Connecting Xero to AXEL

What Xero Integration Does

The Xero integration syncs your AXEL data to Xero accounting software automatically. Your customers, invoices, expenses, and payments flow from AXEL into Xero without manual data entry — keeping your books up to date and saving hours of admin work.

Perfect for tradesmen who want professional accounting software but don't want the faff of entering everything twice.

Which Plans Include It

Xero integration is available on:

• The Grafter (£29/month) and above
• The Gaffer (£39/month)
• The Guv'nor (£59/month)

Not available on The Apprentice (Free) or Lead Goblin plans.

How to Connect Xero

1. Go to Settings → Integrations tab
2. Find the Xero card and click Connect
3. You'll be redirected to Xero to log in and authorize AXEL
4. Choose your Xero organisation if you have multiple
5. Click Allow access to authorize the connection
6. You'll be redirected back to AXEL
7. You'll see "Connected" status with your organisation name displayed

The whole process takes about 2 minutes. Once connected, AXEL can start syncing your data immediately.

Auto-Sync Settings

After connecting, you can toggle which entity types sync automatically:

• Contacts — AXEL customers → Xero contacts
• Invoices — AXEL invoices → Xero sales invoices
• Expenses — AXEL expenses → Xero bills
• Payments — AXEL payments → Xero payments

When auto-sync is enabled for a type, new items are pushed to Xero as soon as they're created in AXEL. Turn off auto-sync if you prefer manual control.

Manual Sync ("Sync Now")

Use the Sync Now button to push all unsynced data at once. This is particularly useful:

• After first connecting — syncs all your existing AXEL data to Xero
• When auto-sync is disabled — push data when you're ready
• To catch up missed items — if something didn't sync automatically

After clicking Sync Now, you'll see results showing how many of each type were synced successfully.

Account Mappings

Every business has a different chart of accounts. A.X.E.L lets you map your expense categories to the exact accounts in your Xero setup — so your bookkeeping stays clean without any manual sorting.

How It Works

When you connect Xero, A.X.E.L automatically fetches your chart of accounts. You'll find an Account Mappings section on your integration card in Settings. Expand it and you'll see every A.X.E.L category with a dropdown next to it.

Each dropdown is populated from your Xero accounts — not some generic list. Pick the account you want each category posted to and hit Save Mappings.

What You Can Map

• Expense categories — Materials, Tools, Fuel, Insurance, Subcontractors, Office, Marketing, Utilities, Rent, Phone, Software, and Other. Each maps to an expense account in your Xero.
• Bank / Cash Account — the account used for payments and expense purchases. Maps to a bank-type account in Xero.
• Sales / Revenue Account — where invoice revenue posts to.

Smart Defaults

If you don't configure any mappings, A.X.E.L uses sensible defaults (e.g. Materials → 300, Fuel → 315, Bank → 090). But we strongly recommend setting your own — your accountant will thank you.

Refreshing Accounts

Added new accounts in Xero since you connected? Hit the ↻ Refresh Accounts button to re-fetch your chart of accounts. No need to disconnect and reconnect.

How Data Maps Between Systems

AXEL Customers → Xero Contacts

• Customer name, phone, email, and address
• Marked as customers (not suppliers) in Xero
• Existing contacts are matched by name to avoid duplicates

AXEL Invoices → Xero Sales Invoices (ACCREC)

• Line items with descriptions, quantities, and unit prices
• Customer details and due dates
• VAT handling matches your Xero VAT settings
• Invoice numbers and references

AXEL Expenses → Xero Bills (ACCPAY)

• Expense amounts, categories, and descriptions
• Supplier information (if provided)
• VAT amounts separated correctly
• Receipt attachments (where available)

AXEL Payments → Xero Payments

• Payment amounts and dates
• Linked to the corresponding invoice or bill
• Payment method information

Currency Conversion

All amounts are converted correctly — AXEL stores money in pence internally, but Xero uses pounds, so £1,234.56 in AXEL becomes £1,234.56 in Xero automatically.

Disconnecting Xero

If you need to disconnect:

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. Find your connected Xero organisation
3. Click Disconnect
4. Confirm the disconnection

Important: Disconnecting stops future syncing, but your existing Xero data isn't deleted. Everything that's already in Xero stays there.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"Token expired" errors:

• This happens when the connection to Xero expires (usually after several months)
• Simply disconnect and reconnect following the setup steps above
• Your data won't be lost — just needs re-authorization

Sync failures:

• Check the sync log in Settings → Integrations for detailed error messages
• Common issues include missing customer details or VAT configuration mismatches
• Contact support if errors persist

Slow sync speeds:

• Xero has a 60 calls per minute rate limit
• Large bulk syncs (like initial sync with hundreds of records) may take several minutes
• The system will automatically pace requests to stay within limits

Duplicate records:

• AXEL tries to match existing records by name to avoid duplicates
• If you see duplicates, check for slight name differences (extra spaces, punctuation)
• Clean up duplicates in Xero if needed

QuickBooks Integration

Also supported! QuickBooks integration works the same way as Xero — simple connection process, automatic syncing, and the same data mapping. See our QuickBooks integration guide for full details.

Remember: you can only connect one accounting system at a time, so choose the one that best fits your business needs.

Security

Your accounting data is sensitive. Here's how A.X.E.L protects the connection:

• OAuth 2.0 with PKCE — we never see your Xero password. The connection uses industry-standard OAuth with Proof Key for Code Exchange, the same security used by banks
• Encrypted token storage — your access tokens are stored securely and refreshed automatically
• One-way sync — data only flows from A.X.E.L to Xero. We never read, modify, or delete anything in your Xero account
• Owner-only access — only the account owner can connect, disconnect, or manage integrations. Team members cannot access OAuth flows
• Clean disconnection — when you disconnect, we revoke all tokens and clean up sync records. No stale credentials left behind
• Duplicate prevention — A.X.E.L checks for existing records before creating new ones, preventing duplicate contacts and invoices in your accounts

For more details, see our Integration Security article.

Tips for Best Results

• Clean up your AXEL data first — remove test customers and incomplete records before connecting
• Set up your Xero chart of accounts — make sure you have appropriate expense categories
• Start with a small test — sync just a few records first to check everything looks right
• Enable auto-sync once you're happy — saves manual work going forward
• Check your Xero regularly — especially in the first few weeks after connecting