Xero / Auxo Data Flow
📌 Key point: How to read this table
The arrows show the direction of data sync between Auxo and Xero.
• → means data flows one way.
• ↔ means data flows both ways.
For example, Customer invoice payments sync in both directions: payments entered in Auxo appear in Xero, and payments entered in Xero appear in Auxo after sync. Enter the payment in one system only to avoid duplicates.
Auxo | Data Flow | Xero |
New Customers | → | New Customers |
Synced Customer Data | ↔ | Synced Customer Data |
Invoices | → | Xero Invoices (and manual inventory journals if enabled in sync settings) |
Customer Credit Notes | ↔ | Credit Notes (see Credit Notes below) |
Customer Invoice Payments | ↔ | Customer Invoice Payments |
Purchase Orders | → | Xero Bills (only if enabled in Sync Settings) |
Supplier Credit Notes | → | Supplier Credit Notes |
Stock Adjustments | → | Xero Manual Journals (COGS & Stock on Hand, only if enabled in Sync Settings) |
Purchase Orders and Inventory Journals only sync if enabled in Sync Settings
🔁 Customers and Suppliers
Auxo should be considered the master database for customer and supplier data, any new customers/suppliers created are uploaded to Xero. Once a customer/supplier is uploaded to Xero it has been synced between the products, any changes made in Xero will also update Auxo data and vice versa.
If you already have data in both Auxo and Xero and don’t want to perform a data import, don’t worry. Auxo will automatically attempt to match customers and suppliers to existing Xero contacts. It does this by matching the name and phone number.
To check which Xero contact a customer or supplier is linked to, or to fix a wrong link, see Linking Customers and Suppliers to Xero Contacts.
📝 Note: Email addresses will not be removed from Xero when there is no email address in Auxo Workshop.
🧾 Invoices
In Auxo Workshop, jobs are completed and invoiced. The invoice posts to Xero as an authorised invoice awaiting payment.
The Invoice Date in Auxo Workshop aligns with the Invoice Date in Xero
The vehicle registration is added to the Reference field on the Xero invoice
$0 invoices sync to Xero like any other invoice, as long as the job has at least one line item (a $0 line is fine) because Xero requires a line on every invoice.
Long invoice notes: Auxo Workshop allows up to 5,000 characters in a service's invoice note, but only the first 4,000 characters are sent on the Xero invoice line. The full note stays in Auxo Workshop. See Xero - Troubleshooting & Known Issues.
📄 Invoices - COGS and inventory journals
When a job is invoiced in Auxo Workshop, cost movements may be sent to Xero to recognise Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and adjust Stock on Hand or Work in Progress (WIP).
Whether journals are created depends on:
Your Xero sync settings, and
How the part was supplied to the job
⚙️ Sync setting requirement
Inventory and COGS journals are only created if the following option is enabled:
If this setting is disabled, no inventory or COGS journals are created when invoices are issued.
🔁 When journals are created
When inventory journals are enabled, journals are created in the following situations:
Stocked parts: parts that are marked as Stocked in the Parts List
Job‑ordered parts: parts purchased on a Purchase Order linked directly to a job
In these cases:
Journals are created per part line, not per invoice
Multiple journals may reference the same invoice number
Each journal represents the cost movement for a specific part
This is why you may see several Xero manual journals with the same narration - for example, “COGS for invoice INV 1008”:
This approach allows you to reconcile back to the line item on the Auxo Workshop invoice, as opposed to a summary which would be difficult determine which line item the Xero posting relates to.
🚫 When journals are not created
Inventory and COGS journals are not created for parts that are not marked as Stocked in the Parts List, and are added directly to a job and invoiced without being received on a Purchase Order.
These parts do not have stock or WIP value to move, so no inventory or COGS journal is required.
📊 Cost basis used
When journals are created, each journal uses the average cost of the specific part at the time the invoice is created.
Because journals are created per part line, invoices with multiple parts can result in multiple journals with different values.
⚠️Important Points Regarding Invoices & Xero Integration:
Editing an Invoice in Xero will not update the Auxo invoice accurately
We strongly recommend you do not make changes in Xero that alter the invoice total. This can impact the Paid/Unpaid status in Auxo Workshop as the totals will be out of sync and cause errors when trying to enter the payment in Auxo Workshop.
Line items added to an invoice Xero will not be added in Auxo Workshop, instead an adjustment line may display in Auxo Workshop to balance the difference in the totals:
An Auxo Workshop invoice can be edited until a payment or credit has been matched to it.
