The Xero connection is one of the most common questions we get from new customers, so here’s the walkthrough we wish existed when you started.
Before you start
Have two things ready:
- Your Xero login (you need to be an Adviser or Standard user, not just an Invoice Only user)
- A note of which Xero accounts you use for trade income, materials, and labour. Usually 200, 310, and 477 respectively for most businesses, but yours may differ
That’s the whole prerequisite.
The connection itself
In Trak, go to Settings → Integrations → Xero. You’ll be sent to Xero to authorise the connection, then back to Trak. This is the standard OAuth dance and takes about 30 seconds.
Once connected, you’ll see a mapping screen with your Xero accounts on the left and Trak job types on the right.
The defaults that catch people out
A few settings worth checking before you let it run:
Tax codes. Trak defaults to “GST on Income” for invoices and “GST on Expenses” for material costs. If you’re not registered for GST, change both to “BAS Excluded” before the first invoice syncs. Easier to set right than fix later.
Customer matching. Trak matches by email first. If a customer doesn’t have an email in Xero, you’ll get duplicates the first time you invoice them. Worth running through your customer list and adding emails before you connect.
Sync direction. By default everything goes Trak → Xero. If you want Xero customer changes to flow back into Trak, turn on two-way sync in the same settings page. Most businesses prefer one-way to start with and turn on two-way after they trust the connection.
What syncs
- Quotes and invoices (Trak → Xero, on send or on approve)
- Payments (Xero → Trak, when reconciled)
- Customers (configurable, off by default for two-way)
- Items / products (one-time import on first connect, then manual)
That’s it. The whole thing’s about a 10-minute job assuming you have the prerequisites ready. Most of the time goes into checking the GST settings, which is the right place to spend it.