How-to: Push payments to Xero for easier online accounting

What is Xero?

Xero is an online accounting software package that makes it easy to do bookkeeping for your business.  

What if I use another accounting platform?

• You're in luck! We integrate with QuickBooks Online (via Zapier). For more information on that solution, see How-to: Implement QuickBooks Automation Using Zapier.
• YouLi also provides solutions to sync data with all online accounting software solutions via Zapier or API. 

What does an integration with Xero mean?

It means that you can push the payments we track in your YouLi Trip to Xero as invoices. Thus minimizing the time you spend updating your books so you can make more trips happen!

We know how hard it is to keep on top of all the fees and payments coming in on trips.

Reconciling your payments in YouLi with the settlements from Stripe in your bank account can be a headache, especially when you're on the road. But now, with YouLi, you can manage all your trip payments in one place. 

With YouLi + Xero integration you get

1. Select which payment to push to Xero and automatically create an Invoice
   • your bookkeeper matches the invoices in the bank feeds as the money comes in
2. Smart Traveler lookup to ensure matching to the right customer in Xero
   • based on email
3. Stripe & YouLi Fees are included as line items in the Invoices to make reconciliation easier
   • previously this information would have been lost since it doesn't come in your bank feed
4. Credit Card surcharges are included as line items
   • account for these additional revenue streams properly
5. Easily account for GST so it can be claimed back from even the smallest Stripe fees - it adds up!
   • previously this information would have been lost since it doesn't come in your bank feed
6. Do this from anywhere with an internet connection

Push your first payment to Xero

Once you've gotten the feature enabled by contacting YouLi Support, you can follow these simple steps.

Click into the trip that you would like to reconcile

1. Click MANAGE PAYMENTS
2. Click the PAYMENTS sub-tab
3. Select the payments you want to be created as invoices in Xero 
4. Click the PUSH SELECTED TO XERO button
   
5. Connect to Xero and then watch as the payments are pushed to invoices in Xero. This will include the payment gateway fees, so you know how much you paid
   • And you can claim back the GST in Australia!!

 

 

 

Step by Step to Push YouLi Payments to Xero as Invoices

What information is sent to Xero?

When you push a payment from YouLi, an invoice is created in Xero using information associated with that payment.

Depending on your integration settings, the invoice may include:

• The traveller or payer’s name
• The trip name
• The payment amount
• The payment date
• The payment method, such as credit card or Stripe
• A YouLi-generated invoice number
• A reference linking the invoice to the relevant trip and payment record
• The invoice currency

Each selected payment will generally create a separate invoice, making it easier to track and reconcile individual traveller payments.

Before you begin

Before pushing payments, confirm that:

• YouLi is connected to the correct Xero organisation.
• The traveller’s name and contact details are correct.
• The trip and payment currencies are correct.
• The appropriate sales account and tax rate are configured in Xero.
• The selected payments have not already been pushed.
• You know which Xero account should be used for payment-processing fees.

We recommend pushing one test payment first. Check the resulting invoice in Xero before processing multiple payments.

Step 1: Open the trip in YouLi

Open the trip containing the payments you want to send to Xero.

From the trip’s left-hand menu, go to Manage Payments.

Step 2: Review the registered travellers

Select the Registered People tab.

This area shows information such as:

• The trip price
• Registered travellers
• Each traveller’s payment status
• Deposits already paid
• Outstanding balances
• Payment due dates
• Available payment methods

Open the relevant traveller’s record and confirm that their payment plan and amounts are correct.

Step 3: Open the Payments tab

From Manage Payments, select the Payments tab.

This tab displays the payments already received through YouLi. Each payment may show:

• Payment Made By — the payer’s name
• Breakdown — details of the payment
• Amount — the amount paid
• Payment date
• Payment method, such as Credit Card – Stripe
• The related traveller and trip

Review the payment information before continuing.

Step 4: Select the payments

Select the checkbox next to each payment you want to send to Xero.

You can select one payment or multiple payments.

For your first push, we recommend selecting only one payment. This allows you to verify the invoice structure, currency, tax treatment and account mapping in Xero.

Step 5: Push the payments to Xero

Select Push Selected to Xero.

You may also see an Export Selected button. This exports the selected payment information but does not create invoices in Xero.

To create Xero invoices, make sure you select Push Selected to Xero.

Step 6: Connect Xero

If YouLi has not yet been connected to Xero, you will be redirected to Xero’s authorisation page.

You may be asked to:

1. Sign in to Xero.
2. Select the Xero organisation you want to connect.
3. Review the requested access.
4. Select Allow access.

Make sure you choose the correct organisation. All invoices created by the integration will be sent to that organisation.

This authorisation is normally required only when the integration is first connected, or if the connection has expired or been disconnected.

Step 7: Confirm the push

After authorising Xero, you will return to YouLi.

Review the confirmation message and continue with the push. YouLi will create invoices in Xero for the selected payments.

Depending on your integration settings, invoices may initially appear in Xero as:

• Draft
• Awaiting Approval
• Awaiting Payment

You may need to review and approve the invoices in Xero before completing the accounting and reconciliation process.

Step 8: Confirm that the push was successful

When the process is complete, YouLi will display a confirmation message similar to:

Xero Push Complete

Successfully pushed payments may also display a completion indicator in the YouLi payment list.

Check that:

• The correct number of invoices was created.
• Every selected payment was processed.
• No errors were reported.
• The same payment has not been pushed more than once.

