Invoicing with Xero for Forecast integration

Forecasts integration with Xero allows for additional financial monitoring and accessibility. With the integration in place, users will be able to export invoices, import purchase orders, and more. The main purpose of the integration is the ability it grants to export invoices to Xero from Forecast and import purchase orders from Xero to Forecast. The article goes over how these processes work.

This article includes

• Importing Purchase Orders
• Exporting and Synchronizing Invoices
• Unlinking Invoices from Xero

Importing Purchase Orders

Once the integration is set up and you have at least one Purchase Order in Xero, you can import Purchase Orders as Expenses in Forecast. This import is performed manually by going to the project’s Budget page. The step-by-step guide below shows the process

To import purchase orders from Xero

1. Access the project that the purchase order should be imported to.
2. In the left side panel select Financials.
3. Click Expenses.
4. Once on the Expenses page of the project, click on the Import From Xero button on the right side of the screen
5. Click on the dropdown
6. Search for a purchase order that resides in Xero and select it
7. Click on New Expense. This will prompt the New Expense Item module to appear
8. Fill in the missing details on the expense item such as whether the expense should be billable. If uncertain as to these options please visit our article Submitting your Expenses
9. When ready to create the expense click on Add. The expense will now be part of the project and will appear under the Expenses tab.

Exporting and Synchronizing Invoices

These two features become available when the integration with Xero is set up allowing the user to both export invoices they create in Forecast and update them after changes have been made in Xero by using the Synchronize button. 

Exporting Invoices

With the Xero integration, it is possible to export invoices created in Forecast to Xero. There is only one prerequisite to exporting an invoice from Forecast to Xero and that has to do with Xero customers being linked to Forecast clients so that the invoice falls under a client that has a profile in your Xero account. To learn more about this and the process required please visit our article Xero and Forecast Client Linking. The step-by-step guide below goes over the process of exporting invoices.

To export invoices from Forecast to Xero

1. Click Finance in the top bar.
2. Click All Invoices.
3. In the dropdown on the top left, select the time period that covers the project you wish to export. You can also select Custom Range and input a range of dates.
4. Click on New Invoice on the right hand of the screen next to the Synchronize button if it is necessary to create the invoice. If the invoice already exists skip to step 8.
5. Select the project that should be exported. If uncertain as to how to create an invoice please review our article Creating Invoices for your Customers
6. Once the invoice is created return to the Invoices page where all created invoices appear.
7. Click on the Export button at the end of the invoice line
8. From the window that appears, select the customer that this invoice is for. If the client you are looking for does not appear make sure that their profile is linked with their profile in Xero
9. Select the Xero account it should go under in Xero from the second dropdown
10. Click on Export to finalize the process

Once the invoice is exported to Xero, the invoice status in Forecast will show as Exported.

Synchronizing Invoices

Once you export an invoice from Forecast, that invoice is un-editable in Forecast. Conceptually, exporting an invoice is handing over control of that invoice to Xero. Any changes made to the invoice, its entries, and payments in Xero are imported back into Forecast on synchronization. To synchronize and subsequently update an invoice follow the steps below.

To synchronize an invoice

1. Click Finance in the top bar.
2. Click All Invoices.
3. In the dropdown on the top left, select the time period that covers the project you wish to export. You can also select Custom Range and input a range of dates.
4. Once the invoice is found click on the Synchronize button on the right of the screen. After a few seconds of loading (depending on the load), all updated information that resides in Xero will come over and appear in the invoice in Forecast. 

Invoice Statuses

The Xero for Forecast integration also allows users to view certain statuses reflected back from Xero in Forecast. In Forecast this synced status can be seen in the category Xero Status. This gives account and project managers better visibility into the statuses of invoices on their projects and means finance managers spend less time communicating with project/account teams about these statuses.

Overview of Xero statuses

• SUBMITTED: An awaiting approval invoice.
• DRAFT: A draft invoice (default).
• AUTHORISED: An Invoice that is approved and awaiting payment, or partially paid.
• PAID: An invoice that is completely paid.

Unlinking Invoices from Xero

Once an invoice is exported to Xero no changes can be made to it. It will no longer be possible to edit or delete it. It is possible, however, to unlink it and then edit it or delete it. Follow the steps below to unlink an invoice from Xero.

To unlink an invoice from Xero

1. Click Finance in the top bar.
2. Click All Invoices.
3. In the dropdown on the top left, select the time period that covers the project you wish to export. You can also select Custom Range and input a range of dates.
4. Once the invoice appears on the screen click on the three dots that appear when you hover over at the end of the invoice line. 
5. Click on Unlink. This will trigger the confirmation window.
6. Click on Unlink again if the unlinking should proceed. This will allow for the invoice to be edited in Forecast and also for it to be deleted. Once done it is possible to re-link it to Xero.