This guide covers:
Steps to connect Adfin and Xero
Importing customers
Importing invoices
How Adfin syncs with Xero on an ongoing basis
Steps to connect Adfin and Xero
1. Click the '+ Connect' button in the integrations tab under settings:
2. You will be redirected and prompted to login to Xero, please login.
3. Once logged in successfully, Xero will ask you to confirm the connection to Adfin.
4. Once you approve the connection with Xero, you'll be redirected back to Adfin. We will then ask you some questions to configure the connection, see below:
Where would you like to receive your payments?
This is used for reconciliation purposes - we will automatically create a transfer to this account on Xero when we payout funds to you.
This should be the same account as you provided to us during onboarding (otherwise reconciliation will not work properly).
Specify a name for your intermediary account.
In order to enable seamless reconciliation, we will create an intermediary bank on your Xero account.
When an invoice is marked as paid, we use the account to pay the invoice on Xero.
When we payout funds to you, we create a transfer from this account to the bank account where you receives your payments.
You can then reconcile your bank statement against this transfer.
Assign branding themes for invoices to be sent via Adfin.
In order to send invoices raised in Xero via Adfin (with Adfin’s distribution and payments), you must specify using branding themes in Xero. We advise creating two Adfin-specific branding themes:
A branding theme "Adfin one-time payment" for one-time payment requests (via card, bank transfer or open banking).
A branding theme "Adfin direct debit" for invoices (one-time or recurring) that are to be scheduled against an Adfin direct debit mandate.
Branding themes enable you to filter which invoices are imported and sent by Adfin and prevent scenarios where an invoice is sent both by Xero and Adfin.
Branding themes allow you to filter which invoices are sent to card / pay by bank payment or direct debit.
Creating new branding themes in Xero
On Xero, navigate to “invoice settings” and select “new branding theme” https://go.xero.com/InvoiceSettings/InvoiceSettings.aspx.
Name the branding theme (e.g. Adfin one-time payment, Adfin direct debit) and specify any configuration details.
You should not enable any Xero payment capability for the branding themes.
Once the branding themes have been created in Xero, you'll be able to select them from the drop-down lists in the configuration panel, see below:
5. Once all fields have been configured, click 'Confirm details'.
To confirm Adfin is connected to Xero, you can return to https://console.adfin.com/settings/integrations. If the status is '🟩 Connected', see example below, then the connection has been successful.
Import customers from Xero to Adfin
Once you have confirmed the details of you Xero integration (see Steps to connect Adfin and Xero), you'll be asked whether or not you would like to import customers from Xero.
This is an optional step, if you do not wish to import customers, simply click 'Do this later'.
If you want to issue new Direct Debit mandates, we recommend importing customers from Xero. Once imported, you can send out new mandates via the Console customer view.
Importing customers from Xero to Adfin:
You can choose either:
"Import all customers"
"Import specific contact groups from Xero".
To import a specific contact group and select it, this must be created in Xero and have the relevant contacts added to it prior to importing to Adfin.
If you need to import contacts that are not customers, you will need to use the contact group functionality - importing all customers only imports contacts that are customers.
Once you have selected one of the import options and clicked 'Import customers', you will see a confirmation screen to let you know that the import has started.
Importing invoices from Xero to Adfin
If you want an invoice in Xero to be ingested into Adfin, you’ll need to use one of the two branding themes you created earlier (see Steps to connect Adfin and Xero).
On the invoice form, you will be able to select one of the following branding themes:
"Adfin one-time payment" for one-time payment requests (via card, bank transfer, or open banking).
"Adfin direct debit" for invoices (one-time or recurring) that are to be scheduled against an Adfin direct debit mandate.
If you select one of the Adfin branding themes and approve the invoice, Adfin will pick it up and send it.
⚠️ It is best practice to select “Approve” rather than “Approve & email”.
If you select “Approve & email”, Adfin will still ingest the invoice but your client will receive duplicate emails (one from Adfin and one from Xero).
In the example below, the biller has selected he "Adfin one-time payment" branding theme, meaning the invoice will be sent out for collection via card, bank transfer, or open banking.
As soon as the "Approve" button is clicked, the invoice will be ingested into Adfin and distributed for collection - you will be able to view it in the Console invoice view.
Adfin will also import and send the Xero pdf invoice to the customer. If you have Stripe or any other payment links configured for the invoice in Xero, the link will still appear on the PDF - to prevent this you should disable Stripe from your Xero account.
Repeating invoices
Repeating invoices work in the exact same way, simply create or update the repeating invoices to be marked approved (instead of approved for sending) and assign your desired Adfin branding theme.
How Adfin syncs with Xero on an ongoing basis
Invoices
Invoices you configure to be sent by Adfin are sent when an Adfin branding theme is applied and the invoice is marked "Approved" in Xero. Invoices in draft are not imported to Adfin.
When invoices are paid via Adfin, the invoice payment status will be automatically updated in Xero.
Invoice updates made in Xero (such as issue date, invoice number and line items) will be updated in Adfin too. Branding theme updates are not captured.
When applying the "Adfin direct debit" branding theme to a Xero invoice:
If a customer already has an active mandate in Adfin, we will distribute the invoice on the issue date and schedule the payment to be taken from their account on the due date.
If a customer has a pending mandate, we will distribute the invoice on the invoice issue date but we will not schedule the payment to be taken from their account until the mandate is signed.
If a customer has not been sent a mandate, we will distribute the invoice on the invoice issue date and send a new mandate. Once the mandate is signed we will schedule the payment to be taken from their account on the due date.
Credit notes and payments applied in Xero
If you apply a credit note or a payment to an invoice in Xero, Adfin will automatically updates the amount due on the invoice to the new, updated balance. Adfin also syncs deletion of credit notes and partial payment, including any changes that are made to these after they are applied.
We show your client a breakdown of payments and credit notes that have been applied to an invoice on the payment page and future reminders. You can also view all the previous invoice activity that affects the amount due yourself by clicking into invoice in the console.
Customers
Customers can be imported from Xero to Adfin (see Import customers from Xero to Adfin). Too see if a contact in Adfin is linked to a Xero contact, you can refer to the tooltip in the final column of the customer record.
Ongoing customer sync between Adfin and Xero:
If a contact imported to Adfin is edited in Xero, it will be updated in Adfin.
If an invoice marked approved in Xero for a customer not currently connected to Adfin, Adfin will import the invoice and create a new customer.