Review the invoices in Xero

In Xero, go to: Business → Invoices

The new invoices will appear in the relevant invoice status section, such as:

• Draft
• Awaiting Approval
• Awaiting Payment
• Paid

Invoice number

YouLi may generate invoice numbers in a format similar to:

YOULI-CC-Stripe-19

The number may identify:

• YouLi as the source
• The payment method
• The payment provider
• The related payment or transaction number

Reference

The invoice reference may include the trip name and a payment identifier, for example:

Innsbruck Mountain Retreat-19

This helps identify which trip and YouLi payment the invoice relates to.

Contact

The To field normally displays the traveller or payer’s name.

Other invoice information

Depending on your configuration, the invoice may also display:

• Invoice date
• Due date
• Invoice total
• Amount paid
• Amount due
• Currency
• Payment method
• Invoice status
• Trip or payment reference

Approve the invoice in Xero

Before approving an invoice, check:

1. The contact or traveller’s name.
2. The invoice amount.
3. The invoice currency.
4. The invoice and due dates.
5. The trip reference.
6. The sales account.
7. The tax rate or tax treatment.

If everything is correct, approve the invoice in Xero.

Invoices in Draft or Awaiting Approval may need to be approved before they can be matched against incoming payments.

Reconcile the payment in Xero

When the payment appears in your connected Xero bank account, go to:

Accounting → Bank Accounts → Reconcile

Locate the relevant bank statement line and check:

• The payer’s name
• The payment date
• The amount received
• The corresponding YouLi-created invoice

Select Match or use Xero’s transaction search to locate the invoice. Confirm the match and complete the reconciliation.

How to handle Stripe fees

The amount deposited into your bank account may be lower than the amount paid by the traveller because Stripe or another payment provider has deducted a processing fee.

For example:

• Traveller payment: $625.00
• Stripe fee: $21.55
• Net bank deposit: $603.45

The YouLi-created invoice should normally reflect the full amount paid by the traveller. The bank statement shows the net amount deposited after the processing fee.

The transaction should therefore be recorded as:

• Sales income: $625.00
• Payment-processing fee: $21.55
• Net bank deposit: $603.45

Record the fee against the appropriate payment-processing or merchant-fee expense account in Xero, then complete the reconciliation.

Permission Required

When you are prompted to grant access, it will show you the permission required.

• View and manage your contacts and business transactions

What this means is that our platform (not our staff) will have access to perform the sync you are requesting with permission to read and modify these objects:

• View and manage your contacts (accounting.contacts, accounting.contacts.read)
  • Contacts, ContactGroups
• View and manage your business transactions (accounting.transactions)
  • BankTransactions, BankTransfers, BatchPayments, CreditNotes, ExpenseClaims, Invoices, LinkedTransactions, ManualJournals, Overpayments, Quotes, Payments, Prepayments, PurchaseOrders, Receipts, RepeatingInvoices
• Offline access (offline_access)
  • This allows YouLi to request a refresh token (if required) to complete the sync without having to prompt you for authentication again during the period you have granted permission.

To understand more about the scope of permissions, you can refer to Xero documentation here.

 

Troubleshooting  

When the push fails, you'll get an alert popup and then you can check the status by hovering over the X on the table as shown below. Be sure to include this error when reporting an issue that will not resolve after retrying.

Xero contact lookup or creation failed

This can be because there is already a contact with the same name but with a different email address. See if you have a duplicate record in Xero and merge them before trying again.

I am prompted to use an authenticator app, but I don't have one

Xero requires 2FA (Two Factor Authentication) when integrating with apps like us. So you will need to configure an Authenticator App to complete the connection. Follow the instructions provided by Xero, and then try connecting again.

I keep getting the error 'duplicate.' 

This likely means that you have already pushed that invoice to Xero. Log into Xero to make changes to the invoice directly in Xero.

What does the error ' organization is not subscribed to currency ---' mean?

This means that the payment you pushed is not in the same currency as your Xero account is configured to support. 

• The quickest solution is to add the currency to your Xero account (may cost extra)
• If your trip currency is the same as Xero, but your payment gateway currency is different, you might encounter this error when pushing credit card payments. In this case: Change your payment gateway to settle into the same currency as your Xero account to avoid this error.

Why can't I see the option to push to Xero in Manage Payments? 

• If you click to the PAYMENTS tab and don't see the blue button, then you may not have it enabled; open a ticket to request access. 
• If you are a Co-Planner on a TRIP (not part of the team that owns the Trip), then you will not be allowed to push to Xero.
• If you are a bookkeeper and need to be able to push, be sure to ask your client to add you as a Team Member. Otherwise, you will not have permission to push.

I cannot see the invoice in Xero

Check that:

• YouLi is connected to the correct Xero organisation.
• The push displayed a successful completion message.
• You are checking all invoice status tabs, including Draft and Awaiting Approval.
• The payment was selected before you clicked Push Selected to Xero.

The bank deposit does not match the invoice

The payment provider may have deducted a processing fee. Record the fee separately in Xero and reconcile the net deposit against the invoice.

A duplicate invoice was created

Check whether the same payment was pushed more than once. Review both YouLi and Xero before deleting or voiding anything, and retain the invoice that corresponds to the correct payment record.

The invoice has the wrong currency

Confirm the trip currency, payment currency and Xero organisation settings. If the currency mapping is incorrect, resolve it before pushing additional payments.

Recommended workflow

For the safest results:

1. Review the traveller and payment details in YouLi.
2. Push one test payment.
3. Check the resulting invoice in Xero.
4. Confirm the contact, currency, account and tax treatment.
5. Approve and reconcile the test invoice.
6. Push the remaining payments in bulk once the setup has been verified.