Invoice numbers must be unique - if you're creating invoices in both Auxo and Xero you may receive a sync error in Auxo Workshop if the invoice number generated had already been used in Xero
Freight & Discounts will display in Auxo with GST exclusive values (even when the invoicing in Inclusive mode) but in Xero it will show GST inclusive figures. Invoice and GST totals will match, the difference is just the GST basis of these specific values displayed on screen. Example (1) is Auxo, (2) is Xero):
💳 Customer Payments
Payments to invoices can be processed in either AUXO or Xero. Job deposits and invoice payments made in Auxo Workshop are posted to Xero immediately.
Payments, prepayments and overpayments that you apply to an Auxo Workshop invoice in Xero come through to that invoice in Auxo Workshop. If one prepayment or overpayment is split across several invoices in Xero, each invoice in Auxo Workshop shows its share.
⚠️We recommend using a payment clearing account to manage payments
Purchase Orders / Bills
Purchase orders created in Auxo Workshop can be sent to Xero as bills.
If freight charges are added to the purchase order, they are also included in the Xero bill for precise cost allocation.
If a 1c rounding adjustment is applied in Auxo Workshop, it is included as an additional line on the Xero bill so the totals match.
Purchase orders for stock (inventory) are coded to the Stock on Hand account, while those for jobs are coded to the Work in Progress account.
This only happens if Send Purchase Orders to Xero is enabled in Sync Settings.
Stock Adjustments
All stock adjustments, including stocktake adjustments, will generate a manual journal in Xero, affecting the Stock on Hand and Stock Adjustment accounts.
These journals are only created when "Create Inventory Journals (COGS & Stock on Hand)" is enabled in Sync Settings.
Example below:
🏷️ Tracking Categories
Where a tracking category and option are configured in Sync Settings, the selected label is automatically applied to every financial line item on all eligible transactions synced to Xero. This covers customer invoices, customer credit notes, supplier bills, supplier credit notes, and manual journals (including COGS, stock adjustment, and payment journal entries).
Description-only lines with no quantity or amount are excluded, as Xero does not support tracking on those line types.
Tracking is applied automatically on sync, so no manual tagging is required.
👉 See 🏷️ Xero Tracking Categories for setup instructions and full details.
↩️ Credit Notes
Credit notes you create in Auxo Workshop are sent to Xero as soon as you save them, as approved credit notes. Create your credit notes in Auxo Workshop rather than in Xero.
Customer credit notes
Creating a credit note, from a job or from the Invoices list, sends it to Xero straight away.
Editing the date, line items or notes updates the credit note in Xero. You can only edit a credit note before it's allocated or refunded.
Notes on the credit note appear as an extra line on the Xero credit note.
Allocating a credit note to an invoice applies it to that invoice in Xero. Removing the allocation removes it in Xero.
Refunds are sent to Xero as a refund against the credit note, into your Default Payments account from Account Mapping. Every refund uses this account, whichever payment method you choose.
Cancelling a refund removes it from Xero.
Changing a refund or allocation amount isn't sent to Xero. To change an amount, cancel the refund or remove the allocation, then enter it again.
Customer credit notes don't change stock on hand and don't send stock or Cost of Goods Sold journals to Xero.
Credit notes created in Xero
If you create a credit note in Xero and allocate it to an Auxo Workshop invoice, it comes through to that invoice in Auxo Workshop and reduces the balance owing.
It shows totals only, without line items, and can't be edited in Auxo Workshop.
This only works if the customer already exists in Auxo Workshop.
Refunds you record in Xero against a credit note from Auxo Workshop come through once a day.
Example of a Xero created Credit Note reducing the Auxo invoice balance:
Supplier credit notes
Creating a supplier credit note sends it to Xero straight away, when its status is Request for Credit.
The credit note is coded to:
Stock on Hand for a stock order
Work in Progress for a job order where the job isn't invoiced yet
Cost of Goods Sold for a job order where the job is already invoiced
Changes you make while it's in Request for Credit update it in Xero, including any 1c rounding adjustment, which appears as an extra line.
Clicking Credit Fulfilled doesn't send anything to Xero. The credit note is already there.
If a refund is recorded against the supplier credit note in Xero, Auxo Workshop marks it as Credit Fulfilled automatically, once a day.
See Crediting a Purchase Order for the steps.
If a credit note doesn't reach Xero
If something is missing, such as Account Mapping or tax rates, the credit note isn't sent and you'll see a notification in Auxo Workshop.
Credit notes, allocations and refunds made while Auxo Workshop isn't connected to Xero aren't sent later, and no notification appears. Your accountant will need to enter them in Xero.