Many groups run Xero in some companies and Business Central in others, or approve supplier bills in Xero before they are recorded in Business Central. Re-keying those bills is slow and error-prone. Before you automate the flow, work through this checklist so the integration handles the awkward cases, not just the easy ones.
1. Decide which bills move
- Only approved bills, or drafts as well? Moving only approved bills keeps approval in one place.
- Bills from all Xero organizations, or specific ones?
- How far back to start, so historic bills are not imported twice.
2. Route each bill to the right company
If several Business Central companies receive bills, define how a bill is assigned: by Xero tracking category, by supplier, or by Xero organization. Decide what happens to bills that can't be routed. They should stay visible for review, not be silently dropped.
3. Map vendors
- Match Xero contacts to existing Business Central vendors, using a reliable key rather than the name alone.
- Decide whether missing vendors are created automatically, and from which vendor template (posting groups, payment terms, tax area).
- Agree who maintains vendor bank details, since that is a common fraud target.
4. Map accounts and items
- Map Xero account codes to Business Central G/L accounts.
- Decide whether lines post to G/L accounts, items or both.
- Carry tracking categories into Business Central dimensions where needed.
5. Taxes
- Map each Xero tax rate to the right Business Central tax setup, including GST/HST and provincial sales tax.
- Check tax and totals against Xero before posting, so a wrong mapping is caught before it reaches the ledger.
6. Currency
- Confirm how foreign currency bills are handled and which exchange rate applies.
- Make sure the currency code exists in Business Central before the first bill arrives.
7. Prevent duplicates
- Use the Xero bill identifier as the external reference and check it before creating an invoice.
- Decide what happens if a bill is changed in Xero after it has been imported.
8. Posting and approval in Business Central
- Create purchase invoices only, or post them automatically?
- If posting automatically, which checks must pass first?
- Who reviews exceptions, and how quickly?
9. Failure handling and status
- One list showing every bill's status, with the reason for any error and a link back to the bill in Xero.
- A clear way to retry after fixing a mapping.
- A daily or weekly reconciliation of bill counts and totals between Xero and Business Central.
10. Security
- One connection to Xero, held by one company, rather than many separate logins.
- Credentials stored securely and reviewed when staff change.
How our connector handles this
Our Xero Bills Connector brings approved Xero bills into Business Central as purchase invoices through a single Xero connection. It routes each bill by its Xero tracking tag, keeps untagged bills visible for review, creates missing vendors from your templates, checks tax and totals before posting, and shows every bill's status in one list. It is available on Microsoft Marketplace, and the setup guide is public.
Next step
Request a Xero connector demo and bring a sample of tricky bills: multi-currency, untagged and multi-line.