one-time review. When you choose Remember, Receiptor can safely reuse that decision for similar future evidence.
Can a receipt become a Bill? Yes, but only when you explicitly choose the Bill awaiting payment fallback. A normal confirmed-paid standalone receipt is treated as Spend Money.
Does Receiptor always create a payment for a paid invoice? No. It records a payment only when the Bill is awaiting payment and the payment account, amount and currency are safe. Draft and Awaiting Approval Bills receive the document attachment without an automatic status change or payment.
Where can I review or resolve an export? Open Exports in Receiptor, select the export and review Export Activity. If you still need help, contact Receiptor through the in-app support chat and include the export job ID.
