In this document, we will explain to you how to connect and set up your Xero Online Account with your Buildtools Project Management System and make sure we have an automated data synchronization between both systems.
The article contains 4 main sections.
Xero Prerequirements
Getting Started
Connect to your Xero Online Account
Next Steps
1. Xero Prerequirements
In order to synchronize your data between Xero and Buildtools, it is important that you review your Xero setup previously and that you make sure all prerequirements are met before you continue with the actual synchronization setup.
If you have any questions, please contact our Buildtools Support team.
In order to map and load your Budget Categories in Buildtools successfully, you will need to use the Service module in Xero. Budget Categories from Buildtools are only mapped to Service Items and not to Accounts in Xero.
Note: This first step is a very important step as Buildtools does not have any account information therefore it will only map and synchronize data to the Xero Service Items.
Please verify if all your Vendors in Xero have an office contact or email assigned in case you have this information available. It will facilitate the creation of an associated Representative and Login account for that person when the Company and Representative is automatically created in Buildtools.
If you are planning to synchronize Purchase Orders between Buildtools and Xero, please make sure the PO feature is enabled in Xero in their Settings module
All Bills created in Xero should use Xero Service Items.
As Buildtools requires that all Bills or Detailed Line Items are related to a specific project, it is very important that you enable this in your Xero Settings, to make sure each Bill or Detailed Line Item is related to a Xero Client or Project
As a general recommendation, once Synchronization between Xero and Buildtools is set up, it is not recommended to move or merge active Customers, Jobs or Vendors. We have seen issues with this in the past and it is better to rename or inactivate an existing Customer, Job or Vendor and create a new one in Xero so it will be mapped correctly into Buildtools. You always can contact Buildtools Support and we will be glad to help you out in case a mapping issue does occur.
2. Getting Started
To locate the module to set up your synchronization with your Xero system, follow these easy steps:
Click on the Settings icon in the top right
Select the "INTEGRATIONS" menu
And afterwards select "ACCOUNTING"
Note: There are several options to connect your Buildtools system to third-party accounting software. This document will handle to connection with Xero Online.
Now you're ready to move on to the next step!
3. Connect to your Xero Online Account
Connecting to your Xero Online Account is fast and easy. The easiest way is to open your Xero Online account in another tab of your browser and sign in. That will make the connection process easier. If not, you will be asked to sign in to your Xero Online account with your email and password, so keep them by hand in case you are asked for it.
Select the "XERO ONLINE" option in the list
Afterwards click on the button "Connect To XERO"
A window will show up asking to authorize the Buildtools Application to access your Online Xero Data. If you do not have Xero open in another tab first, you might be asked to enter your email and password that you use to access Xero Online.
Review the data and click on the Connect button
You will be brought back to the main screen and you will see a progress bar on your right next to "Sync Progress". That means the system is bringing over the necessary data to get both systems in sync. Depending on the amount of data you have in Buildtools and in your Xero system, this process can take from a couple of seconds to one or two hours. So be patient ;-)
Once the progress is 100%, the screen will refresh automatically and you will be brought back to the main Synchronization Dashboard with all the initial information to get started
Note: The Synchronization module has an on-screen help windows to help you with the process. If you do not want those, you can close the help window. If you want to have them back, you can always click on the "Take Tour" button
Now you're ready to start mapping your important data so both systems are completely in sync before we activate the actual synchronization process.
4. Next Steps
Congratulations !!! You have managed to set up Data Synchronization between your Xero Account and your Buildtools System successfully. Most of your List Items, Vendors and Projects will be mapped automatically based on their name, but before we can activate the actual Synchronization process, we will need a manual verification to make sure that all items in both systems are mapped correctly.
You can proceed to the next article: Accounting: Map Budget Categories, Companies and Projects
Need additional help?
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