Xero Integration Overview

Modified on Mon, 14 Nov, 2022 at 12:58 AM

Overview 

Actionstep includes full-featured billing, trust accounting, and general business accounting modules. An organization may wish to adopt these features of Actionstep without being forced to change their accounting system in the process. 
There are many good reasons for not wanting to change accounting systems, such as:

  • Timing: It's hard to change accounting systems in the middle of a financial year
  • Comfort: The person who does the accounts may be comfortable with the current accounting system and does not want to change just because the front office is changing
  • Features: The current accounting system may have features such as automatic bank feeds that may not be available in Actionstep - note: these can only be used in a very limited capacity with a Xero integration.
  • External Accountant: The external accountant may only support a certain set of accounting software systems
  • Xero may support some tax and reporting jurisdictions which Actionstep does not - although Actionstep does have comprehensive financial reporting.

WARNING:

The Actionstep-Xero integration cannot be used on a database utilizing multiple currencies. 

Any Actionstep database utilizing this integration should be set to the Accrual Accounting method. This will allow for invoices to be transferred to Xero prior to payment. Accounting method settings in Xero will determine the accounting method used for reporting. 

It is not recommended that you use Xero's automatic bank feed if you are intending to process invoice payments in Actionstep.

Transactions sent from Actionstep to Xero will post the sum of the line items attributed to each general ledger account in the transaction. This means that though all of the transaction information will match, the layout of the invoice may vary slightly. 

 

Xero - Trial Accounts

WARNING:

Do NOT connect a Xero trial account to an Actionstep system that will later need to use a live Xero account. 

If a trial account is connected and later becomes invalid, a new Actionstep system will need to be created and a new Xero account connected.

 

When a Xero account is connected to Actionstep, accounts are allocated to specific accounting and billing functions. The first connected Xero account will write these accounts to Actionstep. Replacing the Xero account will not overwrite the accounts, creating a discrepancy between Xero and the available accounts in Actionstep.

 

Below outlines what can/cannot be done using the Xero Integration with the Actionstep Practice Pro + Accounting plan:

 

Client Billing Works with a Xero Integration?
Posting a client bill to your Accounting

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Paying a client bill

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Creating a credit note

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Applying a credit note to an invoice

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Refunding an outstanding credit note back to the client

No

Not available with a Xero integration

 

Refund an overpayment from a client

No

Not available with a Xero integration

General Retainers (Regionally specific)

No

Not available with a Xero integration

 

Trust Accounting Works with a Xero Integration?
Trust Receipts, Payments, Journals and Transfers

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Interest

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Invoice Payments

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Statutory Funds (Regionally specific)

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Advanced Funds Transactions (Regionally specific)

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Trust Bank Reconciliations

No

Bank reconciliations for trust accounts should be completed in Actionstep and are NOT pushed through to Xero

 

Supplier/Vendor Transactions Works with a Xero Integration?
Posting a supplier/vendor invoice to your Accounting

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Paying a supplier/vendor invoice

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Applying a supplier/vendor credit invoice to a supplier/vendor invoice

Yes

Processed in Actionstep, posted to Xero

 

Purchase Orders

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

Purchase Credit Orders

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

Pre-entered Supplier/Vendor

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

Banking Transactions Works with a Xero Integration?
A bank deposit (when not linked to a client payment)

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

A bank withdrawal (when not linked to a supplier payment)

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

Bank to bank transfer

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

Electronic batching of payments

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

Bank reconciliations

No

Not available with a Xero integration

 

Printed Checks

No

These can be created in Actionstep and the transaction will post to Xero depending on if it is for a supplier invoice or a bank withdrawal (see above), but the Check will be printed in Actionstep

 

Deposit Slips

No

These can be created in Actionstep and the transaction in the deposit slip will post to Xero (depending on if it is for a supplier invoice or a bank withdrawal - see above), but the Deposit Slip will be printed in Actionstep

 

Bank feeds

Partial

While the bank feed will work in Xero, any transaction created through the bank feed will not be processed in Actionstep

 

Other Accounting Functions Works with a Xero Integration?
General Journals

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

 

Sales/VAT Returns

No

These can be created in Actionstep but will not be posted to Xero

Divisions (Divisions allow you to have multiple organizations operating from one instance of Actionstep)

No

Actionstep's division function is not designed to work with a Xero integration

 

Accounting reports based on Matter or Participant 

No

You will still be able to pull these reports in Actionstep, but the matter and participant types required will not be pushed through to Xero for you to run similar reports there

 

Multi-Currency Accounting

No

Actionstep's multi-currency function is not designed to work with a Xero integration

 

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