Integrating Actionstep Practice Pro with Xero

In this article:

• Setting Up a Bank Contact Record
• Connecting Actionstep to Zero
• Creating a Trust / Client Account
• Creating an Office Account
• How-To Video

This article covers how to connect a Xero Database to an Actionstep Practice Pro system. It also covers how to set up  trust/client and office accounts.

Setting Up a Bank Contact Record

The first thing you need to do is edit the bank contact record, which represents your bank provider.

To do this:

1. In Practice Management, enter the text bank in the global search box. 
2. As the list of results appears, select Enter Your Bank Name. The Enter Your Bank Name contact page appears.
3. Click Edit (top-right corner of the page).
4. Change the Company name of the record to the name of your actual bank. 

Connecting Actionstep to Zero

1. In Practice Management, go to Admin > Accounting. The Accounting page appears.
2. Click Connect on the Xero box. 
   A warning message explains that once you select this option, you cannot change to a different option later.
3. Click I understand. A page appears, prompting you to choose your Xero organization account. 
4. Once selected, click Continue with 1 organization. Data is pulled from Xero and you are returned to the Admin > Accounting > Xero page.
   

Creating a Trust / Client Account

You can set up your trust/client account so it works with Xero. 

To do this:

1. In Practice Management, go to Admin > Trust accounting. The Trust Accounting page appears.
2. If you haven't selected a trust jurisdiction, click the Jurisdiction drop-down list and choose the one for your location. Then click Save to save your changes and apply the trust plug-in to your system. The Trust Accounts of [Your Organization Name] appears.
3. In the Bank accounts section, click Add Bank Account. The Add Trust Bank Account window appears. 
4. Click the GL Account drop-down list and choose Auto create new in Xero.
5. Click the Account Type drop-down list and select the type of account you want to create. Most of the time, Current Account will be selected.
6. Make sure the Status drop-down list is set to Open. 
7. Click the Bank contact record drop-down list and select the banking contact you created earlier in this article. 
8. Enter an Account number and Account name. 
9. Apply any other settings as needed. 
10. When you're finished, click Save. The banking details are added to the trust account.

Creating an Office Account

You can create an office account that connects Xero with Actionstep.

To do this:

1. In Xero, go to Accounting > Advanced, and then click Chart of accounts.
2. Click Add Bank Account. 
3. In the next menu, select your bank account record. (While you can sync your bank transactions with Xero, it's recommended  that you leave this off. This is because if a transaction is made in your bank through the data sync, and you apply a payment to an invoice in Actionstep, you will see two transactions in Xero, which wouldn’t be accurate).
4. Enter the office account name, type, and account number.
5. Go to Accounting > Bank accounts and find the account you just created.
6. Once identified, click the account and give it a 3-digit GL code. This helps your Actionstep system identify the office account.
7. In Actionstep, go to Admin > Accounting. 
8. Click Refresh data.
9. Once done, you will have created both a trust/client account and an office account. You should have successfully connected Xero to Actionstep.

How-To Video

Related Articles:

• Xero Configuration in Actionstep Practice Pro + Accounting
• Xero Integration Overview
• Introduction to the Xero Integration
• Xero FAQs