To use your Expend cards with Xero, you need to connect your company's Expend and Xero accounts and configure some syncing options. This only needs to be done once (but you can make changes in the future if necessary).
Note: You can set up Xero syncing before you've received your Expend cards, and you can start using your card before setting up syncing – all the transactions are synced to Xero as soon as the setup is complete.
To set up your Xero integration:
Go to the Expend web app at app.expend.io.
Open the sidebar menu, go to MANAGE, click Settings, select Integrations, and then click Xero.
Follow the steps to connect to Xero and configure syncing. All setup and configuration for syncing Expend with Xero is done on this page.
1. Turn on Xero syncing
The Xero Syncing box shows whether Expend is currently connected to Xero.
Connecting to Xero
Click the Connect button to connect your Xero account and your Expend account. You’ll be redirected to Xero.
Log in to your Xero account and click Allow Access to authorise Expend to access your Xero data. You’ll be returned to the Expend web app to continue setup.
Disconnecting from Xero
To disconnect and stop syncing, simply click the Disconnect button.
2. Set Control Accounts
Expend needs some new accounts in your Xero Chart of Accounts. They will be used to record transactions made with Expend cards and to keep track of money loaded into your float account.
Note: This step only needs to be completed the first time you set up syncing.
The following control accounts are required:
Fund Control Account for transactions loading money to your float account
Cash Withdrawal Account for keeping track of cash withdrawals made using Expend cards
Rejected Expenses for transactions submitted as expenses but rejected during expense reviewal
Uncategorised Expenses for Expend card transactions not yet assigned a category or for which the category isn’t mapped to a Xero account
You can create the accounts directly in your Xero Chart of Accounts, but we recommend using the + Xero Asset Account and + Xero Expense Account buttons on the Xero configuration page to quickly create new accounts with the appropriate settings. We also recommend creating new accounts instead of using existing accounts.
For each account, do the following:
For Fund Control Account, Cash Withdrawal Account and Rejected Expenses: click + Xero Asset Account.
For Uncategorised Expenses: click + Xero Expense Account.In the form that opens, enter a name for the account and an account code of your choice, and then click + Create.
In the drop-down list for the control account, select the account you created.
3. Set Tax Mappings
Select the tax rate in your accounting platform (in the drop-down list) for each of the system and custom tax rates. For custom tax types in Expend, both active and archived tax types should be mapped.
4. Set Account Mappings
When you submit an expense report for a transaction in Expend, you can select a category for that expense, such as Travel, Entertainment, Office supplies, and so on. Using the category you selected, Expend files it to the appropriate account in your Xero Chart of Accounts. In this section, you can set up which Expend category maps to which Xero account.
If you don't find the account you need, you can create one and Expend will set it up for you in Xero. Simply click + Xero Expense Account and, in the form that opens, enter an account name and code. Note that the account will be created in Xero as with the account type “Expense” and tax setting “Zero Rated Expenses”. You can change this in your Xero Chart of Accounts if needed.
5. Expense Sync Settings
Specify at which point you want Expend card transactions to sync to Xero:
The transaction is final, and you’ve approved or rejected it (default)
This is the recommended setting. The transaction is ‘final’ when the merchant has taken the funds. Once you’ve approved or rejected the expense report, and the transaction is final, we will sync it.You’ve approved or rejected it
With this setting, the transaction may not be final yet. If you reconcile it and something then changes (such as FX adjustments or fees) we may be unable to update the amount.The transaction is final
With this setting, the transaction is final, so the amount won’t change. But if you reconcile it in Xero, we will be unable to sync further changes to the expense details (such as category, notes or tracking details).The card is used
Not recommended. With this setting, neither the transaction or expense details are final. We recommend that you wait until the transaction appears in your bank feed before reconciling it; once reconciled, we will be unable to sync any further changes to the expense details or transaction amount.
Please note:
We are unable to update transactions after they are reconciled in Xero.
However, receipts that were lost but then found can still been sent through after reconciliation.
6. Advanced Settings
Send tax information even if an expense lacks a receipt
If this is turned on, tax information will be sent to Xero even if the expense doesn’t have receipt attached. We suggest you leave this off.
Transfer returned cash back to a designated bank account
When cash is marked as returned in Expend, the funds will be transferred to the Xero account designated here. We suggest you leave this off.
Sync expenses from specific date
Only expenses on and after the selected date will be synced with Xero. Expenses before this date will not be synced. If you don’t specify a date, all expenses will be synced. This will only apply the first time, when you set up your configuration.
7. Set Business Cards Mappings
Only for organisations using connected cards.
For each card, select the bank account in Xero to which expenses raised from card transactions should sync.
If you are setting up the integration for the first time, the relevant bank accounts may not be listed. If this is the case, please skip this section for the time being. Ensure all other fields are completed and click Save at the bottom of the page. You can then return here to set up your connected card mappings.
8. Save your configuration
Click Save to finish and save your configuration. If you make changes in the future, your updated settings will apply to all new transactions and expenses.